Mpaca For WS

So I just bought Mpaca body, legs and feet for my TP set(still working on head and hands), but how does Mpaca fair in WS sets? I feel pretty good about where my TP sets are at currently, but my WS sets need some work. Couple specific questions I had:

1. Does Mpaca Head beat AF Head +2/3 for WS? If so, for all WS or just some? Same question for Mpaca legs and Relic Legs+2/3.

2. Currently I use a lot of Mummu+2 and Mummu Ring for the extra DEX from the set bonus for Ten, Metsu and Shun. Is the extra DEX from the set bonus worth it or should I be using something else?

I just finished my AF Head+2/3 yesterday and I should be finishing my Relic Legs+2 sometime this week. So I don't have the +3 versions currently, but I will in the future.

Thanks!

You should check out my thread from a few months ago where I go into the best gear sets for Ninja weapon skills. The thread itself isn't pinned so it doesn't really stand out at first glance. Alternatively, if you want to see good sets without including Odyssey gear, then check out the 2021 Ninja Gearsets thread, which is also not pinned for some reason. I think these two threads should be pinned in the Ninja section. At the very least, these two threads should give you an idea for how to gear each weapon skill, even if you don't have access to all of the gear presented there.

https://www.ffxiah.com/forum/topic/56125/using-python3-to-estimate-bis-gear-sets-for-ninja/
https://www.ffxiah.com/forum/topic/55622/2021-ninja-gearsets/

Ignoring the finer details:

• Mpaca's Cap will win for Blade: Shun (low buffs), Blade: Ten (low/mid buffs), and Savage Blade (low/mid buffs). AF+3 usually wins for high-buffed single-hit weapon skills or "Damage Varies with TP" weapon skills with TP>1500.

• Mpaca's Doublet is seen only in Evisceration, but you can use Kendatsuba Samue +1 instead.

• Mpaca's Gloves are useful for Blade: Hi, but they're only marginally better than Ryuo Tekko +1 (Path A or D). I recommend using Ryuo Tekko since Evisceration also uses them.

• Mpaca's Hose only show up when attack capped, but they show up in most physical weapon skills, excluding Blade: Ten and Evisceration. Relic +3 legs are better for single hit weapon skills when you are not attack capped.

• Mpaca's Boots don't show up anywhere. Feel free to save yourself an inventory spot by not purchasing these.

Some players say Mpaca is a good set for TPing on Ninja. I haven't studied TP sets, but I don't see Mpaca being as useful as other options due to its lack of Ranged Accuracy for shuriken. Somebody more qualified than me can go into the its value vs Malignance and Kendatsuba for TPing.


Mummu is a good starter set, but it's missing stats that many weapon skills need, such as attack, multi-attack, STR, and weapon skill damage.

I have looked into those threads a bit, but I guess I missed the finer information about Mpaca gear. I'll have to go through them again.

I appreciate all the information!

Feel free to disagree but Mpaca set as a whole is better suited for MNK & PUP than NIN & SAM.

As an above poster stated, on NIN you will see (and yes YMNV) better results on Low/Mid buffs which pretty much means trusts or a beginner BRD/COR/GEO.

Even at a basic glance (augmented or unaugmented) the latter two jobs [typically] have better equipment for the main armor slots. (Buffs dependant ofc)

I'll politely take you up on that offer ;) I agree with that take for MNK, disagree strongly for SAM, disagree slightly for PUP, and NIN is sort of in between.

MNK
No disagreement here that Mpaca is just fantastic for MNK. Great for hybrid/TP sets while retaining BiS/near BiS offensive performance. Similar choice to SAM and NIN betweeen Kendatsuba for Meva, Mpaca for PDT/Counter/Killer. I generally TP in 4/5 Mpaca & Empy body for Impetus up, 5/5 Mpaca for Impetus down. Swap into Ken+1 for Meva or Malignance for max protection.

SAM
For SAM, Mpaca is excellent for a more defensive/hybrid set, especially since SAM had very few great PDT/hybrid options available prior to Odyssey armor. It was really the only physical DD (unless you count RUN as a DD) that was left out of the relatively recent great pre-Odyssey DT- sets: it's not on Malignance like the "light DDs", but also not on Hjarrandi like WAR DRK DRG. Prior to Mpaca, I would regularly go with another DD job over my Masa SAM specifically because I often tended to feel like a bit too much of a glass-cannon on SAM. Mpaca availability was an absolute game changer for me on SAM.

SAM now gets Kendatsuba for a Meva focused set, and Mpaca to help against physical damage: and both still are great for offense. You certainly can go a bit more all-offense with stuff like Tatenashi set and Flamma +2 head, but for me I have been playing a lot on SAM recently and I tend to spend most of my time TPing in a 4/5 Mpaca set (w/ AF+3 hands for Hasso) instead of the marginally better offense and far worse defense of my max DPS set with Flamma/Tatenashi pieces. Think stuff like Odyssey Sheol C farming (a place where SAM is in very high demand), where mobs hit hard and the targets you fight usually dish out more physical damage than magical. Mpaca is perfect for that scenario.

Also, Mpaca Cap is amazing for SAM WS.

PUP
Eh, I don't like Mpaca as much on my PUP. For melee purposes, Kenkonken is your best weapon... and Mythic AM3 works so well with Malignance STP. For non-Kenkonken PUPs though, yeah, Mpaca is pretty great - and welcome since PUP doesn't get the Ken+1 option that MNK NIN SAM all have.

I guess the pet Acc is something for situations where master and puppet are both meleeing... but that really isn't in a great spot these days on PUP, usually better to focus fully on master, or fully on puppet with different gear. Automaton WS+10% on hands is cool though.

NIN
Depends on what you have. Fribbit was recently asking about gearing up and, IIRC, is starting from a place of not having Malignance or Ken+1. With that being the case, Mpaca is a huge upgrade. Can fine tune later for stuff like incremental improvements to Blade: Shun sets.

Ken+1 and Mpaca are awfully similar for offense, the most significant differences being that (1) several Ken+1 pieces are a little better for Blade: Shun, and (2) lack of Racc for Daken (though, Daken does get an innate Racc+100). Mpaca is no slouch though. IMO, if you didn't already shell out the much higher price for Ken+1, Mpaca is a perfectly reasonable substitute. Supplement that with Malignance pieces as you get them for full DT sets and more magic damage oriented hybrid gear.

Specific to NIN WS, Mpaca head is clearly the star of the show. NIN just uses so many 1-hit WS that tend to perform better with WSD (Ten, Metsu, Hi, hybrids, Savage Blade). In those cases, tends to be better off with WSD pieces like Herculean augments, AF+3 head, Relic+3 legs, Nyame for those who are getting ranked up augments, etc. Izanami's comments look pretty reasonable though.

Cool.

Yes, I probably should have mentioned that I don't currently have any Malignance or Kendatsuba NQ/HQ gear. That might have changed some things. Apologies!