Whats the point of AF and other drops if you can buy/craft better?

[Mamba]

Thanks Delsus for making more sense, that's pretty much what I was trying to say.

[Jynx]

Yeah screw those long term goals.

[darkstarpoet1]

The point of AF is easy-to-get entry-level gear. Some pieces are worth using over melded gear too, like the BLM AF body. Melded gear requires some investment but is usually the next step. Dungeon dropped gear (Darklight) is best-in-slot most of the time, not counting some super lucky multimelds.

So... dungeon drops are better than crafted items. Just not AF, which is like the bare minimum for gearing your job. There's not a whole lot of options added yet as far as dungeon drops go so I'm sure they'll be adding more. Most people opt for melded gear because it's soooo much easier to get than something like a full set of darklight.

exactly this. AF is meant as just a starter set for the job. it's easy to get and takes very little work to get a full set of gear. sure, the set has some pieces that are good to use regardless of the crafted gear you have. the way the system is setup you have crafted gear with no melds, af that's a step up from regular crafted gear to start doing raids, then you go to multiple melded crafted gear, and finally you have dungeon drops. to get the best set for your class you need some of each.

look at white mage for example. for the best set of gear for your class you need a few crafted and melded gear, a few af pieces, and a few dungeon drops. this is the same for most jobs in that you need a few from each to be the best at your job. the best set that i have found is a melded wand, melded shield, af body, melded belt, dungeon dropped pants, af boots, dungeon dropped hands, af head, a few crafted accessories, a few dungeon dropped accessories, and some militia accessories.

the op comes off more of a complaint that you spent an hour getting a complete af set and you shouldn't have to put in the time to continue upgrading your gear beyond that. in a game that's constantly changing and will be for years there will always be upgrades over the current gear. i've spent millions getting the correct gear for each class and i know i will need to upgrade again and still have gear i am after that can upgrade my current gear even farther. this is the way it should be because when you get everything and have nothing to strive for this is when a game gets boring and people start looking for other games to play.

as far as war is concerned multi melded crafted gear is only a step towards the gear set you actually want for that class. it is a step up from af, but is nowhere near the use of a darklight set.

the only way the af body on blm is beaten is is you are using the militia from the hamlets.

[Felis]

Even without the materia system, the AF sets are not the best.

[Wynn]

Materia melded crafted gear should be better than drops. It is much harder and infinitely more expensive to make than it is to click on an exclamation point after running past a bunch of mobs.

[darkstarpoet1]

Materia melded crafted gear should be better than drops. It is much harder and infinitely more expensive to make than it is to click on an exclamation point after running past a bunch of mobs.

well i'll say better than af drops. i don't think melded gear should be the best in all spots for every class, but i do believe it should be better than something that took 2 min to get like af gear though.

[Medura]

The point of AF is to get you started. If AF was end game gear, who would continue playing? its EXTREMELY easy to get.

[Loony_BoB]

What would be the point of crafting if all the gear was crap compared to stuff you can get as a guaranteed drop through questing?

[Delsus]

Hmm no one fighting my post, although the OP did acknowledge its basically what they were trying to say. Do I sense some agreement but no one wants to show it?

I do agree that melded gear should be better than AF, but not the actual endgame gear.

This has gone on to an AF Vs melds only discussion, which is half of what was mentioned.

[Mamba]

the op comes off more of a complaint that you spent an hour getting a complete af set and you shouldn't have to put in the time to continue upgrading your gear beyond that.

In the contrary, I actually think upgrading the gear is one of the goals that keeps me playing...

I wasnt saying that I want to settle for my AF....
BUT I wouldnt mind having more use out of the AF because basically if I had enough gil I could have better gear as a lvl 50 already before I even got my AF unlocked.
Yes I get that you combine stuff from here and there, but call me vain but I like when things match and look pretty.

Also, I very much think that there should be more sets that are hard to obtain - and with hard I don't mean hours and hours of farming same mobs for certain materia... but hard as in dungeons and extra hard NMs etc.

I just find it a tad boring that when you hit 50, there is nothing special about the gear you finally get to wear... you end up wearing the same boring stuff everyone buys from market wards and fill it with materia of your liking.

I also think I came across wrong regards the AF, I understand it is easily aqquired gear to begin with - I know this. I just wish it was a bit more useful because I really like how it looks. BUT I also meant that I wish there was then something MORE we could get when we get a bit further which doesnt mean farming for materia, at the moment there is not that many choices.
BUT I am sure this will change in ARR.