What affect does wrong level gear have?

[Eekiki]

not really true, its generally pretty noticeable, especially the accuracy drops, and even the attack.

You can check by comparing how the stats change when you look in your actual attributes, not the the red and green or whatever colored stuff, but the other window that shows accuracy defense etc. if its a stat that isnt on that list, your guess is as good as anyones, but in general your are always better off using something optimal, unless its really outdated, the +5 is usually good, but sometimes there are big stat jumps with one level.

wearing anything non favored is almost always crappy.

Then what to the stars do on the +1 equipment, huh? HUH?! Bet you can't answer that, Mr. Smarty Smart Smart!

[Coldfire]

+5% per star (minimum 1)
Not sure though if the penalty from not meeting the reqs is after or before that. Anyone checked if the penalty is at least linear?

[Shyd]

Tools and Weapons generally suffer the biggest reduction in stats when not using optimal rank. Accuracy goes down, Attack is generally the same as last weapon you had on, Crit Hit goes down.

Gear and Jewelry tend to not have a severe stat reduction. And the Defense, Resillance, Evasion etc etc. goes down while the base stats Str Vit Craftmanship does not suffer that much of a hit.

IMO tools and weapons you want optimal rank, gear is really wish washy~

[syntaxlies]

Its a hidden stat reduction, amount depends how far off the optimal rank you are, i dont think anyone knows exact amounts yet, but you should try to be +/- 5 ranks i beleave. Also the gear gets damaged alot quicker if you are off the optimal rank again +/- 5 ranks should be enough

its not hidden,
for example
first equip the right sword check then check your stats,
then equip a rank in-appropriate sword and check the stats.
The rank appropriate equipment will always give you higher stats. And rank inappropriate equipment degrades faster.

[Milo]

Gear penalty penalizes all the gear's stats and bonuses. Assuming you meet the optimal rank and it isn't damaged, a factor of 60% applies. However, they round up (Strength+2 will still be +2 for that reason). HQ items get a boost of 5%, 10%, and 15% for +1, +2, and +3. It applies only to the stats that have stars. This formula is applied before the rank penalty above.

[RabidSquirrel]

So, I'd like to make a note here... I've used a pair of bronze sollerets (optimal rank of 27), for ranks 1-20 of gladiator, and ranks 1-10 of marauder. I've compared it with several other feet equipment, and it has given the most defense, magic defense, and resilience verses anything else I've tried. On top of that, it has yet to get below 80% durability throughout all those ranks.

Anyone have a good explanation for this? I've compared stat differences of main hand equipment at different ranks, and those differences are like night and day. For example, a tin alembic (rank 17) gave the exact same stat increases as a brass alembic (rank 12) as an alchemist of rank 16.

EDIT: I forgot to take into account my play for today. So that's 1-21 ranks of gladiator, and the durability is down to 77%.

[MariyaShidou]

So, I'd like to make a note here... I've used a pair of bronze sollerets (optimal rank of 27), for ranks 1-20 of gladiator, and ranks 1-10 of marauder. I've compared it with several other feet equipment, and it has given the most defense, magic defense, and resilience verses anything else I've tried. On top of that, it has yet to get below 80% durability throughout all those ranks.

Anyone have a good explanation for this? I've compared stat differences of main hand equipment at different ranks, and those differences are like night and day. For example, a tin alembic (rank 17) gave the exact same stat increases as a brass alembic (rank 12) as an alchemist of rank 16.

EDIT: I forgot to take into account my play for today. So that's 1-21 ranks of gladiator, and the durability is down to 77%.

Because gears are of different type. A pair of leather shoes can not give as much defense as a pair of chain mail boots, correct? Gear penalty will usually make your gear stat down to the rank you are now or a little bit lower. For example:

If a pair of shoes r10 = 20 def, r20 = 30 def
If a pair of solleret r10 (IF) = 24 def, r20 = 36 def

Say you are wearing r20 solleret at r10, even after penalty your def will be 21 and it will still be better than a pair of shoes r10.

However, defense is NOT the only thing that matters. There are evasion, there are optimal class (A Mage wearing sollerets will always receive less def than wearing shoes for instant) and there are bonuses.

General rule in term of DEF is:
Cuirass > Metal Wargarb > Leather Wargarb > Cloth Wargarb > Leather Attire > Cloth Attire.

[RabidSquirrel]

Because gears are of different type. A pair of leather shoes can not give as much defense as a pair of chain mail boots, correct? Gear penalty will usually make your gear stat down to the rank you are now or a little bit lower. For example:

If a pair of shoes r10 = 20 def, r20 = 30 def
If a pair of solleret r10 (IF) = 24 def, r20 = 36 def

Say you are wearing r20 solleret at r10, even after penalty your def will be 21 and it will still be better than a pair of shoes r10.

However, defense is NOT the only thing that matters. There are evasion, there are optimal class (A Mage wearing sollerets will always receive less def than wearing shoes for instant) and there are bonuses.

Defense has served me the best so far as a gladiator. I did just take down 4 rank 28s at once as a rank 20 gladiator today for the leve Securing Horizon's Edge on a 2 or 3 star difficulty. I don't have much reference as to if that's good or not, but it was one hell of a fight.

But anyways, it still doesn't explain the lack of durabilty wear. I know stuff is suppose to wear down faster when it's much higher rank than you, but these sollerets seem to be doing pretty well still. Durabilities like my shield fall like a rock, though.

[MariyaShidou]

Well Metallic armours have higher durability base (for example shoes around 15,000 then solleret around 19,000).

Plus fighting durability loss is different from synthing or harvesting. Usually you lose much less clothes durability (unless you get hit more often) when you're fighting but your weapon (Main and Off - Shield) wear much faster, whereas synthing and harvesting has clothes and tools wear on similar scale.

[Rydin]

Its a hidden stat reduction, amount depends how far off the optimal rank you are, i dont think anyone knows exact amounts yet, but you should try to be +/- 5 ranks i beleave. Also the gear gets damaged alot quicker if you are off the optimal rank again +/- 5 ranks should be enough

No... the stat reduction is completely visible on your screen

+5% per star (minimum 1)
Not sure though if the penalty from not meeting the reqs is after or before that. Anyone checked if the penalty is at least linear?

Kind of... +1 is indeed a minimum of 1.... But +2 and +3 are also a minimum of 1, not 2 and 3 respectively

SO if a piece of gear gives, say 5 defense.... then the +1, +2 and +3 will ALL give 6 defense because the numbers would be
+1 = 5.25 = 6
+2 = 5.50 = 6
+3 = 5.75 = 6

recommended class penalty is -40% on all stats, so the 26 craftsmanship of the Dodore Doublet is only 16 to a class that is not recommended

Optimal rank penalty is tricky

You have Primary stats
Attack, Magic Attack, Defense, Magic Defense, Craftsmanship, magic craftsmanship and Gathering
These suffer a -20% penalty for being 1 rank under optimal rank. and then suffer another 2% of the starting value for each rank below that
Its not exact though but thats the rough number

So being 5 ranks under a piece that gives 100 attack would only get you:
72 attack, again, none if it is exact but its all very close
you lose 20% for being one rank under
22% for being two ranks under
24% for being three ranks under
26% for being four ranks under
28% for being five ranks under

The Secondary Stats are:
Accuracy, Magic accuracy, Evasion, resilience, control, perception, output

These suffer a 10% drop for being 1 rank under, and another 1% of the total for each additional rank