Upgrade for Eternal Shade...and eventually Fists of the 6th Sun.

[DexterityJones]

Hopefully the title says it all.

I've been rocking the Eternal Shade since r25ish, after a friend helped me kill the Queen and been using the Fists of the 6th sun since r35ish.

I'm currently r39 and soon to be r40 and wondering whats the next upgrade for me? I have no idea what I should be replacing the Shade with, and no idea what I should eventually replace my fists with.

Thanks for any advice.

[AlphaDragoon]

Dunno if this is the optimized "be all end all", but I'm currently using Boarskin Himantes which are R39 exactly. Managed to find a +1 pair and they offer quite the upgrade from my Fists of the Sixth Sun.

As far as armor, I'm wearing a plain old Scouting Jacket. Eternal Shade had awesome stat buffs but the base armor itself leaves something to be desired at R39.

[Lienn]

I'd keep the fists until like 45ish and then replace it with crab hora or peiste cesti.

About eternal shade....its just overrated. Any natural upgrade would make up for NM drops...You can move to Velveteen Tabard, Scouting Jacket and later on Toad Harness with no fear of doing something wrong.

Look the fists + shade:
Atk 113
Acc 142
STR 3
DEX 6
Eva 28
HP 10

Now i'm getting Tabard + Crab Hora (you can just go straight to toad too...i'm getting tabard because its at optimal rank for you).

Atk 130
Acc 146
STR 4
VIT 5
Eva 31

So, even with all their bonuses, they don't really are worth using past average equipment rank range, which is 10 ranks above of it.

[DexterityJones]

Thank you all, that was my sentiments as well that the Shade was past its prime. What sparked this post was that I was actually looking at a toad harness and its much increased base stats and was thinking it was worth it to ditch the Shade.

Once again thanks for your time and advice.

[Jabo]

I strongly recommend the Harnesses since evasion got fixed.
You can evade 2-5 times during one fight with good evasion and dex stats. Of course without featherfoot.

Weapon would be Boarskin Himantes. Even the NQ are already better.

[Archadius]

Replace Eternal Shade with Unicorn Ass Jacket (Alpine War Jacket) from the Darkhold ^_^

[AlphaDragoon]

I'm at R40 now and there's like, nothing other than Velveteen Kecks in pants that have defense and evasion. Eventually I suppose I'll have to sacrifice evasion for defense and use the Tarred Leather Trousers since there's literally no other options at high levels.

[Lienn]

I'm at R40 now and there's like, nothing other than Velveteen Kecks in pants that have defense and evasion. Eventually I suppose I'll have to sacrifice evasion for defense and use the Tarred Leather Trousers since there's literally no other options at high levels.

Well, but if you want eva no better pants than kecks. I can't wait to see when they add linen/woolen kecks...it will potentially be r49 and have 43 eva...a +3 of this one would be so sexy! Anyway, i do consider kecks the best PGL pants right now, even with such low optimal rank. And, after it, leather subligar...but you're elezen M so do others a favor and stay away from subligaria lol! Elezen M in subligar = instant eyebleed =P

Tarred leather trousers can leave you a bit bulkier, but the 19 less eva in comparison with kecks makes it not worth it IMO.

[GreyJorildyn]

Those fists are meh even at optimal rank. Spiked knuckles +1 are better until the next upgrade, which i think are boarskin himantes at 39. Try to maintain at least +1 on your weapons. Those are generally easy to find, affordable, and have decent resale value when it comes time to unload them.

Eternal Shade is BiS for dps unless PGL can wear Brigand's Acton. Now if you're looking to take some hits/tank, just go for the 45 harness at this point.

[KRose]

Yes, Pugilist can wear Brigand's Acton - and it's incredibly easy to get one lol.

After Fists of the Sixth Sun I went to Boarskin Himantes (like suggested above) and then I don't really remember to be honest... I solo with Disabling Bahanahks (sp?) occasionally for the Paralyze and I currently own a pair of Jade Hora +1 for everything else.

Eternal Shade wasn't around when I ranked PGL but I skipped straight to Toadskin Harness. I picked up an HQ1 for that too. It was pretty cheap on Besaid, I'm not sure what the prices are like on your server. As far as replacing your body piece (or any armor for that matter) it's more or less dependent on your playstyle. If you're just doing DD you could probably use Brigand's Acton and do the Concussive Blow II -> Victimize thing. I wouldn't suggest wearing it for any form of tanking though.