Hi fellow Corsair! : ) I'm in around the same level range as you and I've done the same research so thought I'd share some thoughts and information too. I don't claim to know a great deal about our class, but you can take this as information I collected from across most reputable boards and the knowledge from the more coherent/intelligent posters.
First off, your DPS as a COR will increase substantially as /RNG sub. The range accuracy increase is greater than Dual-Wielding Trailer's Kukri (and if you're using Fire Staff + Mythril Grip +1, then that favors the /RNG even more because you're not taking advantage of a 2nd +14 R.acc off-hand). Even more important than the native r.acc though is Barrage and Sharpshot and all the /RNG latent items - first and foremost Gun Belt followed then by Beater's Earring. The Gun Belt's +5 Marksmanship skill translates to 5 R.Atk + 5 R.Acc (or 4.5 R.Atk + 5 R.Acc, or maybe it was the around, forgot, and don't rememeber if our skill at this range already broke 250 or whatevers) and is better than anything else available to us. The Beater's Earring's latent effect of +2 R.Acc is nicer than Drone's +3 Agility, but I macro in Drone's for Quick Draw. Combined with Quick Draw + Sharpshot + Slug Shot + Barrage + Slug Shot, I have found my Corsair to be especially good chain savers. In the 50s and early 60s I had been in groups where our chains would otherwise break in their low teens, but with the aforementioned combos I can single handedly down a Bird from 50->0 in less than 10 seconds, that's faster than it can eat me even though /RNG means no shadows. I feel that for your XP parties /RNG is hands down three notches above any other sub if you're focusing on damage from 22->75. A stronger argument, and in fact valid, exists once you're 75 with a good multi hit weapon (Joyeuse), good melee haste/acc build, that meleeing for TP and then switching to WS gear to Slugshot/Detonator proves to be better damage over time. But it doesn't seem like either of us are in that scenario, so right now we go with the Pew Pew Shoot Shoot. And if I didn't state the importance enough - nothing is going to change your DPS right now more so than leveling Ranger up and subbing it. It is *that* important to a Corsair's DD - which is very respectable DD.
Some misc notes - I'm going to go on a whim and say that you do not parse anywhere close to 95% range accuracy in that set up, and your overall damage in xp parties would be greatly improved right now if you focus on boosting R.Acc. From 33->60 I had pretty much the best possible R.Acc gear, subbed Ranger, used Squid Sushi (was actually using Jack-o-Lantern until 40) and staticed with a Bard that kept Prelude on me as soon as he dinged 31 (or was it 33) - and I still find that parser shows if I'm fighting IT or IT++ then Archer's Knife/Trailer's produces better results. The Staff/Grip combo only works better on Ts and VTs. If you're bent on going the Staff/Grip combo, then the best available until 65 is Fire Staff + Mythril Grip +1, switching to Axe Grip @ 65. Remember that total damage is a function of accuracy and damage. Just boosting damage and gimping the ranged accuracy will result in less total damage - and we really don't want that.
As far as your gear choices I would recommend the following. I'll just do a comparison with your current gear - if Gil is an issue - then you make do with what you have.
Full COR AF (ditch the hands and legs like someone else already said. Use Jaridah legs [if you're SUPER rich you can use Akinji, but that's a no thanks from me] and Deadeye Gloves. The negative slow effect on Deadeye Gloves does not effect our ranged attack delay, which makes it a perfect piece for us at this level. If no Deadeye Gloves, I guess Jaridah will do)
Fire Staff (Swap it with Trailer's Kukri, x2 if you're bent on /nin. You can pull without /nin. In fact, don't pull. 600 delay makes babies cry for pulling. Doable yes. Optimal no.)
Scropion Ring x2 (Get +1)
Amemet Mantle (Get +1)
Spectacles (Get PCC)
Precise Belt (Go /RNG and get Gun Belt)
Drone Earrings (Go /RNG and get Beater's Earring, use Drone for other ear)
Darksteel Hexagun (Matchlock/+1 is going to be better damage than the Hexagun series unless you can get Shark Gun. But if you don't have the rank for Luzaf's Ring, you don't have the rank for Shark Gun. By the way, you don't need Luzaf's Ring until end game.)
Ammo: Iron Bullets when I can find them in stock (currently raising alchemy to craft them myself) but when I cant find Iron bullets I use regular lvl 22 Bullets ><; (Always use the best bullets available. At least be macroing it in for WS and QD).
I carry around a second set of gear for +Agi and macro it in before every Quick Draw. Always use the element that the mob is weak to - thankfully for birds that is Ice Shot, which has the nice additional benefit of improving Paralyze. Quick Draw is a good chunk of damage right now. At this level with a Matchlock gun, you will do a consistent ~192 damage per Quick Draw that's virtually never resisted if you use the card that the mob is weak to. That adds up. Save one charge for emergency sleep/dispel depending on the camp you're at, but yes it contributes very nicely to damage when used correctly.
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A note on bullets - I craft Bullets/Iron Bullets/Steel Bullets by demand. This past weekend I made 2 Iron Bulletsx12 pouches for people that messaged me. If the AH is out, send me (Tanshui) a tell and I'll craft them and pouch it up for you and delivery is usually within an hour if I'm in town. If you're nice, they can even be lower than AH rates if the AH rates are ridiculous.
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One more note - in case I forgot to mention this somewhere - level ranger and use it as your sub all the way up to 75.
A Corsair's DD is in the category if 'if played well and geared well, easily outparse a 'decent' DD'. We will never come close to properly geared/meritted/played true DDs, but I think a good general rule of thumb is if you out-parse a DD you probably don't want to group with them unless they are friends/LS-mates. If you get out-parsed by DDs that's a good sign. If you get out-parsed by DDs and you can't go past chain 20 that's a bad sign (in other words, something is wrong. Camp. You. Party Composition. Something).
Also, while party compositions will largely dictate the melee rolls you use - it is unfortunate that what's best for the Corsair is not what's best for the group. Unless you're grouping with under-geared Melees (a bad sign in itself) or you're over-hunting (say, going to Colibri @ 60 instead of 61-62), then Fighters/Chaos/Samurai/Thief's are all far greater rolls than Hunter's. Yes, because of Corsair's natively lack of R.Acc traits Hunter's benefit us the most. But boosting your party's damage as a whole does more good than boosting your own damage. Do accordingly.
Hope this helps ; ) And if any other veteran sees anything from this post that's way off please let me know - it's worked for me, but I'm sure there's always better options.
~Tanshui
CC/Breeze Gorget
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