Rampart/Sentinel Changes

[Loial]

From a little testing I did after logging on...

These job abilities no longer generate hate themselves from what I can see. I'm going to check it out a little more later, but Sentinel/Rampart used to rip hate in many cases.

After voking a mob, I turned and let a friend beat on the mob till it turned, I then hit Rampart... nothing. Same with Sentinel, but a Cure II turned the mob.

Emergency Maintenance, when?

[DrivenTooFar]

If this were true of Sentinel then it wouldn't be too big of a deal since your actions would be gaining more hate. With rampart though, a big feature of it was to get a lot of hate by using it with your entire party.

I will check it out later but either way this should be change back if what you say is true.

[Armando]

Strange. The reports I've seen in Allakhazam and KI said they were spiking hate just fine. Also, I saw screenshots in KI showing that Sentinel gives 90% physical damage reduction, 100% with Valor Boots (the tests were done with 1000 Needles.) Very impressive.

[Caspian]

Strange. The reports I've seen in Allakhazam and KI said they were spiking hate just fine. Also, I saw screenshots in KI showing that Sentinel gives 90% physical damage reduction, 100% with Valor Boots (the tests were done with 1000 Needles.) Very impressive.
So with Valor boots, you get Invincible every 5 minutes now, only with a little less hate spike?

[Icemage]

Strange. The reports I've seen in Allakhazam and KI said they were spiking hate just fine. Also, I saw screenshots in KI showing that Sentinel gives 90% physical damage reduction, 100% with Valor Boots (the tests were done with 1000 Needles.) Very impressive.
Yowza. That's way more than I think anyone was expecting. Move over, Ninjas, Paladins are coming back to dominate end-game again.


Icemage

[Armando]

It's unbelievable, I know. Didn't really expect anything this drastic. But the screenshot is there and I don't see why someone would bother to lie about it. You can see it here. (http://killingifrit.com/forums.php?m=posts&p=2895987&PHPSESSID=941e26f3cc2fa3cfb560f528e918545e#2895987 ) So yeah, it looks like we have our own mini-Invincible now. Glee!

EDIT: Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. This is not a joke.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/Doval/pol2006-12-1822-38-33-32.jpg

[eva00r]

OMFG OMFG OMFG .... Now I really can use PLD in merit party ???????

PLD/NIN/BLU/BRD 75
PUP 31

[Armando]

EXP mobs are hitting me in the single digits. This is better than crack.

[Celeal]

wow, damn, I should check try it out as well O.o

[csBahamut]

Great for NMs and HNMs. Still sucks for merit invites. But maybe that Ares set will fix that.

[Malacite]

Now if only Sentinel was changed to a Berserk-like ability (That is, 3-min duration with 5 min recast) then PLD would truly knock NIN off it's high and mighty arse, and Rightly so.

I dare say PLD would make TP burn more efficient if it could (and honestly it should be) keep mobs hitting for single digits >.> (or at least below 50 a swing in end game exp)

[ValisOfValefor]

Wow, this is just wonderful. I was gonna test this stuff earlier, but had to go somewhere else.

Just can't wait to get back to paladin now ^^

:thumbsup:

Someone reported Rampart completely blocking out an Hurricane Wind from Fafnir. Sounds pretty darn godly to me.

[WishMaster3K]

So maybe PLD just beat WAR as a SJ for RDM.

Maybe.

>_> I see it being infintely more useful, but I have Phalanx anyways!

But yeah, 90%. How high can you get the duration and recast of Sentinel to with merits?

[Raydeus]

So maybe PLD just beat WAR as a SJ for RDM.

Maybe.

>_> I see it being infintely more useful, but I have Phalanx anyways!

But yeah, 90%. How high can you get the duration and recast of Sentinel to with merits?

Knowing SE Sentinel will only cut 10% damage if subbed. :vent:

[ValisOfValefor]

So maybe PLD just beat WAR as a SJ for RDM.

Maybe.

>_> I see it being infintely more useful, but I have Phalanx anyways!

But yeah, 90%. How high can you get the duration and recast of Sentinel to with merits?

I believe you can get it down to 4:10 recast with merits

[Armando]

Ok, I've found that this does stack with gear, but sadly, by multiplication. This was done with an Earth Staff on.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/Doval/pol2006-12-1902-01-49-98.jpg
And yeah, 4:10 is what I've read. By the way, the no-interrupt-on-shield-blocks aspect of Shield Mastery is very, very nice.

[Karinya]

And that was without earth staff, jelly ring, anything like that?

I wonder what happens if you go over 100% damage reduction... do you start absorbing HP from attacks like that mammet special ability?

(Edit: Damn. Oh well, 92% reduction is still pretty nice.)

Heck, you don't even need Invincible for Seiryu anymore. Sentinel would stop him just fine, if you have enough hate. No more needing to shadowbind Gomory and Zaebos either.

Now imagine this combined with Noctoshield... you could just laugh at dynamis monks.

[Armando]

Damn. I totally forgot about Noctoshield. That would be sooooooo badass.

[Taskmage]

Don't forget Phalanx II and Spartan Hoplon.

[lionx]

Whoa this is so damn SICK X3 *glee* However i still wonder how long Sentinel actually lasts...is it still very short? @.@

[Loial]

I don't think there is any disagreement that damage reduction from Sentinel is nice change. But, I still don't see Sentinel or Rampart pulling hate like they used to. Even the enmity bonus on Sentinel doesn't seem to be much.

I think that if a PLD were to "old" Sentinel + Provoke + Flash they'd have more hate than "new" Sentinel + Provoke + Flash.

But, if this change was intended, I think we can all agree that Sentinel is like a mini-Invincible now. So, it is a worthwhile tradeoff. But, I can't say the same about Rampart. I'd rather have Rampart rip hate the way it used to than the current Magic Shield buff.

Going from having three five-minute hate spike abilities to only one (Warcry) wasn't exactly what I was expecting.

[Celeal]

With this changes, does that means for every 5 minutes, Healer and PLD has 30 seconds greatly reduce MP usage for curing in exp. parties?

With generally un-interrupted JA (unless stunned), Shield Block prevent interrupt, Auto-Refresh, high hate output, cheaper spending on tools/gear, PLD tank is now pretty much very low risk with very high reward. IMHO, any more buff on PLD may break the game balance.

[nanatsu]

Really? The duration on Sentinel is still very low. The recast is still very high. I would've rather seen it act more like berserk with lesser damage reduction. I've not done the math, but on the surface it looks like it won't be enough to contend with nin for exp parties. Endgame is a different story, but for exp? 30 seconds of damage mitigation every 5 minutes just doesn't cut it vs always on all the time utsusemi. Shield block change did a lot more for pld in exp terms and unless I'm missing something, I don't see this making exp pt invites for pld any better....

EDIT: And I do hope I'm missing something because I miss plds in exp.

[Rai]

Damn, time to start meritting down the recast timer on Sentinel.

[Celeal]

Really? The duration on Sentinel is still very low. The recast is still very high. I would've rather seen it act more like berserk with lesser damage reduction. I've not done the math, but on the surface it looks like it won't be enough to contend with nin for exp parties. Endgame is a different story, but for exp? 30 seconds of damage mitigation every 5 minutes just doesn't cut it vs always on all the time utsusemi. Shield block change did a lot more for pld in exp terms and unless I'm missing something, I don't see this making exp pt invites for pld any better....

EDIT: And I do hope I'm missing something because I miss plds in exp.

Do you really think Utsusemi is on all time? A double attack from mob and follow by a special move can knock out 3 shadows within a few seconds already... plus those attack that ignore shadows directly or strip multiple shadows at once? Issue of mistake or being interrupted?

30 seconds for 90% damage reduction in every 5 minutes, is indeed like a mini version of PLD's 2hr except little hate. The PLD only require to press a macro or activate it from menu, have no need to worry about being interrupted like casting Utsusemi or Cure, and it works for fast hitting mob or slow hard hitting mob... the mp that is "saved" in that 30 seconds can carry on to the next battles...

For traditional exp. parties, with all these PLD update, PLD should not have issue for tanking. If the party is properly builded (with refresher, healer, etc), I think PLD tank is superior in a lot of ways: flexible mob/camp choice, high hate control, now downtime is even less issue.

For TP burn parties, we have to test and see~ but we don't even have a solo tank in TP burn parties to begin with. If you expect PLD to solo tank in TP burns after the update, then I think there is a misunderstanding. Even NIN does not solo tank in TP-burns, everyone bounce hate in the party.

[Karinya]

One more trick for the new Sentinel: have someone in the party cast Diamondhide or Earthen Ward as you are activating it. It's pretty unlikely that physical damage will break through it at all before the duration is up (except maybe from certain HNMs), which means 30 seconds of uninterruptibility by damage. The potential uses are considerable.

PLD/RDM (or /WHM) can do this solo, too, if they can get a stoneskin cast off. Between flash, shield blocks stopping interruption and some luck it might be possible.

@Taskmage: I don't think multiple phalanx effects stack, so you can have only one of /RDM phalanx, phalanx II, noctoshield or spartan hoplon, but it is good to have the other options. In fact the new sentinel could be a new reason to bother getting phalanx II at all... it's really not that good normally but when you combine it with new Sentinel, it could be better.

[nanatsu]

Do you really think Utsusemi is on all time? A double attack from mob and follow by a special move can knock out 3 shadows within a few seconds already... plus those attack that ignore shadows directly or strip multiple shadows at once? Issue of mistake or being interrupted?
30 seconds for 90% damage reduction in every 5 minutes, is indeed like a mini version of PLD's 2hr except little hate. The PLD only require to press a macro or activate it from menu, have no need to worry about being interrupted like casting Utsusemi or Cure, and it works for fast hitting mob or slow hard hitting mob... the mp that is "saved" in that 30 seconds can carry on to the next battles...
For traditional exp. parties, with all these PLD update, PLD should not have issue for tanking. If the party is properly builded (with refresher, healer, etc), I think PLD tank is superior in a lot of ways: flexible mob/camp choice, high hate control, now downtime is even less issue.
For TP burn parties, we have to test and see~ but we don't even have a solo tank in TP burn parties to begin with. If you expect PLD to solo tank in TP burns after the update, then I think there is a misunderstanding. Even NIN does not solo tank in TP-burns, everyone bounce hate in the party.

We'll just have to see. PLD and NIN playing styles are different. A lot of Nins simply suck at keeping hate, so hate will bounce around no matter what. (I have seen some awesome nins but they are few and far between these days) But pld playstyle keeps hate centered. So while bouncing around is the norm you see in nin tanked tp pts, when a pld shows up, all that goes out the window because pld is soaking up all the dmg. Everyone else subbing /nin at that point is kinda meh, and more people than normal start subbing thf and planting even more hate on the pld.

I too think PLD tank is superior in a lot of ways, but people don't pick pld. because plds take damage. And we all know how much mages hate healing people. Yeah I'm expecting plds to solo tank in TP burns or whatever kind of party they are in, no matter how unfair it seems. Because that's the only real advantage they have over nin and doing it effectively is the only way you'll see an increase in their exp party invite rate in my opinion. Just becasue nins don't solo tank in TP burn party (or in any kind of party actually from what I've seen) doesn't mean that pld is bound by the same weakness, or even should be allowed to be bound by that weakness.

I'm not sure if 30 seconds is enough. I clearly have my reservations, but like you said we'll have to see. I am honestly hoping it IS enough and I really want it to be. Just expressing my doubts.

[Taskmage]

It hasn't yet, but let's try to avoid turning this into another nin vs pld thread, shall we? :worry: I think we've all had about enough of that.@Taskmage: I don't think multiple phalanx effects stack, so you can have only one of /RDM phalanx, phalanx II, noctoshield or spartan hoplon, but it is good to have the other options. In fact the new sentinel could be a new reason to bother getting phalanx II at all... it's really not that good normally but when you combine it with new Sentinel, it could be better.I'm pretty sure you're right that Phalanx, Phalanx II, and Noctoshield do not stack. Spartan Hoplon might stack since has its own buff slot as an enchanted item, but that's just a guess. I doubt en-spell enchantments stack with actual en-spells. I just wanted to point out there were other options for zeroing damage if your party was missing a rdm or a smn or both.

This does make Phalanx II somewhat more attractive to merit, but I still think I'll pass on it and leave that buff up to other rdms I play with that are already interested in the spell. Luckily for me I think that's all of them.

[eva00r]

As BLU/PLD, you takes 180 damage from 1000 needles.

[JP_Ikari]

Hey Loial, wondering if you wanted to test this off an HNM (or anyone for that matter). Just wondering how much hate you can lose vs how much hate you can gather with both Rampart and Sentinel. I tested the damage reduction without any -% physicals on the lizards inside Kuftal, and suprisingly, they hit me for about 47-53 without Sentinel and then when i used Sentinel it dropped to 7-12. Kinda hard to figure out but Armando gave a better scenario (1k needles dropping to 100dmg (80 with EStave)). I also tried some spells but couldn't really find a higher tier'd one than the one i got last night, and even with Tier 1 (Thundaga), it did 27 on me while with Rampart it did 0. I need more higher tiered Spells, maybe i'll go camp the higher tier'd mobs to get more tests on this. Can anyone give me more tests on this seeing I just got back after a 1 month and 1 week hiatus off the game (due to drama)

JP

[Armando]

It seems the damage reduction decreases over time (although it doesn't really go very low.) So, it looks like it's technically not a full invincible even with Valor Boots (not that it isn't reeeeally good either way.)
As BLU/PLD, you takes 180 damage from 1000 needles.Pretty cool to see they didn't nerf it much when subbed. That's an odd number, though; did you use Sentinel when you saw the cactuar readying 1000 Needles, or beforehand?I also tried some spells but couldn't really find a higher tier'd one than the one i got last night, and even with Tier 1 (Thundaga), it did 27 on me while with Rampart it did 0. I need more higher tiered Spells, maybe i'll go camp the higher tier'd mobs to get more tests on this. Can anyone give me more tests on this seeing I just got back after a 1 month and 1 week hiatus off the game (due to drama)Mob abilities should also count. Try Bomb Toss? Or maybe go poke some Liches or Hecteyes, they'll probably start casting Ancient Magic.

[Lmnop]

since people say Fafhog's Wing ability is so consistent in damage, that's prolly the best bet for playing wiht Rampart numbers.

With regards to the (OMG!) changes to Sentinel: I would prolly use berserk after activating Sentinel. Nothing says "put on more DD" like getting an uber defensive buff.

I could see it useful in fast chaining parties. Between this and Chivalry, you have a couple methods to occasionally provide "Breathers."

There's a brilliance to this change that I don't think anyone's touched on yet -- when a PLD takes too little damage, he can't gain suficient hate via self-curing. The "enmity boost" was likely implemented to counter just that. So he could cure himself less but gain hate just the same. Every 5 minutes, start fight with Sentinel -> Berserk -> equip swap -> Vorpal Blade. Healer can rest for catch-up. Of course, curing yourself in that time would be nice.

[eva00r]

I'll eat some Citadel Busters today ... maybe I can give you some more info with Sentinel/Rampart, as PLD/NIN.

As BLU/PLD, I popped my Sentinel 2 seconds before the 1000 needles were going to hit me. I guess I took 1 or 2 hits from physical attack before 1000 needles. Maybe the damage reduction function is proportionate to # of times that you take damage.

Please try a big link of crab in kuftal and tell us.

[Armando]

since people say Fafhog's Wing ability is so consistent in damage, that's prolly the best bet for playing wiht Rampart numbers.Yeah, that would be the most appropriate thing. Not sure if I mentioned this before, but supposedly someone blocked out a Hurricane Wing completely with Rampart.With regards to the (OMG!) changes to Sentinel: I would prolly use berserk after activating Sentinel. Nothing says "put on more DD" like getting an uber defensive buff.Right you are. There were a couple of times I forgot to cancel Berserk with Defender after Vorpal Blade, and I honestly didn't see the difference with Sentinel up XD And yeah, having 30 seconds of near-zero damage every 5 minutes was soooooo awesome.
As BLU/PLD, I popped my Sentinel 2 seconds before the 1000 needles were going to hit me. I guess I took 1 or 2 hits from physical attack before 1000 needles. Maybe the damage reduction function is proportionate to # of times that you take damage.

Please try a big link of crab in kuftal and tell us.I doubt it depends on the number of times you get hit (certainly isn't based on damage, or it would practically turn off after 1000 Needles XD), but it could be easily tested. And no, I'm not training kuftal crabs, not at level 60 ;P

EDIT:I used Rampart in the Mire on an Imp this morning and it completely nullified a Firaga II for the whole pt. Rampart is just as good as Sentinal now. (http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/jobs.html?fjob=5;mid=1166479677299843075)I've never partied in the mire, obviously, but a Firaga II from a VT mob is nothing to scoff at, I would guess. Sounds hot.

[JP_Ikari]

I haven't been able to find a mob lately to really mess around with before getting invited to a party (after 1 year and 9 months, I finally got an invite to a party >.>). While the damage reduction is high with Sentinel, any action you do afterward gains more enmity. So per hit you do, per JA you do, and per cure (even when it's small) gains a bigger enmity count now with Sentinel on. So the dynamic on how a PLD is played is sort of changed nowadays with these new changes. I used to cycle 4 of my JA's (Sentinel -> Shield Bash -> Rampart -> then Warcry with WAR sub) during an EXP party, but Sentinel just makes it fun not to unleash another JA just for tests purposes. And so far I'm really laughing at this change because it seems easier to keep hate now with it.

As for Rampart, I haven't fought an AM or tier III/IV caster yet to fully test it's capabilities, but my LS leader killed Genbu the other day, and supposedly his Waterga III did crap damage with Rampart on. Not sure though, since there was no SS's about it. I'll test it some more either tommorow in sky or whenever.

JP

[Karinya]

I used Rampart against a ninja in Dynamis last night and nobody in my party died; I took under 500 damage, with barfira but without diamondhide/earthen ward. Several people in other parties did die, mostly BLMs (they keep trying to stun and nuke and not leave them to people with the HP to survive their attacks; arrogance is pratically a job trait for BLMs). Unfortunately I neglected to ask anyone else to give me their exact damage taken (need so many filters for dynamis >.>), but it seems pretty strong.

Does anyone know if there has been any testing yet on the effect of Valor Coronet with the new Rampart? Does it increase the damage absorbed or only the duration like it used to? I was wearing Koenig Schaller at the time, it didn't occur to me until later that it might be worth swapping in Valor Coronet now.

P.S. Unfortunately, I can confirm the thing about Sentinel weakening over time (or possibly over number of times hit, I can't be certain yet). But I still got crit for 0 by a Vanguard Grappler when I used Sentinel (swapping in valor leggings) to counter his Hundred Fists. XD

[Armando]

Those are some very good things to hear about Rampart. And nope, I don't know if anyone's done any tests, sorry ^^; Anyways, does it wear off after taking a certain ammount of damage? Also,But I still got crit for 0 by a Vanguard Grappler when I used Sentinel (swapping in valor leggings) to counter his Hundred Fists. XD<3

[JP_Ikari]

I exp'd with my Valor Coronet last night, but again, besides the 10 second increase on Rampart duration, I didn't fight any mobs that casted any high tier'd spells. I'll see Thursday if there's any changes on it. I think Sentinel works like Phalanx, where it's a certain amount of HP is blocked before it goes away seeing I did notice it weaking over time while I was fighting Battle Buggards and Greater Colibri's last night. Again not sure seeing my LS has been unlucky on Windhurst the last time I was there with Valor and since this new changes happened I doubt I'll be getting any Valor leggings anytime soon T_T.

JP

[Icemage]

I used Rampart against a ninja in Dynamis last night and nobody in my party died; I took under 500 damage, with barfira but without diamondhide/earthen ward. Several people in other parties did die, mostly BLMs (they keep trying to stun and nuke and not leave them to people with the HP to survive their attacks; arrogance is pratically a job trait for BLMs). Unfortunately I neglected to ask anyone else to give me their exact damage taken (need so many filters for dynamis >.>), but it seems pretty strong.

The reasons BLMs nuke Ninjas in Dynamis isn't hubris, it's common sense. Mijin Gakure bases its damage on current HP - the lower you get it down before it blows up, the less damage you take. Why they're casting Stun, though, I have no idea, except sheer habit.

Of course, if you're a Tarutaru BLM with 600HP, you might consider staying the heck out of range until it's safe to come in with Stoneskin.

I routinely survive Mijin Gakure as a Tarutaru WHM/BLM, but I run with just under 1100 HP with my setup for Dynamis.

The changes to Rampart and Sentinel are really tasty all around no matter how you slice it, though. This has been a VERY good update for Paladins, no doubt about it (even if Sentinel's effect fades a bit over time).


Icemage

[dirtyclown]

So does this mean I get to pop Sentinel while fighting Maat and lol at his Asuran Fists damage?

[Armando]

If you see it coming, yeah. Would so be annoying if he pops Sentinel right before you WS, though XD

[Celeal]

If Maat pops Sentinel, I am wondering would WS like Sprirt Within would ignore Sentinel?

[Armando]

It should. Spirits Within is in the same category of damage as Chi Blast ("spiritual damage," I believe is what they call it.) It's a lot closer to magic damage than physical. I'm not sure if "Magic damage taken -X%" gear stops Spirits Within, though.

Edit: I would rather kite him, though.

[Icemage]

It should. Spirits Within is in the same category of damage as Chi Blast ("spiritual damage," I believe is what they call it.) It's a lot closer to magic damage than physical. I'm not sure if "Magic damage taken -X%" gear stops Spirits Within, though.


Spirits Within is Physical damage, though it is does trigger some magic-like things such as Magic Resistance. It ignores Defense, but enemies with physical damage resistance resist it like any other physical attack (i.e. enemies that have Invincible up will still take 0 damage). It closely resembles Physical Blue Magic in this respect.


Icemage

[Armando]

Really? That's very interesting. Well, I'm a little smarter now. Thanks for the info.

[Karinya]

Spirits Within is Physical damage, though it is does trigger some magic-like things such as Magic Resistance. It ignores Defense, but enemies with physical damage resistance resist it like any other physical attack (i.e. enemies that have Invincible up will still take 0 damage). It closely resembles Physical Blue Magic in this respect.

Not true, Spirits Within goes through both Invincible and Perfect Dodge. I've personally tested this several times in Dynamis.

I don't know if it's reduced by Earth Staff and similar effects (which now includes Sentinel), but some mobs do reduce its damage, e.g. Besieged.

[Icemage]

Not true, Spirits Within goes through both Invincible and Perfect Dodge. I've personally tested this several times in Dynamis.

I don't know if it's reduced by Earth Staff and similar effects (which now includes Sentinel), but some mobs do reduce its damage, e.g. Besieged.
It works against Invincible? That's odd. I'm pretty sure I saw this tested this a while back and I don't recall it working but if you say you've tested it personally then I believe you :). As for actual physical resistance, it has always affected Spirits Within (like some HNMs have, such as Aspidochelone, as well as some of the Besieged NMs)... this I have personal experience with when I tried to SW against Aspi for fun once and ended up with like 5 damage. :P


Icemage

[oO EZ Oo]

Rampart blocked Shadow Lords aga spells. did it last night.

[Shinhiryu_Kage]

Dear lord..... I'm glad I chose galka as my new character. I love the PLD job, played it to 60 on my last character and never finished it because of NIN-envy. (Got NIN to 66 lol.)

Now...... its like all those nostalgic, sugary feelings are rising up inside to play mister big bad tank man fantastic.

Mini-invincible for 30 seconds every 5 minutes, 4:10 w/merits + Phalanx II and, etc. etc.????? Do you realize how helpful that will be on Gods/HNMS/Dynamis? -flails around in an lmao- Yes, it was already mentioned, but MAN... the possibilities. *-*

[lionx]

Well I just have one question. Since I still don't get to exp with many plds, has it made exp any easier?

I usually start the battle with Provoke and Flash...usually the monster will not hit me(it can but not often), then once it wears off i immediately Sentinel, and then add Provoke(which has now an Enimity increase which usually seals in hate for an exp mob), then the minute Sentinel wears, i throw another Flash trying to mitigate damage.

Usually vs Colibris i am able to take very little damage and hold hate without fail for one fight every 5 minutes. I felt that was cool enough, although i dont know about pre ToAU areas since when this update came i was already in the 50s, but i feel that being able to mitigate damage in general like this for one whole fight(even if its against Colibris) to be very awesome and certainetly makes my job easier.

I havent tried Rampart yet though..only 59 with 5K tnl <3

EDIT: I dont know how my post went here..i clearly saw Armando's post as being last..then i posted..and it ended up here..

[dirtyclown]

Have any of you been stacking Berserk with Sentinel? I've managed to boost my WS damage by about 200ish points by doing it.

[nanatsu]

Well I just have one question. Since I still don't get to exp with many plds, has it made exp any easier?

[Raydeus]

Well I just have one question. Since I still don't get to exp with many plds, has it made exp any easier?

Not really, both Sentinel and Rampart last so little time that they are best used now to mitigate damage at specific points of the battle rather than as a hate generating tool like they used to be (at least in my case).

Sentinel is a nice toy but doesn't do much, plus the effect weakens as time passes. So by the time the effect is about to end I don't think it mitigates more than 50% (haven't tested it long enough since I haven't played much lately).

The only change that has made things better for xp situations was Shield blocking negating interruptions, going back to that was great indeed.

[Armando]

I sure love how we can do Flash -> Sentinel -> Flash, though. That's one whole minute of minimal damage <3

[tuggler]

Well I absolutely love them both - so much so that I'm meritting them down as much as possible in order to be able to use them more regularly. My LS is currently into meritting in Mamool, which really suits my PLD/WAR much better than Caedarva Mire. On the melee Mamool Ja's the sequence Voke -> Sentinel -> Flash -> Cure III/IV -> Voke works really well at establishing hate early on in the fight. If the mob isn't hitting too hard I might also throw in Berserk with Sentinel then cancel it again as soon as Sentinel wears. When fighting the mage Mamool Ja's I replace Sentinel with Rampart to mitigate the initial Ancient Magic they often cast at the beginning of the fight and also throw in a Shield Bash in an attempt to stop it altogether. I use Warcry against Puks and if neither Sentinel nor Rampart is available I turn to Defender against the Mamool Ja's.

The imps in Caedarva Mire are such pains in the rear and the fights are so fast that all this goes out of the window and I find myself just doing what I can to keep hate, but not worrying about it too much if I lose it, even for the full length of a fight - as long as nobody dies it's fine :).

[Lmnop]

Sentinel appears to be just as effective subbed. Tested last night with 3: War/nin, war/pld, NPC fellow. It took 6-8 Cactuars before they finally did the damn 1000 needles, but when he did, my friend popped Sentinel and sure enough: 333, 333, and 33.

This wasn't worth starting a new topic. Just thought this find should be noted.