Opinions on "BIS" gear

[Nayu]

Seen a few discussions here and there about how people think about BIS gear. Personally I like the idea of a higher level piece of gear that can reward you for raw levels when you'd otherwise be stat capped far earlier. I also like the way pso has some gear with no restrictions (units), only levels (armor/barrier), and stats (weapons/techs).

Do you think gear like RR or to a lesser extent things like Ranger wall, s-parts 2.01, ect have a negative effect on the game? If so would you rather they didn't exist, had modified requirements, or changed stats?

Same with units or even weapons, although the consensus is moreso that BIS units are less of an issue since you still can have variety in 2-3 slots usually.

 

[CTB]

There are unit restrictions
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Anyway, BIS generally is going to exist unless you go out of your way to make everything dull (more often than not there will still be a BIS.)
Red Ring, Ranger Wall, and S-Parts are often cited as 'problems'. This is a poor take if you ask me...I would argue that most rare barriers/shields are poorly designed out the door. This also applies to armor/frames but EP4 added a few that create more variety (unfortunately neither really add enough EVP/DFP to make these stats to truly focus on.)

Weapons fall into the same problem but usually because of underlying issues instead of an actual lack of choice. Units are kind of sneaky; you do have variety but you are probably only going to have 1 unit (if that) that can freely be swapped out until your ATA is maxed. V101 is probably always taking a slot, Smartlink probably will as a HU/FO, and V502 is often something you'd rather keep on.

 

[SirLagsAlot]

On the topic of best in slot in general there’s unfortunately not much to say. The only 2 stats that matter (for the most part) are going to be ATP and ATA. Because of this is it quite apparent what the best items are, because so few add ATP/ATA. MST and equipment that affects spells are important for FOs of course too, which I I will also mention



For frames the BIS are:

D parts v1.01 for RAcast/RAcasael

Sweetheart for RAmarl/HUnewearl/FOmarl (phys build)

Elemental cloak for FOs

Thirteen for everyone else or anyone using DoB like a phys built FOmar etc



For barriers the best in slot are:

Red ring for everyone who’s attacking physically

S parts/ranger wall for low level HU/RA

Spell merges for FO using spells



For units BIS is going to matter less since there are few that will add stats over the cap. All classes usually have few issues capping the important stats to yellow using mags, mats, and a few units. There is however S lore so if you’re using a weapon effected by swordsman’s lore you should be using that if you can afford to. A devil/technique for a FO is useful if they are mainly using spells like in an ep 4 run.



There’s a couple more situational things with units however. For instance if you decide to run a high EDK build then a dress plate > than an anti-dark ring because of the ATA boost you miss out of from not running the RR, on a male class of course.



For an EDK build on a female class you are better using brightness circle + 3x resist/devil units over anti-dark ring so you can get the boost from rr still however you will likely lose out on atp on the female classes which in this case doesn’t matter because you are prioritizing EDK over ATP, in this instance. Or also perhaps you are playing a RAmarl who can sometimes not need ATP as much and use primarily demons/hell in certain areas.



BIS can also vary for a low level build. A BIS for a low level RA mag would be a meme 195 DEX mag. This will allow them to practically cap ATA at level 80 and effectively be hitting for endgame levels when using hell/demons on a human RA using a rangers wall as well.



Same goes for FO, they want a 195 mind mag at low levels.

 

[Nayu]

Appreciate the responses. I basically feel the same, you can remove RR then the next atp/ata equipment becomes to new bis because of how much better those stats are.

The FO merge stuff is kinda an example of what isn't BIS though imo. BIS kind of implies the best in every situation, but FOs can swap merges for the situation or use an ata/atp equip. I think the only way this would change for HU/RA would be to have more equipment with situational buffs (for ex if you had more set bonuses, or spec attack bonuses on barriers).

But personally I'm not the biggest fan of merge swapping so I don't find that kind of depth that interesting. I wouldn't complain if some "super merge" existed as rare as RR that just had combined bonuses.

The final opinion point would be the equippable levels, and in that case S-parts 2.01, ranger wall, and merges do seem a bit out of line level wise. I like the level progression to be more meaningful but since the game seems to only really care about the dfp/evp scaling of the item for levels then you end up with weird situations. Quirks of a 20yo game (+likely not expecting the level of opti we have at this point when designing gear).

 

[RazakelKairo]

Things like RR kinda makes the game more fun (which is truthfully the only thing I really care about), and swapping shields is still valid for a good portion of the game.
My take is only wishing that there was more of that.