Has the question of how many people have cleared T9 vs. obtained Novus ever been...

[Orlandeu]

The whole relic quest line in reality, is for the hardcore people. I'm only still at 4/12 atmas because the grind is just too real. But it doesn't matter, because I have my HA spear and it's definitely better than anything else right now. All I can hope for is that SE continues to keep the best weapons attainable only through raids and the relic quest line just second best ((:

[Bushido_Brown]

Exactly my thoughts. The amount of time to spirit bond my own materia, or craft and sell items to buy materia, combined with the RNG to meld that materia (if you're going to go through all that, why not go for top stats?), and still not have the strongest weapon in the game... really!? I'd much rather take my 1/9 RNG chance for an HA weapon, especially knowing that the lockout will be uplifted in just a few months to grind it out for the weapon, which will then be once again obsolete with Third Coil out. The soldiery weapon is more than good enough until that drop for me. I'm definitely not knocking anyone willing to go for their Novus, but for someone that only has a few hours a week to play, the Novus is not happening for me, ever.

[Tranquil]

I'd much rather take my 1/8 RNG chance for an HA weapon

It's 1/9. Arcanist has two jobs.

Also, some of you people in this thread are talking about the issue as if you are "supposed" to get at least one of these alternatives easily. HA is the best in slot -weapon, you will need a group, skills and luck for it. Novus is the 2nd best, you will need time, effort and then some. (But you never need to do anything challenging like raid-content). Your easiest i110 -route is obviously getting the soldiery weapon, which in most cases is nearly as viable as the Novus weapon anyway, and easy to obtain now. Considering the relic weapon will always be updated, even if it's only the 2nd best weapon in any given patch - it is definitely worth it to do.

Seems balanced enough to me.

[Bushido_Brown]

whoops, thanks, forgot they don't share books after darklight (have yet to even start leveling those classes >.<). The Novus weapon requires just the same amount of luck, if not more, since RNG gets to play with your emotions after the first 4 melds (which was the main deterrent for me, no way I'm grinding that much materia with a chance of failing to meld it, and lose it in the process). The 2 options are definitely balanced, but being worth going for the Novus is really just as much of a matter of opinion as the HA weapon is, different strokes for different folks. As of right now, the Novus just seems like a time/gil-sink that adds nothing to the end game storyline, which is just my opinion that no one asked for

[DishSoap]

The whole relic quest line in reality, is for the hardcore people. I'm only still at 4/12 atmas because the grind is just too real. But it doesn't matter, because I have my HA spear and it's definitely better than anything else right now. All I can hope for is that SE continues to keep the best weapons attainable only through raids and the relic quest line just second best ((:

Way to be a smug asshole about it.

[Orlandeu]

Way to be a smug asshole about it.

you can call me anything you want and I couldn't care less about it
I may sound like an arrogant prick, and believe me I did not intend to, but I'm not spending hundreds of hours grinding for a weapon that is only second best. All I'm trying to get across is that they intend for the whole relic quest line to be an alternative for the casual player and yet there is nothing casual about it.

[snowybell]

The whole relic quest line in reality, is for the hardcore people. I'm only still at 4/12 atmas because the grind is just too real. But it doesn't matter, because I have my HA spear and it's definitely better than anything else right now. All I can hope for is that SE continues to keep the best weapons attainable only through raids and the relic quest line just second best ((:

lol, same, except i am only at the 2nd book and i decided, no time for this grind.

I see people with 2 novus (there might be more) and i just can't get myself to even complete one animus book.