[ Dev's ] Gear Swaps Can I have It?

[_C-a-e-r-i-t-h_]

As someone who has done the gear grind twice, I don't see what the problem is. The sidegrades we saw while the cap was stuck at 75 for all those years didn't do much.

That being said, the problem with gear that has drawbacks is that it could possibly have very limited use. Rune chopper made no sense seeing how the game was designed, specially since Refresh was such a rare commodity before they started giving out refresh gear like candy post-TAU.

It'd be a different story if we were talking about pieces of gear with certain bonuses that were in effect in conjunction with other buffs/debuffs.

At 75cap, there were really two things holding sidegrades back:

1. The first "endgame" gear was really really good all around, so sidegrades were pretty much impossible. Osode, Haidate, and abjuration: how do you top that?
2. Post-Zilart, stats on gear were apparently determined by random generators.

I agree that a lot of those sidegrades didn't help, and the few that did were a little too helpful, such as Homam giving Haste to PLD and changing the game entirely.

When it comes to gear and sidegrades, S-E really needs to take a page from Valve's book and set up a test server. Not an internal test server, but something that actually puts equipment in the hands of the most ruthlessly efficient people you can find: the players. We have years of experience in breaking games and finding exploits, so let us try out your new equipment and break it for you.

Rune Chopper required a supply of yag juice to be used effectively, but even Sanction in ToAU was enough to keep it going 50%. You are right though that its effective period really only came much later in the game when Refresh was common, but it was still a very effective weapon if you were prepared to keep Refresh on.

So let's change the subject. Ares' Flanchard. Decent pants for WAR, with +DA%, STR/DEX, and Set Bonus: +DA. The drawback is that they're not Byakko's Haidate. Obviously if you have both you'd TP in Haidate and WS in Ares, but if you couldn't gear swap then what are you going to wear?

[Duelle]

So let's change the subject. Ares' Flanchard. Decent pants for WAR, with +DA%, STR/DEX, and Set Bonus: +DA. The drawback is that they're not Byakko's Haidate. Obviously if you have both you'd TP in Haidate and WS in Ares, but if you couldn't gear swap then what are you going to wear?

Depends on what the rest of the gear on you is like, what the hit cap you're trying to meet is and so on. Granted, you'd have to stick to WS that scale with STR/DEX to get the most out of it, which is also good and dandy with me. That sort of thing encourages proper balancing rather than the insane stat stacking that I am against.

[_C-a-e-r-i-t-h_]

Depends on what the rest of the gear on you is like, what the hit cap you're trying to meet is and so on. Granted, you'd have to stick to WS that scale with STR/DEX to get the most out of it, which is also good and dandy with me. That sort of thing encourages proper balancing rather than the insane stat stacking that I am against.

Exactly. When you select your gear your thought process is, "This set gives me better damage on WS and better per-hit damage, but the other set has haste and slightly better accuracy, hmm...." Then you have to consider who your party has, and what mobs you're going up against, what food you're going to use, etc. You can still do insane stat stacking if you want to, but a properly-balanced adventurer should always outperform.