Gear levels

[Train88]

I currently have gear around level 20. Just about half of it is all class.

Now i want to try out a THU which should be about lvl 3 or so. What happens if i just use this same gear with the adaptation of the few pieces that aren't the right job.

Or is it just better to get gear for the appropriate level?

How does it all work?

[Geesus]

Well from what I have seen, read, and heard, it doesn't really matter as far as the level/rank. You will get the stats such as MP/HP but the actual attributes of Str,Dex,Int etc will be down graded to the Rank of your Job. So class "may" count but Rank # does not really... I myself am in a similar boat as you and hoping SE and the Devs will make some changes with the removal of the "Rank" system and merging it with the PL (Physical Level) system they intend to do.

Hope this may help a little.

[Train88]

Just so i understand...

I wear rank 50 pants at rank 1 and i get full rank 50 armor but only rank 1 stats?

Or is the armor adjusted too for rank one?

EDIT: Ok i've done some testing with THM rank 6 wand rank 1 scepter rank 15 and...

At rank 6 they're exactly the same. Rank 1 wand and rank 15 scepter. The penalty floors it and i don't get a rank 6 result as i thought i would. It didn't scale at all from rank 3 to 6.

Conclusion: Oh well. Buy gear your level.

[REDace0]

I can give you some more concrete info here.

You only get the full stats (defense, mdefense, evasion, etc.) from equipped gear if you meet both the Optimal Rank and Favored Class requirements. Being the wrong class reduces the stats by a flat percentage (I think!), whereas being below the optimal rank reduces it by a percentage that gets smaller the closer you are to the optimal. This means you should almost always wear gear that favors your current class, and you should typically avoid gear that's above your current rank. There are exceptions in both cases, like wearing Mitts on a CON for the bonus MP (doesn't favor CON), or equipping Bronze Plate Mail at R32 on GLA (optimal R38).

There's another good reason to stick to gear of the appropriate rank and class, failing to meet either requirement causes equipment to degrade significantly faster, leading to more frequent repairs. It's pretty bad I hear if you meet neither the class nor rank requirements. Wearing R50 gear at R10 can be very expensive.