[Opener/Tips/Advices] How to play PLD

[RanceIronheart]

I joined to post this so please excuse my poor formatting.
Establish aggro
if you really want to do your maximum dps in groups that also do a lot of damage then first you are going to want to establish a strong aggro lead so that you can do your dps rotation for around 3+ minutes.
open in shield oath then Shield lob+shelltron Halone combo+ Shield swipe>Halone combo, from here on out you are ready to switch to Sword Oath.
Your DPS rotation
This rotation should only be used if you are OT or have already established hate, and if you are OT ignore using Shelltron unless you want to try and tank cleaves for extra dps.
Switch to Sword Oath then use fast blade+Sheltron > Riot blade(FoF)+CoS>Goring+Spirits>Fracture+Shield swipe>RA>Fast blade+Str pot+Spirits>RA+(Shield Swipe)>Riot blade+Sheltron>Goring+CoS>Fracture+Shield Swipe.
The breakdown
An earlier post I saw said to not take fracture into consideration for its low dps, and while this is true for a regular damage rotation if we just break down the potency
Fast blade (150) Savage blade (200) Royal Authority (340) total = 690 pot
Fast blade (150) Riot Blade (230) Goring blade (220+320) total = 920 pot
Fracture (220)
So when you are in FoF the Goring>RA>RA>Goring combo takes around 26-28 seconds depending on skill speed and during that time you can do Fast blade and Savage blade, but you are unable to hit a RA without FoF running out the total pot of this is.
Fast blade + Savage blade = 350 pot
Fracture + fracture = 440 pot
the major downside to this is that it will cost you more tp over time and you will run dry faster.

[Nicobo]

wao, tho most server's top DPS always wait you build-up aggro ^^;

[AlexiIvaniskavich]

An earlier post I saw said to not take fracture into consideration for its low dps, and while this is true for a regular damage rotation if we just break down the potency
Fast blade (150) Savage blade (200) Royal Authority (340) total = 690 pot
Fast blade (150) Riot Blade (230) Goring blade (220+320) total = 920 pot
Fracture (220)
So when you are in FoF the Goring>RA>RA>Goring combo takes around 26-28 seconds depending on skill speed and during that time you can do Fast blade and Savage blade, but you are unable to hit a RA without FoF running out the total pot of this is.
Fast blade + Savage blade = 350 pot
Fracture + fracture = 440 pot
the major downside to this is that it will cost you more tp over time and you will run dry faster.

Fracture is a DPS loss for every class but Warrior and in extreme limitation Monk (highly specialized, filler to allow for a fuller Demolish tick). It is confirmed many times and in many posts that it is in fact a DPS loss on all other classes. Take a look at the dragoon or monk threads, and you will see more math than you can shake a stick at. As I monk for my dps class, most of my information has been gleamed from their thread, and a lot of theory crafting done by many smarter than I (thank you Ossom and all the others over there).

For DOT management, it has been proven that you should refresh your DOT when it is at 3 seconds or less, but to never fall completely off. (due to latency on both sides). Clipping your DOT prior to this (4+ sec) results in too much of an override, thus reducing total potency. Applying your DOT too late and you are losing DPS that you should have had due to the DOT tick. The use of fracture on a monk is ONLY good when you are using to use a GCD to refresh the main dot (DEMO) at the <3 mark vs doing at the 5-6 second mark.

The flaw in your math is that you are not also looking at what you are losing. When you run the Goring combo > RA > RA . > Goring combo, you are refreshing the strongest potency skill for Paladin at exactly the right time. When you add a non-combo GCD skill, you are removing 1 tick (40 potency) of goring blade every single time. In your 30 second window, you found a difference of 90 potency by using Fracture twice (by removing Fast blade and Savage blade) , but you did not consider the fact that you lost 2 ticks of Goring blade. Your total actual potency increase is only 10, at the cost of 160 TP.

In a TP starved class, 160 TP is not worth 10 potency.

When you play as a real DPS, part of maximizing your job is to keep your buffs/debuffs /dots with 100% uptime, as often as possible. 3.0 monk rotations are worked around keeping these up and the 2.x Dragoon rotation did as well (I haven’t been there in a while, won’t speak for 3.0). You are not optimizing your DPS as a Paladin by allowing Goring Blade to drop off.

Of course there is always an exception somewhere. Jumps where the boss still takes damage come to mind. I would argue that there are more useful skills to be cross classed.

[Callidus]

Alexi covered it well. I'd just like to add that Rance is also ignoring the fact that at the end of that not-so-potent Fast Blade + Savage Blade in FoF, you've set yourself up for a high potency RA that you can use immediately after. Once you factor in that next GCD:
With Fracture: FoF(Fracture+Fracture)+Fast Blade --> 1.3x440=572 + 150 = 722 total potency for 2 FoF Fractures plus step 1 of a new RA combo.
Without fracture: FoF(Fast Blade+Savage Blade)+RA --> 1.3x350=455 + 340 = 795 total potency for FoF Fast and Savage blades and finishing with RA out of FoF.

Fracture just isn't worth using as a PLD at 60.

[Sapphidia]

Alexi and Callidus said it much faster than I was going to! To add an additional explanation that might help the understanding:

Fracture is 220 potency (100 hit + 120 dot). The average potency of Goring/Royal/Royal across all 9 GCDs is also 220, if you ignore the Goring Blade DoT. Doing Goring/Royal/Royal keeps 100% uptime on the Goring Blade dot, which ticks every 3 seconds for 40 potency of damage.

Inserting a Fracture to make it a 10 GCD rotation keeps the average potency per GCD as 220, so no gain (but a TP loss), but also inserts a "gap" into the constant running of the Goring Blade dot. You need a consistant 2.4 second GCD or lower in order to fit 10 GCDs into a Goring Blade duration. The Gap varies in length dependant on skillspeed, but has a chance to lose a whole 40 tick of the Goring Blade DoT occasionally.

By putting in a Fracture instead of a Fast Blade as the last move in a Fight or Flight, you're only gaining 30% of the -difference-. 150 vs 220, so 30% of 70, which is 21 potency gained, at a risk of losing a 40 tick of Goring Blade unless you have a tonne of skillspeed.

However, the DoT portion of Fracture isnt affected by Slashing Down from Warrior/Ninja, which you'll almost always have. When you factor this in, using a Fracture to turn a Goring/Royal/Royal rotation into a 10 GCD rotation actually loses you 12 potency, along with the chance of losing a 40 potency goring DoT.

Fracture's performance is dependant on your skillspeed as to whether or not its use loses you DPS. Outside of Fight or Flight, it's a straight DPS and TP loss. As the final hit of Fight or Flight it's only a DPS increase if you don't have Slashing Down and have a huge amount of skillspeed so you don't have a gap in your Goring Blade - and with this amount of skillspeed you're goign to be TP starved so shouldnt be using it anyway.

[RanceIronheart]

Hmm, i was unaware about the outside of FoF pot loss, but i'll run some more tests later to see if i really am missing out on maximum dps. Although i rarely let Goring drop even with the double fracture combo my skill cooldown is somewhere around 2.35-2.45? I am also interested in hearing where you think a proper application of a strength pot should be used.

[Februs]

I am also interested in hearing where you think a proper application of a strength pot should be used.

Are you talking gear or ability points? Because you'll get some vastly different answers depending on which you are referring to.

[Freyyy]

Are you talking gear or ability points? Because you'll get some vastly different answers depending on which you are referring to.

?? He's talking about using a STR pot.

[Sapphidia]

Hmm, i was unaware about the outside of FoF pot loss, but i'll run some more tests later to see if i really am missing out on maximum dps.

If you DON'T have a warrior/ninja keeping up the +10% Slashing debuff, and have 2.4 second GCD or lower, doing Goring/Royal/Royal/Fracture is exactly the same dps as doing Goring/Royal/Royal, but costs more TP. It's a teeeeeny dps boost to use -one- fracture as the final GCD of Fight or Flight. If you have higher than 2.4 GCD then the fracture in FoF will likely be DPS loss due to the gap it creates in your Goring Blade ticks.

If you DO have a warrior/ninja keeping up slashing, Fracture is 100% a DPS loss to use.

Note that if you can fit 11 GCDs into a Fight or Flight, Riot Blade is 230 Potency, which is more than a Fracture. Thus you're also getting more DPS if you pop your Fight or Flight between the Fast/Riot of a goring combo to include an extra buffed Riot, rather than between the Riot/Goring and inserting a Fracture.

Pretty much every calculation has shown that Fracture in ANY situation will be a detriment to your DPS, either a flat DPS loss over just ignoring it, or equal DPS but more TP. It's honestly not worth having on your bars. It's a very minor difference though, so if you noticed any major DPS increase or loss from using/not using fracture it's almost entirely due to other circumstances.

[Februs]

?? He's talking about using a STR pot.

Indeed he is. Apparently I lose the ability to read things correctly when I've been lacking the sleep. @_@