It's about time our forum had a nice little guide to help all the new players. I am trying to take a similar style and purpose as Awntawn's guide... however, unlike Awntawn I am only lvl 58 at the moment, so any contributions by people with more experience would be just dandy.

I see several similar questions being asked every week, and much to my chagrin many of them are given the wrong answers repeatedly. I'll try to do my best to show you what exactly a PLD is and can be... throwing away the myths and stereotypes while I'm at it. Also keep in mind that none of my advice is end-all, be-all... just my opinion after a few months of playing how to get the most out of your Paladin's potential.

Paladin's Role
Paladins have great defense, and have the second best damage mitigation in the game for any tank (2nd to NIN). Due to this, people mistakenly think that taking less damage is the Paladin's main role. Wrong! What makes Paladin different than other tanks (NIN, WAR) is their ability to take and keep hate better than those classes. A good Paladin/Warrior has several abilities at his disposal to accomplish this: Provoke, Cures, Flash, Shield Bash, Sentinel, Rampart, Cover among others.

The Race Question
Please note: The stat calculator is NOT a good way to crunch numbers and decide which race is better. Not only is much of its data incorrect but people put too much weight in stat numbers and theory.

Paladin is one of the rare jobs where all races can play efficiently. However, each will require a very different playstyle in order to be effective. The most important stats for a PLD are HP, MP and VIT. In this manner, Galka can be good PLD if they take care of their MP. Taru can be good PLD if they take care of their HP. The other 3 are somewhat in between. That's the general answer, but let's take this a little more in-depth.

Galka : As a Galka, your HP and VIT will be higher than any other race. This can be very significant at higher levels. VIT will reduce the damage you take (in addition to adding a little defense, read the stats discussion further ahead). Your higher HP will also help you survive those monster special skills that hit for 500-700 each. On the other hand, your limited MP will be a hindrance if you do not know how to use it intelligently. Wear some +MP gear (Holy Phial, Black Earrings, Astral Ring) and you might also want to bring along RSE gloves. A smart Galka will use macros to switch equipment from +MP to +DEF/VIT midfight after you have spent your MP on cures and flash. I also recommend taking up culinary guild so you can bring materials and make your own juice on the battlefield. The MP problem becomes much less pronounced after 41 when you have RDM with Refresh and 55 when you have BRD with Ballads 1 and 2.

Elvaan : The theoretically "ideal" race choice, and I somewhat agree. Elvaans have the 2nd best HP pool, have more MP than Galka, and 2nd best VIT. Their only disadvantage is low DEX and AGI, but these stats can be compensated easily with +acc or +evade gear generally. Many Elvaan PLD wear +agi earrings in order to avoid being crit so often as well. Their higher MND will help your cures, but this isn't really that important. Elvaans still do not have much more MP than Galka... Elvaans generally don't use +MP gear, so the Elvaans I've PT'ed with of similar level only had 40 MP more than me generally. Likewise with Galka, BRD and RDM will be your friend at higher levels. I suggest wearing some +acc gear, because hitting the enemy IS important to keep hate and build TP, but I usually see Elvaans wear RK belt instead of Life belt. (more on this later)

Hume and Mithra : I hate to group these two races together, but they are just too similar to do otherwise. They have good HP and MP, Hume has a bit more VIT, Mithra has some more DEX and AGI. Stats-wise, Hume is better because DEX and AGI just aren't as critical as VIT and HP. In practice, however, both of these races play almost identical (assuming similar equipment). MP won't be as much as an issue as Elvaan and Galka, so focus almost all your equipment on +DEF and +VIT.

Taru : The "underdog" of the Paladin races, and for good reason. Taru have laughable HP, and thus suffer the infamous one-shot syndrome. At later levels (40+), most monsters have one very strong single-target or cone skill that can take off 500-700 HP. Due to Taru's low VIT and HP, this can mean either instant death, or dangerously low HP after one skill. Tarus *need* to focus on +VIT, +DEF, and most importantly +HP equipment. An easily killed tank is a very bad tank. On the other hand, Tarus have a lot of MP to play around with, meaning they can cure a lot more and gain more aggro. .......In practice, this is not nearly as good as it seems. Without any Clear Mind job trait, Taru PLD take just as long as Galka PLD to regain MP. This means Taru will have to rest almost all the time, losing TP, and therefore not able to participate in renkei or use WS. This is no small loss, as a 300% Spirits Within WS (level 55) takes off 500-580 damage IGNORING DEFENSE depending on your HP. This is more than Raging Fists and Pentathrust does (plus is a guaranteed hit and will not miss like Sidewinder often does). A Taru PLD can still work, but it will be an effective tank in my opinion.

The Subjob Debate
Apologies to all you "cookie-cutter-haters" out there, but honestly there is only ONE viable subjob if you want to play effectively: WARRIOR. If you want to be subpar, go ahead and try other subjobs, but this guide is supposed to help you play your Paladin to its potential. A Paladin is meant to gain hate, keep hate, and take hate... this is not possible without Provoke. Defender is very useful, and Double Attack lets you gain TP faster. Warrior and Paladin's Physical Defense Up Job Traits *DO NOT STACK*.

Some people will argue that PLD/WHM will work...... well, there is a lot of myth associated with this claim. Many people see a WHM throw a Curaga or Curaga II and gain immediate hate and think : "this is better than provoke!" Keep in mind that curaga only gets a lot of hate depending on the TOTAL HP it cures... since WHM only cast it when more than 1 person is injured, it will cure a lot of HP. But if a PLD uses it when no one else is damaged, it won't garner nearly as much hate. Plus, Provoke is guaranteed every 30 seconds, whereas a PLD/WHM won't be able to gain the hate back if they run low on MP. Taru PLD/WHM can still be viable I suppose, but without VIT, HP, Provoke, Defender, I believe this would be a horrible tank (obviously I haven't teamed with one, since PTs should only have 1 tank). My LS friends who HAVE teamed with one such Taru PLD/WHM said it was the worst PT they have ever been in... the Taru couldn't keep hate very well, and died due to Sickle Slash one-shots 2 or 3 times, causing a few other people to die before escape was cast.

For soloing, THF is an incredible subjob. Yes, there are better subjobs out there for soloing, but I personally only solo when I am trying to make money. In this case, THF's Treasure Hunter, Steal and Gilfinder are just too useful to pass up. Before level 50, PLD/THF is superior to PLD/WAR in almost every way. Remember that WAR's Phys Def Up does not stack with PLD... so in that regard THF has more to offer: Sneak Attack, Gilfinder, Treasure Hunter, Evasion Bonus, Steal.

If anyone has other experience with varying subjobs (for soloing of course), feel free to contribute.

The STAT Discussion
There seems to be a LOT of misconception on how Stats work in this game. I have garnered most of my information from Japanese sites and friends, then testing it out myself. I will start with the most important stat first:
VIT : VIT is much more important than some people will have you believe. The damage formula can be found on this site: http://www.moonlight.gr.jp/~el/ffxi/ab_calc.html.en
Basically, there are two checks depending on Stats: STR<->VIT check and ATK<->DEF check. Obviously, the STR and ATK are the attacker's stats, the DEF and VIT are the victim's stats. Anyway, STR-VIT has a linear relationship, meaning that the amount of damage decreased for every VIT will be the same regardless of how much VIT you have. ATK-DEF is exponential (curved), meaning that after you reach a certain thresholed (when DEF=ATK generally), you will start to see "diminishing returns". This means when you have low defense, a +50 defense boost will decrease the damage you take noticeably. But when you have high defense, a +50 defense boost will not change the damage you receive much, if at all. High defense is very easy to achieve thanks to several abilities and food that increase DEF by a percentage: Sentinel, Defender, Rampart, Boiled Crab/Fish Mithkabob, etc... so after a while, VIT becomes more important than DEF. At lower levels, however, DEF is generally more important. Also keep in mind 2 VIT = 1 DEF, which helps a small amount.

CHR : The jury is still out whether CHR really affects Provoke; hard proof is very difficult to achieve. Every JPN site I've been to has stated that +CHR affects Provoke; also, our AF armor increases CHR as well. One small test I did was this: I and a friend with less CHR would Provoke an enemy at the same time. At first I didn't have any +CHR gear and the enemy would switch to my friend after a few hits... but after I put some +CHR gear on (RK Belt, AF) the enemy stuck on me a bit more. These results are still inconclusive and I want to do more testing, but so far it does seem that CHR affects the effectiveness of your Provoke.

STR : STR will determine your max damage. This is not important at all, since you will never reach your max damage on monsters you are leveling from. 2 STR = 1 ATK.

MND : MND and your healing magic skill will affect the amount of HP you heal for. Every Cure has a "soft cap" after which it is hard (but not impossible) to gain more HP. Cure 1 = 30, Cure 2 = 90, Cure 3 = 190, etc. MND also affects your enfeeblement resistance.

AGI : 2 AGI = 1 evasion and 1 ranged accuracy. Evasion is hardly important for a PLD... IT monsters will really only miss you when you cast Flash on them. AGI has better uses though: more AGI decreases the chance that a monster will Critical Hit you. As a result, several PLD wear Drone Earrings due to a lack of better earrings.

DEX : 2 DEX = 1 Accuracy. Accuracy is more important for a PLD than you may believe... hitting an enemy gains more hate than missing. There have been SEVERAL times (including last night), where a DRK or other teammate would gain hate at the beginning of fight before my Provoke and Flash refreshed, and the monster would only turn back to me after I hit it. Plus, this is a good way to gain TP. PLD can contribute in renkei just as good as other melee (though we have to sit between battles to regen MP). Piercing WS -> Seraph/Fast blade is Distortion, which is a very nice renkei against crabs, crawlers, pugils, etc. Guillotine->Vorpal is a nice Thunder renkei. Also, if you don't want to be in renkei, a 300% Spirits Within is a guaranteed 500-580 damage hit depending on your HP.

INT : Honestly this stat is not important for a PLD. I believe 2 INT = 1 Magic Attack, and it also affects your attack magic defense... but the difference is negligible in comparison to shell, bar-spells, etc.

Weapon Choice
http://www.ausystem.org/~aushacho/gbox/ff/skill-e.html

This is pretty simple. A Paladin should generally use 1hand sword and shield during level up PT's. The DEF, shield blocking, and shield bash are too important to give up in relation to a Great Sword, and the renkeis and WS are too good to give up in relation to a 1hand club. Great Sword is still handy when you are not in a level up PT, as there are some VERY nice PLD-ONLY GS out there. I'm personally not a fan of GS, so I don't use one. 1h Club seems deceivingly nice with the MP-gain WS... but they only give you about 17 MP, which is nowhere near as good as a Spirits Within or Vorpal Blade, or any other WS if used in renkei.

For soloing purposes, I use polearm. We get pentathrust at 56, which is just an awesome WS for weak monsters (get 50% TP back). Penta is pretty crappy in level up PT but very nice for gilfarming. I hear dagger is good for soloing as well due to Energy Steal and Drain, but my skill is not high enough yet to try this out (although I plan to skill this up when I have the chance).

One thing to note, apparently your skill rating will affect the *rate* at which you gain skill points. I was skilling up with a WHM in CN one time with polearm @ 125 and his club @ 150, and he was gaining more skill than me. Another time I was skilling up with polearm @ 130 and RNG friend with marksmanship @130, and his skill went up MUCH faster and frequently than me. This is good news to Paladin in some ways:

I used to think that a Paladin's high skill ratings in Shield (and Parrying less so) to be useless since we almost never reach the cap per level. But apparently not: we generally have more shield skill than any other job, due to our higher rating (meaning we gain points faster). Not terribly important, but good to know.

Job Abilities and Spells
Provoke, Provoke, Provoke! Provoke every 30 seconds to keep the hate (the +hate you gain stacks, obviously). Also throw some cures on whoever is being attacked (usually yourself) to get more hate. Shield Bash (level 15) and Sentinel (level 30) are good ways to gain hate... Usually it's better to only use 1 per fight since they have a 5 minute cooldown. Shield Bash is also very useful to stop monsters from using long-casting skill/spells (like ancient magic). Flash (level 37) is an incredible spell that gains a lot of hate. It has very little cast time but a long cool down, and it effectively blinds the enemy. Your other spells are generally not that important... I have Banish, Banish II, and Holy, and even with maxed Divine skill they do laughable damage. Banish is a nice way of pulling, however. You will also get Defender from WAR sub at level 50, which is a nice way to decrease damage at times. However, this will also generally cause you to hit for 0 now and then, meaning you won't gain TP. I generally only use Defender after I have a nice amount of TP.

Keep in mind there is a difference between JobAbility "spiked" hate and heal/damage "perpetual" hate. JA spiked hate causes a "spike" of aggro when executed which decreases automatically over time, while heal/damage hate will stay with you, only dropping as you get hit. So other than Provoke (which you should spam every 30 seconds), keep your other JA handy for when you really need the hate, like when BLM is casting a powerful spell or someone using a powerful WS and your provoke is not almost ready.

Our 2hour Invincible does 2 things: reduces all physical damage to 0 and garners a huge amount of hate. However, keep in mind that you have to be on the monster’s hate list first to get any hate at all. An easy way to do this is to cure whoever it is attacking then activate the 2hr.

Do not underestimate Cover! Keep it macroed, and let the person know that they are being covered so they can move behind you. This is very useful when you have the ancient-spamming BLM or a RNG using sidewinder without utsusemi. The drawback is that you will get hit 100% of the time when you are Covering... you can not block with the shield or parry when using this (unless of course, the monster is attacking you instead of the person you are covering). You gain Rampart at level 62... from what I hear it's a nice way to gain hate as well.

FYI we get 4 Physical Defense Ups: level 10 gives 10 def, level 30 gives 22 def, level 50 gives 35 def, level 70 gives 47 def according to sites I have been on. -spells, etc.

Equipment Guide
This will not be a step-by-step detailed analysis of every different weapon and armor available. Instead, I am sticking to Awntawn's method and will just point out certain steps where you should upgrade, as well as pointing out what some ideal equipment is.

Weapon : Your first major upgrade will be the Centurion Sword at level 30. It has some nice ATK and ACC bonuses. Next, you REALLY want to get Hunting sword at level 34. It does noticeably more damage than any previous sword. It also has a longer delay, but in return you get more TP per swing. Finally you'll be dishing out some decent damage. At 42, you should upgrade to the AF weapon, Honor Sword. At 50, go for Tactician Magician's Espadon, which is similar to the Hunting Sword (big damage, long delay). At 57 you should try to get the Gluttony Sword for good damage and VIT+7. Some people use this even at very high levels, although I've seen many PLD who upgrade to Espadon+1 at 66.

As for non-sword weapons, there are some very sweet PLD-only Great Swords at 40, 55, and 59. However, I am not a fan of GS, and thus tend to stay away from them. For non-xp PT or gilfarming, I use polearm... the greatness of pentathrust on weak enemies is not to be underestimated (50% TP return is oh-so sweet). I have zero experience with clubs and staves as I stay away from them, but someone else may want to give their opinions on these. But remember, sword+shield is still the best combo for leveling parties.

Shield : Straightforward due to lack of options. Just get whatever has the best defense. Kite->Heater->TK/RK Army Shield -> Royal Guard Shield. I want a Charging Shield but it is Rare/EX and the NM that drops it is level 65-70+....

Body/Gloves/Feet/Legs/Head : This is the bulk of your armor and also the pieces you will upgrade the most frequently. The general path for early levels is leather->scale->lizard->beetle->chain, though beetle can be skipped. At 30 be sure to get Centurion equipment for some very nice defense and stat bonuses. At 40 get Iron Musketeer (IM) and Ryl Squr equipment. If you can't afford all that, at least get IM armet (helm). At 45 upgrade your body armor to brigandine. At 50 get IM cuisses and cuirass. You don't necessarily have to upgrade your gloves, feet, and helm since you will get the AF pieces for those slots soon (see later section). At 55 you might want to get Ryl Knight Chainmail until you get your AF body piece at 60.

Neck : At first, Justice Badge is a nice, small bonus. At level 26 you should upgrade to Holy Phial (DEF 3, MP+9, MND+3). This will last you a very long time. At level 55, Elvaans tend to get the Sandorian CP collar (Royal Guard's Collar, DEF 6, ACC/ATK+4), and other races tend to get Iron Musketeer Gorget (DEF 7, HP+15, VIT+1). As a Galka, I'm sticking with Holy Phial until I can upgrade to Darksteel Gorget at level 67.

Back : Again, straightforward. Just get whatever has the best defense. At level 28, Wolf Mantle+1 gives a nice DEF boost as well as elemental resistance. Earth Mantle (level 30ish) gives DEF and VIT boost. At level 55 you should get your country's CP mantle (if you are Bastokian or Sandorian).. this is EX and can't be bought/sold in AH. It costs 24k CP and requires rank 6. If not, you might want Beak mantle+1 at level 58.

Waist : Go for either VIT or MP. If you want MP, wear a Friar's Rope... if you want VIT, wear a Warrior's Belt+1. Regardless, at level 48-50 you have a choice again: Life Belt (ACC+10) or RK Belt (DEF 5, all stats except VIT +2). I have both and personally I prefer Life Belt. The ACC bonus is very noticeable, and every hit you connect with will give you some enmity, as well as gaining TP. At high levels, keeping the hate is just as important (if not more important) as taking the hits. According to a JPN site, as of latest patch 1 weapon skill level = 0.9 Accuracy, so Life Belt is equivalent to 11 weapon skill levels in terms of accuracy.

Earrings : Not many choices really. You can get +MP or +atk at early levels, then switch to drone earrings when you can. The added AGI will reduce the chance of being critted by a monster. However, the difference is negligible (I have tried these) and I prefer the small boost in MP of black and bat earrings.

Rings : Aim for VIT rings at early levels. DEX, DEF, and HP rings are fine as well... honestly these won't make too much of a difference at low levels. Astral Ring/Electrum Ring are nice if you are Galka or Elvaan to get some extra MP. At level 50 you'll want some Phalanx Rings (DEF 10), but as you get higher level you'll notice that 10 DEF means less and less. At this point you'll probably want to switch to VIT rings (most high level PLD use VIT rings or Astral/Serket rings).

Ranged : I don't use any bow or anything but I notice some people do (for pulling purposes). I use Morion Talthum in the ranged ammo slot for the minimal MP boost (MP+3, INT+1).

Artifact (AF)

I had a lot of info written up here before I accidentally deleted my post (doh!!), but I realized that much of it is just regurgitation of what I read from Eriwilde's very handy site:
http://davidbowie.dyndns.tv/eriwilde/ffxi/job/index.html#

So check there first. :biggrin:

To go in depth a bit more.. these quests will take a LOT of your time. Coffer key hunts require a very solid PT or alliance, unless you have some high level helping you. The droprate is rather low (once we went 6 hours in Davoi without getting a single key) and then you have to find a coffer too. Finding a coffer is easy in some place, harder in others... for example, it's VERY difficult in Oztroja due to several high level THF's camping coffers for astral rings. Thankfully we don't require an Oztroja coffer :sweat: Even if you get lucky and get your key earlier, you better freaking stay and help everyone that helped you (I've met some people who yoinked and then went afk or just warped... very very lame). Here are the stats for our AF:

Honor Sword : level 42 sword, Damage 28, Delay 240, VIT/MND +2
Gallant Leggings : level 52 boots, DEF 14, HP+15, CHR+5, Shield skill+10, Enhances Holy Circle effect
Gallant Gauntlets : level 54 gloves, DEF 16, HP+11, DEX+3, Light Resist+10, Enmity+2
Gallant Coronet : level 56 helmet, DEF 24, HP+12, Enhance Cover effect (lasts longer, I think 20 instead of 10 seconds), Enmity+2
Gallant Breeches : level 58 pants, DEF 34, HP+15, AGI+3, Enhancing Magic Skill+5, Enmity+2
Gallant Surcoat : level 60 body, DEF 47, HP+20, VIT+4, Divine Magic Skill+5, Enmity+2

The added enmity means that every action you take will have more hate added to it, allowing you to keep aggro better... very very useful.

Crafting

The only crafting guild I am familiar with is Culinary... and honestly, I find it very useful for PLD. I don't do it for the money at all... in fact, I lose a lot of money raising my cooking skill. I don't tend to make my own fish mithka or meat mithka either (only save about 500 gil compared to buying a stack in AH, and if you somehow fail a synth you just lost 2-5k worth of materials). The two things I do cook regularly are boiled crab and juices. You will level off of crabs for a VERY long time in this game, from my experience at least. Of course at low levels there are thickshells, snippers and clippers. But at higher levels:
level 50-55 = Kuftal tunnel crabs
level 55-57 = Boyahda Tree crabs
level 57-60 = Terrigan crabs
I always ask kindly if my team would mind if I could get the crab meat, and they usually don't mind. (It's about time we PLD get some love... if a scroll drops, I always allow the mage get it if they need it) Bay leaves cost only 1.8k a stack, Fire crystals are 1.5k-2k a stack, and the other ingredients are super cheap... if you buy a stack of boiled crab in AH, it's as much as 6-6.5k in midgard, if you make it yourself it's around 3k... very useful. Also, with my cooking skill at 50, I make steamed crab every now and then (adds a bit more DEF and lasts an hour).

More importantly however, we can make drinks during battle. It's not very practical to bring drinks with you, since they don't stack. instead, you can bring 3 stacks of ingredients,then make them into 12 drinks that don't stack. Pineapple juices are the most cost efficient (water crystals are super cheap, and pineapples are only 62gil at npc), but melon juice and yagudo juice isn't overly costly to make either. Juice doesn't stack with Refresh, but in those instances where 1) you have BRD instead of RDM or 2) RDM is busy refreshing others, you can just bust out a juice and regen your MP. Perhaps I find this more useful since I am a Galka, but I think it would benefit any race since the rate we regen MP is the same.

I think alchemy would be another good guild to join... I am too cheap to start leveling a brand new guild, but making your own silent oils and prism powders would be very useful since we don't have sneak or invis.

Future Updates
I don't presume to know everything about the Paladin job. I have only been playing 2-3 months, so I am still a relative newbie. However, I hope that the information and advice I have provided will help aspiring Paladins as well. Any contributions from other people would be much appreciated... criticism is great, as long as it's constructive. I hope to make future updates to this as I learn and play more, including a FAQ section once I read over this forum more extensively or get asked more questions. Anyways, I'm tired from writing all this... I want to sleep but I'm at work :sweat: Hope some of this helps someone out there.

General Leveling Tips
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This part is contributed by Kainzero. Many thanks and much respect to him/her ^^

My levelling guide, from Bastok:
Level 1-7
You could probably solo most things, can even take on evens and some toughs. Attack isn't terribly different from WAR, MNK, DRK... etc, plus you can heal yourself. Take skins or L1 RSE, doesn't really matter. At 6, you could probably head to the Fumaroles in SGustaberg, which is great for EXP.
Level 8-12
Buy your first equipment upgrade and head for Konschtat. Here, you will fight Rock Eaters, and there's two places they generally appear. One near Gusgen Mines, the other near the SAM Quest site. They are in opposite directions. These are your greatest source for EXP, as they are incredibly easy, you can easily defeat evens and toughs. If they're camped, too bad =\ you could XP off of saplings and wasps.
Level 12-16
Time to start PTing! Hit up a PT in Valkurm. At L12, you should be taking on Ambusher-level Gobs. At L14, Snippers give great EXP. Right now, you should notice that WARs seem to be just as good as you, they have versatility in weapons and do more damage, and take just as much.
Level 16-20
You have two options. You can either stay in Valkurm and take Snippers up to 17, then fight Leecher-Gambler-level Gobs and Pugils, or you can attempt to put together a Korroloka Tunnel PT. The latter is very difficult. Be sure to pick up Lizard Armor. Use Cure I to keep hate.
Level 20-24
Head on over to Jeuno and fear what most people fear. Qufim. You should pick up Beetle at L21. Find a good PT and chain Worms in the lake during the day till 22, then pick on Clippers, which are probably good till 24. On the flip side, if you're good at putting together PTs, there's an alternate levelling area in Champaign where you can chain beetles. At 23, you might notice a shift in your curing tactic to Cure II, if you haven't already.
Level 24-25
Probably the most excruciating pain in levelling. Get your chain armor on and head over to Qufim for Pugil chains. If you're lucky, there's an area across the Tower with plenty of Pugils, but if it's camped it could get difficult.
Level 25-28
If your PT is really in sync, check out Yhoator Mandragora. Otherwise, stick with their Yuhtunga Brethren till 28. You'll notice at 25, WARs get double strike, and seem to take slightly more damage than you.
Level 28-33
Yhoator is a gold mine. Mandragora are good 'till 32-33 ish, and there's Smithies/Pathfinders and even Lizards to kill at 31. If the area is too crowded (and it really was on Asura) try to put together an Altepa group and head there at 30. Beetles are good. If you remember your Beetle camping spot at 20, that place is excellent to camp Evil Weapons as well from 30-33. Once you hit 30, invest everything you can into Centurion/Royal Sq. Armor, and at this point, you will actually smile as you take a substantial amount of less damage than WARs.
Level 33-36
I did most of this run in Garliage Citadel. It was hell when it was crowded, but bats are easy, and same with beetles. If your RDM doesn't have dispel, beetles will destroy you. Watch your puller, there's lots of holes in the area. Cure III actually becomes a bit more viable than Cure II right now.
Level 36-38
Worker Crawlers in CN is the popular place to go. They don't hit hard and there are a lot to go around. Your DEF steadily rises.
Level 38-42
Gustav Tunnel did it for me, here. Bats are good till about 41. Flies are a bit dangerous, watch out for them, since Cursed Sphere is a threat. As far as Gobs, Poachers are the easiest, followed by the Reapers, and try not to get Robbers because they have insane evade. At 40, invest in Plate, and get the IM helmet for sure.
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I'll add a few things from my experience. I have a LOT of memory gaps where I can't remember where I leveled, so I'll mostly talk about my most recent leveling areas... sorry :sweat:
Level 30-34
I gained all 4 levels rather quickly in Eastern Altepa Desert. To get here, you go through the Zeruhn Mines in Bastok -> Korroloka Tunnel. Keep going west then at the very end take a left, and exit in Altepa. Fight spiders, then beetles, then possibly anticans.
Level 34-36
CN if you can stand the lag and competition. Spawn is plentiful but there are usually 3+ parties there... very very laggy.
Level 38-41
I believe I spent this time in Eldieme Necropolis fighting Lost souls. Bring cursna with you just in case... the xp was very good. Keep in mind that arrows and spears are craptacular against bones, whereas fists do good damage.
Level 42-48
I spent these levels in either East Altepa Quicksand caves (beetles, spiders, anticans) or CN again (hornflies, soldier crawlers, beetles).
Level 49-52
Garliage is great for these levels, though again it can be quite camped. When it isn't there are plenty of bats and beetles to chain, even for 3 parties.
Level 52-53
West Altepa quicksand caves... anticans and beetles once again.
Level 53-55
Now begins your crab camping. Go to kuftal and chain robber crabs... there are literally tons (enough for 5-7 parties to be honest) and several camping spots. This place was great.
Level 55-57
Crabs again, but this time in Boyahda tree (to get there, go NE exit of Meriphataud mountains -> Zitah -> Boyahda). There are 2 main rooms with knight crawlers and robber crabs, and each has enough spawn to happily accomodate 2 parties.
Level 58-60
Terrigan... this is where I am now, and honestly I don't like it. But oh well.. crabs again, along with pugils.

awesome.

great guide, wasn't expecting it so soon. IMO, it would look a little easier if the equipment guide was based on levels rather than each indivdual piece.

Also, I was wondering something about end level equipment. Would the AF gloves still be useful at high levels? They don't seem too spectacular though +3 dex is always great and I assume that emnity +2 is the main reason. Is there nothing else better at that time?

pwned my guide :sweat:

This'll be very helpful for when I finally get to Pally ^^ Thanks!

:handsdown :handsdown :handsdown

Wonder what's gonna be in your next installment.

About mind.

I'm not sure about this, but I've heard that it also mitigates weapon ability damage and special abilities like dimensional death. Not sure about this, but I wouldn't be suprised.

Nice guide tho, too much typing for my tastes. :sweat:

Awesome guide!!! :thumbsup:

Perhaps you could write in a little levelling guide while you're at it? For example, what subjob you should pick while levelling WAR... what you should expect to do to get invites at lvl x to y...

Also maybe you could post how the PAL should act in different types of parties? For example Awntawn's DRK guide had lots of strategies on what to do as a DRK/THF in a party with no THF and various different combinations of other types of classes... what to do as a DRK/SAM with a THF in the party... etc...

I heard that the GS's AOE WS "Shockwave" was really damaging and powerful and was great for farming. I also heard that the GS's lvl 225 weaponskill "Spin Slash" was also extremely damaging (if I remember correctly Awntawn actually did a four-digit damage figure with it). It'd be awesome if someone could write up a little "Greatsword" guide for the Paladin and how to use the GS to your best advantage in farming :biggrin:

Kensai, that's true, but it would take a very long time to write up an in-depth equipment guide, since we PLD need to upgrade our armor as often as possible. It's more of a financial question than anything else. That's why I prefer to just give some basic advice on equipment. As for high end equipment... that's a very good question. I can't answer that for sure, because I am not that high level yet. However, I still see several level 65-70 PLD who wear full AF, probably for the enmity bonus. Some rich PLD do switch to byrnie for body armor... which costs about 1-2mil :sweat:

Thebruce that's pretty interesting, I've never heard that. However, it couldn't make that much of a difference since the PLD's I was with in Eldiemme (camping coffer keys of course) got hit just as much as me with Spriggan's Dimensional Death. It would make some sense since I know D.D. (jigenzan is it?) ignores standard defense.

Ginthaeriel, a leveling guide is a good idea. There are other threads in these forums that have one but I'll try to make one later with Paladins solely in mind.

Here's the deal with GS. I only bothered leveling mine to level 100 or so, but ... the reason I don't find it very useful farming is that there's no good TP return WS. I could be wrong (is Crescent Moon multi hit?) but I don't think any of GS WS give back as much TP as penta thrust. When gilfarming, AE attack and straight up damage isn't as important as TP return, since I can use penta once or twice a battle. If I was gilfarming with a GS (such as tigers and golems in beacedine, orcs in davoi, etc), I would have to spend a long time gaining tp, then I would probably overkill an enemy with the huge damage. I'm sure GS is still very handy, since I see a lot of PLD's using them... but just not for me, so I can't really make a guide for that until I use one. Maybe someone else can write up about that (c'mon Thebruce, I know you use 'em :biggrin: )

I was considering doing that 'different party configuration' thing that Awntawn did but... honestly, we don't function that much different regardless of the configuration. We don't have a viable option of subjobs, thus basically all we're going to do is provoke, provoke, provoke, and provoke some more. The only minor differences are whether you participate in renkeis or not, and whether you let another melee provoke first so THF can fuidama behind you at beginning of battle. With some of my friends, they will get right behind me before doing something very damaging (sidewinder, ancient magic) so I can cover them in anticipation. But this is more of a person-by-person difference than a job-by-job difference.

Great job. This post should be made sticky.

Regarding the waist section, I'm not so sure the life belt is worth it. I know a lot of people use it because it helps you hit and supposedly gain aggro but come on, do we hit for that much anyways? Everyone I've asked seems to think RK is much better due to the defense (5 v/s 0) and the stat bonuses. I can't say for sure since I have not tried them both and it sounds like you have.

It's really hard to come to a conclusive answer. Like I said, I use both and... well, here are some more concrete stories:
At 300% TP and near-max HP, I can use Spirits Within for a *guaranteed* 550-580 damage hit. With RK Belt, it takes me 3-3.5 fights to build 300% TP. With Life belt, it takes me 2.5 fights on average (middle of 3rd fight). Also, in some PTs I am included in the renkeis (when I'm with a DRK, we like to Vorpal Scythe -> Seraph Strike for Distortion), and it's good to know that I won't hold the renkei back. Sometimes I even get 100% TP before the other melees.

On the other hand, the DEF and stat bonuses of RK belt are hard to deny. Once I get gluttony sword, I will try RK belt again to see if the +7 +2 VIT will make much of a difference.

Keep in mind that, although most high level PLD I've seen use RK belt, I've seen several that use Life Belt as well.

It's really hard to decide. They're both nearly the same price on my server (RK belt 90k, Life Belt 100k I think... yeah midgardsormr's economy is messed up). I'm thinking at first Life Belt is better, but at later levels when VIT makes more of a difference compared to DEF (and we use WS like Vorpal Blade that give more TP back), I might switch to RK belt again. The experimenting continues :biggrin:

Added a basic leveling guide with contribution from kainzero.

The RK belt doesn't have +vit to it. I have one atm and am really leaning towards a Life belt for exp purposes (for af3's/nm/hnm i'll stick with rk). Even with two madrigal's (bard accuracy) i'm missing quite a lot, and with the long delay on my gluttony sword, it starts to translate into lost hate.

Also, the vorpal blade is dependant on how accuractely you're hitting your target, I've had upwards of 500 damage against some exp targets, but against IT++ monsters i'll be lucky to get off more than 150 because I'm missing so much.

And when you hit 60 you'll most likely be in the renkeis because vorpal can combo well with most of the high level weapon skills.

On 2handers, I've tried and tried to get my 2hand skill up, but it really is such a pain because A. the delay on it is sooo long, meaing you won't get many hits to up your chances of a skill up. B. Obviously against any monster that gives skill ups your accuracy will be crap and you won't be hitting hence no skill ups.

Most exp monsters won't tax your whm's mana pool too bad so than defense isn't as important as amount of time to kill target. 2handers do more damage so theoretically monsters will die quicker. However, having that B skill is a very very big drawback. That 5 or so difference in the high levels is a huge difference between hitting said monster and whiffing on 75% of your swings.

But if you want to go 2hand, don't let people say sword/shield is the only viable option and your losing out on what a paladin is if you go 2hander. That is bs and at no times in your paladin career (unless your fighting goblins, but even than shield bash sux hard against them and rarely interrupts) can you not viably choose a 2hander over a 1hander. Especially if you use food and have up to date gear. You have tons of defense and cures that help mitigate the damage even more, so the 8-15 defense your losing from the shield and the shield blocking skill will not translate into that big of a difference (with exp monsters).

Bruce, thanks for your input. I totally forgot that RK belt doesn't add to vit (even though I stated such in my guide :sweat: ), so that's even more reason to use Life belt over RK belt.

About 2handers, I'd be glad to hear your advice. I know very little about using a GS in xp PT except from what other people have told me (and an importer I talked to told me it was a bad move :p but you never know). I don't know about you, but I do tend to block with a shield a few times a battle... but I suppose the greater damage you'll be inflicting will help you keep aggro. But on the other hand, if you're having trouble hitting with a 1hs, you'd have even more trouble with GS (with lower skill level), plus less swings mean less instances of your AF's enmity+8 kicking in. Oh well, it probably is still viable, but IMO not superior.. maybe on par or just slightly subpar. But like I said I'm a noob o_o

About leveling up your GS, it shouldn't be hard. Check out these sites that StarvingArtist posted:
http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown-Part/6371/skill1.gif
http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown-Part/6371/skill2.gif

As you can see, the monster you should fight to skill up is dependent on the job level that corresponds to your weapon skill level, not the weapon skill level itself. Since I can max my polearm skill at level 57 (not capped at 58 yet), there should be no problem for you to max your Great Sword (since you would have effectively 25 or so more accuracy (1 weapon skill level = 0.9 accuracy according to some sites). You can level it really easily while helping people camp coffer keys :thumbsup:

It took me a while to read this :sweat: but it's all good and useful information.

Sticked.

wow awesome post. Thanks again Imac =)

As for great swords in exp parties. I've tried it and didn't like it. I simply missed too much with it, even though the skill was maxed out for the level. Also, I couldn't stand losing shield bash. I usually just stick to GS for farming.

Does penta really give a 50% tp return? Thats assuming all 5 hits connect right? If so, I might scrap my gs and lvl up polearms.

Nice work Imac. Good "by the books" PLD guide.

If you're up to it, I'd highly recommend running around with some of the more interesting musings as a PLD. Unorthodox job combos, solo abilities, possible roles that can be filled by a PLD other than tankand etc. Those will take a ton more time and a lot more work but it should be interesting if you want a guide that can explain all the facets of a PLD and what they can do. You can smack the term "Ultimate PLD guide" or some junk =P.

Anyway, I'll see if I can toss some things together (like PLD soloing and a few other misc quirks) soon =P.

Wow! This guide is starting to get really big...

Hey do you think you guys could add some comments in the equipment section about the sword "Save The Queen"? Is it better than gluttony sword/espandon +1? It's PLD only, it has a latent effect of +20 acc (which I *think* means it only activates when your health is into the yellow) and gives a +1 effectiveness to cover.

I also heard that invincibility was the only thing that could pull hate off of a WHM's bene... so can you guys comment on PAL's 2hr in relationship with the WHM's 2hr?

Maybe we could get levelling guides for all three starting cities- it wouldn't take up much space since it'd be only for the first levels. Also, can you guys comment on which Conquest Point Items are best for PAL's? I heard (EDIT: Bastok... ehehe, silly me ^_^; ) was really good due to the Iron Musketeer/IM equips, but then again some people say some Pally's go to Windurst for the TM's Espandon CP purchase (or the mercenary belt)

omggg someone finally answered my call !!!

Also maybe you could post how the PAL should act in different types of parties? For example Awntawn's DRK guide had lots of strategies on what to do as a DRK/THF in a party with no THF and various different combinations of other types of classes... what to do as a DRK/SAM with a THF in the party... etc...
There's nothing you really need to learn. The most I can think of is Fuidama tactics... and what I usually do is have the THF activate SA+TA, pull, come back and have another voker, then SA+TA behind me. Voke+Flash, then use standard hate-keeping tactics, and the THF should be able to SA+TA behind the other voker constantly.
From what I have experienced, there is no special combo that I have yet to experience. Note that Awntawn's section deals with post-60 combos, and none of us are there yet =P

Another viable job for hunting is RNG or BST for Widescan, but I hope we all know that.

As far as Invincibility goes, as long as you're on the hate list, it will beat Bene in most cases. On the other hand, L55 friend said that an RNG using Sidewinder beat Benediction, and later on I beat it easily with standard hate keeping techniques.

Also, can you guys comment on which Conquest Point Items are best for PAL's? I heard San D'oria was really good due to the Iron Musketeer/IM equips, but then again some people say some Pally's go to Windurst for the TM's Espandon CP purchase (or the mercenary belt)
Don't bother with Legionnaire or Royal Archer or any of the garbage rank 2 and below items. At Rank3, Sandy and Bastok equip is very good. Royal Sq. stuff is actually cheaper than Centy, and some stuff is just as good (if not better), and I can't comment on Windy gear, i didn't use it, so maybe it's bad.

For real, though, why is DEF food so expensive? I was feeling really cheap, so I bought a 12 pack of roasted corn for 500 gil and for 9000 exp I burned half of it. If I bought Fish mithkabob that's... 3000 gil >_<;

Thanks for the comments guys.

bakavic: when gilfarming, you will be fighting tooweak's or easyprey's. (well at least I do, i.e. tremor and battering rams, beacedine golems and tigers, etc) You shouldn't miss much on these, my penta always gives me 40-50% back. If you sub warrior, you will get 60% back now and then due to double attack. Then again, if you're gilfarming you damn well better be subbing THF :p This means you can penta every fight, making fights much shorter. When I was gilfarming and there were other jobs around, I was outpacing every job my level except DRK, and I killed things twice as fast as RDM for instance.

Lyonesse: that's a nice idea, but the aspirations are somewhat too high for me ^^ . This guide is mainly to show how new players can play their job effectively... but later if other people want to add about unique job combos that can work in CERTAIN situations, that would be great.

Ginthaeriel:
Save the Queen = D40, Delay 240, Cover+1, latent : acc+20
Gluttony Sword = D44, Delay 295, STR/DEX/AGI/INT/MND-1, VIT+7
Espadon = D43, Delay 264, VIT/MND+2, Attack+5

There is also an Espadon+1 but I forget the stats... it's something like D44, Delay 250, VIT/MND+3, Attack+10 I think.

Anyways, I think Save the Queen has potential. Latent effect kicks in when you have yellow hp and tp < 100%, which is almost all the time for a PLD. However, even with the ACC+20, I'm not sure it's worth the loss of damage and stats that the other two weapons give you. However, I'm too low level to give any solid advice, maybe someone else who's used these weapons can give their opinion?

You can actually take hate away from Bene without Invincible... if the Bene is activated late in a battle and you have been provoking, curing, flashing, shieldbashing, etc... you should still keep aggro. But yes, in my experience PLD 2hr has ALWAYS took aggro off of benediction.

Sandoria isn't Iron Musketeer... it's bastok. This is a tough call. At first, I think sandoria is the best starting country for a PLD, because it has so many things that you can use or sell (Sandoria CP items at rank 5 and 6 are worth more than Bastok or Windurst). You can easily use this money to buy CP items from other countries. However, sandoria and bastok both have a rank 6 level 55 mantle that is EX (can't be traded or sold), and bastok's is better. Sandoria mantle is Def 9, STR/MND+2 I think, Bastok is somethign like Def 6, VIT/DEX+2 (I could be wrong, but for sure sandoria doesn't have vit and bastok does). 2 VIT is worth more than 3 DEF so... but really it doesn't matter, you can always get a Beak Mantle+1 (Def 9 VIT+2 I believe) which is 90k on my server, and you can make 90k by selling a rank 5 Sandoria item (like RK belt).

Best way to get DEF food is seriously just to make it yourself. I'm serious, you'll start getting land crab meat up the whazoo once you start leveling in Kuftal -> Boyahda -> Terrigan, and usually your PT will be happy to give them to you... then just buy bay leaves, rock salt, distilled water, and fire crystals (1 stack of each probably totals 3-3.5k), and you're set. Or you can make your own fish mithkas... I'm level 50 cooking but I don't wanna risk it, since if I fail, bye bye 5k worth of ingredients :sweat:

Pico: I PT'ed with your monk Hiran on midgardsormr Konschtat several moons ago :thumbsup: I was either a low level THF or WAR at the time...

Wow, nice work imac! /poke Rugal ^^; I have no idea why I keep bumping into you recently.

Here's a litte something, feel free to correct any mistakes.

Partying Tips
- Alternate shield bash and sentinel for fights (i.e. shield bash one fight, sentinel next fight, and so on). Using both in one fight is not recommended because they each have 5 min timers, meaning your next fight will leave you without any ability to use. Once you get Rampart at lvl 62 (5 min timer as well) you can couple that with either ja for some more breathing space for that fight. (rampart is great hate)

- It might be a good idea to bring along medicines that cure paralysis and silence. Paralysis can really cramp your hate control and if you have a lousy whm who doesn't know when to cast paralyna you're pretty much crippled. Vokes don't go off, magic gets interrupted, precious job abilities get wasted... you get my drift. As for silence... you know how bad it is. ^^

- In some parties, not having Defender on 24/7 may actually benefit. As long as you have fish kabobs or similar def food on and you are fighting not-so-tough monsters (chaining on smaller amounts of exp), you can leave defender off to help your attack. Surprisingly your attack can hold fairly decent hate in such situations.

- Fuidama tactics:
THF, DD(damage dealer -- assumed to have voke), YOU
CASE 1:
1. THF SA+TA (I'll refer to this as fuidama out of habit) on you
2. Mob turns to you
3. You start hate-building
4. THF does further fuidamas on the DD for the rest of the fight.

In this case, you can tank 'normally' (ie. make sure hate stays on you for the entire fight, only need to adjust at start)

CASE 2: (I personally prefer with RNG and THF)
1. THF SA+TA on you
2. Mob turns to you
3. You barely hold the hate so that monster is still on you
4. DD starts first WS
5. Mob turns to DD
6. THF (still staying behind you) fuidama+ws on you
7. Hate is on you for the rest of the fight or until the next ws set begins (rare, this sort of parties I've been in normally only have one ws per fight)

This is about the only instance you need to hold back on hate gathering. In this case you want to hold =just= enough hate to keep the monster turned your way, but not so much that the monster won't turn when the rng (feel free to replace rng with damage dealer) uses sidewinder. If the monster doesn't turn to the rng, the thf will have to run over to do sneak+trick attack, and that may mean your renkei is ruined.

- DRK/THF
You'll welcome the Guillo+trick, but bewarned that this is sort of 'watered down' and not as strong as the THF dancing edge (or viper bite at lower levels) fuidama. A mistake I made was to relax a little on the hate after a DRK/THF guillo+tricked onto me, causing me to lose hate sometime later on during the fight.

- Every party is different, what you do for hate in one party may not apply to the next. Some are more offensive, some are more defensive. Some go slowly so you can use more mp, some chain really quickly so you need to ration your mp out. It usually takes me from 1-5 fights with a party to get a feel of it, and from then on I have the monster's attention almost all the way until the party disbands.

- Particularly outstanding renkei (60+):
These renkei are often used and note: usually very high damage output. If you don't have a thf around or your thf is crap at transferring hate, watch out for these:

RNG Sidewinder > THF Dancing Edge (with fuidama) > MB
works for CASE 2 fuidama described above

DRK Guillotine > WAR Raging Rush > MB
be careful unless DRK has subbed THF and is tricking Guillo onto you

I feel that hate control is not just about keeping the monster on you, it's about being aware of how hate flows from and to each party member in battle, and acting based on this knowledge. I could well be wrong though.

I'm currently using GS for my gilfarming, purely for the looks. ^^ Will try polearms someday.

Hey Whren :biggrin: Wow, got rampart already huh... lucky you :P I'm taking a break on leveling while waiting for my friends to catch up to me, and also do some other things I wanted to do for a while (crafting, gilfarming, genkai3, AF3, BCNM... eek). Thanks for your input, that info will really help me and others once we get to level 60. Since I have no more space in my first pages of posts for this, I'll just refer to it in an edit.

We're going to try to do AF3 tonight... wish us luck! :spin:

Originally posted by TheBruce
...On 2handers, I've tried and tried to get my 2hand skill up, but it really is such a pain because A. the delay on it is sooo long, meaing you won't get many hits to up your chances of a skill up. B. Obviously against any monster that gives skill ups your accuracy will be crap and you won't be hitting hence no skill ups...

I havent seen this catch on with english shouting ppl at ramuh yet, but the best way to skill up those no-pt weapons (i.e. everything but 1h sword :D) is to form skill-up tours. Shout at jueno stating what skill lvls you want to work on..say 160-200, the place your going (davoi, otz, etc), free lot on drops and ppl joining need to be able to use cure (sj whm for those jobs dont have cure). Try to get as many as possible and form alliance.

You will usually fill it up pretty quickly..whm want to work towards hexa, mages/pld/dk get to skill up spells they dont use much in PTs, lvl the non-main weapons, maybe some need coffer key for that area, paper drop for those doing genkai 5, use potential on trial weapons, lots things ppl will join tours for...I only use 1h sword for lvl up PT but 4 weapons at max now and working on last 2 (staff and dagger).

-daigoro

However, sandoria and bastok both have a rank 6 level 55 mantle that is EX (can't be traded or sold), and bastok's is better. Sandoria mantle is Def 9, STR/MND+2 I think, Bastok is somethign like Def 6, VIT/DEX+2 (I could be wrong, but for sure sandoria doesn't have vit and bastok does). 2 VIT is worth more than 3 DEF

How much more does it cost to buy the bastok mantle if you are from San Doria? I have heard it is either 150% or 200% and while both are really bad it would be worth it to some extent.

It's the cost of the items in that rank times 2. I think those mantles cost 24000 CP so it would cost 48000 CP to get it.

The Republican Mantle (Bastok) has +5 HP too IIRC.

CP exchanges work swimmingly, you my find. I certainly have. If you really, REALLY want a CP item and can't pay for it, see if somebody else wants an item from the same Rank level (i.e. the same CP cost), and just buy the one the other guy wants and trade it with him. I've got this lined up with a guy from Windurst for when I need that TacMag Espadon, and I'll pass him along something for himself.

Note, however, that as mentioned there are a few VERY GOOD Ex items, notably the mantles!

My advice on CP: don't spend it at all before Rank 4. A full suit of Centurion/Squire and a Centurion sword doesn't cost more than 30-50k, which seems like a lot but is money easily rasied. Iron Musketeer, Swordsman Blades, Army Shields, TacMag Espadons, and the Army Mantles are far more directly valuable than anything preceding them, and they're all Rank 4 or higher and consequently VERY expensive. The whole purpose of CP is to SAVE MONEY, so obviously you don't want to have to shell out the cash for these items if your nation happens to have them. If you saved every single CP you got from lv1 as a WAR (or MNK or whatever) to 30, and from lv1 PLD to lv40-50 (when most of these items become usable), you'll have quite a large chunk of CP to spend, trade, use to raise funds, and so forth. Note that this is NOT ABSOLUTE! Yeah, that Rank 6-9 stuff looks really fantastic, but in practical terms the items I see actually selling, and selling well, are the Rank 4 and 5 items. Concentrate the bulk of your CP on those purchases!

Windurst actually had a pretty good mantle as well, I forget the stats but it gives +MP.

http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/jobs.html?fjob=5&mid=1076034850702172128&num=14

I know it may seem fake but has anyone heard anything about AGI affecting your parry and blocking rate?

A lot of misinformation and pompous flaming on those boards, just like most FFXI boards (ign, gamefaqs, etc). Even though I like that site a lot for information, the boards are full of people full of themselves who like to insult everyone behind a mask of anonymity.

For one, the evasion bonus from either drone or dodge earrings means JACK. When I fight perytons (IT mobs in sorrow valley), they occasionally blind me. I have 2 bat earrings, so blinded = +30 evasion. They still never miss me.. maybe they miss me once out of every battle. I purposely told my WHM not to blindna me so I can see how often I'll evade... and it was laughable.

So maybe AGI really does affect parrying and shield blocking. I am not sure about this at all... I didn't notice any difference when I used drones... but to be honest I wasn't paying attention that much most of the time. Maybe bside or daigoro can help us out on this issue? If so, maybe I should trade my bat earrings for drone earrings... it feels weird "downgrading" from 50k earrings to 15k earrings though.

I also could not see any effect from the +6 AGI so I just gave up and started equiping MP items in my earring slot...wearing 2 death pierce now for 20MP, while waiting for guilders to get the Robust Earrings (vit+2) to ramuh...assuming I can even afford them if they do.

-daigoro

I'm only a level 30 PLD, and I'm aware I don't have as much experience as you guys have.

But, I do believe that AGI does more than 2 AGI = 1 Evasion. To easily prove my point, we can all agree that VIT isn't only 2 VIT = 1 DEF. I don't see why AGI would be useless like that.

I really do believe that it increases Shield/Parry/Evasion rate, though I don't have any numbers of proofs to support my claim...

I also believe that since PLDs have such low AGI, and that Mithras have the highest AGI, they're probably the only ones that can take advantage of it. At least that's the way I see it all. Once I get my Drone Earring, I'll try to keep an eye on my shield/parry/evasion rate then.

2 Agi = 1 Evasion and 1 Ranged Accuracy.

2 Vit = 1 Def and reduces Dmg based on Opponent's Str.

That's all I know for sure =/.

-Lerican

Originally posted by Nemes
I'm only a level 30 PLD, and I'm aware I don't have as much experience as you guys have.

But, I do believe that AGI does more than 2 AGI = 1 Evasion. To easily prove my point, we can all agree that VIT isn't only 2 VIT = 1 DEF. I don't see why AGI would be useless like that.

I really do believe that it increases Shield/Parry/Evasion rate, though I don't have any numbers of proofs to support my claim...

I also believe that since PLDs have such low AGI, and that Mithras have the highest AGI, they're probably the only ones that can take advantage of it. At least that's the way I see it all. Once I get my Drone Earring, I'll try to keep an eye on my shield/parry/evasion rate then.

Yes, that's obvious, and we didn't state otherwise. :) All base stats affect several derivative stats and other circumstances. AGI also decreases the chance of monster critting you, for example.

The big question is, how much does it help?

Certain derivative stats make almost no difference. For example, evasion makes no difference against XP PT mobs, which are incredibly tough. I have 2 bat earrings, when I am blind, I have +30 evasion. That should be a lot right, cuz that's 60 AGI? Wrong, when Peryton's blind me, there is absolutely no difference in evade rate.

Other derivative stats, such as attack and accuracy, make a lot more difference because they affect how a monster "cons" to you... like, if it's high evade/def, normal, or low evade/def. The way it cons affects other things... for example, they increase your base damage before random variables are added/subtracted.

I tried 2 drone earrings for several XP PT's just trying it out. The fact is I noticed no difference. +10 mp is much more concrete... isn't much, but it's there for a fact. And later levels you can get better MP earrings to get up to +20 mp as daigoro states.

Originally posted by imac2much


The big question is, how much does it help?

Certain derivative stats make almost no difference. For example, evasion makes no difference against XP PT mobs, which are incredibly tough. I have 2 bat earrings, when I am blind, I have +30 evasion. That should be a lot right, cuz that's 60 AGI? Wrong, when Peryton's blind me, there is absolutely no difference in evade rate.


Is it possible that evasion is capped based on your character's lvl which causes "non difference" ?

I know when I check my weapon skill stats evasion is always capped based on my level. So does wearing +evasion items go beyond the cap? or am I totally misunderstood the evasion skill altogether?

EDIT:
Also forgot to mention that PLD has a C rating for evasion. So if the above are true, then we definately have a less chance evading IT mobs no?

Well, let's analyze this:

1) Even if what you say is true, that is all the more reason why drone earrings are pointless. If you are saying that +evasion doesn't help because it is already capped for my level, then how will drone earrings help also? Unless you're saying somehow the stat-derived bonuses CAN go over the cap... but then you're grasping for straws.

2) I'm pretty sure it goes over the cap. When a RDM uses phalanx, the damage reduction is (Enhancing Skill/7)-10. When a RDM uses phlanax with capped enhancing skill, he will take X amount less damage. Then he puts his AF hat on for Enhance skill bonus... he takes even less damage. Then he gets 70% hp and <100% tp and puts on Fencer Ring... even less damage! This should prove that +stats can go beyond your level cap.

So either way, drone earrings = useless, except for THF.

ok now i'm confused. are we talking about evasion or defense?

This is how I understand it. Evasion relates to the rate of mobs hitting/missing you while defense relates to what damage you take.

I admit I just got the game last December so maybe I still have to learn a few things.

As far as i know defense doesn't have a lvl cap associated with it, but evasion does.

However you look at it, paladin still have a C rating in evasion which makes those earrings useless (This will probably depends on if +stat items go beyond level cap, which I have no idea if they do).

I am not high level so I can't say this for sure, but I am guessing that those earrings are mainly useful for THFs and NINs (they have A rating in evasion) at higher level when it takes longer to reach their respective evasion level cap.

PS: I am really curious if +stat items really does go beyond their respective level cap. Does anyone have any links which may point to some information about this?

EDIT:
I'm sorry, I neglected to look at the stat for drone earrings before I replied to your post.
Initially I thought drone earrings adds to evasion...but turns out that it adds 3 agility.
So I take back what I said about drone earrings being useless for paladin as agility does effect critical hit rates, so it does have some use.

One more apology is in order. You are actually relating to the RDM's enhance skill...not the defense stat.
In that case then that is a strong evidence that +stat items really does make skills go beyond their level cap.
Good call Imac! :thumbsup:

Where did I ever mention defense?

The skill rating won't affect whether a +skill will go beyond cap. The difference between an A skill and C skill at level 60 is only 13 points. My +30 evasion from bat earrings when I'm blind would make my skill much higher than someone with A skill....... and I still don't evade. +3 evade from 2 drones or +6 evade from 2 dodges are going to help this much: absolutely zilch.

I already gave PROOF that +skill equipment lets you go beyond the cap, with the RDM example.

http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30187&highlight=phalanx

As you can see, even though Applepie's enhancing skill is at a level cap, his AF armor's +skill for enhancing let's it go up 15 more points... and Fencer Ring will do the same.

Where's the confusion?

ah, you are quicker to post than me.
Doesn't matter still good info as I learned something new.

Originally posted by imac2much

The skill rating won't affect whether a +skill will go beyond cap. The difference between an A skill and C skill at level 60 is only 13 points. My +30 evasion from bat earrings when I'm blind would make my skill much higher than someone with A skill....... and I still don't evade. +3 evade from 2 drones or +6 evade from 2 dodges are going to help this much: absolutely zilch.



OK, the only thing I can think of is maybe the mobs accuracy is greater than your C skill with +30 evasion.
Maybe we can try a test with someone who has an A rating and that +30 evasion condition and see if that makes a difference.

I don't if I may be wrong about this, but 13 difference between A and C sounds a lot to me, based on the posts I've read about choosing weapons for level up party.

Xcal, you're not seeing the big picture.

Ninjas and other jobs with A evasion are NOT going to use bat earrings. First of all, the +30 evasion only kicks when you're blind, which won't be often. At best, they will use 2 dodge earrings for Evasion + 6.

So they will have a total of 19 more evasion than my PLD with C evasion. But then when I am blinded (bat earrings are +5 mp and +15 evasion when blind, I use them for the MP, not for the evasion bonus), I have 11 more evasion than them.

And guess what? IT mobs still hit me like crazy. There's almost no difference at all against IT mobs that you will fight for XP. Perhaps for even match and below, the evasion bonus will help, who knows?

Bottom line: Evasion is pointless for a PLD, and really only helps when you cast flash. But when I cast flash, even with a capped C rating, I don't get hit.

You're putting way too much emphasis on the skill rating of evasion. I already stated previously that certain derivative stats have more practical impact than others. Evasion is probably useless compared to defense because there aren't +% evasion boosts from food and spells and job abilities (for PLD) as there are with DEF... if I wasn't using Protect, food, etc, my defense would be pretty crappy as well.

I don't believ the Drone Earrings are usefull for the small bonus in Evasion. It is only for the AGI bonus.

As for saying the monsters hit you like crazy, surely you mean "most of the time", right? 'cause if we look when we just leveled, our Evasion Skill pumps up like crazy. And it only pumps when the monster misses. So, Evasion can't be useless...

Also, as I said earlier, PLD have LOW Evasion and AGI, which may be why you don't get to evade as much as you wish. On the other hand, a Mithra as very high AGI, and *maybe*, just maybe, a Mithra PLD can evade/shield/parry as much on a Tough or VT mob than a Galkan/Elvaan PLD can on an Even Match.

Of course, this is based on the fact that AGI does more raise a little Evasion and Ranged Accuracy...

But, I seriously doubt AGI isn't usefull like VIT can be usefull. My guess is that AGI is calculated with the mob's DEX. I've heard ppl saying that AGI helps raise shield/parry/evasion rate, and I certainly don't think it's crazy, but I certainly can't prove that as well...


So, I guess what I'm trying to say, is that because PLD is so low on AGI, maybe the only real race that can make full use of that is a Mithra.

Some good points there Nemes. However, no offense, but I disagree.

Evasion goes up whether you dodge or not. You didn't know that? Paladins almost never dodge unless you use Flash (which doesn't last long). Evasion goes up fast because you tank a lot... it goes up even when you get hit.

Race means nothing here. 2 AGI = 1 evasion as stated, and even with +30 evasion (+60 AGI), there is no difference. Mithra has like, what, 8 more AGI than Galka at my level? 4 evasion... useless.

And don't say that maybe Mithra will dodge more WITH the +30 evasion... the +30 evasion is not practical in normal XP PT usually (only works when blinded), I was just using it to test, otherwise I would want a blindna ASAP (and only a few monsters blind you anyway). So if a Galka with +30 evasion cannot dodge, then a Mithra with +6 evasion can't either.

Your emphasis on base stat is misguided.... it seems you think that AGI must be important just because we now realize VIT is important. Realize this:

VIT on the whole doesn't make much difference. The reason why higher levels value VIT is because at higher levels you have too much DEFENSE, to a point where VIT will reduce damage more than DEF. This is because you can get Protect 4, fish mithkabobs, Defender, Sentinel, Rampart. Without these, DEF is a lot more important than VIT.

What do you use to increase evasion? That's right, nothing. So I see no reason to speculate that AGI is more important than EVASION at this point. Sure, you might shield block, parry a bit more, but it won't be noticeable. I have tested with drone earrings and noticed nothing, Daigoro confirmed this as well.

Most people who use drones are because they just like the bonus on the stat screen, not because they actually objectively notice any difference.

imac is correct about VIT, but to put this in perspective...

...when he or I say that "VIT is better than Defense past the monster's Attack threshold," we're NOT necessarily implying that the return from VIT is a particularly spectacular one. VIT is a direct and linear reduction to base damage... a reduction of basically 1. Against something that hits for even 50 (which you will see by lv30 and it only goes up from there), a reduction of 1 is not much. Even with massive +VIT (rings/earrings/Gluttony/AF/etc.), you will only be shaving off enough damage to equal out to one up-to-date cure spell from your healer every so often. That's good inasmuch as that's our job, to take less damage and be more efficient to heal, but the return will not be grand.

It will simply be more than extra Defense gives you, which past the ATK/DEF=1 barrier becomes LESS THAN 1 PER DEFENSE, and indeed past a certain point less than 1 for even 5-10 defense. Thus, past a certain point you may find Phalanx Rings and their +20 defense (for two) don't shave 8-10 damage... whereupon +4/5 VIT rings (again, two) would be superior. But again, we're talking about all of 10 damage here. When we talk about the mathematic ideal defense, it's not going to be some grandiose difference between the ideal and the average PLD's VIT/DEF. It makes a difference, but it's very, very small.

Your ability to hold hate is much more telling than your statistical tweaking when it comes to being a tank. Yes, you will take less damage than most, and yes, it will be somewhat noticeable. But there is no magic +DEF/+VIT combo that will cut damage in half or anything.

Also, if Evasion only went up when you dodged, I sure as heck wouldn't be maxing Evasion every level after 3 fights. :biggrin:

edited for clarification

Fellow higher PLDs,

I may soon be able to buy a "Earth Staff".
It is a 2hand staff that among other things, gives 20% reduction in Physical Damage. Have any of you tried this? Does the reduction in dmg make up for being able to do low dmg and the lack of a shield?

Just a thought.... but does the blind status affect evasion? I mean, without the earrings. I know that is hinders accuracy but if you think about it, it would make sense to hinder evasion as well. Hmmm... then again you can always look at it when you have blind and see that it does affect evasion... just a thought.

Is it true that the more you use magic, the stronger it becomes?

Is this true for paladins?

~ Awesome guide. I love it~

Okay, here's a highly flammable opinion:

When I miss a critter, my Sword skill never raises. Nor do I gain Shield or Parry skill when I fail to block an attack. However, I do gain Evasion skill when I'm hit? Why?

I think Evasion pushes the damage curve to the left. That is, it not only opposes an opponent's Accuracy, it also lowers the maximum damage you take, whereas DEF lowers the damage taken with each hit. Otherwise, you'd think Evasion would only go up when a monster missed you.

Okay, destroy my feeble hypothesis.

Hi Imac2much

I just wanted to say thx for this great guide and to the others that are contributing with some excellent information.

I have unlocked my paly quest last Friday, it was quite an experience. A LVL 74 DK told me I could do it all alone and he was right. I’m happy he didn’t help me out.

I manage to do it alone with some invisible and sneak items. I had to warp back to my HP only once cuz I was complete lost. My second trip was easy, since I found the real route to the Dwell. The smile on my face was priceless :)

It did cost me a lot though, about 25 000gil of items (3Stacks of SO and 2Stacks of PP), but it was worth every damn gill.

Anyhow, I just wanted to share my experience. Again, thx for the information.


later!
Sath

Originally posted by Turpin

I think Evasion pushes the damage curve to the left. That is, it not only opposes an opponent's Accuracy, it also lowers the maximum damage you take, whereas DEF lowers the damage taken with each hit. Otherwise, you'd think Evasion would only go up when a monster missed you.


No need for flames at all, you brought up a very good point and in some ways it makes sense.

However, this is highly unlikely. Ask anyone who has PT'ed with a NIN tank. They have maxed out evasion AND they generally have more evasion than a PLD, but they get hit for a ton (if they do get hit).

Also, I already showed you the damage calculation... evasion is not listed in there ever.

Oh well, still a good point, and it does make you wonder why it's so easy to gain evasion skill...

Originally posted by imac2much


No need for flames at all, you brought up a very good point and in some ways it makes sense.

However, this is highly unlikely. Ask anyone who has PT'ed with a NIN tank. They have maxed out evasion AND they generally have more evasion than a PLD, but they get hit for a ton (if they do get hit).

Also, I already showed you the damage calculation... evasion is not listed in there ever.

Oh well, still a good point, and it does make you wonder why it's so easy to gain evasion skill...

Disregarding your damage equation--which I see no reason not to trust, but for the sake of argument--could it be that I'm backwards? That DEF pushes the curve to the left (and ATK to the right), and EVA lowers the average damage taken within that curve (just as ACC raises it)? Let's say a critter normally hits for between 100 and 200 damage.

EXAMPLE 1: Your typical PAL has an extremely high DEF, but laughable EVA. His DEF pushes the curve waaaaaay left, so that said monster's damage range against him is only 0-100. However, that terrible EVA means he's more likely to take the 100 than he is the 0, centered around 70.

EXAMPLE 2: Rather than flipping out and killing everyone, a NIN decides to tank. He's a poor NIN, however, and has run out of powder for Utsusemi. Oops. His (relatively) poor DEF means he's getting shellacked for between 200 and 300 per hit, as the critter's superior ATK has pushed the curve to the right. Ow. His EVA tends to make it around 230, though that's little comfort. Time for Mijin Gakure; it's the only honorable thing to do.

I don't have near the experience of a lot of importers/expats/Pacific Rim residents on this board, so I'm talking out of my a** to a great extent. I think this would make some sense, though, and wouldn't be too far off the formulae in similar games.

No offense, because I don't mean to flame, but I agree with you.... you are talking out of your hole :biggrin: Don't take this the wrong way, I'm just agreeing with you hehe.

It's a very interesting theory, but has absolutely no basis. Average damage is just that : the average or "center" damage value. There is no actual min or max of damage separate from your average damage... if you are being hit for 70-90 damage, most likely the bulk of your damage is in the 80's.

Anyways, this is all irrelevant. Let me repeat this:
Even with +30 evasion (+30 is quite a bit folks), there was no difference. Not just in evades, but in the amount of total damage I was taking. If you read my post, you'll know that I'm rather anal about things like these, and I analyze numbers and crap more than I should. If someone as anal as me can't notice any difference, I can safely conclude that if there even IS any difference, it's not significant and therefore not worth mentioning.

Unfortunately, things in this game do not run on how logical sense works... you have to experience these things to understand. Theory only goes so far.

Ah. I had seen you saying that even with the +30 EVA, you weren't dodging attacks any more successfully, but I didn't see you saying that your average damage taken hadn't gone down. Wasn't sure you were looking at that as well.

Speaking as a former Guide in EQ, with access to some of the actual formulae through contacts at Verant, I can say--without talking out of my a**--that those formulae were often correct as far as they went, but also were often missing some data, or even failed to account for a "fudge factor." Not attempting to brag; I just wanted to explain why it seemed worth asking.

Excellent FAQ, by the way. I appreciate the time spent in making it.

i see what you're saying with evasion could mean not just whether you get hit or not, but the quality of the hit as well (more or less). i just doubt it. doesnt seem like it would make too much sense. i mean this would mean mithras would be takin as much damage per hit as galkas give or take a few. more to the point as you said before a nin taking the same damage as a pld. highly unlikely that evasion effects damage.

well, on to my point, regardless of whether agl really does much to help a pld, i still think i'm gonna go with drone earrings. pickings run a little slim for pld's in the earring department. especially if you arent galka or elvaan, since an mp boost of 10 wont do much for humes, mithra or taru. so i'm using drone at least until 51, then i think i'm gonna look into melody earrings for the +chr (plus 5 evasion on there too but as said before, it doesnt do much) but those are running about 120k a piece, i'm lookin into the wallet this isnt adding up good lol.

I2mac, what rings are you currently using? I'm currently using 2 chrysoberyl rings.

And about leveling GS, I've neglected to level GS in the past, so I'm very weak with it. I'm not sure how to follow the chart you provide, because I'm currently lv54 but my GS is 126. In this case, how should I read that chart.

Excellent thread, although I should probably stop reading it since I am at work ^^'

Just something I observed. Some of the high level Paladins I checked seem to be carrying a Shield & Spark Polearm combination.

Since all Spark Polearm are one handed, when combined with a shield and batteries for additional electricity damage plus the WS Pentra Thrust, would this make up for Paladine's lower rating in polearm?

Please inform me of your experiences with this combination. :handsdown

I'm curious as to what level I should cast aside my battle gloves and light soleas. At 21st level beetle armour only beats these two slots by 1 point of ac each but I'd lose +6 evasion and +3 accuracy. I'm thinking of keeping them till 24th when I can re-equip my chain again because that armour looks hideous when it's mixed. Yes, I'm a shameless fashion whore. :p

I've tried to find the thread regarding worn evasion items but have had no luck so far. What are people's opinions on evasion items and just how much ac can I effectively sacrifice before I'm going to start hurting in parties?

Hi all, I'm back from my business trip, I'll try to get caught up.... not that anyone noticed :biggrin:

1) I switch between 2 Chrysoberyl Rings (VIT+3) and 2 Astral Rings... I usually start out with Astral Rings for more MP, as I use them and my MP keeps dropping (even with Refresh), I'll switch to the VIT rings. Then between battles back to Astral Rings for more MP. Honestly I don't know how much good this does me, but I figure... why not...? Can't hurt.

2) Spear + Shield doesn't work anymore. Even when it did, it would be a HORRIBLE idea to use it in an XP PT. As an E rating weapon, you'll hit once every 10-20 attempts, and maybe even less. And when you do, it'll hit for 0. Plus your pentathrusts will either miss or do 0-10 damage. Not exactly worth it.

3) Evasion is nigh worthless. Even with +30 evasion from bat earrings when blind I don't dodge jack. Use equipment with more practical value, like DEF, VIT, MP, HP, etc.

Originally posted by imac2much
3) Evasion is nigh worthless. Even with +30 evasion from bat earrings when blind I don't dodge jack. Use equipment with more practical value, like DEF, VIT, MP, HP, etc.

You're too hard to miss Rug ^^; *pokes* I never get to poke you anymore in Jeuno :/

Evasion.. I dunno. I have 2 dodge earrings (eva+3 each) and I don't notice a thing. Maybe I should unequip them while exping and see how it goes.

Awesome guide. Even though my profile reads war, i'm building him til 35 so I'll have warcry once my pally gets to 70 ( i know too far, but hey it won't hurt right). I finished the flag quest about a couple of weeks ago, and since my dsl line has been down for 2 weeks I've been looking through boards and what not about Pally's and I stumbled upon this one. imac, yer bad ass for making an extensive guide, keep up the good work. I can't wait to work on my pally soon.

Currently I have Dodge earrings eva+3, should i change to Agl earrings? Will i get a better respones from Agl +3 then eva +3?

PLD45/WAR22

Sorry I didnt see all the talk about the two before, what earring would you all suggest then?

I'm currently a level 28 paladin and I was wondering what food a paladin should use at which levels. I'm planning on starting to use it at level 30+ since I read somewhere that was a good level to start with it. If someone could post what food they used/are using at levels then that would be great. Might be a good addition to the faq aswell.

Food Stats
Roasted Corn -- HP+6 DEX-1 VIT+3 (30min)
Tortilla -- HP+6 DEX-1 VIT+4 (30min)
Boiled Crayfish -- DEX-1 VIT+2 Def+11% (30min)
Boiled Crab -- DEX-1 VIT+4 Def+21% (30min)
Fish Mithkabob -- DEX+1 VIT+2 MND-1 Def+25% (30min)
Steamed Crab -- VIT+5 Def+25% (60min)
Fish Chiefkabob -- DEX+1 VIT+2 MND+1 CHR+1 Def+25% (60min)

I'm not very sure about the food stats but I -think- those are correct.

I was a bad paladin and didn't eat until 50 >< But I've heard some people recommend:

Low levels (15- 30): Roasted Corn or Tortilla (both are just as cheap, so Tortillas preferred)
Mid levels (30-45): Boiled Crayfish
Mid-high to high (45+): Boiled Crab or Fish Mithkabob

No one really uses Steamed Crab or Chiefkabobs for normal exp unless they're really rich or craft it themselves. ^^;

I use Boiled Crab usually but it hurts my bank balance something rotten. The effects are very noticeable but at 6-7k a stack I usually use one when joining a new party and if they prove to be mediocre or just plain lousy I refrain from burning anymore gil on a group that thinks 50xp per kill is good. On the other hand, if the group is switched on and using food themselves I chain eat myself silly. :spin:

accualy pld is better then nin then war/nin then nin ^^

Any type of earring you go for, should hold 2 pigeon pierces for pld. You see HP will become very important for other things ingame especially hnm battles and bc30's.

meh, for earrings you dont have much selection. just pick something, whatever it is, its not gonna do much. i do with drones, lessen the criticals. i experimented with this and it seems like i do get critical'd a lot more without them.

also i dont really feel pld is greater than nin/war or war/nin. after lvl 37, nin's pretty much dominate the tanking. pld's can produce much more hate, but nin's can keep the hate they already have better. what people don't realize is when you take damage you lose hate. for example last night i was fighting some soldier crawlers, they were hitting pretty hard and i was havent some trouble keeping hate off this samurai, who suprisingly was dishing out more damage than the drk. anyway i was producing tons of hate like always and in most cases enough that is another melee provokes the mob wont leave me. but last night when taking all this damage, i was having some trouble. nin's on the other hand don't suffer this loss.

also when playing my ninja the other night, i was partied with another nin with utsusemi. we would both cast before battle, she would provoke, take 2 hits start recasting, 3rd hit gets absorbed, utsusemi gets recast. i count the shadows after she loses the 3rd i provoke. i take 2 hits, and we both start recasting, i take the 3rd, recast and take 3 more, she vokes and we repeat. with this method we could go for as long as we wanted without the party taking damage. this is basically how a nin/war works after it gets utsusemi ni, but before ni we needed 2 ninjas to do it. its also the same way 2 war/nin's can work after lvl 24.

also with war/nin you can do a lot of damage, war's have decent defense which makes them ok for tanking, with utsusemi thrown in it helps them. its difficult for them to recast during battle because of the long cast time, but if theres another tank or they lose hate for a second they can just let someone else get hit once recast and start tanking again. in my experience its really not the mages who get agro'd much after lvl 30, mostly rng's, drk's, sometimes sam's and blm's. so, aside from the blm, if one of these other jobs takes a hit during the recasting its not the end of the world, especially if its a sam and he just absorbs it with 3rd eye.

pld's are definitely the safest tank and most dependable. if a nin takes an extra hit before he recasts utsusemi he's in a world of hurt, and war/nin's cant tank as well as pld's if they dont have a way of recasting (like another voker, paralyze gets in, slow). i still feel each class is about equal. i havent played war/nin yet (i plan on trying it) but i've played pld for a while, and a little bit with nin/war. i think they will all be about equal...until lvl 74 when war/nin gets utsusemi ichi....then they get kinda crazy.

what people don't realize is when you take damage you lose hate. for example last night i was fighting some soldier crawlers, they were hitting pretty hard and i was havent some trouble keeping hate off this samurai, who suprisingly was dishing out more damage than the drk. anyway i was producing tons of hate like always and in most cases enough that is another melee provokes the mob wont leave me. but last night when taking all this damage, i was having some trouble. nin's on the other hand don't suffer this loss.


I really don't understand this line of thinking. Is there something I seriously missed throughout my Paladin career? The only reason I've lost hate is because of huge renkei damage, Divine Seal + Curaga3+, or some kind of hate removal technique like Antican petrification. Never have I lost hate because I was taking a lot of damage. I do believe that Hate detiorates over time, but I don't believe it's relative to the damage a monster gives you. By that line of thinking wouldn't a Paladin lose hate within a few hits on a HNM? Some of them hit for obsecene amounts of damage, yet I've not had a problem. Please correct me if I'm wrong, because that's new information I've never heard before and I'm willing to listen.

I dont know if the hate deterioration is based on amount Damage taken. But i have experieced that the fact of being hit, and take damage does take hate away. thats what Blink tanks and BSTs rely on. let me explain this.

when a NIN is blink tanking, the monster will not turn away till he gets hit, then the mob will face another melee till next provoke(this being before Utsusemi: Ni). and as far as BST goes, when you use Heel for example you get the hate usually, so what happen is, you take a few hits and the mob goes back to the pet killing it.

I have personally tried both aproaches, and from my tests that has proven to be true. im not saying im 100% right on this, but im pretty confident about it, and would highly recomend trying out to have a better understanding of how hate works.

~Lanurk

I guess you guys are probably right. After talking to a friend, his example was, "it's easiest to notice on mages, like when a monster leaves the tank and smacks a mage once and turns right back on the tank without any kind of provoke or whatever".

I had always assumed it was because that extra sword hit you got while it wasn't on you added enough hate that it turned back on you. I guess I also thought hate detioration was kind of a static amount per tic, when in reality I guess it's based on either the number of hits a monster connects to you, or the amount of damage it does to you. So is it based on the number of hits, or the amount of damage? Because I'm still confused about my HNM example. If it was based on damage, the PLD would lose hate extremely easily right?

I strongly believe getting hit lowers your hate.

Best example is your friends'. I've seen a couple of times the monster run to the BLM, away from melee range 'cause he took us by surprise, hits the BLM for a lot, then runs back to me.

As for the HMN, I haven't fought any of those, yet... but, hear me out.
When you're in an alliance or party for quests where you fight a bunch of Decents or Easy Prays, ever noticed how hard it is to keep hate?(especially because you can't use your MP too much else they'll have to wait for you...) Well, that's because the damage dealers do way too much damage. It's probably the same with HMN. Nobody does enough damage to get the hate away from you, even though he hits you hard.

Anyways, that's how I see it... (also, if anybody has tricks when bulldozing through an area for a quest, like Dark Spark to be able to keep hate, or if you guys simply just give up on that? Thx :)

im not sure in which its based on. I would imagine would be on damage dealt, but i havent a clue. But one thing to keep in mind as far as keeping hate with the hate deterioration is, PLDs is constantly getting that loss even out by curing. I base this train of thought by following the logic of how much hate you get from dealing damage and curing damage, since all those are based on HP taken/healed, so i would imagine deterioration works the same way.

In my vison, the hate you get from curing is mostly being used to even out the hate you are loosing, and the "Hate Spikes" is what is giving you an edge over other damage dealers/mages.

This logic for the relationship of these factors would also make sense for the other tanking classes.

WAR or MNK- they are constantly dealing heavy damage... so that damage dealt is compensating for the hate loss, and the hate spikes is also giving the edge...

NIN - they dont have the "hate loss" by getting damaged so they only have to worry about the hate spikes.

PLD- they are curing to compensate the hate loss by being damaged...

well this is kinda what i came up about this issue, seems to make sense but then again im not sure on this...

~Lanurk

Ya it does make sense, I guess I thought of similar things all along but with some very real differences. One being I didn't realize you could lose hate by getting hit, so thanks for putting it under a different light.

Although I'm absolutely certain hate decreases from getting hit, I'm also almost positive that the hate associated with damage you take isn't proportional with the hate of damage dealt or curing amount.

As a Galka, even with Ballads or Refresh or whatnot, I hardly ever spam Cures or anything. Ask anyone I've partied with, I keep hate fine with my damage, abilities, Flash, etc, but I generally only cast 2 Cure III's a battle, sometimes replacing one of those with a Cure IV. This in effect is about 400-500 HP healed. I am getting hit for SIGNIFICANTLY more total damage in one full battle than I am curing myself, so it would be hard to assume the damage taken + amount healed "balances the hate out" if the associated hate were proportional.

Maybe the enmity+8 from AF helps us here, making it seem like we're curing for more or whatever, but regardless... all I know is that it's not that simple. Heck if I know how it really works though :p

I totally agree Mr. Rugal... I doubt thats the only thing to it....

But I also forgot to mention about your damage dealt as a PLD... you have more than just the cures to make up for your hate loss by damage taken... i believe that its more accurate to say that the damage you deal+the damage you heal would make up for the deterioration. but thats just speculation, I cant be sure... but i will definatly study this matter and see what I can come up with...

And damn Rugal, you quit, thats so sad, i have learned so much from you T.T. you have some incredible insights... you have definatly inspired me to study as much as i can to become a very knowledgeble PLD...Thx Rugal^_^

I totally forgot to put the damage you deal yourself into the calculation, so that's an interesting theory. However, I have to admit that at one point, before I had my optimal equipment, I used to consistently miss Robber Crabs with Defender up and no BRD... and when I did hit.. for 0-9 damage... sad I know :mad: I dunno why I had Defender up so often back then, I think I just got it (lv 50) and I assumed I was supposed to use it constantly :p

So in that case, damage I dealt + cures I used still didn't match up to damage received. However, at later levels you don't fight beetles/crabs as often, and you start doing respectable damage (usually about the same as THF from what I noticed). When mass chaining VT mobs (like sorrow valley raptors), I used vorpal a lot and did pretty decent damage for a leveling party (sometimes 300+ if all 4 hits connected and I triggered zerk right before the blow)... but against IT++ I usually just save up for 300% Spirits Withins. Then again everyone tells me that we're key for several Darkness renkeis after 65, most noticeably Swift -> Cross Reaper, so I guess that would change, and we'd be back in the damage contribution again.

Oops, I posted longer than I expected.. anyway, the conclusion is... I don't know anything :p Thanks for the comments, but I'm not actually that insightful.. I just do a lot of analysis (which I'm sure contains the word "anal" for a very good reason)...

You are probably right... there probably is a modifier between damage dealt by mob to amount of hate deteriorated in relation to damage you deal + cures. Now what i would really like to know is, the +emnity activates on every action meaning damage dealt, cure, provoke, sentinel, rampart, war cry and so on? and another question i have is... is there any Rare EX sword worth getting for XP... i know Dainslaf is worthless, and i fail to see whats so great about Hrotti ((other than the bragging rights :spin: )) and is Gluttony sword the all way to go till 75? and what about GS... any Rare EX worth getting for PLDs? ((i know how you feel about GS but the final GS WS is pretty sweet))

Thx
(not looking foward to lvl 55-58 (;-.-)))

~Lanurk

You should definitely direct these types of questions to TheBruce. Out of all the NA PLDs I know, he's the most "on the ball" with the rare/ex or just plain rare equipment =) I know he was aiming for Joyeuse at one point... you should just ask him, because I'll be the first to admit that I'm out of my league when it comes to rare equipment.

I think Gluttony and Espadon or Espadon+1 are solid choice up to 70+ then theres Excailbur people are talking about these days. I've put away my Gluttony ever since been using Espadon+1 since 66, yeah I lost 4 vit but with food I can do just fine. As for Joyeuse my LS RDM finaly got one havent seen it in action but I'm going to get one soon enough.


As for how hate is generated and lost I'm still debating among my fellow plds in my server. I find myself doing a good deal of enmity with bard in pt just with those atk enhanced plus accuracy and mp songs, I do around 45-60 dmg normally and crits about 100 or more vs darters and processanaries crawlers. If I take away bard I would switch to life belt/master belt or peacock charm since no bard in pt to boost my accurancy. I think landing more hits will even out the aggro lost you take from mobs after getting smacked.

Renkei wise I dont use vorpal blade anymore until mob is VT maybe. Ever since I hit 65 I've been in part with renkei with my static pt doing darkness and other elements something like Swfit Blade > Tachi Gekko, Swift Blade > Cross Reaper, Dancing Edge > Swift Blade, Swift Blade > Dragon Kick. Soloing WS I do Spirit Within its good to get mob turn to you if you have high CHR that helps with the dmg too I think. Of course thats if I'm not tagging along with the pt renkei (which I always do :thumbsup: ) I never thought doing 400 Swift Blade plus 590 darkness chain can be possible :eek:

I like Nagan and Reserve Capt GS not sure they are Rare/EX thou. I've been using Mithra Heart GS just recently before I was using Zweinhander.

Finally printed all of this out total of 20 pages in Microsoft Word thinking I would save ink.

It's about time for a few edits. Although I would like to add it in the original page, there just isn't enough space. Anyways, I'm still not max level yet, and I'm not too experienced in the HNM/Sky scene as of yet, but I will address whatever I can.

Subjobs:
As noted, /THF is a pretty good solo farmer at low-mid levels. At high levels, /WAR is just as nice if you use a good damage staff with Spirit Taker. Retribution does great damage for a Staff WS (generally more than your Sword WS), and Spirit Taker is just a godsend for PLD... it does 2x physical damage, then transfers that into MP for you regardless whether the monster has MP or not. WAR is good here for higher attack, str, double attack, and warcry before WS.

/NIN is a great soloer at 74+ as well. Using a VC for auto refresh, utsusemi's to avoid most hits, and Joyeuse + Dainslaif for fast tp AND HP draining, this combination works well for low level mobs. Also good for harder mobs (probably better to use a different sword than Dainslaif though). When I hit 74, I want to see how fast I can hit with Joy+dain and the Sasha (and perhaps later a Suppamoni, but that would mean I can't get a Knight's Earring...). Nope, I don't have a Kraken :p

/THF is a good damage dealer when using GS. SA+Spinning Slash does 800-1.2k damage on even match mobs for me.

Stats:
Not much new here. VIT is still king, but CHR, AGI, DEX, STR should not be dismissed. People are 99% sure that CHR affects Provoke, AGI decreases crits and increases parry/shield skills. DEX is nice for accuracy (since apparently there is a secondary AGI vs DEX check along with the standard evasion vs accuracy check), and STR ... well...

At my level at least, I can deal decent damage finally (no need to use Defender). So some extra ATK or STR in some slots is nice if nothing more important is sacrificed. We are also a key factor in several skillchains, such as Swift Blade -> Cross Reaper, or Savage Blade -> Heavy Shot.

Weapons:
My preference of weapons has changed greatly since the TP nerf.

Polearms are now useless, so don't even bother skilling them up unless you want to just for fun. The E rating guarantees relatively low DPS from them, and you no longer get 50-60% tp return from pentathrust.

GS is one of my favorites for weak mobs, since the TP nerf does not affect Spinning Slash (1 hit) and it still does incredible damage. However, the WS is 225, and until then the GS WS's are relatively pretty crappy. It'll be a pain skilling GS to 225, but it's worth it.

Staff is great for a lot of reasons. Of course there's the mighty Earth/Terra's Staff, which adds some VIT and decreases 20% physical damage. Also, you get the almighty Spirit Taker at 215 staff and Retribution at 230 staff (these were discussed in the subjobs section). If you have no refresher, Staff is a good choice since you will most likely not run out of MP with Spirit Taker.

If you can get your hands on a Joyeuse, sword becomes a great farmer as well. You'll gain TP as fast as any other job (bar meditate.. and about 2x fast as some jobs like DRK), and the average DPS is very high due to the frequent double hits. My only problem with this is that sword WS generally suck compared to staff or GS.

Job Abilities/Traits:
At 62 or something, we get Rampart, which is a nice addition to our hate managing tool. At 70, with WAR sub we get Warcry, which seems to get even more hate than Rampart (about the same as Sentinel). With all these aggro tools at our disposal at high levels (and more +enmity from not only AF but also adaman armor and AF2), we truly become the experts of holding hate.

Equipment
For main body slots, AF serves us well until at least 73 when we can switch to Adaman (or AF2/Koenig). For ranged, Happy Egg, Phantom Talthum, Rosenbogen all work decently.
General's Shield at 69 then Koenig Shield at 73 is a must.
For earrings Death is alright for added MP, but I've found that a higher MP pool is generally not needed.. therefore I use Merc+Drone for xp and +HP for NM tanking.
Rings, VIT and Jelly Ring is nice for XP, while I replace VIT ring with Bomb Queen Ring for NMs.
Waist, Life belt is generally my favorite choice, although certain lvl 70 RSE belts are nice (but situational).
Likewise, I prefer R.G. Collar for Neck for most purposes, though I change to I.M. Gorget for tanking sometimes.
Behe Mantle is nice for most purposes, but some people prefer the more affordable VIT capes.

I apologize if this isn't the big update most of you had in mind. Whenever I hit 74-75 and become more experienced in the high end game, I'll relate what little I know, although it would be ideal if some of the higher PLD's could contribute here as well. Seeing as I took a 5 month break from the game, there is still much I am clueless about. I'm only really updating this because Fastcart kept bugging me about my polearm section :sweat:

I dunno about rampart having more than sentinel, there are many occasions that I've seen rampart hold some of the toughest to hold things like a 1500 sidewinder, followed by a very very large skillchain damage (i think it was around 750). I lost hate after the pending Magic Burst, but all I needed was a provoke/flash and it was back on me. don't know how long I could've held it cause it died after a couple hits

Should be a new edit to your guide for the mid level armour.

The new level 29 armour (Kampf prefix) is a much better armour set for pld then centurian. Here are the stats

Helm:
Kampfschaller DEF:14 AGI+2
Lv.29 WAR/PLD

Armor:
Kampfbrust DEF:25 AGI+3
Lv.29 WAR/PLD

Gloves:
Kampfhentzes DEF:10 VIT+2
Lv.29 WAR/PLD

Pants:
Kampfdiechlings DEF:18 VIT+2 AGI+2
Lv.29 WAR/PLD

Boots:
Kampfschuhs DEF:9 VIT+3
Lv.29 WAR/PLD

Note these are the +1 version of their counterparts, which names I forget. I know the high agility seems silly, but if is indeed true that agility helps reduce crits, then this set become very valuable.

I have this set and love it, makes my taru a beast :D

I'm pretty new to Pld and I love it already. I knew i'd love it when I played War/Mnk and was always asked to tank, it was so much better then sitting around and just hitting+skillchaining. I had seen and pted with so many bad tanks that got me killed, I got fed up, just changed my job to Pld so that I'd never need to worry about them. And for some strange reason I love tanking...

atm i'm 27Pld/13War Galka and i'm kind of confused about the double gear that was recommended for Galka Pld's. Right now I have a decent set of MP gear (i'm not rich at all):

x2 Energy Earrings
Default Bastok Ring
Onyx Ring
Holy Phial
Mage's Sandals (They were one less def then Greaves so I didn't get rid of them)
Friar's Rope

I've used this gear along with lesser mp gear for my Pld career uptill now. I was wondering if this was too much MP gear? Should I throw in VIT/Def gear? Or should I make a set of gear thats purely defensive? Anything I should get in paticular, considering my small budget?

Any help from a fellow Galka would be great,

I'm a level 59 PLD/WAR Hume so from my view of opinion I would say that would be too much of MP+ gear. But considering you are a Galka, I wouldn't think so. At your level, DEF is still better than VIT. So I would suggest that you have some DEF+ gear.

A good strategy to use is: First, equip some MP+ gear and use it up. After your MP is almost used up, switch to your VIT/DEF gear to hold hate till the end of fight. I've seen many Galka PLDs use this tehnique and it works very well. But, it would be good to have some Galka PLDs respond and share their hate-keeping techniques...

Originally posted by Xeross
Should be a new edit to your guide for the mid level armour.

The new level 29 armour (Kampf prefix) is a much better armour set for pld then centurian. Here are the stats

Helm:
Kampfschaller DEF:14 AGI+2
Lv.29 WAR/PLD

Armor:
Kampfbrust DEF:25 AGI+3
Lv.29 WAR/PLD

Gloves:
Kampfhentzes DEF:10 VIT+2
Lv.29 WAR/PLD

Pants:
Kampfdiechlings DEF:18 VIT+2 AGI+2
Lv.29 WAR/PLD

Boots:
Kampfschuhs DEF:9 VIT+3
Lv.29 WAR/PLD

Note these are the +1 version of their counterparts, which names I forget. I know the high agility seems silly, but if is indeed true that agility helps reduce crits, then this set become very valuable.

I have this set and love it, makes my taru a beast :D

indeed it is a good set of armor, personaly i couldn't afford the kampf set so i bought the eisen set, the feet and the hands will last all the way to the I.M set. (40's and 50)

Granted I'm 2/3rds asleep reading the rest of this, This was a very good guide. ( Read this morning, stopped, went to work, and finished after my wife and I did the Paladin Quest in an insanely short amount of time.) I've thought about sticking warrior, didn't work, felt kind of useless every time I got replaced by a paladin-- only on one occasion did the replacing-tank do better than I did at keeping hate @_@. After Reading this morning I brought it to the attention of my wife I wanted to do this job and be the best tank I could be. I figured with a few more tricks up my sleeve I could actually hold hate alot better than I did on warrior with just Provoke/Weapons.

Yeah, I'm going to miss warrior's damage a tiny bit, but nothing's gonna make up for the fact that now, I'll be doing what I love most without people yelling at me about 'Your sub's gimped!' ' Warrior/Ninjas aren't tanks, they're damage dealers!' ( the later coming from a 31 Red mage...to a level 41 Warrior that had played warrior several times before <.< one character to 5, one to 8, one to 26, one to 31, one to 34, and now settled on one at 41)

Anywho, terrific guide, should be updated to include Eisen/Kampfbrust set, wonderful statuses, better than Centurions. Also, It looks alot better too :p .

One question though:

Is the Gluttony Sword really worth the 1,2million+ It is on my server? x.x

Can I just skip it and get something else that's cheaper? I'm not quite sure I'm all that fond of +7 Vit costing 1,2 Mil <.<; Heck, I wasn't even fond of my level 40 axe costing 70k x.x

Once I get Paladin to level 40, I plan on completely ditching warrior. After all, with paladin I get to use something I love, and always picture whenever I think of Knights-- Swords and Shields.
I didn't dare use one as a warrior, so I off-handed the sword, and no one complained :).

Anywho, once again, Good guide, great information, and hopefully some paladin in the level 57-66 Range can help out with the Gluttony thing, seeing as I highly doubt I'll ever be able to get the drop from the Skeleton NMs I believe it is( Heard so from some friends on my old server ).

Doesn't help much that my wife when she did PLD had a Gluttony :p She loved that darn thing.

Awsome thanks as soon as I hit 30 I hav