The Divine Protector: PLD Guide 2024 - (Under Construction)

Bro, with all due respect - take a step back from your keyboard, take a breath, relax. It doesn't matter why he wants to make a guide. If you don't find it useful or don't agree with it, feel free to share your grievances but he has no responsibility to answer your questions and meet your expectations lol. There are a MILLION guides out there for a MILLION games which some are vetted and accurate, some are not. It is what it is. Let the guy live.

Ty for your opinion, but I'll do as I please, just as he's not obligated to answer my question there really isn't any reason I see why I can't ask it. It's up to him as to whether or not he feels it's worth answering or not, not you.

1. Making new guides despite the availability of existing guides is a good idea. Oftentimes people who make good guides step away from the game, or don't otherwise keep them updated. I myself learn something new every time I inevitably go back to an old guide (sometimes the new thing is "this guide's outdated.").

2. The only place I have read that "the maximum CE reduction that you can achieve is 68.5" is from this guide. So I'd like to know...is that the maximum YOU'VE achieved, or the maximum the game makes possible? Also, does that number take into account the 10 Enmity+ from merits? It's important as it will dictate how I proceed with my gearset.

Hi there, thanks for your question!

1. The 68.5% CE reduction is the theoretical maximum based on current mechanics and available gear combinations. It is calculated as:
- 50% from Enmity+, capped at +100 (this includes Enmity+ from merits).
- 37% from "Reduces Enmity Loss" gear, which includes items like Burtgang (20%), Chevalier's Cuisses +3 (14%), and Creed Collar (5%).

The reduction is multiplicative, not additive. The formula is:
This results in a 68.5% reduction in CE loss.

Update: I have clarified this section to make the mechanics easier to understand. The CE loss reduction is achieved by combining Enmity+ and gear effects multiplicatively:
- Enmity+: For every +2 Enmity, CE loss is reduced by 1%, up to a maximum of 50% at +100 Enmity.
- Gear: Reduces CE loss additively (e.g., Burtgang = 20%, Chevalier's Cuisses +3 = 14%). Combined gear reduction totals 37%.

Final calculation is:

2. To answer your second question: Yes, this calculation takes into account the 10 Enmity+ from merits, as they contribute to the +100 Enmity cap. If your gear and merits total to +100 Enmity, you’re already maxed out for the Enmity+ portion of the reduction.

Sources

1. Martel's Testing
From the FFXIAH forum, Martel confirms that +2 Enmity = -1% CE loss reduction, up to 50% at +100 Enmity, and shares a JP blog's findings about gear like Burtgang and Chevalier's Cuisses.

2. JP Blog Source
The blog tested Enmity+ gear interactions with CE loss and confirmed these mechanics. Martel’s interpretation aligns with this source.

Regarding the guide's visibility: I wasn’t aware it might still be public! Can you confirm if it’s accessible? I thought I had set it to private. ?

Let me know if you have any further questions or feedback!

Foe Sirvente's effect is additive to the same term as CE loss reduction gear, and that term caps at a 50% reduction. So, multiplied with the CE loss reduction from Enmity+ a total reduction of 75% can be reached.

There was post by Two man Cell, the same JP blog that did the enmity+ CE loss test, later in the same year(2019) that tested Foe Sirvente and it's interactions with other CCE loss effects.

Ya it's visible, so may want to check privacy settings again. Will withhold any sets questions till guide is complete.

Also, the amount cured to CE value in the guide is way off.
It states
But this is much, much too high.

For a level 99 target, the CE modifier should be 40/170 or 0.235(truncated) I've also seem some accounts that an ilvl 119 target has a slightly lower value, at 40/173, or 0.231. It seems that in some of my personal spreadsheets I've been using 0.232. <,<;;

Sorry to introduce multiple possibilities, but it can be hard to find the most recent retest for this stuff. And I'm not subbed to just retest it myself. But in any case, it is definitely not 0.404.

A few resources.
Cure enmity nerf updat(March 2013)
Post 2013 update retest
2017 JP retest
The first comment on the JP blog test here states a 40/173(0.231) rate for ilvl players.

Also,
This has the caveat that the caster is also on the monster's hate list. You can be in range of other monsters, but not get the enmity divided if they aren't on the hatelist.
This is no longer always the case. The global 1 CE floor for actions was removed, and it is now possible for a cure to generate 0 CE. Though this usually only happens with enmity- gear, or tranquil heart. I believe a 0 HP cure will still generate 1 CE if there's no enmity reductions at play.

Oh. Guide's supposed to be hidden? Well, I guess I can stop poking at it.

Cool. I guess I just couldn't find WHERE CE loss reduction capped at 100 (i.e., 50). But if everyone is in agreement that it does, that works for me.

SIDE NOTE: The existing PLD guide indicates that Burtgang gets 20% CE Loss Reduction AND +23 Enmity. Are we in agreement on that? If so, it stands to reason that the 23 Enmity on the sword contributes to the 100 Enmity cap.

Thank you so much, Martel!
It's truly an honor to have you respond to my guide.

Regarding Foe Sirvente, I did read about it, but I forgot to mention it—my mistake.
Your clarification on its interaction with CE loss reduction gear and the cap is incredibly helpful, as is the reference to Two Man Cell's testing.

Thank you again for your valuable input!


I've temporarily updated the guide to remove the mention of 0.404, as you're absolutely right—it’s clearly incorrect.
I’ll conduct my own tests to try and determine the most accurate modifier for ilvl 119 players.

Good question!

The 20% is indeed specific to the stat "Reduces Enmity decrease when taking damage."

If I’m not mistaken, this was also tested on a Burtgang 99, which lacks any Enmity+. This suggests that the +23 Enmity from the Burtgang should be included in the Enmity from other equipment to reach the cap.

That said, I can’t confirm this with absolute certainty, but it does align with the available tests.

Regarding the guide's visibility:

I don’t mind leaving it visible during its finalization if the current content can help others. It seems the guide becomes visible again every time I republish a section, which I have to do often to check the layout and final rendering.

If keeping it visible is more convenient for everyone, I’m happy to leave it that way. Making it private every time I publish can be tedious, especially when I might need to republish 40 times in a single minute just to perfect the formatting. ?

In fact, leaving it visible has already been useful, as it’s helped identify some typos and clarify certain points thanks to the feedback received.

Let me know what works best for everyone!

Every completed version of Burtgang has enmity+. The lvl 75 version has +10, for example. However, the original Burtgang CE loss reduction tests(both at 75, and 99) predate the change that made enmity+ reduce CE loss. So there's no chance that the value was miss tested due to Burtgang having enmtiy+ on it. The -20% CE loss is entirely independent of the enmity+.

In any case, Enmity+ from any source is going to contribute to the +100 cap for CE loss reduction. Regardless of if the item also has the CE loss reduction stat on it.

Basically, Burtgang double dips, having two different sources of CE loss reduction.

Noice, noice. That said, I got myself a capped enmity tanking set, which was what I was looking for. I'm still not understanding how adding the 50 CE to the 34 CE doesn't equate to 84, but whatever. Capped is capped, whether it's 84 or 68.5

Thanks for making a guide on the forum.

Just redid this test as best I could with assistance from Martel, feel it's pretty safe to say CE = HP Healed x .231 for ilvl. So you should be able to update the guide with that formula. Lvl 99 (non-ilvl) wasn't tested, and we don't think there's enough (or any) variance to say ML does anything.


**EDIT**

haha I should probably put the testing method shouldn't I? >.>

ML 45 PLD/BLM All sets +/-0 Enmity
Majesty + Phalanx beforehand

Aggro mob with sight, cast Poison (1CE/320VE) and waited 10s for VE to drain.
Cure IV for 1294 HP, waited 60s, Atonement for 49 DMG.

Atonement formula ((X/6)-1)=49
X/6=50
X=300
-1 for the poison, 299 CE.
299/1294 = .231

Tested before with lower cure value as well of 1113 and atonement dmg of 42

((X/6)-1) = 42
X/6=43
X=258
-1 Fo the poison, 257 CE
257/1113 = .231

Thank you so much for these tests! I was actually in the middle of running similar ones on my own, and your detailed methodology and results will definitely make my life easier. This is a huge help, and I truly appreciate the effort you put into confirming the CE modifier. ?

I conducted several tests on different mobs using a fixed set of gear: full Sakpata's with Sakpata's Sword, Duban (119) as shield, Vim Torque only, and all other slots empty. No Enmity and no Cure Potency were present at any point. I am Master Level 46 with 445 Healing Skill and sub BLM. The testing method was consistent:
1. Cast Phalanx Majesty.
2. Aggro by sight.
3. Apply poison.
4. Wait 10-20 seconds.
5. Cast Cure IV.
6. Wait 60-80 seconds.

Here are the results:

Monster Type	Monster Level	Healing Amount (HP)	Atonement DMG	Modifier
Acerbic Jagil	102	942	36	0.2345
Acerbic Jagil	104	942	36	0.2345
Mountain Peiste	102	942	36	0.2345
Mountain Peiste (Other)	102	942	36	0.2345
Animosiraptor	102	942	36	0.2345
Animosiraptor	102	942	36	0.2345

Based on these results, the calculated modifier is approximately **0.2345**, slightly higher than the **0.231** reported by other tests. While both results are close, further testing under identical conditions is needed to determine whether the difference arises from rounding, experimental setup, or other factors.

Atonement is only accurate to within 5 CE of a value on a static CE value test. Basically since it's ce/6, you can only observe a change in CE via Atonement dmg every 6 CE.

A 36 Atonement could mean anywhere from 217~222 CE. With a 942 cure(and -1 CE for the tag poison cast), that would yield a range of 0.229~0.234 as possible cure CE modifiers.

This does put the current value of 0.231 within the range of your test results, which could be taken as support for the value. But without additional tests the results are inconclusive.

Basically, for this to confirm or disprove the prior testing, you need to increment CE up by 1 per test until the Atonement dmg changes. How many extra 1 CE actions that takes will give you the exact CE value.

Assuming 0.231 is correct, then a test with 3 extra 1 CE casts should still yield a 36, where a test with a 4th extra cast would tick up to 37. Tests with those results would confirm a 218 CE value for the cure itself. Which would match a 0.231 CE mod.

EDIT: Note that Boposhopo did do these additional tests as well. He just forgot to include them in his post. Multiple iterations of testing were gone through, so I can't really blame him. This ***gets involved.

Thanks for the clarification regarding Atonement's precision and the potential range for CE values. Based on this, I agree that while the modifier isn't exact to the thousandths, the results consistently fall within a close enough range to confidently use 0.231 as a baseline.

Even if slight variations exist (e.g., between 0.229 and 0.234), they don't significantly impact the practical application. The consistency across different tests supports 0.231 as a reliable approximation for the CE modifier in these conditions.

Further testing could refine this, but for now, 0.231 seems like a solid reference point. ?

The range isn't for the modifier, it's a +/-5 range you have to use since the Formula is (X/6)-1. The range is on what you can accurately assume your CE was based on the calculation. The testing Martel mentions is testing I did, which I should have included and I'll do now.

Since Atonement can only accurately check your CE within +/-5 you can't accurately know exactly how much CE you have unless you steadily increase (or decrease) your CE by +/-1 until you reach the next DMG point of Atonement. So in this case, we kind of lucked out with both my cure values making this test quick.

So my lower test was 1113 Cure with a 42 Damage Atonement. We are able to accurately check this as 257 CE by testing to see when Atonement would change to 43 DMG, which happens to be 258(+1 Poison) CE, meaning we only needed 1 extra CE to confirm the formula. So for this test I added the addition of the Spell Sleep (1CE/320VE) to the test to add 1 CE, while draining VE by just adding more time. So same process as before.

Phalanx beforehand

Aggro mob with sight
cast Poison (1CE/320VE)
cast Sleep (1CE/320VE)
waited 20s for VE to drain
Cast Cure IV for 1113
Waited 60s
Atonement for 43.

We lucked out the same for the next cure value of 1294 giving up 299(+1 Poison) CE as adding another +1 would increase us from 49 DMG to 50.

Majesty + Phalanx beforehand

Aggro mob with sight
cast Poison (1CE/320VE)
cast Sleep (1CE/320VE)
waited 20s for VE to drain
Cast Cure IV for 1294
Waited 60s
Atonement for 50.

This let us accurately calculate our CE value by steadily increasing it to negate the margin of error that you can't avoid from using Atonement to test. And in doing so, we were able to use that exact CE to get the .231 instead of a CE range like you are seeing in your test.

MDT statement on post-cap is correct if stage 5 duban (25% mdt2). But at stage 3 (15% mdt2) it should only be at 65%.

Thank you so much for taking the time to perform these tests and share your methodology. It's incredibly detailed and thorough, and it clears up a lot of ambiguity around this topic.

At the very least, the guide served as a good starting point for this deeper dive into the mechanics!

Thank you for catching that error! This part hasn't been reviewed yet, and I appreciate you pointing out the discrepancy. I've corrected the mistake.

That said, the sets will likely be updated anyway, as I'm still deciding how many to include and how to present them. Thanks again for your input! ?

Thank you for including the Nixxer in the early sets! That thing served me through my dyna-d full clears as a returning player. I was the main pld and a budget pld at that. I probably was carried lol... ah memories.

As usual, there are more people to criticize than to help.

Just because Tetsouo didn’t consult you when initiating this project doesn’t mean you can’t assist or provide suggestions. Instead of acting with bitterness, why not offer your superior experience and share your divine wisdom to make this guide a gateway for all aspiring rerolls?

Did someone I have blocked respond to this thread? I cannot imagine who you are referring to, since the last 10+ posts have all been positive and helpful and nobody has pretended they have divine wisdom?

I'm extremely confused where this random hostility came from, who was bitter and what made you think that?

I assume they are reading the first page.

Is there a reasonable way to get the CE/VE numbers for casting Crusade using a similar method as above?

I'm just trying to get a ballpark so I can prioritize +enmity gear on cast or not. I guess I could just compare to self buff spell with a known value like reprisal.

Indeed, I was mainly referring to the comments on the first page, which I found aggressive and condescending.

To my knowledge, Crusade does not generate CE or VE. It only adds a flat +30 enmity in raw value.