Still confused about gear progression

[Moqi]

I have beaten T1 a couple of days ago and have been farming it until today, when I finally got a pair of Allagan Earrings of Healing... only to discover that my Weathered Daystar Earrings are actually better. My fault for not checking before, but I thought Dungeon/Raid loot was supposed to be stronger than buyable loot, and with Coil being the hardest raid, I wouldn't find any sub-par gear in there.

So my question is, is there any point in trying to get a Allagan Set for my White Mage in T1-T5, except for vanity, or should I just buy the whole Weathered Set with soldiery tomes to get the best equiment available (to me)? All the gear I can buy with tomes seems to be better than the one I can find in pretty much any Dungeon/Raid.

[Taramin]

The Binding Coil of Bahamut was the highest level dungeon from launch to the end of 2.1, the strongest gear is now obtainable in The Second Coil of Bahamut, a new, separate dungeon in North Shroud that you can access after clearing Turn 5 of the old Coil. The loot in there is on par with/better than the Soldiery tome items.

[vanityobscene]

I'm not at endgame yet, but I've found a similar thing every time I try to farm unique sets. Like Acolyte's, Foestriker's, Brigand's, Cavalry and Infantry. The drop rates are random. Some people might get the bulk of the uniques quickly, others not so much. More often than not I find that farming for gear increases my level quicker than I get the gear, and the gear becomes obsolete outside of fashion.

[Moqi]

The Binding Coil of Bahamut was the highest level dungeon from launch to the end of 2.1, the strongest gear is now obtainable in The Second Coil of Bahamut, a new, separate dungeon in North Shroud that you can access after clearing Turn 5 of the old Coil. The loot in there is on par with/better than the Soldiery tome items.

That was my understanding, but I probably won't get to the Second Coil until 2.3, or whenever they decide to give it Echo and make it available on DF (I still don't know if I'm gonna try Turn 2 now or wait for another increase in Echo), that's why I said available to me. Soldiery Tomes it is then, thank you.

[Nutz]

You're half right. With 2.0/2.1 mythology purchased gear and gear acquired from the binding coil of Bahamut were roughly equal (same ilvl and any best in slot set would compose of pieces form either set as well as usually accessories from EX primals after 2.1). With 2.2 they have decided to not make them quite as equal. Gear obtained from the second coil of bahamut is ilvl 110, while weathered gear is ilvl 100. Using items found in the second coil you can upgrade the soldiery tome purchased gear to 110, bringing it up to par but requiring that you have cleared parts of coil repeatedly. There are 2 upgrade items (sands of time and oil of time) that drop form turns 7 (oil), 8 (sand), and 9 (both I think). You can also get an items that will allow you to get a level 100 weapon (with 1300 soldiery) from turn 7 (or SCoB turn 2).

EDIT: also the second coil will almost certainly enter the duty finder at 2.4 and echo will likely be applied in the same manner as we're seeing now with the first coil.

[Legacy_Wolfwood]

WHM tip: not every peice of solidary items is good for WHM. you are better off using a mix of i90 and i100 items.

though there are disputes about this, the current full potential is a mix of the high allagan and the day star.

if you arent going into 2nd coil, your best bet is getting most of the allagan items from the 1st coil and farming the ex primals. possibly get the i100 mog neck too. then just replaced certain items with some sold parts. but this is just my suggestion