The Grand Summoner FAQ and Advice Compendium

[Jovens]

i have 457 INT and im thinking to buy myth pants over +1 my relic weapon, i dont have idea on the formula/stats computation etc etc...

does +1 is better than getting myth pants? how many INT added if i go to +1 relic?

[T0rin]

i have 457 INT and im thinking to buy myth pants over +1 my relic weapon, i dont have idea on the formula/stats computation etc etc...

does +1 is better than getting myth pants? how many INT added if i go to +1 relic?

+1 is the equivalent of adding 25 int.

[Jovens]

oh thanks T0rin

[ticdup]

So, to that end, I did a comparison of all the BiS items to other options you have in the end game (AF2 vs Allagan, Allagan vs Crafted, etc.) to see where the most cost effective slots to dump int for more accuracy are. Here's what I came up with:

Out of curiosity, how are you computing weighted Int?

[T0rin]

Out of curiosity, how are you computing weighted Int?

To the best of my knowledge, though it is not set in stone.. (scouring these forums, reddit, other forums)

1 wpn dmg = 7 int
1 int = 5 crit
1 int = 10 det
1 int = 20 spell spd

[Zholi]

snip

Subject to change, but this is what I'm working towards (rings are Allagan and Hero's): http://xivdb.com/?wardrobe/2755/SMN-Goal

This is the true best set for high end content, imo. I don't buy those stat weights, btw, and there is no situation I would ever use ilevel 70 gear over 90. People who would use crafted gear over Allagan/Myth are just desperately trying to delude themselves into thinking crafted gear can be more than a mere stopgap. It can't.

[T0rin]

Subject to change, but this is what I'm working towards (rings are Allagan and Hero's): http://xivdb.com/?wardrobe/2755/SMN-Goal

This is the true best set for high end content, imo. I don't buy those stat weights, btw, and there is no situation I would ever use ilevel 70 gear over 90. People who would use crafted gear over Allagan/Myth are just desperately trying to delude themselves into thinking crafted gear can be more than a mere stopgap. It can't.

Don't buy it? Either the ratios are wrong or not, but the weighting is based on that. Is was merely meant as a guide for what you can substitute for what, in order to meet the 100% accuracy for Garuda cap, with the smallest sacrifice possible. The AF2 Legs and Shoes represent the largest sacrifice of DPS for a gain of accuracy of all the possible trade-offs, overmelded i70 items included.

Edit: What I'd like to know, is what the true accuracy cap for SMN is, to maintain 100% on Garuda. I know my 459 accuracy is definitely more than enough for T5, I'd just like to know by how much. I _think_ it is in the high 440 range, but I'm really not sure. If we knew the cap, or a very close estimate, it would be a lot easier to figure out definitely, what is the best SMN set to hit that cap without food.

[Zholi]

Don't buy it? Either the ratios are wrong or not, but the weighting is based on that. Is was merely meant as a guide for what you can substitute for what, in order to meet the 100% accuracy for Garuda cap, with the smallest sacrifice possible. The AF2 Legs and Shoes represent the largest sacrifice of DPS for a gain of accuracy of all the possible trade-offs, overmelded i70 items included.

Melded or not, i70 is just flat-out worse than i90. I am not trading real INT for someone's educated guess at effective INT. An item of a given level has a certain amount of room to allocate primary and secondary stats to. I also refuse to believe the amount of DET, CRIT, etc. allowed on an item of a given item level is completely arbitrary. I imagine it is based on formulas and calculations done by the game designers. The choice we have in gear is to decide which secondary stats benefit our job and/or goals the most. But i70 will never beat i90 because it has fewer stat points allocated to work with, even after melds.

It is a very risky thing to trade a sure thing (real INT, more total secondary stats (even if they aren't all in what you want most)) for a forum user's guess.

[T0rin]

It is a very risky thing to trade a sure thing (real INT, more total secondary stats (even if they aren't all in what you want most)) for a forum user's guess.

Except it isn't my 'guess', it is a collection of all the data I could find by everyone who had done research on the topic. Yes, you have no reason to believe me or anyone else as to the accuracy of the values of various stats compared to int. But for the sake of argument, assuming they are accurate, you have to accept the possibility that i70 gear overmelded to have specific stats (not whatever happens to be on an allagan or af2 piece) could potentially outweigh the benefit of a single piece of i90 gear. We mix and match for a reason, because a single full set (all allagan, or all af2) is simply not optimal. We pick the best mix of pieces to give us the best outcome, and the simple reality is, when you pick the best pieces for damage, you end up with sub-par accuracy.

If you want to bring your accurate up from the 'best' damage set, to a set that has a little less damage, but enough accuracy to 100% with garuda, you have finite options available. Most of which are overmelded i70 gear, because practically none of the i90 jewlery has accuracy on it.

Simply put, the sacrifice of 4 int on a piece of jewlery for 12 accuracy and some secondary stats (crit, det, whatever) can be a better deal than using one i90 piece (af2 legs instead of allagan legs) instead of another. You're basically advocating that the 34 crit you lose on Allagan legs is worth the 10 accuracy and 17 det you gain from using AF2 legs. I'm saying that you lose more than you would if you say, gave up 4 int to get 12 acc and some secondary stats by switching to i70 overmelded jewlery.

34 crit is nothing to turn your nose up at.

Basically, it comes down to a very much assumed design decision on your part. You assume the game's designers built it so that no i70 piece, regardless of being fit with 5 pieces of materia, could ever possibly outweigh the benefit of an i90 piece, with sub-par secondary stats, simply on the merit of some arbitrary assumption that you have more total stats allocated. What you're comparing is like apples to apples, except one of the apples is covered in caramel and nuts. It may be a little smaller apple, but it's covered in caramel and nuts! Maybe that's worth more than 20% less apple.

Not to mention, there is no i90 jewelry with Vitality on it, and since total hp is an issue in coils, getting up there with extra vit from jewelry can do something for you that no i90 piece can.

[Kevee]

snip

The only thing I don't agree with is Spell Speed. The others? Yeah, but I feel you're greatly under-valuing it, or whoever you got that value from is under-valuing it. Especially since we get a passive ~2-3% boost(4-6% if you use ifrit), and it makes SF cast faster than 2.5s cast skills(EDIT: I mean skills with longer cast times get bigger returns on spell speed).