Avoiding Sameyness: Switching Up Certain Gearsets

Yes, it's me again. This time with...well, a suggestion for more recent gear sets and older ones alike. Four specific gear sets I have a beef with for the same reason: they are LITERALLY the same stuff as sets gained earlier(which I'll mention in their detailed entries), with zero variance. And that makes me both disappointed and angry, because I'd have loved to farm for them! The sets in question are, in order of appearance, the Dravanian set, the Anamnesis set, the Manusya set and the Ktiseos set. Those are the four sets I have beef with so far, and have studied a solution to vis-a-vis blending in gear from other sets to introduce variance. I'll go into detail below.

Starting off, we come to the Dravanian set, found in the Antitower and the Lost City of Amdapor(Hard) way back in latter-day Heavensward. For what it's worth, I do generally dig the dragon patterns on some of the pieces as opposed to the set it's a swap of, the Orthodox set, as found in the Aery, but it IS still just a simple swap, with no accounting for variance between classes.

For the gear farmer in me, I say this has to change, and fortunately, the suggestion I'd bring up is a surprisingly simple one: blend in stuff from the Divine set, from places like Hullbreaker Isle, the Tam-Tara Deepcroft(Hard) and Stone Vigil(Hard). Already an armor set heavily associated with dragons, some of its pieces can work to really spice this set up, especially the headgear.

Like, say, the Divine Wisdom set being used to spruce the Fending set up, especially in combination with the longkilt it currently use, the Divine War set used to spruce up the Maiming set, the old Fending/Maiming stuff instead used for Aiming/Scouting with maybe the Divine Death set's monocle combined with the Divine Harvest set's circlet, the Striking set being enhanced with the Divine Death/Harvest set's cool robes alongside the old Fending set's hairpin, the old Aiming/Striking/Scouting stuff used for the Healing/Casting set paired with a longkilt and the Divine Light set's neat hat, and the Casting/Healing set instead using the old robes, but paired with a Casting version of the Divine Wisdom set's jawguard and the hood pulled up instead of draped over the back.

Soz in advance for this being a difficult read...I'd have made images to show it all, but sadly, I can't.

Fast-forward a few expansions, roughly to mid-to-late Shadowbringers, and we come to the next set I have a serious beef with, the Anamnesis set from, where else, Anamnesis Anyder. Now, I do like one thing about this set: the dark-blue-and-gold color scheme really does it a lot of favors...but that's undone by being a simple color swap of the Shire set from Heavensward(and also the craftable High Durium set, but nobody cares about a set even more similar to the Shire set anyway) without so much as a set switch between classes.

As someone who'd love to farm more in Anamnesis, and genuinely enjoys the place, this feels like a grave disservice. So, to double down on the scholarly vibe the place projects, I intend to borrow from a few sets to spruce this stuff up. Namely, the various sets from Saint Mocianne's Arboretum and Pharos Sirius(Hard) who don't really have a unifying name, the Sharlayan set from the Great Gubal Library, the Doman Steel/Serge/Marid Leather sets which are crafted/bought, and the gearsets from Wanderer's Palace(Hard), Keeper of the Lake and Amdapor Keep(Hard), which ALSO don't have a unifying name.

So, onto how things can be spruced up. Starting with the Fending set, I say we use the Bogatyr's set paired with the Picaroon Maiming set's headpiece and perhaps a longkilt. The Maiming set can get the Marid Leather set, paired with the Doman Steel Fending set's helmet and boots. The Striking set could get the Serge set paired with a combination of the Bogatyr Casting set's eyepatch and the Picaroon Scouting set's mouthguard. The Scouting set gets the longcoat ensemble that's currently the Anamnesis Aiming set, albeit spiced up with the Sharlayan Pactmaker's helmet. The Aiming set gets the Plague Bringer/Doctor's set, paired with the Anamnesis Casting set's monocle and top hat. The Healing set gets the longcoat ensemble currently used by the Anamnesis Casting set, albeit spiced up with the Bogatyr Aimingset's snazzy hat and a longkilt. And finally, the Casting set gets the longcoat formerly used by the Anamnesis Healing set, paired with a combination of the Plague Bringer/Doctor's beak mask and the Red/Ghost/Lost Thief's fancy little hat.

Next up on the list is one early into Endwalker, the Manusya set, gained from the Tower of Zot. Granted, it IS a pretty nice-looking set, and the black and purple make it look snazzybut it's a straight color swap of the Bonewicca Set found in the Swallow's Compass with no switch-ups between classes, which, as far as I'm concerned, is a big fat waste.

So, in order to fix that, I suggest borrowing from a few other such gearsets, keeping the 'sweeping, tattered cloth' look going: the Void Ark and Yafaemi sets, the Demon set and hats from the Shadowless and Nomad sets, but don't expect much of either of those here.

So, let's begin. For Fending, there's the Void Ark Healing/Casting set, paired with a skirt ala the Void Ark Fending or Demon's Healing/Casting skirts and rounded out with the Nomad's Maiming hat. Maiming gets a version of the Void Ark Aiming/Scouting set, perhaps also with a skirt and the Yafaemi Striking/Scouting headpiece. For Striking, the switch is to the Yafaemi Fending/Maiming set, paired with a Void Ark Fending skirt and a snazzy Void Ark Aiming/Scouting hat. For Scouting, the set suggested is the Void Ark Striking set, paired with the Yafaemi Maiming headpiece. For Aiming, there's the Yafaemi Scouting/Striking set, switched up with the Void Ark Striking headpiece and the Demon Striking boots and perhaps one of said set's shoulder guards too. For Healing, I'd suggest a simple switch to the Manusya Maiming set, paired with a skirt ala the Demon's Casting/Healing set and the Shadowless Fending set's crowned veil. And finally, for Casting, there's a simple move to the Manusya Aiming set with the Void Ark Fending/Maiming helm.

And finally, we come to the Ktiseos set, gained from Ktisis Hyperborea, a few dungeons after the abovementioned. Now, I really like what this set does color-wise, as the dark colors and bright silver trim work REALLY well together and improves most every set...but as a PLD main, I'm bummed out that the Fending set is the most boring-looking of the lot, and in general, I'm annoyed that the set is just a no-class-switch recolor of the Shadowless set gained from the Heroes' Gauntlet, whose Fending set DOES look cool.

To solve this, and because I do really want a cool-looking version of this set, I propose we dip into a few different sets to help spice this up while at the same time letting a lot of Ktiseos stuff stay: the Elemental set, the Ronkan set, the Cryptlurker set, the Bonewicca set and various masks from other sets to switch it up a tad.

To start, for Fending, just switch it over to the Ktiseos Maiming set, maybe done up in dark green and silver instead of black and silver, with the Elemental Fending/Maiming set's shoulders and a glowing core on the chest, like the Casting/Healing sets have. For Maiming, in return, they switch over to the Shadowless Scouting set, with a mask that looks like the visor of the Cryptlurker's Elmo. For Striking, they could simply switch over to the Shadowless Aiming set paired with the Alexandrian Fending/Maiming mask. For Scouting, they get the Elemental Fending/Maiming set with the Shadowless Fending skirt, the Shadowless Fending/Maiming set's shoulders and a variation of Phlegethon's Mask. For Aiming, they get make the switch to the Ronkan Healing/Casting set, with a variation of the Scaevan Healing/Casting mask and a glowing chest core, as always. For Healing, they get the Elemental Healing/Casting set in darker colors, minus the high collar and paired with the Cryptlurker's Maiming/Healing/Aiming hooded helm. And for Casting, they get a two-sleeved variation of the Bonewicca Protector set, paired with the Ronkan Casting masked hood.

Admittedly, most of this comes from a Fending user's standpoint, so odds are I may not have done the other sets as much justice(though I tried to!). If anyone here has suggestions on how to liven it all up, please, feel free to state them!