Almace Or Kannagi?

You have to realize though; :Hi is still subject to fSTR and dDEX calculations, so while piling on AGI gear is good in Abyssea, outside you're going to be lacking a decent amount of STR, DEX and attack.

Stop hating on BLU, yo.

that was kind of the point of the OP... comparing getting an almace for rdm or a kannagi for nin... since borealis didn't state otherwise, i have to assume he's talking about a rdm using cdc when comparing cdc to blade: hi...

More the weapon than the job.

I don't want a comparison on the jobs RDM and NIN and how they play, I'm more focus on the weapons overall.

I've noticed the Almace has 6more DMG than the Kannagi, that may not make a difference but to me having more DMG tells me that my weapon skills will be good due to the base of it. I've also seen the modifier for CDC and get a DEX set on RDM is not hard at all seeing as there is some pieces I've already got.

I've mainly seen the Kannagi in action in abyssea and I can say the DMG is amazing, I love being able to hit 4k+ with anything let alone a weapon skill that you could get TP for overly fast. I also agree that the aftermath on the Kannagi would be much better in abyssea seeing as you main atma's such as RR, GN ect.

I'm still debating as to me it's a touch choice, I can't exactly get both because I run a LS and getting both would be greedy. I'm most probably going to go with the Almace unless my NIN gear steps up before I get my helms done.

Almace changes the jobs that can use it more than Kannagi does. Both are solid options.

Regarding NIN vs BLU TP gain speed, the difference is not as much as you'd expect given BLU can set DA10%/sTP traits and cap Haste.

I'd go with the Almace, it has a better dmg potential outside of Abyssea. Plus CDC doesn't have to balance it's ws mod and dDex, so it's easier to push your gear toward maxing it.

NIN building TP faster than a BLU is a complete fallacy. I keep up with or surpass any Ninja that I have played with.

NIN building TP faster than BLU isn't necessarily a fallacy, but how much faster will vary by gear and atma choices.

CDC is a stronger WS just looking at fTP and WSC but job and gear choices really do have an impact. In practice, BLU and NIN will see similar numbers (CDC being slightly ahead, though if the BLU is /NIN then Hi will outperform with Berserk up) unless the NIN's critrate is suffering due to uncapped dDEX.

But this isn't even BLU we're talking about, it's RDM, and RDM's potential suffers even more. Anything you'd melee on RDM would either be fodder, in which case you might as well be on NIN, or really nasty, in which case you'd probably prefer a PDT sword. Unless you're dead set on pimping out your RDM, I think you'll be happier with the Kannagi in the long run.

Or you can do what I'm doing and get both. I know what you said but really, it's not greedy considering they're so easy to get. I know a number of people with 2+ Empyreans completed or in progress, people that have helped many others complete their weapons and are by no means dedicating huge chunks of time to these weapons. It's something that can be done in a very casual fashion, with only a small number of people if you so desire.

BLU is a monster outside abyssea (and inside) just using their spells alone. With the addition of Almace they not only have excellent melee damage, but amazing damage potential from spells as well. I won't compare BLU to NIN, just because I enjoy both jobs and I know each has its place, but the reason I chose to get Almace was because of BLU's consistent damage inside or outside abyssea.

Personally, I have seen far too many bandwagon Kannagi NINs to really care for the weapon. It's a solid choice, but the FFXI-hipster in me is sick of seeing it.

That being said, Almace can be a frustrating option unless you are a PLD. PLD and NIN both have great survivability and are high priority for buffing and healing in any group context. As a BLU or RDM, you are expected to be self-sufficient, but Almace's damage potential skews your priorities toward TP gain and maximizing weaponskill/skillchain damage. Almace or not, I am still one of the last people to be saved from Doom, DoT, or just plain pulling hate on a monster truck.

Furthermore, if you're in an alliance without other Empyrean/Relic/Mythic-users, you might find yourself dead fairly often. I have never been a greater fan of enmity control and competent tanks than I am now.

The answer is, which job do you enjoy playing more? You should make the weapon for that job.

blue mage doesn't need almace to perform its only utility outside of the one weakness trigger it provides now in abyssea, and that being cleaving

kannagi ahoy, since this is a rdm vs nin comparison in the first place

to be honest though, if you happen to be worth your grain of salt, you can easily solo both of their respective eighty and eighty-five stages anyways; just takes a little patience and dedication is all

I agree with what Iron said, I have both and honestly BLU doesn't need it to do damage since the spells alone will do enough. NIN on the other hand gains quite a huge benefit when it comes to damage. In conclusion; Kannagi if you're wanting more damage, and Almace if you want an Empy for BLU/RDM/PLD.

sup thalface

lol nothing much, been awhile^^.

Almace allows BLU to do damage outside of spells and function as a melee DD though, whereas Kannagi is just another x% DoT for NIN.

I don't necessarily agree with this. RDM survivability has always been it's strong point solo, with most fights essentially being wars of attrition with the mob. For anything that you did not absolutely have to kite/nuke, the damage output of an Almace would be a game changer for soloing.

As for the PDT sword, RDM can hit 49% pdt without one during the day and handily surpass the cap at night, without sacrificing melee ability anytime the gear wasn't macro'd in specifically to take a hit.

If he wanted to get both he won't even post here to begin with, he posted here means he only wanted to do one..at least for now.

In terms of usefulness I vote for Kannagi, since it's a DD/tank job and RDM being a mage job. You can play RDM just fine without Almace but NIN having Kannagi will help a lot. Not to mention you mentioned you're on NIN most of the time. If you run a LS, and use NIN most of the time for LS event, having a Kannagi will help your LS a lot.

Do Almace if you're a hardcore, fulltime RDM. But unless you really really liked RDM I don't think it's worth the effort.

At least for BLU or PLD, they're both melee jobs and CDC helps a lot. Melee RDM may be for fun, but I don't see much practical use for it.

Yeah now that I reread my post I forgot to mention outside of abyssea. But yeah what you're saying is true.

lol they're so easy to build you might as well just do both >.>

Against higher lv NM TP->WS with CDC certainly beats spell casting since you can buff your TP and WS dmg easily and harder to buff spell dmg. It's certainly a must have weapon if you play BLU or PLD a lot.
However since OP is asking about RDM then using BLU as example is pretty irrelevant.

Working on #2 atm lol!

I'm kinda in the same boat here, not sure to do kaanagi or almace. My exception is that I Main Blu with pld and nin following not that far behind. Blu and Nin in aby, Blu and Pld outside of aby. I would get more use out of almace job wise, but a kaanagi would help me get my almace since Blade:HI puts out some good numbers in aby. The question is.... Do i really want to farm 100 helms/skins or 50 then work on caladbolg for the change up in farming and competition!

Sounds to me like you're asking people to decide what you want more, between 3 empys. Just do both, Caladbolg is nice for DRK but... I'm sorry, DRK really isn't very powerful inside of abyssea, even with empy, compared to a critical hit WS empy job.

I dont need people to decide for me, was just putting my input in for the OP. I do realize that drk isnt that good in aby, much like pld but I still do alot outside of aby where pld and drk aren't only useful, but alot of fun aswell.

I'm growing weary of the "x job isn't useful in x" garbage. Enough now, not optimal != not useful. If you enjoy playing X DD, play that DD. You may be off 1-2000 damage on DRK compared to other jobs, (barring WAR, which is way too easy to play and way too broken), but if you enjoy playing it then play it, just play it correctly.

Build an Almagi

Almace! Melee solo'd Suzaku the other day with Almace and Joytoy offhand, was fun stuff. Never dropped below 800 MP. Bind/Grav on 2hr. Quick and easy fight.

Not like those NMs are hard anymore, just noting the fact that RDM(not the best swordsman) can melee quite well now with the right gear, and the job is versatile enough to be able to switch to bind/gravity kiting if the situation got rough.

you gotta be kidding, torcleaver still does 2.5-4k on nms, and the aftermath is insane now that you can practically full-time last resort. i go drk/mnk, toss up counterstance and last resort, and proceed to destroy. 1.4k aftermath crits own. and boost is nice to get your attack to 999 for ws... yeah i have to bomb cures on 2nd toon, but my drk definitely outparses my kannagi nin now

I'm going to hazard a guess that your NIN doesn't have Kannagi, which makes that an unfair comparison.

10 PDT on the sword is an assload of haste elsewhere. Trading out Darksteel Cap +1, Melaco Mittens, and Darksteel Leggings +1 for Zelus Tiara, Dusk Gloves +1, and Dusk Ledelsens +1 is 15% haste for 8% PDT. You should at minimum have Goading Belt and Haste spell, so you're looking at a 23% minimum increase in damage plus the gains in attack vs CDC, ODD (exact rate will vary depending on DWing or no and WS frequency), slightly higher base damage, and some DEX. I'm not going to say that one is better than the other, but RDM's CDC damage isn't that great so I could see alternatives at least being competitive, especially if the mob doesn't take reduced damage from Sanguine Blade.