Thread: 5.5 Patch Notes are up!

Originally Posted by Deceptus

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Oh ok, I see what you mean. I thought last step Skysteel tools were better than pentameld actually...

But in the end, my point still stands; what would you need more stats for anyway? (which can be said for all gear in FFXIV, as a matter of fact, but that isn't the question). I think Skysteel tools were more a progression building feature, but stats don't matter so much in the end, given how you can pretty much craft everything with anything. Just like combat relic ends up being better than Savage weapon, but you don't have anything to do with it by the end of the expansion. They are a form of grinding towards cosmetics.

Originally Posted by Mansion

Oh ok, I see what you mean. I thought last step Skysteel tools were better than pentameld actually...

But in the end, my point still stands; what would you need more stats for anyway? (which can be said for all gear in FFXIV, as a matter of fact, but that isn't the question). I think Skysteel tools were more a progression building feature, but stats don't matter so much in the end, given how you can pretty much craft everything with anything. Just like combat relic ends up being better than Savage weapon, but you don't have anything to do with it by the end of the expansion. They are a form of grinding towards cosmetics.

Technically they're slightly better in the net stat budget than what you can get out of pentamelded Aesthete.

In practice, your mileage will vary depending on the Craftsmanship breakpoint you were trying to reach and how you had your Aesthete tool pentamelded. I was Control stacked. Switching to the relic meant getting a lot of Craftsmanship I didn't need and losing some Control. To benefit from it, I had to remeld 5 pieces gear and I'm still left with some excess Craftsmanship that I don't currently benefit from (it will probably be helpful while leveling next expansion). That makes the relic feel less than good to me.

SE should have used the Aesthete tool as a base and then added sockets to it instead of using the Handsaint tool and giving it a static stat boost. Being able to choose our stats to fit what we needed would have made it a tool that felt good from the moment it was earned.

But it's a non-issue for the majority of crafters since most aren't going to be using pentamelded Aesthete tools in the first place. If you're using anything else, it's a straight upgrade.

As for why would anyone need more stats? You can drop steps from macros saving a significant amount of time if you do a lot of end game crafting or reduce the need for HQ materials to guarantee HQ Exarchic result from a macro. More stats help cushion the RNG effects in Expert. More stats will make it a bit easier to level 85-90 when Endwalker launches and end game crafters are rushing to get ready to make raid gear.