Why leave your shield at home!?

[Grimwood]

An idea could be a future trait from the guild that would allow 1 handed weapons to be wielded with 2hands for an acc/dmg bonus.

I like this idea. I'm surprised that it hasn't been suggested more often.

[buritoslicer]

I would like to see a two hander sword one day. I've always loved hacking people with a huge sword :P

[wind]

I would like to see a two hander sword one day. I've always loved hacking people with a huge sword :P

You make me sick sir. :P

[WilyKat]

This is why I don't do much partying aside from duo fighting with my hubby the MRD. People in general will always expect you to do things the way they think you should, nevermind what you want. It's why I play XIV more than XI now, because solo play is more of an option here. I don't want someone telling me I'm playing the game wrong because I don't have PUG and MRD ranked up to support my GLA so I can be a better tank.

I play my GLA as a Redmage type with thm/con support skills and weapon skills from LNC and GLA. I seem to do just fine solo. And my better half ends up tanking on his MRD more than I do when we fight together. We might not be breaking time records or winning the DPS race, but it works well for us and we have fun.

Anyhow, on the OP: I too wish there were a benefit to not wearing a shield though, even if some find the original description of the class invalid, I like the 'focusing on the swordarm' part a great deal. It would add an interesting twist, even if it's just quicker stamina refill or something small. I do like smacking baddies in the face with the shield, but it wouldn't take much to convince me to stash it.

Anyway, I just like swords. I didn't start leveling GLA as a tank. I'm not keen on starting to do so either.

My spouse & I do this also ^_^ It's great fun. We have specs for traditional roles- but we have fun doing what we like in duo/small group stuffs. I like debuffing on my GLA (b 'o')b

[IndecentSoul]

Read to page 3 and currently reading the rest but one thing that has been bugging me that I had to post is GLA is complaining about only being able to do one role. But then there are other classes that have the same problem.

Do you see archers complaining they cannot tank? I mean this is a game about customization correct? Then if I want to tank on my archer I should be able to tank.

And what about lancers too? Why can't I tank on my lancer? Well I mean I could but with my lower then archer Hp and barely any mitigation I wouldn't be able to tank very well.

Gladiator can tank really well but has sub par damage.

Archer can do really good damage but can't tank.

While you may want the game to be fully customizable everyone can do everything. I just don't see that as being plausible. If you want to do damage move to a damage dealing weapon. If you want to tank be use a weapon designed to tank.

If you want to do everything well then you are just sore outta luck.

Well that's just my 2 cents

[LoremIpsum]

I play Glad because I like swords and I dont see why that should be synonimous with tanking. SE need to broaden what we can do with Glad.

[Vanguard319]

I can think of a good reason for a dd gla not to use a shield. If you are not the main tank, you are likely not going to be using guard or phalanx, as it requires you to take and block damage. In essence, you would be wasting two slots on your action bar on skills that you are not likely to use.

I have been experimenting with a gla dd setup for awhile now, and I found that playing gla as a damage dealer isn't impossible, it just takes some creative use of the armoury system and some pragmatic thinking. as some have pointed out, gla doesn't have as high damage on it's ws, and they use alot of stamina and tp. I've found that a dd gla should focus on skills that let it attack constantly over time, the less you have to rest and recharge stamina, the better.

Therefore, you should focus on gla skills that use minimal stamina (light stab, howling vortex) and also use skills from other jobs that have low stamina/tp cost, like Feint. (can use without first getting monster's attn., minimal stamina usage, low tp use, can be used repeatedly if nessecary.)

Using this formula, I have built a dd gla that can do pretty consistant damage over time. my base damge per hit is about what a gla usually does (85~115 hp/hit w base attacks) but because my stamina/tp use is kept minimal, I can attack more often, without resting quite as much as say an arc or mrd. Once I found an optimal setup, I think I'll be able to maintain a relativly high enough dot to stay competetive with the other dds.

[Velhart]

I can think of a good reason for a dd gla not to use a shield. If you are not the main tank, you are likely not going to be using guard or phalanx, as it requires you to take and block damage. In essence, you would be wasting two slots on your action bar on skills that you are not likely to use.

I have been experimenting with a gla dd setup for awhile now, and I found that playing gla as a damage dealer isn't impossible, it just takes some creative use of the armoury system and some pragmatic thinking. as some have pointed out, gla doesn't have as high damage on it's ws, and they use alot of stamina and tp. I've found that a dd gla should focus on skills that let it attack constantly over time, the less you have to rest and recharge stamina, the better.

Therefore, you should focus on gla skills that use minimal stamina (light stab, howling vortex) and also use skills from other jobs that have low stamina/tp cost, like Feint. (can use without first getting monster's attn., minimal stamina usage, low tp use, can be used repeatedly if nessecary.)

Using this formula, I have built a dd gla that can do pretty consistant damage over time. my base damge per hit is about what a gla usually does (85~115 hp/hit w base attacks) but because my stamina/tp use is kept minimal, I can attack more often, without resting quite as much as say an arc or mrd. Once I found an optimal setup, I think I'll be able to maintain a relativly high enough dot to stay competetive with the other dds.

This actually sounds like an interesting concept. I may have to try this out myself. I am not a fan of how enmity control is done right now and would like it if SE took GLA in a direction that helps utilize their DPS side and make it more valuable to the team.

Unfortunately, I can't get far with that, when people see GLA, they expect you to tank. So I have actually been holding back on it and trying other DPS classes out till they give us full detail on the new battle system. Which I hope will come into detail by the end of the month.

[Alaltus]

I think that Gla SHOULD get an ability where they get increased striking power and accuracy when not wielding a shield. the main reason a swordsman wouldn't carry a shield would be to hold a sword with a two-handed stance, which in turn would allow them to hit with more power, while having more fine control over the blade. Also, to answer Alderton's question, people may wish to use a sword as a DD because of the mystique surrounding them. When you read stories from various mythos, the number of enchanted or legendary swords surpass virtually all other weapons.

^
This dual weild is such an overused concept and just dull and boring to me at this point. A trait/ability that allows Gladiators to take one handed swords into 2 hands would be a good way to split gladiator into two different entities. Tank and dd not to mention the possibilities of having 2 handed only weapons like greatswords etc.

[AlphaDragoon]

^
This dual weild is such an overused concept and just dull and boring to me at this point. A trait/ability that allows Gladiators to take one handed swords into 2 hands would be a good way to split gladiator into two different entities. Tank and dd not to mention the possibilities of having 2 handed only weapons like greatswords etc.

I agree. I've wanted this ever since they said Gladiators could choose to forgo shields. Unfortunately that doesn't seems to be happening for a long time if ever, now that Yoshida's team has decided Gladiator = tank and nothing else. It seriously drove me to level Pugilist because as much as I love sword wielding characters I wanted to be able to deal damage, not only sit there and get hit.