Sorry, no RDM or BLM would enjoy losing intelligence to Zealot's Mitts, and Battle Gloves don't really suit these classes either, especially BLM. So while these are not exactly the best for a lot of classes, they're far from the worst for RDM and BLM.
Especially since if you ***** up your timing (BLM) or throw out an emergency Cure II (RDM) they may just save your rear. Of course, evasion is notoriously unreliable.
If you want the best as WHM use Zealott's Mitts. So much better than these. Evasion is flaky. 3+ Mnd and 5+ MP is not. BLM or might have a use for this though. I dunno I haven't leveled it in a while.
I picked one of these up in bazaar today for about 300gil. I had some crystals on me so I thought why not try to desynth these with lightning crystal. Failed first attempt, second attempt I got HQ animation which sort of got me excited. Result however was a sprig of Sage. lol
Only crafts I can think of that would affect this synth would be Alchemy, Goldsmithing or Smithing. My current lvs are Alchemy 60, Gold 27, Smithing 80.
Um.. mobs can agro by scent, believe me. I was in yuhtungha jungle with sneak and invis on, I walked behind this gob smithy, and it turned around and agroed me. Go right ahead and disagree with me and say all you want, but I know I am right.
Mobs do aggro by scent; however if your are invisible or under sneak and you run near some mobs i've heard that proximity may allow them to detect you as well. Afterall you wouldn't try to sneak by someone by running right past them would you.
out of curiosity, i was wondering if anyone had tested the possible hidden use of the armlets: auto-deodorize... is it possible? can an even Match+ monster aggro you if it searches by smell, not sound or sight?
A mob does not aggro by scent. It uses scent to track you down if you retreat out of its visual range. Aggro is only via sight, sound, magic usage or low MP (depending on the mob, of course).
Deodorize attempts to cancel the "trail" you leave for the mob to follow.
As far as I know, this equipment does not have a hidden auto-deodorize effect.
You can also lose a Scent Tracking monster by crossing through a shallow stream (like the one in Sarutabaruta) lost a giant crawler train that way (nasty things.... who knew they linked so bad O.O)
I used the Scentless Armlets for ages as RDM. One time when I was hunting for Martial slacks and traveller's mantle, I got a ranperre chest key and recieved the Battle gloves from the chest.
I've been using them ever since.
A ranger, whm or blm would probably be better off with the armlets. (The ranger wouldn't need Accuracy as much, would want Ranged accuracy.) Shortly after getting the gloves, I also picked up the Centurion's Sword for an added accuracy boost.
Accuracy Shmacurracy, when your DEX is as high as a THF's and you have all this +DEX equipment IE Leaping Boots & Balance Rings... why would you care about that Extra bit of Accuracy? When this has more DEF & Evasion?
While i agree that you cant argue personal preference, for a thf it's accuracy that out-weighs def or evas any day of the week in my book simply because misses = less damage = longer fight = 0%mp/0%hp. And, while its rare, my thf does miss on sneak and/or weaponskills. When that happens on the vt and it prey my pt usually fight, soon folks start using their 2hr job abilities because mages are out of mp and meless are down on hp. Of course after the 2hrs ja are blown and the fight still going, folks usually start dying or even smarter, running. Like i said, personal preference. I would assume some folks feel safe or even protected in high def and evas gear, but tactics-wise a thf shouldnt ever hafta be the meatshield. To me, a thf with high def seems quite backwards: trying to prepare for when things go ugly rather than operating at peak damage per second.
Granted, the one with the accuracy bonus has its advantages for a THF.
There are some classes, however, where the armlets are a whole lot better. I use them on my WHM, who's not supposed to be doing anything that has to do with accuracy anyway. And combined with Light Soleas, these things rock.
But if you're doing max damage per second, that increases the chance that the mob will start attacking you. And with sneak attack, I've managed to hold aggro even with the warriors provoking. And on top of that, I often see way too many warriors who don't know how to provoke properly (ie. not using it to pull the mob off of someone who is dying, using it less than 5 seconds after another warrior for no good reason, or "my computer's lagging" and not using it at all). The long and short of it is that you have to prepare for the worst, because when it does happen, I personally don't want to lose xp over it. I also rarely see a warrior who is properly equipped (ie. wearing armour within 10 levels of his current level), so maybe having the thief be the tank isn't necessarily a bad thing ;-)
it less than 5 seconds after another warrior for no good reason
Provoke is not a get aggro now button as many people think it is. Hate is acquired and remember for the duration of a fight. Use provoke as fast as it cools down to keep the hate on you. A lot of people have macros that provoke/wait/provoke/wait.
Well its not all about what you would rather wear. :P I have the Battle Gloves for my thief but am currently switching to ranger and ranger can wear these ones and not the Battle gloves, so there are reasons people would want these.