Relic Weapon Skill - Geirskogul

I've bitched for a while that I'm not particularly happy with SE's choice of modifiers for Geirskogul. As an Elvaan DRG, having an AGI modifier on a WS means I'm having to do two things:

First, I'm having to utilize my second worst job stat.

Second, I'm having to build an entire secondary set of gear that Dragoon doesn't have many options for.

So with that in mind, here's some more math today to illustrate whether it's effective or not for me to actually carry around an AGI build.

From my previous WS gear series posts (which I still need to correct a bit...), most already know what my WS gear set is. Across the board it's:

Gungnir/Pole Grip/Empty/Olibanum Sachet
Askar hat/Love Torque/Brutal Earring/Ethereal Earring
Ares body/Hecatomb Hands/Flame Ring/Rajas Ring
Amemet Mantle+1/Warwolf Belt/Hecatomb legs+1/Hecatomb Feet

Or you can click here to see a graphical representation (keep in mind that link doesn't take merits or job abilities into account):

The base information you need to know here is:

Target: Same level 82 Greater Colibri
STR: 139
DEX: 98
AGI: 57
Accuracy: +20
Polearm Skill: +7
Attack: +61
Total Attack: 547
fSTR: 18.5
cRatio: 1.31
pDIF min: 1
pDIF max: 2.06
Accuracy: 94%

For using Drakesbane, the important WS numbers end up looking like this:

WSC: 57
WD: 175
Damage Range: 875-1800

Using this same gear set up, Geirskogul numbers end up looking like this:

WSC: 28
WD: 440
Damage Range: 550-1132

So what happens if I load up on AGI gear? Would I be sacrficing too much STR and attack in order to do so? Does AGI make any difference at all?

Let's just swap out one piece of gear. The easiest one to compare straight stats would be my Flame Ring. Replace it with a Breeze Ring and we end up with the following:

(Click here for graphical representation.)

STR: 134
DEX: 98
AGI: 62
Accuracy: +20
Polearm Skill: +7
Attack: +61
Total Attack: 543
fSTR: 17.25
cRatio: 1.30
pDIF min: 1
pDIF max: 2.01
Accuracy: 94%

WSC: 30
WD: 441
Damage Range: 551-1107

With that one piece of gear, we managed to bring up my minimum damage by a whole 1 point while dropping my maximum damage by a 25 points. That was just with the ring. Now what happens if I go apeshit with an entire AGI set for Geirskogul purposes?

Click here for the set and here are the relevant numbers:

STR: 109
DEX: 88
AGI: 118
Accuracy: +32
Attack: +3
Total Attack: 444
fSTR: 11
cRatio: 1
pDIF min: .69
pDIF max: 1.19
Accuracy: 95%

WSC: 58
WD: 507
Damage Range: 438-754

Even with the absolute maximum amount of gear that I can get with AGI+ on it, it is no substitute for +STR or +Att. Out of curiosity though...what happens if Geirskogul's modifier is STR or DEX? Would it be broken then? Use my normal weapon skill gear set and numbers look like:

STR/DEX
WSC: 68/48
WD: 558/499
Damage Range: 697-1436/623-1285

Certainly still not better than Drakesbane, but mostly due to the fact that Drakesbane is multihit. Also add in the fact that Geirskogul, despite it's animation saying otherwise, is a single hit WS and we all know how LOL Elvaan accuracy is in regards to that. On top of all that, I just look flat retarded in that AGI set. Light Blue + Red + Purple + Teal/Brown...yeah...

Thoughts

If SE were to take a second look at this, (and if you believe the formulas which are currently known to be wrong after the 2H update), I'm sure they would see changing the modifier for this WS wouldn't have a game breaking effect. In a way, I can see the whole Double Light thing being effected drastically, but I can't imagine it would be any worse than a maxed out SAM's closing double.

Even if they made the modifier DEX or VIT, it'd be a significant improvement over AGI. If these formulas are believed to be close to accurate, then it's already a given that most Dragoons are going to load up on a combination of STR and DEX anyway. Some of the best gear Dragoon has will also come with VIT. Also, if a Dragoon goes all out on DEX or VIT, it's pretty much shown here that removing even 1 STR or 1 Attack is far more detrimental than adding a ton of anything else.

Having AGI as a modifier knowing damn well it's the 2nd worst job trait along with knowing damn well a Dragoon can't even come close to touching the amount of STR or DEX in terms of gear was just flat stupid on SE's part. Even back when these relics were implemented, I can't imagine AGI was something Dragoon had a lot of access to.

A question I'm asked quite a bit is, "Why did you upgrade the relic if you knew the WS was crappy?"

I really hate this question as it generally means most people don't understand that nearly all of the relic weapon skills (especially in the 2h case) don't compare with the multihit weapon skills a particular weapon has. You don't upgrade a relic weapon to spam these weapon skills in most cases. You upgrade them because of the hidden damage multipliers, the base damage (which are generally the highest in the game) and generally for the aftermath effects. Granted, Shock Spikes kind of eliminates that for Gungnir (and is a whole other issue I can rant about), but for other weapons, the aftermath effects are rather astounding. That's not to say a relic can't be beaten with certain gear combinations in certain situations, but that is to say if you have one, odds are you're going to outstrip everyone else in your class.

Conclusion

Either SE was insanely stupid in their selection of WS modifiers or the conventional wisdom for what modifies Geirskogul is wrong. People upgrading this relic shouldn't worry about building an AGI set. If a piece of WS gear just happens to have AGI on it, so be it...it's a slight bonus to your damage. Just don't go seeking out an AGI build thinking that 60% modifier is going to do insane boosts to it.