Bruiser's Earring at lvl 99

[Rumo]

Just capped my h2h and wanted to confirm I understand how damage calculation works (it seems so easy that I'm thinking I'm doing something wrong).

Capped skill including 8 merits = 420
AF3+2 head skill bonus = 5

425 * 0.11 = 46.75 +3 = 49.75

So Bruiser's would add another 3 skill or .33 taking it to 50.08, is that correct?

[Dfoley]

Correct, it adds an extra tier of dmg.

[Brolic]

is that still the best damage option though? thought i read that the regain earring and the kick attack neck was the best

[Zhronne]

Regain is better most likely, but Bruiser seems a good option, no?
Att+3, Acc~2.5, damage+1.
Looks ok, better than Aesir Ear Pendant I'd say?

It's kinda meh if you use Faith Torque instead of something else though, since Faith will bring you up a tier, and at that point Bruiser won't be enough for yet another.
For neck, when looking at pure damage output and nothing else, I think Rancor is still better even outside Abyssea.
If you're scared for damage taken/gearswaps, tonberry hate or just don't want to bother with that, then probably Faith is better than Cirque, as long as it adds another tier.

Anybody mathed it out? Too lazy to do it atm, but I think I got it more or less right.

[Brolic]

i believe regain earring\calcitrant stole is still the best combo outside of rancor\regain, i may be wrong though

[Zhronne]

Uhm, you're taking accuracy out completely as it didn't matter. Which is probably true when you're fighting low level stuff because of level correction, but on T+ things accuracy is gonna matter.
Faith adds +1d, +7att and roughly 6,5acc, doubt it's gonna be behind calcitrant
I'm not considering other buffs of course, just gear.

But yeah, Rancor is most likely ahead of any othe option.

[Theytak]

Calcitrant stole is complete garbage unless you're using savateur's gaiters, since you know, pup doesn't get kick attacks naturally, and even then with only 3% ka, increasing kick damage is going to be very minuscule increase to your over all damage

Rancor Collar + Regain Moonshade wins for pure damage, in and out of abyssea
Faith+Regain Moonshade will win for high haste if you can't afford the +DT of rancor collar (such as in AoE heavy fights)
If you don't have either, Cirque Necklace + Bruiser's is probably the next best way to go, but bruisers loses a lot of it's luster if you've got faith torque, which is fairly even with cirque neck at low haste, and takes a decent lead at high haste.

[Anza]

Calcitrant stole is complete garbage unless you're using savateur's gaiters, since you know, pup doesn't get kick attacks naturally, and even then with only 3% ka, increasing kick damage is going to be very minuscule increase to your over all damage

Completely correct for PUP, but I will note that Calcitrant is excellent for MNK (which has native KA, KA merits, and gear to enhance kicks like AF3+2 legs/feet and set bonus). Rancor beats it from a pure damage perspective, but the downsides for a tanking MNK might make Calcitrant more appealing.

The reason I bring it up here is that a lot of the time the discussion you'll see about Bruiser's Earring is directed more at MNKs, so it doesn't really apply cleanly to PUP due to different skill plus these other gear considerations that are more applicable to a MNK. H2H skill in particular is often tied to discussions of both neck and ear slots, since Bruiser's and Faith Torque both affect the total skill (as do Cirque head and Tantra hands).

[Brolic]

Calcitrant stole is complete garbage unless you're using savateur's gaiters, since you know, pup doesn't get kick attacks naturally, and even then with only 3% ka, increasing kick damage is going to be very minuscule increase to your over all damage

Rancor Collar + Regain Moonshade wins for pure damage, in and out of abyssea
Faith+Regain Moonshade will win for high haste if you can't afford the +DT of rancor collar (such as in AoE heavy fights)
If you don't have either, Cirque Necklace + Bruiser's is probably the next best way to go, but bruisers loses a lot of it's luster if you've got faith torque, which is fairly even with cirque neck at low haste, and takes a decent lead at high haste.

haha i didn't even notice this was the pup forums

[Zhronne]

I approve Theytak's post!