Returning 2.0 PLD — 5.0 guide for low level tanking?

I’m returning from 2.1 as a level 50 PLD. (I quit from burnout after I spent two months putting together daily PUGs for Titan EX without getting a clear, due to the brutal check that was in place for DPS at the time.)

Three expansions later I’m back, and many mechanics of the game appear new or different now. As for all that has remained the same, it’s also been 6 years for me, so my memories of everything aren’t very clear.

I jumped right back into the MSQ today, and just reached the Leviathan story fight. I cycled through my three weaponskill combo, popping Fight or Flight and Circle of Scorn on cooldown. But the other tank was a WAR, and I couldn’t help but notice that they were the only party member to ever have any visible threat on the party list — myself included. It was then that I realized: I must have no idea how to play my character anymore. (We still won though, so yay for that.)

I know that the basic-mode story Primals that I’m facing now will eventually progress into full dungeons as I continue to play, and that I’m going to need to step up as a main tank for a party as I start to reach those story beats again. I’ll need to drive in that role soon, and I’d prefer to learn how before I’m handed the keys and entrusted with the safety of passengers. But as I search for PLD guides that are up to date with 5.0’s current gameplay mechanics, all of the modern guides out there seem to focus on how to play at level 80 with a bunch of skills that I don’t have yet.

Is there a good PLD guide out there that actually addresses how to tank through the -leveling- of the job? One that discusses what I should be doing in a fight at level 50 now, and how my rotations should evolve as I learn new skills? Both in single-target and in multi-mob scenarios?

Or can anybody share advice on those things here?

I look forward to enjoying Eorzea again, rather than being fearful of it. Any help with getting there would be appreciated. Thank you!

Welcome back!

Aside from basic tanking guidelines (like this one from the previous exp) there are no levelin guides afaik. I also don't think that would be necessary because tanks have been very steamlined since ARR.

e.g. you only have 1 combo as PLD until you get Goring Blade in HW, and Rage of Halone simply gets a potency upgrade in form of Royal Authority after that.

There are no enmity combos anymore, just "combos", nor any other enmity skills or spells like Flash, those are gone. Instead you just have your tank stance (Iron Will), Provoke and Shirk. Tank stance doesn't reduce your outgoing damage anymore, that's why "Sword Oath" (your old DPS stance) has also been removed. Instead "Iron Will" just increases your enmity generated by 900% of your damage (x10 multiplier). Provoke now adds additional enmity (I think it was worth 2k potency enmity that also gets multiplied by your tank stance, up to 20k potency enmity). Shirk is a tool added with Stormblood and swifts 25% of your enmity on a target party member (commonly paired with a macro with <p> whereas p is the co-tank position in your party list.)

As for your current "tanking", just turn on tank stance and you're tanking. Just dps and circle through your mitigation CDs. If you play off-tank, just turn off your tank stance and keep dps-in', done.

The new AOE pick-up skill is Total Eclipse, and since you are 50, you will also have Prominence. Those combo together, and they replace Flash for regular monsters in dungeons. Other than that, just keep Iron Will on if you are the MT or if you need to pick up adds. If you are the OT, then just do your standard single target combos. It will be straight forward until the mid 60s.

In the mid 60s you will get Holy Spirit and Requiescat. Requiescat is an attack similar to Spirit's Within that works off of your MP Bar instead. If used with 8000 MP or more, you will gain a buff that grants you +50% magic damage/healing done. You pair this with Holy Spirits every minute, and then later at level 72 with Holy Circle. Do not pair it with Fight or Flight, as FoF only affects physical attacks now.

Beyond that, there's not too much to say. Total Eclipse + Prominence for 3 or more targets and for picking up multiple targets. Later on Holy Circle.

For single targets, Rage of Halone/Royal Authority combo. In the mid 50s you'll get Goring Blade as a combo ender, so keep that up full time on bosses. RoH/RA combo in between. Later on you will get Sword Oath as a trait, and it grants you the ability to do a strong physical attack called Atonement after a Royal Authority Combo. Try to get these in under FoF.

I've been playing PLD since 2.0, so I can give you a few tips. hope they help!

lv 50 content
At this level your rotation wont be too difficult for dungeons. use your aoe combo (total eclipse -> prominence) and circle of scorn on mobs of enemies, but try to focus more on getting down your tank fundamentals such as:
-mob positioning when doing pulls to help your DPS hit their aoes/positionals. this means also keeping boss centered and dodging well enought to not move it too much
-using cooldowns effectively, using them 1 by 1 until the mobs die. arms length and reprisal in particular are pretty powerful tools
-when fighting bosses, save your defence buffs for when they cast tankbusters to minimise the damage you take, or use reprisal for raidwide aoe damage to minimise the damage your teammates take
-testing how many mobs at a time u can pull (how many packs of enemies can u and the team handle) remember that you should trust your healer to keep you alive, and trust your dps to kill the mobs fast. if your team struggles, don't be afraid to take it slower.

lv 60 content
by this time your physical rotation will be solidified, and you can work on fitting in your gorging -> royal-> royal -> gorging combos into your Fight or Flight buff window, then making sure to keep gorging blade's bleed debuff up. You will also want to look out for raidwide damage from bosses and try to preemtively cast Divine veil so that your healer's spell activates the shield. use clemency only if the healer dies, and use it to keep your party alive as best as u can. u can also cast divine veil and then clemency on yourself before pulling bosses, or in between mobs to protect your party while you pull

lv 70 content
you should have requiescat and holy spirit. use req on bosses and then your next 5 spirits can be boosted. do note that if you're doing a big pull in a dungeon, you can use requiescat to boost the healing you receive too. your physical rotation should consist of mostly the same. try and use intervention on your healer before raidwide attacks, as it will help them survive a bit, or on any freshly revived party members that might still have the weakness debuff

lv 80 content
at lv 76 you should unlock atonement, which u can use after you hit your royal authority combo up to 3 times in 15 seconds. they are a gcd attack though so be careful not to use too many during your FoF melee rotation. at lv 80 you should also get confietor (i forget the name lol) and this is a big ender for your requiescat buff window, which at lv 78 will make all your spells instacast. use it at the end of your buff window, or you can use it to end the buff early in case you have to disengage the boss. also try and use your intervene skill to quickly move between the packs of mobs during dungeon pulls, or to move back to the boss after dodging an aoe to maximise the uptime of your attacks.

PLD is actually sort of flexible in how you play it, but at optimal levels it has a set rotation. either way I think just working on your fundamentals is the best way you can keep your party alive, and the mechanical skill needed for your rotation will come with time and practice. good luck!

First off we should have a moment of silence for Flash, Bulwark, Awareness, Convalescence.

50 to 60 is going to be pretty boring to honest. There just isn't much there to make you enjoy the class, but the dungeons are some of the best in the game. Since they have changed the way Oath is used from HW on ward and some of the skills for that time are completely different or moved so far from when they were first offered, it's going to be very meh. Sheltron weave during trash pulls and large incoming hits when you have the oath. DON'T SIT ON OATH! Cover is trash don't waste the oath. Goring Blade is your friend, and use it in your opener with fight or flight leading. Spread out your Ramparts and Sentinels.

60-70 same thing but now you have Holy spirit for your burst phase. Always remember to use fight or flight before encounters and w/e it is available as goring takes advantage of added potency. Always put goring on the boss/mob BEFORE you start your requisite phase. This goes for your opener as well. If you don't you'll lose out on some decent DPS. Should be Goring -> Royal -> Royal -> Goring. Learn to weave Circle of Scorn and Spirits within during your requisite phase while casting Holy Spirit. Wings are nice if your rampart or sentinel or on cooldown, but it's usually used for raid wide or stack markers.

70-80 your rotation stays pretty much the same for boss encounters only now you have Atonement. Should be FoF -> Goring -> Requisite -> Holy Spirit/Circle x4 (weave CoS and Spirits) -> Confiteor -> Goring -> Royal -> Atonement x3 -> Goring -> Royal -> Atonement x3 -> Goring -> requisite phase repeat.

Just opt for Goring if you get lost during mechanics just keep that dot up, weave CoS and spirits always. Riot and Atonement will get your MP back in time for your burst phase. Don't save spirits within for MP regen during atonement burst, just weave it whenever it's up.

I suppose you have to learn how to commit with Paladin. You can use requisite and Holy Circle during trash pulls, but don't change to Holy Spirit. Don't OVER AOE with Eclipse and Prominence as you'll starve yourself on MP for requisite phase. 1 or 2 is fine to pull agro, but then go back into your single target rotation for atonement and riot mp regen while opting for Holy Circle for your AOE.

It is by far my favorite tank class next to Dark Knight and Paladin is pretty sturdy as well.