Fresh level 60 white mage needs gearing help!

[TrinityArrow]

I really like how this conversation going, reminds me of old time.. I hope it doesn't confuse the thread owner LOL

Haha yeah I'm a bit confused but I'm learning a lot! It's good to hear different opinions.

Each piece has maxima for all the stats. If you look in the meld window, it'll show you the maxima at the bottom. The main stat on a piece of gear will be maxed without melds, so put things like determination and crit on instead. Main stat materia will only go on accessories, and even then, the main stat proper will be maxed already and none of the others main stats do anything for that gear's job, except in the cases of a tank adding strength to fending accessories or a non-tank raider adding vitality for survivability in new raid content.

Ok that clears up a lot. I was so lost lmao. Is there a way white mages usually balance determination and crit matarias, or is it personal preference? I also noticed that other white mages seem to cast a lot faster than I do. Is it just their higher level gears or should I invest in some spell speed as well?

[Maero]

Well the Augmented gear will be good for even up to level 64-65 (yes you could get dungeon gear of higher ilv but the Augmented Gear is still good)
There are sidequests that will give you gear also so there is that

[Squintina]

I still feel trying to get a suit of 270 gear at 60 is overkill. Between your class quest and Heavensward story rewards, you will have more than enough power to enter Stormblood story and first dungeon. I would just start filling in the gaps with shire gear as you naturally accumulate tomes doing fun stuff. Do get that weapon, however!

I was wrong about receiving only left side gear for completing a Stormblood dungeon. I think I accumulated right side accessories so quickly from the chest so I didn't notice. I do not consider doing a dungeon just a couple of times grinding though.

Well the thing about the quest rewards, yes they're good gear (that the game throws at you), but they're also good sales. For a newer player, who might not have a ton of gil or gatherers or crafters, it's a really good source of income. Using the aug. shire gear from 60 to 70, which like I said wasn't a problem for me (nor my husband) when doing any of the content and only upgrading when a dungeon happens to drop something better allows a person to sell their quest rewards, then eventually when the shire gear isn't needed either store for a future job (for the shared gear like armor/accessories) or hand it in for GC to then buy mats to sell, so it maximizes profit.

Just a different way of thinking about it. Nothing wrong with doing dungeons a few times if a person wants to in order to get more dungeon gear. It depends on their goals and their playstyle preferences.

[Minako_Nightsong]

Haha yeah I'm a bit confused but I'm learning a lot! It's good to hear different opinions.



Ok that clears up a lot. I was so lost lmao. Is there a way white mages usually balance determination and crit matarias, or is it personal preference? I also noticed that other white mages seem to cast a lot faster than I do. Is it just their higher level gears or should I invest in some spell speed as well?

Any of the options I have read here are pretty good. You picked one of the best jobs to start with in the game in my opinion. You are in for a lot of fun!

[ChaoticCrimson]

Oh, I just remembered that if you happen to have gotten Silver Chocobo Feathers from recruitment codes and such, you can actually trade them for a free set of body/leg Shire pieces from the Calamity Salvagers in the main three city-states. That'll save you a nice amount of Poetics if you choose to do it.

[Rongway]

Is there a way white mages usually balance determination and crit matarias, or is it personal preference? I also noticed that other white mages seem to cast a lot faster than I do. Is it just their higher level gears or should I invest in some spell speed as well?

I can't give a definitive answer, as I haven't looked at the current WHM data, but it would help to know what your options do.

• Determination: very slight increase to damage and healing, every time.
• Spell speed: faster casts. Doesn't affect tick times (they will always be 3.0s), however both your DoTs and HoTs will do more per tick.
• Direct hit: moderate increase to damage only, fairly often but not all the time.
• Critical hit: great increase to damage and healing, infrequently. (Where DHit has an X% chance to do +Y% damage, Crit is more like a Y% chance to do +X% damage. Their effects are similar but with magnitudes reversed)
• Piety: increased max MP. WHM is in a pretty nice position where MP recovery is concerned, and you probably won't need extra extra.

Spell speed isn't a terrible idea, as you have two DoTs and three HoTs that would benefit. Direct hit is probably the greatest increase per point, but it only affects offensive actions; however, this is not as bad as it sounds, because WHM already does a lot of overhealing even without melds. Crit isn't something WHMs typically go for because their numbers are already pretty high without needing the sporadic spikes (again, more overhealing), but it's also more damage.

Sorry I can't give concrete recommendations but hopefully when someone gives stat recommendations, this will help you understand why.

[TrinityArrow]

snip

No need to apologize! This is a great help for me. The rest is up to me to research and learn for myself though experience