Earth-based Shikargar: Y/N/Maybe?

[Satisiun]

So for the life of me, I can't find any threads either on ZAM or here on the official forums concerning opinions about the variety of sword options that a PLD has.

Basically I'm looking for feedback on what seems to be the best non-drop/non-Relic/non-Mythic/non-Empyrian (whole lot of caveats, huh?) sword out there for a Paladin, and just from my very, very outdated knowledge of Paladin -- having not played it seriously since well before the 75 cap -- it seems that if I want to go the Elemental Sword route of the Magian Trials, that a Shikargar is the way to go.

-11% PTD, +11 VIT, a modest DMG score as well as delay. I figure the -11% PDT would also add nicely to any use of Requiscat, with its modifiers related to -PDT/-MDT.

(Edit: Yeah, shoulda done a little more research there, to quoth a certain neanderthal on a certain Geico commercial.)

I just want to make sure that this isn't just a waste of time before I go spending a few days blasting through mobs on Earthday or during earth weather. Is it worth the time and effort?

[Arcon]

-11% PTD, +11 VIT, a modest DMG score as well as delay. I figure the -11% PDT would also add nicely to any use of Requiscat, with its modifiers related to -PDT/-MDT.

Can you elaborate on that? How are the modifiers related to xDT? First time hearing about this.

Regardless, it's not a bad sword, although, if you, for whatever reason, don't want to work on an Empyrean or NM drops, I'd consider getting the STR/Attack Magian sword. Both are good and situational, but, personally, at least, I'd get more use out of a damage weapon than a defensive one. However, I don't wanna give my final verdict before you explain the Requiescat/xDT relation first.

[Satisiun]

Can you elaborate on that? How are the modifiers related to xDT? First time hearing about this.

Admittedly I only heard that via a bit of hearsay on behalf of FFXIAH forum testing, and the more I actually spend time looking at what was said instead of just taking it at face value, the more I realized that was a stupid statement to make. :( Guess I got a little overenthusiastic at something giving Requiescat something of a nice buffer and reason to merit it.

In any event, the fire sword is a possibility, yeah. Though after what I went through for my fire polearm, I cringe at what my wallet will have to go through for another fire-based weapon.

[saevel]

PDT sword isn't bad per say, but what exactly are you trying to do? "Best" is a very relative word to use. Damage tends to be the best way to build CE, but you need to survive whatever it is your doing.

[Satisiun]

Good point, Saevel. I guess coming in to this as someone who hasn't played the job seriously since something like 2008 or even 2007 (I've mainly been a DRG with altaholic tendencies the entire time), my mindset is still in the realm of damage mitigation and survivability trumps everything save for keeping hate, so things such as damage are secondary functions (beyond just the minimal amount needed to add to hate if possible).

So I figure what I'm looking for is a good, solid sword focused primarily when I am in a tank role.

[Hayward]

I see no reason not to build an Earth Shikargar. -11% PDT is nothing to dismiss flippantly. A Fire or Water counterpart would also complement it depending on what you'd like to have offhand (MDB seems especially helpful and I'd like to build one just for curiosity).

[Greatguardian]

I see no reason to build one.

If you're lucky enough to find someone silly enough to let you come Paladin to something, the last thing you want to be doing is decreasing your damage output by using defensive gear - you'll never have hate.

Paladin is an extremely niche job. You normally need all of 0 of them for 98% of game activities. In the other 2%, you need 1 maximum out of a pool of 18+ people. It's not fair, sure. But anyone who seriously wants to actually use Paladin for anything needs to be sitting down and cranking out an Almace, an Ochain, and an Aegis minimum. Why? Because a lot of other people have them already, and in those 2% of events that actually use a single Paladin you can be damn sure that they'll be trying to come on them in front of you.

[Dragonlord]

I see no reason to build one.

the last thing you want to be doing is decreasing your damage output by using defensive gear - you'll never have hate.


This. Pld can reach high lvs of -pdt without the -pdt sword, and would be overkill if you're gearing the job properly for enemies' WSs. Just make an almace so you can occasionally have hate and deal fair amount of damage. If you can't make almace, make str shikargar. But, as an almace/ochain pld i still rarely use the job.

[Teraniku]

I see no reason not to build an Earth Shikargar. -11% PDT is nothing to dismiss flippantly. A Fire or Water counterpart would also complement it depending on what you'd like to have offhand (MDB seems especially helpful and I'd like to build one just for curiosity).

And it's nice to have when dual wielding as a PLD/NIN

[Unleashhell]

If your going the trial of magians route you will me better off with the STR/ATT sword. If you can't do an Almace its probably your best bet. Eventually though you might want to consider Almace / Excalibur since both are easy to make at this point in the game. Having both myself I will say they both have their uses. Just depends how much game time you have and how much effort your willing to put into PLD.

[Mavrick]

The PDT sword comes in handy mainly for holding monsters/pets in Legion/VW, specifically monsters where you do not have capped blocking rate with Ochain. Since you're not damaging these monsters you don't really gain much by equipping a DD sword and the extra PDT enables you to use +Shield Skill in your other slots and helps to prevent those risky "Spell Interruptions" when Palisade is down . Of course if you have a good healer you could do without, but that is not always the case.