[Kaedor]

The Paladin -- a noble figure indeed. Covering soft allies, healing the weak, they put themselves in harm's way so others won't visit the Underworld.

My question is this: Because Paladins are so noble and strong, does this make them the best party leader? I'm sure some of it depends on the skill of the character, among other things, but if you could choose are party where the leader is a RNG, BLM, or PLD, which would you choose?

[Rensei Ryo]

I think the Paladin should be the party leader. However, there seem to be very few players capable of the role. Whether the White Mage is ready or not, its the Paladin that should decide when and what mob to pull. After all, its his arse on the line.

[Aesma]

As a PLD, I agree. Either the PLD or the WHM should be the party leader. The PLD because they are the one to tank, and therefore the first to die. They can also mold the party best around their skills and abilities. The WHM is also a good leader because they are the one healing, and keeping everyone alive. They know who is good at their jobs, and wont cause hate to go all over, and they know who isnt.

I have noticed that as a PLD, many party members look to me for leadership, and I also get lots of requests from others asking to be in my party, even if I am not leading.

[Dragonix]

I agreed with you guys, WHM and PLD should be the party leader. PLD is role model of leader so everyone look up to PLD while WHM is a leader at same time due to his/her knowledge of healing and mp status. People are depend on WHM to keep them alive so it's reasonable that WHM is leader so he/she can tell when it's time to pull.

But that's not the case, I've seen some other job being leader but it's so common to see PLD and WHM to become leaders.

[Kaedor]

I thought so too. I find myself starting more and more parties as a PLD, and sometimes they'll shift the leader to me. Also, more people have accepted my invites as a PLD than as a WAR.

[Dragonhope]

I disagree. I think the party leader should be based on who has the best skill as a Party leader. As a Thief that's had to tank, i've learned to know which monster we can kill and with how much MP a WHM needs in order for the party to kill the monster. Some people say I should activate filters so that only the damage I do and the damage I receive should be seen. But I don't do that because if i'm needed to pull, I prefer to know if our tank is capable of taking the hits from the monster or not. Knowing these things make a good leader. So if the person knows all this, then they have the quality of being a leader. If you asked me if I was a good leader or not a few years ago, I probably would've said no because I was modest back then. But i've gotten tired of modesty in the face of so many idiots that don't know what the heck they're doing.

I've been in situations where a Paladin INSISTED on being the ONLY person to pull monsters. Why is this bad some of you are wondering? Think about this...a Paladin uses their MP to control hate. If the Paladin has to pull, there's some downtime where the Paladin has to rest and recover his MP. Meaning you lose out on chances where you can keep pulling monsters to gain exp chains.

You're right in that a leader should be looked up to, but anyone that looks up to a Paladin without knowing if that Paladin is capable of leading or not is just plain ignorant. And ignorance only leads to the bliss known as death.

PS: Paladins are only invited to a party often because they rank #1 as a tank.

[Dragonix]

True, Dragonhope ^^

[demix]

Paladin doesn't have to be leader but I think that PLD fits the desciption of leader the best. So I vote yes =)

[Zaris]

Agreed. The parties I usually enter I prefer to keep myself out of leadership and that's a good thing for me. I'm too busy tanking and considering the strength of the enemy and stragedies to keep hate on me to assume the leadership role. There's just no time if you want to chain xp and get to level 75 (which we all do I'm sure).

To me, as a Paladin, you are not required to be the leader of a party. You are required to do your duty: Keep the hate on you at all times, go down first, and NEVER let the White Mage die. You are her knight.

[Dragonix]

Zaris :
To me, as a Paladin, you are not required to be the leader of a party. You are required to do your duty: Keep the hate on you at all times, go down first, and NEVER let the White Mage die. You are her knight.

Hehe, I'm not a female in the game. But I agreed with you Zaris, PLD and WHM are bond with each other. PLD need WHM and WHM need PLD. It's like princess and her knight in shining armor. A knight w/o princess is like useless, u know what I mean? (Just speaking metaphor)

[Escolace]

Paladins have always been very nice to me, and a couple have gone out of their way to help me out. And when I tried to give them a little gil they declined... I love them, and I love them more when players play them right!

[SwimmerElf]

Dragonhope :
I disagree. I think the party leader should be based on who has the best skill as a Party leader.

Exactly, it doesn't matter what job you are. There could be the lvl 30 PLD and the lvl 30 RDM, but the RDM has like another job up to like 60 or something, whereas the other has the PLD as their highest lvl job. I would much rather have the RDM barking orders. I prefer to be the party leader becuae half the time people are so indecisive and it takes forever. If you know your role in a party and as well as that of others then no matter what job you are it shouldn't be hard to be distribute orders. Job has little or no reason to determine who is the party leader.

[b00sdr1v0rz]

SwimmerElf :

Dragonhope :
I disagree. I think the party leader should be based on who has the best skill as a Party leader.

Exactly, it doesn't matter what job you are. There could be the lvl 30 PLD and the lvl 30 RDM, but the RDM has like another job up to like 60 or something, whereas the other has the PLD as their highest lvl job. I would much rather have the RDM barking orders. I prefer to be the party leader becuae half the time people are so indecisive and it takes forever. If you know your role in a party and as well as that of others then no matter what job you are it shouldn't be hard to be distribute orders. Job has little or no reason to determine who is the party leader.

yeah. a lot of this shit is just simple and if i can speed up things by slapping down a set of rules for how the party is run...ill do it. if the leader takes offense....at least youll be getting XP faster =P

however, since pld are one of the most important jobs in a group, people will listen to you more than a dispensable job...say...theif or dragoon or something.

[Makoholic]

im PLD myself, and my girlfriend is WHM
i never party without her so she is my lil princess and i always protect her^^

99% of the time im pt leader, and cus i never play without her i know exactly how she heals me and when she has enough mp to get ready for next pull

and i would really advice that to others, get a close friend who always party's with u. its good when a PLD and WHM are used to eachother
(even better when she is ur gf^^ im such a lucky bastard)

ppl love to party with us, cus i always keep all hate on me, cus we're used to eachother.

so back to the question
yes, PLD (or WHM) should be party leader, cus they have the best view on mp and party status

[NeonEvangelist]

Honestly, in my experience being the leader of the party only means that the person is able to invite people. Usually everyone helps search for members when they are needed. There's not much else that sets the leader of the party from the rest. But in terms of monster gauging, the paladin and white mage are probably the best-decision makers. They know how much damage they can take and how much healing power they have, etc.

[Dragonhope]

If

you've partied with me, you might find me shouting orders. The first few rounds, something

wrong might happen but I have learned to assess peoples potential in the party after a few

fights and know when they can handle it and when they can't. If i'm playing with people

who already know what they're doing, I keep quiet and do what i'm supposed to do (no I

don't actually keep quite but the party as a whole will be talking about random things

while all the monster slaughter is taking place). Once people start to learn when to pull

and when not to pull and such, it also becomes more fun because you're free to do other

things while killing. For example: You can talk with people in your linkshell while

fighting or even start random conversations with the party you're in. Because after a

while, it becomes natural that you just do it.

Oh, i've had several people tell me

to be a Paladin as well. Then again i've had people tell me that I should be a ranger too

for running through my arrows so fast. But i'll never leave my Thief till level 75 at

least

[Psyboy143]

The

more experienced you are the more you fit as a leader i say.

[motoh]

I've had

some damn good leaders from all respects. Job choice has no reflection upon ability. I've

taken charge at points, and my shell knows that if I request a weaponskill, I'm setting up

a flywheel and that #%^ is about to hit the fan on the target. (Flywheel renkei. You tell

me your TP and skills, I'll tell you what to chain with who. TP as fast as you can spend

it.) In a pinch, we've been able to pull our $$es out of the fire on this alone. But for

continuous, solid leadership I know I'm in failing. I can't monitor a group for extended

periods of time like that. It drains me quickly, because I'm inherently perfectionist in

ways, and I start thinking nagging thoughts about little things everyone's doing 'wrong.'

Thus, I try to stay in the background as much as possible.