DISCLAIMER #1: I am from San d'Oria and race Hume, so the guide is biased towards Sandy CP and Quest Items as well as Hume RSE gear. As the guide approaches completion I will research more on the viability of Quest and CP items from other nations and the usefulness of the other race's RSE. However, this guide was specifically written to equip the poor and needy (No shame in that, I'm one of them) and as such is NOT a comprehensive, all-inclusive guide of everything Dancer can wear.

DISCLAIMER #2: I try to keep costs to a minimum, but equipment prices increase dramatically as you get to higher levels. Mid to high level DNC daggers still remain fairly cheap, but body pieces & accessories take a high jump in price during the mid-levels. If you cannot afford the standard equipment for higher levels, please do everyone a favor and just stop leveling the job. Unlike normal melees Dancers are relied on to back up or main heal, and without decent ACC gear you will just end up as a wasted spot in a dying party.

DISCLAIMER #3: This guide was written with the general support DNC in mind, not suitable as a guide for tanking gear or for subbing mage jobs.

• First off you will probably notice right off the bat that the level divisions are kinda wonky. This is because key equipment changes occur at specific levels, and I tend to break it up according to these levels so you can do your equipment upgrades all at once.
• Secondly, if you have been leveling Dancer for awhile now, you have probably noticed the extreme lack of gear available to Dancers. We can wear about half of what Thieves and White Mages can equip, and a limited portion of normal DD equipment, but half of those again are items that either give no stat enhancements or are otherwise useless. This means that oftentimes, you will be wearing the same set of equipment for a lot longer than anyone else (Battle gloves, anyone?). However, this does NOT necessarily mean you are gimp, merely that there is simply no better alternative available to Dancers that is not a rare/ex drop or otherwise hard to get (e.g. CoP Rajas ring), and if someone tries to tell you that you're being gimp for still wearing Battle gloves at level forty-some (which you will be) then tell them to either STFU or go whine to SE to do something about it.
• Notes on Notation and Abbreviations:

A bolded item name generally indicates that piece of gear that is either highly recommended, is the +1 version, is pricier than normal but very worth it, or is a rare/ex drop off a Notorious Monster, which means it's free at the cost of effort.

CP means Conquest Points

Sandy = San d'Oria

Windy = Windurst

AH stands for Auction House.

HQ stands for "High Quality", which means the +1 version of an item

NQ stands for "Normal Quality", which is the normal version of an item.

ACC stands for Accuracy, your ability to successfully hit the mob.

EVA stands for Evasion, your ability to avoid being hit by a mob.

Stat Priority

As a general, mostly support or mainheal and even a DD Dancer, your priorities in gearing yourself pre-level 50 will be:

1. Accuracy

2. +DEX when +ACC isn't available

3. +STR, +Attack etc to prevent daggers from hitting for 0 against high-defense monsters, or if you often find yourself hitting for 0

4. Evasion/AGI for survivability when you steal hate and soloing and also enmity down gear since waltzes can pull hate quite easily or when your tank just sucks

In the later post-50 levels, your priorities will become

1. Accuracy & Haste Gear

2. +STR, +Attack etc to prevent daggers from hitting for 0 against high-defense monsters, or if you often find yourself hitting for 0

3. Evasion/AGI for survivability when you steal hate and soloing and also enmity down gear since waltzes can pull hate quite easily or when your tank just sucks

For most higher level Dancers, you will gain TP in Haste+% gear while keeping ACC in slots that don't go towards haste+%, and Weaponskill in a combination of mostly Accuracy/DEX + some STR/Attack/CHR gear etc. This is because DNC's most potent weaponskills are all multi-hit skills, which means Accuracy is most important since no matter how hard you hit, you don't do any damage if you miss. Also, with multi-hit weaponskills, such as Evisceration, a 5-hit weaponskill, if you miss even just one hit, there will be a noticeable decrease in the overall weaponskill damage, so you will want to have enough accuracy to be able to land all hits reliably for consistent damage.

In other words: Being able to land all hits in Dancing Edge or Evisceration will deal more damage than loading up STR and Attack and only being able to land one or two hits.

'WHY USING CHR+ GEAR IS NOT IMPORTANT FOR YOUR EARLY LEVELS (OR EVEN LATER ON):'

• How much you cure for a waltz are affected by two things: your target's VIT, and your own CHR.
• However, if you examine the formulas for waltzes (See: Curing Waltz, Curing Waltz II, Curing Waltz III), the ratio of additional HP healed to additional CHR+ is less than one-to-one. It is 0.25 for CWI, 0.5 for CWII, and 0.75 for CWIII.
• This means that if you have invested in about maybe CHR+20 worth of gear, it would only translate into 4~15 additional HP healed for Curing Waltz I~III, which personally I think is really not worth it at all considering the amount of money and inventory space you'd need to sacrifice for it.
• The ratio of CHR+ to additional HP healed is exactly 1:1 for Curing Waltz IV, so it means however much CHR added through equipment is however much additional HP you'll heal for. This is slightly better, but not by much. It is up to you whether you want to invest in a CHR+ set. However, by level 60, macro'ing in your AF body for the 10% waltz potency boost into your waltzes should more than overdo any CHR+ you could add.

During these lower levels, you have a lot more choices regarding weapons. If you sub MNK, definitely go for a Hand-to-Hand Weapon. If you prefer to use dagger or swords because of merits in either category then do so. I'm not saying to buy all the weapons here, just pick one and stick with it!

[Weapons]

• Lv.10 Royal Archer's Cesti (Sandy CP item) ACC+3 Damage+2

Lv.10 Legionnaire's Knuckles (Bastok CP item) ACC+2 Attack+3

Lv.10 Royal Archer's Sword (Sandy CP item) - one of the best damage over delay swords for its level.

• Lv.12 Burning Cesti - Price isn't too bad for a HQ item with ACC. Averages 2k across servers
• Lv.13 Knife - buy it from the NPC, don't use AH!
• Lv.20 Mercenary's Knife (Windy CP Item) - this is a weird one. It's quite cheap on some servers, fairly tolerable on most, and sucks for you if you're on Diabolos. If you're on one of those unfortunate servers, ask a Windurstian friend to buy these with CP for you if you're not from Windurst. These will serve you well until level 30.

[Head Equipment]

• Lv.9 Compound Eye Circlet - Eva +5, will last you a long time if you don't have Empress Hairpin. Generally cheap on most servers, or you can do an easy quest in Windy to get it for free. Tip: try to buy it in Windy or Jeuno, it will be a lot cheaper.

Alternatives: (but honestly, just stick with the Cmp. Eye Circlet, it's better than any of these below)

• Lv.10 Royal Footman's Bandana - AGI+1
• Lv.14 Cotton Headband
• Lv.15 San d'Orian Bandana

[Body Equipment]

• Lv.1 Race Specific Equipment
• Lv.10 Royal Footman's Vest (Sandy CP Item) - Water resistance +5

Lv.10 Legionnaire's Harness (Bastok CP Item) - Fire resistance +5

Lv.10 Doublet

LV.10 Brass Harness - these level 10 pieces all have the same DEF so get whatever's cheapest, although the CP items offer elemental

resistance which can be useful in the dunes (Fire resistance against gobs and water resistance against pugils and snippers!)

• Lv.15 San d'Orian Vest or

Lv.15 Legionnaire's Harness, whichever is cheaper, these are the only lv15 Body pieces that aren't overly expensive that DNC can equip.

• Lv.17 Lizard Jerkin
• Lv.21 Beetle Harness +1 - although slightly on the pricey side, I strongly recommend getting the +1 set for the evasion bonuses because you won't be getting anything new until lv.30. The HQ set isn't that much more expensive than the NQ, and is definitely worthwhile. Since DNC doesn't get a lot of equipment choices, at times we are forced to buy the Higher Quality of lower-level items to tide us through the higher levels. If money is an issue, by the NQ first, and upgrade to the HQ Body by level 25 at the latest.

[Hands Equipment]

• Lv.1 Race Specific Equipment
• Lv.10 Royal Footman's Gloves - Attack+3
• Lv.14 Battle Gloves - I am not kidding you when I say you literally NEED these. Yes, they are pricey for the level (Price range from about 4k~17k across all servers, averaging around 10k) but hey, you can basically wear these until AF hands, which are level 52. That's like spending only 264 gil per level on your hands until level 52. They can be farmed from the chests in King Ranperre's Tomb for free, the keys have a half-decent drop rate with TH1 and I've gotten these gloves 3 times out of 10 tries so it's not that rare. Do NOT skimp on these gloves! you are 16 levels away from your first Accuracy Bonus trait, you have no A skill in any weapon, you will need these, badly.

*Lv.17 Lizard Gloves - Don't buy these. Get the Battle Gloves.

*Lv.21 Beetle Mittens +1 - Don't buy these!!! GET THE BATTLE GLOVES!! Sell about 20 stacks of crystals and you'll get them!!

[Leg Equipment]

• Lv.1 Race Specific Equipment
• Lv.7 Leather Trousers - buy from NPC, don't buy from AH, and sell it back to AH for profit after you're done
• Lv.11 Brais or

Lv.11 Brass Subligar. Both are quite equally ugly.

• Lv.17 Lizard Trousers
• Lv.20 Royal Footman's Trousers if the Beetle Subligar is too expensive.
• Lv.21 Beetle Subligar/Beetle Subligar +1 - this one you can get away with buying the NQ version since you get a pants upgrade at level 25, but I'd still recommend the +1. Don't worry, this item actually looks like pants, not panties.

[Feet Equipment]

• Lv.1 Race Specific Equipment
• Lv.7 Bounding Boots - drops off Leaping Lizzy, which IMO is even more of a pain in the arse to camp than Valkurm Emperor. However, if you have these they pretty much will last you until AF. For the less fortunate, we have the other options below:

Lv.7 Leather Highboots

• Lv.10 Royal Footman's Boots (Sandy CP item) - the Bastok equivalent has 1 less DEF, wouldn't recommend it, if you can't get these choose one of the level 11 and 12 options, other wise just stick with these until lv.15 or 17
• Lv.11 Brass Leggings \

Lv.11 Gaiters > these all have the same stats, check whichever is cheapest at your local AH. No need to upgrade until lv. 15 or 17ish

Lv.12 Holly Clogs /

• Lv.15 San d'Orian Boots
• Lv.17 Lizard Ledelsens
• Lv.21 Beetle Leggings +1 - if you don't have bounding boots I DEFINITELY recommend you get the +1 because you can basically keep these until level 50 if you wanted. The next viable alternative is at level 30 and even still, it's not even an improvement, just an alternative.

[Ranged/Ammo Slot]

• Lv. 1 Happy Egg - obtainable for free from the annual Easter egg-hunt event.
• Lv.1 Orphic Egg - if you have a BRD or a COR in party, also obtainable from the Easter Egg hunt.
• Lv. 15 Rogetsurin - I highly highly recommend you get this. Very easy to camp and it's a 100% drop. Mob pops on new or full moon in Konschtat Highlands and easily soloable by a level 30 job, which you should have if you've unlocked DNC. Not only is it the earliest ranged weapon DNC can equip, it also offers a nice AGI+1. I actually get asked to pull on Dancer quite often, so it's rather important that you have it, and will last you until your level 40 AF weapon. It's honestly not that hard to camp and not to mention it's FREE!

[Waist]

• Lv.1 Blood Stone - HP+5 pick either this or the lv.7 belt, they're about equally useful IMO
• Lv.7 Leather Belt - buy from NPC, don't buy from AH, and sell it back to AH for profit after you're done.
• Lv.15 Warrior's Belt/Warrior's Belt +1 - definitely worth getting, you won't need a new belt until Lv.30, don't bother with the lv.17 Lizard Belt if you have this.
• Lv.17 Lizard Belt - don't get it if you have the warrior's belt.

[Back]

• Lv.4 Rabbit Mantle - personally I wouldn't bother with a back piece until level 13 one, but if you really want it and don't have a travelers, it'll last til Lv.17
• Lv.12 Traveler's Mantle - Pricey so go camp it. Drop rate is around %15 but Spook pops up to 3 times every game day and is easily killable by a level 20 character so go get yourself one, it's quite nice and will last you until Lv.24 or possibly beyond.
• Lv.17 Lizard Mantle if you didn't get the Traveler's.
• Lv.18 Dhalmel Mantle if you didn't get the Traveler's or the Lizard.

[Neck]

• Lv.3 Pile Chain - HP+3 and ACC+1, can be found in Brown Treasure Caskets in East Sarutabaruta. This can last you from level 3 all the way to the Spike Necklace if you're lucky enough to get it!
• Lv.7 Wing Pendant - Very easy Sandy quest item, so it's free!

Alternatives if you have them lying around:

Lv.7 Regen Collar

Lv.7 Justice Badge

Lv.7 Leather Gorget

• Lv.10 Green Scarf
• Lv.15 Bird Whistle - honestly, you can get away without bothering with neck pieces until Spike Necklace, so if you're really on a budget, don't bother buying a neck piece at this level unless you already have it.
• Lv.21 Spike Necklace - Don't even touch the NQ version (Fang Necklace), while being the HQ this is a fairly standard piece of gear for all melee and this will last you a long time. Make the investment, it's affordable at this level for most servers (ranging from a mere 2.2k~10k across all servers, averaging at about 7.5k).

[Rings]

• Lv.14 Amethyst Ring/Balance Ring x2 - The Balance rings may be a little pricey for new players, so in that case get the Amethyst Rings and upgrade to the Balance rings by level 25. I see many dancers wear STR rings for some reason even at high levels and it's such a shameful waste. They focus only on STR and Attack trying to equip DNC like a normal DD and then complain that they can't hit the mob or land a step. Newsflash: Even normal DDs like WARs and DRKs need accuracy before attack/STR. STR rings will do diddly squat for you when you can't even land hits consistently enough to be useful.

[Earrings]

• Lv.10 Optical Earring - a 100% drop from Maighdean Uaine in North Gustaberg. This item gives you ACC+1 but Attack -2. As long as you're not hitting for 0 frequently, this could carry you through Beetles.
• Lv.21 Beetle Earring +1 x2 - I would insist on getting the HQ. Although they have -evasion, these will help prevent you from hitting for 0 and are melee/DD earrings that are acceptable to wear until very high levels, so get the HQ now and you pretty much won't have to worry about upgrading until very later when you start to get serious about your gear in the end-game levels.
• Pre-21 there aren't really many earrings that are either 1) useful to DNC or 2) worth the price and/or the short duration of time in which you can wear it. If you happen to have earrings lying around, wear them, but I wouldn't, say, buy HQ Bone Earrings for the sole purpose of gearing DNC when you can party or even solo from level 16 to 21 in a blink of an eye.

• TIP: Buy equip with your nation's CP if it's something you can use. If you need a CP item of another nation, try to ask a friend from that nation with points to spare to buy it for you, and/or offer to get them CP items from your nation in return. If you have to buy CP items with gil, always ALWAYS go to the nation to buy it. CP items in the nation that offers it will ALWAYS be cheaper. Also, low-level equipment such as Lizard gear oftentimes sell for much cheaper in Jeuno/Whitegate than in starter cities (Sandy, Windy, Bastok); if you do not have Jeuno/Whitegate access, but have a friend who does, send them money and ask them to buy it for you there and send it to your delivery box to save money.

This is the time to start switching to daggers, as your low skill rating in H2H and Sword really start to show; you'll be having a hard time getting TP otherwise. Take advantage of your native Dual Wield trait and wield that extra dagger for the additional ACC boost. /RNG is a good sub up until you hit 30 and get your own ACC bonus trait, otherwise /NIN is ideal for pulling, soloing, or if your tank sucks at keeping hate.

[Weapons]

• Lv.25 Windurstian Knife - ACC+2 and Attack+3, these also tend to be on the cheaper side, and may be cheaper than Mercenary's Knifes for some servers. They will last you til level 34 unless you really want to upgrade early at level 30.
• Lv.30 Mercenary Captain's Kukri (Windy CP Item) - ACC+3 each or to save your wallet you may want to keep on to your Mercencary or Windurstian Knifes and hold out 4 more levels for the Windy Kukris.
• Lv.34 Windurstian Kukri ACC+2 and also Attack+5 in nations not under your control. These will last you until lv.46. With the exception of Titan and Valefor, these knives are quite affordable on most servers, averaging 5~10k. If you are already dual-wielding Merc. Cpt Kukris, you can skip this.
• Lv.46 Bone Knife +1 - ACC+5 Attack +5. GET THE HQ. NO ARGUING. GET IT. Even the +1 is dirt cheap across all servers for the stats it gives. This is basically good until 59.

[Head Equipment]

• Lv.24 Empress Hairpin - If you can get it. Dropped off Valkurm Emperor which is soloable by most 35+ jobs. May be hard to camp but persistence will pay off and it is really worthwhile, being the best mid-level head piece for all melee jobs. If you are lazy, or don't care, stick with your compound eye circlet.
• Lv.25 Precision Bandana - An amazing new piece added in the recent update, ACC+3 makes this even better than the empy hairpin for Dancers. The price ranges wildly across servers, anywhere from 10k to 150k, so it's easier just to go farm the NM, Herbage Hunter in Tahrongi Canyon, which can be solo'd easily by any mid-to-high level job.
• Lv.30 Mercenary Captain's Headgear - if you are unlucky with drops and too cheap or lazy for the precision bandana.
• Lv.39 Dobson Bandanna - drops off Carmine Dobsonfly; you will need access to Riverne - Site A01.

[Body Equipment]

• Lv.30 Mercenary Captain's Doublet - Windy CP Item, good 'til Lv.45
• Lv.45 Brigandine - the price is quite nice for it's stats. Can technically last you until the mid-50s.

[Hands Equipment]

• Lv.14 Battle Gloves - Hi, you're still wearing these. You might be sadface, but your wallet will be happy.
• Lv.27 Custom M Gloves/Custom F Gloves - Hume RSE (not sure about other races), has less ACC than battle gloves (1-handed weapons: 3DEX=1.5ACC), these also have STR+3 and a little hp/mp boost. STR and DEX are fairly common WS modifiers if you ever need to WS on DNC. Also increases attack and critical hit rate slightly at the expense of -1 to VIT and AGI which shouldn't make much of an overall difference. Worthwhile if you don't have a problem hitting and can live with about 2 less ACC and are looking to improve overall DOT.
• Lv.30 Combat Mittens/Combat Mittens +1 - another new piece of gear added in the recent update. The NQ tend to be cheaper than Battle Gloves so if you somehow-for-no-good-reason decided to skip getting those you better have these on until AF. These give ACC+4 and the HQ version of these offers an additional Attack+1.

[Leg Equipment]

• Lv.25 Republic Subligar - better for exp Party/DD setup

or

• Lv.25 San d'Orian Trousers/Kingdom Trousers - better for solo/evasion gear setup

These will be on the pricey side for this level. In most situations the Republic Subligar is the better investment, but also more pricey. These (except the San d'Orian Trousers) are actually both +2 blue box pants, which means they're the HQ of an upgrade, which is why they're expensive for the level. However, there really isn't any other pants for DNC this level that isn't completely useless. Pleeeease buy one of these pants, unlike other jobs, you don't get a reasonable alternative until level 50, and even then these pants can last you until AF pants (Lv58), so you need a pair that will tide you over until that time. If you need time to farm up enough money, stick with the Beetle Subligar +1 but definitely upgrade into one of these by level 30 at the very latest.

[Feet Equipment]

• Lv.7 Bounding Boots/Leaping Boots - if you have them
• Lv.30 Mercenary Captain's Gaiters - DEF:5 AGI+1, or you could actually just stick with your Beetle Leggings +1 if you prefer. IMO the Beetle Leggings +1 is the better option because AGI+1 is only 0.5 evasion.
• Lv.45 Carapace Leggings +1 - if you really insist on upgrading. The NQ provides no worthwhile stat boosts and is not worth it, and the HQ essentially does the same thing as Beetle Leggings +1 with a tiny bit more defense, so not really worth the price in my opinion; there is a much better upgrade at level 50, and the difference in defense is incredibly insignificant.

[Ranged/Ammo Slot]

• Lv.1 Orphic Egg - if you have a BRD or a COR in party
• Lv.30 RSE Sachets

Attar Sachet (Elvaan F}

Olibanum Sachet (Elvaan M)

Millefleurs Sachet (Hume F)

Balm Sachet (Hume M)

Sweet Sachet (Tarutaru M&F)

Musk Sachet (Galka)

Civet Sachet (Mithra)

• Lv.40 War Hoop (Dancer AF Weapon) - Yay, free stuff.

[Waist]

• Lv.30 Mercenary Captain's Belt - Windy CP Item, which will last you until level 40, when you get
• Lv.40 Tilt Belt - ACC+5 nomnomnomnomnom. This is dirt cheap across all servers, get it NAO. It will last you 8 levels. The Evasion-5 should not be a point of concern, even if you are tanking, being able to land your steps and melee hits to gain TP will help your survival more than the loss of 5 evasion, and if you're not tanking, you shouldn't be taking hate, and a good puller with utsusemi up should always be able to pull mobs without getting hit.
• Lv.48 Life Belt - ACC+10 "So good and yet quite cheap. Buy one now if you can use it, no excuses." -- Raenryong of Bahamut.

Yes, it IS worth it to upgrade to the life belt from tilt belt. Life belt starts to get in the 10-20ks (30~40k on some unfortunate servers) But it will last you a LONG time and as a Dancer you can get away with using this instead of the much more expensive Potent Belt at Lv.60 or the hard to get Swift Belt.

[Neck]

• Lv.33 Peacock Amulet/Peacock Charm - I am putting this item here purely for the reason that you will look at the AH prices for this thing and be exceedingly grateful for the existence of equipment guides that do not assume that all players possess gil in astronomical numbers. On the other hand, if you do have this, you have a lot more leeway when it comes to picking and choosing your other equipment.
• Lv.21 Spike Necklace - just use this. It's still good.

[Rings]

• Lv.30 Shikaree Ring - drops off Stroper Chymes in Ordelle's Caves, but be warned this is a painfully rare drop, and most jobs can't solo these at level 30.
• Lv.30 Rajas Ring - if you have it (Ring from completing CoP missions)
• Lv.34 Venerer Ring - this can be gotten for free from a CoP (Chains of Promathia) quest Chasing Dreams if you are that far into the CoP missions. Otherwise, it can be bought on AH and is a cheaper alternative to the Woodsman Rings.
• Lv.35 Jaeger Ring - drops from the Carmine Dobsonfly NM; you will need access to Riverne - Site A01.
• Lv.36 Deft Ring - DEX+3 rings, if you cannot afford any of the ACC rings
• Lv.40 Woodsman Ring - drops off ENMS. If you are using DEX rings still, and cannot get a Shikaree or a Venerer's, then start saving up for at least one of these. Aim to get one by level 50 or sooner!
• Lv.49 Ecphoria Ring - dropped off Skogs Fru in East Ronfaure (S). A very worthwhile investment, this ring gives Store TP+1 as well as ACC+4. This NM can take up to 3 hours to pop, and is soloable by a 75 job, but you may need help if you are lower level. Definitely look into acquiring one of these either by camping the NM or buying it off the AH, price-wise this ring is much more affordable compared the Woodsman, Archer's or Sniper Rings, less than half the price of woodsmans on most servers. -Another very imortant thing to note about this ring: If you find yourself fighting mobs that inflict Amnesia, a negative status effect that renderes you unable to use Job Abilities or Weapon Skills, then this ring is a must have due to its 'Cure Amnesia' enchantment. The Ecphoria Ring is currently the only known 'cure' for this status ailment.-

[Earrings]

• Lv.21 Beetle Earring +1 - are still the best choice for general DD/support party situations.
• Lv.29 Dodge Earrings - If you have them lying around from leveling Ninja, but I would say the Beetle Earring +1s are the better choice.
• Lv.36 Drone Earrings - Can be swapped in if for some reason you wish to use the Weaponskill Cyclone, which has an AGI modifier (good for farming).

[Back]

• Lv.24 Nomad's Mantle - logical upgrade from the Lv. 13 Traveler's Mantle. Lasts you well into the Mid-high levels.
• Lv.26 Exactitude Mantle/Exactitude Mantle +1 - Acc +1/Acc +2. The NQ averages between 10-30k, though at 10k it may be even cheaper than the Nomad's Mantle on some servers. The HQ is quite expensive and the NQ can be pricey on certain servers as well, so if you have a Clothcraft friend it is very cheap to just farm the materials and ask them to make it for you. Finding a crafter shouldn't be difficult since it only requires 20 skill to synth.