Mithran PLD...Can it be done? o.o

[Larxene]

I was playing today and thought about trying my hand at PLD. Recalling past arguments with a buddy of mine, I began to question my decision. She had stated that Mithras as PLD can be horrible and considerbly weak. The explaination she gave was that Mithras have very little VIT and HP. Intrigued by this, I decided to consult the Mithra masters. Can Mithra PLD be done or am I foolish for thinking so?

[Ambrey]

Any job can be done. If you like playing the job, then play it. Doesn't matter what race you are.

[Kintrra]

LOL, call your friend an idjit and slap him.

Mithra PLD is quite manageable. Only thing you have to watch out for is that, yes, we are low on VIT. However, we make up for it in the fact that we avoid (PLD evasion is infamous for not existing) more hits than other PLDs, and we naturally shield and parry more than other races, due to our extra AGI. While these give us an edge in those areas, the lack of natural VIT means that we also take slightly more damage than our Hume counterparts, and considerably less than say an Elvaan or Galka PLD. However, what we lack in natural STR (contrary to popular belief, PLD do deal out a little bit of damage, and it does help hold hate) and natural VIT, we make up for with a larger MP pool than any other race save Tarutaru.

The ONLY place I'm aware of where we're at a severely distinct disadvantage, is against HNMs and Gods. That's where our HP disadvantage does kinda bite us in the ass.

Is it doable? Hell yes. I'm living proof of that. And I even leveled before the recent shield patch. But certain situations will require you to adapt in a different way from other PLDs as well. Just keep that in mind, and you can do fine. ^^




Any other questions?

[Kistala]

OF COURSE a Mithra can be a Paladin!

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

An illustration:

About 15 - 20 seconds after the first Provoke, a PLD will want to use a big Cure to hold hate. EVERY Mithra PLD I know complains that she has not lost enough HPs by then to really need the full effects of that Cure.

One of my characters is an Elvaan PLD. She has never had that problem.

In this age of the Blink Tank, people seem to believe that the job of the tank is to avoid damage. NOT SO. The job of the tank is to hold hate. When you get hit, you loose hate. Mithra evade and parry more often than most. When you connect with the mob you gain hate. Mithra hit more often than most.

If you look at PLD equipment guides you will discover that after VIT the stat they load up on is AGI, mostly for parrying and shield. The stats we are low on are VIT, STR, MND, and CHR. The stats we are high on are DEX and AGI. We gain more than we lose even if CHR and MND were important.

At L 20 compared to a Hume, a Mithra PLD/WAR has -1 STR, +5 DEX, -1 VIT, +3 AGI, -1 MND, and -3 lolCHR. That's +8 vs. -5, and 3 of that -5 is in a useless stat. (This stat generator) http://www.datasync.com/~dsmith/FFXIStats/

If you get Power Sandals at 18 you will be +3 VIT ahead of 90% of the PLDs out there. You get them by not completing a quest. Check them out here: http://ffxi.somepage.com/itemdb/4458

[Larxene]

Well...Kintrra's pic settled it As to your reply, Tsybil, i'm glad smart people like you exsist. Funny thing to state, though, my friend based her reasons off of a HNM/God run, so there's the source of it. Anyways, I thank all of you for teaching the ignorant (Me XD) and hopefully I'll make it as pld.

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

.... hopefully I'll make it as pld.

Of courrrse you will Larxene. We kitties can do anything.

[Okuza]

One of the best PLD I know is a Mithra. It's more a matter of what the player puts into the job rather than what the character race brings. HP&VIT being so important to a non-blink tank, Galka & Elvaan are naturally first choices if all you care about is playing PLD.

Code: Select all

        	   HP 	 MP	STR	DEX	VIT	AGI	INT	MND	CHA
L75 Mithra: 1221 	327 	69 	70 	68 	61 	52 	61 	59
L75 Elvaan: 1327 	266 	77 	59 	74 	50 	46 	69 	65
 L75 Galka: 1433 	188 	75 	62 	79 	53 	49 	64    59
  L75 Hume: 1221 	327 	72 	62 	71 	56 	52 	64 	65
  L75 Taru: 1055 	495 	66 	62 	68 	59 	60 	61 	65

Mithra and hume are effectively identical as PLD. If you want to really focus on HNM PLD to the exclusion of all else, you should play Galka. 'Course you'll have a really hard time getting enough MP to XP a Galka PLD, but once you get to God level, you'll have a much easier time getting VIT over 100. That's really about all the difference is, though -- how easy it is to gear up for the task at hand. Hume, Mithra, & Taru have it easier gearing PLD for XP'ing, for instance. MP is a lot more important for long chains there.

Note on MP: don't light a taru on fire. MP is inflamable. The resulting explosion can take out a city block.

[Darkmattre]

An illustration:

About 15 - 20 seconds after the first Provoke, a PLD will want to use a big Cure to hold hate. EVERY Mithra PLD I know complains that she has not lost enough HPs by then to really need the full effects of that Cure.

its funny that you say that. One of my favorite tactics is to voke and wait to get hit to flash and cure bomb(cure3 is the highest I have so far 51pld)... but more often than not I'm just sitting there, looking at my hp not move, b/c i'm shield blocking, parrying, or evading hits. I find myself flashing and using a lesser cure because I'm tired of waiting for the cure bomb, lol.

[Eviticus]

My own paltry experince doesn't add up to much, but here goes.

I've become the master of casting spells between mob swings. Soloing as Drg, that's the only way to survive. There fore I have no problems casting spells that are not my highest near continuously. Instead of cure bombing I would use whatever my highest effective cure was whenever I needed it, which was usually the spell below my highest.

I tend to calculate MP versus HP Gained and find out which is the best spell to use. Chances are unless it's very close to the soft cap, or above, most cure spells are not your most effeciant. In Garlaige I found myself using Cure 2 alot, and irking some very bored whm's.

Mithra Pld is fun, in exp at least. Tanking VT-IT is easier then you'd think with capped Sword, Sheild, Parry, and Evasion....and a high Agi to make the last 3 worth a damn. ^.^

[Kintrra]

If anyone every tells you that AGI doesn't help with Parrying, tell them to bite your fuzzy rear. Fighting Cerberus the other nigth as PLD/NIN I had Parry (mine's capped + 1 merit, maxing it at 227) proc'ing like...1/6 shots or so I'd say. Mind you, that's ballpark figure, judging from what I saw, but hey, it's better than my evasion rate for the most part as PLD! <_<;; So yeah, anywho. ^^;

[jackal]

Old topic, i know, but PLD is a really fun job so the subject caught my eye. Some really great paladins are mithra, and the racial differences won't make much difference except in the case of stuff like surviving citadel buster. Even that's not so tough with proper support and preparation though.

It should go without saying, but mithra are also the sexiest paladins... and everything else really

[Shirai]

Can you specify a bit of the gear there?

I spot:
Bahamut's mask
Hydra Haubert
3/5 Homam.
I just can't figure out your sword and shield from that angle.

[Ryuune]

Excal and Aegis.

[Shirai]

Excal and Aegis.

That's what I thought, just wasn't sure.
I spot a datswap?

If not, Aegis + Shell V with 3 merits in should already be a t the magical damage taken cap for the CB damage from proto - Ultima

Add in some gear that gives magic defense bonus, dream shroud and Cure V from a whm with a lot of MND, Korin Obi and Afflatus Solace on should be able to reduce CB damage to a mere 3~400 regardless of race.

Without Aegis replace Weapon for Iron Ram lance and the other Iron Ram pieces.

I am not sure if fealty has any effect.

[Ryuune]

Shouldn't be too hard to survive a CB with the gear that is reasonable to get now. Managed to survive 2 of them the other day before the 3rd killed me.

[jackal]

Yes, they're .dat swaps My actual gear is nowhere near that level. Only one hydra haubert that i'm aware of has dropped on the server, and my HNM leader has it.

For a more realistic citadel buster set, this is what i'm going for. I'm getting closer and closer, just need to HQ a couple coral pieces and then i'll be able to trade some slots for iron ram gear. Getting assault breastplate would let you drop the merman earring for intruder. With the set listed below you end up taking the hit for i think 877. The CB set itself gives 272 HP, so the final loss from max HP after taking the set off would be 600 (plus whatever HP gear you normally wear) Add in phalanx/stoneskin from outside buffers and it's even more manageable.

Main: I.R. Lance (MDR 10% HP+10)
Sub: Axe Grip (HP+20) (or shark strap HP+10 enmity+3)
Range: Lamian Kaman+1 (MDB+2)
Head: I.R. Sallet (MDB+3 HP+20 enmity+5)
Neck: Tempered Chain (HP+20)
Ear1: Cassie Earring (HP+50)
Ear2: Merman's Earring (MDR 2%)
Body: Coral Scale Mail +1 (MDR 4%)
Hands: I.R. Dastanas (MDB+2 HP+20 enmity+4)
Ring1: BQR (HP+75)
Ring2: Merman's Ring (MDR 4%)
Back: Resentment Cape (MDR 5% enmity+2)
Waist: Resolute Belt (MDB+2)
Legs: I.R. Hose (MDB+4 HP+28 enmity+4)
Feet: I.R. Greaves (MDB+3 HP+19 enmity+3)

I think i'd put the set on, then swap body, ear2, ring2, and waist for enmity stuff i already have. Then i'd cure to full (with i think it totals up to enmity+29 from gear) before swapping out the body/ear/ring/waist for MDB items in the CB set.

My limbus shell has a DRK smack ultima with a kraken as soon as the countdown starts, so taking multiple shots is less an issue

[Shirai]

My limbus shell has a DRK smack ultima with a kraken as soon as the countdown starts, so taking multiple shots is less an issue

We work the same way, takes off a good 7~11% before Citadel Buster.
Buster #1 DRK bites it
Buster #2 Next Zerg DD 2 hours (usually the drk passing the club to the next drk if they don't have a riddill or Mkriss)
Buster #3 usually Ultima is down before that happens.

But always nice to have an mDEF PLD ready.

[jackal]

Well yeah, gotta hold the beast steady while your DRKs take time getting buffed and ready to kamikaze

Sadly i don't get to PLD in limbus. Our shell (and server, for that matter) seems overrun with paladins. You pretty much have to get into a shell as it's forming and establish yourself as a main tank if you want to come anything PLD.

[Niikai]

hey i recently started pld as a mithra. and in the low levels it sucks... this comming from a drk who spent as much time mpking pld's on ragnarok as he could.... i've become a pld... so my question is what stats should i focus on and what should i just neglect? i know that +def. and VIT are a must. but str, dex, agi,mnd,int, acc, evasion? what about the other stuff? as a drk i know acc,str, and dex are ur friends till 60 then its acc, str and mnd (if u go down the guillotine path) i know at higher levels +haste% will be a must and all that good stuff we dont get to a lil higher level. but what in basic should a low level pld focus on? and what should i neglect i seen shell sheilds with like +2vit and -6agi... i remember leveling drk -agi ment getting hit alot... so im trying to figure pld out.... *pulls an unsespecting kitty pld into the closet and kills her* bloodlust ftw!

-god of death yamasi-

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

Till 50ish its VIT and DEF. If MND or MPs come with the VIT and DEF that's gravy. Your RSE hands will last till AF. So will the Kampf feet.

You start getting out of turtle mode and into DD PLDing with the Life Belt. After 50 start going heavily toward DDing. Many PLDs wear Haubys today. In general your AF, a Hauby, and an assortment of DD and turtle gear.

You are trying to hold hate against the modern 2 handed weapon users. Before the SAM and 2 hander buffs PLDs had an easy time holding hate and some NINs could without a THF. Today you have to hit the mobs hard to maintain hate.

There are lots of fun macro pieces for PLDs.

Must haves: Kampf, everything but hands. Life Belt. Sniper's or Woodsman's Ring, maybe both, maybe an Unyielding Ring. AF. Parade Gorget. And my PLDing knowledge stops in the 50s.