Main job : Paladin. Questions !

[Asharin]

Hello, hello

I'm presently quite confused on FFXI and I would really appreciate some help. The thing is, I came back on FFXI two months ago after a long break (2 years) and I would like to become a PLD main. However, I keep noticing how most people got more than one job to 75, and I wonder if it is still possible to play FFXI with only one level 75 job ?

I am a paladin at heart, I love tanking and I would like it to be my main (all useful subjobs included). I don't really wish to level others jobs because it is really time consuming to level, and I can't imagine doing it twice. My main goal in FFXI would be to see the storyline (it include every expansion's missions), so I would like to know that if I decide to focus on PLD, is it a solid choice for doing most of the missions ? I know we always need a tank, but since I came back, I often heard that ninja or xx/nin can do the job better, so I'm kind of confused over that.

I would really appreciate your opinions on this matter (one job to 75 only, pld -> storyline). Is it worth it to play FFXI that way, or is it just a big waste of time since I won't have many job to offer for the missions ? Also, if that can help, I'm only rank5 and I didn't begin any expansions missions yet... is it too late ? I heard it's quite hard to gather people for COP now.

On another note, I also heard it can cost around 1 million gils in consumables items to get trough CoP, is that true ?

Thank you in advance

[Mog]

paladin is a great tank to have for CoP missions, and paramount for just about any exp party. So you're fine.

And fyi... you won't pay that much gil for CoP.

[Armando]

PLD is nowhere close to being obsoleted by NIN. There ARE times where a NIN will tank better. But the inverse is also true. No one tank can be optimal for every situation.

It's never too late to do missions, the key is to know people and/or try to find a good LS (usually achieved through knowing people.) Pick-up groups are unreliable. What are the odds that on any given day, there'll be 6 people in the zone that you're shouting at which are at least as far into CoP as you are, and also make a balanced party? Now, what are the odds that those 6 people you got aren't incompetent, retarded, or cocky to the point that they can't coordinate properly? Or that they won't do stupid things like go AFK for 20 minutes to eat dinner in the middle of a mission?
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P.S. Paladin tanking has changed substantially in the past 2 years. We've been given a large amount of upgrades, and past strategies and beliefs have been re-evaluated. Pumping VIT and Defense into every slot indiscriminately is no longer a viable strategy. Attack and Accuracy are important now, and at higher levels, in some cases it's better to go with a strong offensive eating Accuracy food and equipping a compromise of defensive and offensive gear, than to go all-out defensive.

[Asharin]

Thank you both of you for your replies and for your time, I appreciate it. As for what you said Armando...

P.S. Paladin tanking has changed substantially in the past 2 years. We've been given a large amount of upgrades, and past strategies and beliefs have been re-evaluated. Pumping VIT and Defense into every slot indiscriminately is no longer a viable strategy. Attack and Accuracy are important now, and at higher levels, in some cases it's better to go with a strong offensive eating Accuracy food and equipping a compromise of defensive and offensive gear, than to go all-out defensive.

I'm presently 38, so there's not many options to increase my attack and accuracy, however I always try to mix vit/def and atk/accuracy in my gears.

When I reach level 40, do you think it's a good idea to go for two woodsman ring and a tiltbelt (lifebelt later on) ? Will I be a mp sponge with all the vitality lost from my rings and my warrior belt+1 ? I also use a peacock charm as my neck piece, I was about to sell it, but now that you mention the importance of accuracy on paladin, I guess it's a good idea to keep it ?

I also have a question related to food since you did mention using offensive food. I presently use rice dumplings which increase my accuracy by 5 and my attack by 20%, should I use defense food instead ? Last times I used fish mithkabob or boiled crab (speaking from Valkurm Dunes up until garlaige citadel and crawler nest), I didn't really see my damage received decrease by that much, I may be mistaken tough. I kind of answer my own question, but I didn't do any real testing. I came to the conclusion that it was better to contribute to the damage done and help kill the mob faster.

I thank you for your time, I appreciate it. I don't post often, but I often read this forum and I really like this community, this is why I asked help here.

[Armando]

Asharin, refer to my Equipment Guide.

You will NEVER become an MP sink because you lost X amount of VIT. Pretend the mob has an invisible weapon. It takes 4 VIT to lower the DMG on the mob's weapon by 1. You could lose 16 VIT, and the mob would just gain 4 DMG. That would mean you'd be taking around 2-5 more damage per hit, depending on the mob and your Defense. It makes a difference but it's not a big difference.

You should definitely use Woodsman Rings and a Tilt Belt if you can afford them. And you should definitely hang on to that Peacock Charm, it's the best neck piece in the game for any melee job unless you have Sea torques.
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As for food, it depends on what you're camping and your party setup. If your party is smart and goes for VT to low IT mobs, and you have Refresh, you'll often be better off eating offensive food (after 41, you're probably better off with Sushi than meat.) If your party overhunts (and this is often the case,) and/or if you don't have Refresh, you'll have to stick to Defense food to avoid being an MP sink. But even in that case, you should still wear your Woodsman Rings, Life Belt, etc.

Definitely get a Haubergeon at 59 too.

[Prons]

This is a little off topic, but I started at wings of the godess brand new, and I did good. A returning player shouldn't have much problems

[Asharin]

Thanks for your time, I really appreciate it. Those opinions / advices are really useful to me and that motivate me to be a better paladin !

I'm going to take a look to your equipment guide