Buyable Gear Options

[FrankReynolds]

They require an outside NM kill and Plasm. Not a boss.

The boss H2H is: DMG:+146 Delay:+96 Accuracy+35 Attack+25 Guard skill +4 Physical damage taken -3%

[Babekeke]

Rigors are DMG+ 101, ACC +15 in their base form... Ninzas are literally half as good on their best day.

Perhaps you don't understand the meaning of the word literally?

Best anyone has seen and recorded on Ninza is D64. That's almost 2/3rds as good as Rigor, and they have a lower delay too, making them about 2/3rds as good.

Not "literally half".

And it's besides the point. They fill the gap between Brawny and Rigor, just like they are supposed to. Heck they're about on par with Spharai and Vere 99, and people have no qualms with taking a rme99 mnk along.

[FrankReynolds]

Perhaps you don't understand the meaning of the word literally?

Best anyone has seen and recorded on Ninza is D64. That's almost 2/3rds as good as Rigor, and they have a lower delay too, making them about 2/3rds as good.

Not "literally half".

And it's besides the point. They fill the gap between Brawny and Rigor, just like they are supposed to. Heck they're about on par with Spharai and Vere 99, and people have no qualms with taking a rme99 mnk along.

Yeah, I guess if you ignore the base accuracy and the guaranteed upgrades that can be put on rigor and assume the best stats ever recorded on ninzi added through luck of the draw, then sure. 2/3... if you say so. Make sure you make that same argument with the people leading link shells and PUGs. I'm sure it will go over well.

[Kaiichi]

I agree with the OP in part. As I strongly agree that there is a lack of non Rare Ex gear as of late, even in the days of old, if you wanted to get the gear for your favored job, you usually had to level a job that you didn't care for as much if at all. and believe it or not, Delve is the new end game. And it may be your $12.95, but they don't give a **** about it. Maybe you should look into making a new linkshell and recruiting just for it.

On a side not, I still can't get over seeing shouts for full alliances with the requirement of having R/M/E. It's just insane how many people have them now. I usually see it stuck on 17/18 looking for a PLD for hours. Maybe try leveling that and invest time into an Ochain. I'm sure it would pay off in the long run. I personally started to build an Ageis, I know It dose not compare in terms of block rate, but it's close and it will make me happy.

[Babekeke]

Make sure you make that same argument with the people leading link shells

I forgot that all LS require you to be as good as you're ever going to be before they let you join.

[FrankReynolds]

I forgot that all LS require you to be as good as you're ever going to be before they let you join.

It comes up in almost every thread. I know you read them and I know you know it's happening more often than not.

[Babekeke]

I like to believe that there are still people out there that are open-minded enough to accept skirmish weapons as an interim. I believe that it's good that people that don't play whm/cor/brd do have a way to get into delve even if they don't have a rme weapon already. Let's face it, anyone that wants to do delve and has a skirmish weapon, will inevitably get a delve weapon once they have the right KI and enough plasm (or get lucky on a drop).

If you're an LS leader, you should let people trial for you, and if they are decent people (do what they're told, listen to strategies etc.) then they will become a decent member of the team in the end, they just need a hand to get the initial weapon/gear.

If you're leading a PUG, you might find that the 1 guy you let into your group on that occasion is running a group the following week, when he's got his weapon and offers you the last spot because he remembers the favour you did for him...

...if only karma really existed, eh?

Personally, I have 2 delve weapons and have never done delve on anything other than BRD... that's what owning a daurdabla does to you (and only making weapons for THF and RUN lol).

[Zumi]

I agree with the OP in part. As I strongly agree that there is a lack of non Rare Ex gear as of late, even in the days of old, if you wanted to get the gear for your favored job, you usually had to level a job that you didn't care for as much if at all. and believe it or not, Delve is the new end game. And it may be your $12.95, but they don't give a **** about it. Maybe you should look into making a new linkshell and recruiting just for it.

On a side not, I still can't get over seeing shouts for full alliances with the requirement of having R/M/E. It's just insane how many people have them now. I usually see it stuck on 17/18 looking for a PLD for hours. Maybe try leveling that and invest time into an Ochain. I'm sure it would pay off in the long run. I personally started to build an Ageis, I know It dose not compare in terms of block rate, but it's close and it will make me happy.

Make a harp, most people do not take plds to delve or boss runs. But having a harp will get almost everyone on the server wanting you to join.

[Hawklaser]

I like to believe that there are still people out there that are open-minded enough to accept skirmish weapons as an interim. I believe that it's good that people that don't play whm/cor/brd do have a way to get into delve even if they don't have a rme weapon already. Let's face it, anyone that wants to do delve and has a skirmish weapon, will inevitably get a delve weapon once they have the right KI and enough plasm (or get lucky on a drop).

If you're an LS leader, you should let people trial for you, and if they are decent people (do what they're told, listen to strategies etc.) then they will become a decent member of the team in the end, they just need a hand to get the initial weapon/gear.

If you're leading a PUG, you might find that the 1 guy you let into your group on that occasion is running a group the following week, when he's got his weapon and offers you the last spot because he remembers the favour you did for him...

...if only karma really existed, eh?

Personally, I have 2 delve weapons and have never done delve on anything other than BRD... that's what owning a daurdabla does to you (and only making weapons for THF and RUN lol).

Which is sad. Since the options for those that were not on the same gear level as the "End Game" community (ie have RME, and most good armor) are get lucky with getting help, try and sneak in as an undergeared support job, or gear said support jobs well and be forever stuck on them. As anyone willing to gear up a job to an above average spot is likely also going to take the time to learn how to play those jobs beyond just using one or two abilities/spells.

Really I think the whole issue is how much of a jump the delve stuff is compared to everything else. Skirmish would of been a nice spot for the more casual players to get going and up to speed, until Delve hit shortly after before Skirmish could take off. That combined with the prior multiple events to get ones gear from, to the now one primary event. Whole lot easier to get burnt out doing an event if there is only one real option to make meaningful and lasting progression.

[Robmelee]

I know what this might devolve into... but it has to be said. I was a hardcore FFXI player for a long time between 2007-2012, and I still respect that players who put in more time and effort want better gear. However, after playing for the last few months from a casual perspective, it's an unavoidable fact that rare/ex gear, and hard to obtain buyable gear, specifically weapons crafted from delve boss drops (costing over 10,000,000 gil), are creating a huge canyon in the middle of the playerbase between people who have this gear, and people who don't.
Despite how easy this gear may, or may not, have been to originally obtain, shout groups now require delve gear, simply to obtain delve gear. The only backdoor being mage jobs and other positions that a lot of players just don't enjoy spending their time in. And the auction house isn't putting out any weapons to purchase that can even come close to 100+ DMG, single handed weaponry or 200+ DMG double handed weapons. To be blunt, any player who doesn't feel like leveling BRD, COR, or WHM, (or have a delve weapon already) is left with weapons that have approximately half the DMG amount of Delve-obtained gear.
As mentioned previously, I do believe hardcore players, and anyone who jumped on the Delve ship early enough, deserve their gear for putting in their time. However, unless there is an affordable option for every weapon type on Auction House that at least has around 80-90% of the DMG of a Delve weapon, the DD's who have been left out of delve, will continue to be left out of delve.

In short: The game needs more buyable weapon choices. "Rare/ex only" gear is leaving casual players in the dust.

In the interest of being fair, there is a great deal to consider when making this statement. What SE believes is an experience that they believe anyone can have provided you take whatsoever steps necessary to have it, and the over all consideration of the community as a whole on what they feel is the most efficient and effective way to get the Delve farming/boss runs done. You see the problem, well not really a problem, the situation you are bring up is really two-fold what SE believes is an actual do-able path and what the community feels is the most efficient way to do the path.

Your argument lacks causation due to the following reasons; SE created this run very unique so that ANYONE could do it provided that the PLAYER would do WHATSOEVER they had to do, to get in. That includes leveling additional jobs if NECESSARY or re-tuning or re-aligning certain merits, getting the absolute best DD gear possible if you didn't already have any Delve base gear and doing what you can to get in where you fit in. As indicated in your post, the back-door to a Delve run if you don't have a Delve weapon is as a Mage, although many DD's at heart don't want to do this, but YOU MAY HAVE TO if you want IN, real simple.

If you are NOT willing to do whatsoever it takes to get into a Delve run, the problem is not SE or the Community it is the person who isn't willing to do whatever it takes to get in...period!

This is why I have Lv.99 All Jobs with capped skills and full merits, and I have AF3+1 for all jobs minimum, and full AF3+2 for about 12 jobs, along with Neo Nyzul, and an assortment of VoidWatch gear including some from Provenance. Just enough decent gear to participate in any Endgame Event,

Now I am not saying one should level all jobs to 99 like I did, but at least the ones you know will get you in most events.

I knew a long time ago, its best to be safe (have a lot of jobs/options) than to be sorry (be adamant about having a few jobs/few options).

The choice is yours, because frankly I seriously doubt SE is going to nerf this anymore than they already have.
Good luck and I hope everyone makes it to Delve.

Peace!