Raider to Non-Raider: an exhibition on thoughts and misconceptions

[Malzian]

I know the OP already answered this to the best of his ability, but I'd like to clarify: This new BiS gear is (possibly) going to be i210 aethereal gear dropping in Airship Exploration areas (likely from HNMs). For those that don't remember, Aetherial gear is gear at a particular ilvl, with randomized secondary stats. I can't remember if the base gear is equivalent to NQ or HQ, but either way, it can be crap, or it can be better than pentamelded gear of the same ilvl.

--Erim Nelhah

Well the thing with this is that it's going to be i210 gear, like the upgraded versions of the Eso gear. But of course, it's comparing pink to blue gear and, if you recall, pink gear doesn't compare even against green of the same iLvl. The attack/defense values on the green and blue gear will always be higher than aetheral, and the stats as well. So it's not really comparable and is unlikely to be BiS even if you get the stat combos you want. That being said, it is iLvl 210 which will certainly be better than, if not at least on par with the iLvl 200 Eso gear.