FFXIV 3.2 Ninja (NIN) Best in Slot (BiS) Gear

HEAVENSWARD FINALIZED! NIN Best in slot guide! “We’re FOTM! Huton 4days!!”, NIN Esoterics buy order, melding and more!

So you’re back with daggers to dismantle robots 3.2?! Don’t be Suiton about your BiS since you’ve found the right place – Welcome to our 3.2 NIN BiS Guide! Shoutout to Raika Tsugum for helping me out!

Quicknotes: Eh, not much to say here. If you have an alt BRD or MCH, since they all share the same accessories pretty much.

Navigation: Ninja BiS
NIN BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order | Crafted TBA

3.2 Ninja Best-in-Slot

NIN	BiS	Meld 1	Meld 2	ACC	CRIT	DET	SS
Weapon	Midan Metal Daggers	CRIT V	CRIT IV	-	110	-	123
Offhand	-	-	-
Helm	Augmented Torrent Halfmask of Scouting	CRIT V	CRIT V	69	69		-
Body	Augmented Torrent Tabard of Scouting	CRIT V	CRIT V	78	24	107	-
Hand	Midan Gloves of Scouting	CRIT V	CRIT IV	-	69	66	-
Belt	Midan Belt of Scouting	DET V	-		51	46	-
Legs	Augmented Torrent Tights of Scouting	DET V	DET V	-	112	24	78
Boots	Midan Boots of Scouting	CRIT V	CRIT IV	69	69	-	-
Neck	Midan Neckband of Aiming	DET V	-	36	51	12	-
Earring	Augmented Primal Earrings of Aiming	ACC V	-	12	51	34
Wrist	Augmented Primal Bracelet of Aiming	CRIT V	-	51	48	-	-
Ring	Augmented Primal Ring of Aiming	CRIT V	-	-	48	49	-
Ring	Midan Ring of Aiming	CRIT V	-	36	12		51
Food	Baked Pipira Pira	-	-	18	37	-	-
Stats	Total stats from gear			369	751	338	252
	End value			723	1127	579	606

NIN BiS Discussion

The BiS is quite intuitive this time around and it basically builds itself. Nearly every piece with crit is used with the exception of Midan Body.

Midan Body isn’t too big of a loss since we actually need the accuracy from its counterpart. Midan Body also has SS so the 88 Crit (while sorely missed) is something we just cannot afford to dip our greedy hands into.

Even with the Mudra Changes, SS is still pretty bad. It’s main function is a garbage stat that you’re forced upon cause you have no choice in gear selection.

The Augmented Torrent Kris is an amazing “filler”. Not all classes can say their lore weapon stands up as a near equal to the Midan Counterpart but Ninjas have that luxury. Besides, not everyone will be able to clear A8S asap.

There’s not much else to say here. Un-upgraded Ring may provide less than 0.3% DPS increase but is overall a bit of a hassle, and has problems scaling into greater content (so adjusting your gear to this may not be the best idea IE more ACC Melds)

NIN Lore Tomestone Buy Order

The below spending strategy is purely to obtain BiS fastest:

Weapon: Amazing stats, worth every tome as a “filler”.
Body: Since Midan is A8
Legs: Since Midan is A7
Helm: Rounds out left-side BiS
Wrist > Ring > Earring by order of value stats.

ANYTHING ELSE IS OPTIONAL: left-side fillers first Gloves > Boots, then accessories Neck > Ring(Unupgraded).

USING UP PAGES AND MIDAS NORMAL PARTS

Click on the expandables below to see how you should spend pages, and which Midas Normal parts to get first –

Midan Savage Pages

MIDAN SAVAGE PAGES for NIN

Page spending detailed below is to get BiS fastest:

A5S: Belt > Neck > Ring > Any
A6S: Boots > Hands > Illuminati Dark Gobcoat x 3 > Any
A7S: Illuminati Taut Gobtwine x3 > Any
A8S: Weapon > Any (Gobdip while waiting for Dagger is OK)

Midan Normal Parts

MIDAN NORMAL PARTS for NIN

“what should NIN’s pick up in Midas normal”! Is a common question, so here it is! This is a general thing, and people might have varying levels of gear or goals but as a catch-all good enough recommendation:

NIN	M1N	M2N	M3N	M4N
Week 1	chain	pedal	Spring	Spring
Week 2	bolt	pedal	Spring	Spring
Week 3	bolt	lens	lens	crank
Week 4	bolt	bolt	ANY	crank

This setup is perfect! We avoid body for 2 reasons, the stats are nightmarishly bad, and we’re picking up lore body ASAP anyway. I don’t know what else to say except that you get all important gear pieces in 4 weeks. Head and Belt are extraordinarily good fillers.

BOLTS = Ring > Neck > Any. Week 5+ ANY.

Click the above!!!

NIN Crafted Gear Viability

I’ll update this later on so I can finish all the other BiS lists. Pretty much 90% of what ‘yer lookin’ for is here already anyways.

Navigation: NIN BiS
NIN BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order | Crafted TBA

Doton’t let RNG and Robots put you down! You’ll get your Ninja 3.2 BiS soon! Good luck with it, and thanks for checking out our NIN BiS Guide!

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FFXIV 3.2 Monk (MNK) Best in Slot (BiS) Gear

3.2 UPDATED! MNK Best in slot guide! “GL3 is down but TK is up -_-“. MNK Lore buy order, Melding, Pages & Normals, more!

The best mechanics get their hands dirty y’know? If you’re back as Monk to take robots apart in 3.2, you’ve found the right place for 3.2 MNK BiS!

Quicknotes: There’s a bunch of sets that can come up with very similar stats (900~ CRIT, 500~ DET 600~ SS).

Navigation: Monk BiS
MNK BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order (&Pages) | Crafted TBA

3.2 Monk Best-in-Slot

MNK	BiS	Meld 1	Meld 2	ACC	CRIT	SS	DET
Weapon	Midan Metal Knuckles	CRIT V	CRIT V	-	24	123	83
Offhand		-	-
Helm	Augmented Hellfire Mask of Striking	ACC V	DET V	60	69	-	12
Body	Midan Jacket of Striking	CRIT V	CRIT V	78	24	-	107
Hand	Midan Gloves of Striking	CRIT V	CRIT IV	69	69	-	-
Belt	Midan Belt of Striking	CRIT V	-	-	48	51	-
Legs	Midan Breeches of Striking	DET V	DET V	-	112	78	24
Boots	Augmented Hellfire Sabatons of Striking	DET V	DET V	-	69	48	24
Neck	Midan Neckband of Slaying	DET V	-	36	51	-	12
Earring	Augmented Primal Earrings of Slaying	DET V	-	36	51	-	12
Wrist	Augmented Primal Bracelet of Slaying	CRIT V	-	-	48	51	-
Ring	Augmented Primal Ring of Slaying	CRIT V	-	-	12	36	49
Ring	Midan Ring of Slaying	CRIT V	-	51	48	-	-
Food	Baked Pipira Pira	-	-	18	37	-	-
Stats	Totals from Gear			348	662	387	323
	Grand Totals			702	1016	741	541

MNK BiS Discussion

Like many of the 3.2 sets, the advent of melding has made it possible that a bunch of setups can reach very similar stats. But first of all – let’s talk about Skill Speed.

Skill Speed or DET? Okay so we all know Crit is best for us, and as such the set has over 1000 of it. So where do we want our stats into next?

I don’t believe the hard and fast numbers of stat weights. The popular belief is that DET beats SS. This however does not take SCALING into account. But does it even matter? When we are almost FORCED to have 600++ SS to get anywhere NEAR BiS stats!

So as a concession to many many configurations and discussions with others, I have arrived at the set above to be a “balanced” set regardless of your thoughts. It has a really high Crit rating and SS rating which BOTH SCALE well, and still has a little det since we can’t go TOO crazy with SS. Why?

I could have melded more SS in place of DET melds (something you can do if you like) but TP will start to become a real issue at those levels of SS. Unless you have a NIN or your comp uses Paeon – do it at your own risk.

I have made multiple sets wherein I get a higher DET rating and lower SS rating, but I truly feel that since we are already forced to have a rather high SS – I’d rather embrace that than lose CRIT just to reduce SS and gain DET. Again, stat weights cannot take scaling into account.

Regardless though, the difference between these two “more Det less SS” setups is seriously marginal. Any set within the “BiS range” of stats will perform within the 95+ percentile of each other.

MNK Lore Tomestone Buy Order

Weapon: An excellent “filler” weapon – any serious Monk who wants to clear A8 should invest in this. The stats are GREAT.
Helm: has slightly better stats than boots (ACC / CRIT)
Boots: It’s the last left-side lore BiS…
BODY is a NOTABLE FILLER: You can pick it up now…
Ring > Earring > Wrist by order of “value”.

Everything ELSE IS OPTIONAL! left-side fillers priority Body > Legs > Hand > Belt – then accessories Neck > Ring (Unupgraded)

USING UP PAGES AND MIDAS NORMAL PARTS

The boxes below are expandable on click!!!

Midan Savage Pages

MIDAN SAVAGE PAGES

This strategy purely outlines the “speediest BiS” getting:

A5S: Belt > Ring > Neck > Any
A6S: Gloves > Illuminati Dark Gobcoat x 3 > Any
A7S: Legs > Gobdip > Illuminati Taut Gobtwine x 3 > Any
A8S: Weapon or Body > Any (or just wait for the drop, and use Gobdip)

Midan Normal Parts

MIDAN NORMAL PARTS

“what should MNK’s pick up in Midas normal”! Is something I get asked often so here it is…

This is a general thing, and people might have varying levels of gear or goals but as a catch-all good enough recommendation:

MNK	M1N	M2N	M3N	M4N
Week 1	chain	pedal	spring	shaft
Week 2	bolt	pedal	spring	shaft
Week 3	bolt	bolt	spring	shaft
Week 4	bolt	any	spring	shaft

Aim to get body and legs ASAP as we want Midan BiS. The only lost value here is we cannot get CRANK (Gloves) anytime soon, so you might wanna pick up a crafted. Floor 2 becomes really useless since we pick up Lore Boots and Helm asap. What do?

W5+: Pick up Crank in 3/4!
Bolts? Ring > Bracelet > Neck > Earring

Click the boxes above to expand!!

MNK Crafted Gear Viability

I’ll get back to this as I upgrade all the BiS lists – 90% of what you need is already up there, though.

For MNK, I gotta say you should buy the Gloves if you feel like A6 won’t go down anytime soon. Since you’ll only be getting Cranks Week 5+.

Navigation: Monk BiS
MNK BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order (&Pages) | Crafted TBA

Well, I wish you all the luck in getting your Giers! GL with your Dragoon 3.2 BiS! For more FFXIV updates, Like our Facebook. Message us on Twitter! Check out our YouTube and Twitch!

I wish you get your loot lightning fast! GL with your Monk 3.2 BiS!

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FFXIV 3.2 Dragoon (DRG) Best in Slot (BiS) Gear

3.2 UPDATED! DRG Best in slot guide! “I dropped blood”. DRG Lore buy order, Melding, Pages & Normals, more!

So you’re thrusting forward yet again as Dragoon in 3.2! Well you’ve been pointed to the right place for 3.2 DRG BiS! You’ll need it to get the jump on these robots!

Quicknotes: There’s alot of sets that can come up with VERY similar stats.

Navigation: Dragoon BiS
DRG BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order (&Pages) | Crafted TBA

3.2 Dragoon Best-in-Slot

DRG	BiS	Meld 1	Meld 2	ACC	CRIT	DET	SS
Weapon	Midan Metal Spear	ACC V	ACC V	24	86	118	-
Offhand	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Helm	Augmented Splitstream Helm of Maiming	ACC V	SS V	60	69		12
Body	Midan Jacket of Maiming	ACC V	ACC V	24	78	107	-
Hand	Augmented Splitstream Gauntlets of Maiming	ACC V	ACC V	24	48	-	69
Belt	Midan Belt of Maiming	ACC V	-	12	36	-	51
Legs	Augmented Splitstream Breeches of Maiming	ACC V	ACC V	24	112	75	-
Boots	Midan Boots of Maiming	ACC V	ACC V	24	69	-	48
Neck	Midan Neckband of Slaying	ACC V	-	48	51	-	-
Earring	Augmented Primal Earrings of Slaying	ACC V	-	48	51	-	-
Wrist	Augmented Primal Bracelet of Slaying	CRIT V	-	-	48	-	51
Ring	Midan Ring of Slaying	CRIT V	-	51	48	-	-
Ring	Augmented Primal ing of Slaying	CRIT V	-	-	12	49	36
Food	Baked Pipira Pira			18	37
Stats	Total stats from gear			357	745	349	267
	End value			711	1099	567	621

DRG BiS Discussion

Let me first preface this discussion by saying theres more than one way to arrive at a set that has nearly the same stats. And a whole lot of other
ways to make sets that are about 95%+ efficiency as this BiS.

Accuracy? It’s got 99.8++ frontal accuracy for A86 which should be more than enough. This should be enough! If you’re foreseeing problems, go ahead and change one of the ring melds to acc.

621 Skillspeed? It’s 5 points above the practical softcap of 616 (and the absolute minimum for DRG which is 590). As far as I know DRG’s should not go much higher than 616 – it may even be detrimental to the rotation. If you wan’t to go for 590+ (depending on your latency and experience) you can drop the single SS meld above and meld a DPS stat.

The LORE WEAPON and LORE BODY both have SS, and both are good fillers anyway. Lore Body large amounts of accuracy, So DO NOT HESITATE to pick that up even if it’s not BiS!

Melding? Can be a pain since it’s one of those sets that need accuracy melded on. Stick to cheapmelding IV’s (DPS stats or ACC) if you’re far from your BiS, and switch to accuracy V slowly. (The lore body helps out with this)

Lore Body BiS? Is very possible. Just change the melds and switch body piece THATS IT. The only downside is a little overcapped with SS, and lower DET (Not too painful). The upside? Much more flexibility with melds. It’s not BiS but can serve as a temporary solid set. This is the route you wanna take if you have no money for ACC V, lol.

Aside from this, the set works out quite well with over 1k crit and a safe level of SS (616+), and the rest being the “worst”, non-scalable stat, DET
which we can’t really avoid. Overall, quite a good BiS yet again for DRG!

DRG Lore Tomestone Buy Order

Weapon: Still worth even if its not BiS. Go further down the list if you haven’t gotten your hypercharged tome yet.
Legs: By order of Midan appearance. (A7)
Helm: Likewise (A6)
Glove: Since helm is a more stable choice, this is last.
BODY (You’ll get this either now, or after accessories).
Ring > Earring > Bracelet. By order of stability.

Everything ELSE IS OPTIONAL! left-side fillers priority Body (if you didn’t get it earlier), Boots, Belt – then accessories Earring > Neck.

USING UP PAGES AND MIDAS NORMAL PARTS

The boxes below are expandable on click!!!

Midan Savage Pages

MIDAN SAVAGE PAGES

This strategy purely outlines the “speediest BiS” getting:

A5S: Belt > Ring > Neck > Any
A6S: Boots > Illuminati Dark Gobcoat x 3 > Any
A7S: Illuminati Taut Gobtwine x 3 > Any
A8S: Weapon > Body > Any (Waiting for Spear and getting Gobdip is OK)

Midan Normal Parts

MIDAN NORMAL PARTS

“what should DRG’s pick up in Midas normal”! Is something I get asked often so here it is…

This is a general thing, and people might have varying levels of gear or goals but as a catch-all good enough recommendation:

DRG	M1N	M2N	M3N	M4N
Week 1	pedal	pedal	shaft	shaft
Week 2	chain	lens	shaft	shaft
Week 3	bolt	lens	crank	crank
Week 4	bolt	bolt	ANY	ANY

We avoid legs since we’re getting it with lore ASAP. The body isn’t too good but its better than 210. Pretty good since you get all body pieces by W3. W5+ = ANY. Bolts? Ring > Bracelet > Any

Click the boxes above to expand!!

DRG Crafted Gear Viability

Well, I’ll get back to this once I wrap all BiS up – it’s pretty much better for ALTS at this point anyways. 90% of the info you’ve come to look for is above, anyway.

Navigation: Dragoon BiS
DRG BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order (&Pages) | Crafted TBA

Well, I wish you all the luck in getting your Giers! GL with your Dragoon 3.2 BiS!

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FFXIV 3.2 Bard (BRD) Best in Slot (BiS) Gear

3.2 UPDATED! BRD Best in slot guide! “Paeon again!?”. BRD Lore buy order, Melding, Pages & Normals, more!

A song of venom and wind to rust and ruin deez rampaging robots! Back as Bard in 3.2? Well, you’ve found the right place for 3.2 BRD BiS! Shoutout to Tiffany Faye!

Quicknotes: Of course, is very similar to MCH BiS. 3/29/16 I UPDATED THE BiS! I wrote this one quite early, and underestimated Skill Speed on BRD. I was stuck in the Gordias mindset and if given the choice choose DET over SS with a small stat weight difference. MORE ON THIS IN THE NOTES SECTION. The list below reflect the better stat weights of SS and actually being able to USE it. The change from the original list I posted is TWO items (chest) and 2-4 melds.

Navigation: Bard BiS
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3.2 Bard Best-in-Slot

BRD	Item	Meld 1	Meld 2	ACC	CRIT	DET	SS
Weapon	Midan Metal Bow	CRIT V	CRIT V	-	110	118	-
Offhand	-	-	-
Helm	Midan Goggles of Aiming	ACC V	ACC IV	69	69	-	-
Body	Midan Coat of Aiming	CRIT V	CRIT V	-	102	-	112
Hand	Augmented Torrent Armguards of Aiming	ACC V	SS V	60	69	-	12
Belt	Midan Belt of Aiming	ACC V	-	12	51	34	-
Legs	Augmented Torrent Tights of Aiming	CRIT V	CRIT V	-	102	-	112
Boots	Midan Boots of Aiming	CRIT V	CRIT IV	69	24	-	48
Neck	Midan Neckband of Aiming	ACC V	-	48	51	-	-
Earring	Augmented Primal Earrings of Aiming	ACC V	-	12	51	34	-
Wrist	Augmented Primal Bracelet of Aiming	CRIT V	-	51	48	-	-
Ring	Augmented Primal Ring of Aiming	CRIT V	-	-	48	49	-
Ring	Midan Ring of Aiming	CRIT V	-	36	12	-	51
Food	Steamed Staff	-	-	-	40	-	16
Stats	Total stats from gear			357	777	235	351
	End value			711	1131	453	705

BRD BiS Discussion

Bard best-in-slot ain’t so bad this time around. This set features the ‘PRACTICAL’ absolute maximum critical hit chance a Bard can attain without gimping themselves.

— UPDATED BiS NOTES —

My original BiS list favored DET over SS even if SS had a tiny tiny edge over DET in terms of stat weight, due to reasons no longer valid in 3.2.

Skill Speed is actually pretty good these days! Why the change of heart? Well, the main reasons are its TP, Stat weight, Cast time and Scaling.

Lesser TP costs and encounter uptimes in 3.2 – TP isn’t really an issue these days. so that’s a tiny nod for SS.

Stat Weight? Even on its own, SS beats out DET by a tiny tiny margin.

Cast Time is a “non-tangible” bonus that you can move out of AoE faster, and may be able to get your skill off safely as compared to DET in some niche cases, providing a practical DPS boost that isn’t seen on the sheet.

Scaling? Det scales poorly, while SS scales better the more you have of it (but not quite as good as CRIT still). So in effect, if you’re gonna dump your other stats that “aren’t crit” into one pile – it’s better off in SS.

Do we really have to buy lore weapon? Yes, it’s a bitter pill to swallow but yes you do. The Sephirot Bows stats aren’t exactly magical… delay the weapon no later than after left-side purchases.

BRD Lore Tomestone Buy Order

The below spending strategy is purely to obtain BiS fastest:

Weapon: Horrific stats, luckily you’re forced to buy other items due to waiting on Hypercharged Tomestone… “what do”. You’ll have to buy this at some point, man.
Legs: Since Midan filler is A7.
Hands: Ahh some much needed accuracy…
Ring > Wrist > Earring in that order of value.

***THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE DELAY to buy WEAPON is after you’ve completed left-side items!***

ANYTHING ELSE IS OPTIONAL: left-side fillers first Body > Boots > Head > Belt, then accessories Neck > Ring(Unupgraded).

USING UP PAGES AND MIDAS NORMAL PARTS

Click on the expandables below to see how you should spend pages, and which Midas Normal parts to get first –

Midan Savage Pages

MIDAN SAVAGE PAGES

Page spending detailed below is to get BiS fastest:

A5S: Belt > Neck > Ring > Any
A6S: Head > Boots > Illuminati Dark Gobcoat x 3 > Any
A7S: Illuminati Taut Gobtwine x 2 > Any
A8S: Body > Weapon > Any. (Gobdip and just wait for bow drop is OK too)

Midan Normal Parts

MIDAN NORMAL PARTS

“what should BRD’s pick up in Midas normal”! Is a common question, so here it is! This is a general thing, and people might have varying levels of gear or goals but as a catch-all good enough recommendation:

BRD	M1N	M2N	M3N	M4N
Week 1	chain	bolt	spring	spring
Week 2	pedal	pedal	spring	spring
Week 3	bolt	lens	crank	crank
Week 4	bolt	bolt	lens	ANY

With this setup we’re trying not to get body as we’re buying lore chest ASAP. All the other body pieces have pretty amazing stats and will serve you or a long time! BOLTS = Ring > Neck > Any. Week 5+ ANY.

Click the above!!!

BRD Crafted Gear Viability

I’ll update this later on so I can finish all the other BiS lists. Pretty much 90% of what ‘yer lookin’ for is here already anyways.

Navigation: Bard BiS
BRD BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order | Crafted TBA

Blood let the robots fool you – your loot is definitely out there! GL gearing your Bard 3.2 BiS!

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FFXIV 3.2 Paladin (PLD) Best in Slot (BiS) Gear

3.2 UPDATED! PLD Best in slot guide! “THE SHIELD IS BACK!”. PLD Lore buy order, Melding, Pages & Normals, more!

So some of you are back from being Paladins from previous tiers sadness huh? Welcome to the 3.2 PLD BiS! In case you missed the memo – as of 3.2 tanks stack VITALITY! Thanks to Claes Henrietta for the help!

Quicknotes: All tank BiS pages are quite similar to each other, but the PLD BiS will “avoid as much SS as practically possible, and get as much Crit”.

Navigation: Paladin BiS
PLD BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order | Crafted TBA

3.2 Paladin Best-in-Slot

PLD	Item	Meld 1	Meld 2	Acc	Crit	Det	SS	Parry
Weapon	Prototype Midan Metal Sword	CRIT V	-	-	12	84	61	-
Offhand	Prototype Midan Metal Shield	CRIT IV	-	-	35	-	-	35
Helm	Augmented Hellfire Mask of Fending	DET V	DET V	-	69	66	-	-
Body	Midan Coat of Fending	CRIT V	CRIT V	112	102	-	-	-
Hand	Midan Gauntlets of Fending	CRIT V	CRIT V	48	24	-	69	-
Belt	Augmented Hellfire Belt of Fending	DET V	-	-	51	12	-	36
Legs	Midan Breeches of Fending	DET V	DET V	-	112	99	-	-
Boots	Augmented Hellfire Sabatons of Fending	CRIT V	CRIT IV	69	69	-	-	-
Neck	Augmented Primal Choker of Fending	STR V	-	-	36	-	-	51
Earring	Midan Earrings of Fending	STR V	-	-		49	-	36
Wrist	Augmented Primal Bracelet of Fending	STR V	-	51		34	-	-
Ring	Midan Ring of Fending	STR V	-	36		-	51	-
Ring	Augmented Primal Ring of Fending	STR V	-	51		34	-	-
Food	Steamed Staff	-	-	-	40	-	16	-
Stats	Total stats from gear			367	550	378	197	158
	End value			721	904	596	551	512

PLD BiS Discussion

Why STRENGTH melded in accessories? While VIT beats out STR in value, STR beats the secondary DPS stats (Crit, DET, SS…). So while yes, tanking primary stat is undoubtedly VIT – it’s not like STR became WORTHLESS! Aside from Parry, we cannot meld any more defense on the right side…

THE ABOVE BiS IS MISSING 2 POINTS ACCURACY. It’s 99.9+% hit rate, but this can be bothersome. Ultimately, there are many ways to get that last 2 points –

Food: Steamed Stafff -> Baked Pipira Pira (Most brainless solution)
Materia: Change one DET meld into ACCURACY (Laziest solution)
~~Swap certain pieces of gear with an ACC one (more on this later on…)~~

Of the above, I’d recommend AGAINST gear swaps, as the food or materia change are the best (Personally I’d go the materia route).

PLD Lore Tomestone Buy Order

The below spending strategy is purely to obtain BiS fastest:

Boots: Acc Crit – it’s just the smarter buy at this point.
Mask: by order of savage floor obtained…
Belt: by order of savage floor obtained…
(Preference) Any other left-side filler (Chest>Legs)
Weapon: On tanks, I’d say weapon AFTER left-side is complete.
Ring > Wrist > Neck (Buying the acc pieces is safer…)

ANYTHING ELSE IS OPTIONAL: As mentioned earlier any left-side filler would be considered first (Chest, Legs) then Earring, Ring (Unupgraded).

Using up Pages and Midas Normal Parts

Click on the expandables below to see how you should spend pages, and which Midas Normal parts to get first –

Midan Savage Pages

The below spending strategy is purely to obtain BiS fastest:

A5S: Belt > Ring > Earring > Any
A6S: Hands > Illuminati Dark Gobcoat x4 > Any
A7S: LEGS > Illuminati Taut Gobtwine x 2 > Any
A8S: Body > Weapon > Any (Gobdip then wait for Sword is OK)

Midan Normal Parts

MIDAN NORMAL PARTS

“what should PLD’s pick up in Midas normal”! Is something I get asked often so here it is. This is a general thing, and people might have varying levels of gear or goals but as a catch-all good enough recommendation:

PLD	M1N	M2N	M3N	M4N
Week 1	chain	lens	spring	shaft
Week 2	bolt	lens	spring	shaft
Week 3	bolt	bolt	spring	shaft
Week 4	bolt	any	spring	shaft

We ditch the boots since we buy it ASAP, and since we have to choose between head and hands, head is a lot better. Basically it’s all about getting as many BIG body pieces as we can! And as much VIT as possible!

Click the above!!!

PLD Crafted Gear Viability

As mentioned earlier, I update this a little later on just so I can update all lists ASAP. 90% of the info you need is already in the page, the rest is details…

Navigation: Paladin BiS
PLD BiS | Discussion | Lore Buy Order | Crafted TBA

Well, good luck on gearing your Paladin for 3.2, and I hope the robots drop the loot you need!

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FFXIV 3.0 Dark Knight (DRK) BiS for Heavensward

HEAVENSWARD UPDATED! DRK Best in slot guide! “I need BALLAD AND PAEON!”, DRK Esoterics buy order, melding and more!

Sadly, there isn’t any Piety on ’em! Welcome to our Dark Knight Best-in-slot gear guide! We discuss here gearing options for BOTH DPS CENTRIC DRK’s and PARRY/EHP CENTRIC DRK’s. So no matter which camp of tanking you follow, or whatever your group needs – you can see both options right here!

Navigation: Dark Knight BiS
DRK BiS | Discussion | Esoterics Buy Order

Heavensward Dark Knight Best-in-Slot

TANK BiS DISCLAIMER: I don’t buy into the whole ALL TANKS SHOULD DPS or ALL TANKS SHOULD HAVE MAX EHP! It all depends on your group, level & speed of progression, and personal preference. As such, I will list both options. (Related Read: Parry vs DPS)

For the sake of “interchangeable filler slots”, Chaos <-> Gordian serve as natural replacements to each other (May or may not be discussed within guide, but take that as an ‘unspoken truth’).

DRK Slot	DPS	No gil to meld?	Parry & EHP
Weapon	Deathbringer	-	Gordian Greatsword
Offhand	-		-
Head	Chaos Burgeonnet		Chaos Burgeonnet
Body	Gordian Plate Mail of Fending		Chaos Cuirass
Gloves	Chaos Gauntlets		Gordian Gauntlets of Fending
Belt	Fabled Belt of Fending		Gordian Tassets of Fending
Legs	Gordian Breeches of Fending		Chaos Flanchard
Boots	Chaos Sollerets	Best 210 Mix	Gordian Sollerets of Fending
Neck	Fabled Necklace of Slaying	Gordian Neckband of Fending	Fabled Necklace of Fending
Earrings	Gordian Earrings of Slaying	Gordian Earrings of Slaying	Gordian Earrings of Fending
Bracelet	Fabled Bracelet of Slaying	Fabled Bracelet of Slaying	Gordian Wristbands of Fending
Ring	Gordian Ring of Slaying	Gordian Ring of Slaying	Gordian Ring of Fending
Ring	Fabled Ring of Slaying	Fabled Ring of Slaying	Fabled Ring of Fending
Food	Baked Pipira Pira	-	Almond Cream Croissant Liver Cheese Sandwhich

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SINCE MELDED RIGHT SIDE IS SO STRONG FOR TANKS, tank gear should be thought as two separate entities: Leftside (armor) and right side (accessories). There’s a million ways to setup the right side, but the left is pretty much set in stone given your goals. (Purely ignoring the top accessories and using melded is A GREAT CHOICE / OPTION)

Dark Knight Accessories: Choices & Melding

Considering crafted right as BiS for tanks is 100% legit…

Equip on	Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3	Slot 4	Slot 5
Citrine Choker of Slaying	VIT IV	VIT IV	VIT IV	CRIT III	VIT III+
Chrysolite Earrings of Fending	STR IV	STR IV	STR IV	STR IV	STR III
Chrysolite Bracelets of Fending	STR IV	STR IV	STR IV	STR IV	STR III
Chrysolite Ring of Slaying	VIT IV	VIT IV	VIT IV	FREE	VIT III+
Chrysolite Ring of Slaying	VIT IV	VIT IV	VIT IV	FREE	VIT III+

For the (FREE) Slot, you can put ACC, DET or SS (rings).

Here’s how it works. Melded accessories will always have the highest overall power level. However, they will never be as tanky as a Fending accessory, and never be as strong as a Slaying one. The melding strategy above makes it so you can wear crafted from A1S to A4S no problemo.

DRK BiS Discussion, Notes & Options

DPS DRK Set

Going for PURE SLAYING right side is a bit greedy, but definitely possible with a competent team. So we identify the suckiest accessories to replace with crafted.

Fabled Ring of Slaying: It has accuracy… so it has that goin’ for it. Personally, I wouldn’t waste eso on these.
Fabled Wristband of Slaying… SS/DET. Again, I wouldn’t buy these and just go for crafted.

The A3S legs are a KEY PART of this set, and hopefully you’ll get em! The Chaos counterpart is a poor filler – I wouldn’t waste eso on it.

Tanking / Parry DRK Set

Legs & Head – interchangeable: In the tanking list above we use Chaos Head and Chaos Leg. Keep in mind that this can be changed for Gordian Head, Gordian Leg. So if you’re lucky enough to get one of the gordian pieces early, just shoot for the gordian counterpart as well. A small but worthwhile to note value point, thay may save you over 1k ESO.

Chaos Cuirass is a MASSIVE increase in HP, Armor, MRes, Parry… basically a huge part of your defensive game. Tanks who choose to Gobtwine the chests over weapon are very common, and you should be one of them!!!

3.0 Dark Knight Esoterics Buy Order

“What should I purchase first with Esoterics for my DRK!?” Well, here you go!

DPS Dark Knight

Weapon: The Deathbringer should be bought FIRST for DPS DRK’s. No question.
Chaos Helm: Might as well, plus save A3 pages for Legs!
Chaos Boots
Fabled Belt
Fabled Necklace, Ring (Any Order)
EVERYTHING ELSE IS OPTIONAL, and NON-BiS
Chest can be bought if you want to help your raid group. It’s quite the upgrade still.

With very few pieces needed, this set is powerful and easy to obtain.

On belt: If you have the Illuminati Gobcoat, buy it sooner than you would have.

PARRY / EHP Dark Knight

Chest: Get these first and Gobtwine it if you can!
Legs: Hmm.. (If you have the A3S legs – you can push this waaaaay down or optional)
Weapon: You can buy this at any point during 1-3.
Fabled Necklace, Ring (Any Order)
EVERYTHING ELSE IS OPTIONAL, and NON-BiS

Navigation: Dark Knight BiS
DRK BiS | Discussion | Esoterics Buy Order

I hope you don’t break your back in search of your Dark Knight gear!

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FFXIV Warrior (WAR) Cross-class Skills (3.0+ Updated)

HEAVENSWARD UPDATED: What are the best Warrior Cross Class Skills? Find out the best cross-class skills of WAR and the best way to get them!

Go to our Stormblood updated
Tank Role Actions Guide
instead!

What are the Marauder-> Warrior Cross Class Skills? Here, we will be strictly discussing the cross-class skills Warrior can get.

How many cross-class skills can I get as a Warrior? Any job class may only equip five (5) cross-class skills.

From what other classes does Warrior get skills from? Gladiator and Pugilist.

What are the best Warrior cross-class skills? This is discussed below.

Full list of Warrior (WAR) Cross-class skills

Name	Level	Description	From Class
Savage Blade	4	Attack that generates enmity	Gladiator (GLA)
Featherfoot	4	Increases evasion	Pugilist (PGL)
Flash	8	Increases enmity in all nearby enemies	Gladiator (GLA)
Second Wind	8	Instantly restores own HP	Pugilist (PGL)
Convalescence	10	Increases HP restored by spells or actions	Gladiator (GLA)
Haymaker	10	Delivers an blow after evading an attack	Pugilist (PGL)
Internal Release	12	Increases critical hit rate	Pugilist (PGL)
Provoke	22	Increases enmity in target	Gladiator (GLA)
Awareness	34	Nullifies chance of suffering critical damage	Gladiator (GLA)
Mantra	42	Increases HP recovery via curing magic by 5% for self and nearby party members	Pugilist (PGL)

Warrior (WAR) Cross-class skills discussion

SET IN STONE: Provoke > Internal Release > Convalescence > Awareness > (Last slot: FLEX)

Savage Blade – Useles since you have your own version.

Featherfoot, Haymaker – This duo is technically most utilized by the Warrior. Is it worth 2 slots? No… it really isn’t.

Flash – Is pretty good in 4-mans. It’s a contender for FLEX slot in SOME ENCOUNTERS ONLY.

Second Wind – Not bad. Doubles as an aggro generator! Contender for FLEX.

Convalescence – Really good, but it requires some coordination with healers (or a good sense of tanking) to maximize.

Internal Release – +Damage on Warrior… legit always.

Provoke – is technically a must-have for any encounter with a tank swap mechanic.

Mantra – While good for others to take, you have more important skills like…

Awareness – is good when now a days! A lot of encounter crit, and also fixes problems if you mess up Raw Intuition.

Ideal Warrior (WAR) Cross-class progression

Marauder to 15 for: Unlocking other classes.
Marauder to 30 for: WAR Requirement.
Gladiator to 15 for: WAR Requirement.
Monk to 8 for: Second Wind.
WAR to 50 for: Maximum level.
Monk to 12 for: Internal Release.
Gladiator to 34 for: Awareness
Monk to 42 for: Mantra (All Cross Class Skills Obtained)

Summary

Warrior use skills from: Gladiator and Pugilist.
Best Warrior Cross-Class Skills:
Provoke > Internal Release > Convalescence > Awareness > FLEX
Flex slots would likely be: Second Wind, Mantra or Flash. (Featherfoot is okay for 4’s)

More Info: Marauder | Warrior | MRD WAR Stats

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FFXIV Warrior (WAR) Leveling Guide

How to level up your Warrior (WAR) fast! Useful cross-class skills, reminders, and the best places to be in any level – HERE!

A Warry kind of guy huh? You’ve found the right guide if you’re leveling a Warrior! Check out the Warrior Basics if you need a refresher. You NEED to complete all MRD class quests (last is level 30) (got Butchers Block?, that means you’ve done it). Also Gladiator (GLD) class quests up to 15 (got Shield Lob on your Gladiator? check). Again, this WAR leveling guide should be used ALONG SIDE the General Leveling Guide.

Help! Where’s the WAR Guildmaster / quest giver? It’s Curious Gorge, located in Costa Del Sol, Eastern La Noscea (18, 27). No quest? backtrack to the MRD Guild in Limsa.

Wait a second, I’m below level 30! No problem, the Marauder Leveling Guide is for you :) Coming into this guide, be done with your level 20-29 hunting log, and allocate all stat points into STR. Messes up your stats? Get a Keepers Hymn from your GC.

Reminders before we proceed: Your WAR will level up faster if abuse Challenge Logs and Daily Roulettes! Also – Accuracy Food is a lot more useful than you think.

Warrior Level 30: Fresh off the Block

Reminder Level 30: Queue up for guildhests More than a Feeler and Annoy the Void.
> Level 30 Battlecraft / GC Leves: Costa Del Sol, Eastern La Noscea.

Facemelting and butchery continues! Picking up from the MRD Leveling Guide, you should be in Costa FATEing it up. You can do this until a MAX of level 35 (Warriors can move to Coerthas sooner…). Same old same old – if FATES are hiding get your Warrior behind to the levemete.

Cross-class skills: When you equip your Warrior soulstone, your crossclass options reduce quite a bit. Flash, Provoke and Second Wind are the best bet for now.

Level 30 skill reminder – Defiance: DO NOT use this while soloing. DO USE this while in dungeons. This is your bread and butter tanking stance. Please, for the love of god… don’t be that “Oops, forgot defiance” guy.

Reminder Level 35: Queue up for guildhests Shadow and Claw and Long Live the Queen.
Level 35 Battlecraft / GC Leves: Observatorium, Coerthas. (Also, Wineport ELN)

At around level 35 you can move to Coerthas Central Highlands. This place has a bunch of people (most of the time) doing a bunch of fates. If you’re soloing you might not get to tag them all! Partying up in Coerthas is popular, so it’s easy to find one! The Svara quest chain is like swimming in a metaphorical pool of EXP. (Begins @ Svaras Fear)

Level 35 skill reminder – Inner Beast: Real talk – Inner Beast is a massive skill that uses up your warrior resource: Wrath. Learning about how and when and why to use Wrath and what for separates the Warriors from… well.. “b!tches”. Inner Beast gives a huge damage reduction for a small window. While it’s effects are straightforward, Inner Beast and its proper usage is a large part of a pro Warriors repertoire.

Level 38 skill reminder – Storms Path: This skill combos off Maim. It applies a SIGNIFICANT “damage dealt minus” debuff on the enemy. Great for single tanking painful enemies. It goes without saying – this skill is absolutely massive in raiding.

Warrior Level 40 to 50: The last stretch… for now…

Reminder Level 40: Queue up for guildhests Ward Up and Solemn Trinity.
Level 40 Battlecraft / GC Leves: Whitebrim, Coerthas. (or Bluefog NThanalan)

Once you hit WAR 40, your first objective is to get a burst of EXP to try and hit 41 or 42. How? Any free challenge log entries, daily roullettes, early hunting logs, and guildhests. Why? since our next destination is Ceruleum Processing Plant, Northern Thanalan to FATEGRIND. Why skip Mor Dhona FATEs? Not many people FATE there. It’s best to party up in CPP (especially the early levels) check the PF or Shout – there’s no downside to partying up here in the early 40’s.

Level 45 Skill Reminder – Unchained: Newer warriors may neglect this skill, but it’s the real deal. It cancels the damage reduction from Defiance. Learn to use this as often as able whilst tanking, and try to time your Berserk with it!

Reminder Level 45: No more guildhests for now :(
Level 45 Battlecraft / GC Leves: St. Coinachs Find, Mor Dhona (Or CPP, NThanalan)

At level 49, might as well finish your WAR hunting log – it’s the last chance anyway!

Level 50 Skill Reminder – Storms Eye, Infuriate: Storms Eye gives a slashing resist down debuff on the target (useful for many classes), a DPS and threat increase! Infuriate instantly gives you 5 stacks of wrath. It’s on a relatively short cooldown – so yes, this plus Inner Beast is balls. (It’s great for pulling with Unchained as well)

End-game resources for your Warrior

CONGRATS on reaching 50! What to do now with your sparkly new WAR?

WAR BiS – Best in slot end-game gear for Warrior, and tips on getting there.
WAR Rotation Guide – (needs an update) Some tips on how to maximize your WARs potential!
Raid Guides Directory – You SHOULD be at least attempting to raid, right!
Parry Tank & DPS Tank – How, why, when?

It’s been a long journey leveling your Warrior – but fortunately the adventure is JUST BEGINNING! Thanks for reading! For more updates check Like our Facebook! Hit us up on Twitter! Ciao!

<nextpage> (Will paginate this once 3.0 portion is completed)

Warrior – leveling up 50 to 60

Level 50 Battlecraft / GC Leves: ???

Level 55 Battlecraft / GC Leves: ???

This section is reserved for The 3.0 Heavensward update. For now, check out our Heavensward info page and Heavensward preparation page.

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FFXIV White Mage (WHM) Leveling Guide

How to level up your White Mage (WHM) fast! Useful cross-class skills, reminders, and the best places to be in any level – HERE!

So you’ve taken the White, huh? If you’re leveling a White Mage, you’ve found the right guide! First of all you might want to check out the White Mage Basics. You NEED to complete all CNJ class quests (last is level 30) (If you have Cure II, that means you’ve done it). Arcanist (ACN) class quests up to 15 (If you have Summon II on your Arcanist, you’ve done it). Again, this WHM leveling guide is meant to be used WITH the General Leveling Guide.

Help! Where’s the WHM Guildmaster / quest giver? It’s Raya-o-Senna, located in Camp Tranquil, South Shroud (18, 27). If there’s no quest available, check back in the CNJ guild in Gridania

Wait a second, I’m below level 30! Then you should be in the Conjurer Leveling Guide :) Coming into this guide, you should have completed your level 20-29 hunting log, and allocate all stat points into MIND. If you haven’t, you can go ahead and buy a Keepers Hymn from your Grand Company supplier and do so.

Reminders before we proceed: Your WHM will hit 50 faster if you continue to abuse Challenge Logs and Daily Roulettes! Again – Accuracy Food will help you more than you think.

White Mage Level 30: Patience of Mind

Reminder Level 30: Queue up for guildhests More than a Feeler and Annoy the Void.
> Level 30 Battlecraft / GC Leves: Costa Del Sol, Eastern La Noscea.

The grueling soloing and going out of mana continues! Picking up from the CNJ Leveling Guide, you should be in Costa FATE grinding right now. You can do this until a MAX of level 35 (But you can move to Coerthas sooner). Same process – if FATES aren’t popping get your WHM butt over to the levemete!

Level 32 trait reminder – Freecure: An amazing trait every White Mage should abuse! Each cure has a chance to proc a free Cure II. This trait wont be seen much while soloing, but when you queue up for dungeons you should learn to be aware of it! You should adjust your HUD to make it CLEAR when you’ve hit a proc.

ffxiv freecure easy proc hud white mage leveling

As seen above, I have Freecure (and soon to be Overcure) right beside my partylist, and right under my character. It’s also a habit of mine to put CD’s there for easy checking.

Level 34 skill reminder – Stoneskin: Ah, this skill. Hate the long cast time, love the effect. This skill will make or break many a raid. But for now, learn to use it in between pulls for yourself when soloing, and for your tank when in dungeons!

Reminder Level 35: Queue up for guildhests Shadow and Claw and Long Live the Queen.
Level 35 Battlecraft / GC Leves: Observatorium, Coerthas. (Also, Wineport ELN)

At around level 35 you can move to Coerthas Central Highlands. This place is usually very populated, and contains a huge number of FATES. So numerous that ‘tagging’ them all might be an impossible task if soloing! Partying up in Coerthas is popular, so you wont have a hard time finding one! The Svara quest chain is exceptionally good for EXP (Begins @ Svaras Fear)

Level 38 skill reminder – Shroud of Saints: The White Mages only mana replenishment skill (pre 3.0). Use it early and often! Soloing as WHM can be painful because mana regen can be an issue – at least this helps you out somehow. In raids, needless to say, this skill is gold.

Before proceeding, as always, allocate all unused points to MIND, complete all White Mage job quests, and beat up your hunting log. Done? Okay.

White Mage Level 40 to 50: The last stretch… for now…

Reminder Level 40: Queue up for guildhests Ward Up and Solemn Trinity.
Level 40 Battlecraft / GC Leves: Whitebrim, Coerthas.

Once you hit WHM 40, the first thing you want to do is gain a few quick levels – How? Hunting Log (as much as you can), Challenge Log (any uspent entries), and Daily Roulette (Guildhest and Low Level). You need to get a few levels quickly here, since our next destination is CPP, Northern Thanalan to FATEGRIND. Mor Dhona is the next logical step, but it’s often not very populated. Check the PF or Shout – you’re gonna need a party for the early 40’s here.

Reminder Level 45: No more guildhests for now :(
Level 45 Battlecraft / GC Leves: St. Coinachs Find, Mor Dhona.

Level 46 skill reminder – Aero II: Well, finally you get another basic DPS skill. Starting off with Aero II -> Aero should be standard for any WHM! Of course, if the enemies are weak just spam Stone II.

At level 49, you might as well finish all your WHM hunting logs. They’re pretty much useless after.

End-game resources for your White Mage

So you’ve hit max level – CONGRATS! What to do now with your sparkly new WHM?

WHM BiS – Best in slot end-game gear and some tips on how to get there.
WHM Healing Guide – Some tips on how to maximize your WHMs potential!
Raid Guides Directory – You SHOULD be at least attempting to clear coil, right!

It’s been a long journey leveling your White Mage – but fortunately the adventure is JUST BEGINNING! Thanks for reading! For more updates check Like our Facebook! Hit us up on Twitter! Ciao!

<nextpage> (Will paginate this once 3.0 portion is completed)

White Mage – leveling up 50 to 60

Level 50 Battlecraft / GC Leves: ???

Level 55 Battlecraft / GC Leves: ???

This section is reserved for The 3.0 Heavensward update. For now, check out our Heavensward info page.

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FFXIV Tanking stats: Parry or DPS!?

Should you consider Parry on your gear? Should all tanks go DPS 100% of the time? Are Parry tanks baddies? COME IN AND LEARN.

Hey guys! If you’re here, then you’re probably wondering what’s all the fuss about tanking and parry. Here, I’ll let you guys know MY stance on tanking, parry and all things in between. (I also wanted to write a resource I could link to, instead of repeating myself ad infinitum, haha). Hopefully, this guide will help you decide what’s best for YOU in this regard. Here goes: FFXIV Tanking & Parry guide!

(Disclaimer: Even a post this long doesn’t encompass the entire argument. I will be adding to this in the near future)

The Problem: War of the Parry camps

Two main camps exist. “Parry sucks nuts” and “Parry is needed“. This mini-conflict has affected even me, when writing the PLD, WAR and soon to be DRK BiS lists. Now that I’m going to write this easy to go-to resource, that will change. I’ll list down the main points of each side.

Parry sucks nuts

Parry scales poorly, therefore don’t use it.
Parry is random, so how can we rely on it?
Parry sucks because all attacks are scripted
Parry should be replaced with DPS stats (DET > CRIT > SS)
(MAIN CON): Higher risk of death

One (human factor) thing I dislike about this camp is that SOME tanks on this camp call tanks with parry “bad”. While this is not true for most of them, it does exist. I definitely see why tanks would want DPS gear. Two main reason being: fighting DPS races. However, not all tanks/ scenarios/ statics are equal, so you cannot just blindly put DPS stats on your gear – and blame your healer when you die.

Parry is needed

Parry helps mitigate damage, every little bit counts
Parry is still a lot better than some DPS stats (CRIT & SS)
(MAIN CON): Garbage DPS

These guys are a little more old school, and I see why their logic is sound. The more damage you mitigate, the less risk for your raid. But I also concede that you cannot just blindly put parry on your gear. There is such thing as sacrifcing too many stat points into something you might not maximize.

So how do we make sense of all this? Both sides make valid points, both sides have ups and downs. We should ask ourselves a more constructive question. Instead of “Does parry suck or not suck?” we should ask ourselves a better question, “When should we focus on DPS, or Parry and why?”

Analyzing Gains: What does each stat DO FOR US

DPS Stats for tanking: Why? Let’s ask ourselves, realistically, what gain can be had when itemizing for DPS?

Pushing phases.
Beating enrage timers.
~~E-peen~~

Parry for tanking: Why? Again, what gains can be had when itemizing Parry?

Less risk of death
More free mana and time for healers (subsequently increasing healer DPS)
- This point is moot if your healers arent DPSing or conserving mana when needed.

These are all valid points. Let’s discuss each one, and let’s try to gain some insight on what exactly is going on here.

(DPS)Pushing Phases: First we must Identify when specifically pushing a phase matters. And I mean MATTERS, not just for some BS reason for the sake of pushing a phase.

Pre 2.4, upon entering T6 Savage, it soon became painfully obvious that having any more than 1 honey spells out a very, very difficult P2. So we squeezed out as much DPS as possible, this included having our Off-tank (Warrior) Mitlet Gyles wear more and more DPS gear until we were sure we could Phase with 1 honey even given sub-standard RNG. We weren’t just pushing phases for funsies – having 2 honey was FATAL. We can consider the above use of DPS stats, viable.

Example of not viable? “Wear DPS gear all the time just to push phases, because, you know… pushing phases is good”. Aye, I get it. Pushing phases is never truly a bad thing. But not all phase-pushing is equal! Sometimes you NEED it, and other times it’s just a luxury.

(DPS)Beating enrage timers: Very similar to the above. If you guys have a good run, but still lose to enrage – you have to squeeze extra DPS somewhere. Our first enrage wipe in T13 was at 3%, but had a death in final phase. It was too close to call – so our OT at the time Claes Henrietta (Warrior) wore another 2 DPS accessories to cover any possible randomness.

Example of not viable? Wearing full DPS gear in an encounter you just got into fearing enrage timer. You’re giving undue stress to your healers and not gaining as much experience as you can. So in essence, we should try for a more defensive setup when learning, and as you gain more experienced when to use cooldowns / knowledge of mechanics – we can push for more DPS.

(Mythbusting) DPS is king, Parry sucks ’cause everything’s scripted: BS. Pure BS. Yes, heavy attacks are scripted in (IE Death Sentence, Ravensbeak/claw, Flatten/Akh Morn). Basic attacks? no. If you’re gonna tell me to my face boss basic attacks don’t matter – you crazy. Having less damage from basics gives your healers a huge windfall in mana. Or in another perspective: opens up more healer DPS.

(PARRY) Less risk of death: The uncool counterpart to DPS’s points. I think because it’s a boring, linear point is why it gets so much hate. But is it true, no matter how you spin it. But this also has a small caveat: This only works when you’re actively taking damage. That’s one point we will discuss later.

(PARRY) More free mana and time for healers: Again, another upside. Less stress on healing. but to truly capitalize on this point – you need decent healers! If they’re wasting mana anyway, or never DPS… what’s the point!? I guess the only way around this is to monitor/advise/communicate as a TEAM. So this can be considered a con… “more parry doesn’t apply to all groups”, but also “more parry assists in the success chance of PUGs” (in terms of safety).

(SUMMARY) Both DPS and Parry are good: WHEN THEY ARE IN EFFECT: This is an interesting conclusion, while quite obvious, there are a lot of complex ideas behind that simple sentence. DPS stats are great, but are severely dulled while MTing. Parry is great too, but SUCKS when OTing! What a conundrum… But I think you see where I’m going with this.

The Solution: Maximizing your stats to your role

This is my stance. For a long time I haven’t been writing the most flexible of tank BiS’s because a page like this didn’t exist for further explanation. Now that I’ve gotten around to writing this – things will change. Now that we see how, when and why both DPS and Parry are good – how do we maximize this? If we cannot come to one solid scenario for a case to state “All tanks must parry”, or “All tanks must DPS” then we do what logically comes next:

As tanks, you should CREATE the ideal scenario to maximize your stats.

Okay let’s take a scenario, and try to maximize our gains for each type of tank.

Encounter example: T12 Phoenix
Main Tank: PLD
Off-tank: WAR

Phoenix has a forced tank-swap: Revelation. No tank can survive 2 Revelations, and we ASSUME that it comes every minute. With the exception of Hallowed Ground / Holmgang – a second Revelation will definitely show you the truth (AKA Respawn prompt). So if we go by every minute the tanking sequence end up like this

Assumptions

let’s say, 10 minute fight. We will see 10 Revs, and Phoenix dies before the 11th minute
First rev happens after 1m, then every minute after that.
for simplicities sake let’s ignore Brand
Also, swap 10s before next rev

So if they did things “normally” they MT 5 minutes each, split evenly.

If both tanks itemize DPS: for 50% of the fight, your DPS stats are reduced by 25% efficiency (from stance)
If both tanks itemize Parry: for 50% of the fight, your parry is useless. (not ideal)

That’s a big case for DPS right here. So in the most brainless of scenarios, DPS is the clear winner – at the sad expense of us healers (hehe). But is this the best we can do?

Now lets say we utilize our skillset to the fullest. The PLD will use HG to survive 2 “Second Revelations” and laugh death in the face… the tanking order looks like this.

PLD (01:00) Revelation
PLD (02:00) Revelation: Hallowed Ground
PLD (02:50) Revelation soon (Tank swap) (PLD 2:50)
WAR (03:50) Revelation soon (Tank Swap) (WAR 1:00)
PLD (04:50) Revelation soon (Tank swap) (PLD 3:50)
WAR (05:50) Revelation soon (Tank Swap) (WAR 2:00)
PLD (06:50) Revelation soon (Tank Swap) (PLD 4:50)
WAR (07:50) Revelation Soon (Tank Swap) (WAR 3:00)
PLD (08:00) Revelation eaten (PLD 5:00)
PLD (09:00) Revelation: Hallowed Ground (PLD 6:00)
PLD (09:50) Revelation soon (Tank Swap) (PLD 7:00)
WAR (10:50) Phoenix dies around this time or much sooner (WAR 3:xx)

So in this example, let’s use a a 65-35% uptime between PLD and WAR respectively.

If PLD itemizes Parry: for 65% of the fight Parry is working for you (an improvement to 50% in previous scenario)
If Warrior itemizes DPS: for 65% of the fight, DPS stats are at max (an improvement from 50% in previous scenario)

But wait… Warrior can and SHOULD use Unchained only when he’s tanking.. further increasing uptime!

If Warrior itemizes DPS: for 75% of the fight, DPS stats are at max (further improvement > 65 > 50)

The answer is dead simple, yet most people don’t see it. Parry is better the more you MT, DPS is better the more you OT… that’s quite an unexciting answer after all this discussion!

Clarifications, Summary and Recommendations

1) The more you MT, the better parry is (and the WORSE dps stats are due to stance) – So why spec DPS if this is the case? The more you OT, the better DPS stats are – SIMPLE! So instead of stubbornly picking and sticking to one camp – the first step of evolution is to keep the above statement in mind.

2) Warrior Unchained makes DPS stats more weighty. Ignoring the Defiance reduction is HUGE. This makes more sense for warriors to OT. Paladins make a more stable MT anyway, given they can also block! So why force the issue of “equality” – Maximize the strengths of both classes!

3) Adjust your strategy to accomodate these itemization choices: The most important thing we’ve learned here today is that all this theorycrafting is absolute garbage if you don’t find ways and means to push this strategic advantage to its absolute max. Some encounters already do this for you. In T13, you have a 14 minute encounter wherein the MT stands in front of Bahamut for 10 MINUTES. Not counting the Zoo phase, this gives warrior almost 100% uptime without Defiance! The only exception is the P2 adds (what… 1 minute total?)

Now I wont stop you if you still insist on stacking DPS stats if you MT most of the fight. But keep in mind, doing this is gimping your team. The solution? Owning a great mix of gear should cover all your needs. Being stubborn and inflexible isn’t pro – that’s being BAD.

“Im on 100% DPS gear and healers cant keep me up – damn pugs!” You can try wearing parry and see how it goes. Cleared the fight and didn’t hit enrage? Good. You hit enrage? Switch up some gear. Can’t clear with either sets? You or your group are fundamentally flawed – and itemization doesn’t matter.

“I cleared this/that boss with DPS/Parry and I don’t agree with you” If you’re overgeared, none of this matters. I can clear T13 with both tanks rocking 0 secondary stats if you’re in full 130. But if you REFUSE to see when a situation or strategy needs either Parry or DPS, that’s just limiting yourself. Having one statement be the clear RULE applying to all tanks/ composition / scenarios / encounters is downright FOOLISH.

But I’m sure as many tanks read this, we will still have diehard DPS campers, and diehard Parry campers – and that’s fine. I just wished to throw my stance out there. Hopefully this helps out anybody whose considering being a tank – and those current tanks who might want to learn a thing or two. Again, these are my own thoughts and I’m not forcing anyone to side with me.

Anyways – GOODLUCK parrying and DPSing where necessary, haha! Hopefully our Parry vs DPS stat guide for tanking helped you out somehow. If you have anything to contribute, please comment.

3.2 Ninja Best-in-Slot

NIN BiS Discussion

NIN Lore Tomestone Buy Order

USING UP PAGES AND MIDAS NORMAL PARTS

MIDAN SAVAGE PAGES for NIN

MIDAN NORMAL PARTS for NIN

NIN Crafted Gear Viability

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3.2 Monk Best-in-Slot

MNK BiS Discussion

MNK Lore Tomestone Buy Order

USING UP PAGES AND MIDAS NORMAL PARTS

MIDAN SAVAGE PAGES

MIDAN NORMAL PARTS

MNK Crafted Gear Viability

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3.2 Dragoon Best-in-Slot

DRG BiS Discussion

DRG Lore Tomestone Buy Order

USING UP PAGES AND MIDAS NORMAL PARTS

MIDAN SAVAGE PAGES

MIDAN NORMAL PARTS

DRG Crafted Gear Viability

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3.2 Bard Best-in-Slot

BRD BiS Discussion

BRD Lore Tomestone Buy Order

USING UP PAGES AND MIDAS NORMAL PARTS

MIDAN SAVAGE PAGES

MIDAN NORMAL PARTS

BRD Crafted Gear Viability

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3.2 Paladin Best-in-Slot

PLD BiS Discussion

PLD Lore Tomestone Buy Order

Using up Pages and Midas Normal Parts

Midan Savage Pages

MIDAN NORMAL PARTS

PLD Crafted Gear Viability

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Heavensward Dark Knight Best-in-Slot

Dark Knight Accessories: Choices & Melding

DRK BiS Discussion, Notes & Options

3.0 Dark Knight Esoterics Buy Order

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Go to our Stormblood updated Tank Role Actions Guide instead!

Full list of Warrior (WAR) Cross-class skills

Warrior (WAR) Cross-class skills discussion

SET IN STONE: Provoke > Internal Release > Convalescence > Awareness > (Last slot: FLEX)

Ideal Warrior (WAR) Cross-class progression

Summary

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Warrior Level 30: Fresh off the Block

Warrior Level 40 to 50: The last stretch… for now…

End-game resources for your Warrior

Warrior – leveling up 50 to 60

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White Mage Level 30: Patience of Mind

White Mage Level 40 to 50: The last stretch… for now…

End-game resources for your White Mage

White Mage – leveling up 50 to 60

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The Problem: War of the Parry camps

Parry sucks nuts

Parry is needed

Analyzing Gains: What does each stat DO FOR US

The Solution: Maximizing your stats to your role

Clarifications, Summary and Recommendations

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Go to our Stormblood updated
Tank Role Actions Guide
instead!