[Destiny's Path] Quick Relic Analysis - He Who Sinned Last.

ETA: In Progress - Better Late than Never!

Hi, I’m u/Katiklysm lending a hand for u/jasiad on the ongoing Destiny’s Path banner analysis. I’m a mythril hoarder and probably have too much free time, it is what it is. Ready? Great!

Yeah… so fun fact about the Destiny’s Path banners, friends, this is your last chance to get in on the old (and generally not as good) banner format. If relics without SB’s, Shared-SB’s, Genji Shields, and Danjuros are what you’re looking for- this could represent the last, best chance to snag one of those jewels! Starting with Cloud’s next banner on 2/27, the odds of pulling a unique SB or SSB relic will go up significantly… probably not the claim to fame Sir Jecht would have liked.

As always, relics will be sorted into the tiers of best/good/selective/okay.

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Banner 1	Banner 2	Shared
SSB - Full Metal Rod (Yuna)	Jecht’s Bandana (Sir Jecht)	First Goal (Blitzball)
Sin’s Talon (Sir Jecht)	Lullaby Rod (Yuna)	Mage’s Staff (Staff)
Seeker’s Shield (Crybaby)	Guardian Targe (Rikku)	Auroch’s Uniform (Light Armor)
Buster Claw (Rikku)	Shiranui (Auron)	Ice Brand (Sword)
	Red Armlet (Bracer)

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Best:

Yuna’s Lullaby Rod remains one of the very best AoE Heal SB’s in FFRK. Hymn of the Fayth is a Cura-level AoE Heal which grants a High-Regen effect as well. We can debate all day as to whether Yuna’s HotF (because Yuna) or Lenna’s Princess Favor (because it is tangibly better) is the top AoE Heal today, but the reality is twofold: A. Yuna closes the gap with her lvl 80 access very soon B. It doesn’t matter because they both become second-rate in ~ 2 weeks! Still, great SB.

Tidus’ Seeker’s Shield checks all of the boxes to earn a recommendation. It comes with a well-sought hastega effect, signals a new era of shields that may actually get equipped by Optimize, and gets a bump due to FF X synergy being strong. Now, I’m going to temper all of that a bit and say that as a hastega- it is pretty situational, if there is such a thing. The secondary effect of restore 1 ability use is either really strong, or completely worthless- depending on what type of team you’re running. As a defensive item, it offers Light Armor-like stats and 17 ATK (34 w/ Synergy)- so, really quite good!

Good:

Yuna’s Full Metal Rod is what DeNA is trying to pass off as Yuna’s SSB, when anyone who owns her Lullaby Rod would tell you she’s had her SSB for months! In all seriousness, this is a good relic, I’d be happy to own it- but it’s just… weird. Yes, Yuna can use Summon magic, but her stats say she is more of a White Mage than Summoner. With level 80 and the +10 Magic this grants, I’m sure Yuna is a completely respectable Summoner and surely the best until Garnet hits 80- but still, I just can’t shake the feeling that this feels off. It is assuredly the currently released SSB I’d use least if owned. All that said, the Bahamut animation is top-notch, really feels like you’re about to do incredible damage… it just never really happens.

Shared Relic Red Armlet is a quality item in a well-travelled realm for synergy. It gets a nice +20% boost to Fire Damage, which can really be of benefit to your mages or later on with items like Balthier’s SSB. Sneaky, Quality Item.

Sir Jecht’s Bandana has the distinction of being the only Hat item so far that has physical attacking stats in mind. With 17 ATK, 79 DEF, and 116 RES this is a really great defensive item- far better than Tidus’ Shield I believe, as the high RES value is often better than high DEF. Also, Hat is a pretty universal Usable type (Poor Exdeath)- so most of your best characters should have access to this. As far as an SB goes- it’s solid. 4 hit Physical with the standard ~ 5.1-5.2 multiplier than Zack/Lightning SB’s set the standard for- but this also inflicts 100% Stun. It’s still just a regular ol’ SB, nothing super about it, but as far as SB’s go- Sir Jecht gets a really quality one here, and makes use of his monk ATK stats.

Selective:

Rikku’s Guardian Targe very nearly made it up a tier, as it can be a situationally strong relic. Unfortunately it holds the unique status of being one of (if not) the only multi-status SB’s that get treated as separate buffs. This is detrimental because the 603 (ATK) and 607 (RES) portions won’t stack with other buffs such as Boost/Steal Power/PP/etc. On it’s own, it’s quite good- but in the concept of a well-formed team it really struggles. Also, no ATK buff on this one- it’s just a plain old shield and so it isn’t great as a defensive item either.

Auron's Shiranui is painful for me to place here, but I think this is where it belongs. This is a clone of Gilgamesh's Death Claw SB, which just happens to be my best damaging SB in FFRK, sadly. So, the good- it's a katana which always seem to have more strong users than there is synergy to equip them with. It also inflicts Paralyze, which can be useful. Really, though, this should be viewed mostly as a pretty boring 3-hit 5.1x Multiplier damage SB. Intimidate offers such an easy path to apply paralyze that the status effect is really just kinda there. Good, but Jecht's version which subs out a chance to paralyze for a guaranteed Stun/Dismissal is a MUCH better effect.

Rikku’s Buster Claw wasn’t all that great when it starred in it’s own banner, and unfortunately still isn’t good enough as a supporting actor on this banner. The SB is an AoE Physical with a 50% chance to inflict Sap. Sap is great, but Rikku’s damage component leaves a lot to be desired. It’s situational, if you get an opportunity to inflict Sap this becomes Pretty Good, if not- super average.

Jecht’s Sin’s Talon is a 3-hit AoE damage SB which increases party ATK by 30%. We’ve had a number of SB’s with that kind of effect over the past few months and they’ll remain good SB’s situationally for a while longer. The main factor in this being selective is that the 30% ATK buff can be good or bad. It’s good if you aren’t using Steal Power, Planet Protector, (eventually) Scream, or other characters with stronger ATK UP SB’s- but yeah, that’s a lot of situational talk, especially when all of those things are very powerful.

no-SB Ice Brand is a sword that comes a little harder to recommend than Red Armlet was. Let’s talk the good first: it’s a sword and it has a +Ice Damage modifier. Unfortunately it’s status as a sword makes it unusable to mages in any efficient manner, and doesn’t have quite the same versatility as the Fire damage does on a bracer. Still, useful synergy item and very quality for Blizzara Spellblades.

Okay:

Shared Mage’s Staff is a Red Staff with a White disposition and offers a Cure-level AoE heal SB. It’s nothing special, but it is solid- especially with synergy. This isn’t good enough to bring everywhere you go- but if you are starting out in FFRK and/or need a helping healer in FF X dungeons, give this to your Black Mage and it’ll do plenty.

Shared Auroch’s Uniform is a relic that is really starting to show it’s age. Perfectly fine as a synergy armor and offers a small boostga SB equal to Rallying Etude- but really nothing special. Could be useful in the Cid Missions for Braska’s Event way down the road- but I’m reaching for that, synergy item and not much more.

Shared First Goal is a blitzball with a limited pool of users and an uninspiring SB (as most any non-Shellga/Protectga/AOE Heal Shared SB tends to be). It’s a 5 star relic- but nothing special here, definitely the trap card.

Relics that return at double-rate: Sin's Talon, Seeker's Shield, Mage's Staff, Red Armlet, Jecht's Bandana, Guardian Targe

Last foreseeable chance at featured relics: Buster Claw, First Goal, Aurochs Uniform, Ice Brand, Shiranui

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Overall: I’m going to be candid, these are pretty bad banners. If we look at the banners in the context of past banners- it really isn’t all that bad, certainly no worse than some of the recent FF13/FF6/FF12 banners we’ve gotten. However, Global has the benefit of knowing what is next and I can say confidently that these are the worst banners we’ll see for the next 6 months and almost assuredly forever again. Timing was also harsh here, we’re within 2-4 weeks of SSSSB Fest and this banner event is following the excellent Exdeath banners.

Should I Pull: Usually there are some ifs here, but I’m just going to say it: No. No, you shouldn’t pull on these banners. If the timing were better I would say that there are a couple of pretty good Yuna relics here and as she has quite the waifu following it could be worth it… but, just No. If you value your mythril or the idea that stronger relics > weaker relics, you really shouldn’t pull. That’s tough to say because these banners have 2 pieces of the Holy Trinity, but they’re not on the same banner and are otherwise surrounded by a moat of sad pulls. If you are determined to pull here- I do think Banner 2 is a better value than Banner 1, which is probably the only time a non-SSB banner has beaten a SSB Banner in the same event. jasiad approved, too risky, don't pull.

Rating 4/10

Thanks to u/Sandslice for his relic discussions and u/kaonohiokala for their spreadsheet of all relic data!

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Other Links:
Guide by u/fattybomchacha

Relic Discussion by u/Sandslice
Big Banner List by u/dscotton
The Relic Spreadsheet by u/kaonohiokala