The good ol' PLD DD Converstation.

This is a quote from Ringthree's Blog (which i just added to my link list)

"Now, I wanted to talk about how PLD's can easily operate in end-game burn parties and the barriers to that happening. The first issue is the equipment set up of the PLD's for burn parties. /NIN is mandatory, for dual wield and shadows, and a Suppanomimi is perfect for this. Even if you dont have uber gear, definitely start with a Company Sword and a Joyeuse (or a Justice Sword). If you can't get your hands on one of those nice off-hand weapons then just find an Espadon and use that.

Now I have noticed that after 75 levels of getting their heads bashed in, PLD's have lost the ability to understand that 90%+ accuracy is what you are aiming for and that 60% is not good, indeed it is crappy. So lets look at the TP build for a PLD.

TP Gear:
Head: Optical Hat or Walhara
Turban.Neck: Chivalrous Chain (Merman's is a fine alternative)
Earring: Brutal Earring/Suppanomimi (Alternatives include Assualt, Fowling, Coral)
Body: HaubergeonHands: A ton of options including Dusk, Homam for the high end, but also Tarasque for not that much and the Barbarian Mitts as a free alternative.
Rings: Sniper's, Jaeger, Venerer's. You need more accuracy than you think, especially if you are going to eat meat, which you will do with your A+ Sword Skill.
Back: Amemet (plenty of better, more expensive alternatives).
Waist: Life Belt, Swift Belt, Potent Belt.Legs: Again, Dusk and Homam are high end, but Royal Knight's Breeches are just fine for this slot. Feet: A ton of good, but hard to get stuff like Dusk, Homam, and Amir. Alternatives include Rutter Sabatons (free but slow is icky) and even Tiger gear.

WS Gear:
Head: Sipahi Turban, Optical Hat, Hecatomb.
Neck: Chivalrous Chain (Spike Necklace as the alternative)
Earrings: +STR Earrings if you want to pay for them, but its not necessary.
Body: Haubergeon, Hecatomb.Hands: Sipahi Dastanas, Gigas Bracelets, Hecatomb.
Rings: STR Rings.Back: Amemet (and higher alternatives).
Waist: Warwolf Belt, Potent Belt.Legs: AF2 is actually the best here, but Royal Knight's Breeches are just fine.
Feet: Hecatomb and Rutter Sabatons stand out as the best, Heroic Boots are ok too.Now with that gear you will be on par with other DD's of that level, like Ninja's.

Now PLD's this is what you have to remember. On a TP build you want +attack, +accuracy and +haste, you do not want +STR. That is only for WS's. Its a waste of a slot. And I dont want to hear about how getting DD gear is expensive. You have it really pretty easy all the way through all of your levels, and can even wear your AF all the way to 75. The only thing that is moderately expensive is the Adaman gear and I know that it is not that great, so its not much of an excuse. If you are not willing to spend the money like everyone else then you will be able to burn like everyone else.

Things going for PLD's in a burn party:
1. A good weaponskill. +Crit hit chance on a multihit Weaponskill? That is what all DD's wish for. Vorpal Blade is actually about the same as Blade: Jin and with a higher base DMG weapon, with STR being the only modifier.
2. The ability to take a few hits and actually help out other people in the party. An occassional Flash, Cure and most importantly a Cover can keep the chain going.
3. STR is the second highest natural skill of PLD's. They are going to do good damage.

Things going against PLD's in a burn party:
1. Elitest perspections of the roles of people in the game. These people are stupid and haven't even thought of people outside of WAR, NIN, MNK in a burn party. In my own personal opinion, PLD would be the next in line for this kind of party. They will do as much damage as a NIN if they are properly equiped, and they serve the same exact function as the NIN in the burn party.
2. The stubborn nature of most PLD's. They dont want to spend the money to get the gear to be a good burn party member. They fear running out of MP. They dont like burn parties. Whatever, if you want to stop deleveling, get over it. If you want more MP, get the Sanction Refresh, get a Parade Gorget, or just get over not having MP, you dont need it as much as you think you do.

Yes, that is right, there is nothing going against PLDs being used in burn parties besides people's perspections of the roles of PLDs in xp parties.PLD's have an A+ in Sword and with a Suppanomimi, they are likely able to use meat full time in burn parties and have very high accuracy if they use a TP build instead of a WS build to gain TP (which I see all the time, orz)."

~Ringthree

Wow, that real was an excellent post about the capabilities of a PLD DD. It did an excellent job of showing many Paladins where they go wrong in their gear settups. However, it lacked one thing. A Paladin must eat meat, i agree, but to do so he needs some divercity in gear choices.

I must say, be weary of anyone that says that one set of TP gear is good enough for any situation you will be in. Truth be told, you will need about 1 1/2 of a set of TP gear. While his post does sound quite authoritive, you must keep in mind that he is not a Paladin. There are subtle nueances involved with gearing for optimal DoT that a Paladin experiences.

With your A+ rating in Sword (+merits) you will find that on enemies like Trolls or anything in the Mire... you simply will not need to cram on as much Accuracy to reach a point where you have a 90%+ hit rate. When this occurs you should pump on more haste, Att, STR gear. Because they will add more DoT than an additional 5 Acc in gear (provided you are in the mid 90% hit rate)

-In the Mire, you will find that, Haste and Attack/STR gear will add more DoT to your settup. This is with eating meat! The fact of the matter is that in the Mire you will not need more than +30 Acc to reach a 90%+ hit rate. Go ahead test it for your self. This area is where you realy shine as most enemies are weak to your sword damage.

-On Trolls, you will find yourself in the same situation. It will not take an enormous amount of Accuracy gear to reach a 90%+ hit rate. In fact, i found myself swapping in +STR and + Attack equipment, And still hit almost every hit. Misses being very very rare. Definately 90%+ would be a conservative estimate. However, These enemies are not weak to your sword damage. Infact, their defence is incredibly high. Again you will need to alter your TP setup to adjust for their low evasion, high defence.

-In the Thickets, Mamools, you will have the most difficulty. Especialy since you will surely become addicted to meat. You will have troubles hitting these enemies consistantly. A Mamool has incredibly high Evasion. You will need to swap out your +Attack gear you grew to love in the Mire and on Trolls in favor of +Accuracy. A metric ton of +Accuracy. Some say 50+ Accuracy in gear for Mamools. This is a good 20-25 more Accuracy in gear than you would have to equip for other areas.

This is why i say you will need 1 1/2 sets of TP Gear. You will need a Base line set. Gear equaly good in a +Accuracy or a +Attack build. But you also need to be able to adjust your gear depending on what you are fighting.

To Start You're Build:

You need to come up with not one, not two, but 2 1/2 gear sets total. A TP set that can reach 50+ accuracy yet still be modified to reach 400 attack (base).

This does not happen over night. Your whole carrier you have been after the polar opposite setup of DD's. You must realise that it will take quite a bit of effort to exp effectively enough for DD to invite you.

Start off with gear that is equaly effective in any environment. There arent very many peices like this. Certain peices like a Haubergeon stand out right away, so grab what you think will be good in both situations. Once you have a semi decent set of TP gear (one without any flexability) you will need to use +Acc food and +Att food. Which you eat will be dictated by where you will exp.

Above all else do not forget. Your gear is not great, it is barely ok at this point. You need more. After a few times eating meat you will come to be addicted to the numbers it puts out. But in your baseline, NQ, UNSPECIALISED GEAR you will find accuracy to be so shitty at times, that you cannot pump out decent DoT.

Once you have a standard set. You MUST begin to specialise it for certain zones. All other DD do this, you are no exception.

Ringthree does make mention of alot of the specialised gear a Paladin would want to gain in his post. Things like Snipers, the Turban, Homam, Fortified Torque, and i can go on but won't.

In General, you want to be able to alter your setup so that you accomplish a two goals:

1) Be able to alter so you can reach @400 attack base before food/berserk/or anything
2) Be able to alter so you can reach @50+ Accuracy (no Sushi allowed)

1) & 2) are mutually exclusive situations. You will find it impossible to reach +400 attack base and have +50 Accuracy in gear alone. You will find that this equates to about 1 1/2 sets of gear. Please note that even in your +attack setup you MUST have a minimum of +25 to 30 Accuracy in gear.

The end goal is that you will be able to specialise your TP setup to your environment with out sacrificing meat for suishi. To reach this goal you must recognise that different areas/enemies demand slight/major variations to your TP setup. You must have access to the gear necisary to be prepared.

It takes work to be a decent PLD DD. Alot of work, so much that if PLD is your only level 75 job... you will have issues at the begining. You need to learn what DD's spent 75 levels learning ovenight. Not only that but get the gear. Take your time, and do it right or dont do it at all.

WS gear is an entirely different world. That can wait for aother day XD cya round!