pld guide

[Kagi]

:sweat:

[simplex]

ok

i want my af armor ; ;.

i wish i was in Midgardsormr.

[simplex]

1 mroe thing

what sword skill lvl do yo uget spirits within?

[kainzero]

get your AF1 the hard way! assembling a messy green disorganzied PT and then forging them into an elite unit that kicks much arse!

i dunno how complicated this guide could get.

PLD Job Description:
You're a tank. You're made to take damage, not give damage. You also have some bonuses against undead.

Armorwise:
1 RSE
8 Scale
17 Lizard
21 Beetle
24 Chain
30 Centy/Royal Sq.
40 Plate/IM helm
Shields-
I don't remember the path, but I know Decurion's pre-28 and Kite 28-43. I think you use use the L1 shield for a while, then upgrade to an Aspis? I forget.
Neck-
Justice Badge > Holy Phial
Rings-
Always get VIT+, at least through 42 to what I can tell. Sphene's at 36 if you didn't get the +1 Ring at 16.
Cape-
Whatever's highest in DEF.
Earrings-
Look into evadeup earrings.
Belt-
Warrior Belt, then Warrior Belt+1.

Weapons:
You can use a club, but sword does more damage and 10-34 you can actually participate in Renkei somewhat. PLD also have mastery in GS and Staff, but 2H weapons drop the shield. You want the shield for the additional DEF and the chance at blocking. Skillup is rarer in shield, which is why you want it on at all times. And PLD can use some spears, but... it's highly not recommended because they don't have much skill with it.

1H Sword-
L1 Bronze > L7 Spatha > L11 Bee Spatha > L19/L15 Small Sword/Fire Sword > L30 Centy Sword > L34(?) Hunting/War Sword > L42 AF1 Honor Sword

Subjobs:
WAR and only WAR. In EXTREME EXTREME EXTREME situations, Taru PLD/WHM can be a healer, but WAR and WAR all the way. Provoke is absolutely necessary, and later on, Defender at L50.

Holding hate:
Early on, you mostly have provoke. You might be able to fire on Cure 1s on yourself to keep some hate and decrease WHM hate. Eventually, as you grow, you'll begin to use higher and higher Cures, and develop a natural flow of that by yourself.
Level 10, you get WAR subs provoke. It's your best friend. When you're tank, and you should be, you want to use it every 30 seconds.
Level 15 you get Shield Bash. It's decent at interrupting Gob Bombs, but later on, it gets resisted way too much. But, it's still useful to interrupt long cast spells. Also very useful to control hate to a degree.
Level 30 you get Sentinel. Very short time, you get a DEF boost. I don't think too much of it, I use it mainly to build what hate it gets. You also get WAR sub Berserk. This is something you don't want to use when you tank, maybe if you hunt you can mess around with but try not to touch it.
Level 37 you get a spell called Flash. Flash is your best friend's girlfriend. Provoke+Flash+Shield Bash+Sentinel+Cure III... that's a lot of hate right there.
Level 38 you get Cover. I'm not too familiar with it yet, but if you use it on a member, you can stand between them and the monster and absorb the damage. Helpful for that overnuking mage, Barraging ranger, and Soul Eaten DRK.

As far as THF goes, always learn fuidama tactics, I can't comment too much on that, something you gotta learn in-game.

WS (sword):
Fast Blade - Your most damaging WS for a long time. I THINK it hits twice, which would explain why it alternates between 18 and 36 damage at low levels...
Burning/Red Lotus - Nearly similar WS to each other. By the time you get it, your main Renkei in Valkurm is probably Fast > Burning/Lotus > Combo.
Flat Blade - Crap damage, but the advantage is stun. When most renkei's get reduced to two man, this is what you gotta save up for to interrupt Bombs and other interruptibles.
Shining Blade/Seraph Blade - Light damage, it's decent. If you charge up TP to 300% you will do quite a chunk of damage against Light-weak enemies. I did 240 on a Soldier Crawler at 42.

Food:
Food is good. Sometimes you won't need it as much, when the enemies hit for wimpy damage like Yhoator Mandras, but when you fight boss mobs or other hard hitting stuff you want it on.
I recommend you learn cooking for juices. Juice regens your MP, and proper use of it will help you avoid MP downfalls.
Cheap stuff:
Roasted Corn, Tortilla, Crayfish (? Not sure)
Expensive stuff:
Boiled/Steamed Crab, Fish Mithkabob/Chiefkabob
Juice:
Pineapple Juice

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.

AF1:
If you remember the kid and the fishing rod, give him back his fishing rod if you haven't already. If you sold it or broke it, buy him another one. He'll give you a quest for a whetstone in Ordelles.
Take the entrance on the left of La Theine, then head east in the fork in the road and proceed down, through, then back up to H-10. You'll see a Stalagmite, touching it triggers the boss.
The boss is a Stone Elemental. He hits for about 130-150 at 42, and casts Stonega II and other fun spells. Absolutely recommended to have multiple BLM, I'd think the ideal PT is PLD/SAM/BLM/BLM/RDM/WHM, I did it in a massive Alliance of PLD/SAM/THF/WHM/BRD/WHM/RDM/RDM/RDM. Magic Burst with the SAM, whether it's his Self-Renkei or not, but nuke the sucker to death and collect your whetstone to turn it in for your AF1, the Honor Sword.

I think that's all I'm suitably allowed to discuss without overstepping my experience. Feel free to make any changes or disagree, I don't think I'm that good of a PLD -_-;

[kainzero]

*double post*

sorry...

[Khujy]

Wow! bro, leveling is a pain, switching from places to places, fighting different monsters as they stronger and also you do too. Man that's why I love Paladin, althought I am still waiting for the game to come out for PS2, damn Square Enix. Well when I begin, I'll be a WAR/MNK and when I reach lv 30 on my Warrior, I'll do the Paladin Quest. But answer me one question bro! How hard is to level up from level 1 WAR to level 18, do the sub job quest and then continue to lv 30 WAR? Cuz when I get the game, I plan to play 2-3 hours on weekdays and 6 hours on weekends for sure. Just wondering how long it will take if I level up like crazy and also getting gils and doing quests? Thank you!

[Somajan]

I started out with monk first and got it to 18 right away, that way the armor I was getting for warrior to 30 I could save all the way up to level 30 for paladin.

[Lyonesse]

I really should start writing a PLD and WHM guide now that I have 1500 hours logged in including North American Beta. :sweat: