PLD VIT+Enmity = What?

I like to believe i;m on the right path towards leveling a good pld onmy server. Most agree they haven't seen a decent leveling pld in a long while and i'm currently leveling pld. @44 atm.

So my question to those that are PLD veterans, am i on the right path? based onmy testing as rdm/pld and now pld/war, i've done the following: (As a hume race)

I'll reach enmity+11. At my current level, a war with gaxe /thf Useing A SA + WS can't pull hate away and so far any THF I've pt'ed with had either found no need to TA me or they're just not aware they're supposed to TA me.

My Enmity gear is...
Cache-nez (Enmity+2)
Dash sash (Enmity+2)
High Breath mantle (Enmity+5)
Grudge sword (enmity+1)
Gothic Gauntlets (enmity+2)


As for vit, I always heard from other pld's i'd level with back in the day years ago, vit helps generally with taking less dmg and pld supposed to VIT stack asmuch as they can, is this true and if not, what should i replace VIT with?

For Vit, i'm at 49+18 without food, useing Tavnazian Taco (Cause there is no crab anything to be found in AH ><) i'll reach a total of +24 w/food and def of 268 w/ Protect 2 on.

So far whats working for me is right now i have caped sword, caped parrying (parry on rdm at 199) and shield caped at 200 for WHM. SO i understand right now these are all my factors working together to take less dmg. Sword well, i'm able to landmore hits and my criticals tend to land for 40-50+dmg atm. Since i was always told that apperently landing critical hits helps hold hate.

as for the rest of my armor (considering lack of selectable armor in AH) i'm useing Eisenburst body, legs and feet (no luck on gothic feet yet), Medieval collar, Beetle earring+1, Mercenary's earring, Verve ring/+1, Turtle shiled +1 and happy egg

I'm aware of later on getting the refesh neck peice.


So when i reach PLD AF (or as i like to call it, the white dress) should i keep working on VIT and Enmity build (even more so enmity build because i play mage jobs, so no option in meriting enmity) or is there other possiable factors i need to consider later on?

VIT is a base stat for defense. More defense = less damage taken = less hate decay/hit. So I guess your on the right track? Keeping VIT+ and Defense mixed with Enmity works for you now sure.
Keep in mind in end game the style changes based on subjob.

Remember you can macro in most Enmity pieces when using Enmity generating moves.

@54 pld atm, I use the following



I'll switch the espadon to the grudge if Enmity is an issue however.

I also have the Rush gloves for when I'm being hit for too high a number, same as the War belt+1

I find early bird parties, and kuftal tunnel <Crab> <Battles> much more vit is needed, as they hit hard.

I macro in

Cache-nez (+2)
Mermaid ring (+2)

For JA's atm. (or of course if you're being SATA'd)

I find shield skill kind of important too.

Hope my rather limited take helps you somewhat :)

I'll likely end up being a back up tank when it comes to endgame. As pld i'd have no plans to do anything serious like HNM, just Dynamis for AFv2 and Sky for Koeing Armor. If i'm able to achive the armor, then i'll consider moving more in to HNM++.

is /BLU needed for pld? aside from /Nin.

Yeah, IMO it is anyways. It really helps when super tanking, I don't even know if it's possible without /blu tbh.

Good subs IMO are:

War (obviously)
Nin
Blu
Rdm
Dnc

There may be better qualified pld's to say which subs are necessary rather than situationally good to have though.

Thought enmity eqp had to be kept on to lower the enmity lost over time? that if macroed in with just provoke, it causes a enemity spike but would drop faster with lack of +enmity to try to hold that spike up longer?

9 times out of 10 your going to need /nin or /war for endgame tanking/kiting, so if you dont have the other subs, no one will fault you.

As for super tanking, what would those mobs be? mainly gods? i'm not thinking far enough ahead to HNM++ yet considering i'd nedd better gear than just AF ^_^

Enmity decays at a fixed rate over time, or based on the amount of HP you lose.

Enmity + or Enmity - gear has no effect on this.

Tis a good point, Never really thought of it like that.

I've never really had a problem tanking though, hardest tanking I've ever done is bird party with a rngx2, drg, sam, pld, rdm

And that's the party I kept my full enmity+ gear on pretty much all the time to stop the hate from jumping

Don't wanna get into a whole thing here, but as you level higher on pld, you'll find haste and acc become more imp then vit and def. Shield skill is always nice to have too.

In terms of subjob, now that you have War, the important ones to lvl in order of importance are:
/Nin;
/Rdm;
/Blu;
/Dnc

Blu is mainly for specialty type events and is generally uncommon, and Dnc is mainly for soloing.

No, it's not, and Argettio explained why.

That's not how enmity works...

Enmity testing

Enmity , Enmity, Enmity, i stack as much of this as possible even over VIT your not doing anybody any favors if the mob is attacking someone else, ppl love a tank that can keep hate that way they are free to WS whenever.

Thank you, I acknowledge I'm a nooby paladin even though I still use abilities I see many people neglect ;>.>

All a learning experience =D

No advocates of the DDing Pld here huh? That's just disappointing. I think it's because people have a strict missunderstading of the purpose behind focusing on DDing as opposed to turtling. The primary purpose to gear for DDing is it is one of the better ways to gain enmity over time. The first thing I'd recommend you do is review Kanican's journal. This is basically the Pld's bible, although all jobs should review and understand this imo.


Let me clarify this a little. Without getting into all the math, Vit is compared against the Str of the mob and is a seperate equation from the Defense/Attack equation. The problem is that stacking Vitality or Defense past a point gives very dissapointing results. A full Vit/Def build vs. Colibri is going to produce nearly the same damage/hit as a DDing build. Don't blame me, that's the way SE made the game. Test this yourself before you assume this "can't be true."

A good build based primarily on accuracy and attack will help you hold hate far better than a turtle build. As for enmity, as it was mentioned earlier, macro this in for your hate building JAs and spells.

Oh, and don't use +enmity weapons that hurt your DDing capabilities. Espadon will provide a lot more enmity through DDing than the 1 enmity from a Grudge Sword or the Beaver Tail.

Well let me shed some light on the situation here.



Once you hit LV75, forget everything you know about PLD. VIT is worthless, DEF is worthless, the only things that matter for TP/idle are Haste, HP, and ACC (In that order). You'll use Joyeuse and spam Atonement since it is quite literally PLD's best hate tool. Never TP in Enmity gear because that only affects your individual hits. Enmity adds a +% increase to how much hate you have, so if you only hit for 4 damage with +25 enmity gear on, you'll be taking hate like you just hit 5 damage >.> Yeah not a big difference. HP+ decreases enmity loss when losing a shadow or taking damage, so major HP pieces like Bomb Queen Ring or Cassie Earring or Gigant Mantle are good for PLD, but basically everything else should be Haste or ACC.


Again, this is all assuming you're PLD/NIN, which besides Dynamis and a few select situations, you really have no reason not to be.

Yeah, an Endgame Pld and an exp party Pld are like two totally different jobs.

For whoever said enmity only, keep in mind if you're taking more damage than the DDs, you aren't really of any use either.

even if u focus on stacking enmity u wont be taking as much damage as a dd and also a controled fight where the mob stays on pld only makes for a easier/smoother fight

Most everything has been said, it would appear, but I'm rather bored today so i'll pitch in! i like to help PLDs at least.

Early on, levels 1~50, VIT/DEF/HP/Enmity play a large roll on PLDs hate control, combining the above will make you a wonderful PLD and you'll rarely lose hate.

Post 50 however, the DEF/VIT Formula takes a turn for the "*** you" from Square Enix. if it was possible you could pack on 50VIT and 300DEF on top of everything and still take maybe only 3-4 Points less of Damage then a naked BLM (I'm exaggerating, but seriously only a little and thats the sad thing).

Once you hit 50 you should take the old saying "The best Defense is a good Offense" to heart. Switch out those smelly VIT rings for some Accuracy Rings, or Rajas, etc. Some slots, like Earrings, can keep geared toward HP/MP/Shield Skill(Cause not a lot of Viable options for Ear until much later on).

At 52 put on your AF boots and don't take them off. Keep Hi-Breath Mantle, its actually rather useful, consider Amemet+1 when it comes around however. as far as Waist goes you can't go wrong with Speed/Swift/Headlong (in order). Neck go with DD there, Chiv Chain at 60, Peacock Charm instead if you have/can afford it.

So recap a little?

After level 50~52 start gearing yourself a bit more offensively, but don't give up on the heart of PLD completely, MACRO your Enmity gear for Job abilities, Flash, etc... Your most powerful tool is Damage and Shield Skill post 50, Gear toward that for any slot you can and fill in the blanks with HP/MP, macro in Enmity where needed.


Its all very complicated and annoying, but i promise if you follow the above you'll be a great PLD... at 75 the rules change (AGAIN), but that's a discussion for another time.

Thanks for the wonderful insight everyone. Disapointed SE killed the VIT+DEF after 50. ~.~ its working out so well too! ALl links suggested i'll take the time to read over and see what i can learn from there.

as for sj, RDM and NIN already got overed, DNC and BLU not yet >< but i'll have to set aside time to level those in the near future.

Thank you everyone!

VIT works fine post-50, the formula doesn't change, the mobs don't even have significantly higher STR or attack in proportion. It just becomes more obvious that blood tanking is horrible efficiency. If you could pack on 50 more VIT and 300 more def, you'd lower the mob's pdif by enough to reduce your actual damage taken by as much as 60-70%.

It's still a terrible choice and the rest of what you said is moderately accurate, just pointing out that there's nothing magical about level 50 that makes VIT worthless.

Also, always use your shield gear(buckler earring, af/+1 feet) when blood tanking. No amount of damage increase will outdo the defense provided by capping shield block rate.

Or, better yet, quit PLD now and level a real tank like DRK.

In my opinion id say change the beetle +1 for drone earring x2 or even buckler + drone , 6 agi can really help your shield parry and occasional evasion rate.

Defender when you hit 50 that will really help you out.

Good luck

More Enmity makes you lose more hate when get hit.
Which would mean a PLD should wear enmity - gears while geting hit and enmity + while doing Hate moves

No, no, no you are just wrong... please read the enmity testing.

(link posted above)

That is wrong, +enmity gear won't affect your hate loss when taking damage, only +/- HP would. Also AGI has never been proven to affect block rate at all, and would be quite strange if it did considering PLDs low AGI level.

To OP, everything looks good, start throwing on some +shield gear when you reach the appropriate level if you can afford it.

Obvious troll is obvious >.>

Wayyyy back when, people used to say, "pre-75, never sub anything but WAR, and stack VIT/HP<=>Defense/Agility in that order" since PLDs were (and still are, I hope?) always involved in EXP parties at that level.

Nowadays, with the addition of DNC as a sub, as well as Fields of Valor, the solo PLD isn't very uncommon, where you prioritize Accuracy, Attack, and STR along with/over Defense and VIT (depending on the situation/mob).

[someone please correct me if I'm wrong or disillusioned at any point, there. XD]

To be completely honest, if I had to start over on a brand new character, I'd play PLD exactly the same way I was brought up. (Except be a little more gear-aware.) :) Those were some good times. ^^