How does Ot work for palidens

[Dimitrias]

We'll I started doing end game with my paliden, and every group that i've been in the other tank always tanked the mob. Even at ilvl 76 I'm still undergeared compared to all the other tanks I get in DF, and that's with the HM's....

Well anyways, what's the optimal rotation for OT palidens? Should I be using a different gear set compared to normal? What gear is for OT tanking, just the accessory side, or do both sides have gear I need to switch?

Really new to OT, and could really use some tips on it.

[Spoekes]

There are only a hand full of fights were it could make a slight difference if you exchange your vit accessoirs with str ones.
Most encounters are designed for the second tank to have a least partially something to tank.

I personally don't switch anything.
Even without Shield Oath, when equipped with Str Accessoirs, your Halone Combo tends to build up aggro fast (like really crazy fast!) to a point you have to actually stop damage - so that gear change is wasted at this point, while the damage benefit is rather underwhelming.

[lyndwyrm]

Because PLD only has one full combo.... Sword Oath + Rage of Halone combo. Fight or flight adds a good deal additional damage, but you should be wary of using it if you're right behind the mt in threat.

As for gear: for two tank content that only requires one, fights like Ifrit HM, Titan HM, and certain parts of CT (but not all), you could go full STR accessory to help damage but most body pieces are still going to limit you to only tank gear. Pieces that are "Disciple of war" (which stop appearing at about ilv60) aren't going to have as much STR than higher level tank gear , i80+, and any off stats gained would be hard pressed to outperform the additional STR, AND the tank pieces will also have damaging secondary stats since the only tank-exclusive secondary stat is parry. Any content where the OT has a particular role, Garuda HM, Garuda EM, other parts of CT, Castrum, etc. you should still go with tank gear because you'll actually have something to tank. Crafted accessories is a more complex deal (I'm mostly talking about dungeon and and tome gear), and I can't give advice on that besides put materia on them.

The biggest issue is fights like Ifrit HM and Titan HM where the second tank has nothing to do, which is why often in PF they only ask for one. In those cases, You will generally not get shield swipe procs, and the Riot Blade combo does quite inferior damage to the RoH combo. If you're so close behind the MT in threat that you're worried about pulling threat with RoH, (assuming you are in sword oath) why is the other person MT? WAR has useful non-threat combos, but should easily be ahead if in defiance.

tl;dr sword oath + rage of halone combo, same gear unless you're not actually tanking.

[Spoekes]

If you're so close behind the MT in threat that you're worried about pulling threat with RoH, (assuming you are in sword oath) why is the other person MT? WAR has useful non-threat combos, but should easily be ahead if in defiance.

I play both tanks frequently and from my observations this is not true.

Zealous pala on SwordOath with with comparable gear, espacially with Fight or Flight at the start of the fight, is likely to steal your threat if you do not recognize this and pop unchained+berserk.

[lyndwyrm]

I play both tanks frequently and from my observations this is not true.

Zealous pala on SwordOath with with comparable gear, espacially with Fight or Flight at the start of the fight, is likely to steal your threat if you do not recognize this and pop unchained+berserk.

Hence my comment about being wary when using fight or flight.

As WAR, I normally open with either or both Unchained + Beserk anyways so that I can more quickly get into storm's eye/path without losing hate. I should admit though, I generally play warrior if I'm tanking and have only once had a pally in shield oath so close behind me in threat that I was concerned about losing it, so I can't say I see this terribly often.

[Ehayte]

^^: Sword Oath+RoH

Once you start to bump up against the MT's threat (this will and should happen, especially with a WAR MT, and there is nothing wrong with that if you are geared the same), I would toss around some Stone Skins on healers and the MT, replenish some mana with RB, then back to RoH combo. This should give you back TP and give the healers some slack. Also - use Flash to blind the target if you don't have a SMN doing that already - it helps with the DMG the main tank is taking - just keep in mind Flash produces just a little less enmity that a combo'ed Savage Blade (SB=600, Flash=495)

Make sure you keep the RoH debuff up, and use SW/CoS on CD, preferably use CoS right before there is a jump or an immunity, as DoTs will tick on a boss even if they are not targetable.

[Lord_Zlatan]

^^: Sword Oath+RoH

Don't forget:

When you creep up on the aggro, you should do Fast Blade --> Riot Blade.

Sword Oath + RoH works. I don't advise doing it at the start of the fight. start off with CoS and Spirits Within. Then a FB +RB. Then RoH Combo, casting stoneskin do drop off the aug table a bit.

[SirTaint]

At i76 keep doing what you are doing. Keep sword oath up and go to town.

As your gear progresses you will want a true OT set with STR accessories. Then you can swap things around depending on the fight.

[ChestyBear]

To help with tanking:

• Only Use Rage of Halone after MT has built up enough hate. Keep the debuff from this combo up all the time (i.e. must do this combo at least once every 20s)
• If you have a lvl 34 CNJ. Get Stone Skin to cast on your MT, then rotate in one or two Riot Blade combos to cover the MP cost.
• Use Flash to blind the mobs (or even some bosses) every 30-40 seconds.
• Even though Shield Bash is not off GCD like other stun abilities, you can use it as often as you like. In a large mob, you can keep switching target and stun everything before going back to your normal rotation.
• Pop Awareness and/or Bulkwark (even better if you already have Stone Skin on yourself) then immediately use Cover on MT to mitigate some physical damage for your MT. Then keep reapplying Stone Skin on yourself till the effect wears off.
• If you see your MT at very low HP (esp. when one healer has died or low on MP), immediately Provoke the boss then switch on Shield Oath and pop a few defensivecooldowns (you might want to alert the party that you're taking over. Best practice is using macro to say so in party chat as you use Provoke). After this you may want to MT for awhile till the other Tank's HP has gone up and some of his defensive cooldowns are available again.

To help with DPS:

• Stay in Sword Oath and only switch to Shield Oath just before tank swap (to max your DPS and reduce the the chance of your stealing argo).
• Spirits Within does tons of damage and can be used off GCD. Can also be used to interrupt spells (not skills though) and doesn't build resist like stun abilities.
• Circle of Scorn also does tons of damage and off GCD. Use it as often as you can.
• If you have a lvl 26 MRD. Get Mercy Stroke to increase your DPS.

[Nabian]

I don't know about the rest of you..but as a warrior tank I've never had a problem holding hate even with a overzealous Paladin OT.