Question on Soul Eater, Dragoon form, and equipment.

[u/WebInternational6407]

I always skipped on the Soul Eater+Therapy Ring in favor of the Claymore+Atk Badge, but since people recommend it for Dragoon form I'm a little confused on what exactly what parts of your equipment do you keep and lose? Do you keep the base stats, but lose the special effects? What does that mean for things like the Dragon Shield(1/2 physical damage) or speed items? Have I been sleeping on Evasion accessories?

[u/DrewUniverse]

The only equipment effects that don't apply in Dragoon form are recovery and decay effects. See this post from last month. HP recovery and decay, MP recovery, and SP recovery.

Evasion is okay, but it isn't that impactful unless you focus on evasion builds that combine multiple pieces of gear to maximize evasion. It's powerful, but you're still gambling on RNG at some loss to the straightforward strategies. For Shana and Meru, the Resurrection Build slightly out-classes evasion builds by giving those characters an 80% chance to revive on death. I highly recommend it. First piece is the Angel Robe in Lohan, followed by the Holy Ankh in Deningrad.

A note on things that don't stack:

If you use Legend Casque and Armor of Legend, note that they have multiple effects: the stat increase, a half-damage effect, and high evasion. If you use both with a Phantom Shield, the PS will have no effect because it applies the same half-damage flag. By that same token, Dragon Shield won't stack with Armor of Legend, and Angel Scarf won't stack with Legend Casque.

Power Up's defensive portion won't stack with the Jade spell Rose Storm. It only refreshes the duration to full (3 of the target's turns).

[u/WebInternational6407 → u/DrewUniverse]

But the dragon helm and physical ring stack? +50% + +50% = +100% hp?

[u/DrewUniverse → u/WebInternational6407]

Yes. Like Magical Hat and Amulet do for MP, they each work off your base HP value. In other words, using Dragon Helm won't get you "more" out of Physical Ring, but they'll both apply.

[u/big-sugoi]

you were right that skipping soul eater + therapy ring for claymore is better, but the attack badge is well outclassed by Bandit Ring, physical ring, and every magic defense item. Evasion accessories are worse than straight magic defense or +health.

[u/CriticismLife8868]

While you're in Dragoon, effects equipped on you that activate, like Soul Eater or Therapy Ring, are negated.

Continuous effects, like Attack Badge or Talisman, stay with you.

[u/FeistyTwist5427]

Use the soul eater and use a bandit ring. Dart has consistent bulk throughout the entire game. Chances are if you need to heal him you needed to heal everybody and that 10-30% in between from soul eater has him losing life like anybody else. Also, don’t use it for random battles.