Melee Gear

I dont get why so many use Sword Mainhand.
Sure if you have CDC its ok, though i dont have CDC so cant say.
But it seems that everyone who post his gear with sword mainhand seems to believe every mother and his son must have CDC.

Srsly > Dagger/Multi-hitsword.

- More style
- Better WS'es available overall > Evi and Aeolian Edge if magic ws needed
That 2 good WS'es while Sword only has CDC ( /nin wise when dual wielding of course, Sanguine or Vorpal is only avaible with proper sub..so > fail )

Same with dark rings.
Everyone and his mother makes ppl believe these drop like wind crystals on colibris for -pdt set in these *** chest. Its a pure lie.

Same with Relic Armor after Dyna Change.
I still have seen pimp head only 1x in 5 Years FFXI.

You always only see the best stuff in the slots when ppl post their gearsets, no matter how hard/random it is to obtain, making others believe its easy.

It is easy to obtain, there is no arguing that. It takes 2 weeks or so to finish an Almace start to finish with 2 friends... It takes less than that to get a hat from Dynamis which is completely soloable now.

O.o Guess you just get really unlucky. Ever since SE adjusted relic drop rate I've seen at least 1-2 every time I've been in xarc with LS >.> Hell you don't even need to proc to get the drop....just kill the damn things.

As for main-handing sword, as an almace user Sword>Dagger cause cdc beats the crap out of evisceration, and aftermath destroys hidden proc being as cdc is the best WS to use on sword. In other situations without almace, it depends on each individual I suppose ~shrugs~ Personally, before Almace I only used sword in certain situations because of overall DoT comparison (Joy-toy over 190 dagger) but DW always had dagger main hand.

I'll agree on the dark rings, but personally I haven't had enough time to seriously farm them. Then again I have blu to seriously farm them when I get the chance and if I don't get a good augment they still npc for a good price, so quit your whining. Nothing is easy, they all worked for what they got and whether or not it was easy depended on the overall effort they put in to gear/atma/do what was needed to make it easier/faster.

Anyway, back to question: Given I have those two options (almace and mandau) could I get away with using them if /nin or /dnc or would I be better off with DA sword? Honestly the thing that turns me off the most on that sword is the delay leaving me at 224/252 (not considering reductions from traits/earring) instead of 224/176. I know the biggest plus to the sword is the DA+10, but for those of you who have it is it really that good/worth it being most damage comes from DoT rather than WS?

well, the DA also helps get you more out of aftermath.

people parsed it out and supposedly da sword is best "hands down", but i doubt they had a mandau to parse.

look at it this way.... even IF the da sword is still better, who's gonna call you on it? seriously.. what guy? who's gonna go "lolnub, mandau?! gimp!"

Hmm, true I suppose. Most tests I've found were comparing to either Twilight knife offhand or Clement skean, both of which have lower dps ratings due to lower base or lower base+higher delay. To my knowledge there is no higher dmg non-relic dagger that rdm can use else wise either, so I'll have to do a parse myself and compare it to known data I suppose. Matching the haste will probably be my biggest issue since I don't have goliard body and +1 dusk hasn't seen light on AH since merger ~sigh~

Not sure what you're talking about, Dusk +1 has been selling like hotcakes lately. Could always find a crafter too.

I'm skeptical of claims that DA Khanda +2 is "hands down" the best offhand sword choice for an Almace. While RDM's base DA rate isn't very high, neither is their attack or fSTR. I would not be surprised if STR and DA magians were pretty even for RDM. There's also Chimeric Fleuret and Sagasinger to consider, though I haven't actually compared them. I'll try to make time for a proper comparison later today, Mandau included.

maybe 2 weeks if you camp nm's none stop. but most people have life's

You are in arrogant, ignorant elitsm ***.

Random is Random.
I could go every day xarc and it would take way longer to get pimp hat as 2 weeks. I know people who are 0/30 for T2 VNM, meaning they fought T1 30x and their KI never changed to spawn T2 > Tammuz as example which you need for Almace.

But you probably also won the Lottery Jackpot multiple times and "everyone who doesnt is a noob in your eyes " < thats your opinion/thinking.

Oh and CDC beats Evi yeah...but read my post again...its not always about dmg. Style-wise dagger/Sword is more fun to watch.
But this is subjective too.

Oh look the RL card....

When I mean finish, I basically mean getting the WS. If you play at least 2~3 hours a day, you WILL finish in two weeks or less with two friends... It really isn't hard. Takes an hour to get 3 pop sets(much less if no competition) assuming you buy the items beforehand taking into account red proc and time spent moving across zone(a measly 60k for each member). When all 3 KI are obtained, the war can change to THF real quick and you kill all 3 Briarius. That should take about 30m total (overstating, I kill him in about 3m or so). That is 1hr30m~2 for a possibility of 6 helms. That would take you about a week or so if you only had exactly 2 hours of game time a day.

The next stage is a bit longer due to heavy competition but SE added the guku KI from chests which you can cleave the raptors with war + whm while you wait on the repop. This would take you another week or so at 2 hours a day, rounding it out around 2 weeks or so.

Point being: Stop using the RL card as a means to explain your laziness. This game has never been easier than it is now, and you are complaining it is still too hard/time consuming... good lord.



Why do you feel the need to insult me? I am trying to help you understand you are wrong. Using RNG to explain why it's "hard" to get an Almace or AF2 hat(really..?) is pretty sad. I'm sure the OP is interested in a good build for his RDM, not what makes him look pretty so style is irrelevant.

Using RNG to explain that something is hard, is just *** legit.
Its proven that Players got their pimp hat on first Xarc run, but its even more proven that enough players still dont have such even though they spamming northlands.
Its also proven that lottery spawns of NMs you need for Almace can take up to 12h+ which is half a day.

Its also proven that only a bare minimum of the mankind ever wins the lottery jackpot , thanks to RNG.

Doing "so" that RNG isnt a factor and stuff always drops like "you" want is arrogant.
What do you say to someone who is 0/30 for T2 VNM or spamming Xarc still not gotten a pimp hat ?
Serious Question! Prolly something like: " you are noob, try harder, you're doin it wrong, invest even more time "

Good Build for RDM melee doesnt always mean "Best in Slot" other builds are good too.

Style should never be a considering for anyone seriously seeking a good build for any job....

Doesn't happen often, but I gotta agree with Draylo on this one. You either wanna look pretty, or you wanna pwn stuffs. Save the pretty crap for town gear.

I've been working a lot the past couple weeks, so each time I've been able to check there hasn't been either up on AH (that and I have to rebuild my gil up to afford +1 hands).

As for the other options for offhand, that is another reason I was considering mandau offhand. Granted mine is currently the 85 version, but that is still +30 att that I otherwise don't have. Hopefully once my hours go back to normal I'll be able to get it to 90 with little trouble, but currently my ls runs while I'm at work x.x

As for mithraspike, not sure what to say to you. First you say "I'm not sure why people use mainhand sword" to which people answer with reason only to have you fire back about style?

I'll try in someway you might understand...maybe:

Chant Du Cygne > Death blossom > Mercy stroke > Evisceration in terms style.
-or-
I'm zorro mutha *** > Every rose has its throne > pew pew pew woosh pew > stab stab stab stab stab

It's kind of like saying a nin should use a single katana instead of dual wield cause it looks cooler. Using that mentality tends to make people say lolmeleerdm because someone would rather look good doing something rather than prove there is some merit to rdm melee outside the fact that a rdm has the ability to.

As for ease of getting something (T2 abyssite, Duelist chap, -pdt rings, etc) it is random, but it also takes effort on behalf of the individual to attain. Took me years to build my mandau, took me about a month on almace due to obligations to my LS as a colead, and years to get Duelist chap. before SE increased the drop rate of relic (but since increase my LS has seen so many that everything is freelot even if the job isn't of lvl to use it). Here is a more recent luck of the draw I've yet to be lucky in: trying to get an augmented Jupiters ring with +att on it. 70+ times doing the quest and I've only seen maybe 8 +att augments all on Fluorite rings and none on Jupiters up to this point. However, I've heard of someone doing the quest only 10 times and getting Jupiters with +3att or even +5att ~shrugs~ You're either lucky or you aren't, and if you aren't then keep trying.

Don't get all pissy with those who worked for what they have and try to make something seem harder than it is. It really isn't, it just takes effort and dedication on your part. While SE might be giving things to the player base on what seems like a silver platter now, it still requires at least some dedicated effort from the player to get that "uber gear."

And if saying something in common sense is elitism ~shrugs~ guess like everything else....that is just your opinion.

Exactly the reason we have town sets :3

What's the point in kicking *** if you don't look good doing it? :(

That's where .dat swaps come in =p

PS2 limitations.

***, you can swap em still.

How?

www.ps3hax.net to get started.

Tools have been around for years.

Edit: Assuming you haven't used anything to modify PS2 filesystem before. It's entirely possible, in many cases without a hardmod.

That's too hard, I have a real life.

Except it's not, because relics and mythics are stripped of all stats except base damage and delay when offhanded. No attack, no 3x damage procs, no poison, nothing. Mandau's sole benefit as an offhand is its low delay and solid DPS.

lolRLcard

I have a Real Life™ as well, doesn't stop me from figuring stuff out.
I'm just saying the tools are available.

Think you just got wooshed.

:(

I want more life's. How do I get them?

I collect coins but they never give me extra life's.

I sucks :(

Okay, now I'm Serious™ guys.

Speaking of..... what site is everyone using now?

http://ffxidats.caarrie.org/index.php

Be a boss, make them yourself!