QUOTE(Sapo84 @ Sep 21 2017, 00:04)

That's why you get 0.68+ prof factor so you can reduce the monsters mitigation by 68, leaving all elements pretty much equal (and now there are even 2 days of the week where the mitigation is further reduced).
Often times its better to just go cotton shoes of elementalist even if you don't get 0.68 because the damage you gain from a stronger phase part outweighs the specific element reduction. (People go for 0.68 prof is not inefficient, but shoe is more efficient. This is backed up by the prices of the shoe/glove prices) This is even more true in this patch where every prof piece but shoe has been rendered obsolete (given you grind enough).
QUOTE(DJNoni @ Sep 21 2017, 00:51)

okay, not accurate yet. I agree. But, the flow-chart that Scremaz was asking for would be based on the amount of credits you want to spend, isn't it? That's the most important factor.
Or maybe it's like:
1. Expensive vs. Very Expensive
2. if expensive, then go for imperil elemental play and go to 3. if Very Expensive, go to 4.
3. Look for a good matching Legendary staff that you can find. Go for that element.
4. Just Very Expensive, or Insanely Expensive? if Insanely, go Holy. If Just Very Expensive, go Dark and go to 5.
5. Willow and 0.8 prof factor for imperil play, Katalox or willow for non-imperil play with 1.0 prof factor.
For mages:
There are 6 fire cold electric wind holy and dark.
0. Be at least lv310
1. If you are not catgirl level rich skip holy.
2. If you do not expect yourself to sink 300m+ into a set, dark is outclassed by the others
3. Fire cold electric wind are all viable for starters. The pros and cons are as follow:
Fire & Cold -
Pro: Phase and staff are cheaper (both entry and end-game)
Con: Both perform less well in grindfest (similar strength elsewhere)
Electric & Wind -
Pro: Has willow as a staff option, granting it better clear speeds than fire & cold
Con: End-game parts are highly sought after and thus very expensive.
Conclusion:
For general cases, it is best to go for Electric/Wind. However, if you happen upon a good staff in any element but holy and dark you should go for that element due to the rarity of good staves. If you get a good holy/dark staff you can sell it for fortunes and be set for a very good elemental set (fire cold electric or wind).
Cost analysis of mageBang for buck mage - can clear iwbth grindfest
Fire/Cold/Wind/Electric:
One staff @8-15m - do not skimp out the staff (1. You don't want to have to upgrade staves 2. It makes up a large part of your strength as a mage) [at least 48mdb+18edb/49mdb +17edb for willow - consider CR,dep prof if you intend to clear GF]
Four phase @500k-2m (head chest legs + hands/shoe) - prioritize edb (70%+) as it helps your clears the most (exception: charged prefix is essential for long-term pfudor/iwbth grindfest)
One 300k-2m elementalist cloth (hands or shoe, adapt your phase accordingly) - required to have a sufficiently high elemental prof factor to optimize damage (90%+ elemental prof)
Upgrades:
Penetrator 5 on staff - expect 400k-1m for iw cost (or you can iw yourself)
Juggernaut 5 on all equipment - @300k-1m
Forge 50*mdb+30*edb on staff - 7.5m (depending on cost of mats and your stock of mats)
Forge 10*edb on phase - 11-13m (see above)
Forge 30*prof on cloth - 3m (see above)
Hath perk - Vigorous Vitality - 1m
Hath perk - Eminent Elementalist - 4m
Hath perk - Enigma Energizer - 800k
Hath perk - Innate Arcana I+II - 600k
Total: around 50m
Note: upgrade cost are above actual costs as I assumed each upgrade requires 6 high-grade mats
Budget mage (clear pfudor arena relatively quickly):
See above and pay 3-8m for staff, jug3 or above for equipment, forge phase 5 times only and don't buy Eminent Elementalist + Enigma Energizer.
Total: around 24m (not recommended due to the importance of a good staff)
How to make back your money: 1. Full clear ALL arenas @highest difficulty possible - 1.5m/day
2. Kill Flying Spaghetti Monster - 40k/day
3. Take loan to buy Crystarium perks and grind gf + sell crystals. [you're going down a dark path]
I'm going to the moon plan:1. Take out loan 50m~
2. Grind to 310 asap while retaining lowest exp multiplier
3. Buy electric/wind set - any L staff, M charged phase or L phase, L cloth.
4. Upgrade set 50 times for staff, 5-10 times for phase
5. Buy Hath perk Cry5
6. Grind
7. ???
8. Profit
9. Moon
This post has been edited by cirrux: Sep 20 2017, 20:50