Thread: Shields & Parrying in 1.19

Originally Posted by RemVye

I guess spending all that time to level GLA so I could tank was pretty pointless huh...

Someone said GLA is a hinderence to a party... this makes me sad

Maybe the new cool will be to just stack +attack, +STR, +crit attack and completely drop the shield... what's the point if I can just parry, right?


I have to choose between Parry or Block on a tank when the chance to block low and parry does the same thing?
- Low Block chance < Parry and Parry+ materia
- Shield Skills are useless because of this

STEP 1.] Removing Shield and Shield skills grants more ability points ==> Equip more DPS moves (+attack power cross-class) and WeaponSkills

STEP 2.] Prioritize +attack, +crit attack, +str and +parry materia because GLA damage is weak

STEP 3.] ???

STEP 4.] Profit.



Looking for someone to test this theory... I don't have the gil, gear or materia to put this to the test. If anyone has GLA gear and the right materia maybe you could compare and contrast damage for us to see how much dps a gladiator can actually put out. Also see how often you parry?

Remember to equip Foresight from MRD for a virtually guaranteed parry every 30 seconds. I'm not very happy about the situation either, GLA was the first combat class I ranked up and I wanted it to be my main class but if I'm going to tank the enjoyment is going to come out of doing the best job I can in that role and using GLA knowing that I'm performing suboptimally is just not going to be fun for me. Here's hoping 1.20 or 1.21 do a better job balancing GLA.

Originally Posted by Raikki

Remember to equip Foresight from MRD for a virtually guaranteed parry every 30 seconds. I'm not very happy about the situation either, GLA was the first combat class I ranked up and I wanted it to be my main class but if I'm going to tank the enjoyment is going to come out of doing the best job I can in that role and using GLA knowing that I'm performing suboptimally is just not going to be fun for me. Here's hoping 1.20 or 1.21 do a better job balancing GLA.

Yeah, you would still equip; Featherfoot, Foresight, Defender, etc.. if you're going Parry Tank Glad with no shield

But also I'm suggesting that maybe Glad can be a plausible damage dealer as well. I'd be interested to see Glad dps numbers with the right gear setup.

You're not gonna have a good DD GLA build with defender up all the time, it lowers attack.

Originally Posted by GreyJorildyn

You're forgetting that even if you geared out for DPS tanking on gladiator, without the DPS abilities to back it up, it's not going to make much headroom against a MRD that can equip storm's path for just 5 AP. The effectiveness of any job goes far beyond gear. It touches abilities and of course player skill and execution combining all elements together.

Sorry but did you read my post? The original one is on page 6, the last one on the page.

Originally Posted by Choyi

I find this to be a huge balance issue.
Having both my GLA and MRD at 50 I have used both as tanks now and in the past.
However now with the ifrit fight being one of the few challangeing content out, I feel very sad to see that yet again MRD is by far the superior tank.

Why? Well MRD can mignate about 20-30% incomming damage with parry alone, does about 3 times the damage while tanking(defenderII up) then a GLA and has easier time to maintain hate (basicly hate is silly easy to keep on MRD while as on GLA you actualy have to put effort in) thus making it easier just to focus on damage and survivial.

But GLA can block right? Normaly yes, but you can't block Ifrits attacks for some reason, me and 3 other LS GLAs have fought Ifrit many times and I've yet to see any block procs, making shield skills useless.

So what does GLA have over MRD as a tank? Around 50defence 300 hp and about 50mp.
Meanwhile MRD reduced alot more damage taken, does alot more damage and holds better hate.

Please SE look into balancing this, I leveled my GLA to tank and when my MRD is doing it much more efficiant I feel like GLA is a useless class to have, the only times I bring out my GLA is for casual stronghold farm content...

Its a simple fix as well, either let shield users parry, or improve block to the point where it acutaly feels worth it to bring a GLA to any highend content.

Well said Choyi.

I agree with most everyone's sentiments on this thread. I switched from Gladiator to Marauder tank this past week (and I normally don't even play Marauder), and the difference in tanking on Ifrit was night and day: I took far less damage with Parry activating more often, could hold hate far more easily, and do more damage than Gladiator as well.

There's no comparison.

I guess it's ultimately about where Team Yoshida and the Battle Team want to take the evolution of Gladiator ("Paladin") and Marauder ("Warrior"). One would think that Gladiator > Paladin would be the main Tank Job in this game, but at this rate, it's not even close. Gladiator is far outstripped by Marauder for tanking on Ifrit.

If they want to make Gladiator > Paladin the main Tank class, then they need to increase Block Rate, allow Parrying and Evading (all 3 facets of Defensive maneuvers), or at least make Blocking proc far more often with higher defense on Gladiator.

Thanks.

Considering I chose to level gladiator specifically to tank, if reports that marauders are better and more desired for the tanking role are true then I'd be rather disheartened.

I've been patient with this game, and have alot of faith in Yoshi and crew, but if I get to 50 and start looking for groups to tank and start getting rejected in lieu of a damage dealing class well, that might just be the straw that breaks the camels back for me and this game.