Ifrit Hard Mode Loot vs 5-Slotted Materia Gear?

[Amsai]

I and others have asked for a clear answer in several threads and I still don't have a clear answer. Will 5-slotted materia gear be THE best gear in the game or not? That new hard mode Ifrit gear looks pretty niffty, but how does it compare to what the new materia system can produce? I just want to know what the plan is SE. Even if I disagree with the direction, at least I would know.

I'll be honest, if the answer is that the Materia System will ultimately produce the best gear, then I'd be greatly disappointed. It detracts greatly from the challenge and glory to be had from tough dungeons and instances. Im not even asking for dungeon gear to be the best gear at this point. I would be perfectly happy with a ballance. For instance: Some U/U gear would be like 1-slotted materia gear and some rarer/harder to equire U/U pieces would be like 5-slotted materia gear etc. etc.

Why do I care? Because I dont like crafting and would like a non-crafting alternative to getting the best loot in the game for one. The other reason is I love doing dungeons and other such activities and would like to be well rewarded for it. If the rewards of the dungeon are inferior to crafted proucts, then I have no motivation for completing the dungeon beyond story. Lastly, I read a lot of fantasy and everyone knows the best gear is always in the deepest darkest dungeon guarded by a giant dragon. So I go get the "Ultimate Sword of Doom" and show it to my friend who is a crafter, then he goes and essentially makes himself the "Ultimate Sword of Doom +3"...... Talk about Immersion breaker. With all do respect to the crafting community, that makes no sense to me at all. Besides, some of us dont want to play the crafting or economy mini-games. Some of us would have high adventure in a dungeon and earn our gear with blood.

This isnt about elitism (at lest for me), its about personal preference. This also isnt an attack on crafters or those that would want to use materia crafted gear. More power to you if you like it. This is only about ballance, and so far the devs have not been very forth coming on this point. The issue has been addressed a couple of times, but the answers were too vague or information came out that seemed to give materia crafted gear a clear advantage.

[LemmingKingXXX]

they've pretty well stated out in the open (find it yourself) that dungeon rewards will be generally superior to 1 materia gear
when you talk of 5-materia gear, unless their definition of "low chance" is different then ours, it will be an extremely lucky thing if you can get a piece of gear to 5 materia without breaking it and all the materia you've attempted to place so far
it's a cascading risk factor that if you are lucky enough to accomplish, should be stronger then a dungeon piece which doesn't break a piece of your own gear if it doesn't drop, and doesn't get less likely to drop with each attempt

[Physic]

i think its clear 5 slotted materia peices/hq will be the best gear in game. but they didnt say that monster drops will have no slots at all, just that you cant convert most of them to materia

[Gidonoidon_Sur]

Few points. Just because it is hard to get doesn't mean it has to be the best. There are trophy pieces. And, although this isn't FFXI, SE has a precedent for having impossibily hard to obtain items with little or less than best practical value (some relics and mystics and even mob drops like Raphael's Rod or PW drops).

Also, if those same epic monsters drop legendary pieces (their horn, skin, what-have-you) and a master artisan puts those pieces together to make an epic weapon (morningstar from castlevania anyone?) that should/could be best in slot. I don't think it has to be one way or other but can be a mix.

All that said, it will be weird if you can buy an npc sold sword and add 5-materia to it and make it better than the sword that drops from 5th chest Batrael. That is why I am sort of pro-socket idea like WoW and other MMOs, because the items can be limited in their potential (i.e., a npc bought sword would only have 1 socket whereas Batrael sword 3 possible sockets). Will be interesting to see how it all works out.

[Konachibi]

I'm gonna put this in 'cos I think it's important in some aspects.

In 1.19 making HQ weaponry is going to be a bit harder, as it'll require getting a full set of HQ materials in order to make one. Then slotting 5 materia onto it will be incredibly dangerous, as SE have already said the first 1 or 2 materia will be relatively easy to put on, but then from then on it gets harder, and if you fail you don't just lose your materia, you lose the weapon too. that being said there's an incredible risk with slotting a HQ weapon with 5 materia, more risk than fighting a primal on the chance of getting a drop, so I'd imagine it'd be fair to say that a HQ weapon with 5 materia slotted would in fact be superior to a weapon aquirable through fighting a primal or doing a dungeon.

On an additional thought if they impliment relic weapons like they had in FFXI those would be incredibly difficult and time consuming weapons to aquire, so it would then be fair to say relic weapons should be more advanced than a HQ weapon with 5 materia slotted.

It would be nice however if a HQ weapon with 5 slotted materia was given a slightly different appearance from it's standard version, to give a better impression of it's superior power.

[Cycloptichorn]

So I go get the "Ultimate Sword of Doom" and show it to my friend who is a crafter, then he goes and essentially makes himself the "Ultimate Sword of Doom +3"

You are downplaying the tremendous financial risk that crafter will be exposed to, in order to create that sword.

Any item with 5 materia is going to be very difficult to successfully make, and if you fail - you lose the materia and the item! So, we're talking:

- One of the best swords in the game to begin with
- 5 of the best materia in the game, and these sure as hell aren't going to be cheap
- the highest-rank catalyst materia (if they have ranks, I don't really know)

They actually stand to lose a hell of a lot more by creating this then you do fighting. If you die, so what? Your armor gets dinged a bit? Someone who tried to make the weapon you describe will be gambling with millions of gil. I don't see why that's any less worth it than what you do.

[Amsai]

@ Physic:
I tend to agree with your opinion. It does seem like that is the direction. But they have never come out and said a firm statement which is what I am looking for.
@ LemmingKing:
I know exactly the post from a community rep you are speaking about. Still doesnt answer my question. As I told Physic, I tend to agree that is the direction they are taking, but I'm looking for a firm answer not a vague answer or conjecture based off limited facts. As for your opinion on how much stronger 5-slotted materia gear should be, I fully disagree with you. But you are entitled to your wrong opinion But even if I did agree with you, that does nothing for us players that would prefer to have an alternative way to the best gear. Make the method as ridiculously hard and involved as you think necessary to make it fair to 5-slotted materia gear, so long as I cant buy it or make it^^

[Radiator]

Theres no such thing as true "balance", its more just trying to keep everyone happy. If they do it right, "some" crafter items will be the best , while other leet dungeon drops will be the best, while yet others will be of equal stats and difficulty to obtain.

[Fiosha_Maureiba]

I can't find the information regarding whether dungeon drops/unique/rare items can be slotted or not in a search, memory is fuzzy on that one.

In most mmorpgs, crafting doesn't seem as appetizing when random world drops, quest rewards, and dungeons yield similar, convenient, or even more powerful items. Crafters get that short end of the stick where the fruits of the their labor will never produce legendary swordren like Excalibiur or Masamune or fabled suits of armor.

And although materia isn't quite like that, a high end high quality crafted item that was five slotted with Materia of the end-user's choice, flowing with memories of veterans who've had many adventures roaming the world as rare and epic to me as a flaming bow made of lalafell skulls that shoots dual katana-wielding moogle ninjas instead of arrows dropped from the imperial Witch King that rides Bahamut while setting Gridania ablaze.

But I'm under the pretense that dungeon drops can't be slotted. That they may be pretty beastin' to begin with, just not tailored to the player's playstyle beastin'.

And if that's the case, I think the crafters should be able to create that Ultimate Sword of Doom.

[Jinko]

At the end of the day almost nobody will be able to afford or have the skill/patience to make +3 5 slot items so don't worry about it too much, besides just have fun, if you can't afford slotted items go for a boss item instead.

I can't afford a top of the range BMW but i still drive a car.