How to Build a PLD, needing tips plz.

[GrahamRockwell]

What are your guys' opinions on the Heavy Darklight Gear? Is it worth it trying to get all the pieces or is it better in the long run to try and get double/triple melded cobalt or Sentinel's gear?

[Molly_Millions]

What are your guys' opinions on the Heavy Darklight Gear? Is it worth it trying to get all the pieces or is it better in the long run to try and get double/triple melded cobalt or Sentinel's gear?

Yes, but a full set of melded gear is easier to obtain.

[Vayne72]

I did some very quick testing as PLD and it didn't take too long to figure out that some of the best builds are most likely going to be composed of having a lot of VIT, HP, magic evasion/resistance(sitautional) and some ENM where you can get it.

MND- is terrible for curing potency and gives terrible MP to boot. If you really want to be able to heal yourself as PLD somewhat effectively you'd be better off stacking healing magic potency. MND is also not the greatest thing when it comes to auto attack damage. I used a cobalt winglet with +32 MND on it and it was less than half of the amount of dmg i did on the same mob same exact lvl with an Ifrit's Blade. Even at MND cap it still wasn't really making enough of a noticeable difference on the flat blade combo which is a waste of TP and a combo in any boss fight. So I've concluded that for the most part MND isn't really going to do much for you. However, I wouldn't completely overlook it just yet because i have further testing to do but as of now i just don't see it doing that much.

STR- Be better off stacking AP and you won't get enough blocks in on any endgame to make the damage mitigation worth your while. You'd probably end up losing a lot of tanking potential trying to stack this.

DEX- You have to stack A LOT to make a semi noticeable difference, and you're either going to have spend and ungodly amount in melding or you're going to have to give up a lot more useful stats like VIT or even MND for that matter. For now, DEX just doesn't seem that good of a thing to stack. Especially since the block you obtain from DEX just doesn't seem to cut it in end game content. You'd honestly be better of stacking raw block rate.

Defense- We should all know that defense is messed up for anything worth your while.

HP- You get more of it you can take a bigger hit, congrats. It's also an amazing modifier for Spirit's Within which is your primary hate grabbing WS. I actually know a buddy who stacks nothing but HP and he tanks very well and he doesn't even stack ENM like some recommend you should.

VIT- Unlike defense, this actually makes a noticeable difference in damage mitigation and it also modifies your WS's. I would recommend at least getting it to the soft cap which is 350.

Magic Evasion/Elemental Magic Resistance- Recently, I've noticed that if you stack enough of this or at least switch up some of your gear for things that have this it will make a big difference on the damage you take from magic(even in endgame content).

Enmity- Many tanks love to stack this for days. However, ENM is not something that you desperately need on PLD. In actuality i find the ENM is more useful for WAR's than for PLD. I've seen PLD's tanking amazingly with little or no ENM. It is good to have some of it but it's not your greatest focus nor your greatest asset. I found that VIT and HP help more than ENM when it comes to getting hate and keeping it. So get it some if you want just don't go too crazy for it.

[Rofellos]

(There is no soft cap for VIT. The 350 thing is only for the STR and only for a sword with a DPS of ~39.7)

[Chardrizard]

and people stack MND for flat blade modifier not for cure.

[Tman]

...

I do try to stack as much hp as I can, but there are many reasons for this. First and foremost people don't realize a dead tank is worse than a tank who can't hold. A dead tank can't cover, aoe rampart, or attempt to heal. Also pld comes with MANY mitigation tricks, the biggest for me is once I break 5k hp, with sentinel and full hp I'll NEVER get 1 shot (a tree will only ever do 4999 with sentinel up). Another thing, and 1 that I will live by now, big hp allows your whm's to do other things, such as dps, buff, or raise because they can ignore you for awhile. Lastly I have yet to observe a cap or tier of any kind in relation to weapon dmg/Spirit's Within dmg. It has continued to climb in dmg and thus climb in enmity generated. The day I hit the hp cap/tier, i'll be a happy camper (if it exists).

[Vayne72]

I do try to stack as much hp as I can, but there are many reasons for this. First and foremost people don't realize a dead tank is worse than a tank who can't hold. A dead tank can't cover, aoe rampart, or attempt to heal. Also pld comes with MANY mitigation tricks, the biggest for me is once I break 5k hp, with sentinel and full hp I'll NEVER get 1 shot (a tree will only ever do 4999 with sentinel up). Another thing, and 1 that I will live by now, big hp allows your whm's to do other things, such as dps, buff, or raise because they can ignore you for awhile. Lastly I have yet to observe a cap or tier of any kind in relation to weapon dmg/Spirit's Within dmg. It has continued to climb in dmg and thus climb in enmity generated. The day I hit the hp cap/tier, i'll be a happy camper (if it exists).

^ the buddy who stacks hp and tanks like a boss without ENM. o.ob. Can't even knock it down because it works so well lol. Also one of the best tanks I know

and people stack MND for flat blade modifier not for cure.

And flat blade even with a lot of mnd doesnt really do much :/ just not worth it IMO.

(There is no soft cap for VIT. The 350 thing is only for the STR and only for a sword with a DPS of ~39.7)

It caps for any dmg potential you
might get out of it but not for defense though at one point I think you get hxc diminishing returns.

[Rofellos]

It caps for any dmg potential you might get out of it but not for defense though at one point I think you get hxc diminishing returns.

It's STR and MND which change your (WS) dmg, not VIT... So no reason to have 350 VIT.

[Sasagawa]

And flat blade even with a lot of mnd doesnt really do much :/ just not worth it IMO.


.

Sorry I have to lol at this

I can go a whole fight simply using Fast > Flat blade combo on things such as coin counter and still have provoke and flash for animal instinct.

I agree with the HP thing as well,

Although I also have to say having some def + in there is also very good, I can knock off around 200 damage from physical type mobs with a good def build and thats with every hit.

So in those situations def > HP

However magic type mobs HP>DEF

all in all I have multiple bodies for different situations.

[Molly_Millions]

It's STR and MND which change your (WS) dmg, not VIT... So no reason to have 350 VIT.

Indeed, I was confused by this as well. on PLD, VIT gives you 1.5 points of def and 1:1 points of HP per point in VIT at level 50. IMO, it's not worth it, go with HP instead. If you really want the DEF, stack def on a vintage kite shield instead of taking up space that could be used for something better.