Well met, Paladin players! For all those pursuing the PLD job, you’ll find a pleasant amount of basic information and FAQs in our Paladin Basics Guide. Read on if you’re expecting to learn about unlocking PLD, Paladin Job Identity, trait and skill list, crafters and gatherers related to PLD, and link to other important Paladin info!
Paladin is a Tank job, one of the original nine jobs introduced in the game in 2.0 A Realm Reborn. PLD came out alongside Warrior as the only other tank at the time.
How to become a Paladin? Unlocking PLD:
First and foremost you need to have a Level 30 Gladiator, and have completed the L30 GLD class quest, “The Rematch”. After doing this you can unlock the actual quest to become a Paladin, “Paladin’s Pledge”, which can be found in the Gladiator’s guild, from Lulutsu (Ul’Dah – Steps of Thal).
You also have to complete a Level 20 MSQ, “Sylph Management”, which realistically should be completed by the time you’re looking to unlock Paladin.
Note that upon completing the Paladin’s Pledge, you MUST EQUIP the “Soul of the Paladin” to actually formally BECOME a PLD. Interestingly, in the old days, unlocking Paladin required L15 Conjurer – that’s no longer the case.
Rushing to or want to know how to unlock a certain class? Learn more:
FFXIV Job Unlock & Requirements Guide.
Paladin Playstyle & PLD Job Identity
If you’ve asked yourself, “Why play, try, or choose Paladin?” – here’s my attempt at selling you the PLD class.
The “Tank above all tanks”, Paladins are the el basic el beef personification of the MMORPG Tank. Like having both a physical melee and ranged magical component in your rotation? Godly defensive raid and personal utility skills? Read on.
PLDs are the de facto default tank choice IMO. While their DPS capabilities aren’t historically best among tanks, the sheer safety and utility of having one is a huge boon for your groups success chances. The ranged portion of their rotation can be extremely useful when you have to be away from your target.
Aesthetically and thematically, FFXIV’s PLD rumbles in as a strong representation of a TATANKA for those beef freaks out there. They give off that typical “Holy Knight” vibe, which many connect with. A bit of trivia? For nearly a decade now, they’re the only tank class with an actual shield…
What Crafters & Gatherers should Paladin level?
While it’s common in MMORPG’s to think you want to craft your own gear as you level up your PLD… I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT.
Leveling up your DoH and DoL jobs should be thought of as a different activity completely. To be honest, if you’re a newer player, simply ensure that you DO NOT OVERCAP Levequests (always have less than 100).
The only relation a combat job has to a crafter or gatherer class is “which classes do you need to repair your gear”? My advice, ultimately, is pretty much all or nothing – level up all DoH classes in tandem. As a separate project, level up all DoL classes in tandem (with the optional Fisher).
What’s the best race for Paladin?
Racial stats are (was?) a thing. However, I highly recommend not caring about it. The difference in performance between the “best” and “worst” race for you is not even 0.1%.
My advice? Pick for aesthetics. Will you stay the same job forever? If you change mains, will you race change? Ultimately, the difference is so microscopic that I cannot in good faith tell you that racial stats are an integral part of your character.
I won’t even link the Racial Stats Guide, as I haven’t checked up on this in a while – and I don’t want to cement the idea that the “best race” really matters.
Related Paladin Guides – Read More!
Here are a few useful links for you:
- General Leveling Guide for ALL combat classes / jobs
- Gladiator Basics Guide & FAQ
- Gladiator Leveling Guides
- Adding new links as we update them!
Upcoming Odds and Ends
Here’s a few things we’ll be adding on here in the near future:
- Adding a “links to further resources”, we’re doing a site restructure so once those links are set, they’ll go in here.
- Human-readable, newbie-friendly skill and trait list.
> I used to have the in-game skill list here, but I found it useless as the in-game one is better… I’d rather have a new player friendly rundown. - More descriptive job identity? Pics?
> I dunno… pictures of the job gauges? A gif of some flashy skills? - Feel free to suggest anything else via comment or socials!
Summary & Outro
Well that’s about it for a really, really basic guide that hopefully points some lost souls in the right direction, or answers some of your questions regarding Paladin.
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