Tank Gear becoming Obsolete

So, I'm about to buy Heavensward (yay me) and I just have all this gear....like I legit spent most of my time in FFXIV farming those allegan things to get my augmented gear. I even spent some time getting my gold making DOH up to 40 so I could meld materia onto rings. But...since I'm getting Heavensward, how quickly will I be able to obtain my next gear? I'm not knocking the time I spent getting all this gear, I'm just trying to see how fast I can expect to obtain better gear as soon as I start Heavensward content. Kinda sad to see all that gear though. xD

If you do all the MSQ and sidequests, you'll get HQ versions of the crafted gear (which I highly recommend for anyone playing it through the first time--story is excellent, imho). If you have the augmented ironworks Magitek stuff, that'll put you at 130, a threshold that is really only passed once you get above level 55--and when you consider the stat budgets of blue gear versus green and HQ white gear, you could conceivably hold off on upgrading until level 57-58. The augmented Ironworks Magitek gear is good to fill the gaps (I remember hurting for jewelry), but you should have your weapon and your left-side gear replaced before you get to 60.

I'll do a stat comparison later to confirm, but really, when you're leveling, it shouldn't matter too much.

i130 will last you about 4-5 levels I think. It has a bit of staying power so you didn't waste your time, but don't be scared to replace it when better stuff drops.

Main quest and a lot of sidequests from HW give you full sets of HQ gears for lv 52, 54, 56, 58 except accessories (they only give some, but not full sets of 5 accessories), if you have augmented ironworks gears (ilv 130) they're better than lv 50-54 gears from these quests, so you should only consider the lv 56-68 gears to replace your ironworks gears.

I'd recommend keeping them until lv 58 since the HQ lv 58 set which puts you at avg ilv of 145, just enough to start doing some of the lv 60 roulette dungeons. You can sell the other HQ gears from quests, they sell for a decent amount of money, which can be saved for when you want to start working for the lv 60 relic weapon or for end game gears materia melding.

As far as dungeon greens are concerned,
Lv51 gear is 120
Lv53 gear is 130
Lv55 gear is 136
Lv57 gear is 142


So a set of augmented ironworks will last you at least until 55. Anything you pick up before that can go to glamour, seals, or alt jobs.

The gear progression of HW is fairly spaced out. Unless you are absolutely committed grinding the dungeons until you get a full set, you'll still be using your ironworks gear until well into HW, especially if it's augmented.

When I ran the HW dungeons on my primary, I was basically power leveling. I hardly ever stopped for new gear unless I needed to bump up my average item level to the minimum required number for the next dungeon. So, by the time I got to the level 57 dungeon I was still wearing some of my augmented ironworks stuff. I had to be a little more conscientious of my pull sizes and defensive buffs, but it was totally doable. Even the weapons have a pretty healthy lifespan. I had a Zeta Relic, at the time, and my custom stats were still better than most of the HW weapons for most of the leveling content.

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Originally Posted by Februs

I hardly ever stopped for new gear unless I needed to bump up my average item level to the minimum required number for the next dungeon.

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The 51 through 59 dungeons don't have an iLv requirement, so one could go into the 59 dungeon with a full 130 set and still be better geared than a lot of the tanks I've seen in there. It's not the most responsible thing to do, though.

The Lv60 dungeon has a 142 requirement, so one will want to pick up gear from the 55, 57, and 59 dungeons and quests if one doesn't want to have to grind/craft/shop later.

I was in the same situation. As I recall, any Augmented Ironworks gear will last you until you start getting the level 56 HQ gear from the quests. After that, there are a few dungeons you'll have to run to get drops for ilevel gate requirements.

I would like to say that you'll enjoy Heavensward if you're the type to put in time and spam content. ARR + HW will ALWAYS give you something to do and something to aim for. You'll dig the music, too, if you're into that.

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Originally Posted by Rongway

As far as dungeon greens are concerned,
Lv51 gear is 120
Lv53 gear is 130
Lv55 gear is 136
Lv57 gear is 142


So a set of augmented ironworks will last you at least until 55. Anything you pick up before that can go to glamour, seals, or alt jobs.

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It can last a bit longer than that since blues have better stats than greens. 58 is where I felt like I was falling behind.

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Originally Posted by Falar

It can last a bit longer than that since blues have better stats than greens. 58 is where I felt like I was falling behind.

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Uh... what? No they don't. They have the same amount of stats.

http://i.imgur.com/lWwTMMM.png

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Originally Posted by Rongway

The 51 through 59 dungeons don't have an iLv requirement, so one could go into the 59 dungeon with a full 130 set and still be better geared than a lot of the tanks I've seen in there. It's not the most responsible thing to do, though.

The Lv60 dungeon has a 142 requirement, so one will want to pick up gear from the 55, 57, and 59 dungeons and quests if one doesn't want to have to grind/craft/shop later.

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Exactly right. The level 60 dungeon was the only one that really forced me to stop and actually hunt for some higher item level gear; though, I don't think I had much Ironworks left in my kit at that point except maybe a couple of accessories to swap out and then I was good to go. Either way, I didn't feel particularly pressured in the lower leveled gear. It was all pretty straight forward stuff.

That said ... Another thing to consider is the gear discrepancy between the Tank and the rest of the party. When I first played through HW, everyone was roughly around the same Item level. Nowadays, however, it's very likely that a fresh Tank will run into Dps or Healers who out-gear them by a VERY large margin. That discrepancy could make holding aggro a bit more difficult for a tank who's still in item Ironworks or Dreadwyrm gear. I'd still say that the ironworks will do the job for the majority of the content, but They should definitely be looking for better pieces as they go, or they could end up having enmity troubles when they run into item level 200+ players.

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Originally Posted by Februs

When I first played through HW, everyone was roughly around the same Item level. Nowadays, however, it's very likely that a fresh Tank will run into Dps or Healers who out-gear them by a VERY large margin. That discrepancy could make holding aggro a bit more difficult for a tank who's still in item Ironworks or Dreadwyrm gear. I'd still say that the ironworks will do the job for the majority of the content, but They should definitely be looking for better pieces as they go, or they could end up having enmity troubles when they run into item level 200+ players.

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There is ilvl sync

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Originally Posted by Nezerius

Uh... what? No they don't. They have the same amount of stats.

http://i.imgur.com/lWwTMMM.png

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That is weird. When I played through (as a tank) I remember not really upgrading until the LV56-58 gear because while some of the stuff given by quests before that had better stats in some areas there were tradeoffs in others.

If my memory is right I didn't really "need" better gear till after the 55-56, but as quest/sid-quests/few dungeon drops had given me better gear by then it never really was an issue (if u plan to lv all tanks I would sujest keeping the ilv130 (lv50 equipe reg) gear for later... like I wish I had but Poetic drop like rain with lv50 roullete so meh)

I can agree with others as I only replaced my Zeta for Vault due to slight Arrgo problems in Avery (which was for a sword droped from Avery & only for attack power its sub stats semi-sucked in comparison to custom Zeta)

I'd just make sure you fully upgrade your gear by the time you go to the Vault (level 57).

Healing a tank in Dreadwyrm/Ironworks in there is kind of a pain in the ass.

Starting at 53, the tank gear from dungeons will have better secondary stats than the Ironworks gear, so feel free to roll Need on any Woad Skyraider (and higher) stuff you see without any guilt. There's no need to farm a full set from each dungeon, though. You said that your accessories were crafted (I dunno which set) but depending on which ones they are you might want to look at the stats of the stuff available and compare them. Currently as a tank VIT>STR, and just about any secondary>Parry.

That said, please keep in mind that many of those commenting are sharing their experiences leveling in HW at its release, when everyone else was leveling as well. Now you will be seeing a lot of level 60 DPS and Healers who are in your dungeon as a roulette, and their synced gear poses a challenge in keeping enmity, so do you best to keep your gear up without either breaking the bank or farming more than you really want to.

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Originally Posted by AriKitae

Starting at 53, the tank gear from dungeons will have better secondary stats than the Ironworks gear, so feel free to roll Need on any Woad Skyraider (and higher) stuff you see without any guilt. There's no need to farm a full set from each dungeon, though.

That said, please keep in mind that many of those commenting are sharing their experiences leveling in HW at its release, when everyone else was leveling as well. Now you will be seeing a lot of level 60 DPS and Healers who are in your dungeon as a roulette, and their synced gear poses a challenge in keeping enmity, so do you best to keep your gear up without either breaking the bank or farming more than you really want to.

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This was me when I first got to the Aetherochemical Research Facility. Me and my Halonic Inquisitor's Greatsword were struggling against all the i200+ gear.

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Originally Posted by AriKitae

Now you will be seeing a lot of level 60 DPS and Healers who are in your dungeon as a roulette, and their synced gear poses a challenge in keeping enmity, so do you best to keep your gear up without either breaking the bank or farming more than you really want to.

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Oh trust me, I never tank unless I have absolutely current gear. Shield Oath is fun but without gear, you have to work extra. I actually use to main white mage so that's what I'll be capping first. It's a of lot work no doubt, but I guess I gotta take farming in strides. But I do thank everyone for their advice; guess I just got a lot of leveling to do...one class at a time :3