~First And Final Line Of Defense V2.0~

Is there a recommended augment path for Souveran set?

5/5 Path C
Maybe double up on gloves to have a Path D copy for the shield skill if you're into that sort of thing.

Same with a Body path D if you need some refresh and haven't gotten any other options.

This thread shows last updated in January, yet some of the gear and information seem a lot older. Am I mistaken?

OP hasnt been updated for many years, bgwiki has a more recent guide but even that is slightly dated i think
https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Community_Paladin_Guide#New_and.2For_Returning_Players

"Slightly?" Geez.

Well, when I have some free time I'll update it. lol

If someone would like to update this guide let me know and I'll add you as a contributor.

I wrote up my thoughts on the PLD+2 set in my LS discord, so I figured I'd repost those here.

Overall.. I feel like SE pulled a delve on this one. Or perhaps pulled a skirmish, in that they released this stuff out of order.

If this this set had come out before Odyssey, I'd have been all around delighted. Got good use out of it till odyssey, then enjoyed the ody gear when it came out and then waited for +3.

Instead I'm underwhelmed by PLD +2 because Sakpata stomps all over it.


First complaint... the set bonus is the same.. And probably the same potency. ugh. /sigh

PLD Head: Less def than Sakpata, though more VIT. But not enough to even things out. It only gained 1% FC.. So now it has the same FC as Sakpata.

No enmity+, so it didn't gain any utility as a casting piece. -30 meva vs Sakpata. Gained all of +2 shield skill.

Best change was DT where it actually has more than Sakpata, but... -30 meva. I don't want to wear this thing, and I wasn't having issues capping DT.

It is a good block rate increasing piece still and has DT now. But well, If I need block rate I'll just use Ochain. Or even Priwen.

Does have better HP/MP than Sakpata though.

Evaluation: I'll try to look forward to the +3. At which point is may very well become something worth wearing over Sakpata. And for eff's sake SE, please consider the existence of PLD's other options(Particularly fast cast) when deciding on new stats. I really REALLY wanted this to become PLD's new FC head over Carmine+1. And you added.. 1% FC...

PLD Body: They kept the enmity variable DT... /curls lip. Damnit.

DEF/VIT are like head. Less def than Sakpata, more VIT, but not enough to net more def total over Sakpata.

The best thing here is the addition of SIRD. And on a piece with high enmity(though not as high as souveran.) So there's potential as an enmity spellcasting piece. But again, we are looking at -30 meva vs Sakpata. And meva deficit is the issue with just casting in Souveran. Of course, the meva is a huge jump over Souveran. But still a big nerf coming form Sakpata.

And yeah, that damned enmity variable DT... You might think, "Ehh, you'll cap it quickly on anything you're actually fighting, right?"

I have one word for you. "Fetters" Unless the main NM shared total enmity with these little shits, and isn't just popping them on the NM's target.. well, you probably have basically no effing enmity on them. So the DT value will be at it's minimum. That was -2.5% DT back when, and I don't think it changed at 119.

I'm not risking having uncapped DT on fetters(or anything else for that matter), not to mention dropping 30 meva...

That said, the stat is not quantified on the piece so re-testing is in order. But considering it didn't change.. at all, from llv 99+2 up tp 119.. I retain little hope that the effect has been adjusted at all.

Evaluation: Waiting for +3, again. And hoping they nix the enmity variable DT.

PLD Hands: Well, they added DT. And it's a lot for the hand slot.

And that's.. basically the only positive thing I can say about this piece. I guess it has a lot of accuracy between acc+ and sword skill. But honestly... I'd have rather they put almost anything else on this than that sword skill.

We got another Shield def bonus+. Weeeeee /flat monotone. If any one recalls the post where I found out how that stat actually works, it is literally dmg -1 on blocks. Before PDT, which means you're actually getting an effective -0.5 dmg at 50% PDT, and less with Burtgang. And considering that the vast majority of hits are Zero'd after phalanx anyway... /sigh.

Unlike the Head of body, this piece actually has Less HP and MP than Sakpata.

DEF/VIT are similar to previous piece except that this piece has only a bare 3 more vit that Sakpata. Head was a 13 difference and body was a 7 point difference.

No enmity+....

Evaluation: I'm not sure this will be useful even after +3. Perhaps the value will come from what other pieces the higher DT will allow you to wear. Assuming the +3 brings the meva up to par with Sakpata.

PLD Legs: These have taken the leap from PDT to DT. And jumped form 6% to 12%. So simply comparing them to the original it's quite an improvement.

And they do have 3% more DT than Sakpata legs, along side a potentially useful enmity retention effect. Although that effect only went up by +1...

However, we're looking at a -24 meva drop vs Sakpata. 6 less than other slots I suppose. And we're maintaining the less def, slightly more VIT paradigm vs Sakpata.

HP and MP are extremely similar here.

No enmity+.. again.

Evaluation: Waiting for +3. Unless I found some spectacular swap in another slot that the extra DT would allow.. I can't see myself using these as is.

EDIT: I missed a section when I copied these over:

The enmity retention is neat, but I already have Burtgang, High HP and high enmity+ in my idle sets to counter enmity loss. Perhaps I should try to run some numbers to verify, but I feel that in most cases CE loss is not that big an issue for me currently.

PLD Feet: The one piece that was already good, if only for Divine emblem. Now it's even better for Divine Emblem, then effect having increased by +3. Nice.

More enmity+, bringing it to +13, 2 short of the highest in slot. And, 10% FC. This isn't the highest FC in the slot, that's Augmented Odyssean feet at +11%. But it's up there.

But, there are areas where this piece is lacking. The most critical of these, is a common issue for feet. HP.

They are painfully low on HP. Making it hard to consider actually using them on precast for that FC. Already having to make up for a lot of other HP drops for the sake of FC. And this piece has to compete with the 95 HP/80MP and 8% FC on Carmine feet+1 D path.

Midcast use gives me DT and meva concerns, and even in the cases where I'm not concerned with meva, there's the massive HP drop vs souveran to consider. COnsidering the HP difference it may be simpler to add enmity elsewhere. Although the enmity+ FC combo is attractive for spellcasting.

Evaluation: Even better for what it was already good for, but Perhaps a bit difficult to use for anything else. I look forward to seeing the +3, as additional FC and HP may make it overall more worthwhile for uses aside from DE.

I want to look into more ways to rework sets before I go into details on the earring. Also I heard something about augments for earrings. No details on what the augments are though.

You put the logic behind my initial reaction on the Pld empy which was, meh, well, guess I can work on the other jobs.

Pld seems to be in a great place after yoyoing back from a year ago or whatever so can't say I'm surprised or really disappointed.

Its true they could have put some high hp + fast cast/etc and let them be just macro pieces, but they fell short even of that mark...

I disagree with most of your assessments. None of these are groundbreaking on their own, but some of the new Empy +2 offers a great deal of bonuses and plenty of room for mixing up your sets. Especially when the +3 comes out and it matches the EVA/MEVA outright on Sakpata/Nyame.

The head not only has a nice 10% DT on it, but it gives Converts 7% of PDT to MP. It pairs quite nicely with the AF+3 feet and Flume Belt +1. This may not be a massive deal when fighting physical mobs as you can use the Ochain, but on anything you have to use Aegis for, this is very good. Even if you think you are fine with your BRD's Ballads, the defense you will get from an extra Carol or Minne instead of another Ballad could also be a big factor here. It's a solid piece at +2 that will probably eclipse Sakpata entirely at +3. I know the +1 had 6%, but it was unusable due to the lack of DT, the fact you didn't even mention the best part of the head is insane to me.

The body offers great enmity and SIRD, presumably with great DT as well. If you aren't fighting fetters, this is going to be the best idle body at +3. Right now at +2 and/or when fighting fetters, swap it out and only leave it in your SIRD set. Not everything has to be a full time piece to be good. You will want the body.

The hands aren't particularly amazing, but they outshine Sakpata heavily from a DPS perspective. The only thing they are short on is some MEVA that will be made up for completely in the +3. While you may not need them for pure defensive sets right now at +2, you will want these at +3 for sure, so best to get them now.

The PLD legs are arguably the best piece. You keep complaining about MEVA loss, but I would happily give up 30 in this slot for enmity gain. You also said this doesn't have +enmity on it, which is technically true, but the reduced loss of enmity when being hit leads to MORE enmity than if it was just +enmity outright. Idk why you dislike this piece, but it's also going to completely outshine Sakpata at +3.

The feet are probably the only thing we really agree on. The lack of HP and any real decent effect outside of FC (which I already have 9% on my Odyssean feet) really makes it lackluster atm. If you are a hardcore PLD, it might be worth getting the +2 anyway, though last, in preparation for the +3. Otherwise, go for the other 4 and skip this one. Unless they add an entirely new stat to the +3, you can do without 5%ish more FC on them.

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You can argue that other jobs (like MNK and WAR) got better pieces with bigger boosts, but PLD got 4 amazing pieces an arguably a 5th one depending on how much you value extra FC. No other job got that many good pieces out of their sets. And in terms of quality, it's actually amazing too, so it's not just quantity.

All dmg > mp is moot when you block for 0 dmg or Phalanx makes hit's 0. Sure it's nice for Segments pulling. But that's a small part of the game, And I always have a Ballad there.

So some 33 Sword Skill will outshine 5-7 Stp and 6 Double Attack for Dps? Dont think so.

And for the Body SiRD it's not game breaking unless it gives +30 at +3, which lets me toss Founder's Hose.
And unless they changed the enm/dmg mitigantion -2.5dt isnt great. But testing will be done im sure.

And Legs effect wont help much I feel, the Enm bleed from Dmg isnt what makes me lose Enm, it's mostly DD's capping Enm in long fights.

And about the Meva dropping 30 on 1 piece isnt huge, tho noticble. dropping it on a lot of pieces suddenly adds up.

I'm not jumping in my chair about Plds +2's. I will most likely make some of them in hope of +3's being "ok" enough to atleast swap out some Souvreans for Enm.

Going with your standards of evaluating.. RDM, SAM, MNK, BST, SCH, THF, DRK and RUN
If you count same expectation for +3 as you did in your post, then also BLU, BRD, WAR and SMN

"No other job".. for sure :D

I mean, are you blocking for zero on R20/R25 bosses? Are you blocking for 0 on Fu? Are you blocking for 0 on the new Sortie stuff(obviously you can't answer this one yet)?


Depends what you are fighting. Sakpata is nice, but it only has 40acc on it and if you are tanking, you are probably eating defensive food and wearing defensive gear. At just +2 it already has 50+ acc not counting the 33 sword skill, which will only get even higher on the +3. When gearing for an actual DD job, obviously +DA% and STP is going to be optimal because you are gonna be at ACC cap, but none of that matters if you can't hit, and you are less likely to hit on a tank.


I already addressed this. It's only -2.5% on Fetters which the other person pointed out already. You are going to have threat on everything else, so it's going to be 10%. But more importantly, it's SIRD AND more Enmity, meaning you have higher threat retention on your spells. You can argue about idling in it all day, especially the +2, but it's undoubtedly a better SIRD piece for everything but Fetters.


Nothing is going to keep threat off DDs opening with Torcleaver/Savage, and nothing is going to keep threat off DDs in a long-*** fight where everyone is capped threat, this is for general, mid-length fights. You can feel about it however you want, but until it's tested, these are theoretically amazing legs. We can test the +1 now, but considering how much harder you would get hit in them, it may not be good compared to the +2 with DT on it.


No one said otherwise. I SPECIFICALLY said on the legs I would gladly drop 30 MEVA for higher threat retention. I then mentioned that the +3 will completely close the gap in MEVA, making them outright better.

How you know meva will be 30 higher on +3, not +10 for example? I'm pretty sure it's gonna be closer to +10, than +30.

Sakpata has 50Acc with augments, which yes is lower than Empy+2's but the only content I have acc issues on atm is w3 NM's and thats only unless Im missing madrigal and no distract2-3, im at 1300+ acc no food, and I mainly use Omelette Sandwich, which has hp, def, enm and acc.

The body part -dt is my miss tho but -10dt is nice if capped enmity, but since you dont start a fight capped enm you need to factor in other gears overlapping that -dt to be. So it's not something you can count on for a gearset.

And fighting Kalunga which is the only bad Oddy NM(maybe gigel?) I tank on Pld mostly, Brd knows when to ballad me.
And speaking of Kalunga & Gigel that's one NM you dont want to sacrifice Meva for other stats specially with constant dispels.

And Sortie can be lowmanned with trusts atleast this itteration so Acc wont be an issue.

I have no issues with DD's openning fights with Torc or Savage, Flash+Atonement(or JA) on pull and Mob is on me for long enough to establish hate.

Because hate resets and supertanking don't exist anymore I guess.

Also shorter fights where you're not going to reach capped enmity before it's over or you switch to a new mob.

What did I walk into...

We can only have data on the +2 upgrades thus far who knows how far the adjustments on +3 will be when it's released. I think this is a bit premature to call it.

Welp, read the discussion thus far and I disagree on various points. Either way, I'll update the community guide when I've had time to sit down and compare stats and see where the gains and losses are acceptable in my own mind.

If you'd like to help me fill out gear, I can run everything through my optimizer for utility sets. Last time I ran it with initial MLs, was able to get another 8-10% FC out of most sets for example, and with the new body, can probably get a pretty reasonable SIRD set now.

Saw your post about the optimizer and it sounds like a nice idea. I would but my time is pretty limited these days. I'm sure there a few folx who would be up for helping with that though.

it's mostly the accessories that are annoying since you can't filter by 119 only in the ah search and obviously trying to search for augments

It's nice to see acc/attack on everything for engaged but the comparison to Sakpata's is pretty glaring and obvious. I can see wearing head and legs at the same time for a converts MP set for the extra set bonus and enmity retention. That's pretty cool but not fireworks amazing.

It's easy to see why people who have work done in Odyssey aren't blown away. That being said, if sortie is new player friendly and not too expensive to upgrade, then this is an amazing set for people trying to catch up and get to doing Ody.

I do agree to a degree. I'm looking at the PLD Empyrean +2 set across a spectrum and not so much just focusing on the absolute high end of sets.

Also, admittedly, I haven't done much ML/Exemplar partying so I haven't considered the HP differences Master Levels bring.

It also stands to reason that, given the developers description of Sortie is in fact solo friendly for people in Ambuscade gear, it makes sense the +2 set is going to be more effective at the low to mid-gear portions of the population.

I was hoping for +phalanx on the head or body. Ohh well,

Yeah honestly I completely agree with that sentiment. Not having to DM for 3+ is a luxury I do attribute directly to PLD and very minorly to WAR. That does seem like a wasted opportunity. The body having SIRD makes it a really nice spot for Phalanx so you get at least some Phalanx+ if it's a bad fight

Is it possible to floor enemy crit rate?

You can push it below the normal 5% floor(with enemy crit- gear), but there's a hard floor at 1%. Can't push it any lower even with gear.

Hello all,

Just getting back to the game and Master Levels is somewhat new to me. Got PLD to 20 for now, mostly through segment farms for Odyssey.

Question I wanted to ask is, would Srivatsa be a usable option now that ML has been released? It's been sitting on my mog house mannequin and has always just been a lockstyle piece but would love to take it out and use it more than just an enmity piece.

I've seen a video a few months back where my buddy Ruaumoko sticks to Srivatsa / Aegis for his PLD but I wonder if there would ever be a situation where I'd use it over Ochain? My PLD is full time on Ochain unless there's the 5% times I need to use Aegis.

Thanks in advance.

I know this is a controversial topic but I've been explained by people I trust that above ml 20 with enough block chance (jse cape + something more like 3% zwazo) srivatsa is quite useful for tanking very high level mobs. I am not good with mechanics so I'll be honest I just trusted more experienced players. The 150 def is also nice for protect on PLD since it depends on your DEF, so at the very least useful for a macro piece. Also hybrid is quite good. I also use it when I have mobs behind me for any reason and they're more dangerous than whatever I could be blocking in front of me.

on occasion i'll use ochain if the pull is entirely physical and i'm able to line things up in front of me. if anything in the pull casts, i'll use priwen. if i'm unable to line things up, and the pull contains no casters, i'll use srivatsa.

aegis has been in storage for some time now.