With Jet Boots’ ability to element switch, one pair of Jet Boots can go a long way. Feel free to get more for specialized uses, but start with one pair for general use.
Here’s a few recommendations for gear sets at different points in the game. All weapons should be grinded to +30 and taken to at least 50% attribute.
ARKs Cadet Loadout
Around level 50 or so, get a set of cheap, fast to pick up and easy to grind gear. The game will increase in difficulty, but this set should last till level 75.
Dirt common and decent bang for meseta. Being an NT weapon means an easy time at Dudu.
60 ATK and 10 PP on the set bonus. Magatsu and Yamato drop these like candy, and they are cheap to grind and affix. Affixing a Hiei unit with 5 fodders only costs 40,000 meseta. That’s less than 5% the cost of affixing a Saiki unit.
This set is designed for low-level characters, so their equip requirements are low. Their defenses are enough to tide through lower difficulty levels.
At Super Hard difficulty and above, its defenses are paper-thin. Squeeze a bit more life out of these units using Extend Equipment. No need to use special recipes, just go as far as default recipes let you go, or Ex.5.
ARKs Advanced Loadout
Congratulations, you hit level 75! You’re a full-fledged ARKs. Here’s some of the quickest options to get decent gear to match.
Increases damage by 6% at base. Damage bonus scales to 20% over 50 seconds. Getting hit resets the bonus. Accessible collection file and great utility on the weapon.
Ultimate Amduscia is not subject to the Emergency Quests. Great for people with a tight schedule.
75 ATK, 5 PP, 50 HP on the Ideal set. Pair that with the generous HP, PP and ATK on the Gix unit. This set is amazing for how easy it is to get.
Start off by getting the Ideal set. 60,000 Challenge Miles should be about four full Challenge Mode 1 runs, or ten Challenge Mode 2 runs. Doable in 8 hours including waiting time.
Get the Gix unit by clearing Ultimate Amduscia with an S Rank. Getting an S Rank is partly luck. Carry a fully-grinded and high attribute weapon to hit harder and increase your chances.
Other ARKS Advanced Options
Invade Slider (JP: インヴェイドスライダー)
Obtained with 100 Caligulas and 100 Excubes. The potential increases critical chance, so don’t bother unlocking it. save Lambda Grinders for an Endgame weapon. Even without a potential, this comes pre-grinded, pre-60%. Good as a placeholder while grinding out Austere.
Quotz Cress (クオツキレス)
Divine Spirit potential increases damage when above 30% PP by 10%, and attack PP by 30%. Obtained by exchanging 200 Kagaseo stones from Tokyo. Decent damage and the extra PP recovery is a cherry on top.
This is an evergreen solo option that is not bound to Emergency Quests. It is an old-type weapon though using the old collection stone system though. Compared to Collection File weapons, it is slow to farm, and much more expensive to grind.
Saiki Set
60 ATK, 25 PP and 80 Dex set bonus. The hefty PP on the set bonus means Saiki has the potential to become the highest PP set by a longshot. However, the base items have only 50 HP and 0 PP apiece, which are poor base stats, especially for an 11★ unit.
With crafting, the 50 HP apiece can either be upgraded to 100 HP, or traded for 10 PP. The net HP gain outstrips the loss in defenses, while the gain in PP can be useful up to a point, when taking multiclass weapons into consideration.
ARKs Elite Loadout
After completing every Emergency Quest, clearing Heaven & Hell and everything else there is to do, you’re now an elite Arks! Time to kick back and focus on Phasion… or start the inordinately long quest for grindy gear sets.
Increases all damage by 12%, increases PP generation by 10% and has great ATK. That said, it requires Caligula stones, which are Emergency Quest-only. Also needs a laundry list of stones from Extreme Quests, Ultimate Naberius and Lilipa and Dark Falzes in general. Not to mention hundreds of Excubes. Get this for swag.
Austere Set & Ray Leg
The Austere units themselves have great resists, excellent HP and good PP. Then there’s the set bonus of 60 ATK, 50 HP and 20 PP. And finally the free leg slot for another 25 ATK from Ray Leg.
In terms of raw stats, this is the highest set bonus in the game. Saiki can get slightly higher PP, but at the cost of resists and quite a bit of HP and ATK. However, it requires deep pockets or extreme luck for the units. Not to mention stones to exchange Invade units for Austere.
Affixes
Jet Boots needs some HP for super armoring with Moment Gale if needed. They also need a good amount of PP for Vinto Gigue rotations, so get a balance of stats.
Rings
L/Tech Charge Parry can cover the entire charge time of Ragrants. Ragrants-Ragrants-Vinto becomes almost uninterruptible even without Massive Hunter.
L/Jet Boots Element Keep is alright for Bo/Hu. Pressing Shift to dodge in neutral will not drop the Jet Boots’ element. That saves you a recast. However, Vinto will still lose the Jet Boots’ element.
L/Jet Boots Tech Arts S Charge is great for TATK Bo/Fi builds. It can stack with Tech Charge Parry for great effect with 12★ units. Use a Tech after a Photon Art to cut its cast time by up to half. The entire cast time of a tech can be fully covered by Tech Charge Parry, on top of the DPS increase for casting techs.
For the Right ring, options are a bit more open.
R/PP Convert would be the first choice for Bo/Fi to power Tech/Vinto rotations.
R/Massive Hunter comes in second for Bo/Fi, although Jet Boots already has a lot of super armor.
R/Perfect Keeper Striking comes in first for Bo/Hu and third for Bo/Fi. A tiny bit of damage is better than nothing.
R/C Strike Striking is not worth it. The 20SP spent on Crit skills to eke out 3% damage can get 5% or more by being redirected to ATK Up skills. Even SATK Up 1 is more worthwhile than going into a Stance Critical for 25% of 3% = 0.75% more damage.
