Leveling PLD

Hello,

Sam80 around the corner, it's nearly time to level pld. I have a few questions for you. Mainly should I go sword or great sword to get me to 80.

My item sets will look like this...

PLD sword TP - http://www.ffxiah.com/item_sets.php?id=165756
PLD sword WS - http://www.ffxiah.com/item_sets.php?id=165758
PLD gsword TP - http://www.ffxiah.com/item_sets.php?id=165831
PLD gsword WS - http://www.ffxiah.com/item_sets.php?id=165832

A couple of things to note.

I don't have attonment :( I missed the time period where everyone was getting thier key and now nobody wants to run 1-100 with me :(

Thus why pld sword ws is setup for vorpal blade.

Also, gsword is setup for /sam 7-hit with unlocked Subduder (i believe i have the correct amount of STP).

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,

You can do Nyzul up to floor 100 with 3 people, probably even 2 now with the LV80 recap.

As far as GS goes, it's still not worth using unless I'm largely mistaken. Even though your WSs will do more damage than Vorpal Blade on average, you do a lot more Vorpal Blades in that time span, and then Joyeuse is still better for tanking because you can use a shield. Which provides you with even more TP.

GS is not worth using unless you have 8/8 Merits, PLDs skill is so low that you will be whiffing most of your hits even with Pizza.

Also Vorpal Blade is Crap compared to Spinning Slash , I did PLD/SAM leveling to 80 and i was averaging 700-900 Spinning Slash occassionally breaking 1k. It is a very powerful Weaponskill if you have the Merits to back it up and make up for the lack of skill. Spinning Slash is Prebuffed with a ACC and Attack bonus which is why it can still land strong and consistant Dmg even on PLD.

My personal opinion if you have 8/8 GS merits use GS, if not stick to sword.

Also if you know how to XP in Moblin Maze Mongers its incredible XP for a PLD 22k+ an hour with a good group~

Use joytoy/justice sword. Greatsword will be less in melee damage by a lot. Vorpal blade is decent if you're properly buffed/geared. You have to understand that you wont achive the PDIF cap on pld very easily without significant buffs so thats why vorpal doesn't hit as hard as rampage(a simliar ws). I'm fairly sure if you're probably geared you could beat most DDs these days(cause most people who play this game are idiots now).

All due respect, and I know this doesn't help your question at all, but pretty much don't bother taking Pld to 80 without atonement.

Just looked at your Setup with Subduer again... with your gear set your stuck at a 8-hit Build... making GS even more not worth using. You need 1 more Store TP to 7-hit your weapon, with either the use of Attila's Earring or Chiv Chain.

Also I completley disagree w/ Excelior with merits and proper gear to back it up GS should wipe the floor with justice/joy if you sub /sam. Hasso and Meditate are not things to be disregarded.

Personally I used Algol for a 6-hit, and I cant see justice/joy comparing to it in any way for the same reason WARs using maneater/ridill is gimp compared to using a GA. Subduer is a very strong GS with High DPS aswell.

Hai, i'm 80 pld without atonement

Just because a PLD doesnt have atonement doesnt mean they shouldnt level the job. There are alot of situations where you dont melee and have to hold hate making Atonement invalid, Ixion and Tiamat are two examples.

I also don't have atonement, which i plan to remedy once i hit 80 to play around in nyzul a bit, but you can lvl the job just fine without it. I don't see a problem with it at all.

/wave herro.. not quite 80 but i dare say i WILL be 80 without it

its not the most important thing youll ever have as a pld.. so dont worry too much about it.

ive seen many an atonement pld fail badly because they relied upon it and ive seen many many non-atonement pld who are excellent at the role

Atonement shines in HNM or in long fights, in situations where mobs are dying fast a PLD is useless and your not going to build enough hate for atonement to be a valid hate tool.

Alex theres more to the game than xp parties D;

You want atonement if you plan to PLD alot endgame thats all Altar was trying to say, but no its not a necessity. You find out who the real PLD are when you can hold hate without having to Melee.

BUT this is a topic on leveling PLD 75+ not holding hate~

meh way to many people to reply to.

You wont be using atonement in a xp party anyway, mobs die to fast, you wont be using pld to merit once its 80 so xping is just to get the BEST out of the job , the fact there is so many "paladins" defending the lack of atonement is staggering. Atonement will do more for you as a pld (The allaince tank, hnm salvage w/e your endgame consists of it doesnt matter) then 5 levels, stop exping and get it done asap, this also goes for all the gimps defending the lack of it. If you refuse to do the work and want to be lazy then do all of the proud paladins out there a favor and stop making us look bad, theres enough blueberry plds in campaign for that already.

Atonement is on the to-do list, I have a Brave Blade now but only at floor 20 but i'm in a static and we're getting there.

As for the comment itself, nope Atonement isn't neccessary, Spirits Within will suffice most of the time, it won't beat Atonement for hate of course but it's still a good WS none the less.

A huge problem you seem to have overlooked is this:

Who was the last PLD you invited to a Nyzul run? PLD was my first 75 and until I leveled RDM there was not getting into Nyzul runs then once I had RDM actually finding people to do the non-boss floors and actually succeeding was the next huge stumbling block.

Atonement isn't as game breaking as you're making it sound.

/facepalm

Quote thing is broke o.O

But yes Atonement compeletley changes how you Play PLD once you get it.

Some people dont understand pld. geez

Care to elaborate? What the hell do you want me to say? I don't have atonement so i'd better not use my TP at all? If you want honesty i'll tell you my TP right now always gets saved to 300% and I either use Spirits Within or Chivalry, depending on the situation.

Yes I want Atonement but i'm not gonna stop playing PLD just because I don't have it.

Why am I even responding to a troll?

What I want you to say? how about stop giving out advice on a job you have no clue about. gimp sub, no atonement? If you want something then get it, atonement has been how how long? and you STILL dont have it, good job on getting to 80 though (do you even have war at 40? /rdm at all?) Set your priorities straight man. And yes you should stop playing pld till you get it, at least the rest of your alliance might respect that then letting you leech off w/e there doing.

Fact is if your 75 w/o atonement XP is the last of your worries. And anyone who says otherwise including the mass of fail in this thread trying to defend this BS is a moron.
Stop being lazy and get it done, QQing cause " no one" will take a pld to nyzle is complete BS. But leaving a pld out for a mission/hnm. W/e the hell else there is besides XP for not having atonement is not.

Grammar Check.

You can level PLD and work on Nyzul at the same time.

If your going to pull the grammar nazi then you better be 100% yourself. I could care less myself but don't be that "douche" that calls out others when they cant spell either.

You're a joke, i'm a damn good PLD and I know it so i'd like to quote a few things for you.
They just rose the level cap and I have a gimp sub, I don't really care, it'll get done but all 3 levels for nin would do is get me a little more HP and the Ni elemental wheel (how many PLDs you seen use that?)
last time I checked /war is pretty obselete at endgame, still use it in dynamis and yes it's gimp as well but at the risk of sounding like a broken record it'll get done and /war40 would only give me a bit more HP. As for RDM, mentioned earlier that I had it at 75 so, F U.
Also mentioned already i'm in a static now and progressing up the floors, how is it lazy when I leveled RDM just so I could get easier Nyzul invites?

You seem to think i'm saying, "lol atonement I don't need it" even though i'm currently trying to get it and you know what, argue with me all you want but Atonement isn't needed but then it's a very good WS to have, once at a good hate level it's possible to do 750 dmg in 100% TP, yeah that beats the hell out of my Spirits Within and I know that.

Considering I can barley read 90% of your sentence...

Anyways do you even have HNM experience? There are a lot of HNM you don't engage. Ixion Tiamat Lambton Worm making Atonement invalid.

You ranting and screaming like an idiot YOU CANT LEVEL PLD OMG YOU DONT HAVE ATONEMENT YOUR GIMP OMG OMG OMG, your just making yourself look like a retard.

Its a game people can do whatever the hell they want, id love to see you tank something where you cannot engage and use atonement, just means you rely to much on it and have no clue about how hate actually works.

Also /WAR sub is pointless, if you really care about Damage mitigation you should /BLU. /RDM is dead PLD can Self Phalanx now, and /WHM gives higher MDB.

Atonement adds a new dimension to the PLD's game, and every PLD should strive for it, but a PLD without Atonement isn't exactly useless.

Last I checked, it's still a common practice to have SAM/THF's drop TA+WS on the PLD when fighting harder stuff. Atonement can really improve enmity building, but when a couple of DD/THF's are doing their part, damage mitigation (i.e. don't get killed) is more important for the PLD than upping the enmity more or doing damage, and Atonement does nothing for reducing the damage taken.

Yes, the survival of the PLD is more important. Why? Because a DD like SAM can't really tank, say, Byakko or Seiryu very well. I know because I tried--or, rather, Seiryu tried it on my SAM75 after the PLDs died. (Fang Rush hurts, by the way.)

* * *

Unless you're desperate for melee damage output, I don't see any reason for PLD/SAM. Since the OP has SAM at Lv.80, he shouldn't be hurting for DD output when that's what is needed.

Forget the great sword.

If you can play pld without atonement and still hold hate you're probably more skilled than 99.9% of the plds on thsi game. That ***has become a serious crutch. I understand it is a useful DD tool for low manning ***but jesus people learn how to use MP properly.

Tidis you need to work on your gearsets though, I'm sure you're a good pld but there's nothing in what's on your ffxiah profile that resembles a logical gearset for any particular action. It looks like you're curing, idleing, and using spirits within all in the same gearset.

As for subjobs /rdm is pretty much dead now. There are no hate tools, PLD now has phalanx normally, and /whm has higher magic defense bonus. Alternately if you want hate tools you can /drk for stun spam.

Moblin Maze Mongers XP, Do it up.

I haven't really updated my gearsets in a while, did a few for a laugh a while ago and then just left them