Things You Wish You'd Known

[JTribal]

I wish I would have known not to put all of my bonus stats in STR as opposed to VIT as Gladiator. I honestly had no idea my class was not a tank class until I got to the Brayflox dungeon.

Didn't help that I had all of the chat turned off because I thought I could play solo, so I can only imagine what all of the poor party members that had to suffer through my not so tanky tanking were trying to say to me.

Yes, this is my first MMO

[Kerwin]

I wish I would have known not to put all of my bonus stats in STR as opposed to VIT as Gladiator. I honestly had no idea my class was not a tank class until I got to the Brayflox dungeon.

Didn't help that I had all of the chat turned off because I thought I could play solo, so I can only imagine what all of the poor party members that had to suffer through my not so tanky tanking were trying to say to me.

Yes, this is my first MMO

NO CHAT ALLOWED. Seriously? Well at least your not the dragoon that thinks he can solo dungeon mobs

[Strigoi]

So sorry for minor derailment*
This question is for JTribal, the Gladiator.

I have been putting bonus points into Vitality, (maybe about 6 so far?) Is Vitality not the main stat for Gladiators/Paladins?

I had read something on the wiki that Vitality increased damage reduction, while STR increased straight damage thus indirectly increasing emnity; although our STR stat could never be high enough to allow us to dps and hold threat?

What should i focus my bonus points on? STR or VIT?
Thanks

[Bixby]

This question is for JTribal, the Gladiator.

Too bad, I'm answering, too!

VIT = HP. It doesn't decrease incoming damage, it just gives you more of a cushion.

STR = damage. Damage = threat. STR also increases the amount you block/parry when you block/parry (though not the rate at which you do so). It takes a lot of STR to make a really visible difference, though.

Which one to take is debatable. Especially while you're leveling. More HP means your healers can relax a little more, but more damage means you have a better chance of holding threat. Either choice could go poorly depending on the parties you get & their experience & capabilities. If you can't hold threat, it doesn't really matter how much HP you have, since mobs won't be attacking you. But if you can't survive, it doesn't matter how well you hold threat, since you'll be dead, and the monsters will attack the healer next.

Once you're at 50, it's more about what content you're doing. If you're doing hard progression content for your gear level, VIT is generally safer, because threat is not as much of an issue as survivability during progression. If you're doing something you overgear and/or have on farm, STR is generally better, because of the extra damage.

Note that you can respec with an item from your Grand Company for 10,000 GC seals.

Really, as long as you keep your gear up to date, STR/VIT won't make an enormous difference either way. Personally, I've gone full STR on my GLA/PLD, because when I'm healing, I get far more annoyed at tanks who can't hold threat than I do at tanks that make me heal harder.

Oh, also, on topic: Always eat food. Preferably one that boosts a useful stat for your class, but if +VIT is all you've got, eat that while you're crafting anyway. All food gives you +3% XP, and it adds up.

[Strigoi]

I did not intend to preclude you Bixby! I thank you for your input!
Well I feel kinda like a dolt now! From what I have read Maurader's tank through dps and high health pools where as Gladiators are more about avoidance/mitigation?

I will try to balance the 2 stats for my bonus points. Do bonus points end being a lot of point spread? Does it effectively stop me from ever having my Gladiator main an AGI or Discipline of the Mind class because I spent my bonus points in stats that are not ideal for them?

Thanks everyone (Bixby hehe)
- Strigoi

[Niwashi]

I will try to balance the 2 stats for my bonus points. Do bonus points end being a lot of point spread? Does it effectively stop me from ever having my Gladiator main an AGI or Discipline of the Mind class because I spent my bonus points in stats that are not ideal for them?

Each class gets its own set of bonus points, so the points you spend as GLD apply only when you're GLD or PLD. You'll get another set of bonus points for each other class you have.

This is, however, by class not job, so Arcanists have a bit of a distribution issue when they reach the point of upgrading to both Summoner and Scholar. Since those two jobs have the same base class, they share the same bonus attribute points. But since they fulfill differnent roles in the group, they generally don't want the same points. (SMN is better with +INT. SCH is better with +MND.) So far, however, since Arcanist is the only class that can upgrade to two different jobs, it's the only one where this is an issue.

[EDIT: Ah, Estellios beat me to it.]

[Bixby]

From what I have read Maurader's tank through dps and high health pools where as Gladiators are more about avoidance/mitigation?

Estellios covered it pretty well. Depending on where you've been reading, the impression you got may be a bit outdated. The differences between the two used to be more pronounced, but they were brought much closer together in patch 2.1. There are differences, but it's mostly visual (WARs do get more HP, but PLDs get damage reduction, so while the numbers look bigger for WAR, they end up in the same places). From a numbers perspective, they're pretty much the same, and anything that's a good/bad idea for WAR is a good/bad idea for PLD, and vice versa.

[JTribal]

So sorry for minor derailment*
This question is for JTribal, the Gladiator.

I have been putting bonus points into Vitality, (maybe about 6 so far?) Is Vitality not the main stat for Gladiators/Paladins?

I had read something on the wiki that Vitality increased damage reduction, while STR increased straight damage thus indirectly increasing emnity; although our STR stat could never be high enough to allow us to dps and hold threat?

What should i focus my bonus points on? STR or VIT?
Thanks

Bixby hit the nail on the head, sorry, I only get a chance to check the forums when I'm supposed to be doing something productive at work.