Temple Cyclas.....

[Almalexia]

225 seconds vs 252 seconds. That is 12% increase in time you can keep melee with fists up. To get that kind of return in time you would need a 252 mana increase. 252 mana increase is equal to 7.2 max stat IV mana materia binds. Nothing Spectacular indeed.

The conserve MP effect is more like a very specific Refresh effect than a virtual increase to MP, as you suggest. It should be compared to other means of replenishing MP--down time, Ballad, Sucker Punch, ether even--all of which are generally more effective than 3MP/tic and don't rely on gearswapping.

[NoctisUmbra]

Don't worry about gearswapping shenanigans just yet.

I have around 2100MP in a full party. Without AF, I can carry on fisting for 3 minutes and 45 seconds; with AF bonus, 4 minutes and 12 seconds. That's 27 additional seconds without any resting, Ballad or Sucker Punch--nothing spectacular.

Gearswapping in FFXIV is so cumbersome for melee that I wouldn't recommend working it into a macro for regular use. Before a primal or boss fight, where the battle is long and the element consistent, you could do it from the gear menu.

I am more concerned about swapping AF feet once Explorer/Darklight comes my way. I never want to go without that recast reduction, but have you seen those raid boots!?

Yea an LSmate of mine got the server first Darklight piece which also happens to be the Caligae. Absolutely amazing. I have my eyes on the Corselet, Eyepatch and Bracers as well for MNK.

[Meleena]

I find Darklight Body and Head amazing for Monk but on the other hand, the boots and the hands seem usless to me, they take away more than what they give you.
AF hands are better IMO.

[NoctisUmbra]

I find Darklight Body and Head amazing for Monk but on the other hand, the boots and the hands seem usless to me, they take away more than what they give you.
AF hands are better IMO.

The caligae are on the lower end of things. It all comes down to whether or not you will use Fists of Wind for a particular encounter. The enhanced Wind is very good for WS cooldowns. It's like an everlasting Keen Flurry + Quick.

The bracers are far from bad though. AF set only really gives Attack +40, which is great. Bracers on the other hand give Attack +30 and Accuracy +35.

Now, before 1.21 I would have brushed the accuracy buff aside, but it seems to me not everyone has noticed the fix they did to accuracy. Even in Full Party without any accuracy buffs MNk is far from 100%. Missing leads to a much greater DPS loss than 10 less Attack.

[Xianghua]

For hands I still prefer Double Melded Raptorskin and use Acc ring's. As for the AF body. I still use my Rainmakers over it due to it having a high Crit power. with how much you can spam Sucker punch and if you have a bard (we usually do) MP is a joke to keep up.

If you don't have double meld T4 hands Darklight > all but if you do them+acc rings > all

[NoctisUmbra]

For hands I still prefer Double Melded Raptorskin and use Acc ring's. As for the AF body. I still use my Rainmakers over it due to it having a high Crit power. with how much you can spam Sucker punch and if you have a bard (we usually do) MP is a joke to keep up.

If you don't have double meld T4 hands Darklight > all but if you do them+acc rings > all

Now I don't know how much STR/ATK you have on your raptorskin gloves but coupled with 2 accuracy rings (+30-36 accuracy) it would have to beat the Attack +30, Accuracy +35 of the bracers + the STR +20-24 from rings.

If we accept the accuracy to be the same for both scenarios, then your gloves would have to have the equivalent of at least (even more due to the STR bonus for PGL/MNK) 60-66 Attack Power / 40-44 STR. Both of those are above a perfect tier IV double meld.

[Xianghua]

Now I don't know how much STR/ATK you have on your raptorskin gloves but coupled with 2 accuracy rings (+30-36 accuracy) it would have to beat the Attack +30, Accuracy +35 of the bracers + the STR +20-24 from rings.

If we accept the accuracy to be the same for both scenarios, then your gloves would have to have the equivalent of at least (even more due to the STR bonus for PGL/MNK) 60-66 Attack Power / 40-44 STR. Both of those are above a perfect tier IV double meld.

Str you can get from other places and don't need to be use for rings my mnk right now has both str and int over 300 No darklight yet.

With acc rings + 2 Tier 4(30 and 27)+4 on hands = 61attack+36acc

Darklight hands + str rings give you 30atk 35acc and 36str

So you have 1acc and 31atk vs 36 str

With Darklight boots + body you will have another 28acc. so can take off an acc ring for a str ring/atk ring

So with the BIS you should have more then enough acc making 2xmeld hands better then Darklight.

[NoctisUmbra]

Str you can get from other places and don't need to be use for rings my mnk right now has both str and int over 300 No darklight yet.

With acc rings + 2 Tier 4(30 and 27)+4 on hands = 61attack+36acc

Darklight hands + str rings give you 30atk 35acc and 36str

So you have 1acc and 31atk vs 36 str

With Darklight boots + body you will have another 28acc. so can take off an acc ring for a str ring/atk ring

STR and ATK go at a 2:3 ratio without any consideration for class bonus. So 2 STR gives the equivalent increase to damage as 3 Attack Power. If the class in question also has STR as a bonus attribute then it gives even more of an increase to damage until you hit the STR cap. However the 2:3 holds true even after the STR cap. Such has been tested by Seiken extensively and confirmed by other sources.

Therefore 36 STR is equivalent to 54 Attack Power. This is only if you already hit the STR cap on PGL/MNK, the value of which is yet unknown. If you haven't hit it, then STR gives an even greater increase to damage done as the 2:3 effect is compounded with the class attribute bonus.

So yes, I'll gladly take 36 STR (54 attack) over 30 attack + 1 acc.

As for boots, that's another story. I'm comparing 2 pieces exclusively, and only including rings since you did. Gaining multiple pieces of the darklight set can change everything.

[Xianghua]

STR and ATK go at a 2:3 ratio without any consideration for class bonus. So 2 STR gives the equivalent increase to damage as 3 Attack Power. If the class in question also has STR as a bonus attribute then it gives even more of an increase to damage until you hit the STR cap. However the 2:3 holds true even after the STR cap. Such has been tested by Seiken extensively and confirmed by other sources.

Therefore 36 STR is equivalent to 54 Attack Power. This is only if you already hit the STR cap on PGL/MNK, the value of which is yet unknown. If you haven't hit it, then STR gives an even greater increase to damage done as the 2:3 effect is compounded with the class attribute bonus.

So yes, I'll gladly take 36 STR (54 attack) over 30 attack + 1 acc.

As for boots, that's another story. I'm comparing 2 pieces exclusively, and only including rings since you did. Gaining multiple pieces of the darklight set can change everything.

I'll take your word for it since you do look like you know more then me. and thank you for the tips. However when more gear does get added. I still see such a high amount of attack in 1 piece highly valuable. which as you said is another story.

[Meatdawg]

STR and ATK go at a 2:3 ratio without any consideration for class bonus. So 2 STR gives the equivalent increase to damage as 3 Attack Power. If the class in question also has STR as a bonus attribute then it gives even more of an increase to damage until you hit the STR cap. However the 2:3 holds true even after the STR cap. Such has been tested by Seiken extensively and confirmed by other sources.

Therefore 36 STR is equivalent to 54 Attack Power. This is only if you already hit the STR cap on PGL/MNK, the value of which is yet unknown. If you haven't hit it, then STR gives an even greater increase to damage done as the 2:3 effect is compounded with the class attribute bonus.

So yes, I'll gladly take 36 STR (54 attack) over 30 attack + 1 acc.

As for boots, that's another story. I'm comparing 2 pieces exclusively, and only including rings since you did. Gaining multiple pieces of the darklight set can change everything.

You have your str:atk conversion backwards.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...l=1#post589207

3 str = 2 atk