DRK Knights and Esoterics First Item

It seems to be upgrading from ilvl180 chestpiece directly to Esoteric Chestpiece would yield more benefits to a DRK main tank as compared to upgrading from a Hive weapon to an Esoteric greatsword.

True, you lose 2 weapon damage but you get more armor and approximately 10+ more of STR and VIT.

Bonus points for being able to get it a week earlier.

Bonus bonus points for the Esoteric gear looking nicer than the Gordian ilvl190 gear.

If you already don't have a hive claymore though the choice does get harder.

I'm going weapon. Dps checks be everywhere.

Ah but you get it one week earlier so u can clear harder content earlier, and you get a decent more chunk of strength as you going up twenty ilvls instead of ten.

If you plan on doing Savage you should be buying the weapon.

Also if you are MT'ing as of right now you can tank AS1 and AS2 with 16.5k HP which is easily achievable with food and accessories.

If you aren't going to do savage, buy whatever you want.

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Originally Posted by Domnall

Ah but you get it one week earlier so u can clear harder content earlier, and you get a decent more chunk of strength as you going up twenty ilvls instead of ten.

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Nothing makes as big an impact on your damage than the weapon does. The +2 damage is kind of a big deal.

Each point of wepaon damage is equivilent to something like 8 of your main stat iirc. Which is why weapon first upgrade is always a prioirty.

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Originally Posted by nyttyn

Each point of wepaon damage is equivilent to something like 8 of your main stat iirc. Which is why weapon first upgrade is always a prioirty.

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If it's worth 8 main stat, you gain a total of 25 strength from the Weapon (from the i190 hive weapon: 2x8 from WD +9 raw strength).
The Chest will give you 25 as well (coming from i180).
The chest is a clear winner then, given the vit, defence and the fact you get it a week earlier.

(WD=8strength is sketchy at best, though. Clearly if it's worth 9 or more the weapon comes out ahead)

EDIT: Woops that's the 210 chest. The 200 is only 15 strength

I would posit chest/legs are better for both dps AND survivability per point of esoterics.

You can do a simple test. Compare law weapon + gordian chest/gloves vs hive weapon + law chest/gloves.

chest+1 that just me

Weapon first on every job, no exceptions.

If weapon damage is +8 STR like at 50 (and I'm pretty sure it's higher now), you're gaining over 25 STR and 11 VIT. i180 chest to i200 gives 15 STR and 19 VIT. Small amounts of VIT and defence don't matter since fights are all about cooldowns. Every little bit of extra DPS speeds up a fight, helps skip mechanics and helps beat enrage. Plus, people that were smart and planned out their Alexander normal drops should be getting the i190 chest this week and finishing up the drops next week, while a weapon is the only thing you can't get from there.

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Originally Posted by Rbstr

If it's worth 8 main stat, you gain a total of 25 strength from the Weapon (from the i190 hive weapon: 2x8 from WD +9 raw strength).
The Chest will give you 25 as well (coming from i180).
The chest is a clear winner then, given the vit, defence and the fact you get it a week earlier.

(WD=8strength is sketchy at best, though. Clearly if it's worth 9 or more the weapon comes out ahead)

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The 180 chest is +78, the 200 chest is +93.
That's a difference of 15 STR.

The 190 WPN is +92, the 200 WPN is +101
So yea that is +25, though the stat weights were 8.5 for WD before, so probably closer to +26.

So the weapon is probably significantly stronger offensively, but that's not taking into account the cost and defenses.

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Originally Posted by pandabearcat

I would posit chest/legs are better for both dps AND survivability per point of esoterics.

You can do a simple test. Compare law weapon + gordian chest/gloves vs hive weapon + law chest/gloves.

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That's not really a fair comparison though.
You're saying that since the weapon cost more we can compare two items to one, right?

But the Chest + Gloves for the 10 ilvl gain of both costs 1320 altogether, while the weapon only costs 990.
So unless you take that into account, you can't compare those two directly.

Uh, alex normal is 190...hive weapon is 190...it is disingenuous to allude to the fact that you cannot get a weapon in alex.

What IS true is that you should have all pieces complete by next week, if you did your drops correctly.

What is also true is that the weapon is the biggest single upgrade.

What is NOT necessarily true is that the weapon is the best upgrade per point of esoterics.

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Originally Posted by Launched

Weapon first on every job, no exceptions.

If weapon damage is +8 STR like at 50 (and I'm pretty sure it's higher now), you're gaining over 25 STR and 11 VIT. i180 chest to i200 gives 15 STR and 19 VIT. Small amounts of VIT and defence don't matter since fights are all about cooldowns. Every little bit of extra DPS speeds up a fight, helps skip mechanics and helps beat enrage. Plus, people that were smart and planned out their Alexander normal drops should be getting the i190 chest this week and finishing up the drops next week, while a weapon is the only thing you can't get from there.

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The OP states they have a 180 chest. You are probably either getting the chest or legs this week from Alex, but you couldn't get both.
That's the assumption we're under. If it's not the chest, you are probably still wearing a 180 legs (like I am, since I got the 190 chest).

But the weapon is only one slot, and a 190 weapon is easily more easily available since Ravana Ex can be farmed (no weekly lock).
Even if you're very unlucky, 10 kills and you have a 190.

That's why a 190 weapon can be assumed. While it can also be assumed people have a 180 chest or legs for the next 3 weeks or so.

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Originally Posted by Allyrion

The 180 chest is +78, the 200 chest is +93.
That's a difference of 15 STR.

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Yeah, I grabbed the 210 chest stats on accident there.

I'm pretty sure that weapon damage now is more than 8 STR. It was the case at 50, but with the level increase the scaling could have changed, like it has with VIT and HP.

Anyway, always go weapon first unless you're not raiding.

Stat weights for Drg atleast were updated and weapon dmg is worth like 10.6 str

/edit
http://puu.sh/jfXAI/ba00f6d037.png

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Originally Posted by Allyrion

That's not really a fair comparison though.
You're saying that since the weapon cost more we can compare two items to one, right?

But the Chest + Gloves for the 10 ilvl gain of both costs 1320 altogether, while the weapon only costs 990.
So unless you take that into account, you can't compare those two directly.

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Oo you're right, I had costs confused. You can test it then divide by the relative costs, I think I was going for being able to buy chest+gloves by 3rd week (as well as having chest 2nd week) is an advantage.

Weapon should be first for every job.

Went sword, since i dont have the hive sword yet (ive been slacking in that part) i just thought that would be the best upgrade, also its the most expensive piece, and looks awesome so there is just win-win situation in upgrading that first for me. I was sooo tempted to get chest watching other DRK's getting them last week. I don't regret waiting this long though. Now to save up for Chest and Leggins.

Weapon is too big to miss.

went chest, because at the time i was using an i170 chest (didn't bother upgrading). doesn't matter much anyway, because i have my hive weapon and in another week i'll be able to grab the sword.

Weapon. No Contest.

Those Dark Knight Knights tho