Paladin Guide

Contributors:

• Elesirdur of Bahamut

Introduction

Paladins are the unmounted knights of Vana'diel. A valiant mixture of defensive warrior traits with the healing magic of White Mages, they are sworn to protect and defend. Masters of the sword and shield Paladins are valued as one of the two basic tanking jobs in Final Fantasy XI. Paladins excel in defensive combat where they are able to soak up a great deal of physical damage with their combination of innate statistics, high HP, and equipping the best defense and damage-mitigating gear available to any job class. However, since Final Fantasy XI's launch in 2002 the way in which Paladins play the game, and the roles they are expected to take, have changed. The use of Utsusemi from the Ninja support job to mitigate damage taken entirely has revolutionized how Paladins accomplish their main combat role as a tank. While the Paladins of 2003 or 2004 might have sought to stack as much DEF, VIT, and HP as possible, today's end-game Paladin is most often found as PLD/NIN and equipping as much Enmity and Haste gear as they can. This guide will provide readers with an overview of playing the Paladin job from 1 to 75, as well as provide information on how Paladins should handle themselves in end-game, XP, and other situations.

Gameplay Mechanics

Racial Considerations

Like all jobs in Final Fantasy XI, any player of any race can excel as a Paladin. However, there are statistical considerations to take into account when thinking about picking up the job. Below is a table containing the basic statistics of HP, MP, and attributes for a Paladin, no support job, at level 1 and 75. For the level 75 stats the highest statistic is shown in bold, were as the lowest statistic is show in italics.
The major statistics to consider when assessing Paladins is their HP, VIT, AGI, and MP. Secondary stats include MND and STR but they are not so central to the basic function of tanking to be of major concern.

Race	Level	HP	MP	STR	DEX	VIT	AGI	INT	MND	CHR
Hume	1	30	16	7	6	8	5	5	7	7
	75	1067	342	61	53	63	47	47	59	59
Elvaan	1	32	14	8	6	9	4	4	8	7
	75	1158	266	66	50	66	41	41	64	59
Tarutaru	1	26	22	6	6	8	6	7	7	7
	75	871	525	55	53	60	50	54	56	59
Mithra	1	30	16	7	8	8	6	5	7	6
	75	1067	342	58	60	60	52	47	56	53
Galka	1	35	10	8	6	10	5	5	7	6
	75	1279	143	64	53	70	44	44	59	53

Hume

Humes make average Paladins. Like any other job they use they are balanced but do not stand out in any regard. During XP situations balance is definitely a desired characteristic, but for end-game situations Hume Paladins have nothing to especially recommend them or detract from their performance.

Elvaan

Elvaans are the archetypical Paladin. Their racial stats complement the requirements of high HP, VIT, and STR. However, a rather limited MP pool means that Elvaan Paladins may need to rest more frequently during XP situations, especially pre Ballad or Refresh. Additionally, tragically low DEX and AGI ratings mean that in XP and attacking settings Elvaan Paladins may need more Accuracy+ gear than other races, as well as boosting AGI for Shield Block and Parry skills, in addition to gear boosting those combat skills. Elvaan Paladins also have the highest MND and CHR stats making them versatile as backup healers and relatively self-sufficient in Assault, Campaign, and XP situations; however the lowish MP pool does diminish the affect of these stats. Overall, Elvaans make excellent Paladins and have many qualities that recommend them as the best race for Paladins.

Tarutaru

In what may seem to be a strange twist, the dimunitive Tarutaru often make the best Paladins in XP situations. During XP parties, where massive amounts of HP is not a requirement, their large MP pool, high AGI, and good DEX make them able to deal more consistent damage and go for longer without resting for MP. In the end-game scene, Tarutaru are most definitely overshadowed by the other races because of their very low HP and VIT. Even though shadow-tanking has become the norm for almost all end-game events, Tarutaru Paladins may just not be able to survive dangerous moves like Proto-Ultima's heavy moves, many breath attacks, or Bahamut's Mega/Gigaflare. Tarutaru do also get access to sets of RSE gear the greatly boost their HP, STR, and VIT to make up for racial defeciencies that improve their XP and other performances, but in end-game they may not survive long or pose a liability to a group simply because of their low HP or having to chose +HP gear in place of +Enmity, Haste or other items.

Mithra

Mithra Paladins share many similar qualities of the Humes in that they really have no outstanding core statistics for Paladin, but they are not deficient in them either. At 75 they have the best DEX and AGI of the races, making them accurate and helping parry and shield block rates, but the rest of their stats are pretty much average across the board. They in no ways make a poor Paladin based on statistics, and can often make excellent aggressive DD Paladins in merit parties with the right gear, but they do not have much to recommend them as a race excelling at the job.

Galka

If there was ever a race in Vana'diel worthy of the moniker "tank" the Galaka Paladin would be it. With the highest HP and VIT stats of all the races, as well as high STR, Galkas can take more punishment than any other race making them excellent end-game Paladins. However, their woefully small MP pools means they can lose their ability to heal and keep hate through magic very quickly and often have to trade other gear slots for +MP during XP situations. In fact, without any +MP gear Galka Paladins do not have enough at MP to cast the level 50 spell Raise or potentially cure their entire HP pool back. Their AGI is also second-lowest, only just edging out Elvaan, which diminishes their latent combat skill performance and DEX is nothing to write home about. Nevertheless, Galka Paladins can stack vast amounts of HP which can enable them to withstand very heavy attacks that might one-shot a Paladin of any other race. Playing as a Galka Paladin requires a great deal of MP and gear management skills but can prove to be just about the toughest race/job combination in the field.

Support Jobs

Perhaps more than any job Paladin is not only defined but significantly limited by its accepted support job choices. This section will outline the two most important and generally accepted Paladin support jobs, how they play, and what situations to use them in. Beyond those two jobs, others certainly may be used for activities like soloing, farming, Assault, and Campaign. I do not have a great deal of familiarity with some of the more exotic subjob choices and will leave that up to other contributors.

Warrior

Warrior is the support job that compliments Paladin's abilities and strengths for one major reason: Provoke. Naturally, Paladin lacks many spike enmity job abilities and spells that can be used on a very frequent and consistent basis. Utilizing Warrior as a support job not only brings the crucial Provoke ability into play but boosts important Paladin stats like HP, STR, and VIT as well as adding passive Job Traits like Double Attack and Attack Bonus. The combination of PLD/WAR provides players with the toughest tank on the battlefield who is able to consistently generate enmity and hold hate. From level 1 to 74/75 Warrior will be the standard support job for Paladins in nearly all situations, and always for XP parties. However, once Paladins reach level 74 they can use both Utsusemi spells, opening up an entirely new set of play possibilities for Paladins as tanks and damage dealers.

Ninja

Ninja has become an increasingly popular subjob for high-level Paladins over the past couple of years. With the rise of TP Burns as the standard method of meriting, traditional tanking in regular parties are no longer as desired as it was in the past. Ninja subjob gives Paladins the ability to Dual Wield swords, and with access to such swords as Joyeuse, Justice Sword and Company Sword, a properly geared Paladin can deal surprising amounts of damage, thus helping to keep the EXP Chain going. The Ninja subjob is at its most powerful when used for tanking duties, however. Haste gear will help push the Utsusemi recasts down, and thanks to Shield Mastery, both Ninjutsu spells can be recast without interruption if you block an attack while casting. Enmity is built by Flash (since its recast timer will also be drastically cut down), Cures and sensible use of Job Abilities. PLD/NIN is often the supreme choice for most Paladins and their linkshells when battling big monsters such as wyrms or other HNMs.

Red Mage

Despite not having much use for a Paladin below level 70 or so, Red Mage can be a very powerful subjob given the right circumstances. The additional MP combined with protective spells such as Phalanx, Stoneskin and Blink can up the survivability of a Paladin considerably. This especially shows in solo situations, allowing Paladins to tackle monsters far tougher than they otherwise could have. Spells such as Blind and Dispel cost little MP, have low recasts, and generate surprising amounts of enmity. The weakness of the subjob lies in that when tanking at endgame levels, you will face a lot of monsters that hit so hard that the protective spells will not help you much, and so Ninja often becomes the more desired subjob in those situations. However, Red Mage sub is still extremely effective on monsters such as Jailer of Love, and a PLD/RDM in Ballista can be a powerhouse and a mighty protector of your team's Rooks.

A quick dirt nap is a basic job hazard of playing as a Paladin.