PLD first strike. Am I Pld'ing wrong?

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Originally Posted by Kadas

It's a wasted CD at any point, as it slows down your damage/threat combo, or any other skill worth using, without adding anything to it.

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To explain why exactly Fracture is basically worthless...

The only thing that it could potentially bring to bear is better damage: it is a DoT, which makes it inferior to purely frontloaded damage; it is normal enmity, so it's not useful for tanking; and it is expensive (80 TP compared to the 63.33 that the RoH combo manages). It *is* a *tiny* DPS increase: it's 220 potency in a single GCD and the RoH combo averages 203.33 (150 +200 + 260). Since you can only use it once every 10 GCDs (it breaks combos so you do 3 RoHs and 1 Frac), it amounts to a less than 1% increase in DPS ((220 + 203.33 * 9) / 10 = 205 potency/GCD; 205 / 203.3 = 1.0082) so it's virtually nonexistent. On top of this, because of its cost, the potency-to-TP ratio is way worse (220 / 80 = 2.75 potency per TP; 203.33 / 63.33 = ~3.21), which means that, for any fight where you stand the chance of running out of TP (which is basically defined as "a long fight without regular extended periods where you can't attack"; this is basically Titan HM/Ex and Coil), Fracture actually ends up being a DPS loss.

Hi, I wouldn't use Stoneskin routinely in the middle of the fight. It's most effective when you are at top health, and least effective if you are in low HP, and it takes time to cast, so in trash mobs you won't need it if you are at top health, you may need to move or do other things, and the healer can heal you if necessary. If you are in low HP probably it's best to cast Convalescence, Rampart, Sentinel, Hallowed Ground etc. (whichever available or adequate) and wait for the healer to cure you while you maybe avoid AOE, stun the attacker or something. On the other hand, it's the best "healing" spell you have, so it's the best thing to use it if the circumstances are right.
At the start of the fight, if there is a WHM, his Stoneskin is stronger so better have him cast it instead of doing it yourself if he is willing (hopefully he will be.)

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Originally Posted by Jerilith

I\\\\'m thinking I play PLD 100% different from anyone around me...

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The point of a Tank's "opener" is (i) to grab initial aggro as quickly as possible, then (ii) secure that aggro as quickly as possible and finally (iii) cycle through any abilities that will maintain aggro, enhance your survivability and reduce the fight time.

For a PLD, this nearly always involves opening via using Flash at least once on >1 mob, and then repeatedly using Flash (>3 mobs) or cycling the RoH combo (<=3 mobs); plus whatever useful off-GCD abilities are available. Shield Lob (or even Provoke due to its longer range) can be useful to grab initial aggro on ONE mob at a distance, but it's often better just to run in and Flash whenever there are multiple mobs to worry about and nobody else has yet pulled hate.

Once you have a decent lead in hate levels, you can start getting more fancy - spending a GCD to throw up Stoneskins and Shield Swipes/Bashes etc as long as aggro is maintained (RoH combos or Flash + Riot Blade, depending on how many mobs you're facing) ... but that initial pulling period is very important for locking down aggro ASAP.

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Originally Posted by JonBigwood

Hi, I wouldn't use Stoneskin routinely in the middle of the fight. It's most effective when you are at top health, and least effective if you are in low HP

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Stoneskin applies a barrier equal to 10% of the targets MAXIMUM HP (18% in the case of the traited WHM version). Your current HP doesn't matter.

As a PLD, SS is fantastic to cast on yourself any time you could use an extra "buffer" of survivability... assuming that you are already well ahead in the hate tables.
The only downsides are that it uses quite a lot of MP (recoverable via Riot Blade) and it has a long and interruptable cast time (3 seconds).
The long cast time means that you often need to cast it proactively whenever you know a big hit is nearly about to occur, rather than waiting until you see the enemy start to charge a big attack.

It should be noted though that raising your Vitality and using Bulwark (Block rate increase) can reduce the chances of a Stoneskin cast being interrupted... this is because SS casting will not fail unless you take a certain % of damage during the cast time, and a blocked attack cannot interrupt you (unless you get hit by a status effect such as Silence or Stun).

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Originally Posted by JonBigwood

Hi, I wouldn't use Stoneskin routinely in the middle of the fight. It's most effective when you are at top health, and least effective if you are in low HP

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Stoneskins damage mitigation is based on your max hp, not your current hp, so it has exact same effectiveness no matter when you use it. Using it at low hp would actually be more effective as it could cover you from death, in fights where you have secure enmity or only fighting a single mob you're not using your mp for anything else so you might aswell give yourself that extra 500~ hp buff giving the healer a bit of leeway on their cures.

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Originally Posted by Kitru

To explain why exactly Fracture is basically worthless...

wibbly wobbly mathy stuff

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Thanks, I will hire you to go through wibbly wobbly mathy stuff explanations, I am far too lazy for that.

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Originally Posted by Maelwys

Stoneskin applies a barrier equal to 10% of the targets MAXIMUM HP (18% in the case of the traited WHM version). Your current HP doesn't matter.

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Thanks for the correction! (And also to Cabalabob's message who corrects it too.) I had read it many times in forums and took it for true. My main point was on not casting Stoneskin routinely, as it might be interpreted from the first post where Stoneskin is at first place and then at number 7 of the combo. Stoneskin is the best thing to do only if the circumstances are right. (You don't have to avoid AOE attacks, you don't expect to be interrupted, no emergency that needs you to move or stun will appear, you have enmity enough, you are not making slower the run just to save a heal you won't need, etc.)

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Originally Posted by Kitru

To explain why exactly Fracture is basically worthless...

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It is a cross class skill, it doesn't have to be part of a normal rotation to not be worthless, like you said anytime you have a drop in combat spamming, King Behemoth in CT, hit it before you run and hide, situations like that give it uses, and it's not like it is taking the place of another more useful skill, stoneskin mitigates more damage than cure heals for, so not much need for cure, protect and raise are not worth while, you have already said in other posts foresight is useless, so that leaves skull sunder, mercy stroke, and bloodbath. If it's not taking the place of a more useful skill, and has use, no matter how limited, it isn't worthless.

My best AE Enmity rot on a group of 3 targets or more would be (ignoring marks, you should be doing that without having to put it in a rotation):

0 - FoF/BB
1 - Flash
1.5 - CoS
2 - Flash
2.5 - SW on main target
3 - .....

The rest is meh, and it will change so much its not worth trying to map out situationally. Sometimes you should start RoH combo, sometimes you should continue with Flash>FB>Flash>RB sometimes you should blah blah blah.

I am not a big proponent or Shield Lob starters. It leaves an opportunity for you to shield lob main target, the BLM hits it with B3 before you can flash the rest, the mobs run to BLM, etc etc. Or you Shield Lob, healer is a bit spacy and hits you with regen or cure, targets go bye bye. Starting with flash hitting as many mobs as you can is pretty much ideal, even if you are regened, your 495 potency enmity flash should keep those mobs on you, and if you can follow with CoS>Flash, you have a very hefty lead on all targets within 2.5 GCDs.

I always try to use CoS as soon after FoF as I can. That way I can get the dmg buff on both uses.

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Originally Posted by Jerilith

Using fracture before an ROH combo will do more dps. Fracture and it's 6 dots+ the initial damage do more than 1 fast blade so adding it to The start of your Roh combo is nothing but gravy. And considering that those dots can tick when a boss vanishes off screen can help too; like garuda Summoning her sisters.

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This is the biggest issue with most tanks. They think they are there to do damage. You are there to tank the boss, not to damage it. Your job is to create maximum emnity as soon as possible so the real dps can do their job. After you have a decent lead in emnity you're safe to use any skills you wish.

If you wish to do dmg play a dps class.