STR/PIE/ATK Testing

[JusticeReborn]

I will try to make a “poor man’s” and a “rich man’s” gear layout for DRG. Assuming you have my base stats of 255 STR, 244 PIE, 532 Attack with Ifrit Harpoon, you would need +95 STR and +66 PIE to cap.

Poor Man
Weapon: Ifrit Harpoon
Head: Paragon Crown (+10 STR/PIE)
Body: Cobalt Habergeon with 2x PIE (+6 STR, +32 PIE, +6 ATK)
Hands: Felt Braces + 2x STR material (+32 STR, +3 PIE)
Waist: HP belt
Legs: Felt Trousers + 8/8 STR/VIT (+ 12 STR)
Feet: Cobalt Sollerets (+3 STR)
Rings: 2x STR (+30 STR)
Neck: Electrum Gorget (+25 ATK)
Net: 348 STR, 289 PIE, 563 Attack (no food)

Rich Man
Weapon: Ifrit Harpoon
Head: Darklight Helm (+20 ATK, +15 STR)
Body: Cobalt Habergeon + 3x PIE (+6 STR, +6 ATK, +48 PIE)
Hands: Felt Bracers + 3x STR (+48 STR, +3 PIE)
Waist: Veteran’s Field Bets (+2 STR)
Legs: Felt Trousers + 3x STR/DEX (+25 STR)
Feet: Darklight Caligae (+15 PIE)
Rings: Flex position for Accuracy or ATK
Neck: Electrum Gorget+1 (+30 ATK)

Net: 351 STR, 310 PIE, 588 ATK, (+ 22-58 Acc)
*I only mention Acc since 1.21 has shown considerably lower Acc for melee, and
Dragoon skills have inherent lower Acc.

Side Notes:

Power Surge: Adds +39/39/40 or +118 ATK total to Dragoon.

Invigorate Bonus from AF: It’s only about ~300 more TP total for invigorate.

Fist of Wind AF Bonus: +10% cooldown reduction for +30% total. Note, you can equip the AF boots, activate Fist of Wind, switch boots and still have the bonus.

For a while I'd used the above as my gear guide for DRG. But now, with the addition of a the GC weapons with their bonus, I've been rolling out on DRG like this for a bit:

Weapon: Storm Lieutenant's Trident (Accuracy : +20, Crit Rate : +5, Storm gear set (5): Attack Power +30)
Head: Drachen Armet (Crit Attack Power : +40, Str : +2, Pty : +2)
Body: Storm Sergeant's Tabard (HP : +60, Str : +10, Accuracy : +5, Attack Power : +10, Storm gear set (3): Enmity : -20)
Hands: Felt Bracers (Accuracy : +5, Magic Evasion : +11, Pty : +3waiting to find one with +32 STR as recommended above)
Waist: Veteran's Field Belt (Accuracy : +5, Str : +2)
Legs: Storm Sergeant's Hose (HP : +80, Str : +10, Storm gear set (3): Accuracy +10)
Feet: Cobalt Sollerets (Accuracy : +3, Str : +3)
Earrings: Storm Sergeant's Earrings (Attack Power : +4, Storm gear set (4): Crit Attack Power +7)
Necklace: Electrum Gorget +1 (Attack Power +30)
Bracelets: Storm Sergeant's Bracelets (Attack Power : +3, Storm gear set (3): Str +7)
Rings: Rubellite Ring +1 x2 (STR+ 18 x2 = +36 total)

My base stats (with only the above weapon equipped) are STR 258/PIE 241
While wearing this, without food, my stats are at STR 328/PIE 246. I also end up with Attack Power of 579, Accuracy of 389

I'm not sure if or how the bonuses from the GC weapon and gear affect the "primo" gear a DRG should be wearing. But I am definitely open to recommendations on how to best improve overall.

Obviously, I need a bunch more PIE, and I see above that most of it comes from the Body piece, but doing that means I'd be losing the GC bonuses (in addition to the innate bonuses of the gear)...

So what's the overall recommendation? Should I still shoot for Poor Man/Rich Man above, or is there a new gear set to shoot for?

PS - I don't have any of the Primal weapons, and doubt I'd be able to pull one in before Nov 1...


EDIT: I was looking at the above again... it looks like, given my current gear stated above (stats at STR 328/PIE 246), I have a shortage of 22 STR and 69 PIE. So I thought about it and it looks like, if I remove one of my +18 STR rings and replace it with an +18 PIE ring, I now need 40 STR and 51 PIE to hit cap. This would mean, taking the Felt Bracers and Cobalt Sollerets I have, I just need two +20 STR materia melds in one, and a +25/26 PIE double-meld in the other. THen, I keep the current gear I've already got and still hit cap with it. Make sense to anyone else?

EDIT2: Well, the above edit was good in theory, but per this handy materia table I found, PIE materia can only go in Body slots, which completely ruins the entire premise I just laid out. I could still max STR via the Hands slot, but my PIE will be lacking. So, back to square one then. Suggestions welcome!