New 50 Maelstrom Dragoon seeking Gear/Materia advice

So far, this is all I know:
-350STR/310PIE
-Chest Piece melded with as much PIE as I can fit.
-Felt Bracers with as much STR as I can fit.

However, what about the rest of the gear? Can anyone give me some ideas on the gear I should get and the materia I should meld to these pieces?

Please list some general variations, both "common" items and expensive items so I can get something right away and work up to the real prizes.

If you want to hit 350/310, you generally need gloves with 40+ STR, a body with 30+ PIE, legs with 20+ STR, and HQ accessories. Storm Bracelet, Earring, Legs and Weapon would be a really good set to aim for IMO, until you get higher STR legs. Other gear would be Paragons Crown, AF Feet, Veterans/Scarlet waist. You can also substitute STR legs with Militia Subligar and change your accessories accordingly. The only "expensive" piece of gear you could get is a Darksteel Haubergon, everything else is pretty cheap if you aren't counting melds.

Good grief. DRG really needs that many triple-melds?

I keep hearing conflicting info on gearing...Apparently stat caps change depending on weapon damage or DPS. I have no idea what to gear for anymore. I use Giantsgall currently with +16 STR and hit (350 STR) with food and just shy of 310 PIE, but people telling me with Giants you don't need that high of stats....don't know what to believe anymore.

i'll tell u my gear setup for capping its easy but consumes time and patience and much more better than the ones ur seeing on the forums i believe though u will be sacrificing ACC and AP
it has two flame gear so idk how u would pass that so
Flame lit lance
Rainmakers tunic (35 pie triple tier3)
drachen armet
Felt gaskins or kecks (x2 STR/VIT 8/8 must be 8/8 both of them)
Felt bracers (34+ STR double tier4)
Veteran Belt
x2 STR rings HQ
PIE braclet HQ
Flame sergeant jackboots +10 pie
neckless and earrings is ur choice

with this kind of gear u can get 350STR 303 PIE with food 310 pie (stuffed cabbage its good)

and never in ur entire life get that armet off cuz its a nice buff for ur critcs doom spikes and chaos thrusts

Well I'm not in the Flames so those PIE boots are out of the question. But getting the STR I need wont be an issue.

Thanks for giving me a gear list and recommending the helmet. I'll shoot for that kind of setup and work from there. Thanks. However, if anyone else has anything they'd like to add, I'm willing to listen!

Really hate to be this guy, but the last 5 or so threads are all about gear, caps, stats, and weapons.

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Originally Posted by Silvano

Really hate to be this guy, but the last 5 or so threads are all about gear, caps, stats, and weapons.

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I know. I read them. They didn't help.

Well I managed to get 345 STR and 293 PIE with just double-melds.

This is as good as I can get without Darklight or Triple-melds.

That's good enough, you can eat food/potions to reach cap. Congratulations!

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Originally Posted by Silvano

Really hate to be this guy, but the last 5 or so threads are all about gear, caps, stats, and weapons.

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Like Kagato said, the last 5 threads have very conflicting and often outdated info. Nothing more dangerous then bad (in this case old) data.

Storm Lt Trident
Tort Scale Mail with a total of 37 PIE
Scarlet Sash
Felt trousers with +20 STR (Until I get the paints with PIE in them. This is leftovers from WAR)
Cobalt Sollerets
Felt Bracers +23 STR
Storm Earring
Storm Bracelet
Electrum Necklace
Rubelite Ring +1 x2
Stuffed Cabbage

With the Storm Lt, you only need 338/300. If you want to be anal, those numbers may be off 5 points or so. After that, pump Attack Power.

Giant compilation of everything we know thus far, with links included. IF you don't trust these testers, figure it out yourself.

Edit: As for stat caps, well. There's a link somewhere to a spreadsheet that has it all laid out for you, and since I know the people who did the work, and I've seen the results in-game, well, I trust it. With Ifrit's Harpoon and 330/302, I outDPS monks on miser 8/10 times, and am in the top 2 9/10 times.

Ifrit: 330/300
Garuda: 350/310
Gae Bolg: 380/325
These are rough estimates, if you want the exact numbers do your own testing; I count myself lucky I know them.

Due to no THF being in the game :( in which i was sad about i decided to go end game DRG.now here is my opinion in what you should be wearing as a DRG. Im am going to start off by saying DRG hands,body and legs should be a combination between double melded gear/ GC gear. I have seen some DRG wear 5 peices of GC gear to get the full effect of all the GC gear at once.Now my GC is Limsa,and i decided to only wear 3 GC peices of armor which are 1)Storm Sergeants Hose 2)Storm Sergeant's Earrings 3)Storm Sergeant's Bracelets. I am currently trying to double meld a Tortoisescale Mail+ 1(Maximum of +47PIE) and have failed twice already,id be happy settling with 40+ on the body.Now the best body out currently imo is the Darksteele Haubergeon but being that is so dam pricey n expensive even the materials cost more than the armor that i wouldnt bother attempting the double meld on that peice unless u have a great amount of gil to spend after each failed double meld\triple meld.As for my hands i am wearing Cobalt Mittens(maximum of STR+43) but mine are STR+37 which is close enough.Some ppl use Felt Bracers but imo i wouldnt waste the time,the Cobalt already has STR+3 on it before the melding process so why not.As for DRG Feet&Head dont bother getting melded gear as Darklight Armor is the best for DRG at this moment.As for DRG weapon aside from most using the Ifrit Polearm,which has att+30 and fire resistance+10 i think,its 2nd highest dmg polearm at 151 i think.if u want att+ then go for it,as for me i have some gear thats att+ in the jewelry department along with 2 Rubelite Rings+1 thateach give STR+18 for a total of STR+36.i did not use ifrit polearm for my main weapon instead i currenly have a Giantstale Trident(drop from Skirmish) with a lvl3 STR+15 meld.i am aiming to double meld this with STR+30 something overall.You can put either double meld STR or PIE or a combination of both on the weapon so its ur choice.Overall i went with base stats as my focus was STR+>>PIE+>>att+.My STR currently without food and all the gear that i mentioned above and aside from the double melds i havent finished yet i am at STR377 and PIE 276.When my double melded gear process and Darklight Armor and everythin is all set ill be at STR420 PIE318 ^^.hope this helps my friend

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Originally Posted by Gidonoidon_Sur

I keep hearing conflicting info on gearing...Apparently stat caps change depending on weapon damage or DPS. I have no idea what to gear for anymore. I use Giantsgall currently with +16 STR and hit (350 STR) with food and just shy of 310 PIE, but people telling me with Giants you don't need that high of stats....don't know what to believe anymore.

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imo my friend all the nonsense in the forums of "stat caps" and etc currently means nothing to me,i will go all out on base stats as much as i can because sooner or later the level cap is going to increase anyways,i honestly read 1 sentence in the forums in regarding "stat cap" and i clicked out the page.its an opinion based on experiments by others currently but,everyone experimenting and everyone who is not knows that the level cap is going to increase sooner or later

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Originally Posted by Silvano

With the Storm Lt, you only need 338/300. If you want to be anal, those numbers may be off 5 points or so. After that, pump Attack Power.

Giant compilation of everything we know thus far, with links included. IF you don't trust these testers, figure it out yourself.

Edit: As for stat caps, well. There's a link somewhere to a spreadsheet that has it all laid out for you, and since I know the people who did the work, and I've seen the results in-game, well, I trust it. With Ifrit's Harpoon and 330/302, I outDPS monks on miser 8/10 times, and am in the top 2 9/10 times.

Ifrit: 330/300
Garuda: 350/310
Gae Bolg: 380/325
These are rough estimates, if you want the exact numbers do your own testing; I count myself lucky I know them.

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Could I trouble you for the "anal" stats? I want to make sure I hit the true caps before I pile on +ATK. I have no intention of getting Garuda's beak since many people here have said the Storm Lt Trident is equal to or better than Garuda's Beak.

Now if that's absolutely, positively, 100% false, please let me know now.

I do intend to go after Gae Bolg, but not anytime soon. I'd rather get my DRG at the best stats possible for a Storm Trident.

Based on my current stats, I'd be at exactly 338STR and 293(300 w/ food)PIE. But if I need more, I need to know now since I still can change some gear around, such as my pants and jewelry.

I get to 352/295 with food, one triple meld, one double meld and one single meld. No GC gear. With DL Caligae i'd hit 310 PIE. My gear is:

DL Eyepatch (no STR or PIE)
Darksteel Haub +1 with 25 PIE (single meld)
Felt Bracers +1 with 50 STR (triple meld)
Raptorskin Subligar with 15 PIE (double meld), Militia Sub is even better if u can get it with 5 more PIE and some Crit
Explorer's Moccasins (no STR or PIE), again Darklight is kind of needed here if you don't have lots of PIE on body
Explorer's Belt (no STR or PIE)
HQ STR+18 Ringsx2
HQ STR+4 Bracelets
7 more PIE from Jerked Beef
Ear and neck is Attack/Accuracy

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Originally Posted by Kagato

Could I trouble you for the "anal" stats? I want to make sure I hit the true caps before I pile on +ATK. I have no intention of getting Garuda's beak since many people here have said the Storm Lt Trident is equal to or better than Garuda's Beak.

Now if that's absolutely, positively, 100% false, please let me know now.

I do intend to go after Gae Bolg, but not anytime soon. I'd rather get my DRG at the best stats possible for a Storm Trident.

Based on my current stats, I'd be at exactly 338STR and 293(300 w/ food)PIE. But if I need more, I need to know now since I still can change some gear around, such as my pants and jewelry.

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I just meant they may not be exact; in fact, I don't think anyone can be truly exact ^^; What we know is what I already shared:
Ifrit: 330/300 (328/292 by my cohort's testing)
Garuda: 350/310
Gae Bolg: 380/325

Gear being the way it is and testing being the way it is, you'd probably be okay at 346/307 on Garuda's Beak, etc. Just saying it would be rather difficult to know the exact caps. A different cohort tried to make an algorithm for it so we know all weapon caps, and the closest we can get is 338/300 on the Lt. Spear. With the high base damage and attack power buff without needing 5 flame pieces, (on paper) the best spear in the game next to Gae Bolg is the Flame Lieutenant's Spear, but by such a slim margin I doubt it would be noticed that one was better or worse than the other. If you could squeeze out 338/300 and be using the explorer's ring, its definitely better because you get that extra 15 attack power.


I would really just stick to Ifrit's; I converted several members of my LS and server already after seeing my results in-game, just as I was converted by my friend showing me how much damage he did more than the next guy.

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Originally Posted by Riv

I get to 352/295 with food, one triple meld, one double meld and one single meld. No GC gear. With DL Caligae i'd hit 310 PIE. My gear is:

DL Eyepatch (no STR or PIE)
Darksteel Haub +1 with 25 PIE (single meld)
Felt Bracers +1 with 50 STR (triple meld)
Raptorskin Subligar with 15 PIE (double meld), Militia Sub is even better if u can get it with 5 more PIE and some Crit
Explorer's Moccasins (no STR or PIE), again Darklight is kind of needed here if you don't have lots of PIE on body
Explorer's Belt (no STR or PIE)
HQ STR+18 Ringsx2
HQ STR+4 Bracelets
7 more PIE from Jerked Beef
Ear and neck is Attack/Accuracy

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just a small tip to increase ur Pie higher
1-Get rid of the STR ring get a PIE ring HQ
2-get rid of that subligar its not helping much btw
3-try to double meld a 8/8 or more no less STR/VIT or STR/DEX to Felt kecks or gaskins
and u would get 350 STR - 302 Piety

that would close u off to caps
but am seeing alot of Crit rate gears hmmmm why? i mean dont u get some troubles with bosses with acc?

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Originally Posted by Silvano

With the Storm Lt, you only need 338/300. If you want to be anal, those numbers may be off 5 points or so. After that, pump Attack Power.

Giant compilation of everything we know thus far, with links included. IF you don't trust these testers, figure it out yourself.

Edit: As for stat caps, well. There's a link somewhere to a spreadsheet that has it all laid out for you, and since I know the people who did the work, and I've seen the results in-game, well, I trust it. With Ifrit's Harpoon and 330/302, I outDPS monks on miser 8/10 times, and am in the top 2 9/10 times.

Ifrit: 330/300
Garuda: 350/310
Gae Bolg: 380/325
These are rough estimates, if you want the exact numbers do your own testing; I count myself lucky I know them.

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Funny that in the link you posted those are clearly for ifrit weapons, since is based on the tests both seiken and kaeko did, can you provide the raw data your friends/testers confirming all those caps for the different weapons?

Also with my gear and food i get 369 str and 314 pie and when i passed from garudas beak to gae bolg i didnt really see that much of a difference on ws dmg, as your caps suggest i should have, except for crits.
oh and if i use paragons crowns over DL eyepatch i get 379 str and 324 pie, from the very small test i did and actually just eyeballed t one, didnt see much difference in ws dmg, need to test more though to be sure.

So would just like to see those raw data to be sure of those caps you listed {If you would be so kind.}

Tachi Koma also tested the Garuda's Beak and foud a cap at 358 STR / 315 PIE...

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Originally Posted by ShadowCadja

Funny that in the link you posted those are clearly for ifrit weapons, since is based on the tests both seiken and kaeko did, can you provide the raw data your friends/testers confirming all those caps for the different weapons?

Also with my gear and food i get 369 str and 314 pie and when i passed from garudas beak to gae bolg i didnt really see that much of a difference on ws dmg, as your caps suggest i should have, except for crits.
oh and if i use paragons crowns over DL eyepatch i get 379 str and 324 pie, from the very small test i did and actually just eyeballed t one, didnt see much difference in ws dmg, need to test more though to be sure.

So would just like to see those raw data to be sure of those caps you listed {If you would be so kind.}

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I did not do those tests, so sorry can't do that for ya, or I would. I got this information from colleague#1 in game who has outparsed pretty much every setup you could imagine, using these numbers.

I will say, though, that colleague#2 switched back from 328/292 to 350/310 for Ifrit on his spreadsheet two weeks ago, but I have not been able to corner him and figure out why. Something may have changed again in 1.23; it wouldn't be the first time mechanics got shifted.

Edit: His sample sheet that changed two weeks ago also has Gae Bolg capping lower than Ifrit...grr I wish he played the same times I do ><

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Originally Posted by Gael

Tachi Koma also tested the Garuda's Beak and foud a cap at 358 STR / 315 PIE...

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This is more what I think Beak is probably like

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Originally Posted by Silvano

I did not do those tests, so sorry can't do that for ya, or I would. I got this information from colleague#1 in game who has outparsed pretty much every setup you could imagine, using these numbers.

I will say, though, that colleague#2 switched back from 328/292 to 350/310 for Ifrit on his spreadsheet two weeks ago, but I have not been able to corner him and figure out why. Something may have changed again in 1.23; it wouldn't be the first time mechanics got shifted.

Edit: His sample sheet that changed two weeks ago also has Gae Bolg capping lower than Ifrit...grr I wish he played the same times I do ><

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So we can agree is better to not state what the caps supposedly "are" and end probably spreading misinformation until actual proof is shown by someone? ^^;

Once again, I was shown actual proof in game, and several people who do testing on this forum agreed with me. If things aren't like that anymore, well, I'm sorry its not like that anymore. But it used to be. I saw an increase on my damage dropping 20str and pie to boost attack power, crit attack power, and crit rate (with Ifrit). I'm not going to sit down and test for hours, again, to prove it. For a long while, I've been one of a very few who was actually doing testing and asking others in-game about caps, at least doing it and sharing my findings.

Anyway, I'm going to keep doing what I do, and I'm pretty sure I've helped a lot more people than I've....hurt I guess?...but that's fine. I'll stop posting my findings, I'm sure you have it exactly right. Please post all of your raw data supporting your claim, comparing a gearset with Ifrit's at 330/300 (I'm rounding) and 350/310 (or 350/310 and 358/315 if you support Tachi's Garuda caps). Edit: I am still trying to get in touch with my colleague to see if it is 350/310 on Ifrit or not; I do want to know if I'm wrong, but no one has posted in the DRG forums the data to show me otherwise, yet.

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Originally Posted by Silvano

Once again, I was shown actual proof in game, and several people who do testing on this forum agreed with me. If things aren't like that anymore, well, I'm sorry its not like that anymore. But it used to be. I saw an increase on my damage dropping 20str and pie to boost attack power, crit attack power, and crit rate (with Ifrit). I'm not going to sit down and test for hours, again, to prove it. For a long while, I've been one of a very few who was actually doing testing and asking others in-game about caps, at least doing it and sharing my findings.

Anyway, I'm going to keep doing what I do, and I'm pretty sure I've helped a lot more people than I've....hurt I guess?...but that's fine. I'll stop posting my findings, I'm sure you have it exactly right. Please post all of your raw data supporting your claim, comparing a gearset with Ifrit's at 330/300 (I'm rounding) and 350/310 (or 350/310 and 358/315 if you support Tachi's Garuda caps).

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I never said i've raw data or that i have done extensive testing, all i asked was for the data that confirmed those caps you said cause doesnt make sense that a increase of 1 dps increases the caps by nearly 30 on each stat and also since when i changed from beak to gae bolg not noticing that HUGE increase in dmg that the +19 str and +4 pie i have in my gear that goes 'over' the cap on beak that you stated was should've made.

But like you said in the other thread, this is the internet, cant really trust someone stating stuff without showing any proof(recent at least).

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Originally Posted by ShadowCadja

So we can agree is better to not state what the caps supposedly "are" and end probably spreading misinformation until actual proof is shown by someone? ^^;

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How about applying that to arguing what the caps are without your own data or links to data? (Sorry, a tad rude, but I read it as a rude post ._.)

I'm trying to get the data to prove that you are right (or wrong), because I want to know. I wish I had the data that supports my caps because I know people want to see it, but I am not the one who did that testing. If you want to go by the most recent data on the internet, yeah, the guy that built the spreadsheet is back to 350/310 on Ifrit (clicking on any google doc link in that thread is relatively moot since he has updated it, though there is a change log now on his most recent one where you can see when he shifted the stats back). I want to know the why of it before I switch back, since all this happened in roughly the last month. If it is back to 350/310, fine, I still have that gear. Theories change and get improved, now show me the data; I like seeing the numbers and tests :D.

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Originally Posted by Silvano

How about applying that to arguing what the caps are without your own data or links to data? (Sorry, a tad rude, but I read it as a rude post ._.)

I'm trying to get the data to prove that you are right (or wrong), because I want to know. I wish I had the data that supports my caps because I know people want to see it, but I am not the one who did that testing. If you want to go by the most recent data on the internet, yeah, the guy that built the spreadsheet is back to 350/310 on Ifrit (clicking on any google doc link in that thread is relatively moot since he has updated it, though there is a change log now on his most recent one where you can see when he shifted the stats back). I want to know the why of it before I switch back, since all this happened in roughly the last month. If it is back to 350/310, fine, I still have that gear. Theories change and get improved, now show me the data; I like seeing the numbers and tests :D.

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Wasnt meant to be rude, just a bit tired of seeing people in these forums stating stuff without any proof and then people just end up spreading misinformation, i also i'm curious to know the caps or else i wouldn't be here discussing this lol I could try doing some tests but both my mnk and drg ifrit/garuda were turned into shitty materia =<

Well, now that unintended rudeness is out of the way (communicating via text is great, isn't it? :D /sarcasm), I should know here in a day or so why he changed back to 350/310; I was looking at my personal copy of the google doc and remembered he had to share it with me, so I have his e-mail address lol.

Got an e-mail:

Yeah I've been busy with RL and GW2. I probably won't go back to work on the sheet or FF14 for awhile, at the very least until after ARR, if even then.

I adjusted the logarithmic curve based off of testing from a couple of sources on lower-level items (well lower DPS items not necessarily lower level items), one test specifically from the GLA/PLD forums in regards to sword caps is what got me started on looking at it. Ultimately it looked like the logarithmic curve was slightly more accurate - but in all honesty I didn't play with it for long. From everything I tell with all the data I've looked at, each weapon type has a slightly different curve, so there isn't going to be a curve that works for everything. It's also weird to be a curve, as essentially very little in the game is actually based off of any curves - they're generally linear but with diminishing returns or caps. I'm even inclined to believe the stat caps are actually a hidden-value/attribute on the weapon that's entered within a forced range based on wDPS - I don't have much hard evidence to back that theory, other than the fact that I basically could not find a single logical calculation for the stat cap despite considering every visible variable attribute on a weapon. I even tried to apply 'adjustment' variables, work with single weapon types, and I couldn't get a calculation that worked. That's probably in large part due to the absolutely tiny sample size of known stat-caps we have and my weakness in math more than it actually being a 'hidden attribute,' but it's not out of the question either.

I ended up essentially locking the sheets and letting the community do with them as they pleased from here on out. I hope that someone takes another stab at it with what I started, since I think between the two of us we laid some good ground work (I never thought it was more than a good ground work). The sheet was not generally well received despite being based on what little we know (and repeated admissions that it was generally a framework and not a final project); and the community at large couldn't understand the sheet - especially it's subjective parts. I understand that they want a list of what's a best weapon, but the math simply doesn't work like that; not to mention the limited data we have make it virtually impossible to know all the variables. The sheet seemed to be largely ineffectual at removing a lot of standard myths about which weapon was best as well - with the community continuing to rely solely on opinion rather than fact. That's not something I'm surprised by form the FF14 community though, if not for a handful of exceptionally talented and vocal players in FF11m the community there would have ended up the same. Those players were far more math oriented and thorough than my RL would ever allow for, or my mathematical aptitude would for that matter.

Anyways, in short I'm probably not going to be messing with it for awhile. I was initially looking for some collaborators and didn't even intend for the project to hit lodestone when it did - but it's out there now so whatever.

So yeah, still in the dark. Someone, show me the data!