Best PLD gear at 75

[Thorny]

How does that change that it's wasted on someone who won't use proper gear macros out of laziness? There is no excuse to not blink any more, as everyone has already said..

[Grey Jorildyn]

IMO a RDM tank is a bit more self-sufficient than a PLD tank. I don't like blinking on PLD, and I don't mind it on RDM because I am doing my own haste and refresh and cures for the most part. It's a personal preference there. I can swap all the gear I want on PLD, and I do have gear swaps for all kinds of macros, but I certainly don't use them all the time to "maximize" PLD in the way you do. I don't feel the need to and I tank great. Leave it at that, ok?

You realize that all this crap started over a fucking Valhalla Helm right? A piece of gear that is, at best, mediocre in every sense of its text box. Let's break it down for you.

DEF:40 HP+30 VIT+4
Damage taken -5%
"Slow"+5%

First component: DEF:40. If you want Defense +40, Koenig Schallar offers more due to its VIT conversion (convert 5 more defense, where are this only convert 2 more due to its VIT)
Second component: HP+30. Hey guess what? Koenig Schallar has the same HP+30 also! And all you have to do is kill a sky god. Crazy...
Third component: VIT+4: See: KOENIG SCHALLAR
Fourth component: Damage taken -5%. Hmm. I wonder.. if I get hit a lot, this almost seems useful, and if I don't, then it's worthless. Shield blocking has interrupt rate and damage reduction doesn't. Crazy concepts, I know. I'm almost thinking that Koenig Schallar wins again in this department.
Fifth component: "Slow"+5%. Why exactly do I want this? Since I'm not an idiot and know it can be swapped for Haste or some such when casting, let's look at it as a complete trade-off then, shall we? Is Slow+5% worth all the other crap this shitty piece of gear fails to offer me in nearly all conventional fights? I'll just leave that question out there for you to answer on your own time.

Tell me again why this is a good piece of gear? It has its uses, but they are few and far between at best. It doesn't even have Enmity on it, which is one of the things you are discussing is at the core of Paladin, no? I almost think Bahamut's Mask has a one-up on Valhalla Helm. I must be nuts for thinking that though...

To Thorny: I am entitled to bid on whatever I want within my linkshell's rule. I solo on PLD all the time and I make great use of the Valhalla piece in those scenarios when they are needed. As I have described above, any Paladin with two eyes and FFXIclopedia or some other gear-browsing site can see that this piece is an all-in-one that offers less all-in-one than most other pieces a Paladin is going to want to pick up for themselves. Valhalla Helm goes FREELOT in my linkshell because we recognize it blows ass. So yea, sure. I feel like an idiot for bidding 20 points on it when the one right after when for like 4. I've already described what I do with the breastplate and don't feel I need to say more about it.

Why don't we get back on topic and answer this dude's question with some real answers and not throw personal preferences of gear swapping, blinkmenot, and retarded circular logic into the mix, eh?

[Avinor]

Didn't Mero already state he gearswaps constantly on RDM?

[Thorny]

Fourth component: Damage taken -5%. Hmm. I wonder.. if I get hit a lot, this almost seems useful, and if I don't, then it's worthless. Shield blocking has interrupt rate and damage reduction doesn't. Crazy concepts, I know. I'm almost thinking that Koenig Schallar wins again in this department.

A d.ring owner calling damage taken useless? This is still a great piece of gear for a magic down set if you don't own aegis(I know YOU do) as well as the best idle gear in many situations regardless. If there was a ring with enmity+16, you would still idle in d.ring and macro that for enmity actions, so don't make silly excuses about blinking. If a mage can't handle blinking, get better mages.

[Valisk]

Mero and Neo, why don't you just settle this dick swinging contest. 1st to complete Burtgang wins. GO!

[Neosutra]

Didn't Mero already state he gearswaps constantly on RDM?

Hence my point that saying one job is gimp for not swapping and yet stating another doesnt have to swap is irrational.

And to merona, this isnt just about V.helm. However V.helm is the best idle peice for specific situations (gear swap in V.helm for idle kiting, kaiser for idle straight tanking, V.helm for example when Khim just did AoE stun and you are sitting there unable to block). Stop making excuses for not doing something you do on every other job.

[Valisk]

A d.ring owner calling damage taken useless? This is still a great piece of gear for a magic down set if you don't own aegis(I know YOU do) as well as the best idle gear in many situations regardless. If there was a ring with enmity+16, you would still idle in d.ring and macro that for enmity actions, so don't make silly excuses about blinking. If a mage can't handle blinking, get better mages.

Protip: Accessories dont make you blink.

[Thorny]

Protip: Accessories dont make you blink.

My point is that blinking shouldn't be a defining thing for your gear choices, it's a largely irrelevant problem between cure macros that include a name and blinkmenot.. hell, I've known mages that would just type commands/names with spellcast active and still do fine. If you can accept that the best idle piece for XXX scenario is XXX piece of gear, whining about blinking and not using it is just being paranoid/lazy/not trusting your mages/a combination. I don't know about you, but with how everything nowadays is based around lowman I wouldn't do stuff with mages I don't trust.

[Afrohatch]

I'm not even a paladin, I tank on NIN and RDM. The fact remains that you lotted(Bid on, whatever? It's still taking an item that other people could have taken.) an extremely good idle piece to use for divine might and solo, and won't use it for tanking because you're stubborn as hell.

The only person in our shell that uses the Vhelm on PLD to tank only uses it because he's a taru. You're talking like we've gotten ONE helm in the entier time we've done einherjar. Nobody even wants them, I think we only have 3-4 of them, and they're borderline freelot.

[Grey Jorildyn]

I dunno, I coulda sworn that somewhere in this thread I said it was a personal preference. Gee, I dunno...

It's so fucking irritating reading a thread where people can't stay on topic. If you're gonna talk about RDM then make a separate fucking thread. It is completely irrelevant what I or ANYONE else thinks about RDM tanks blinking or not blinking for fuck sake.

[Thorny]

If you accept blinking on RDM tank but not PLD tank because on RDM tank you do your own healing, then it's clearly an issue of trusting your mages.. this just seems silly. Why the double standard? A missed cure on a RDM tank is more likely to result in eating dirt than on PLD anyway..

[Avinor]

If you accept blinking on RDM tank but not PLD tank because on RDM tank you do your own healing, then it's clearly an issue of trusting your mages.. this just seems silly. Why the double standard? A missed cure on a RDM tank is more likely to result in eating dirt than on PLD anyway..

I think its more an issue of RDM having more blink-inducing gear that makes a difference. Restricting RDM to not blinking actually does impair your tanking ability, while on PLD, it really doesn't.

[Thorny]

Yea, it's not like adding another 10-15 enmity during your self cures from changing visible slots helps or anything. Not like switching turban in for ni does either, while we're at it lets just melee in hecatomb in case we get pecking flurried and the gear swap screws with our mages.. wouldn't want to risk dying in merits!

[Neosutra]

Actually, it does matter merona, which is the entire point of this thread.

And i wasnt even talking about rdm tanking. I was talking about a rdm sitting on the sidelines doing their job, enfeebling, curing, hasting, resting... w/o a single gear swap.

Is that rdm gimp?

What about the pld that doesnt gear swap for fear of making their mages edit their macros?

[Avinor]

Why are you comparing a tanking PLD to a supporting RDM? I mean the thread has already gone batshit insane off tangent, but where is that coming from? And what possible relevance does it have to what we're discussing?

[Grey Jorildyn]

It's not a fear at all. People are always so quick to point out "oh he must not trust his mages" or something similar. I feel I have some of the best mages on the server behind me, and I do sometimes, and it has absolutely nothing to do with that. It is purely a personal preference. Furthermore, I haven't busted out my RDM tank in ages (at least 3 months), because I prefer Paladin overall as a tank. The thing I hate the most about blinking is losing my lock on to a target. Yea, it's a dumb thing, but it irks the ever-living shit out of me. Sure, I could use blinkmenot to "correct" that but I don't like using plugins like that. I try to play the game as close to as it was intended as possible. I use a pad to play on PC, and I like my windowed mode. For things like large gear swaps, I know they are possible with multiple macros, so I just use the windower macros to achieve the same effect, only more conveniently. When I play on XBOX, I use the harder double-taps and I find it enjoyable at times, but not always am I in the mood for that crap.

So quit attacking if it doesn't matter so much. Go on thinking Valhalla Helm is a wonderful idle piece. As I said, it does. not. matter. to. me. However, I wouldn't let the rest of BG know that's how you feel. They might slam you for it!

[Neosutra]

"Preference"

You prefer to take more damage and have your actions generate less emnity, as well as have higher recast rates on your shadows.

Thats amazing.

And thats entirely what this breaks down too.

[Grey Jorildyn]

Whatever you say chief.

[Avinor]

Just as an experiment, try a fight where you restrict the 5 pieces of armor that actually make you blink, and see what kind of impact it actually has on your ability to tank. I'm sure you'll find you're overestimating it by a wide margin.

[Thorny]

Just as an experiment, try a fight where you restrict the 5 pieces of armor that actually make you blink, and see what kind of impact it actually has on your ability to tank. I'm sure you'll find you're overestimating it by a wide margin.

Just as an experiment, try a fight where you use scorpion arrows, AF body, and noct beret on your RNG, and see what kind of impact it actually has on your ability to DPS. I'm sure you'll find you're overestimating any gear choices by a wide margin. This does not make it reasonable to use clearly inferior gear.