The Monk Temple Reborn

[Haaki]

I have a more gear related question if someone can answer me: I see a lot of builds with crafted gear that has inferior STR than i130's. STR being monk's main stat, even if that piece of equipment has higher Determination or crit, won't the one with the highest STR be the better choice in theory?

One example, not even with crafted gear but it is i110, which of the two are better : Gloam Boots or Demon Boots? 24 STR with 12 Determination or 27 STR? And the gap gets even further with i130 gear to 31 STR vs 24 STR. Isn't STR always going to be the superior choice even if you have lower determination?

[Deithwen]

To give you a quick answer, it depends on the stat weights. Assuming det is like 0.337 I think (from memory), if you can put a lot of det on a crafted gear it can be better than 130 gear in theory. Same goes for crit or skill speed althought the weights are lower, but you can stack more.
I'm not not really fond of that, I prefer being full 130 instead of ruining myself in crafting and melding, since Det IV materias are really expensive, plus the gain isn't that big (or is it ? I wouldn't mind some feedback on that^^)
But some people can afford it, good for them

[Haaki]

Hmm well but if determination for monk is 0.337 then its about 4 STR gain for 12 Determination. Which means against a piece of gear that is i130 with a much higher STR base would make that determination moot, even though it would look good on paper. Or am I not seeing something?

[CGMidlander]

Hmm well but if determination for monk is 0.337 then its about 4 STR gain for 12 Determination. Which means against a piece of gear that is i130 with a much higher STR base would make that determination moot, even though it would look good on paper. Or am I not seeing something?

You can meld a lot of secondary stat into a crafted piece of i110

[Dervy]

That's precisely why none of the Chest and Leg pieces are ever replaced by crafted stuff. The difference in main-stat is too far apart, but this is why accessories, belt and helmet are nearly always crafted in this game.

You also have to remember that Critical Hit Rating and Skillspeed also have their own weights, so it all adds up. On top of this, crafting gear allows for an optimal spread of Strength, Critical hit Rating, Determination and Accuracy, which many i130 pieces lack, thus allowing you to opt for full DET/CRT i130 pieces, as you're using very balanced and accuracy heavy crafted-gear to make up for it.

[SunnyHirose]

Slots aren't really what we're after, it's the entire set. We're trying to gerrymander the gear slots so as to maximize the stats we actually want, even though it means making sacrifices. Some stats are better, yes. However, if you could have more of a worse stat that more than makes up for the loss, then you have a gain.

[Odowla]

Slots aren't really what we're after, it's the entire set. We're trying to gerrymander the gear slots so as to maximize the stats we actually want, even though it means making sacrifices. Some stats are better, yes. However, if you could have more of a worse stat that more than makes up for the loss, then you have a gain.

Which is presisely why some crafteds pieces are rediculous. 25 Crit, 18 DET, and 25 skillspeed, WHILE still allowing us to have enough accuracy (whether its on it naturally or melded) allows us to trade, for example, 5 str, 20 det, and 29 accuracy for this piece.

[Craiger]

Can anyone please provide a non-crafted BiS Set?

http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/Q3DM

I've seen different BiS sets, but there should be no question about it really... This one gives you the required Acc, has the highest weighted STR, and it has low Skill Speed. That's without using Crafted gear ofc, I don't know what is BiS when including them...

[Craiger]

So since it has the highest weighted STR I assume it's the best non-crafted BiS?

It's has the highest weighted STR for a set that has higher Accuracy than 535, which is the accuracy cap for T13. If you're not doing T13, then you can find other combinations that give you more DPS, but BiS is always taking into account that you can use it for the highest difficulty raid.

So yes, if you don't include crafted items, then this is BiS

[Ricdeau]

http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/Q3DM

I've seen different BiS sets, but there should be no question about it really... This one gives you the required Acc, has the highest weighted STR, and it has low Skill Speed. That's without using Crafted gear ofc, I don't know what is BiS when including them...

Your purposed BiS isn't taking into account accuracy based foods. When factoring those in you can gain higher STR value than what your set provides with Black Truffle Risotto. So the follow sets are comprised of non-crafted pieces using different foods. STR values listed are obviously only showing stats produced from the gear and removing base/racial stats.

http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/Q3J5
The set you linked reaching 538 accuracy from gear alone resulting in 495.872 STR using Black Truffle Risotto.

http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/PZBQ
This set results in 537 accuracy and 496.438 STR using Flint Caviar. (+0.566 STR)

http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/Q3IQ
This set results in 535 accuracy and 495.992 STR using Apkallu Eggs. (+0.12 STR)

Not a huge difference, but it needs to be noted what food is being used. I mean if you're going to run T13 accuracy you likely won't be skipping the food. Obviously Flint Caviar isn't something everyone is going to have easy access to, but Apkallu Eggs are easy enough to obtain. Any of those three sets will be more than sufficient. Also it must be noted that stat weights are about to be revised based on some info Dervy is stumbling into (the person that gave us the current weights we use).

As Odowla also stated low Skill Speed isn't a mandatory thing. I prefer having around 400 Skill Speed. With this my combos feel more fluid to me. This can be kind of a personal judgement, and when we're talking about sets within ~1 STR or less it's not going to make much of a difference.