How to Build a PLD, needing tips plz.

[Aceofspades]

Yall gona make me record a coin counter fight >< ....

Not sure why, But DEF and VIT seem to have a relationship with one another as far as effectiveness gose. Not sure why, but , Def dose deflect more normal damage then vit, however if coupled at a (roughly) 2/1 (def/vit) ratio your def gose much further and its not simply because your adding more def..

for example , start with 400 def and 100 vit, slowly start adding vit stats, the closer that number gets to a 2/1 ratio the higher damage is deflected per vit added. Its as if the vit , for lack of better terminoligy, "unlocks" the defensive potential. The main reason I Strongly discourage HP builds over def and vit is simply due to the devistational effect of rapidly reocurring strong physical attacks. If this test is done using the same formula but with in reverse order 2vit/1def the outcome will be more damage taken, DEF is stronger then vit, but you do need the one to realize the others full potential.

Hp dose help with magical based attack, and I would agree that as far as magic defenses go, the current tank build is broken. That being said, there is currently no boss fight in game that deals more magic damage then physical damage. High HP will help you survive possably two to the massive hits, be it magical or physical, but Many times I have seen tanks go down simply because cast times on spells/buffs just could not keep up with devistational boss TP moves.

With High DEF and VIT my healer/s only need to focus on ss untill a magical hit takes some hp off then the ocasional cure, but I have been told many times, I take far less damage and I have parses to prove it. botom line, VIT/DEF > HP the goal is'nt simply to survive attack but to make your WHMs job easier , The easier you make it, the fewer heals you will need and in turn the more dps can be put out. A well built turtle tank using this philosiphy can prove to put more DPS in the fight then a well build DD/TANK

[Aceofspades]

to clearify My current build , no buffs, food , or party , 769 def, 372 vit, about 3500+ HP , With buffs like protect, def/vit food (LL Toast) and rampart i sit just a little over 1100 def and 400 vit. with this build I can, and have taken 3, 100-tonz in a row, SS combined with devine veild took all but 300 some hp off the first swing, ageious boon completly healed and negated the second swing, this gave me enough time to cast stone skin once more and throw up sentinal, combined I took 0 damage, thats 3 100 tonze, zero heals from a healer, normal buffs, and well timed abilities. Dont care if you dont belive me tbh, try it and see for your self, will warn you tho, If you do not have alot of gil or other help to build gear sets, those def/vit numbers are pretty hard to get.

[Tman]

I hate to get sucked in, but please Ace, read your own quote here,

with this build I can, and have taken 3, 100-tonz in a row, SS combined with devine veild took all but 300 some hp off the first swing, ageious boon completly healed and negated the second swing, this gave me enough time to cast stone skin once more and throw up sentinal, combined I took 0 damage

Sure the Defense and Vit numbers look pretty, but you realize for all those stats you're still using cooldowns given to the average Joe Pld? The massive hp that some use (myself included) is to keep from getting 1shot by just about anything in game. It also increases enmity through Spirit's Within, and is just more useful all around for a pld tank, be it a turtle tank or not. I have nearly the same mitigation as you just suggested in your post, and yet I have roughly 70 less defense and 30 less vit. In the grand scheme of things, for all the melds and stat stacking you do, you don't have very much more than I, however I have 1500 hp more. This huge hp allows 1 to be lazy, for I can "super" tank anything in game.

[Aceofspades]

I hate to get sucked in, but please Ace, read your own quote here,

Sure the Defense and Vit numbers look pretty, but you realize for all those stats you're still using cooldowns given to the average Joe Pld? The massive hp that some use (myself included) is to keep from getting 1shot by just about anything in game. It also increases enmity through Spirit's Within, and is just more useful all around for a pld tank, be it a turtle tank or not. I have nearly the same mitigation as you just suggested in your post, and yet I have roughly 70 less defense and 30 less vit. In the grand scheme of things, for all the melds and stat stacking you do, you don't have very much more than I, however I have 1500 hp more. This huge hp allows 1 to be lazy, for I can "super" tank anything in game.

curious then, what your materia build is? i have double on all but the shield and triple on the shield, enless your adding 3 materias or more to your gear your claims are unlikely. But I will not say it is not true as far as your claim for hp being MORE usefull all around that is simply un true, even Primals do more physical damage then magical , outside of primals dev/vit is certainly the clear winner, soo again, Even though I can respect your opinion, I strongly disagree, If we were on the same server I am down for any challange put forth if anyone wanted to challange my claims. Other then that we will simply have to agree to disagree. oh and btw, 1500 hp is only and advantage untill the first 1500 damage taken, after that it is simply add HP that your WHM has to keep up with , and have a harder time doing soo, You claim you can take the same numbers as me, Again, I am up to any challange, I honestly and seriously doubt your claim's validity

[Tman]

We are on the same server Ace so by all means hit me up. That being said i'll move from the forums to /t in game so as not to muddy up this page. And also to sate your curiosity, I am fully tripled on everything save the pants (double IV and I didn't do them) as well as single gauntlets since they keep blowing up >.<

[GreyJorildyn]

...with this build I can, and have taken 3, 100-tonz in a row, ...

Doing it wrong then.

Why do you still post here >.>

[Kitfox]

On a slight tanget relating to last page, didn't HP+ gained from materia used to have a cap of 250 or so? Have they removed this or do I simply remember wrong / info was incorrect?

[SwordCoheir]

curious then, what your materia build is? i have double on all but the shield and triple on the shield, enless your adding 3 materias or more to your gear your claims are unlikely. But I will not say it is not true as far as your claim for hp being MORE usefull all around that is simply un true, even Primals do more physical damage then magical , outside of primals dev/vit is certainly the clear winner, soo again, Even though I can respect your opinion, I strongly disagree, If we were on the same server I am down for any challange put forth if anyone wanted to challange my claims. Other then that we will simply have to agree to disagree. oh and btw, 1500 hp is only and advantage untill the first 1500 damage taken, after that it is simply add HP that your WHM has to keep up with , and have a harder time doing soo, You claim you can take the same numbers as me, Again, I am up to any challange, I honestly and seriously doubt your claim's validity

Not all that surprising or hard to do really, you can put HP more or less on any piece of meldable gear but can only stack VIT on Body, Swords, and Legs, and Def on Body and Shield. It make's it alot harder to try and compete against the flexibility of HP with restricted armor limits, and even more of a pain when they continue to add more types of materia on armor pieces that already has too many choices to begin with.

[Tman]

On a slight tanget relating to last page, didn't HP+ gained from materia used to have a cap of 250 or so? Have they removed this or do I simply remember wrong / info was incorrect?

You're not the first I've seen that has made this comment before, many have asked me the same thing. All I can say is if it's true then that's per piece. I try to shoot for 150-170 hp in melds and have gained all the hp from all of my melds.

[Aceofspades]

Doing it wrong then.

Why do you still post here >.>

I tank up there for two reasons.

1) considering the fact that server lag is still an issue , even if I see my chr standing next to the party (behind coin counter) long before 100 tonze , ocasionally it will still hit me, wich means coin counter will NOT fall on his ass , instead will begin to turn twards me and the rest of the party in wich case he can proc any of his aoes and wipe the rest of the party. Until latiency is fixed this will happen , soo IF you can get away with posting up with little dificulty , Personaly, I sugest doing so.

2) there is no stratigic advantage in running from 100 tonze other then it helps tanks who are not built well, to survive. Sense I do not have this issue, I simply stand there and tank ol school style and it seems to work just fine. IN FACT, when compaired to lesser equiped tanks who DO run from 100 tonze (usualy WAR tanks) I tank far less damage in the entire fight by posting up and focusing on timing buffs well vs spam moves, and be ready to run / hope you dont get in animation lock durring 100 tonze .

As far as why do I keep posting here, simple answer, because ignorant people like yourself continue to post ignorant "facts" wich are self imposed and not backed by any real comparison or indepth testing. Please make note, I called you ignorant , not stupid. If you were incapable of learning you would be stupid, your just unwilling wich makes you ignorant. No amount of BS propaganda will deminish the fact that DEF and VIT is and always has been far more usefull in terms of tanking, then its HP counter part.