Mnk H2H Choices

If you're not R15 Glanz you're a pleb.

Idk, I kinda agree with Slowforever.
Here is a set that support that
ItemSet 365230
TA on belt and legs is unfortunate, but let's forget about this disadvantage. Crepuscular Pebble as ammo. Just remember to go /BLU and use cocoon to offset Counterstance's def down.

EDIT: I guess everyone see through that post and noticed I'm half joking here :P The set is somehow legit for some target using Hundred Fists or something, but I obviously don't think that niche use like that makes Spharai all around #1 :) (You also need R15 Spahrai to even justify it in this set, because Counter rate is capped with just Counterstance, so Spahrai are here because of 30% Counter damage from R15).

It's still very effective without rank on it, things just kill themselves slightly faster with it. I use a similar set to what you use but, why are you using counterstance?

This is specifically counterstance set meant to cap counter rate (80%) while also almost cap pdt (49%) but also boost counter damage by a lot. Thats why it keep Body for Impetus bonus, 25% PDL so it's best with capped attack, +36% crit rate on counters (back should have crit hit rate), 20 additional base attack from feet on counters and R15 30% counter damage bonus from Spharai. Counterstance with JP also boosts counter damage by a lot. 40% of total DEX, so by around 130+ in this set, which is almost like another pair of avg damage h2h weapons. Basically it's a niche set that turns counters into offensive weapon on target that use Hundred Fists or just attack super fast.

To get 80% counter or close without counterstance you need a lot of gear with counter+ and sacrifice tons of damage. It's used more for survivability then, not to make substantial damage.

Sorry, my brain defaults to inner strength for counter, but it makes sense that CS would be the way to maximize damage long term. My set looks basically the same except I use relic legs and a different cape.

Been wondering since I got a pulse laying around and already got naegling/tauret/shining one, worth doing karambit for mnk (and pup/war/dnc I suppose but wrong forum I know) if I only need reisen HELMS for godhands? I also got vere pre-hmp but those are spoken for daurdabla 4th song... I keep wondering if I should just make karambit or go for other niche weapon.

How motivated are you to get those helms done.

I'd wait and see which whim you have next and make that weapon, unless karambit is that whim and you have no intent on doing the helms cause once aeonic is done karambit is (mostly) inventory-1

Since a pulse is pretty easy to get, can always make Karambit now to use till you finish your HELMs for GH/save gil to finish Vere.

Thanks for the answers, to be fair I'm motivated to do multiple aeonics, I guess karambit could be just for other jobs that can't use godhands, had a feeling it'd be -1 for mnk once godhands is made.

Until you start augmenting God hands, Karambit are pretty equal or better in most cases outside of footwork anyways. Even with other weapons at R15 I still use mine occasionally to open a darkness with stronger asuran for another party member.

Depends. How much is a pulse nowadays? It costs 20M to buy a HELMs merc on Asura, which will have your Godhands done in a few hours. If there is a weapon down the road you want (Gokotai, Maxentius, Ullr, Dolichenus), you'd have to "get" another pulse for it, which could mean buying one. If it's comparable to HELM price, I'd just dump the gil it into Godhands for now and save the pulse for later. It's such a good base weapon, 20M is not too steep of a price if you are looking at investments down the road.

Anyways, HELMs are fairly simple as a melee burn group with the right buffs. You could get that done relatively quickly (couple of days at most) and have a very good Monk weapon.

Obviously I meant farming a pulse yourself. Can solo farm Urma on MNK ezpz, Plutons are dirt cheap.

If you have been working on Job CP or Master Level, it should be relatively easy to get 25K Potpourri for a Pulse Weapon.

https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Emporox

What about Sakpata' Fists and Kaja Knuckles until you can get to one of these weapons? Which of the two is better?

Kaja knuckles:
DMG:+165 Delay:+96 STR+15 DEX+15 VIT+15 Accuracy+35 Attack+25 Magic Accuracy+35 Hand-to-Hand skill +242 Guarding skill +242 Magic Accuracy skill +242 "Asuran Fists" "Asuran Fists" damage +50%

Sakpata's fists:
DMG:+165 Delay:+96 HP+75 STR+15 DEX+15 Accuracy+40 Attack+30 Magic Accuracy+40 Hand-to-Hand skill +255 Guarding skill +255 Magic Accuracy skill +242 Haste+4% "Store TP"+10 Potency of "Cure" effect received +10% Weapon skill damage +5% Automaton: All Attr.+20 Accuracy+50 Ranged Accuracy+50 Magic Accuracy+50

if its strictly those 2 then sakpata's. But if you factor in upgrading kajas to karambit id shift over to that pretty easily

Thank you. Looks like I'll be farming pulse till I can get a pair of GHs.

Another option is you could make relic h2h if you have a bit of gil. It will be useful even once you have everything else for those niche counter set times. It also might get buffed soon, rumors of relics getting that and it would not be surprising if it happens.

Id honestly just get a pair of jolt counters if counter was a factor, mnk with capped gifts and some easy to get gear can already hit round 60~70 counter rate, relics may get an update eventually but likely will be tied to R15+

What about Fist of Fury +1 for counter?
DMG:+143 Delay:+121 Accuracy+21 Hand-to-Hand skill +242 Guarding skill +242 Magic Accuracy skill +188 "Counter"+7 Critical hit rate +4% Unity Ranking: VIT+10~15
Rank 15
[1] DMG +14
[2] Accuracy & Magic Accuracy +40
[3] "Regen" +5

I mean yeah you can, but they both are going to suffer dps wise, relic does also but not to the same level. its going to be a significant difference.

I remember when I made R15 Spharai as my first R15 weapon. I thought that thing was the sweetest thing I ever equipped on MNK. Then I decided to make Verethragna and Godhands and I don't even know where the hell in my storage that Spharai is sitting. It's been so long.

I hope you're right about Dark Relics. But I wouldn't dare recommend anyone build one right now. Spend 20m and get a Godhands vs whatever Relic costs (prob a lot more)

Jolt counter dps isnt actually too bad compared to spharai, specially given that it only costs <100k depending on server, biggest obstacle is its su2 iirc

That Su2 is so janky. The only time you'd ever want them is JP0. By the time you manage to get enough hours to have 100JP you should easily have Kaja.

The whole of the Su system only works right when it comes out and it's new. su1-4 gear basically exists in a void of useful since you could simply buy it but useless since you can't use it. and by the time you can, you won't want to.

Theoretically, of course. You can just buy and be master the first day.

...to an extent I agree completely. But some of the gear SE chose to make Su3 made a lot of sense to me. The Su3 JSE sets of course come to mind first- many remain more than just viable at master level, some even stay BiS. The gating of them behind 500 JP always felt logical in the sense of a new set of JSE gear that had requirements of more than just hitting 99.

But as you said, the Su1/2 always just felt like a cocktease to me as well.

"we" all scrambled for that dope *** sombra Su1 when it hit though. Then into the history books it went like a week later.

The su3 and the blurred shield will get overshadowed eventually too.

Currently 40-50M to get to 119 afterglow stage, depending on server and relic currency/pluton prices. Asura is closer to 40 right now, my server (Phoenix) closer to 50 due to difference in Pluton prices. For comparison, Mythics (Alex, Scoria, Beit) are in the ballpark of 150M, Empy (HMP, Cinder/Dross, Boulder) is something like 110-125M.

And add in the obnoxious non-monetary grind associated with each weapon type:
Relic = lots of grindy trials to get from 75-99
Mythic = massive grind for Tokens/Ichor/Assaults, AND trials from 75-99
Empy = Lots of NM killing to get base 75 weapon
Aeonic = 50k beads (Domain Invasion dragons is far less of a grind than any of the others though)

Given the relatively low price compared to Mythic/Empy, Relics can seem a little tempting for some jobs if the weapon is still fairly competitive (e.g., Kikoku) or retains really strong use cases for niche situations (e.g., Annihilator, Apocalypse). Buukki is 100% right though, Spharai is clearly not one of those weapons. You'd certainly be better off with Ambu H2H (even Kaja is a serviceable holdover) or the one time easy purchase of Sakpata's Fists, and better off still if you can swing a 20M Aeonic merc to get one of the top 2 weapons in the game for MNK.

But hey, maybe that's all out the window if relics are required to make a new powerful "dark relic". I personally wouldn't make one just to gamble on that possibility and potential currency/pluton price hikes though.

Ehhh... if going for counter tanking I still dont think you are beating relic. I understand it fails in dps to a free aeonic, and is more expensive than a paid aeonic. It does occasionally have its uses even if they are few. If you wait it out or hunt cheap currency too its can cost under 30m np (11m base+10m Plutons). That at least gets its to AG, and can r15 it slowly or drop 50m to r15. I am not saying its worth 70m, but I am also not saying it isnt a decent option. I am making one and I know it will be used very little, but its fun to build and has an off chance at being great if dark relics are a thing. I do expect SE to upgrade relics as they have stated in the past that intention.

So, question to ask yourself is how much you value a weapon that's arguably useful for counter tanking (and which you'd want to toss some augments at to make it less trash). Sounds like you value it more than most people would. Definitely more than I would. Even hunting for fantastic prices on Asura, I can't really imagine you're gonna get much under 85M total for currency + marrow + plutons + detritus. More likely, total price tag would be closer to 100M. And of course, "farm detritus yourself" isn't free - opportunity cost, you're still tossing items at it that you could sell for the going market price.

Person who was asking also has Godhands at HELM stage (maybe even a cheaper merc if only needing a few HELMs), and has done the truly obnoxious part of Verethragna (building the lv90 version). I'd think that the vast majority of players would be more satisfied with a decision to finish either of those and turn their MNK into a powerhouse of a DD (or even to make Karambit and perform quite competently), over dedicating a significant chunk of change to an ultra-niche counter weapon. Maybe if you already have all the other MNK toys you get to thinking about that level of making stuff for such specialized use cases, but as your first MNK RMEA in 2022? Nah.

There are only 2 reasons why I use Spharai. One is when I only use 1 WS and I need as much white damage hit as possible. Probably something like Moogle Ambu. I really like the extra kicks and random triple damage procs. The other time is when Final Heaven is needed for a WS bridge.

Other than that, I just hope it would get an upgrade somewhere down the line.