Please reevaluate the balance between crafted and U/U items.

[charlemagne]

Bonuses for wearing the full set of one of the u/u sets would be nice too. haste pls.

[Airget]

I think the simplest solution would to just have it show that rare/ex gear grants unique ability/traits when you gain the appropriate spiritbond with them, and when you have said gear equipped it enhances said trait ability.

With Ifrit weaponry it could have something like there are 7 different weapons. So When you complete 100% spiritbond with the Gladiator weapon, you have a 50% chance of obtaining the GLA optimized ability or abour an 8% chance to obtaing the other 6 abilities. However once you learn an ability and spiritbond with the weapon again you might end up releasing the same ability or trait you just learned so there would be a sense of repetition if you really wanted an ability that came from another class and it would serve a purpose of rare/ex items being of use.

When it comes to other rare/ex items, some could share the same ability and traits of certain rare/ex gear and others could require a specific set of rare/ex gear to be able to obtian a new ability.

But ya, I just think taking the materia route on rare/ex gear won't really work if you just add it where rare/ex gear can allow for extra customization of your abilities and traits I feel that would work better then just saying oh you can put materia on them now.

[Cycloptichorn]

Farming my good man, farming.

Or actually, any other number of activities in the game that can earn you money. You don't really need to run the instances or defeat Ifrit to make gil right? I made millions just leveling up and selling materia.

Okay, great. So why shouldn't those people (who come up with the money from whatever source) not be allowed to have top-level gear?

I think this is an Epeen issue. There's no reason why people shouldn't be able to afford top-level gear by whatever means.

To get back to the original topic,

The current content is great to replay - if you have jobs that aren't at 50 yet. I've had a lot of fun running Shposae and doing other lower-level stuff, with lower-level jobs. And the U/U gear you get at those levels is really good compared to a lot of the other stuff that's available. And people just don't slot materia into r25 stuff; why would you bother? You'll be r30 in a few days and wanting all new gear anyway.

What would REALLY make U/U stuff great, is set bonuses. No materia? Fine, but if I have every piece of Sentinel gear, I ought to have a big overall buff b/c of that.

[Bluetaro]

Okay, great. So why shouldn't those people (who come up with the money from whatever source) not be allowed to have top-level gear?

I think this is an Epeen issue. There's no reason why people shouldn't be able to afford top-level gear by whatever means.

It's not an epeen issue. If it sounds that way I definitely don't intend for it to.

If you made the best items in the game purchasable with gil, why run end game content at all? Lots of players would skip primals/end game instances just to farm to purchase the best stuff.

I'm not saying you should make crafting gear a lot worse, but at the very least SE should consider making them comparable with the PVE counterparts to give players more options.

[Bluetaro]

And if by "top level gear" you mean, comparable gear, instead of "Best in Slot" gear, then there's no disagreement between us.

[Cycloptichorn]

It's not an epeen issue. If it sounds that way I definitely don't intend for it to.

If you made the best items in the game purchasable with gil, why run end game content at all? Lots of players would skip primals/end game instances just to farm to purchase the best stuff.

Why would they? What's the point of having the 'best stuff' if not to run end-game content?

I'm not saying you should make crafting gear a lot worse, but at the very least SE should consider making them comparable with the PVE counterparts to give players more options.

Set bonuses. Solves the whole problem, and presents an interesting dilemma - do I break my set, and lose the bonuses, to get the uber set of boots with a couple of materia in them, or not?

[Bluetaro]

Why would they? What's the point of having the 'best stuff' if not to run end-game content?

Because they could skip the content and just purchase the best in slot item?

If they made a materia slotted weapon the best in slot when the Ifrit patch released I wouldn't even do the boss because there would be no point in getting his loot.

[Wynn]

Because they could skip the content and just purchase the best in slot item?

If they made a materia slotted weapon the best in slot when the Ifrit patch released I wouldn't even do the boss because there would be no point in getting his loot.

I guess that is a matter of player perspective and where you and I would differ. I play content because I enjoy it, not for loot.

[Serdapi]

I disagree. Please keep crafted gear the best in the game. U/U should be able to be made into materia but U/U should not be better than crafted gear + materia.

Relying on a crafter > camping monsters for U/U drops.

[Bluetaro]

I guess that is a matter of player perspective and where you and I would differ. I play content because I enjoy it, not for loot.

As do I, I play to enjoy the content too. But c'mon, you can't say that getting upgrades/loot and progressing your character isn't enjoyable right? Obtaining new items plays a huge factor in my enjoyment w/ games.

Anyway, I'm fine with crafters making top-tier items as long as they're on par with the stuff you'd get from instances and/or primals. Do you agree or disagree with that, and if you still believe crafters should produce superior items (as opposed to equal) I'd like more explanation as to why.