(this was during Phase 3, so there is no love for SMN/SCH here, but it should give you an idea)
Paladin
Stat VIT: 15HP per point, good for soaking up additional damage and giving your healers some breathing room. Does nothing else. Gear VIT: Almost always paired with Parry, which increases Parry Rate and Block Rate, making this a good choice if you're going for a highly defensive build, as it increases HP and damage mitigation.
Stat STR: Operating on the assumption that skills work similar to how they did in 1.0; for those that don't remember or weren't around I'll give a quick refresher below. If that remains the case, and since Yoshida is the one who made the formula that way, we can assume with some certainty it'll remain roughly the same. So by increasing your damage you directly increase your enmity gain. Using the example below, increasing your damage by 10 would net you 35 more total enmity. This makes STR important for PLD, though it also increase Block Strength, though my testing has found the formula appears to be STR/153=+Block Strength%. If they alter this, STR may end up being more useful, but as it is a PLD with good gear in endgame will have about +2.5% mitigation added to their block strength from their Strength alone. In 1.0 enmity for certain tanking WS that said they added enmity worked as follows: Damage*Enmity Modifier+Enmity from Damage=Total Enmity for skill. So if for example you did Flat Blade and it did 100dmg, and the modifier was 2.5, which gives us 250 total enmity, but 1 point of damage also equals 1 point of enmity so we have to add back that 100dmg as enmity to get a total enmity rating of 350. The formula can be simplified by adding a 1 to the modifier, so we'd get Damage(Enmity Modifer+1)=Total Enmity, which would work out to: 100(2.5+1)=350. Gear STR: This is almost always paired with Skill Speed, and as +10 Skill Speed = -0.01s off Weaponskills, so it's got added utility there. This makes STR a valuable choice if you're looking for added damage, enmity gain and the ability to cycle your skills faster (which equates to higher enmity/damage gain as well as higher utility).
Stat DEX: Don't use, it doesn't do anything but increase Block/Parry Rate and odds are high it's exactly like STR, (DEX/153=+Block Rate%) which means it's nigh useless. It also doesn't increase accuracy or critical rate and as PLD isn't ranged (save Shield Lob and I haven't tested if that's affected by DEX but even if it was it's niche utility at best). Overall a bad choice unless things change. Gear DEX: Comes with crit rating bonus, PLD doesn't crit much and so this is of meager utility, again an overall bad choice in light of the other stats.
Stat/Gear PTY/INT/MND: PLD doesn't get much added utility of more MP, with a BRD or just proper management MP is never truly an issue for PLD when used properly. INT plays no role for PLD and MND meagerly boosts healing; +73MND over a naked 50PLD netted ~40hp more cured on average. (128-135 to 160-169) which isn't of great use. Though Gear MND comes w/ Spell Speed, which may find niche benefits to faster flash/cure spam, but still pales in comparison to any of the above stats except perhaps DEX. Gear INT that carries Determination is more useful than any other melee, but still not as effective as any other gear choices and not worth the use.
Warrior
Stat VIT: Same utility as PLD, except weighted more heavily as Defiance grants a +25% bonus to HP, so for every point of VIT while in Defiance they earn ~18.75hp instead of 15. WAR uses their HP like a regenerative carapace (obligatory Zerg reference) to shrug off attacks making VIT a good choice. Gear VIT: Same as with PLD, but less useful for WAR. While the added HP is nice, Parry activates on average a good deal less than even average shields at 50 and mitigates around ~12-13% when it procs. Without the double benefit of both Parry and Shield Block Parry loses a lot of potency and we're left with mostly the HP from VIT. Spending stat points on VIT would be a far better choice so that the gear selection can be streamlined to capitalize on the accompanying stats.
Stat STR: Same utility as PLD, except slightly moreso because WARs do more damage and their damage is at the forefront of their capacity to tank. I'm all but certain a WAR's enmity modifiers are lower than PLD's (for good balancing reasons) and so the more damage they can dish out the better they'll hold hate, the better they'll be able to whittle the mobs down and the better they'll be able to self-heal. Important, but less-so when compared to its Gear Equivalent. So in this instance you'd get more mileage of bumping VIT up with stat points, and using the gear bonus w/ STR to greater effect than ever choosing VIT gear over STR (such as Rings/Necklace/Wrist, etc.) Gear STR: Where STR really shines for WAR. This comes with Skill Speed allowing for WAR to monopolize on their damage dealing potential while boosting their speed of use and damage all at once. Clearly one of the best if not the best combination for the job.
Stat DEX: Useless for WAR, doubly so for the same reasons as it was for PLD. Gear DEX: Only vaguely useful for its crit since WAR can use PGLs Internal Release and Defiance adds to crit rate as well. Crits only bolster WAR's already solid damage which allows it to be a better tank, damage dealer and stronger self-heals. But you'd only want it for the crit modification, making it half as useful as STR gear. Reducing its value thusly.
Stat/Gear MND/INT/PTY: All completely useless for WAR. Gear INT is not worth the trade-off for its small Determination boost.
Dragoon
Stat/Gear VIT: DRG's main purpose is to dish out high damage from rear/flank and to avoid taking damage, making VIT less than useful for them if they have a good group and know how to handle their enmity. Parry is of little consequence to DRG as well, though a nice bonus it does little for their role.
Stat STR: In all likelihood it's best to just dump all stat points here for higher damage. Gear STR: Additionally great for its Skill Speed, and as STR and Skill Speed are 80% of a DRG's capability in terms of stats, this is a very powerful contender and should be religiously sought after.
Stat DEX: Useless, don't bother. Gear DEX: Since crits are quite powerful and DRG already dishes out high damage the crit rate boost is welcome, especially in places STR/Skillspeed are harder to come by or the stat is simply close to 'capping' (assuming stats still cap or have diminishing values like in 1.0). The crit bonus from gear dex is a great secondary stat to seek to STr/Skillspeed's primary role.
PTY/MND/INT: Once again useless for this job. Gear INT is not worth the trade-off for the small amount of Determination.
Monk: See Dragoon.
Bard
Stat STR: Useless stat as STR is only a modifier for melee skills and BRD is ranged. Gear STR: Valuable for Skillspeed but it loses a lot of good since STR does nothing for BRD.
VIT: Back of the line utility, increases HP some but the points are best spent elsewhere as BRDs should be out of AOE range anyways and should be smart with their damage to avoid pulling complete hate. Gear VIT is doubly bad because Parry doesn't really help BRD.
Stat DEX: Dump points here for damage oriented BRDs, as DEX increases Ranged Damage. Gear DEX: All the benefits of increased damage with the added bonus of crit rate, definitely a good choice for the ranged damage-minded BRD.
Stat MND: Good for BRDs who also help out with healing, though it's efficacy isn't quite as powerful as it could be. Gear MND: Bonus of Spell Speed along with it to help with casting, not a bad pick since BRDs generally do help with curing and the Spell Speed can speed up every other type of casting they have access to.
Stat INT: Not that great since the nukes BRD does get access too aren't that powerful. Definitely not a high priority choice for stat allocation. Gear INT: Better since it increases Determination which increases damage/healing across all forms but since INT is of minimal effectiveness for BRD, it loses a lot of value.
Stat PTY: Increases maximum MP, allows for more spell casting and longer duration of songs. Though it pales in utility compared to DEX, PTY gear is often paired with MND, so depending on the role you desire to lean towards this may be a decent spot for a few points, but definitely not an appreciable amount. Gear PTY: Often paired with MND which helps the buff/support-oriented BRD, but they lack the benefit of Crit from DEX gear, and Skill Speed from STR gear.
White Mage
STR/DEX: Equivalently useless as mage stats for most DOW.
VIT: Potentially useful for a bit more HP, but it has quite limited utility. Gear-wise it is not recommended, and INT/MND/PTY should always come first before this stat. Spend only if you're capped or spending into INT/MND/PTY doesn't produce appreciable effects.
Stat INT: Useful for nukes and the damage that a WHM can do, helpful for Holy to dish out extra damage and will make an event go faster if the group needs less healing, allowing for a focus on INT without needing to use Cleric Stance. Gear INT: Still retains utility as the Determination paired with INT helps to boost the damage of said nukes. A pretty decent secondary or tertiary stat to consider. It also helps boost the amount of HP recovered through Cures, so it's definitely a good secondary stat when paired with Determination, as Determination both boosts damage and healing power.
Stat MND: As WHM the main goal is healing (I was surprised too!) and as MND is the only current modifier for healing magic potency, it should be the primary stat WHMs seek out. Gear MND: All the same great benefits to WHM but with the added bonus of Spell Speed to be able to spam those cures and even nukes faster with less downtime, definitely a primary stat to pursue.
Stat PTY: Increases max MP, but most WHMs don't have an issue with MP so this is should only be sought after for gear, not stat allocation. Gear PTY: Paired with MND often so it has some good synergy, only acquire on a "as needed" basis. Generally with a BRD and even without, so long as proper management is applied MP shouldn't be a major concern.
Black Mage
STR/DEX/VIT: All pretty much useless, a BLM however can benefit from VIT by increasing their maximum HP aiding in convert but it should be a low priority among stats and several mage equipment already has some VIT on it.
Stat INT: As the primary modifier for nukes, this is of key importance, this is one of the most important stats for BLM. Gear INT: Coupled with Determination, which increases nuke damage as well, gear-based INT is an obvious choice.
Stat MND: Not useful for BLM. Gear MND: Only utility is in Spell Speed and generally speaking most spells are ready as soon or near enough after casting that faster CD would make too little a difference to matter.
PTY: With convert, transpose and Umbral Ice I,II and III there is no need to waste points here. Gear PTY: Same thing as above, learning proper rotations to maximize MP and using transpose (and as a last resort blizzard line of spells) would serve best.
Vice Black Leader replied
626 weeks ago