How would you envision a level 109 SMN AF set?

[Hayward]

Weapon:

Kukulcan's Staff 109 (for lack of an idea for a new name)

DMG: 115 Delay: 300

MP +150, MND +18, INT +18
*all 109 Staff, Parrying skill upgrades*
*Avatar: Enhances Blood Pact: Rage and Blood Pact: Ward (cuts recast in half)*
*Avatar: Haste +15%, Magic Attack Bonus +110*

Head: High Summoner's Horn

*MP +75, Evasion +25, Magic Defense Bonus +5*
*Fast Cast +5, Physical Damage Taken -10%*
Avatar: Blood Boon +10, Magic Accuracy +15

Body: High Summoner's Doublet

*MP +250, Evasion +45, Magic Defense Bonus +8*
*Depending on Day/Weather: Avatar gains elemental spikes effect*
*Avatar: Gains Elemental Enhancement effect (potency influenced by Summoning Magic skill)*
*Avatar: Double Attack +10, Counter +5*

Hands: High Summoner's Bracers

*MP +75, Evasion +15, Magic Evasion +20*
*Physical Damage Taken -5%, Refresh +5
*Avatar: Regain +3, Accuracy +20

Legs: High Summoner's Spats

*MP +100, Evasion +35, Magic Evasion +15*
*Blood Boon +15*
*Avatar: Absorbs Elemental Damage of own element*
*Avatar: Physical Damage Taken -20%*

Feet: High Summoner's Pigaches

MP +50, Movement Speed +12%, Evasion +15
*Enhances Mana Cede effect*
*Avatar: TP Bonus, Subtle Blow +15*

Just throwing some things at the wall on the way home. What would catch your eye?

[Babekeke]

OK, let's be realistic.

I'd love to see something that breaks the cap of 45 secs on BP, but IDK if AF is the way to go.

The set is most likely just going to be a beefed up variant of the regular AF/AF+1.

I'd like to see 15 Summoning magic skill on the head.

I'd like to see some avatar haste/DA/TA/Acc/Att/-DT spread throughout the other pieces, along with some -perp. Haste, -perp and Acc is probably realistic. IDK about the rest though ><.

[Mokeil]

OK, let's be realistic.

I'd love to see something that breaks the cap of 45 secs on BP, but IDK if AF is the way to go.

The set is most likely just going to be a beefed up variant of the regular AF/AF+1.

I'd like to see 15 Summoning magic skill on the head.

I'd like to see some avatar haste/DA/TA/Acc/Att/-DT spread throughout the other pieces, along with some -perp. Haste, -perp and Acc is probably realistic. IDK about the rest though ><.

This is more or less everything I'd say. The last part is especially important to see mixed about, so that the new AF wouldn't become just BP macro pieces, but something we could really use full time.

[FaeQueenCory]

What Mokeil and Babekeke said.

I actually.... hate your proposed staff... Sorry!
I don't know about other smns.... but I idle in my -perp magian staves... then switch to MAB staves in the middle of the avatar readying their BP.... then back to -perp... because it's -7perp and -12BP delay... in one piece.
And I can't speak for all other smns... but I feel confident enough from what I've seen of everyone else that they too idle in them.
So when designing a 109 staff for smn that is intended to be idled in (like your +15% haste would indicate).... -perp -BP timer needs to be accounted for.

That being said... I do like some of the ideas you have on them, the enspell effect.... the spike effect (though I don't think that is possible since only ice, fire, lightning, and dark spikes exist in the game)...

Another thing to take into consideration is what is the current "standard" garb of SMNs...
I don't think there is any smn who doesn't wear the AF2+2 gloves... because +15skill and -BP timer are a godsend...
Much like the dumb +3skil grip... it's one of those pieces that are practically required... so you have to make a new piece that does something similar or better.

And I think the new "AF cape" shows us that the Devs realize this. At least to some extent. (I feel there's a new Dev who plays SMN... it's the only explanation I can come up with with all the influx of actually good smn gear...)
The old "required" cape for smn was the Astute Cape. If you didn't have one... you were getting one.
+25mp +5skill. There really was no better piece out there for that slot.
Then comes the new cape... Knowing that it would have to compete with the +5 skill given by Astute... what did they make it do?
+100mp (nice, but not worth the loss of 5skill) +8skill.....
And that is why Astute is dead.

The new "AF cape" is exactly the same as Astute, in that it give what the summoner needs in that slot, but is strictly better than Astute (FOR SMN, sush with your ninjutsu skill shenanigans!), which means that it is something that is a viable replacement.

And that is something that needs to be taken into account.
And while I pointed out a point where the new Devs have proven to be very good at listening/seeing/whatever... there's another point where they "goofed" (but not really and I will explain why)
Bokwus Circlet.
this is a wonderful.... macro head piece for smn.
Why shouldn't this be fulltimed? It has a ridiculous amount of MP... so it seems clear that this was intended as a replacement for the AF3+2...
But why it doesn't really cut it... isn't that the smn loses 2skill.... the +100mp would more than make up for that... it's that there is no refresh here... meaning the smn loses 2mp/tic... and that is FAR more valuable than an extra 70mp.
I haven't tested it to see if the +10mab makes up for the -2skill in a macro-switch... but I suspect that it should.

So these are the kind of things that need to be taken in to account for an AF4.
Will this piece be a good full-time piece? Is it comparable to the full-time piece that smns usually wear in that slot?
Or will this piece be just another inventory-clogging macro-only piece or an "Alexander piece" (such as the +3skill earring)?

In short, in terms of head-body-hands-legs-feet slots... the AF4 should compare itself to AF3-AF3-AF2-AF3-AF3 respectively. And an AF4 staff should one want it to be an idle staff and not just a macro staff... should remember that it's competing with -7perp and -12BP timer.