Carbuncle.Maletaru said:
»It's almost the only sword you ever need to use and it's quite a bit above all the other options, IMO.
To be clear, Burtgang is obviously a great weapon and clearly the one you'd want if you could just pick one for PLD. Don't think anyone is debating that at all. But if PLD is not someone's main priority, it's not unreasonable to not want to go through the considerable effort of making a Mythic, or have it lower on your Mythic priority list (my situation), but still care enough to want to consider the next best options.
And like... when I decided to go for an Excalibur, I cranked out the lv75 version literally the same day from nothing. Can't exactly do that with a Mythic! To be fair, mine was also very affordable since I made it a couple years back when Dyna currency and Plutons on my server were dirt cheap. My total cost for ALL of the currency was under 20mil, then the 10k Plutons were something like another 5-6mil, then obviously the bigger expense being the 6 stacks of Swarts to R15 the thing (after slowly doing the KOR killshot trials when I had free time). IDK if I'd make the same decision at higher prices, though on my server currency is now coming back down after being a lot more expensive in 2025.
What would be some alternatives to use instead? I know Sakpata's sword has been mentioned to me for the HP, VIT, and -DT. Nixxer as well, even if that does seem a bit entry level.
TBH, for most people, me included, I'd think Sakpata's Sword is fine and probably the most obvious non-Burt tanking choice. Nice spread of general purpose tanking stats. HP/MP, VIT, DT-10%, Phalanx, FC... all helpful, even if nothing game changing. Has solid Acc/Atk too, though if doing something where you want a little more offense then swapping to Naegling is good.
Morraltach (Su5) might be one to look at too for the non-Burt PLD? HP/MP/DEF, C path for Cure Potency and Refresh+4 (without needing any aftermath).
But having both Excalibur (R15) & Sakpata, and no Burt, I do tend to prefer Excalibur. The block rate +10% (requires augment) is cool for tanking, and pairs nicely with other block-heavy options like Duban/Srivatsa/Priwen/Ochain. That alone is generally what I'd go for over Sakpata's main draws of some additional DT- (unnecessary given the ease of hitting 50% without weapon) and some extra FC. Needs the Excalibur to be augmented for the block rate, I wouldn't use the R0 version over Sakpata.
I do find the Regen/Refresh AM sorta useful, probably the Refresh even more than the Regen - and hey, at the very least it's an easy way to counter the Stage 2 Duban HP/MP drain for people yet to take that to Stage 3. Again, not game breaking and I'm not expecting SCH levels of Regen here, but it's something. You can also get some additional benefit from the Regen/Refresh in situations where you can get away with main healing with Majesty and might not even have a dedicated WHM SCH, or maybe you're using a trust healer for something.
Bundle that all up with a pretty good WS in KOR and it has some all-around utility. Helpful for those lowman-ish things where you might care about also adding a little bit of WS damage and having some better SC options, but you still want a real tank and some tanking perks instead of the PLD going 100% offense with a Naegling or something.
I don't consider Excalibur a massive improvement over the non-Burt alternatives, but I like mine anyway and it is my usual preference. I'm still gonna make a Burtgang eventually though, and yeah Excal will not get a whole lot of use once that happens.
That said, I'm at a point in my accounts progression where if I want to start playing a new job I set a certain bar for myself; which is usually gearing it decently geared before use. I did this recently with SAM where I didn't really start playing it until I completed a Masamune.
Absolutely my style too :) I dinged 99GEO on my main AFTER I built an Idris lol, then I ran around to finish getting the rest of my spells... I totally get wanting to make a pretty good setup before I really start playing with a job, but that setup doesn't necessarily require finishing a freaking Mythic, even one that's as good as a Burtgang.
