This is completely ridiculous and must be considered so, because: Swords have 0 magic DMG rating.
That said, a MND build is in order, because: A self-curing Paladin can maintain hate for extended periods of time, or indefinitely (the use of riot blade is not encouraged and will remain highly situational).
Here is the build. Full set Lv49 HQ cobalt armor (padded woolen trousers, cobalt plate belt).
Total Equipment Defense Bonus: 661
Total Materia Slot Bonus: 11
Total STR Bonus: 51
Total VIT Bonus: 56
Total Skill Speed Bonus: 17
In comparison, a Full Heavy Dark Lite Set:
Total Equipment Defense Bonus: 725
Total Materia Slot Bonus: 0
Total STR Bonus: 87
Total VIT Bonus: 96
Total Parry Bonus: 93
64 more defense, 26 more STR, 30 more VIT, 11 less material slots.
Effectively 56 total STR and VIT outweighs 11x Tier 3 materia for total 44 point bonus.
I dislike Parry. It's higher rate of action causes less shield blocks.
It's time to get aggressive. The cobalt HQ set has enough defense, STR, and VIT to stay competitive, materia aside.
Let's look at jewelry. LV49 HQ rings, earring, neck, wrist have +6 attributes, and 1 materia slot.
It is possible to have +50 with Tier 3 materia with these five pieces of jewelry, in any given attribute.
Full HQ cobalt and Full HQ jewelry contain 16 meldable material slots. Tier 3 MND materia is +4 MND attribute.
16x4 = 64 MND, not a lot on its own.
HQ jewelry x5 (+6 MND) = +30 MND
Not very far, needing more. +30 Skill Points
Positives: +124 MND, (+11 Used Materia Slots)
Negatives:
-64 DEF, -26 STR, -30 VIT, -93 Parry (Heavy Dark Lite Equipment)
(-40 STR -40 VIT (skillpoints, HQ jewelry with materia, total 80))
That is 66 STR and 70 VIT underwater
I split STR and VIT evenly concerning skill and jewelry on purpose to make calculation easier.
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So what does 124 MND mean? Very little. Over 300 base MND is plenty to get a WHM or SCH extremely powerful cures, but without the magic damage bonus of staves, books, and canes, it is rendered negligible.
HOWEVER, no other job has as much use for a cure, and in 10 seconds or 4 cures, a Paladin can restore himself to full health with convalescence. A single cure will offer 600+ potential criticals under convalescence with 300-400+ base cures, or roughly 10% of total health for 2 second cast time.
I BELIEVE STR is pointless over 300 points and I BELIEVE HP is pointless over 4k HP, but cue mean if you think I am wrong.
Thoughts and Opinions of insanity?