Melee RDM Gear At 99

So as the title suggests, I'm curious about what gear is available for melee RDM's at 99.

I'm a relative scrub when it comes to this stuff and I'm not afraid to admit it, so I was hoping to be educated by people who have played it longer than I.

Are there any links to a "best-in-slot" gear thread? Or perhaps a link to a list or an item set? (I tried sifting through stuff like ffxiah, but it's tedious, brutal, and a huge majority of the stuff is still level <75 gear)

By the way, I do realize that Melee RDM needs numerous gear sets, so even just suggesting one would be a huge help. Thanks!

These are my optimum sets for most cases.

Standard TP
Heavy Acc TP
CDC
KoR
Req
MS
Exent

demons sets are pretty good, a few things worth noting though:

the shikargar should be fire path, +str and +att. (i'm sure his IS, but ffxiah doesn't show it)

portus collar should be a little better than rancor collar if you can manage to get it, and it saves you the +10% dmg taken.

tyrants ring is worth looking at in place of mars.

and i wouldn't really even bother with a full blown ACC build, composure is worth 15 acc, gravity 2 is worth another 40. if you still need acc after that and capped+merited skills, it's a hint that this is one of those situations where you prolly just shouldn't melee. (with maybe the exception of thf job mobs)

Tyrant's is one of the things which can be put in for slightly better damage/defense, I only have Mars in there because the damage difference is very, very slight where as Accuracy is nice to have just incase. The accuracy build isn't really needed I agree, but some things like the Ladybug in Meebles do call for such things because their evasion is just that annoying. As for Shikargar, yeah its STR, but Portus versus Rancor is actually incorrect so far as the spreadsheets go, they claim that Rancor wins by quite a bit, and since its much easier to get, I figured best to just leave it there without even an honorable mention. :x

Thanks for the responses! I appreciate it. Time to start saving up some gil for some of this stuff... haha.

Look at the Dux set ( http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Dux_armor_set ). It's nice to start with or use as a -pdt taken set. It also helps give rdm the str and atk it natively lacks. Also it's relatively cheap compared to "high end" pieces. Use it as a stepping stone to help you get better stuff.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aethon

Look at the Dux set ( http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Dux_armor_set ). It's nice to start with or use as a -pdt taken set. It also helps give rdm the str and atk it natively lacks. Also it's relatively cheap compared to "high end" pieces. Use it as a stepping stone to help you get better stuff.

---

Thanks. Yeah, I already have the Dux set. I probably have about 2 million invested at this point, so I have the "basics"... but getting stuff like Calmecac Trousers and what not are what are going to be driving the cost up more and more. Not to mention the NMs and events (salvage II) that I need to go do.

No Death Blossom set?

It's still a very good option for rdm when it comes to ws. Albeit I do not have excal so I cant compare it to KoR but compared to Req it seems to be far superior as far as damage goes

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Elphy

No Death Blossom set?

It's still a very good option for rdm when it comes to ws. Albeit I do not have excal so I cant compare it to KoR but compared to Req it seems to be far superior as far as damage goes

---

That's most likely due to Murgleis having a hidden effect that increases Death Blossom damage by 15% at level 90 and 95, and 30% at level 99. What level is your Murgleis?

Going by spreadsheets, DB falls far behind Req, KoR, and CDC, even with Mythic and AM3 up it still has a lower DPS than any of the other WSs, that is the only reason I did not bother with it. I do however have a set for it stashed away on my spreadsheet because I am planing to make the Mythic someday just to complete my collection of RDM weapons, even if it is stupidly worthless.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mirokumiyazaki

That's most likely due to Murgleis having a hidden effect that increases Death Blossom damage by 15% at level 90 and 95, and 30% at level 99. What level is your Murgleis?

---

0 lol I dont have one.

But the damage I put out with DB is far better than that of Req

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Demon6324236

Going by spreadsheets, DB falls far behind Req, KoR, and CDC, even with Mythic and AM3 up it still has a lower DPS than any of the other WSs, that is the only reason I did not bother with it. I do however have a set for it stashed away on my spreadsheet because I am planing to make the Mythic someday just to complete my collection of RDM weapons, even if it is stupidly worthless.

---

Well I will have to look into that, I havent actually parsed it I merely going on observation.

I used to be a career rdm but honestly do not play it as much as I would like simply due to the lolrdm you get these days or ppl hell bent on rdm being a healer, which I refuse to do. If they want a healer I will come whm, if I come rdm my heals are merely for back up. Mostly its for solo fun or the rare occasion that people actually let me into a pt with it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Elphy

Well I will have to look into that, I havent actually parsed it I merely going on observation.

I used to be a career rdm but honestly do not play it as much as I would like simply due to the lolrdm you get these days or ppl hell bent on rdm being a healer, which I refuse to do. If they want a healer I will come whm, if I come rdm my heals are merely for back up. Mostly its for solo fun or the rare occasion that people actually let me into a pt with it.

---

I know the feeling, myself I have gotten to the point where most VW leaders on Phoenix I bother joining know I'm a good enough RDM that if I say I want to come RDM, I can actually do well on it on that NM. In either case, I have looked into DB and it has not aged well, its basically a weaker KoR, which only beats Req on higher defense targets anyways, and Req often wins against DB even on higher defense I think. Basically DB is fairly bleh by compare to Req/KoR/CDC, if you have none of those, it is still RDM's best option, but thats not saying a whole lot seeing as our options suck outside of those 4 WSs.

If you do not already, one thing you should get for Req for sure is Soil Belt/Gorget, not everyone knows they are the best things possible for it so if you already use them, ignore this, if not, get them, they are amazing boosts in damage. Besides that idk why your DB would be doing more unless its simply a defense matter, but with Dia III(if you have it merited) and a STR Shikargar or two you should normally be able to put Req above it quite a bit depending on target.

Note: Almost all things I look at number wise are the best possible damage, so when I say that DB loses to Req, I mean in the best possible gear for both, when not in the best possible gear, things may be different, especially with Req where optimum gear involves a lot of Morrigan's+1/Fea's which people may not have, so take these posts with a grain of salt for now.

The best WS gear is mostly the same across the board. STR and MND and the best pieces have both on it. DB does fine for being a what it is, but it wouldn't be a better alternative to DPS unless you have a Mythic.

Where DB excels is it's ability to open and close high level SCs. If you are in more intimate company and you realize that SCs even exist, it can be significantly better total output because Distortion is more useful than Gravitation as an opener. Having Fragmentation as a 2nd lvl 2 property is a very nice bonus. BUT unless you are fighting something with high defense or your partner's have very potent Gravitation(or Fusion), you are probably better off throwing Req and being done with it.

KOR on the other hand has LVL 3 Light SC property, which basically takes the guesswork out of the equation if you are paired with a WAR or MNK that has Ukko's or VS. You can also use Fusion properties to open for Resolution's Fragmentation.

If you only care about yourself, Req is all you will almost ever need. RDM does have party based alternatives, and they are not too shabby. Does Murgleis suck compared to SAM, DRG, WAR, or PET mythics? You bet, but most Mythics do. The only thing Murgleis does is allows RDM to participate in an actual zerg as an actual zerg-er. Without it, you don't have a chance, nor will you ever because you aren't designed to.

CDC is distortion / L3 light which is pretty amazing honestly. Makes great pairing with other melees. After that Req is pretty amazing though it really depends on your target and how many buffs / debuffs you may or may not have. KoTR isn't that bad if you have 99 Excal due to the +40% boost and the mods being things that RDM gets tons of anyway. It would be better if it got a second hit before DW is factored in, many of the relics would do better if they had that. And DB is way after all those, it's really just an underpowered KoTR with a lackluster additional effect.

Yeah CDCs SC props are quite lovely and it still works for an opener even for Req, so if you're RDM/DNC you can close your own Dark SC and get an AM out of it.

A second hit on KoR or even just all Relic WSs would have been an amazing adjustment.