best stats for a paladin

[Aceofspades]

/sigh vit , other then damage mitigation (wich IS noticable) also gives enhancement magic potiency, wich increases how much damage your Stone skin can take, how much the regen ,from devine veil, gives, and im 90% sure increases buff rate on rampart. Anyone who would stack STR over VIT can be classified as an offensive tank, wich is not a bad thing, just means they will get hit harder then one who stacks vit.

Mind is more effective the "enmity" on pld for keeping hate, sure add enmity where possable but Its not imposable to hold hate with 50ish enmity, just saying mind is very usefull, mainly for enmity control. Block rate IS important. Yes , devine veil dose give a 100 percent block rate for 20 seconds, with a 60 cool down, wich means if you can raise your block rate high enough you can acheive 80% ish block rate through the entire fight. this would just add to damage mitigation. High block number is important , BUT , it usually requires equiping a shield in wich you can not stack materia, and is only justified by the rate in wich you block, having high block is worthless otherwise.

And I probably stan alone on this, but , do not neglect defense. easy way to test how usefull it is , add plate gear with less def and do turtle back, then add max def that you can and test again, do it over and over, do not look at overall damage taken as that has too many variables , look at avg damage taken. Def drops avg damage taken and overall damage taken alot in a boss fight, its just less noticable as , unlike magic attacks, dont hit very hard, but they hit at a much higher frequency then magic attacks. Also, most magic attacks do give away proc as they have a action or "charge time" in wich you can use to avoid magic attacks.

[Molly_Millions]

And I probably stan alone on this, but , do not neglect defense. easy way to test how usefull it is , add plate gear with less def and do turtle back, then add max def that you can and test again, do it over and over, do not look at overall damage taken as that has too many variables , look at avg damage taken. Def drops avg damage taken and overall damage taken alot in a boss fight, its just less noticable as , unlike magic attacks, dont hit very hard, but they hit at a much higher frequency then magic attacks. Also, most magic attacks do give away proc as they have a action or "charge time" in wich you can use to avoid magic attacks.

I'm definately there with you. I just don't have any really usefull melds for PLD with DEF yet. If you go for DEF though, make sure to use a +1 Cuirass, that extra 9 base def is a pretty damn good start. It's like having an extra tier II DEF materia.

[Sounsyy]

While I'm generally against Ace on his VIT stance, I do agree with him that a little DEF can go a long ways. And you don't have to go full turtle tank style to get a decent DEF rating. Start by getting HQ of all your gear. That alone can add anywhere from 1-10 def per piece. I also rock a double def meld on my kite shield+1. That coupled with a full set of militia gear gives me rough 700 def rating. The militia setup also puts me at a decent VIT rating (I call 270 decent) for those fights like myrmidion princess, a capped MND, and puts me at 4k HP. I'm free to stack STR rings. With this setup, all I have to do is swap in a piece or two if I want to go dd tank or turtle or hp/enm depending on what the situation calls for.

[Molly_Millions]

While I'm generally against Ace on his VIT stance, I do agree with him that a little DEF can go a long ways. And you don't have to go full turtle tank style to get a decent DEF rating. Start by getting HQ of all your gear. That alone can add anywhere from 1-10 def per piece. I also rock a double def meld on my kite shield+1. That coupled with a full set of militia gear gives me rough 700 def rating. The militia setup also puts me at a decent VIT rating (I call 270 decent) for those fights like myrmidion princess, a capped MND, and puts me at 4k HP. I'm free to stack STR rings. With this setup, all I have to do is swap in a piece or two if I want to go dd tank or turtle or hp/enm depending on what the situation calls for.

I have my doubts about VIT on PLD, sure it's usefull for stoneskin, but I don't even have stoneskin on my bar as PLD. it takes too long to cast. Personally, I'm aiming for 4k+ hp on my PLD via stacking DEF and HP where it doesn't interfere with Enmity, STR or MND. Currently, I've achieved that by using the militia cuirass, but I'm collecting mats for an hq cobalt one with plenty of def and hp.

[SwordCoheir]

Yes , devine veil dose give a 100 percent block rate for 20 seconds, with a 60 cool down, wich means if you can raise your block rate high enough you can acheive 80% ish block rate through the entire fight. this would just add to damage mitigation. High block number is important , BUT , it usually requires equiping a shield in wich you can not stack materia, and is only justified by the rate in wich you block, having high block is worthless otherwise.

Just remember like the "Parry" stat the "Block" stat caps at the 20% mark the rest of your block rate comes strictly from DEX which I believe was 1% Block for every 10 DEX.

While were on the subject of defense, if your poor and happen to be in the Lominsan Grand Company I highly advise you invest in a Lominsan Officer's Overcoat. It by far is the best poor man's tank gear providing an awesome +10 MND, DEX, VIT, and STR and with Sanction gives you a solid +70 DEF. Even subtracting the difference from the sanction bonus to make up for the coats slightly lower defense the remainder is still the equivalent of a Triple melded TIV Defense Cobalt Plate.

[Stufoo]

how much the regen ,from devine veil, gives, and im 90% sure increases buff rate on rampart.

That's wrong. The only thing that buffs Divine Regen is Gallant Cuisses which are worthless, and nothing helps rampart, it's always 105.

From some testing after the latest paladin buffs, 2 vit gives 1 block power now, and 1 block power is around .1% mitigated on blocks, capping at 75% total (from floor based on dLVL, shield block + gear block, and VIT divided by 2.)

VIT and Defense are great but it just depends on what fight you are going into, and in the end it boils down to wearing Heavy Darklight anyway.

High block number is important , BUT , it usually requires equiping a shield in wich you can not stack materia, and is only justified by the rate in wich you block, having high block is worthless otherwise.

Yay holy shield Block rate is regulated through abilities mainly so power/vit is a better stat to have than rate/dex.

[Zephen_Kellen]

MND also increase Auto attack damage according to the patch notes. MND and STR add to your damage. dmg also adds to the hate that you produce. Also killing things quicker is a good defense. I keep MND maxed where I can, and then Focus on STR. I mix in a little VIT here and there. I have turned out Very tanky, deal decent damage, and I rarely ever lose hate. Only time I have is when I get stunned for a long time and BLM goes crazy.

I hate fire sometimes, "hey look FIRE" great voke, ages boon, war drum "Cure you BLM!" *Runs after BLM trying to use cover.*

[Sounsyy]

I don't even have stoneskin on my bar as PLD. it takes too long to cast.

Exactly. The only place I have VIT on my paladin is from Militia gear. It's just not worth it when you need to buff STR, ACC, ENM, HP, and MND.

[GreyJorildyn]

Stoneskin is the most efficient spell you can cast on PLD. To say it's not on your bar because it takes too long to cast is pretty ridiculous. You can block while casting and between Aegis Boon (guaranteed block), Divine Veil (guaranteed blocks for 20s), and Outmanuever (not so much I guess), casting Stoneskin is never an issue. It's 112 MP to negate over 800 damage. Sure it doesn't generate enmity, but it is a staple Paladin spell.

Honestly HP for SW, ACC, and enmity are the only very important stats for Paladin in the longhaul. It boils down to who you play with and how good your party is.

[Molly_Millions]

We get 5 abilities from other classes, I deemed these more important than stoneskin:

protect
raise
sacred prism
cure
provoke

I usually roll with two WHMs and a BRD who take turns casting stoneskin, therefore, I don't need to. It's not like I don't have it up, I just don't cast it on myself. in the time it takes to cast I could be doing something that will build enmity instead.