Recipe Optimal Rank?

[Velo_Vandore]

Thanks VdarrTyr for the thorough response. I really appreciate that you've taken time to shed some light on this topic for me. It's a relief to know that players are not generally crafting all of their own gear while leveling. Although I've been avoiding the Market Wards (I know it will take me some time to learn what sells for what, and to save/make gil), this option seems favorable to agonizing over recipes, especially at level 10, and I'll definitely give the Wards a try as you've recommended. Buying certain components in the wards is also an appealing idea, as I can then still dabble with some recipes myself, so again, thanks for suggesting.

I really like the idea of using non-class specific gear while leveling, because I'm also interested in leveling the other classes. Thanks also for pointing out some specific examples of gear for my current level (a big help!).

And keep in mind that -- while you don't get the full benefit of all stats if you're under the gear's Optimal Rank -- the difference for gear scales, meaning that you won't be in too bad of shape if you wear gear above your Optimal Rank. (However, there's a huge difference when we're talking about Weapons and Tools. You generally want to stick to weapons and tools that are at or below your Optimal Rank.)

Would you mind explaining a little more about wearing gear above current rank, while keepin weapon/tool on or below current rank. I can understand the idea behind equipping slightly higher gear, so I can work towards it and upgrade less often. However, when you say to equip a weapon/tool at same rank or lower, but not higher, wouldn't the low rank weapon/tool also lose effectiveness? Is it that stats are cut more dramatically 5 levels higher than 5 levels lower? I certainly value your advise and will avoid buying higher ranked weapons/tools, but I'm curious to understand why I'm doing that.

Thanks again ,

Vel

[VydarrTyr]

Thanks VdarrTyr for the thorough response.

Happy to help. And really glad you're enjoying the game.

Buying certain components in the wards is also an appealing idea, as I can then still dabble with some recipes myself, so again, thanks for suggesting.

This might be pretty obvious, but if you're interested in crafting, I'd suggest starting with local leves. You get the materials for free, and you can get some experience with the crafting system. In fact, I've gotten the vast majority of my own crafting levels simply by doing crafting leves.

And just like you can equip (almost) any battle ability on any battle class, you can equip (almost) any crafting ability on any crafting class. So, for example, at Leatherworking level 10, you get the ability Fulfillment. Once you've earned that ability, you can equip that ability on every crafting class, making crafting for every other class easier.

Would you mind explaining a little more about wearing gear above current rank, while keepin weapon/tool on or below current rank. I can understand the idea behind equipping slightly higher gear, so I can work towards it and upgrade less often. However, when you say to equip a weapon/tool at same rank or lower, but not higher, wouldn't the low rank weapon/tool also lose effectiveness? Is it that stats are cut more dramatically 5 levels higher than 5 levels lower? I certainly value your advise and will avoid buying higher ranked weapons/tools, but I'm curious to understand why I'm doing that.

Sorry if I've been unclear.

1) Every piece of gear, weapons, and tools has an "Optimal Rank" and a class affinity. Here's an example: Canvas Dalmatica. If you click on that link, you'll see that the shirt has an "Optimal Rank" (which now appears to say "Required Rank") of level 23. It also says that this shirt "Favors: GLA PGL CON THM TAN WVR MIN."

If you are below the Required/Optimal Rank, or you are wearing the shirt while playing a class not on the "Favored" list, then two things will happen.

First, you won't get the full benefit of the stats listed. In other words, the shirt will give you less Defense, Magic Defense, Evasion, etc. You also won't get the full HP +23, Dex +3, and Magic Craftmanship +5. So if you wear that shirt while playing Marauder, you're not going to get all of the stats (I haven't tested it, but I understand that you lose about 1/3rd of the stats if you're playing off-class). Or if you equip it at rank 20, you're not going to get the full benefit of the stats.

Second, the shirt's durability will degrade faster. That means it's going to wear down more quickly, requiring you to stop playing and repair it more often, which will cost more money.

So it's generally a good idea to use gear/weapons/tools with an Optimal Rank at or below your rank.

2) The more out of whack your rank and class are from the shirt's rank and affinity, the bigger the nerf, and the quicker you get damaged. So if you're a level 1 Conjurer wearing rank 50 armor built for a Gladiator, you're not going to get much benefit from the gear, and the gear is going to get damaged very quickly.

3) The nerf you get for wearing gear above your rank is smaller than the nerf you get for using weapons/tools above your rank. Specifically, if you equip gear that's above your rank, the nerf won't be too terrible, and in some cases, you might even have equal or higher stats.

That's not true for weapons/tools. If you're even one rank below the Optimal Rank for weapons/tools, you'll lose 20-30% of the stats offered by that weapon/tool. If you're farther away, you'll lose even more than that. And the gear is going to degrade significantly faster. As a result, you're almost always better off using weapons/tools at or below your level.

The difference is because of the different size of nerf. You get nerfed much harder with weapons/tools than with gear.

There's an easy way to test it. Simply open your main menu, and click on "Gear." Then equip a weapon below your level, and check your stats (Attack, Accuracy, etc., are listed to the left in the Gear menu). Then click on a weapon above your level, and check your stats. Compare and contrast. (You can do the same for any two pieces of gear.)

I don't mean to imply that it's a good thing to wear gear that's above your level. But money can be hard to come by when you first start playing. Those of us who've been at level 50 for a while forget how difficult it was to afford new weapons when we were first starting out. So if you're looking to save some money, you can get away with buying gear less often. It's much more important to buy weapons/tools that are rank-appropriate.

Now, don't go crazy and buy level 50 gear, and think it's going to be fine as a level 20 Gladiator. I have a friend who -- at level 25 -- used end-game Gladiator gear/weapons. it drove me batty. He couldn't hit anything, when he did hit he didn't do much damage, and he spent millions in repairs. (Literally, millions. He couldn't repair his own gear, repair costs were higher then, and he had to get repairs at least once per day.) So I'm not suggesting that you absolutely should equip gear above your rank and grow into it. I'm just suggesting that you should concentrate more on having level appropriate weapons. If you're going to save money, it's better to save money on gear.

And I apologize for not mentioning this before, but you should think about joining a linkshell. In my opinion, the in-game community in FFXIV is great. It's also a great way to get hand-me-down gear and weapons, so you don't have to buy them. Other players can also help you craft gear, and can help by repairing your gear, which also saves you money. And they can help get you over the game's steep learning curve. And perhaps most importantly, things are just more fun if you've got other people to do them with.

Let me know if you've got any more questions. And have fun!

[Velo_Vandore]

Vydarr Tyr, another great response. I have a much clearer understanding of your advice now, and also will definitely look to join a linkshell.

Your great responses and selfless assistance has highlighted for me that difficulty and challenges in this game encourage a friendly and supportive community, if nothing else. I'll try to follow your example and help people out as well when I can.

Thanks again!

Vel