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

[Cycloptichorn]

Cobalt Haubergeon (Red)
Def 162
Str +6
Att +6
Acc +6

Solid Scale Mail (Unique/Untradable)
Def 163
HP +32
Att +7
Acc +7
Magic Evasion +2
Parry +3

In this case, NQ crafted gear with 0 materia is better than an r50 darkhold item. Never mind the fact that dozens upon dozens of crafters can make this thing for dirt cheap including myself.

150k for best-in-slot gear with the potential to be even better with materia OR organizing a somewhat prepared group to raid darkhold for a chest with low drop rate

Golly gee, I wonder which I should pick...

Uh, before materia, the Solid Scale Mail is clearly superior.

[kro]

Uh, before materia, the Solid Scale Mail is clearly superior.

Before materia, cobalt haubergeon didn't exist. I don't know where you pulled that from. In fact, Iron Cuirass was still superior to Solid Scale Mail in terms of HP and physical def.

Since when is 6 > 7? The scale mail also has additional stats, or did you just ignore those to try to prove your (invalid) conclusion.

I specifically chose gear that favors DDs. Also, the benefits of +6 STR far outweigh +1 atk and +1 acc. If you want to try and argue that minimal points in HP, magic evasion, and parry are worthwhile for a DD to use it over the Haubergeon, then be my guest. But keep in mind that you are also sacrificing a materia slot for 70 HP or further boosting of your DD potential by slotting Savage Might.

Solid Scale mail doesn't even come close to Cobalt Cuirass (Red) in terms of a tanking perspective. A versatile player would have both the cuirass and the haubergeon because they're so cheap and inventory space isn't exactly lacking. So using solid scale mail as some all-in-one body armor would be like intentionally gimping yourself when more practical and more efficient options are available.

Anyways, it seems like the point was lost here. Crafted gear without materia is on par/better than unique gear from a raid. The only exceptions are Ifrit weapons. There needs to be better balance. I'm sad that I actually had to point that out.

[Molly_Millions]

Before materia, cobalt haubergeon didn't exist. I don't know where you pulled that from. In fact, Iron Cuirass was still superior to Solid Scale Mail in terms of HP and physical def.

he was saying before you add materia to the item, not before materia existed in-game.

I specifically chose gear that favors DDs. Also, the benefits of +6 STR far outweigh +1 atk and +1 acc. If you want to try and argue that minimal points in HP, magic evasion, and parry are worthwhile for a DD to use it over the Haubergeon, then be my guest. But keep in mind that you are also sacrificing a materia slot for 70 HP or further boosting of your DD potential by slotting Savage Might.

Solid Scale mail doesn't even come close to Cobalt Cuirass (Red) in terms of a tanking perspective. A versatile player would have both the cuirass and the haubergeon because they're so cheap and inventory space isn't exactly lacking. So using solid scale mail as some all-in-one body armor would be like intentionally gimping yourself when more practical and more efficient options are available.

Anyways, it seems like the point was lost here. Crafted gear without materia is on par/better than unique gear from a raid. The only exceptions are Ifrit weapons. There needs to be better balance. I'm sad that I actually had to point that out.

You can't tell me that +32 hp, +1 def, +1 Att, +1 Acc, +2 Magic Evasion, and +3 Parry are worth nothing, (or as you say, worth less than +6 Att) that's ludicrous. Plain and simple, before you add materia, the scale mail is better than the hauby.

[Cycloptichorn]

Before materia, cobalt haubergeon didn't exist. I don't know where you pulled that from. In fact, Iron Cuirass was still superior to Solid Scale Mail in terms of HP and physical def.

Obviously, I meant that before you add materia TO the solid scale mail, it's clearly superior to the cobalt hauby. No question.

I specifically chose gear that favors DDs. Also, the benefits of +6 STR far outweigh +1 atk and +1 acc. If you want to try and argue that minimal points in HP, magic evasion, and parry are worthwhile for a DD to use it over the Haubergeon, then be my guest.

Thanks, I've already done exactly that. +6 str isn't worth writing home about; it adds on what, a few points of DMG per attack? Big whoop. I'll take effects that boost my char in other needed ways every time.

Anyways, it seems like the point was lost here. Crafted gear without materia is on par/better than unique gear from a raid. The only exceptions are Ifrit weapons. There needs to be better balance. I'm sad that I actually had to point that out.

Well, your message was muddied by making an incorrect assertion. But, I do agree with your conclusion, that there needs to be better balance. This could easily be solved by implementing set bonuses to the U/U sets; that would keep the dungeon gear from being too OP over regular gear unless you've REALLY done the dungeon a lot of times, and create interesting tension when it comes to the choice of whether or not to swap out a single piece. It's also relatively easy to implement.