Materia Builds

[addz3]

This is probably ridiculous bit what with the current FFXI theme atm has anyone tried to meld a shit tonne, of say VIT for a RDM. Just for example. Does that make them a bit better for survival. I'm not sure how much VIT = HP. Just thinking out loud here. But if you could get an extra 5k or 6k HP on a class, it could be quite cool for certain situations. I'm mainly thinking how good RDM was in XI. So versatile.

[Vidu]

Well, healers (and casters) have always been melding Vit into their gear in early stages of Savage progression, in order to survive certain raid-wide AoEs.
However those are melds that should be replaced with actual useful (aka: Helping your damage) stats once you've upgraded your gear enough to survive those AoEs without the extra Vit-melds.
All left side gear should be capped on Vit anyways, so thats basically just leaving the accessories to put some in. With Vit being a main-stat, you cant overmeld it. So at best you're gaining 125 points of extra Vit (5 Vit VI melded) on expense of something that helps you dish out more damage.
An extra 5k through melds isnt really possible anyways - so unless you need the extra HP to survive a raid-wide AoE, its a waste to meld Vit as RDM (to stick to your example).

This isnt FFXI after all - your RDM isnt a tank, its a damage dealer and any HP that you dont need to survive unavoidable damage, is wasted (if you get those HP by melding - meld something real).

[addz3]

I think materia holds the key to job variety. Imagine if you could have build for certain task or to act differently. I'm not trying to make this game into something it's not but the holy trinity and what jobs can do should always be looked at to improve. I'm not directly saying I want a RDM tank or a PLD dps. What I am saying is that the choice and customisation would be a nice change of pace

[Kurando]

I've used VIT melds for accessories on pretty much all the jobs (aside from Tanks), and honestly occasionally it can make a big difference. That extra health can give you more time to pop utility on the party or complete a mech properly before you do actually get killed, it's also great for BLM Manaward which is based on HP total, previously Stoneskin worked well with it as well (maybe Divine Benison too).

I don't really do raids that often just occasionally (but my DPS is all good) so it's just a preference for me to have the melds on there, its about 3000ish extra HP after all, but definitely other players prefer other melds instead which is fine.

[DrWho2010]

I think materia holds the key to job variety. Imagine if you could have build for certain task or to act differently. I'm not trying to make this game into something it's not but the holy trinity and what jobs can do should always be looked at to improve. I'm not directly saying I want a RDM tank or a PLD dps. What I am saying is that the choice and customisation would be a nice change of pace

unfortunately, and this has probably been said many times is that giving the illusion of choice is actually no choice - there will always be only one "right" method of doing things. and people will always gravitate towards that and not include players who do not subscribe to that setup.

[Vidu]

I think materia holds the key to job variety. Imagine if you could have build for certain task or to act differently. I'm not trying to make this game into something it's not but the holy trinity and what jobs can do should always be looked at to improve. I'm not directly saying I want a RDM tank or a PLD dps. What I am saying is that the choice and customisation would be a nice change of pace

"Would" is the keyword here - I totally agree with that! It would be nice if this was actually some sort of choice, but honestly: It isnt. Or well, in a sense it is - those extra point arent making a huge difference for the average player anyways and as I explained in a (serious/hardcore) raid-enviroment you might have to do that kind of melds, but in your daily content it wont matter. Unless it makes you feel better or safer - but thats just how I always felt safer staying in tank-stance until I realised that I really dont have to...

[Galaick]

You basically just described what every prog raider is already doing