PLD merit advice please.

[Genjuro]

Hi all,

My pld has merits as well, but i would like to have some advice with pld merits. How would you spend merits as pld with and without aegis. Some advice from pld players would be appreciate.

[Ryko]

I did chiv first, then shield bash second (mostly because I liked the extra damage with my aegis but now that it actually stuns I like the lowered recast). I should cap rampart too but meh.

[Kaziel]

I did chiv first, then shield bash second (mostly because I liked the extra damage with my aegis but now that it actually stuns I like the lowered recast). I should cap rampart too but meh.

Pardon me for asking, but with the additional threat modifier on Sentinel, I was imagining that it would be the better option for lowering the recast? Or do you cap rampart for the minimal magic-stoneskin type thing? It never seemed strong enough to justify the meripo expenditure to me, but I might be missing something.

[Ryko]

Well I don't exactly have a hate issue either way so I'd go based on potential damage mitigation. Sentinel is good for those oh-shit moments but with a resist build rampart is basically a freebie 0 taken on any flight. I have my custom cure III macro so I never have to worry about "not being able to cure myself for hate". I dunno, I figure if I need to rely on sentinel being lowered to save my ass regularly or to build hate we're doing something wrong (granted it comes in handy when you're roared I suppose).

[Drunkenmonk]

5/5 sentinel 5/5 rampart 3/3 chivalry 1/3 fealty

[Woozie]

lolfealty. Cap Chivalry and Guardian.

[Woozie]

At the moment, I'm something like

capped shield
capped HP
Capped Sentinal
Capped chivalry
Capped gaurdian.
3/5 Rampart, I think.

But not necisarily in that order.

For some reason, I feel like I'm forgetting something... if I could log on, I'd check.

[Ryko]

Oh yeah I did HP first and shield after chiv (mostly because myshield wasnt capped at the time) >_> forgot those.

[Clipse]

Here's the setup I'm going for if I ever decide to finish meriting:
Max HP (8/8)
Sword Skill (8/8)
Shield Skill (4/4)
Enmity Increase (4/4)
Enemy Critical Hit Rate (4/4)
Sentinel Recast (5/5)
Rampart Recast (5/5)
Chivalry (3/3)
Guardian (3/3)

If I had an Aegis, I'd max 'Shield Bash Recast' instead of 'Rampart Recast'

[Lexa]

Mind you, my merits are not yet completed, nor do I have an Aegis, but this is what I did and are planning on doing, and the order of which I did it/am planning on completing it:

Enmity
Shield skill
Chivalry
Sentinel
Guardian
Sword skill
HP
Rampart

If I ever complete that stupid fuggin' shield, I'll definitely merit Shield Bash and remove Rampart.

[Woozie]

Oh duh, enmity was what I was forgetting. I have that capped as well.

[Sylvrdragon]

I will never understand capped Guardian. How much hate are you really gonna lose during the 30 seconds that Sentinel is up? If damage is the #1 way that tanks lose hate, and you're taking 50-100% less damage during that 30 seconds, then you're ALREADY losing next to no hate. 57% of 'next to nothing' is still 'next to nothing'. Isn't that the very definition of diminishing returns?

While I agree that Fealty is too long of a recast to make a REAL difference, it's still nice to at least have it unlocked for the moments when you KNOW you'll need it (Sac pulling, Ultima Fights, junk like that).

That being said, I have:

4/4 Shield
8/8 Sword (I have BLU, RDM, and PLD, this was mandatory)
8/8 MP (see above)
5/5 Sentinel
5/5 Rampart
3/3 Chivalry
4/4 Spell Interruption Rate down

I haven't finished Category 2 yet cause I've been putting my merits into BLU, and I haven't been meriting as much as I used to.

[moguri]

5/5 sentinel
5/5 rampart
3/3 chiv
3/3 fealty

in my opinion, guardian and iron will are both worthless

[Kilik]

5 hp
3 mp
2 enmity
2 enemy crit
5 sentinel
5 shield bash
4 shield
1 chivalry
1 fealty

Working to get chiv and fealty to 3/3.

[Atlasion]

I think my PLD merits are pretty much complete. I can't remember the exact order I did them in but it went something like:

HP 8
Shield 4
Sword 8
Enmity 4
Spell interupt 4
Sentinel 5
Rampart 5
Chivalry 2
Fealty 1
Guardian 1
Iron Will 1

Sentinel is defiently worth having fully meritted.

As for cat. 2. I only really unlocked Guardian and Iron Will for the hell of it, might as well have Sentinel and Rampart enhanced slightly. Fealty is nice to have unlocked too, although I wouldn't bother putting any additional merits into it. I have cat. 2 capped on PLD, not sure what the last merit is in.. I like having all of them unlocked as none of them are really amazing enough to make me want to fully cap at the expense of losing a trait or ability. Chivalry is the best one, but I don't run out of MP on PLD/NIN often enough for me to want to cap it.

[Apelila]

I will never understand capped Guardian. How much hate are you really gonna lose during the 30 seconds that Sentinel is up? If damage is the #1 way that tanks lose hate, and you're taking 50-100% less damage during that 30 seconds, then you're ALREADY losing next to no hate. 57% of 'next to nothing' is still 'next to nothing'. Isn't that the very definition of diminishing returns?

AF2 feet = 1 minute sentinel.

It is so sexy. I only came to read this thread, not to comment since I don't have any JSM's on my Main character yet (Been putting them into random crap because I don't merit much ;

[Drunkenmonk]

AF2 feet = 1 minute sentinel.

wut? they don't add to the duration, they add 10% dmg reduction to the start (90% w/o af2 100% with).

[Devinry]

Instead of starting a new thread, here's a somewhat related question (ok it's barely related...):

What are some acceptable "endgame" earrings for PLD, barring Hades +1's? I don't have the gil for Hades, so I'm looking for decent alternatives for tanking purposes (i.e. PLD/NIN shadows up, PLD/NIN shadows down, PLD/WAR). Thanks!

[Eaglestrike]

Instead of starting a new thread, here's a somewhat related question (ok it's barely related...):

What are some acceptable "endgame" earrings for PLD, barring Hades +1's? I don't have the gil for Hades, so I'm looking for decent alternatives for tanking purposes (i.e. PLD/NIN shadows up, PLD/NIN shadows down, PLD/WAR). Thanks!

Loq. + Ethereal.

[Ryko]

Ethereal and uh... loquacious I guess. Honestly I think hades +1 is worth the cost but I can't suggest to do something that would break your bank.