Novus weapon upgrade system findings

[Kiara]

...I personally disagree with this because Tanks shouldn't be stacking Parry for the "Hey, took X% less damage through that whole fight! Neat!" aspect. They should be stacking Parry for those situations where you're close to death and the healer(s) got you back up not because they were being awesome, but because you parried that one attack that would have killed you if something hadn't been done to reduce it. If you didn't have that extra 3% rate, you could have wiped. That's why I stack Parry; so it can save my life in individual situations.

To answer the healer question, Scholars want +44 Crit and, well, whatever. There's arguments for any other other stats, but I'd personally go for Piety. I know Scholars have little trouble managing their MP, but more MP never hurts because more Adlo never hurts... and some situations in the Second Coil can be made easier by judicious use of Succor. A full 31 Det will increase your average heal by... 3 or 4? Spell Speed will make them go out a little faster, and use your MP faster if you are DPSing.

White Mage BiS is 31 Det, 33 Piety, and 11 Spell Speed. I don't think anybody will question this unless even White Mages think Spell Speed is so detrimental that Crit is somehow better.

Thanks Donjo. Very helpful. Some follow-ups:

* I wonder if "future proofing" the Novus (e.g., adding in more Accuracy than you currently need for T9) is necessary? Or would future content come with future Upgrades to the Novus as well? (so that you'll always be able to add / upgrade your Relic/Novus to keep up w/ future Accuracy needs in the same patches?)

* I agree w/ your point on Parry (and that save situation).

On a side note, I really wish Yoshi P and the Combat Team made Stats worth more and be more tweakable. For example, for Tanks, I find it fascinating that in *theory* you could have multiple stats that could affect your performance in battle:

* Strength for Shield Block Amount / Damage Reduction. Also for higher damage, which is more enmity.
* Vitality for Health.
* Dexterity for increasing Parry & Shield Block percentages.

Then the secondary stats like "Parry%" or "Determination".

In reality, the core stats are locked out by Yoshi P for each weapon / armor, and we're just left with a few secondary stats. It just feels like there'd be a lot more excitement, investigation, championing of different Builds (STR Tank, DEX Tank, VIT Tank, etc.) if there were more Side Grades, if Materia Melding / Craftable Equipment was actually on par (or close), or just if some of these Core Stats were more freely accessible to the players. Oh well.

[Kiara]

Cap for flank on t9 is 495, front is 515. You might want to aim for front since there will be times you need to attack from the front.

Hi Lemon,

Thanks! Is 515 Accuracy for front the same for all jobs? If not, do you know the #'s?

Usually Casters have different numbers IIRC. Thanks.

[LunarEmerald]

[Altimis]

Hey, its funny T9 require 470 while T8 is 471 .. lol

thanks for conclusion

[Lemon8or]

Hi Lemon,

Thanks! Is 515 Accuracy for front the same for all jobs? If not, do you know the #'s?

Usually Casters have different numbers IIRC. Thanks.

Accuracy is not dependent on jobs but dependent on the sides they hit from. BLM always hit from behind so their numbers are lower. SMN himself share the cap with BLM but the pet is not so it usually requires flank accuracy.
I was responding to a monk post so that's why I was specifically telling him to cap for front to not miss during Luna Dynamo + Thunderstruck combo. You can probably still hit from the side but I haven't gotten there yet, still on Heavensfall, hence the might part.

[Rosy]

I've been keeping track of my Animus Bow Infusions as I go. I'm going Crit/ACC, as I've found that hitting the ACC Cap for the front in T9 can be problematic without sacrificing a lot of stats (namely, crit) without having ACC on the weapon (and besides, I may as well prepare for my HA weapon having Accuracy anyway!) Here's what I have so far.

Grade I Grade II
100% 100%
100% 100%
100% 100%
100% 100%
100% 100%
100% 100%
96% 96%
90%
82%
72%
60%

Those percentages are the same I've had for Crit

[Altimis]

so to sum up

31 capped, you need total 7 materia per tier (last IV tier need 8 materia)

44 capped, 11 materia per tier

[TomTom1968]

I always thought magical attacks are same as range physical DD's flank attacks. If I do not need 490 ACC but only 470, this might change my plan for the Novus upgrade......

[Guevara]

so to sum up

31 capped, you need total 7 materia per tier (last IV tier need 8 materia)

44 capped, 11 materia per tier

for 31 capped I think you need 8 materia per tier, while tier 1 only requires 7 materia. 8x3=24; 24+7=31

[Donjo]

On a side note, I really wish Yoshi P and the Combat Team made Stats worth more and be more tweakable. For example, for Tanks, I find it fascinating that in *theory* you could have multiple stats that could affect your performance in battle:

* Strength for Shield Block Amount / Damage Reduction. Also for higher damage, which is more enmity.
* Vitality for Health.
* Dexterity for increasing Parry & Shield Block percentages.

I'm getting this feeling that Tanks will eventually just start getting Dexterity on their gear along with everything else. It's kind of odd that it's never appeared. In fact, there were those who considered crafted and melded i70 accessories far superior to i90 Fending accessories because the added Strength and Dexterity outweighed the health loss... although it's quite expensive to fully meld Vitality, Parry, Accuracy, and whatever else you want into them. I suppose that those people will be very happy if crafted i90 accessories become available in 2.3