Fresh 50!

[Nyxilin]

Ok Hello peoples~! just got to 50 on my warrior and finished my AF set. So now im wondering what i should do now gear wise... not sure what axes are available for a newbie to farm/collect and what gear i should upgrade into....So here i am asking you smart peoples!

Thanks in advance

Oh btw my gear is

full af and Demilune Bhuj with some basic jewelry

[Kagato]

Start doing GC missions until you finish United We Stand. Then save up 25,000 seals from caravans and get an Lt. Axe. That should tide you over until you get Garuda's Scream.

It's time to start melding your gear for tanking. So ditch your AF... except for your helmet.

Your goal: Get as close to 350STR/310VIT as you can.

Head: Use your AF helmet. There's no better piece of gear until you get the Paragon's Crown or the Darklight helmet.

Tanking Body: Get a Cobalt Cuirass melded with at least one really good VIT piece. You'll get enough VIT from the rest of your gear to need only one really good tier 3 or tier 4 VIT materia. If you want to double-meld, go with a DEF/HP/Crit materia as your 2nd meld. Your choice.

DD Body: Get a Cobalt Hauby/Coliseum Chest/Darksteel Hauby depending on how much you're willing to spend (I use a Coliseum chest myself until I can afford Darksteel or get Darklight). Double-meld it with Crit materia.

Tanking Belt: Cobalt Plate Belt/Sentinel's Plate Belt melded with as much +enmity as you can.

DD Belt: Explorer's belt for the +crit.

Legs (Tanking/DD): Felt Trousers at least double-melded with Ironman's Will.

Tanking Boots: Sentinel's Sabatons are ultimately your best option here due to it's VIT and natural enmity. Meld it with HP Materia.

DD Boots: Explorer's Moccasins for the +crit.

Gloves (Tanking and DD) - Cobalt Mitt Gauntlets with as much STR as you can meld. Aim for a triple meld.

Tanking Earrings: Stonewall Earrings if you can afford them. Otherwise, get an elemental earring.

DD Earrings: If you're in Malestrom, get the Storm Earrings. Otherwise, get Explorer's.

Tanking Neck: Militia Choker is your ultimate prize... but it is so expensive. Stick to a DD neck until you can get this.

DD Neck: Electrum Gorget +1 to start with. Explorer's Choker is what you want, though.

Tanking Bracelet: Coral +1

DD Bracelet: Storm if you're in Maelstrom and have 2 other storm pieces. Otherwise, get Rubelite. If you manage to get Imperial Operative Wristlets, those work too...assuming you have the STR elsewhere to make up for it.

Rings: Get 2 Electrum +1 and 2 Rubelite +1. Mix and match depending on what you need at the time: STR or ACC.

If you're in Malestrom, you're going to want to full-time the Lt Axe/Bracelet/Earring to take advantage of the bonus STR and Crit. Otherwise, get the alternatives.

Also, this is all only to tide you over until you start getting the ultimate prized armor: Darklight.

[mekia]

Thank you very much for the very clear run down :3 close to 50 myself and this will help a lot!

[Churchill]

Stonewall Earrings if you can afford them
>>aim for triple meld on gauntlets

lol

OP

The only axe you can farm/buy is going to be Giantsgall, but it comes at the cost of requiring some melds to be useful/better than other options. Personally, my favorite axe is going to be Moogle/Garuda - Malevolent Mogaxe allows you a lot of flexibility while tanking as it adds 30ACC to your sets, giving a stronger mix of both enmity and strength equipment in tanking sets.

I would continue to use your AF, and work on getting proper rings/belts/earrings first, as well as acquiring the axe from the moogle fight. There are a lot of skins/sinew/etc you can farm, and has the added benefit of allowing you to play your job a lot. If you know people, they can also make you the items if you buy them HQ materials, which can save a few bucks as well.
First purchases:
Coral Armillae+1
Stonewall Earrings
Rubellite Rings+1 x2
Electrum Ring+1 x1

Another way to make money is Spiritbonding, and you can use other websites that allow you to see what items turn into what materia (and thus gauge their effectiveness for sb'ing) Your groups skill/make up will determine how fast this goes, but in a solid group you'll SB a lot of items in just an hour, so bring plenty. I personally use Weapon/hands/neck/rings/belt/ and legs/head if available.

Save your materia for anything you might need at some point, and sell the rest.

Now you're going to need 2 melds done, and they are going to be painful. Felt Bracers (use across 3 jobs) and Felt Trousers (use across 3 jobs). There is no point only getting a double meld for the pants, because eventually they will not be enough strength/vit for what you need. This materia is a bit more expensive than what you'll be getting on the bracers, and that usually deters a lot of people (including myself, when I started)

So here's what you do: Farm HQ materials for Felt Bracers and Felt Trousers, have someone create HQ items for use in melding, get enough materials together for ~10 synths of whichever item you're working on (I would do gloves first as they are the biggest improvement over AF) and then have someone blow all of it up.

Those are the major melds you'll need, I would suggest camping the AH and buying a pre-melded enmity belt as people dump them off all the time for cheap as they get a new one and whatnot. You could also grab a pair of Cobalt Sabatons with a double HP meld and those are usually pretty cheap too.

Body is a matter of preference, but I don't really think there's much of a difference between a DD body and a tanking body. If you're not using Heavy Darklight/Darklight then it's really just whatever you want as you don't have a "Tanking" body. You can do Darksteel Haubergeon, Cobalt Cuirass, Cobalt Haubergeon or Mythril Haubergeon and I would check the wards for all of those because the latter two always have good deals (-millions off good deals)

[Kagato]

Skip the Moogle Axe and go for the Lt Axe. Lt Axes are stronger overall. Even better if you're Maelstrom since it's got nearly as good ACC as Moogle Axe.

Sure, you lose Crit points, but you gain so much more overall damage potential. Not only that... but it's far easier to get unless you're lucky enough to get your weapon to drop after the first 3 runs you ever do.

Also, Cobalt Cuirass is overall better for a tanking set to meld to since it comes with VIT already on the body piece. The Haubergeons are better for DD setups.

[Molly_Millions]

I concur with Kagato's advice, it's what I use with the exception that I always use the Explorer's Choker for the ACC no matter if I'm on DD or tanking.

[Churchill]

I won't argue that they are easier to get because progression is easier, but an ACC axe is going to outperform anything the second you would have to uncap STR to cap ACC (rings, etc). Either way, you're looking at 8+ hours of Caravan to get the seals for your axe vs. unknown number of moogle fights. Getting experience doing Moogle is also not a bad idea.

As far as body, VIT isn't going to make you take loads less damage. Looking at VIT as a secondary stat, capping VIT is really easy, so I still maintain it's preferential. You don't need HP on WAR, and a small amount of VIT on the Cuirass is easily countered with STR/ACC on Cobalt/Mythril Haub, as well as crit damage and AP on the Darksteel Haub. They'll all get the job done in any situation.

[Kagato]

There is absolutely no reason to not try and cap VIT. Might as well help reach the cap by using gear that increases VIT and still allows you to meld what you want to it.

I concur with Kagato's advice, it's what I use with the exception that I always use the Explorer's Choker for the ACC no matter if I'm on DD or tanking.

You're right about that. I'd probably do the same once I get it. It's not exactly cheap, but a few more skirmish drops can fund one.

[Nyxilin]

Wow! thanks everyone so much useful Info! Hmm also I forgot to add this is my first 50 so do not have alot of money for melds and such >.< but ill keep all of this in mind when i can aford it thankyou.

[Kagato]

Wow! thanks everyone so much useful Info! Hmm also I forgot to add this is my first 50 so do not have alot of money for melds and such >.< but ill keep all of this in mind when i can aford it thankyou.

Wearing full AF will work just fine for a while, but don't expect to get much success from Darklight and garuda runs in AF armor. You'll be good enough for Skirmish, Ifrit and Moogle, though. As well as things like Caravans and other light events.