Weapon Tierlists 2025

SC are just too slow. Getting a 99k SC is cute, except you sacrificed a 70k BH, 60k judgement, and 2 65k Savage Blades to get it so...it's not really that great.

Everyone loves the idea of making 6-step Radiance because they get to be the main character while 5 other people watch them in awe. It's boring as *** for the other 5 characters. Unfortunately.

Since everyone plays with 5 bots, those 5 other chars "being bored" isn't really an issue.

It's just faster to have the 3 bots autows than it is to have your main 5 step.

If you want skillchains back, the only viable option is make innundation force 100k sc regardless of ws damage, and even that won't be sufficient.

Make innundation force all bursts to be 100k too, (even dia so the whm can participate!) and it still won't be enough.

Howling fist would do 99k every single time with minimal buffs I think. Raging fists too, but with more buffs.

In the case of Gartell, you didn't sacrifice anything besides Leaden opener, if its planned properly. Climactic + Reverse Flourish is 2 WS in 5 seconds. In under 10 seconds you drop 200k damage. By the time the SC is over, the COR has TP. Everyone else held their TP during the SC, and will unload the moment he second SC goes off. Their damage actually goes up because all these WS scale with TP. In most cases, it's a net positive.


Yeah, it's not impressive anymore, because of the raw strength of WS spam. On early Bumba days, this was a key strategy some groups used to down him with minimal TP feed. Has nothing to do with being the main character, its simply a safer alternative that in some cases is just as fast, or faster. It's still relevant in some places too where there is an inherent advantage, just recently was used in Corse Ambuscade as MNK. I don't know what is boring about watching the boss die significantly faster, I guess everyone could spam a WS and a TP move goes off and ruins the whole event. Situations though.

Dude, I ask people not to WS before the first mumei on Gartell so can konzen->mumei for 99k+99k darkness and also proc him and *still* have to run in there and clicky clicky real fast because the others just can't help themselves and want to WS spam ASAP.

No procs, no plan, just face smash WS. The issue is not that it takes long, it's convincing everyone else to not hit their WS macro straight off the bat.

We really need a buff in this game that turns off SC properties of ws so we can have one person SC and everyone else doesn't have to stand around or use sanguine blade. Would also open up options a ton on fights that punish SC.

We do. But that defeats the entire purpose of the mechanics.

Gae buide is S tier - easily the biggest bang for buck of the DD weps. I regularly get a chance to play with multiple prime weps, and pretty much all primes get switched in and out with other RMEA or naegling as they are only situationally bis.

Gae buide is relentless and has a hidden effect that your wardrobe of R15 RMEA polearm now collect dust.

Same can be said of Kusanagi - that you stop using all other GKs after.

Its more of DRG being DRG, not only weapon. Naegling and Savage on DRG is also way more powerful than on any other job.

You can stop using them because kusanagi is always up there, but masa is stronger for standard double light (fudo kasha shoha fudo) and doji is stronger for jinpu spam (two common GK use cases).


This is an interesting way of analysing a DRG only wep... Also, not sure I would agree with "way more powerful" vs naegling on fencer WAR or Rng with kclub/tpbonus bow/DI arrow.

Point is every other DD prime is a nice upgrade or sidegrade, but Gae Buide is in a different league vs the next best polearm.

War's and rng's Savage is nowhere near Drg's at the same tp threshold. War fencer dps is also nowhere near Drg's unless you pair WAR with DNC's Haste samba. Rng can kinda keep up with dps because it has 1000tp bonus advantage, but it's still behind and neither war or rng can't simply do regular 90-99k Savage without Aria by reaching higher tp thresholds. Also DRG doesn't really need KC or any specific subjob, meaning it can do it on any content.

Bzzt, wrong. Kusa's PDL pushes fudo damage higher too, and all the other WSs in a 4-step. Fudo is not as high as masa, but close enough and the dmg increase on the other WSs makes it catch up.

Doji is only technically stronger in jinpu if you don't mind losing TP and Kusanagi's AM3. If it's just one pack I don't even switch to Doji.

Only time doji gets used is if only spamming Jinpu or on Kei. Masa's been on a mannequin since stage 5 kusanagi..

12 hours left to vote if you would like to. will update images on first post with final results once it closes. thanks to all who participated!

I definitely prefer my drg over rng for pure savage spam, the ws bonus drg gets is just so strong and tp bonus doesn't do much when you are already using K-club. Also jumps don't feed tp so you have ways to not completely feed all tp all the time.

I see all this hype about the polearm but it just looks like a minor upgrade over shining one to me. When you compare shining one Impulse drive to Diarmuid you get slightly better equivalent fTP (counting the 40% bonus on shining one) and of course the pdl but lose the ability to crit on ws . The prime also can SC with its self which may or may not be good depending on the content. Like sure its probably the best but lets not pretend we weren't already regularly limited by the damage cap with Shining One.

What is this nonsense? What are you fighting, Qutrubs?

Lol yeah... apart from you are bzzt wrong. Even if you are using the full PDL AM, 35 STR advantage and 10% fudo buff is making that double light combo stronger with masa, not to mention masa high white dmg. Test it yourself on sim or game if you have stage 5 kusa and r15 masa. Not that kusa isn't top tier, but it isn't always bis.

Yup, because a, say, 55k fudo instead of a 45k fudo into a 99k light, and the other 3 WSs being weaker makes masa stronger.

Not like speaking from first hand experience or anything.

Does Masa let light SC go above 99k? This is doji vs masa all over again, but inverse.

From sim, FWIW:

Kusa: Median 56,575 Mean 54,456 Max 72,504
Masa: Median 57,178 Mean 55,121 Max 74,110

So I mean...yeah I guess technically Masamune is a bit higher but I'm not convinced it would be worth using for Fudo only...especially if (presumably) the Kusa would be better for the other WS.

This also assumes for some reason you specifically need Light and can't make Darkness.

This is exactly it. There are 2 x Fudo in that combo, both of which are a fair bit stronger with Masa, then the kasha and shoha are a few % stronger with Kusa, overall a standard double light is stronger with the Masa... not loads in it but still makes my original statement true, so replying with "Bzzt, wrong" just makes you look foolish

Ok. You're wrong though.

/shrug

Can't say I've Fudox2 since I got Mumei access.

4/5 Step Light, 3/4 Step darkness or Mumei spam for pretty much everything.

Even for Hybrids I just use Kusanagi for the additional macc and DA.

Worth mentioning is that like the Helheim, the Kusanagi features Detonation/Compression.

Not as game changing for Great Katana, which is the ultimate skillchaining weapon in FFXI, but even so, allows Samurai to do the endless skillchain of Detonation <-> Scission with purely PHYSICAL weaponskills in addition to being a great Darkness option.

(Can also do the endless Compression <-> Transfixion but that involves Goten in this case)

Alright… let me keep it straight with you. I’m not here to run my mouth or get flashy. This conversation? It deserves respect. And truth be told… these last pages? Damn good. Full of the kind of information you don’t just skim over you sit with it.

Now… we gotta be careful here. If you don’t lay out the scenario clear as day… things are gonna get messy.

So… Naegling. Yeah, that weapon’s a workhorse. Great for mowing down trash mobs, solid against bosses where skill-chains don’t come into play, and it shines in those mid-buff situations. And let’s be honest that’s a pretty common scene for casual groups or players making their way back. No surprise it’s popular.

But… when you step up against the real heavyweights, those big-name bosses with massive HP pools… in Super-buff settings? That’s where Empyreans pull ahead. Always did, even before PRIME weapons showed their faces. When weapon skills start pushing 80k-99k… that fifty percent Triple Damage? That’s no joke.

Now, let me say this clear. I’m not here to disrespect anyone. Quite the opposite. I respect the grind, the devotion, the sacrifice it takes to get PRIME weapons. I respect the players who went all the way to earn ‘em. That kind of commitment? It matters.

But for me… they don’t spark that fire. Not enough. In today’s META, hitting that 99k cap isn’t exactly rare. And the aftermath on Empyreans? That’s the flavor I like. It just feels better. Like everything in this game… it depends on the situation.

Still, if you’re asking me what I wish PRIMEs brought to the table? It’d be something like this:

Aftermath Lv.1: 30% Quadruple Damage, 60 seconds.
Aftermath Lv.2: 40% Quadruple Damage, 120 seconds.
Aftermath Lv.3: 50% Quadruple Damage, 180 seconds.
And on top of that… access to the Ultimate Skill Chain.

Because truth is… those weapons, and the folks who earned them—they deserve something that really stands apart. Something that makes the Naegling cry, and leaves the other REMAs in the dust. That’s how special they should feel.”

I’ve seen some folks here try to convince themselves that "X" PRIME is better than a "Y" REMA… and, I’ll be honest, that just makes me sad.

That's your opinion founded solely on your beliefs. Even your "gotya".

S-tier:
Idris
Epeolatry
Yagrush
Loughnashade


A-tier:
Duban
Daurdabla

B-tier:
Marsyas
Nirvana
Ochain

C-tier:
Caladbolg
Foenaria
Aymur
Death Penalty
Gastrophetes
Aegis

D-tier:
Heishi Shorinken

F-tier:
Kannagi

You get it, now? Many dps weapons are replaceable or otherwise interchangeable. None of them are S-tier in my opinion. You get mercs that segregate them so they can sell things like Aeonic clears past their point of relevency.

Duban s2 > Duban s3/4/5

A PLD that can't be slept is a bigger advantage than a few stats that won't matter.

Aegis > Duban for obvious reasons.

It's very obvious you haven't used it and the ammount of content you would use it in, where scing would be determental is insignificant. It gains tp faster, hits significantly harder at lower tp thresholds and increases white damage by a significant ammount (for what that is worth). There is a reason this weapon is held on the pedestal compared to other prime weapons. Don't knock it till you try it.

Don't need to try it. Five minutes next to a prime DRG sold in my mind instantly it's worthy of the praise it gets (though a huge part of the damage comes from the broken wsd traits DRG gets). Thing is absolutely busted.

Shining One is very strong with WAR sub, but I've found you need higher TP to really make it (cheese incoming) "Shine". Diarmuid is top of my list, haven't seen that kind of consistently high damage besides SAM/Mumei