Any Pld Tips for Thordan?

[Februs]

My usual Pld notes on the first 2 phases of Thordan Ex:

In most cases I start the fight with Fight or Flight + Bloodbath and Foresight rather than Rampart (which is my typical rotation because the CD's line up so nicely) because introductory mitigation is so light. After Quaga, I pop Rampart. The timer should last long enough to flow right through Heavenly Heel and the Cleave, and the cooldown time after the tank buster will ensure it is up again for use during the Knights phase. I save my Shelltron for when I actually see the cast bar, so I don't accidentally blow it on an auto attack (this is a rule of thumb for practically every use of Shelltron in this fight). Also, work with the healers. You should be capped before EVERY Tank buster in this fight.

*Note on Heavenly Heel: You can use Clemency to self heal the dmg of HH; however it is extremely difficult to get the timing down. You basically have to time the cast to go off immediately after the cast bar expires, but before the actual hit cancels your cast. It's like using the magic pixel. It's a exploit in the latency of the fight "tactic that works as intended" which allows the cast to go off, but it is VERY hard to do. It's easier to use Clemency (if you use it at all) to help with AoE raid healing. If so, coordinate with your healers. It's also noteworthy that it is not advisable to use Clemency in the first phase of the fight, because Pld enmity is shit.

**EDIT: For increased Dmg/Mitigation, Pld's can swap Oaths immediately after HH and the following Cleave. Switching to Sword Oath early also allows you to cast additional StoneSkins on yourself and 3 other party members before the the players get chained and fire puddles go off. This mitigates Chains, fire puddles (if someone is slow and gets hit by them) and can cover stretch mitigation as far as Sacred Cross if the chains are broken fast enough. It also means that, when the Sacred Cross knight comes out, the Pld will not have to waste a GCD on swapping Oaths and can immediately start attacking without losing any Dps.

For Blade Dances, there are a few options:

For the Sword Oath Blade dance I usually just nullify it with Hallowed Ground. It's mindless. An easy one and done button. It also allows me to drop Shield Oath without fear of increased dmg for those 10 seconds and increase output. You mentioned wanting to increase your Dps. This is an easy way to do it.

That being said, IF I drop ShO I make sure to pay attention to that HG timer. I nullified BD with HG, sure, but that doesn't mean that Holiest of Holy, the knights move that looks like Goring Blade, or the Dragoon jumps don't hurt. So once the HG timer expires I make sure to get my ass back in ShO or pop some extra mitigation.

*Note on HG: Sometimes It's worthwhile to save HG instead of burning it here. If, for example, your healers are struggling with a later phase because Dps are doing their typical thing and dying left right and centre, it might be worth it to not use HG here, and free up the healing somewhere else. I always ask what they want.

On the rare instances when they I don't want to use HG here, HIGH mitigation is essential. That means Sentinel + Foresight + Bulwark + Convalescence, OR Sentinel + Rampart + Convalescence. Either of these should be enough, depending on how good your healers are.

For Shield Oath Blade Dance, I'll use a strong def CD paired with a weak one. So, Sentinel (if it's up) with Bulwark + Convalescence, or Rampart + Foresight + Convalescence. This is usually enough, because any healer worth their salt will buff you with something before the Blade Dance goes off, and most healers will split tanks for dedicated healing.

*Notes on Bulwark/Shelltron and Clemency: It's important to remember that Holy Blade Dance is a multi-hit Tank buster. Meaning that Clemency is not really an option here. Even if you manage to time the cast perfectly to go off for the first hit of HBD, the second and third hits will make that healing irrelevant. Same goes for Shelltron. I pop Shelltron during every Tank buster cast bar in this fight, but it will only block the First hit of HBD. If you want to block multiple hits than you have to pray to RNGsus or use Bulwark to increase your odds.

**EDIT: This is another opportunity for an early Oath switch and StoneSkin application. The CD period is not as long as the first, so you will likely only have time to apply one StoneSkin before tethers and ice, but any mitigation is good mitigation, and you'll want to be in SwO early for Meteor Phase. Stone Skin only helps cover the loss of ShO's defensive buff. So swap Oath quickly before final knight dies, and cast a StoneSkin as soon as you stack in the middle.