Though I ultimately settled on the Iga Ningi for my latest Ninja glamour, that wasn’t the body piece I had set out to use when I started fiddling again. I mentioned last time that I’ve become quite fond of the Griffin Leather Bracers, and while idly trying things on, I noticed that they looked very nice with the Orthodox and Dravanian Tunics. Regular readers will know that model is one of my favorites in the game, but if I have one gripe about it, it’s the flare on the sleeves at the wrist. That’s just not normally my style for physical classes (though it doesn’t bother me so much on magical ones). I thought the Griffin Leather Bracers looked really nice with the Scouting Tunics in terms of overall profile, so I set to work.

As usually when I try to use either of the Ninja variants, though, I was overall just very dissatisfied with the color scheme. Green isn’t normally a color I like for Ninja (at least not the “thief” greens that we normally get, in accordance with traditional Final Fantasy thief/rogue attire). I thought I’d give it a whirl this time and messed around with looks using both of the Tunics, but what ended up killing the look for me is that the Sharpened Spurs of the Thorn Prince look awful in any and all shades of green once drawn. At some point during the process though, I noticed that the Striking version of the Bracers are black and red, which just so happens to be fit in perfectly with the color scheme of the Dravanian Tunic of Striking.

Glamour Components
Head: Scintillant Circlet of Striking (Dalamud Red Dye) | Body: Dravanian Tunic of Striking | Hands: Griffin Leather Bracers of Striking | Legs: Light Steel Subligar (Dalamud Red Dye) | Feet: Scion Healer’s Highboots

This one was really easy to put together. The Tunic dictated the color scheme, which is, at least for right now, practically my default, since I’m using the Highboots almost religiously. That meant the boots were an easy choice, and the circlet has been my go-to for ages on the corresponding jobs since the beginning of this raid tier. I’m not even going to bother to explain the Subligar at this point (though I suppose it’s noteworthy that I decided on it instead of the Coeurl Beach Tanga :x).

Honestly, the main thing on my mind here is that I really wish Monk and Ninja shared gear. In almost all cases when the two classes share gear models, I prefer the Monk/Striking version to the Ninja/Scouting one, and I’ve never really understood the need for separate Scouting gear in the first place. In general, the two classes compete for a melee slot in 8-man parties, since Dragoons buff Bard/Machinist damage, and honestly it seems strange to me that the current setup with three sets of melee gear means one of the three is always going to “floor” in a progression raid setting (except for people’s alt jobs). In terms of resources, too, it seems odd: since Scouting just about always shares models with either Aiming or Striking, the current setup means an additional color palette for every gear set for gear that ultimately feels unnecessary.

But I suppose that’s just an idle thought born from my frustration with Ninja gear in general, which probably has something to do with why so many of my favorite looks for Ninja involve body pieces from pre-2.4, which Monk and Ninja do share. And of course, my favorite pair of gloves for Ninja are shared, too. Now, when the two jobs share models but not specific gear, it feels like one of them always gets the less inspired color scheme. Sometimes that’s Monk and sometimes that’s Ninja, and I think the glamour situation overall for both of them would be improved if the best design simply went to both.

Part of me hopes that they’ll actually go this route in Stormblood put Dexterity back on Striking gear, but I can’t imagine that’s very likely.