what happens if second half of Alex is all physical?

[Sleigh]

Speaking of Gordian PLD weapon ... is there any recorded/known A4S clear with PLD yet? I know for a fact it'd be quite possible (there would actually be some advantages to forcing it into an OT role as much as possible!), but every group I've seen who can beat it are using DRK + WAR.

[Kyne_Lyons]

No none yet. Due to the mechanics of the fight requiring swapping there is no dedicated off tank so any perceived advantage you think there is doesn't exist. This is speaking from direct experience.

[Sleigh]

I have killed the fight, I've seen it from most angles I'd like to reckon. Have seen the wipes to dumb stuff, autos, Strafs, tank busters, what we'd want where in terms of CDs, etc.

I'm not saying PLD would be better than DRK, it's overall much worse since Dark Mind is ridiculous in that fight, but there'd at least be a slight niche if it handled the majority of Straf Dolls, which would be 4/5 of them.

I'm just saying, at this point, DRK + WAR isn't the only way to clear the fight. Was just curious if anyone had done it yet.

[Nomad-phx]

Let's be real here. The first Gordian PLD weapon is gonna go to the dude that plays DRK now.

His jimmies are gonna be so rustled. :c

That's why I say obtained by a pld lol

[Syzygian]

Assuming one considers Dark Dance and Bulwark to be roughly equivalent CDs (consider their relative uptime/duration/recast/potency), and the fact that Dark Dance can, beyond the use of the buff itself, be used to control Reprisal usage, then really the only tool PLD edges DRK out on physically is Sheltron, which barely counts. DRK's physical mitigation is not as pathetic as people make it out to be, its just that Dark Mind is so OP in comparison. But on the flip side, when you consider Sentinels stronger potency, HG, and PLD's ability to SS/Clemency itself, I wouldn't worry if I was a PLD in the face of a magic tank buster. Case in point:

A1S CD rotation:
PLD 1-Rampart+Sentinel (60% mitigation), 2-HG (100% mitigation), 3-Rampart+Sentinel (60% mitigation).
DRK 1-Shadowskin+DA Dark Mind (50% mitigation), 2-Shadow Wall+Shadowskin+DA Dark Mind (80% mitigation), 3-Shadowskin+DA Dark Mind (50% mitigation).

So, you see, PLD really isn't hurting that bad mitigation-wise. Its still edging out DRK in terms of magic mitgation in some cases.

[Kenji1134]

I think the issue becomes more apparent in A3S and A4S, where the magic based tank busters come more frequently.

In A1S you have about 2 minutes between tank busters, and you really only need to survive 3.
The problem for PLD is if the tank buster comes more often than every 90s, or if you need to survive more than 3.
Given 90s tank busters... 1: Rampart+Sentinel+Conv. 2: HG. 3: Rampart+Sentinel+Conv. 4: Rampart 5: Rampart+Sentinel+Conv. 6: Rampart, etc...

Simply put PLD runs out of CD's at around the 4th 90s tank buster.
Its worse if the tank busters come in under 90s, as you wont even have Rampart.
A WAR has IB every 30s, a DRK has Dark Mind every 60s. They both have some equivalent-ish of Sentinel and Conv.

[Freyyy]

A1S CD rotation:
PLD 1-Rampart+Sentinel (60% mitigation), 2-HG (100% mitigation), 3-Rampart+Sentinel (60% mitigation).
DRK 1-Shadowskin+DA Dark Mind (50% mitigation), 2-Shadow Wall+Shadowskin+DA Dark Mind (80% mitigation), 3-Shadowskin+DA Dark Mind (50% mitigation).

Mitigations don't add up like that. Rampart + Sentinel is 48% mitigation if you're in shield oath compared to what you would take without CD because you're reducing damage which has already been reduced in the first place.
And there is a better rotation for DRK, since there is 2min between each tank buster, you can do 1 : Shadow Wall + Shadowskin + DA Dark Mind + Convalescence, 2 : Shadowskin + DA Dark Mind + Convalescence, 3 : Shadow Wall + Shadowskin + DA Dark Mind + Convalescence and have Living Dead in case shit happens (DPS dying or shit like that) and you have the 4th tank buster to deal with. You can also use Dark Dance to force-proc a Reprisal during preys to have it for Royal Fount + tank buster and considering that you have Delirium where PLD's STR debuff is useless, all of that is way superior to anything a PLD can do.

And the real problem is when you need magical mitigation more often, like Kenji1134 just mentionned. And Reprisal on top of Storm's Path and Delirium adds more raid-wide mitigation than anything a PLD could do too.

[Brian_]

Assuming one considers Dark Dance and Bulwark to be roughly equivalent CDs (consider their relative uptime/duration/recast/potency), and the fact that Dark Dance can, beyond the use of the buff itself, be used to control Reprisal usage, then really the only tool PLD edges DRK out on physically is Sheltron, which barely counts. DRK's physical mitigation is not as pathetic as people make it out to be, its just that Dark Mind is so OP in comparison. But on the flip side, when you consider Sentinels stronger potency, HG, and PLD's ability to SS/Clemency itself, I wouldn't worry if I was a PLD in the face of a magic tank buster. Case in point:

A1S CD rotation:
PLD 1-Rampart+Sentinel (60% mitigation), 2-HG (100% mitigation), 3-Rampart+Sentinel (60% mitigation).
DRK 1-Shadowskin+DA Dark Mind (50% mitigation), 2-Shadow Wall+Shadowskin+DA Dark Mind (80% mitigation), 3-Shadowskin+DA Dark Mind (50% mitigation).

So, you see, PLD really isn't hurting that bad mitigation-wise. Its still edging out DRK in terms of magic mitgation in some cases.

Except when you actually try to push your performance, you don't use your CDs like this.

Even if you're being conservative with your CDs, you SS+SW+DA DM first, SS+DA DM the second, and SS+SW+DA DM the last. And, you're also going to have Delirium up for 10% reduced damage and maybe Reprisal. Your mitigation is much better than a PLD. And, you retain Living Dead as an emergency button while PLD actually has to use it in their rotation.

But let's be real. Unless your healers are bad or you're all undergeared, you don't have to do that. As a DRK, you should DA DM + SW the first, Living Dead the second, DA DM + SW the last with Delirium and maybe Reprisal up for the first and last. Still more than enough to survive the hits. It lets you use your SS purely to reduce the general incoming damage. Between SS and Conva, you can negate the mitigation loss from dropping Grit and tank all of the fight while pure DPSing and further increase the gap between DRK and PLD DPS.

On the otherhand, the PLD is stuck on a very inflexible CD rotation and only has 1 free Rampart after the split to help reduce general damage while DPSing. The result is a squishier tank that has less DPS.

[Kyne_Lyons]

I have killed the fight, please don't pull the experience card on me

Thank you for this totally necessary edit. Grats.

[Sleigh]

Thank you for this totally necessary edit. Grats.

I apologize, that was a little crass of me. Sorry.

However! My point still stands, before and after clearing, I could see PLD being fine in that fight. Better than DRK, heck no. As good in most areas, with a few perks? Yes.