[justalfo]

After 5~6 years Im finally doing sky. Im the main pld for the shell and the only one that has /nin leveled. SO I have questions on gear. I see some ppl say use DD gear and others use Enmity or Defense blah blah. I cant make sense of it. Currently this is what I use.



Yea thats a shield torque and a Sipar for shield.( I have a koenig just using that cause it like blocks 98% of the time apparently and I never get interupted when casting utsusemi and or spells.)

Thats my basic set when just engaged.


This is my haste build for flash utsusemi etc



I know I need a swift belt, I also use a lamian kamian bow or whatever.


I just want to know should my standard set be a haubergeon and a dd kinda build? and if so what would be a good one.

Oh I also know I need homam.

guess im just wondering what I should be wearing at what time lol

Thanks in advance.

[Saxonian]

( I have a koenig just using that cause it like blocks 98% of the time apparently and I never get interupted when casting utsusemi and or spells.)

lol.
Don't use jelly ring.
Count your shadows and dont rely on your shield.
Use koenig cos if shit hits the fan it'll mitigate more dmg.
Harmonia Torque, Blitz Ring/Mermaid Ring/Sattva Ring and Loq/Hades Earring for Flash.
And look at the Post pictures of your Pld thread and make educated guesses as to what you need to use.

[Hitoseijuro]

This is my haste build for flash utsusemi etc



I know I need a swift belt, I also use a lamian kamian bow or whatever.


I just want to know should my standard set be a haubergeon and a dd kinda build? and if so what would be a good one.

Oh I also know I need homam.

guess im just wondering what I should be wearing at what time lol

Thanks in advance.

This should be your idle gear, swap out the rings for more useful rings while you swing that joytoy. Im hoping you got enmity+fast cast for that body piece, if so go with hauby while you swing that sword.

Parade gorget + acc neck piece until your shadows drop, then pop a shield torque

koenig shield always, because the damage it reduces is better, while it adds 3enmity always to your actions.

If you can, while you wait for homam gear, see if you can get askar legs, those would be best til you got homam, as I see you can do nyzul just fine.

Honestly, the 10mp on kamian bow is doing more for you than the 4vit on the bikishell.

Your earrings could use some work, earrings are probably always going to offer the least boost upgrade so do what you can. Loq/ethereal/Hosp(cures) are good to acquire if you can. A hades being a luxury item.

Basically just toss haste/acc/refresh into your build, swap in haste(til you cap recast) + enmity on spells, enmity on JAs, -damage taken/shield skill gear while your shadows are down. Try to balance haste/shield skill/damage taken gear during ichi w/o gimping your recasts cap/timers. I go full haste on Ni(as I do with ichi, as i have exp with blinking my shadows and timing it).

[Deemos]

. I go full haste on Ni(as I do with ichi, as i have exp with blinking my shadows and timing it).

Do you think full haste on ichi is really better than shield 310+? (feet, head mainly, loss of 8 haste and gain of 17 shield skill)
I was thinking the same the other day, to put full haste even on ichi. But not sure...

[FurionStormRage]

Do you think full haste on ichi is really better than shield 310+? (feet, head mainly, loss of 8 haste and gain of 17 shield skill)
I was thinking the same the other day, to put full haste even on ichi. But not sure...

I cast Ichi in full Shield/Fast Cast gear, then just before it finishes I swap back to Haste gear to maximize the recast from my Haste.

[Hitoseijuro]

Do you think full haste on ichi is really better than shield 310+? (feet, head mainly, loss of 8 haste and gain of 17 shield skill)
I was thinking the same the other day, to put full haste even on ichi. But not sure...

It really depends on the mob you fight, all varies really. For me I try to keep it full haste as much as the mob limits me to. The reason is not only does that keep my recast capped, even if its only 3 secs different, but you get more out of your DD build. The more you swap gears left and right for all actions, the less you get from it. After the first 4-5 mins of the fight, your idle build will shine a bit more as youll be at capped hate hopefully and all you have to do is maintain it as high as possible with flash,atonement and an occasional curecheat. Now while this is being done youll be casting ni and ichi a lot so being able to do it with full haste should help.

Also with elegy, and marches, being able to ichi ichi isnt hard, or even ni to ichi as you can always blink the last shadow. Granted khim,cerb,tia(if you dont mind tping her) can make it annoying to do with their DAs, and tia's counters. If you have merits though, you should still be able to do ichi with 300 shield skill and full haste. I dont know how much ~15 more skill will bump you up on block%.


Also what Furionstorm said works too if you dont mind extra macros. I do that aswell if I dont think Ill make it before getting hit. I have an ichi macro, macros all my key haste with neck/back being shield gear, and I have a all shield skill macro I macro in for when shadows are down or I might get interrupted. Then I have my idle build with all my haste and etc. I go ichi > idle, but with some mobs, I might just go ichi > shield> Idle, all within the ichi casting stages so I get the shield benefit and right before its done I get the haste benefit.

what can I say, I enjoy pushing more out of my pld even if its only a 1% increase in performance.

[FurionStormRage]

what can I say, I enjoy pushing more out of my pld even if its only a 1% increase in performance.

Wish more PLDs had this mindset, or at least would stop trying to defend themselves if they're gonna be lazy.

[Corrderio]

I'm lazy, but I admit it. :{

[GraddHelian]

Im posting this for one reason and thats from reading the words "Count your shadows and dont rely on your shield."

A PLD that doesnt know how valuable his shield skill is, is not a PLD at all and should seriously reconsider the job. Please dont tell me your a blue berry adaman feet PLD? That has no clue how valuable his AF boots are, and wastes gil on shitty boots when he has FREE boots that are second to only their HQ version.

I really liked what Hito had to say aswell Props to you man.

Anyways back to the serious matter. Posting a pic of my different setups for my PLD that I use to tank in sky.


TP>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ichi >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ni

My first set is my "Idle" TP build set I use when shadows are up, mostly haste and ACC gear to build up tp using Joyeuse for Atonement spam, if you dont have Atonement yet your better off using Chainsaw +1... dont kid yourself your not a DD and you'll be hitting for 0's constantly on gods and that +4 Enmity highly outdoes any dmg you can do with vorpal or swift blade.

My second set is my Ichi recast build and I cant STRESS how IMPORTANT your shield skill is for Ichi, if you dont have your shield capped do everything in your power to try and cap it, if you dont have shield merrits get them. I WHORE out shield for ichi, I have a total of 321 Shield skill for my Ichi Recast, speaking with a few aegis PLD theoretically if you can hit 350 shield skill youd be on par with Aegis. The reason being you will run into situations (Byakko's tripple attack) or (Seiryu can use his breathe, silence you then double attack wiping your shadows and ni could be down, leaving you only with Ichi) where your recast timer for Utsu:Ni is down and the only thing you can cast is Ichi, There is only one thing that CAN and WILL get your shadows back up and that is your shield. Throw on as much shield skill as you can and then haste on the spots that you wont sacrifice shield for. With Haste and Double march your timers will still be efficient enough for recast, I sit on 10% haste for Ichi recast, Askar Manopolas 2% (Dusk would be better 3%, im working on Homam), Homam Cosciales 3%, Swift Belt 4%, and Blitz Ring 1%, if you dont have homam pants you can use PLD relic legs aswell the 10% intterruption rate is nice and will help you get your shadows back up. Fast Cast gear is also nice to have it will make ichi go by alot faster and help get your recast down aswell, and probably makes up for the lack of haste with all the shield gear you are using. I sit on 14% Fast cast and my ichi timer flies like crazy.

I use champion's gallea with +5 Shield and +3 Fast Cast for Ichi recast, alot of good PLD will use Koenig helm I made my augmented head as an upgrade to that, if your the main tank in your LS Get Martial Head right away, Koenig helm is one the the BEST pieces of gear a PLD can have, the +5 shield from that helm is godly not to mention the defense and VIT that comes with it. Also your AF boots are complete win they are the BEST feet a PLD can use, only thing better are AF+1 boots which you get from limbus. Homam are nice but only for TP and casting Utsu: Ni, if you can get askar those are good for TP or Kiting, but homam are still better for TP.

Examples of good Shield Gear: 10 Gallant Leggings, 12 Gallant Leggings +1, 5 Koenig Schaeller, 7 Shield Torque, 3 Buckler Earring, 10 Boxer's Mantle (Has Parry with it as well), 5 Knight's Earring

Finally my third Set is for Utsusemi: Ni you want to whore out as much haste gear as possible, as you know Ni flies by and yes it can be interrupted but the chances of that happening are alot less than Ichi, a good PLD should be sitting on 15% haste for Ni... your using Dusk hands and feet thats good until homam, just try to get yourself a swift belt as soon as you can it will help out alot, you can get a blitz ring too to add another 1% of haste, thats not really a necessity though.

You dont want to use your Jelly ring tanking gods either... they have enspells with their attacks which will hurt you hardcore with that +5% magic damage taken, also im going to have to Disagree with Hito even though I liked what he had to say, dont use Hauby... your not a DD stick to your Nuevo body for TP its a good piece of gear, I use Avalon to Build TP (I assume Hito does too looking at his Signature?) but its not a necessary piece of equipment, that is up to you if you wanna spend 8mil on a body just for ACC, I like the +15 ACC for atonement build.

Check this Link out on Wiki Thycian PLD/NIN Guide this guys got a good PLD/NIN guide and alot of different pieces of gear that explains how they can help you out, it should give you a good idea.

Or if you have any questions on what I said feel free to ask or send me a PM ill be happy to help out.

-Gradd

[JackalTheManCat]

My only correction to the above is that fast cast gear will not help "a lot" in the same way that upgrading from dusk feet to homam will not help "a lot." It's a marginal upgrade. The value is in making many improvements so that the small boosts in performance add up.

Most fast cast gear PLD can use is 1-2% fast cast, and while you do get some recast reduction from it, the effect is equivalent to half (i think?) of the cast time reduction value in haste. I'm not saying reducing your ichi cast time by 3% isn't useful, but saving 0.12 seconds doesn't qualify as "a lot."

[Saxonian]

GraddHelian, on 08 September 2009 - 06:12 AM, said:

Im posting this for one reason and thats from reading the words "Count your shadows and dont rely on your shield."

So you're saying don't count shadows, and when your shadows are down and Ni isn't up time Ichi inbetween attack rounds? k enjoy bleeding away hate on things that you may not be able to have elegy on fulltime, wasting vast amounts of mage mp or not being able to solotank anything outside of sky/sea.

(Ps. I have 321skill and when Nidd wings when both utsu timers are down and my shield doesn't proc 5 times in a row w/ Reprisal up then I tend to avoid RELYing on my shield, I never said it wasn't a nice backup when the shit hits the fan.)

[Saxonian]

Also lol at your Kupo head.
Shoulda got 5 fast cast, put that in at start of cast and swap to mhead.

[GraddHelian]

Saxonian, on 08 September 2009 - 11:37 AM, said:

So you're saying don't count shadows, and when your shadows are down and Ni isn't up time Ichi inbetween attack rounds? k enjoy bleeding away hate on things that you may not be able to have elegy on fulltime, wasting vast amounts of mage mp or not being able to solotank anything outside of sky/sea.

(Ps. I have 321skill and when Nidd wings when both utsu timers are down and my shield doesn't proc 5 times in a row w/ Reprisal up then I tend to avoid RELYing on my shield, I never said it wasn't a nice backup when the shit hits the fan.)

I never said dont count your shadows, PLD/NIN is all about counting shadows and not getting hit, but even the best PLD will still get hit or why have Mages there to heal you? And cant say youve never run into situations where your Ni shadows were suddenly wiped completley and the only thing you have left to cast is Ichi, your shield will get your shadows back up during Ichi recast.

Thanks for Lol'ing at my Helm btw, I like my helm, 3 Fast cast is more than the 0 that most people have and I have a chance to counter, which yes I understand the chance of countering is most likley less than 1% but ive had it happend, and when you counter that means you take 0 Dmg.

I still Use Koenig Helm when both shadows are down too

I just dont like seeing "Dont rely on your shield" its your most valuable skill you have as a PLD. My shield works fine maybe yours hates you or something? Especially if it wont proc during Reprisal...

[Saxonian]

I never said don't use it. But I'd rather just time shit right and not have to use it.

[FurionStormRage]

There's no reason not to use a DD Setup on most mobs if you don't have Atonement. Chivalry alone is reason to get TP, not even mentioning tossing out a few Spirits Within. +4 Enmity doesn't mean ANYTHING if you understand the game mechanics.

I've parsed 13% on a 23-minute Proto-Ultima, main-tanking as PLD/NIN, using a DD setup and Spirits Within, and that was using one Chivalry and lighting one Spirits into a Shield for 0 damage. Obviously Atonement is way better, but it doesn't mean that just because you haven't gotten it yet, that you shouldn't DD tank as much as you can.


Macro in Fast Cast and Shield Skill to start Ichi, put all your Haste on at the end of the casting, and you get the best of both worlds. Minimum recasts with maximum Fast Cast and Shield Skill.

Hauby+1 is the best body a non-Excal PLD can use for your Idle set, yet it's knocked by many for reasons that are completely unclear to me. I have Valor, Koenig, ACP (Fast Cast/Enmity), Hydra Haubert, Ares's Cuirass, Coral +1, Darksteel +1, and I could lot Homam or buy Avalon if I felt any need for it, yet I prefer Hauby when I don't need the MP Refresh from Ares's because the large ACC combined with the Attack boost keep my ACC up and keep me from all those annoying 0s.

Gradd you have some good advice, but also some things you say that I question. I applaud you for trying to help, just be careful to make absolutes that might not hold true.