The Last Dance II: The Show Must Go On

I lunged some nm's but most are either immune or just stupid resist %.

Considering what I should cap first after the update, and leaning towards Samba Duration purely for the simplicity it brings (2:55 duration Sambas, which should let you stretch it to 3 minutes like Saber/NFR). It's obviously a toss-up between that and Reverse Flourish II, but the extra RF enhancement doesn't look that great (1 extra TP per FM) and I still never find myself using Building Flourish even though it should be a pretty substantial Rudra's boost at this point (+25% Attack and +20% WSD).

I'm seeing:
Begrudging Ring - Potentially good for Evisceration, depending on back alternatives.
Dashing Subligar - Looks interesting and I'll feel obligated to get it, even if it's not particularly useful.
Herculean set - Hard to interpret until we know what the (assumed) augments are. Nothing stands out without augments.
Phalangite Mantle - Probably the best PK back now
Kupo boots - random shout out unrelated to DNC. Break that game.

Where did you see the Kupo Boots?
Think it's gonna be stuff obtainable exclusively through the Mog Bonanza though.

Herculean Set has at least the nice use of precast FC item. For many of the listed jobs it's gonna be BiS.
Hands could be a nice TP option according to augments. Maybe not as good as HQ abjs but possibly better than perf aug Taeon.

And pretty confident ring is gonna be BiS for Evisceration, using a different back. That's supposing the ring doesn't stack with neck/back. Good to assume it but we can't be sure, can we?


How is Apate Ring gonna do for PK?

Haruspex Hat +1 exists and I didn't see anything else from the Herculean Set useful for Fast Cast.

I suspect the hands are going to be worse than NQ abjurations, and Jovian hands drops off a Tier 1 so it's not like there's really a barrier to obtaining it.

Apate ring does look good for PK. Missed it!

Also sorry, I meant Kupo Shield: https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Kupo_Shield

Oh... forgot Haruspex even existed. Still using a cheap 115 WKR mask augmented with haste/FC because I'm cheap :D

There's also Hetaroi Ring. Possibly best TP ring paired with Epona's?
Maybe it depends on X-hit build (STP from Rajas) but I'm confident Epona/Hetaroi should be better? Except situations where you want the Acc I guess.

So I have been going back and forth between my DNC and my RUN and I really can't decide which one I wanna cap job points on first. Fortunately, there is a lot of shared gear between pdt sets and ws sets between them that I don't feel too bad and this ping-ponging between the 2 jobs...

However, given what we know (currently) in regards to Aeonics, which between the 2 would you suggest I put my ressources in? RUN, or DNC? What's your reasoning?

Just can't make up my mind yet....

Nothing game changing about any of the JP / gear for it, and mine is strong enough to be used when its needed so I don't see the point to really focus on it for now. And I've been hurting for a "swings a weapon" job for a while XD

Just can't make up my mind between the 2...

Updated spreadsheet: https://goo.gl/tk10gx

I haven't added augmentable gear yet, because I don't feel like guessing what "ideal" augments might be like.

The best I could come up with to replace Rancorous Mantle with Begrudging Ring (assuming no accuracy issues) is Laic Mantle + Begrudring Ring. The bigger appeal might be when you're trying to hit some certain accuracy number, because the back slot offers much more accuracy than one ring.

/edit: I just had a look at the Reisenjima armour thread. I think I started crying a bit...

DNC, because... eh... because this is the DNC forums!

Realistically though, I'd say go with what you "love more". Or, if that doesn't help at all, what the group you are playing with would benefit from more. If the group performs better, you will (usually) end up having more resources to eventually have two or more jobs well-geared.

RUN will, at the time of writing this, see more of the high-end content, e. g. Kirin and other Escha - Ru'Aun stuff, because it plays a good role in SC+MB setups, thanks to Gambit and Rayke. Generally spoken, a group can usually find a place for RUN, no matter what, because it might as well "just tank". It's difficult to find a spot for a DNC in said high-end content though, because SE thinks it's kool to have mobs with 1600+ evasion and crippling AoE effects.

Don't get me wrong, DNC is a beast of a DD, but at the end of the day, it's a meree DD with all the downsides attached to it, namely close-ranged and accuracy-based. SC+MB doesn't solve all problems though, so having a strong meree DD with high accuracy definitely can be very useful. It's just that meree DDs aren't called for all that often anymore.

Which might or might not change, depending on how the Aeonic AM turns out to be.

I re-capped merits ( why? D: ) and am at 1870/2100 for job master. I think I'm actually going to enjoy using Trance and Grand Pas more often.

To use them both in one SC:
9FMs -> CF -> Grand Pas -> Shark Bite -> Reverse -> Evisceration -> Reverse -> Rudra's Storm -> Trance + Building -> Rudra's

That's going to put a pretty substantial dent in anything's HP (as long as we can hit it (and complete the skillchain without getting amnesia'd, terrored, insta-deathed, knocked back and bound, stunned, etc.)

In today's world: almost never.

I played around with updated Terpsichore and Twashtar in the spreadsheet (scaling up based on the sword ratios to D138 and D123 respectively). It has again given me an appreciation for just how beastly Taming Sari is, as neither the new weapon (assuming all its benefits apply) nor an updated Twashtar (40 DEX and D123) beat a perfect Taming Sari as an offhand.

If the Aeonic more than doubles Exenterator's damage and that makes it our best WS, it might be a different story.

I know next to nothing about RUN, but I know DNC's JP categories are such garbage that RUN's can't possibly be worse. If you came into this update with 1200 JP and 350/350 on DNC there is basically no real reason to go further.


If Aeonic modifications to merit weaponskills are so ***-up incredible that Aeneas actually manages to become better than Terpsichore, Lionheart (which is attached to an amazing weaponskill that is actually heavily modified by TP Bonus) will only be that much better.

My pick out of all options for both jobs is Terpsichore because The Devil You Know, but if we're talking about Aeonics specifically it's got to be RUN.

How does Begrudging Ring work?


RUN is really good across all content, arguably better than paladin in most situations. DNC is one of the top two melee jobs, but there's just a lot of melee-unfriendly mechanics in XI that mean you'll be using scholar SC + BLM/SCH/GEO MB's.

I'd cap RUN first. RUN's JPs are also better than dancer's, I think?

Begrudging Ring is probably the same as Rancor Collar and Rancorous Mantle, and so it probably doesn't stack with them.

Gotcha.

Fresh from a Reisenjima T1 world tour, there has been quite a bunch of things that aren't exactly friendly to magic damage. If it's like that with T2 and T3, chances are melees might make a comeback. But then, I guess it's RNGs all over the place again...

Accuracy caps with something around 1250 effective accuracy, I'd say. I didn't have any trouble capping with "normal" TP gear, Sole Sushi +1 (had to empty my stock before I start using Sublime Sushi), Hunter's Roll, and Torpor.

Evasion generally hasn't exploded this time; I was able to cap on all 4 new UNMs, too, with "just" Hunter's Roll, double Madrigal, Torpor, and Sole Sushi +1. In addition to 1200-ish accuracy in gear, that is.

No obvious stat bonuses of any kind from job master, as previously reported.

But you get pretty stars over your head.

Don't wanna be a party breaker but I'm afraid you didn't need anything special to cap accuracy even on the past Escha T1s =/

You completely ignored the next part of his sentence...


Those are three extra accuracy buffs than what would typically be used with DNC on Ru'Aunn T1s. Accuracy requirements for these T1s are higher than Ru'Aun. That's just a simple fact.

But they did add an assumed extra 43 acc through vorseals and 23 acc through gifts, along with new sushi.

There are so many potential augments for Herculean gear that I'm not sure how to even add them to the spreadsheet.

Superficially, uses I see for the set:
1) Extreme Acc build (highest acc in every slot as far as I can see)
2) Herculean hands with perfect augments (DEX+10, Acc/Atk+30, Crit damage +5%) are pretty much the best possible option for Evisceration.
3) Herculean body/hands/legs/feet are all part of our best CF Rudra's set now with Crit Damage +5%, DEX+10, Acc/Atk+30 augments.
4) Herculean body with perfect augments can be our best Delay capped body with a TA+4% augment, Acc/Atk+30, and STR+10.
5) Herculean hands with STR+10, TA+4%, Acc/Atk+30 are probably our best TP hands (superior to Adhemar +1)

As a bit of a query, I just hit 550 JP on my DNC yesterday (yes, I've been lazy about getting JP) and decided to re-jigger my gearset. Here's what I managed to come up with:

ItemSet 322575

The chapeau has Dual Wield +3, the cape has +4. If I understand the math correctly (from the first post on the thread) I needed 14% DW to cap delay, so with the 5% from JP gift I should only need 9, thus the hat, cape, and boots adding up to 10 should put me at cap. I generally go roaming around with Koru-Moru or Arciela II, so I have Haste II available to me.

What I'm curious about is how I should shuffle my accessories. I figure using Dudgeon/Heartseeker is going overboard at this point, thus why I put in the Steelflash/Bladeborn.

For the belt, I have a Windbuffet Belt, Anguinus Belt, Metalsinger Belt and Patentia Sash available, I swapped out the Patentia due to the DW on it being slightly overboard now, was this a wise move? Or should I keep the Sash, and maybe go for a TA augment on the chapeau instead of DW?

Also, as far as daggers go, I tend to run with Odium/Vanir, but I also have a Blurred Knife (which I use when Trusts aren't available for Haste), an Izhiikoh, a Sabebus (R15 B path), Ipetam (STR/DEX+14, Acc+12, Double Attack+3), and a Dermersal Degen +1 (not a dagger, but one of the few 119 swords DNC can use, I offhand it sometimes to help with TP build). I have yet to get a Taming Sari from SR, or an Enchufla from Escha, though both are on my "want to get someday" list. Any advice would be welcomed!

And yes, I'm working on Terp, I've turned in about 10% of the alex so far, completed the Assaults, have 90k ichor, and have 98k tokens. Long-term goals and all that...

ETA: Just to run some numbers and see if I should be aiming higher here:

With Metalsinger Belt

Odium/Izhiikoh: 1071 Acc, 1034/970 Attack.

Odium/Blurred: 1064, 1026/962.

Odium/Vanir: 1062, 1026/962.

Odium/Ipetam: 1072, 1037/969.

With Anguinus

Odium/Izhiikoh: 1081, 1039/978

Odium/Blurred: 1074, 1031/970

Odium/Vanir: 1072, 1031/970

Odium/Ipetam: 1082, 1042/977

I seen someone say you can get up to -5 pdt on herculean (a couple pieces also have -2 pdt on them). Can probably make a capped dt set without sacrificing that much accuracy now.

I've seen up to MDT -5, so I assume PDT caps at the same. Also seen DT-3, although rarely. I hate the augmenting system, but the prospect of building amazing hybrid DT pieces is too good to pass up.

And another small update. With the +1 stones from my Red Mog Pells, I managed to get the augments on the Chapeau to STR/AGI+6, Acc/Att+18, and TA+2. Also got the gloves upgraded a bit, they're now STR/AGI+7, Acc/Att+20, DW+4. So with hands + feet + back I'm sitting at 11 DW, which should be plenty if I have Haste II, I believe?