Curtana :(

[Brannigan]

Also, consider the fact that there is only one fight (Princess) where you need an off tank and I wouldn't be surprised if pug or lnc could tank the add.

Marshall actually hits a lot harder than princess. You can dodge his WSes but he still melees like a truck.

As far as accuracy goes, in most mmorpgs tanks aim for consistency. The term "solid rock" is pretty accurate. You want consistent hate generation and defense so your party members know how much they can damage/heal/whatever. Having your hate generation at the start of a fight get delayed because you're whiffing phalanxes sucks.

[Zozor]

If you have accuracy on your weapon then you may not need it elsewhere to get the accuracy you need.

Specifically you won't need to use an accuracy belt, which means you can have a forbidden meld enmity belt.

Also, even without this, pld seems to hold hate just fine using its tools.

[Dargoth_Draconia]

Curtana: 119 Damage, so you hit harder with everything and generate more enmity.
Increases Spirits Within damage, which is massive enmity.
Accuracy +40 So you can wear MND/STR rings which lets you generate more enmity.
Healing Magic Potency +15, so your heals heal more and generate more enmity.
HP+120, to make your Spirits Within combo do more damage, generating more enmity.
Chance to Restore MP, so you can cast more heals and generate more enmity.

Who says we don't have +enmity on our weapon?

You are actually right but people like to see a physical enmity stat on the gear. Though who is to say that +enmity is more effective than all the other stuff on the weapon!?

[Molly_Millions]

If you have accuracy on your weapon then you may not need it elsewhere to get the accuracy you need.

Specifically you won't need to use an accuracy belt, which means you can have a forbidden meld enmity belt.

Also, even without this, pld seems to hold hate just fine using its tools.

Imo, if you're tanking and don't have an enmity belt on, you're doing it wrong. Use an electrum ring +1 for acc, it's all you need. Putting acc in a spot where you could have a better stat is a complete waste. Therefore the Curtana frees up the ring slot for STR or something else. It doesn't take much additional acc to land almost every hit even on WAR (which I believe is the class with the lowest native acc).

[SwordCoheir]

(which I believe is the class with the lowest native acc).

Nope, PLD and WAR have the exact same accuracy. Thing is you don't need Acc for most things in game until you get to the end most stuff like Garuda where it really is necessary and matters the most.

EDIT: Just to follow up they did change it where you CAN miss on Ifrit and Moogle now. I don't know if it's old news or not because it's been about four months since my shell has really done either, but I thought I'd bring it up.

[Molly_Millions]

Nope, PLD and WAR have the exact same accuracy. Thing is you don't need Acc for most things in game until you get to the end most stuff like Garuda where it really is necessary and matters the most.

Well, that was the case back in the day. Regardless, one electrum ring +1 is really all the acc you need. All the folks stacking it everywhere they can obviously don't parse much. I haven't parsed my PLD, but that's all i wear on WAR and my hit rate is 97-100% depending on the fight.

[Judge_Xero]

People who don't understand stats and how they effect DPS are the ones who dismiss PLD's ability to DPS.

Most PLD are shitty at keeping combo on cooldown because they don't undestand game mechanics so they don't bother with the combo's out of fast > flat phalanx>SW. Raising STR 1STR=.8dmg 1MND=.7dmg
I can wear HDL gloves for 45enmity or 4.5% enmity on every action, or tripple STR gloves 50STR(+5acc)=>40dmg to every WS I perform.

My base fast blade on chimera is avg 18dmg in full enmity gear BUT my base dmg with the glove swap is 58DMG

5.5x total enmity on flat blade in combo:
18(5.5) = 99 + (4.5% enmity on gloves) = 103.5 total enmity on flat blade with HDL gloves
58(5.5) = 319 total enmity with STR gloves

As far as curtana goes the MP drain and SW bonus dmg is SUBSTANTIAL not to mention you also get the BIS shield. To me this is the single best relic of the group in total performance gains by the job over its BiS alternative including company gear.

Glad someone already posted some numbers on this
My favourite part this stuff TBH.

So Enmity VS STR (or MND) for PLD is:

1 ENM ='s 0.1% of Damage
1 STR ='s 0.8 extra Damage (up to probably 340 STR, similar to DD classes other than BRD)(also depending on weapon)
MND ='s 0.7 extra Damage (up to probably 310 MND, similar to other secondary stats)

So basically, the only time ENM>STR or MND is Either on Provoke/Flash/Rampart where damage is not included.
The only time 1 ENM ='s 1 STR or 1 MND is around a 700-800 Damage hit.

With a Quick calculation then, with a STR/MND build (bonus stats being divided into STR and MND as well) up to cap,
you can increase your WS Damage output by 50% on PLD, thus increasing enmity by 50% on average.
(Flat Blade Combo can be up to 400%)

Going with strictly ENM, between 300-400, that's an increase of 30-40% of low damage output.
Roughly 20% overall

So STR + MND ='s more damage and more Enmity Generation

It'd be dabateable if an Enmity Belt for PLD is even worth it over Double HP.

[SwordCoheir]

Just to add to your post Judge and Tango

1 Atk = .35 dmg (No Cap)
1 STR after 350 = .25 dmg
1 MND after 310 = No damage bonus.

[GreyJorildyn]

Glad someone already posted some numbers on this
My favourite part this stuff TBH.

So Enmity VS STR (or MND) for PLD is:

1 ENM ='s 0.1% of Damage
1 STR ='s 0.8 extra Damage (up to probably 340 STR, similar to DD classes other than BRD)(also depending on weapon)
MND ='s 0.7 extra Damage (up to probably 310 MND, similar to other secondary stats)

So basically, the only time ENM>STR or MND is Either on Provoke/Flash/Rampart where damage is not included.
The only time 1 ENM ='s 1 STR or 1 MND is around a 700-800 Damage hit.

With a Quick calculation then, with a STR/MND build (bonus stats being divided into STR and MND as well) up to cap,
you can increase your WS Damage output by 50% on PLD, thus increasing enmity by 50% on average.
(Flat Blade Combo can be up to 400%)

Going with strictly ENM, between 300-400, that's an increase of 30-40% of low damage output.
Roughly 20% overall

So STR + MND ='s more damage and more Enmity Generation

It'd be dabateable if an Enmity Belt for PLD is even worth it over Double HP.

This post is I dun even know...

You're not really considering the full extent of Enmity adding base percentage. For every hundred damage you add, each +10 enmity you add is acting as if 1 additional damage is done. When you're talking stacking enmity to like +200, then it's add 20% to all actions AND 20% to all damage done. Unfortunately you see faster gains in enmity on higher level mobs adding straight enmity bonus in bulk rather than attempting to reach stat caps, thus why HDL is better gear when running with players who zerg bosses down. What you've neglected to realize, or perhaps haven't experienced yet, is that your damage output is utter crap compared to everyone else on high level mobs. Tanks cannot rely on enmity-through-damage as they might be able to in XP parties (wouldn't know, this is before my time anyway).

Now if you're playing this game with PUGs or average players, different story I guess. You probably won't need as much enmity to keep hate against average geared BLMs compared to high-end geared BLMs. As such, you can't say adding damage is better than enmity because in actuality as players move towards the higher-end of the game (natural tendency) in gear and skill, enmity bonus on tanks is actually king.

[SwordCoheir]

This post is I dun even know...

It's the extent of where +Enmity can be added, that doesn't deface the value of other sources of Enmity (IE: Damage/WS) in turn defacing the value of the added Enmity to begin with. Frankly unless your going for a more defensive setup you lose wayyyy too damn much potential equipping HDL.

In my case wearing a full HDL set I lose

-50 STR
-35 MND
-8 DEX
-90 Evasion

And gain

+4 VIT
+42 DEF
+115 Enmity = 11.5% Enmity increase

Knocking my stats down so much for a slight enmity/defense boost is really counterproductive considering Voke, Rampart, and Flash ARE NOT our main nor primary source of Hate generation. Even swapping out my Electrum Gorget +1 and STR rings +1 for Acc on Garuda knocked my auto attack damage about 40 or 50 points, dropping my main damage modifiers down to the 250 range would be catastrophic to my damage and hate generation, in turn making that little 11.5% boost lose face value.

IE:
Sword hits Ifrit with Gorging blade for 500.
Sword equips full HDL armor.
Sword hit's Ifrit with Gorging blade for 400.

400 * 11.5% = 46 + 400 = 446 (-54 enmity from previous setup)

The WS numbers arn't based on any actual math however so the loss would probably be far greater than that given in the example mind you. You also must consider auto-attack damage, combo modifiers (which amplifies enmity produced by damage), and Accuracy (missing = no Enmity gained yada, yada, yada) otherwise you just throw the whole point of added +Enmity out the window.