RK Breeches... everlasting?Follow

Disclaimer: DD pld setup, mostly bird camps and cannot spam sushi. BRD/COR not always an option. This gear advice is for XP setup only, not endgame tanking.

Just dinged 68 and I'm feeling like something is wrong with my poor old level 55 Royal Knights breeches (DEF:30 STR+2 DEX+2 Attack+3), But looking at the alternatives, nothing is really jumping out at me.

You have the Fourth set (DEF:27 STR+4 Evasion+4 "Subtle Blow"+4 Set: Increases Attack)

The Iron Ram Hose (DEF:36 HP+28 Enmity+4 "Magic Def. Bonus"+4 Set: Increased resistance against all elements)

And then the tiger/feral gear. Is there something I'm missing?

The Fourth stuff would basically be -3def, +2str, -2dex. The evasion is meaningless with a haub+woodsmans+Spike earrings, and at most I would get 1 more piece of the set.

The Iron Ram Hose would be +6def +4emn, -2str, -2dex -3attack Over the hose. Since the Ele resist would be +5 max, based on other equipment options.

As far as most AH stuff, I can't find anything that jumps out at me to replace those pants with. Any advice?

The same can be said about my Fourth Division Gauntlets (lvl 55 DEF:13 accuracy+5)

Just feels like I should have moved into something higher at this point, but I guess it's not always the case. (ie. Valkyries mask)

Not a PLD and this may be too far down the line from when you want to replace but, wouldn't dusk be quite a good option as well? It's definitely better than RK Breeches from a DD standpoint anyway. It's currently what I use for NIN and DRG until I can get something better

Dusk Trousers at 72 is all that comes to mind.

Dusk trousers are an excellent choice, not only for the DD aspect, but for the +HP and defense. I am a 71 PLD and use RK breeches now, but I have Dusk that I use on other jobs. Great choice also if you plan on being a RDM/BLU or SAM/RNG also, in addition to any other DD jobs.

I'm still using RK pants at 75. :( I don't really want to sink money into dusk when all I do is campaign for now. Homam pants could be mine whenever they next drop, but I don't really want to gank them for my 6th job over people who've been waiting longer, ditto valor pants, which seem like a decent ws piece.

So brown pants it is.

Dusk > RK breeches imo. But I got Homam.

Other alternatives, would be: If you camp kings, try to get some heca legs. If you do salvage, try to get some ares. WS in those, and tp in homam.

Those would be some real good alternatives to an exp set up.

Your link has an extra / in it. Still gets there eventually, though.

For fun I'll see what happens when I do a lot of swapping of items I have, prioritizing str a little more.

Changes from my profile gear:
coral>minuet, turban>o-hat, woodsman>ruby, life belt>warwolf

Again, kabobs and minuet.

Normal WS:
STR: 78
fSTR: 4
Attack: 455
pDIF: 1.19137
Accuracy: 366 (74.5%)

Vorpal Blade: 95%*(46+4+(78*.3)*.83)*1.191437 + 74.5%*3*(46+4+(78*.3)*.83)*1.191437 + 74.5%*(35+4+(78*.3)*.83) * 1.19137
= 78.2 + 184 + 51.6 = 313.8

Loads of STR:
STR: 91
fSTR: 7
Attack: 461
pDIF: 1.209786
Accuracy: 346 (64.5%)
Vorpal Blade: 95%*(46+7+(91*.3)*.83)*1.209786 + 64.5%*3*(46+7+(91*.3)*.83)* 1.209786 + 64.5%*(35+7+(91*.3)*.83)*1.209786
= 86.67 + 176.5 + 50.25 = 313.4

tl;dr: It seems that for low damage weapons (joyeuse) and capped acc scenarios (first hit), sacrificing acc for STR isn't a bad idea. But in this case, again, they're almost exactly the same. Too bad my selection of STR gear is rather poor.

Edited, Dec 31st 2008 4:16pm by Illusitaru

Askar legs are pretty easy to get, and most melee that can equip them, already have byakko/homam.

I noticed that they have 5att and ~7-8acc depending on if you use 2h or not.

I see a lot of shouts for nyzul 36-40, or if you are lucky enough for a static they should come pretty fast.

I would say best item, in my opinion, if you need the acc and homam is out of reach.

askar pants is the one nyzul piece I never saw drop. :(

I used RK breeches until 75. Now I have Homam.

I swap on Galliard Trousers in the extremely rare event that I use Vorpal Blade.
Atonement spam is just too awesome.

Ive been using my Aurum Cuisses.

+4STR, +7ACC, -4ATk. I like them better than my RKB.

PS, I don't have Askar Dirs or I would use those instead I think.

Skyra

Edited, Jan 5th 2009 2:14pm by Skyra