Quote Originally Posted by Skold View Post
You want to get the Hero ring & +1 your Curtana and Shield first. Valor Surcoat is a huge waste. Allagan body drops in T1. Get the Coronet next as it drops from T5.
While you can make a case for the Valor/Allagan Body, you lose points for suggesting the Hero Ring as an early upgrade. Upgrade from Hoplite Ring -> Hero is 7VIT, 5Acc, 3ACC. All this does is prolong your time till getting items that will have larger impact. Just as an example: Changing DL legs/feet combo into Valor Legs/Hoplite Feet. Net gain: 2DEF, 6STR, 8VIT, 4Parry, -8ACC, DET10. This changes further if you get Heavy Allagan Flanchard which is a Turn 1 drop. Not saying the Legs are best first purchase by any means, just using them as example to counter the Ring.

EDIT: Also, made error in original post about flash being reflected. Its actually reflected by the knights, not the soldiers. Soldier has the melee stoneskin effect, knight has the magic reflect.