Nue sucks.

If you don't like gear comparison posts, then this probably isn't for you. So lets dive right in. Versus has a very eclectic grouping of jobs at times, and is a little melee heavy, but new members and a wide variety of jobs were available yesterday and I got to pick my own job for Sky. :) RNG required muling and Omoi and I share a bunch of DRG gear and she has most of it, so I went with SAM. I like SAM but it doesn't get much play because of other factors, like my ability to go to Dynamis has been cut greatly because of my schedule, which was a key area that I enjoyed using my SAM. I originally leveled SAM because I thought Versus might need more SC closers, but honestly we now have more closers than openers so I don't go to Sky as SAM very often. I do like my SAM though so I would like to show my "reasonable" set up for my SAM. I do not write this blog or give advice for people that don't need it. People that are one jobbers, or people that have access to amazing gear, relics, etc. I do write it for those that are like me, regular players that want to be the best they can, or have too many jobs to be able to concentrate on everything into one job.

So lets see what we have here. I have two different TP build set ups, accuracy and haste. Since I do use this occasionally for Sky I need the accuracy set up, and its nice to have on me in case there is a situation where I can use meat, etc. so I will go over that first. I have tended to go over individual pieces, but I think when comparing two TP set ups its better to look at the set differences.
Defense: +116
HP: -2
STR: +16
DEX: +31
AGI: -5
Accuracy: +44
Ranged Accuracy: +15
Evasion: -24
Attack: +62
Ranged Attack: +15
Haste: +5%
Store TP: +7
Subtle Blow: +5
Enmity: +1
Enhances Double Attack effect
Resist vs. Light: -8
Resist vs. Darkness: -12
Resist vs. Lightning: +50

Now for this set up, I think that once I get Amir Boots, I will switch over to those from the Saotome Sune-ate, also once I get Shura Haidate I will also consider using those, but the +5 STR probably will not be as beneficial as +5% haste. I like this set up mostly, it is focused almost exclusively on Accuracy and Attack, with +44 Acc. and +31 DEX making for an effective accuracy boost of +59.5 and with +62 Att. and +16 STR making for an effective attack boost of +70.

Now for my haste set up:
Defense: +138
HP: +37
MP: +30
STR: +16
DEX: +26
AGI: -2
Accuracy: +37
Ranged Accuracy: +5
Evasion: -29
Attack: +34
Ranged Attack: +15
Haste: +20%
Store TP: +7
Subtle Blow: +5
Resist vs. Light: -8
Resist vs. Darkness: -12
Resist vs. Lightning: +50
Enhances Double Attack effect
Decreases Movement Speed

Now, I really like this set up, I think the most haste you can get and not have to get anything stupid like a Blitz Ring is 23% so 20% isn't bad at all. It has a substantial increase in swing speed and stacked with Hasso it is really impressive, this is my default XP set up because I still need to use Sushi without any Great Katana merits. I could always use my Soboro with this set up but there really isn't a need for more WS's for substantially less damage only slightly more often.

Now for my WS set-up:

Direct comparisons to the other set-ups are irrelevant because there is no other set to compare it to in this case, and since I generally just use /THF for SATA with this (though in regular XP, I use /WAR and I might use my Hachiman body instead of the Kirin's Osode) the accuracy stats are pretty much irrelevant. With additional 49 STR, I am doing pretty well, but I would definitely prefer either Myochin Haidate +1 or more likely Shura Haidate. Now, I need to hunt around for some Divine Lumber or Logs, and do some farming.

I really like my gear for SAM and I think it is a good model over all.

As for yesterday, a good Sky day and a good Limbus run, after that Omoi and I camped Nue. Hey, the fight pic may look familiar, well so was the drop. Black Tiger Fang... :( I hate Nue, I don't know how many kills that is over the course of my time in the game, but it is a lot. Since I didn't feel like going to bed Omoi and I headed down to camp Deadly Dodo, which I have heard has a better drop rate on the Brown Belt item. Didn't take too long for it to spawn and the apparently "they" are correct about a better drop rate because I ended up with the Dodo skin! Well, its back to camping Nue now, hopefully sometime in the distance future I will have a Nue Fang and I can finish up that damn quest, LOL.