Rank 8 vs. Nirvana(Defensive question)

SmurfJegeren - Dreamweaver

Hey, my cleric is closing in on lvl 100 now, and using my main Ive already gotten a hold of a nearly complete set of Dragon Rise armor.(Not including cape, cause had a Wings of Cloudcharger). Then ofc, after getting this set the Rank 8 recast shows up. I mainly got the Nirvana set for the +5 def levels(wich now are 10, thank you for giving us that ). So here is the big question:

Would my Cleric be better off getting Rank 8 recast when its mainly being used to heal in TW? Im thinking Ill lose alot on the defense level part, but the overall raw defense gain, and the extra HP this set gives seems to keep up with the def level loss. Im not too read into how much the defense levels actually do. Whats your opinion, or if you got some math to show too that would be great, on what gives the best defensive ability?

My build at 100 will be as follows:

http://pwcalc.com/b595a0ba1264e096

(The weapon itself is kinda meh for a cleric, but all the armor and weapon is from veno, whereas the armor is mixed in with Heavy armor depending what I fight)

Decus - Dreamweaver

For what it's worth, if you already have the G15 Nirvy, then use that. It's excellent gear. I used all six pieces for 30 def levels with an O'Malley blessing on. Conversely, if budget is not a limiting factor, then shoot for recasting a rank weap with the extra defense levels as well. That alone would be more than enough, imo.

It's kinda late for me to drag up the calculations on taking damage, but you can do it yourself pretty easily. Paramedic (love that guy) made a calculator of survivability that is incredibly thorough and makes the raw math much faster. It is in his signature if you just search for his posts.


(FYI, I am fairly certain that Nirvy always had a complect bonus of 10 defense levels for 5 pieces. I could be wrong, though.)

SmurfJegeren - Dreamweaver

The weapon itself wont be changed, I like the magic swords lower atk range, and I doubt we ever going to see another +12 orb mega sale(Considering how fast the last one was taken down for being just stupidly imbalancing ). Budget is a factor, wich is why the armor actually seemed within range as it of now is actually cheaper than Nirvana gear...

AriesBreath - Raging Tide

I agree with Decus. If you already have G15 Nirvana armor, just use that and go for the recasted r8 weapon. Trust me, the defense levels/purify stats would greatly outweigh the magic range difference from swords. You don't need a +12 weapon to heal; even +5 would make you an efficient Cleric if you play it right.