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Thread: Sword Oath

  1. #1
    Player
    dragonseth07's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    Manhattan Beach
    Posts
    922
    Character
    Ratithgar Jovasch
    World
    Sargatanas
    Main Class
    Paladin Lv 90

    Sword Oath

    Hello! The people I meet in DF regularly have very strong opinions on whether I should be in Shield Oath or Sword Oath. They usually contradict.

    Some stuff seems pretty obvious: Sword for OT DPS, Shield for initial hate grabs and tank swaps.

    But, after that, it all seems to get fuzzy. Some healer's tell me to never leave Shield in light parties, others want me in Sword for nearly everything.

    So, what is the "correct" methodology here?
    (0)

  2. #2
    Player
    DaulBan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    Limsa Lominsa
    Posts
    282
    Character
    Daul Ban
    World
    Ultros
    Main Class
    Paladin Lv 80
    Shield
    > Damage is overwhelming without it
    > Need aggro (for whatever reason)

    Sword
    > When the above doesn't apply.

    This applies literally everywhere from 24mans to Savage Raiding.
    (10)

  3. #3
    Player
    Ashelia_Ferron's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Posts
    764
    Character
    Ashelia Ferron
    World
    Siren
    Main Class
    Paladin Lv 70
    There is no "correct" it's "whatever works based on your situation".

    A lesser skilled healer would prefer you to stay in Shield Oath so their job is less difficult.

    For the most part, leaving shield oath to go Sword is usually okay for bosses in dungeons, but is less adviseable when doing large pulls.


    If you can stay alive and hold hate, then whatever you chose is fine
    (2)

  4. #4
    Player
    Hierro's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Posts
    722
    Character
    Ziero Rehw-bidit
    World
    Malboro
    Main Class
    Warrior Lv 100
    Stay in shield oath for trash pulls. Sword oath is for bosses, but only after doing your opener in shield oath, AND if the healer is comfortable.

    Sometimes a healer is undergeared or incompetent, and in those cases it's acceptable to stay in shield oath for a whole boss fight. Otherwise, sword oath after opener all the way.
    (0)

  5. #5
    Player
    Thunda_Cat_SMASH's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Posts
    2,105
    Character
    Sylvana Tenebri
    World
    Malboro
    Main Class
    Marauder Lv 79
    Like the above said, Sword Oath is great against bosses if you know how to manage your cooldowns and know how to keep your damage intake comfortable for your healers. Don't be afraid to use RoH as well if you feel you need the physical mitigation for whatever reason, also.
    (1)

  6. #6
    Player CaedemSanguis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Posts
    1,106
    Character
    Benedikta Harman
    World
    Moogle
    Main Class
    Gunbreaker Lv 100
    at lv50 - sword oath 24/7

    at lv60 - shield oath when need to make hate, or to take big damage, or to manage the healing.

    at lv60 - sword oath when you dont need the shield oath
    (0)

  7. #7
    Player
    Sigmar_Heldenhammer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Posts
    62
    Character
    Sigmar Heldenhammer
    World
    Exodus
    Main Class
    Warrior Lv 55
    Whatever the healer is comfortable with.
    (1)

  8. #8
    Player
    Rawrz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    1,704
    Character
    Sir Rawrz
    World
    Gilgamesh
    Main Class
    Red Mage Lv 90
    Cycle your CDs and keep your eyes on hate. As a healer I want you to be doing your maximum damage, while I do mine.

    Shield Oath when it's more effecient (You don't have any CDs and are Mass pulling, since healers will out DPS you by miles.)

    On bosses Sword Oath and let the Healers take care of you, so long as you continue to cycle your CDs, after you establish hate with Shield Oath like others have said.

    If you have a good ninja, you don't even need to open with shield oath. :]
    (1)

  9. #9
    Player
    Lan_Mantear's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Posts
    329
    Character
    Lan Mantear
    World
    Faerie
    Main Class
    Paladin Lv 80
    It's probably been said enough, but doesn't hurt to reinforce it.
    • Shield Oath for Trash Pulls
    • Sword Oath For Bosses

    However, don't ignore your ROH combo when in Sword. At the very least you want to keep the Reduce target's strength by 5% bonus up.

    At the end of the day, it's a judgement call. You need to gauge the competence of the rest of your party in order to determine if it is safe to be in Sword Oath. If your DPS is very low, and your added dmg isn't enough to make up the difference you'll likely run into TP issues from the extended fight. As a result, it may be better to stay in Shield and be the impenetrable brick wall while the Healer attempts to DPS.

    If your healer is having trouble keeping you alive, then its best to just be in Shield to make things easier on them.
    (0)
    Last edited by Lan_Mantear; 10-26-2016 at 11:52 PM.

  10. #10
    Player
    Jpec07's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    868
    Character
    Matthias Gendrin
    World
    Cactuar
    Main Class
    Paladin Lv 80
    It should rely on your own comfort, and the comfort of your group, as well.

    There are tanks out there who can very effectively tank entire Expert Roulette dungeons in their DPS stance, even doing massive pulls, and due to their skill, their healers don't even notice the difference. And then there are tanks out there who stay in their tank stance the entire time and only do small pulls.

    Both kinds of tanks can get through their dungeons. One may take 5-10 minutes longer, but they'll still get through it.

    As a tank, you have two main jobs: keep hate and survive. Everything else is secondary, and a matter of personal opinion, and group etiquette. Maximizing your DPS as a tank is a noble goal, and may make your runs faster--so long as you're still able to do your first two jobs. And with how encounters are formatted in this game, and with how tanks work, there are many ways that tanks can effectively switch into their DPS stances without sacrificing their performance as tanks.

    Should you do it?

    That's up to you and your group to decide.
    (2)
    __________________________
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