Looks like PLDs are clearing A4s.

[Billeffingmurray]

http://youtu.be/ZFOGI31CNVc

[Shining_Tiger_Excalibur]

Well the first thing I have to say is....I feel bad for talking about them without someone from their raid group being here. I don't hold any ill will in my heart or mean to cause any drama with the words I say here, but from what I can tell:

Just like A3S when it was brand new, with a Paladin in the party each and every single person was/is walking on pins and needles with the best equipment to get the task done. I'd wager if each person were to make just two mistakes (whether it be weaponskills, cures, defensive cooldowns, placement and positioning, etc,) they will have caused the group to fail. It requires nothing short of perfection on every single attempt to ensure that it gets done, down to the very distance each person runs during X mechanic; which brings me to my next point. From what I can observe in videos and the stream the tanks have had to stay in their DPS stances for more than 80% of the encounter. That means 3.5 legs, the head, and all adds were dealt with while they were at their most vulnerable in order to complete the floor. I admit, they did switch to tank stances intermittently but a large....and at least from me, I mean a disturbingly large majority of the time they weren't in tanks stances. Throughout most of their attempts the tanks lost aggro to one another and the healers at times which caused the group to fail. I'd say the amount of wiggle room with a PLD/WAR right now is thinner than a human hair as compared to WAR/DRK. They're in the same position Zdenka and Blue Gartr were in with A3S. Too much time invested in attaining absolute perfection to give up.

Furthermore, I'd wager if you watch DRK/WAR setups complete A4S the entirety of the encounter will seem more structured, more predictable, and less strenuous to every player. While it might not seem like it, that's what the community is caught up on when regarding clears with PLD. It requires perfection in every sense of the word for it to even be possible....and that's with a Warrior (who brings the best possible toolkit to the encounter) as the other tank. I shudder to think of how DRK/PLD would perform.

Can it be done is the question everyone is asking.....this is proof that it can be.....at a later date (week/s at best and month/s at worst,) with an exponentially larger learning curve and performance demand. I can't help but commend them for beating it even just once and they provide the sort of group dynamic everyone should strive for when raiding. You can tell they care for one another, you can tell they're all nervous, you can tell they don't want to fail each other but they're ready to just keep trying and enjoy living. I just wish it wasn't so stressful for them.

[RapBreon]

http://www.fflogs.com/rankings/7#bos...l&spec=Paladin

Four in total so far, probably a bit more, unless every successful PLD has logged (maybe? Not sure).

[Alphras]

FFLogs still isn't that big and no good source for an absolute number of clears. There are only ~5000 entries for A1S, which cleary way more players have cleared (about 60000 at the time the census was updated).

[SpookyGhost]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYKsS14fBZw

Another clear, PLD PoV.

[RapBreon]

FFLogs still has only a few Users. There are only ~5000 entries for A1S on that site.

You're correct. But in the context of AS4, I'd be willing to wager far more successful groups would be logging than not.

More 'casual' raiders aren't even aware of sites like FFlogs. Serious ones generally put logs up once progression is over.

Just a gut feeling but I'd say FFlogs probably has about 80%+ of all (English?) A4s kills. Not sure how Japan is factored in, haven't spent much time looking it over.

[Alphras]

Well all the A4S kills with a PLD on FFlogs are from japanese servers.

[RapBreon]

Are they forced to use our alphabet for their names? I've never seen one without English characters. Maybe there is no distinction then.

But what I meant was that the JP speaking groups might have their own space for this stuff.

[SpookyGhost]

Well the first thing I have to say is....

I think you're underestimating how much of a coordinated song and dance A4S is. DRK only makes things marginally easier with DA + Dark Mind, it doesn't take away the stress at all. Every mechanic has to be handled near flawlessly to meet the DPS check and allow for the sacrifices in the last phase, on top of the healers having very little mana to work with to rectify any mistakes. PLD certainly isn't optimal in terms of mitigation for this floor, but it's by no means a massive detriment.

[Lazka]

PLD certainly isn't optimal in terms of mitigation for this floor, but it's by no means a massive detriment.

but not imposible as many of in this forum say isnt?