Paladin Guide and FAQ

[imac2much]

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-...371/skill1.gif
http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown-...371/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

[Rico]

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

Sticked.

[bakavic]

wow

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.

[Lyonesse]

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.

[Ginthaeriel]

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)

[simplex]

omg

omggg someone finally answered my call !!!

[kainzero]

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 >_<;

[imac2much]

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 I was either a low level THF or WAR at the time...

[Kagi]

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.

[imac2much]

Hey Whren Wow, got rampart already huh... lucky you 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:

[daigoro]

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

[Kensai]

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.

[Lyonesse]

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.

[Arnda]

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!

[Kai]

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