New(b) PLD

[Harby]

Heya, fresh lv50 and I was wondering, how important is it to get Mercy Strike (MRD 26 iirc) and most importantly, Stoneskin from CNJ 34?

Right now I have 8 in MRD and 15 in CNJ, and given my farming needs in philosophers and stuff like that I need to prioritize stuff. So for the current content I'll be farming (mostly wanderers for now for 2-3 more DL pieces I guess), is stoneskin really needed and should it be a top priority?

[SpookyGhost]

You don't need either of them if you're just farming Wanderer's. Or AK really. They're helpful (Mercy adds to DPS, Stoneskin gives healers even more breathing room if there's a part in a fight where you can actually cast it) but they're not exactly something that should be prioritized for farming. Gear is more important, so if you're still farming phil then keep doing that with what you've got. Eventually you may want to get Mercy Stroke at least as you progress and if you haven't done Titan then Stoneskin is helpful for that fight, but for now you can just chill and keep farming tomes.

Edit: Though Stoneskin is more useful in fights where you can cast it (Titan HM~), Mercy Stroke is something that is universally useful whereas SS is just a useful quality of life tool to have in certain instances. There's no fight where either will really change the course of events, but SS can slightly help if your healers aren't on the ball for Titan. So basically, get them eventually but gear is more important.

[Henlhaw]

Got Stoneskin on my pally (only 41) and I find it pretty useless. I mean, I'm tank, I'm here to be hit, and even at 41, SS doesn't last more than 1 hit, and healers are already ready to heal me anyway.

For me, the purpose of Stoneskin is to be on DPS/Heal, so it'll last just long enough for heals to react and be ready to heal the person targeted.

Compared to the ratio mana/time to cast, I prefer from afar all the instant cast that we can take, we have enough of them to have always one ready in case things are going bad.

Maybe I'm wrong, I'm not an expert in Pally, and I never tanked in a 50 dungeon.

[Ehayte]

I'd love to hear some exp'ed heavy-weights of the PLD weigh in, as I continue to be lazy and hell and not get my CNJ to level 34 (I HATE 20-26 FATEs lol).

However, tanking in AK/HM Primals/Etc, I often find myself saying...OK...I could pop Bulwark, but...I'm not sure its going to be 100% effective here, etc. Stoneskin is a great 100% reliable (if you get it off) free 10% of your hit-points. I am itching to get it and maximize its effectiveness. Being a PLD is pretty easy so looking for the best way to optimize your mitigation, enmity, and efficiency is always good!

[RhazeCain]

However, tanking in AK/HM Primals/Etc, I often find myself saying...OK...I could pop Bulwark, but...I'm not sure its going to be 100% effective here, etc. Stoneskin is a great 100% reliable (if you get it off) free 10% of your hit-points. I am itching to get it and maximize its effectiveness. Being a PLD is pretty easy so looking for the best way to optimize your mitigation, enmity, and efficiency is always good!

Oh hell no. If you could pop Bulwark and choose not to, then Stoneskin is NOT what you want. 3.0 sec cast time. Can't use other skills. Can't move. Can be interrupted. Blocks way less damage over the duration than Bulwark.

No, the time for Stoneskin (if there is any) is when Bulwark and other off-GCD are unavailable or you want more on top of them.

[Ehayte]

Oh hell no. If you could pop Bulwark and choose not to, then Stoneskin is NOT what you want. 3.0 sec cast time. Can't use other skills. Can't move. Can be interrupted. Blocks way less damage over the duration than Bulwark.

No, the time for Stoneskin (if there is any) is when Bulwark and other off-GCD are unavailable or you want more on top of them.

Sorry, I need to stop mentioning specific skills when I am trying to give a general example. I just meant there are times when I have 5-6 seconds where starting another RoH combo is unnecessary, and I don't want to use any of my CDs because I don't particularly need them. I feel like that would be a good point to pop a Stoneskin for some extra cushion. 10% of my HP is 550 - pretty nice little bonus with very little side effects.

[Icepick823]

Mercy Stroke: Usually only effective when solo. In a dungeon party setting, you really need to time is just right and be lucky to get the kill shot since it'll do pitiful damage. In either case it doesn't matter as OOC regen is so high,you can go from almost dead to 100% in a few seconds, esp with a healer.

Stoneskin: Really only useful when a boss does sometime that makes them invincible/untargetable. Even with 5000+ hp, when you're getting hit for 900+, it won't even last a hit. Still, it's ~500 less damage taken, and there really isn't much we need MP for anyway.

They're nice tools to have, and if you like war/whm, then you'll have them anyway, but if you absolutely hate them, don't bother. No sense bashing your head in for something you'll use .5% of the time.

[Henlhaw]

I was thinking, it's probably more interesting if stoneskin was used on you by one of the DPS from time to time, instead of being cast b yourself or the heal.

The summoner can easily spare a 3 seconds cast when all his dots are up.

[Sephirah]

I'm currently in turn 4 of Coils as a PLD and haven't needed either Mercy Stroke or Stoneskin for ANYTHING.

Stoneskin is the only one that would be remotely helpful, but it's situational, and marginal at best. If you casting stoneskin on yourself is the difference between a wipe and victory, then you probably need a better healer.

[VanFrey]

I can think of one instance where I would really want Stoneskin atm, and that's during the Titan fight. During that fight, and some others, it's possible that I'll run out of TP while maintaining Aggro, I usually try to mitigate my TP useage by using MP abilities such as Cure/Flash. there are also however some moments of specific fights where i have the time and MP to casts Stone Skin but not do anything else. During Titan, using Stoneskin during/before Geocrush can lighten the load of my healers. There is also a point in the fight where Titan does 3 moves in succession that are exceedingly dangerous to me. He'll start with Bombs, then after he uses landslide on the party and the bombs explode, he'll hit me with Rock Breaker, and then Mountain Buster. If I had Stoneskin, and I plan to. I could further mitigate that damage by casting it during the time when the bombs have fallen.

That situation right there is enough, for me, to put Stoneskin on my hotbar.