Can someone tell me what the purpose of the Shiva EX drop being given to all players?

[Kyomagi]

My wife told me it was to upgrade the true ice rod, but i cannot find any info on what it upgrades to.

I know the true ice rod = Novus, but does the upgrade iv heard about = nexus?

[Lexia]

From the patch notes

Each player will now receive a piece of diamond dust upon completion of Akh Afah Amphitheatre (Extreme).
Exchange diamond dust with Aelina in Mor Dhona at Revenant's Toll (X:22 Y:6) to enhance one of the following items:

True Ice Brand / True Ice Claws / True Ice Axe / True Ice Spear / True Ice Bow / True Ice Daggers / True Ice Cane / True Ice Rod / True Grimoire of Ice / True Codex of Ice / True Ice Shield

but that the only information it gives

[ReddAxel]

It upgrades the i110 weapons from Shiva Ex to i115, so in your case, True Ice Rod to Diamond Rod

[Kyomagi]

thanks, so technically is is nexus. So i can keep grinding to novus and nexus without being gimped.

[cookiecutter]

thanks, so technically is is nexus. So i can keep grinding to novus and nexus without being gimped.

It is a nexus in terms of ilvl but not stat distribution. The nexus is still an upgrade over the i115 shiva weapon but only a slight one.

[Ophie-Mio]

Ehhhh, slight upgrade? Hardly. A lot of those stats on the Shiva weapons are not actually that good at all. It's an ilevel increase and if you're hurting for something, sure but it really should be used for glamour.

The best i115 blm staff is still the T9 one... Though I'm not sure if you bother with coil.

[Zumi]

Same npc that you trade in for levithan weapons, coil tome weapons, it takes 5 drops to upgrade a shiva weapon to 115.

[Kyomagi]

ya i was always going to drop the shiva rod when i finally got my relic to nexus. But i was too busy leveling my ninja when it came out to grind for maps and alex.

[Numenor1379]

Ehhhh, slight upgrade? Hardly. A lot of those stats on the Shiva weapons are not actually that good at all. It's an ilevel increase and if you're hurting for something, sure but it really should be used for glamour.

The best i115 blm staff is still the T9 one... Though I'm not sure if you bother with coil.

No... the best i115 BLM staff is a Nexus with 46SSPD/32DET.

[cookiecutter]

Ehhhh, slight upgrade? Hardly. A lot of those stats on the Shiva weapons are not actually that good at all. It's an ilevel increase and if you're hurting for something, sure but it really should be used for glamour.

The best i115 blm staff is still the T9 one... Though I'm not sure if you bother with coil.

I knew when I said slight someone would call me out on it. If you want to min/max then that weapon isn't ideal but, if you're looking for i115 weapon that's relatively easy to access then it isn't a terrible option. Det isn't as great as spellspeed but, the accuracy is easy to work with when pairing it with other gear options. I was just too lazy to type this all out first so I just said slight.