What is the "recommended" gear to enter each Turn of Binding Coil of Bahamut?

[Delvish]

A lot of emphasis is put into DL, and it just isn't as good for healers as many make it seem. Especially when compared to AK gear, it is only one drop down on the rung after all. Full DL is obviously better than Full AK, but if you mix some AK with some DL (particularly with accessories) you will have a better result.

[YuriRamona]

Strategos Head + Chest to Darklight Cowl
+7 Mind, +6 Vit, -5 Piety, +29 Det, -28 Spell Speed for a Total of 3% larger heals and 2% larger throughput.

Not an upgrade at all...

Because healing for 3-4% more is going to matter. Not.

A lot of emphasis is put into DL, and it just isn't as good for healers as many make it seem. Especially when compared to AK gear, it is only one drop down on the rung after all. Full DL is obviously better than Full AK, but if you mix some AK with some DL (particularly with accessories) you will have a better result.

And here we get to the heart of the debate. To many respondents, gear doesn't really matter. Even posting screenshots of their characters and their progression.

More power to them. Play like you want, if your team is OK with that, then that's your prerogative. Even better if you clear turns in sub-par gear.

For me, that really brings into question why people even gear up in the first place if they think that small differences (which, remember, add up to big differences when taken as a whole). But hey, if you think 3-4% doesn't matter, then that's your choice. But to most of us, any percent means "easier".

Kayuwoody sums it up nicely.

I'm of the opinion a well organised group could indeed do the first 3 turns in nothing more than AK gear.
Is it a good idea for most players? Of course not ^_^
I do have to agree: if you go in with less gear that your team, you are being selfish. You aren't putting in as much effort as everyone else. But at the end of the day it's the result that really matters. If you can still clear the content, it's not a big deal unless the others think it is.

Not much else to say. I think that at least some people here, or at least the lurkers, are also interested in generally-accepted, public, pick-up group requirements, and that's a whole different standard than what your static/friends/FC/LS is OK with.

I used the term "sub-par" because it's a golf analogy. The difficulty of any particular course is standardized. About half of players will need to gear beyond the recommended level, and half can clear it geared well below the recommended level.

Yes, you and a handful of players can clear the course when you are well below par. This has no bearing on what the average player will encounter, which is a par somewhere between average ilvl80-90 to clear through Turn 5. If you expect to join, be accepted by, and easily win Coil with ilvl50-60, you are, at best, sadly mistaken, and at worst,

...you are anchor weighing the rest of us down.

[Budi]

Yet you give not one reason why.

How can someone who is contributing more than everyone else not carry the group? By simple definition if you outperform the average you are making up for someone who underperformed. That is carrying.

I don't have to give a reason, because there is no logic behind your statement. Your "simple definition" is bullsht. You imply that there is always someone who gets carried, which is completely wrong, you don't have to make up anything; the only thing that changes with gear is "easiness" and speed. Also you imply that gear = performance, which again is wrong.

I put "easiness" in quotation marks, because what you really mean is "lazyness". The better gear you have, the lazier you can be while having the same contribution.

If you parse 2 Healers (in Turn 2), and the first healer did much more healing, but the other one was targeted by every single Laser and Slow. Was the 2nd Healer less useful, was he carried? Your whole "logic" of contribution is flawed by the fact that noone is just standing around and doing perfect rotations. Hence, how you deal with each situation and how you use your abilities is much more important than gear.

...and no, I don't have a static/fc/ls group. I'm pugging almost every time. Had no complains (not even once), mostly compliments and expressions of gratitude. But I guess I was carried every time because I had 10 Mind less than the other Healer.

[Isrea]

I'd be the first to admit that 2-3% throughput isn't a whole lot, and that skill > gear, but you've got to remember, 3% throughput by any member of the group could be the difference between a successful run and a wipe. Some of the enrage timers on this game are pretty tight, with a good chunk of the successful turn 5 clears beating the enrage by 4-5 seconds... 3% less dps by any one member on those runs and it would have been a wipe. HP is also very important in some cases, especially on titan. No amount of skill as a dps will help you survive the phase 5 stomps, and lower hp means more work for the healers, and even healers need to worry about it to some degree. The question as a healer for titan really should be: "If my healing partner is in a gaol, and a couple dps are down, can I heal through a mountain buster and a set of stomps on my own?". If the answer is no, you're asking for a carry.

[Budi]

Healing is not damage. As long as you don't let the tank die and don't run out of MP you fullfilled your duty. Even if you heal for 100% more it won't change anything. That's why the 2-3% increase is pointless.

Of course we could talk about required HP, but the only places where it matters is Turn 5, and untill you reach Turn 5 you probably gathered some Allagan/Myth gear pieces anyway. So there is no point talking about it. (Also you need to gear differently for it anyway as you cant get enough HP without respec or crafted accessoires.)

[Isrea]

Healing is not damage, but a healer that just heals is like a summoner who never uses virus, eye for an eye or brez, or a bard who doesn't use songs. If that 3% gives you the cushion it takes to throw out the odd aero, it increases your contribution, and again may push your group past an enrage they wouldn't have beat otherwise. An upgrade is an upgrade, and ignoring it because you can't be bothered is lazy, arrogant and a disservice to your group.

[sharazisspecial]

Healer gear doesn't really matter in this game since the healing required is not steep and generally most deaths are out of your control.

People could heal twintania with full darklight/ strategos and relic+1 weapon.

In competitive mmo guilds generally all the gear goes to the dps. Simply because after healers reach the minimum gear needed to heal a fight. They don't really need more then that. The minimum gear to heal in this game is easily reached.

However gear really matters for your dps , more dps really makes much fights easier and there are dps check in coils. Quite a few in Twintania(including a hard enrage) and some in turn 4.

Healing is very lenient you do not need any ilvl90 peices to reach enough hps to heal fights in this game.

[Budi]

Healing is not damage, but a healer that just heals is like a summoner who never uses virus, eye for an eye or brez, or a bard who doesn't use songs. If that 3% gives you the cushion it takes to throw out the odd aero, it increases your contribution, and again may push your group past an enrage they wouldn't have beat otherwise. An upgrade is an upgrade, and ignoring it because you can't be bothered is lazy, arrogant and a disservice to your group.

I repeat. I won't talk about Twintania gear, as this is a complete different issue. Nontheless, if you want to take the chance to DPS instead of being ready to heal, go ahead, but don't be surprised if your Tank suddenly decides to die.

Also, there is no moment in Coil, were dealing damage should even be consideres as a "smart" option. It's always better to a) either cast Stoneskin, b) use AoE Heal, c) Heal other players, d) wait 1 second to cast another Heal.

[Isrea]

I'm not talking specifically about Twintania, furthest I've been so far is turn 4, but never a good idea to dps a bit in coil? I can think of a few places, particularly the aoe phases in turn 4, most group will at least have the white mages help out a bit with holy in the aoe phases. I'm really having trouble finding the consistency in your argument though, if you don't have the time to dps (which is perfectly reasonable and expected in much of coil) you should be happy to get a 3% boost in throughput. I would never advocate a healer dpsing instead of healing, I advocate dpsing instead of wasting time overhealing or doing nothing while waiting to need to heal.

An upgrade is never useless, if you already meet the base requirements for your job without it, then it will give you more margin for error, or allow you to exceed your base role.

[Budi]

Yes, I DPS in phase 4, but it has nothing to do with my gear. It's just that the party takes almost no damage in that turn and doesn't need healing.

I'm really having trouble finding the consistency in your argument though, if you don't have the time to dps (which is perfectly reasonable and expected in much of coil) you should be happy to get a 3% boost in throughput.

An upgrade is never useless, if you already meet the base requirements for your job without it, then it will give you more margin for error, or allow you to exceed your base role.

Hm? My argument is that a) 2-3%, even 10% increase in healing won't be the reason your party fails or not; b) Using your abilities correctly is much more important than gear. Both arguments obviously imply that you wear the minimum required gear to keep your party alive.
Other than that I'm just pointing out stupidities of others in this thread. (Like saying that there is always someone who gets carried.)