How to Build a PLD, needing tips plz.

[Riv]

Really MND on body instead of VIT or HP? And HP in legs over STR/VIT? What about HP in feet?

[Molly_Millions]

Really MND on body instead of VIT or HP? And HP in legs over STR/VIT? What about HP in feet?

I didn't list STR/VIT because VIT is all but completely wasted at 50, VIT is also not optimal for PLD either. VIT gives a 1:1 boost to HP, but has no other benefit at 50. Because of this, Loresman's Wit, Vestryman's Faith Materia, Swordsman's Cry Materia, and Ironman's Will are fairly equal because they all have one wasted stat. That's not to say they don't do PLD any good, IMO they just aren't optimal. I only listed materia that has 100% valuable stats for PLD. Because of the relation of damage dealt to hate gained, materia that acts as a dmg modifier in addition to affecting things like evasion or healing magic potency therefore is more valuable. I tried to take into account that certain materia goes in more slots than others. For example; HP can go on just about anything, evasion only goes on feet. As for where I placed magic evasion, magic evasion is very important for a tank because most mobs biggest dmg dealing abilities are magic based. Using magic evasion allows for less cures and less chance the whm will pull hate. thanks for catching my mistakes. If anyone else can find issues with my list, I'd be more than happy to modify it.

edit* actually the whole body section was wrong. I had a copy+paste error, but I fixed it.

[Riv]

So VIT doesn't actually do anything for damage mitigation?

[Sigmakan]

Kaeko's post about Blocking

VIT does in fact help with damage mitigation it seems

[PiedPiper]

Kaeko's post about Blocking

VIT does in fact help with damage mitigation it seems

In the same sense that a screen door helps on a motorboat. Yeah, vit will make you take slightly less damage when you block, but only when you block, and only against attacks that you can actually block. And even then, 1vit=.1%, so...... no. Vit does not help.

Honestly, with our hp pool so low, I think hp is the best for the legs and feet slots. (I currently use a 60/65 pants and 55/55 sent boots). The body i would also say hp again, our hp is just very low. You don't want to put hp in belt, cus that's where the god of pld stats, enmity, goes, and gloves is a slot that I think the af is actually pretty strong in. (I personally am lucky enough to have hdl glvoes, which are also not meldable). I have a vit17/def17 body, but I am strongly considering making a hp one because vit and def just don't work right now. HP is always there, its also a "storeable" resource in that your whms can top you off. The more of it available to you, the harder it always is to kill you. With moves like voice of the ram hitting for 2.7k and not being blockable, I'm saying the stat you need is HP not vit.

[Kiara]

In the same sense that a screen door helps on a motorboat. Yeah, vit will make you take slightly less damage when you block, but only when you block, and only against attacks that you can actually block. And even then, 1vit=.1%, so...... no. Vit does not help.

Honestly, with our hp pool so low, I think hp is the best for the legs and feet slots. (I currently use a 60/65 pants and 55/55 sent boots). The body i would also say hp again, our hp is just very low. You don't want to put hp in belt, cus that's where the god of pld stats, enmity, goes, and gloves is a slot that I think the af is actually pretty strong in. (I personally am lucky enough to have hdl glvoes, which are also not meldable). I have a vit17/def17 body, but I am strongly considering making a hp one because vit and def just don't work right now. HP is always there, its also a "storeable" resource in that your whms can top you off. The more of it available to you, the harder it always is to kill you. With moves like voice of the ram hitting for 2.7k and not being blockable, I'm saying the stat you need is HP not vit.

Hi Pied and All,

I've been wondering if anyone's ever bothered trying out Double Melded Evasion Tier IV on Feet slot? Or Evasion + Magic Evasion? I know PLD / WAR aren't "Evasion Tanks" but I'm curious if getting some Evasion to help them evade hits once in a while is worth trying?

[SwordCoheir]

Really MND on body instead of VIT or HP? And HP in legs over STR/VIT? What about HP in feet?

Can't even meld MND to a bodypiece if I recall correctly (Maybe one of those new materia I can't remember). It was VIT, DEF, Crit Atk + for the most part, unless you take the PLD af body which actually has some MND on it.

[PSxpert2011]

Well I'll try to break it down a little for you and explain the stats some, they are similar to FFXI but there are some noteworthy differences.

Each job has two modifiers called stat bonuses which give a significant boost to damage. But the bonus stats don't exactly play to PLD's strengths, so unlike other jobs that juggle two maybe three stats, PLD gets to juggle four. These stat bonuses however show an actual difference in your damage output, so it makes them worth looking into when figuring out your setup.

STR- Stat bonus, helps damage output
MND- Stat bonus, Increases Enmity modifier in Fastblade > Flatblade Combo, Helps increase cures and magic accuracy
DEX- Increases Block rate, Increases Acc
VIT- Increases HP, effects magical and physical damage calculations when taking damage.

Enmity is to be consider as well.

+10 Enmity = 1% Enmity Bonus

Thankfully Materia and Jewelry gives you quite a bit, and does not really conflict with other gear choices.

Shields work a bit differently, and actually just got adjusted and receiving other adjustments here in the near future so I won't derive into them much. However you can attach materia to your shield, but your options are limited to pretty much HP/MP or Defense materia. (Personally I wen't defense)

Gear Wise, Plate Mail will be your best friend on this adventure providing the best overall defense, most stats on the different pieces are somewhat negligible enough you can be flexible (IE: Little difference between Sentinels and Cobalt gear, but Sentinels is much more expensive.)

One debate that's going on right now is the usefulness of the PLD AF, stat wise it's comparable (for the most part) to a single materia melded Cobalt counterpart making it a good free alternative, that gives bonus effects to different PLD abilities. However I recommend doing this when you can afford it, is try for a double/triple melded piece of gear and slowly replace your AF.

Below is my current personal setup for PLD, I like what it provides but I recommend you find your own preference and merely take this as a suggestion. Materia Augments are in Parenthesis next to the name.

Ifrit's Blade / Cobalt Winglet (+24VIT)
Vintage Kite Shield (+16Def)
Gallant Coronet / Cobalt Celata (+24MND)
Cobalt Cuirass (+32Def)
Cobalt Plate Belt (+42Enmity)
Felt Trousers Red / Black (+7STR, +7VIT / +7VIT, +7DEX)
Gallant Gauntlets / Sentinel's Gauntlets (+15DEX)
Sentinel's Sabatons (+60HP)

Stonewall Earrings
Explorer's Choker / Electrum Gorget
Coral Armillae
Amber Ring x2

Hope that helps you out.

Thanks for the informative post. I'm looking to leveling my Glad class to unlock Pld. This would come useful. Happy adventures and keep up the good work!

[Molly_Millions]

Can't even meld MND to a bodypiece if I recall correctly (Maybe one of those new materia I can't remember). It was VIT, DEF, Crit Atk + for the most part, unless you take the PLD af body which actually has some MND on it.

I did accidentally have MND listed in the body section of my materia guide. It needed to be corrected.

[Molly_Millions]

Hi Pied and All,

I've been wondering if anyone's ever bothered trying out Double Melded Evasion Tier IV on Feet slot? Or Evasion + Magic Evasion? I know PLD / WAR aren't "Evasion Tanks" but I'm curious if getting some Evasion to help them evade hits once in a while is worth trying?

Yes, on my WAR I have 33 m.evasion on a raptorskin pot helm +1, and it's freakin' awesome. However, I use that for DD rather than tanking.