Recommended Upgrade Path - i170 vs. i180 Red Scrips Gear?

Hi All,

So it seems like the last couple small patches' adjustments are what we'll be getting for now for the whole Red Scrips & Favors System. Given that:

* What's everyone's recommended Upgrade Path for Crafting & Gathering Gear for i180 Red Scrips vs. i170 Crafted (Favors) Gear?

My gut feeling from the first day they announced this ridiculous grind was that even if you slog through it, Tier V Materia (for hitting all Max Caps) isn't feasible right now. Even if it gets introduced in 3.1, Tier V Materia will take weeks if not months to stabilize and drop down in price, right?

Given that, should we just get i180 Main Hand and Full Sets of i180? Or?

I also don't feel like getting i170 to meld them with "Less Than Max" Materia. Sure it's an upgrade, but it feels like a waste of money if you know the True Caps require Tier V, and you'll end up re-melding later on.

Thanks for the help!

Head, hands, legs, feet and rings can be max melded without Tier 5 materia. The other accessories can be almost max melded without tier 5 (short 3 craft). It's really only body, offhand and mainhand that require tier 5 to get close to their max potential. Offhand is significantly better even if you don't meld it at all.

I'm just getting the 180 gear for now, as I'm not fond of the investment required to make and meld the 170 pieces when there's nothing we can craft once that's done anyway. When prices come down for materials and the like, I'll look into getting some of the 170 stuff, if for nothing else than the ability to dye the sets.

i170 left hand side (hat, gloves, legs, boots) can be fully upgraded with tier IV materias, altho it will likely be expensive. Chest cant be fully maxed. i170 MH requires rather big melds to even be on par with the i180.

Theres no i180 OH tool or accessories, those are crafted only.


If you simply want a large stats upgrade, then the best upgrade to make would be the OH, which provides the largest upgrade (more then the MH tool does).If you dont want to spend your tokens on crafting (or cant obtain favor materials), then the i180 MH tool is the best thing to upgrade first.

I would suggest i170 gear. If you have already fully melded your i150 gear then the i180 gear is only minor upgrade and a cp lost on many pieces. While the i170 pieces can be melded about the i150 gear with more significant upgrades. Get that SB on! :) #voidnutsaretheworst

Which path you choose depends entirely on how quickly you want to gear your DoH classes. The i180s should be fine as far as stats go, but it takes around 9 weeks for a full set of gear. I170 gear is faster to obtain, but the tradeoff is that they require far more work as well as some materia melds. Fortunately, most pieces do not require an overly large amount of melds to at least match the stats of the equivalent i180 piece.

If you're worried about tier v materia, you could simply grab the i180 mainhand and/or chest, and then craft the rest of the pieces.

Thanks all for the great suggestions! :)

Yah, at this point I'm leaning towards the Off Hand Crafted (there is no choice for this slot), for the big upgrade over the 150. And then maybe 180 Main Hand, since there's no way to cap 170 right now without Tier Vs.

Does anyone have a link to what the Max Meld Caps are for i170 gear?

Thanks!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MeridaQ

While the i170 pieces can be melded about the i150 gear with more significant upgrades. Get that SB on! :)

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Hi Merida and All,

From other threads, is the best way to Spiritbond Crafting Gear (for Crafting Materia) to:

* Buy Moghome NPC Crafting Gear - use them in place of all the pieces that don't have Gathering stat on them (so you don't nerf yourself?) on your Gatherer's normal set.
* Meld them with junk materia.
* Gather in The Churning Mists to Spiritbond it?
* Or do you run certain 3.0 Dungeons for faster Spiritbonding?

Thanks!

http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/Weaver

I craft the 45-50 accessories, meld them with cheap materia and spiritbond while doing favors. I'm sure the moghome stuff would work fine too though. You'd want the crafting stuff to get crafting materia though. You just take the hit on your stats.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kiara

Hi Merida and All,

From other threads, is the best way to Spiritbond Crafting Gear (for Crafting Materia) to:

* Buy Moghome NPC Crafting Gear - use them in place of all the pieces that don't have Gathering stat on them (so you don't nerf yourself?) on your Gatherer's normal set.
* Meld them with junk materia.
* Gather in The Churning Mists to Spiritbond it?


Thanks!

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If you have access to level 56+ gathering, then that is your best option for spiritbonding. You dont have to use the +gathering items in left side either, but it will take a little longer to spiritbond if you go with all crafting items. (as you will miss more often) That part is entirely up to you.

An alternative for spiritbonding (I don't know if it is better or worse, just what I have done lol). I make (though you could buy of course) gathering gear and go mine cloud mica until the gathering gear is done then I make crafting gear and quick synth cloud mica whetstones til the crafting gear is done.