A 10-minute PALADIN guide to Dynamis

[Halon50]

All right, you may have noticed I tend to bitch a lot during a Dynamis run. This last run was about PLDs and having to train every new batch we get. Well, in the next 10 minutes of my remaining lunch break, here's the low-down on how to be more effective as PLD in Dynamis than just provoke/flash over and over again.

Normal runs:
1) Try to split up your provoke, flash, and any other single-target hate generating moves across several targets. Unless the pull is small enough, and there are sufficient PLDs to cover each target, mobs that are not grabbed by PLDs (or NINs if there are any) will go directly after the mages once they wake up. This can not happen. A dead mage is ineffective, and will very likely die again while weakened and attempting to help with mob control.

2) Keep non-WHM mobs in a fairly tight group. Sleepga does have a limited range, so keeping everything in a close group helps prevent multiple mages from having to split up and target their sleepgas across several groups.

3) If it's at all possible, when there are 2 or more WHM creatures, try to split them up far enough so that they are out of each others' Benediction range.

4) Hecteyes as BST pets. DEFINITELY keep these hecteyes right next to each other. Try to help the BRDs bunch them up so a single BRD can just Horde Lullaby once for each time they wake up. This will be very important for San d'Oria runs.

5) SMN enemies: If the LS can spare a PLD, and you're that PLD, provoke the summon and get the hell away from the rest of the LS! We've been having problems lately with SMNs blowing their wad all over us, and it's not pretty. It's obviously better to have 1 PLD dead, than 36 people dead.

6) MNK enemies: This can be mixed. MNKs are normally mixed in with several other mob types, especially during Xarcabard runs. Despite this, if at all possible, have one PLD concentrate everything they have on one MNK. Having a 1:1 ratio ensures that the PLD will be ready with Sentinel when the MNK blows its 2hr as the LS fights it. HOWEVER, if you're split between a MNK or 2 or 3 other mobs, try to keep the other mobs' attention until the LS targets your MNK, then throw all you've got into the MNK. Use Invincible as necessary (unless you know you'll be one of the PLDs targetting DL in a Xarcabard run). Speaking of which:

7) Invincible. I don't see PLDs using this, hardly ever. If it's not a Xarcabard run (or if it is and you know you won't be one of the PLDs targetting DL), try to gauge your pt's strength (are your healers out of mp? Is the other PLD dead? Are all the other PLDs in the LS dead?) and FEEL FREE TO USE YOUR 2HR. There's no point in holding your 2hr if you know you won't need it later. As an aside, when I play BRD, I try to pop Soul Voice early enough in a 3hr run so I can use it again later on the zone boss, or farming the tougher end/repop Vanguard.

Xarcabard runs:
1) Always ALWAYS ALWAYS make sure RNG and NIN demons are facing away from the main alliance. If it means you have to focus all your abilities on the RNG or NIN and nothing else, so be it. Being a BLM with 600HP, and getting hit with 3 Hecatomb Waves will kill the BLM.

2) While kiting the NIN or RNG NMs, KITE THEM. Don't just sit still and eat Hecatomb wave after Hecatomb Wave. You can easily stand at max range, and merely back up a yalm or two as soon as you see the message. Instant "Halon is out of range", and no one takes a single point of damage.

3) While kiting ANY DEMON NM, KITE THEM. RDMs BLMs, and even WHMs will ES bind them when possible. Standing in melee range next to a bound NM is pointless, causing you to receive thousands of damage and draining your healers before the LS can even fight the NM.

My lunch is over. To be continued.

EDIT: Added more tips. A tri-tip if you will. Mmmm, beef.

EDIT 2: I should note that all of these tips are doable. I've done them myself as PLD. Of course, I'm an awesome PLD (I've held 5 Hecteyes next to me until a Flare and a Fire IV landed simultaneously), but with a little practice, every PLD can become pretty good too! <3

[Neosutra]

Dont forget
4) "Neosutra wait till the DL is AT the melee to provoke god damnit!".

[Izzy]

Dont forget
4) "Neosutra wait till the DL is AT the melee to provoke god damnit!".
Not even that.

Basically, look at it this way:

Every mob in the game, regardless of the mob works this way. If it is a mob that can cast things, and someone out of melee range pulls hate, the FIRST thing it will do is cast something. Now, if you're a PLD on DL, and you voke it WHEN IT'S NEXT TO YOU, the first thing it is going to do is SWING at you and NOT cast bindga Q_Q.

It's not just you, all of our PLD have done this wrong since we started DL 2 years ago. Either do that, or #2 have the RDM CS stun it when it gets next to the PLD before the PLD even vokes, so it's impossible for him to cast anyways.

[Nerces]

First off, these are all good suggestions and following them will certainly help. But I offer some criticisms of some of the suggestions as someone who has only ever attended Dynamis as a PLD.



1) Try to split up your provoke, flash, and any other single-target hate generating moves across several targets. Unless the pull is small enough, and there are sufficient PLDs to cover each target, mobs that are not grabbed by PLDs (or NINs if there are any) will go directly after the mages once they wake up. This can not happen. A dead mage is ineffective, and will very likely die again while weakened and attempting to help with mob control.

If there ever is a pull where the 3-5 PLDs can't handle the mobs in this way, then it's difficult to have a single Flash or Provoke keep a mob's attention. Since there will be BRDs, RDMs, BLMs all spamming some form of Sleep, they could easily end up generating more hate than the PLDs. A solution here is the use of Warcry, but I usually end up dying after because 5-6 things are beating on me.



2) Keep non-WHM mobs in a fairly tight group. Sleepga does have a limited range, so keeping everything in a close group helps prevent multiple mages from having to split up and target their sleepgas across several groups.

3) If it's at all possible, when there are 2 or more WHM creatures, try to split them up far enough so that they are out of each others' Benediction range.

4) Hecteyes as BST pets. DEFINITELY keep these hecteyes right next to each other. Try to help the BRDs bunch them up so a single BRD can just Horde Lullaby once for each time they wake up. This will be very important for San d'Oria runs.

Keeping all mobs together, certain types together, certain types separate: these are really out of a PLD's control sometimes. On a big pull or a link you might miss a few mobs without realizing it or they might resist the first attempt at sleeping. Many times I try to drag eyes, statues, WHMs away from the alliance when we get too many to handle at once. But either they get stopped smack in the middle or someone else provokes it and it runs off after hitting me once or twice. This also happens when I try to get RNG and NIN Demons to face away from the groups.

Although it might be worth pointing out that sometimes not all the PC models are loaded on-screen and we might not realize that there are people standing near us or between us and the Demon, for example.



3) While kiting ANY DEMON NM, KITE THEM. RDMs BLMs, and even WHMs will ES bind them when possible. Standing in melee range next to a bound NM is pointless, causing you to receive thousands of damage and draining your healers before the LS can even fight the NM.

There are two things to consider here if the mobs are not NIN or RNG. First off, you need movement speed + eq to actually be able to kite them. I, for one, do not have crimson legs. Second, if you stand still then you have a chance at blocking or parrying the attack, which is much better than constantly taking damage as you run. Also, as far as Bind is concerned, there have been a few cases lately where someone says, "BTW, Duke NoValorSurcoat has been bound," right before bind actually wears because he/she/it/huh didn't announce right away that Bind was successful.

[Carmisse]

Also, as far as Bind is concerned, there have been a few cases lately where someone says, "BTW, Duke NoValorSurcoat has been bound," right before bind actually wears because he/she/it/huh didn't announce right away that Bind was successful.


I call bullshit on this.

Anyone who has casted Bind would know that, especially on Xarcabard NMs, there are many, many, many times where right when you announce it's landed, that shit wears right off (and this is in the span of like 3-5 seconds between casting > seeing it land > typing that it's landed > wear off).

One way to counter this is to use ES which may or may not make Bind last a few more seconds. Then again it depends if you're lucky in that another RDM hasn't done that yet so you don't waste your ES.

[Halon50]

Demons move slightly slower than flee speed, so even movement boost items don't help. The idea with kiting is, once the demon NM is bound, you won't be next to it to get hit any more.

On the WHM mob thing, WHMs are targetted last. This is enough time for the provoker to see if there's other WHM enemies around, and start to gradually move them apart for each time they wake up. Hell, even if you're at max spell range, it helps - moving out of range of Diaga or Banishga before it lands saves that much more MP.

I do agree it can be difficult to split up provoke and Flash. However, a PLD with any +Enmity gear will hold more hate than any mage casting Sleepga, so it'll take 2 or 3 sleepgas (or perhaps the PLD getting hit a few times) before the mob will turn away from you and start chasing mages. The basic idea is, if you're wayyyy the hell forward or behind the linkshell and holding a single mob, don't just sit there and wonder why it's not being slept - move it back to the group.

[Halon50]

The only way for an ES Bind to wear off within a second or two of landing, is if someone hits the bound mob or casts a damaging spell on it. Even Bio2 will break bind. These demon NMs don't have enough Bind spells cast on them for their resist bind trait to build up to the point where ES Bind is resisted.

[Izzy]

The only way for an ES Bind to wear off within a second or two of landing, is if someone hits the bound mob or casts a damaging spell on it. Even Bio2 will break bind. These demon NMs don't have enough Bind spells cast on them for their resist bind trait to build up to the point where ES Bind is resisted.
My ES bind wears off in 5 seconds. You're wrong.

[Liche]

I will have to agree with Izzy on this one, my regular bind without seal wears off almost instantly on blm, and with ES, it doesn't last very long either.

[Halon50]

The only way for an ES Bind to wear off within a second or two of landing, is if someone hits the bound mob or casts a damaging spell on it. Even Bio2 will break bind. These demon NMs don't have enough Bind spells cast on them for their resist bind trait to build up to the point where ES Bind is resisted. 1

[Izzy]

1

You are wrong. I highly doubt that a PLD kiting a mob around at 100% HP had something to break it's bind done to it...

You're not always right.

[Robhighman]

A few of my concerns on this.

One is that a pld needs to stand far away from mobs that cast. This is a helpful idea but its way to hard to tell if the mob is being held by sleep or by a pld if they are not on top of it. I know personally, I like seeing a mob with a pld right on top of it that way I know its being contained by a tank and not by a mage who cast sleep. Also we have shield bash for any ga spell we see being casted and any single target spell we can just cure ourselves for more hate.

With a large pull I try to grab 1-2 unclaimed mobs I see running after the puller to save him/her from death. Sometimes more but that can be risky. I think i had 4 eyes on me when they got us at the begining and yeah, 4 eyes casting....I died. Sometimes I end up grabbing a whm and war, no time to pick and choose mobs just get ones that are unclaimed and running after puller. Once I have got 2 I cannot seperate them if i have hate on both unless i chose to lose hate on one due to sleep hate and grab another to replace it. The whm usually does not Beni until it has been damaged and we do them last so a whm and war next to each other should be ok. I could be wrong about them not Benidictioning while at 100%HP but I have not seen it so far.

As far as astral flow goes, usually don't have enough pld's to spare to grab pet and run. If pet is slept then its all good. SMN are the first we target i believe, right? Astral flow should not be a problem, ever! I know last Xarc run we got bombed some how, not sure exactly how but pretty sure its because pet was unslept. Being that SMN are first targeted usually all plds have another mob held cuz pulls are almost always bigger than 4-5 mobs.

When it comes to binds on the NM's in Xarc. I know for a fact, every NM I was kiting was being beat on but at least 1-3 ppl while others were on main targeted NM. No clue why ppl were on my mob being kited but i promise you thats how it was. Also evrey NM i grabbed was at about 98%-92% from the start. Not sure why it was not 100% but all that i saw was, it was damaged from the get go. Late ga maybe? DoT damage? Ppl mistargeting? I think the mob being below 100% made ppl think it was time to kill that one instead of using targeting macro.

One last thing is that I was told I have too many gear change macros. I have a rampart gear swap (Valor head makes rampart last longer), Sentinel swap (Valor feet take ALOT less damage with sentintel), Shield bash macro for +bash gear and last gear swaps are for cures. I swap in Valor head again for +10 healing magic instead of -7 mnd and +5% potency earring. This is for cure 3 and 4 only. I was kiting a mob being beaten on and had to stop to cure to stay alive but failed. Didn't catch any previous to me casting my own cure but this caused the mages to not target me cuz i swaped curing gears. Rampart and sentinel marcos are staying for sure but i removed the cure and shield bash gear swaps to plz whm. What ever it takes to keep me alive will be better for everyone else.

Hope you enjoyed the book of Rob

[Izzy]

They're missing HP because of the initial ga spells Rob lol.

[Halon50]

Personally, I do try to get a Bio2 and Poison2 on the NMs as they pass by on their way to the puller or PLDs. Unless it's bound, there's no reason to not have those spells on.

[plusx]

Personally, I do try to get a Bio2 and Poison2 on the NMs as they pass by on their way to the puller or PLDs. Unless it's bound, there's no reason to not have those spells on.


Umm .. no offense, but aren't you completely destroying your own point here Halon? Whats the point of even having the blms cast bind if you are Doting the mobs. We dont kite these mobs to kill them, we kite them to keep the at bay while one NM is killed off.

[Jayiiq]

DoT won't break Bind. The initial cast of Bio II will as it does damage as well. Poison II will never break Bind. There's not much reason not to put DoT on the NMs as they're kited. It only helps. The only exception is the NIN and SMN NMs as taking damage might cause them to 2hr while being kited, which would cause problems.

[Halon50]

Of course, both NIN and SMN NM's don't actually use their 2hr until they're under 20% hp....

[Jayiiq]

That's only the way it usually happens. Ninjas have used Mijin Gakure at higher HP. I'll admit not at 80-90% HP. I'd just rather not tempt fate.

[Caladan]

lol for all complaining about this post it common sense lmao... it i what you ARE suppose to do. (and I have been a pld in dynamis) voke one flash a second and use abilities to cement hate on both or find you rdm dirrectly after he casts sleepga sent, ramp, war, defender to pull all of his/her hate... (this should only be done when you have a bit between pulls) and about bind on nms only thing it gives you is the ability to cast A cure IV and A flash so if youe whm is paying attention its not really a concern cause you sghould be voking and flashing as stuff comes up anyway.


btw I'm back thank god I gotta miss this sunday but after that I'll be coming to runs agian

[Juma]

It's not just you, all of our PLD have done this wrong since we started DL 2 years ago.

lies!

[Izzy]

lies!.
OH I'M SORRY THIS THREAD WAS FOR PEOPLE WHO PLAY WHICH NOW MEANS YOU HAVE TO START PLAYING AGAIN LOL AMIRITE?!?!

[Zapper]

I have to agree with Juma...Lies!!

[Izzy]

I have to agree with Juma...Lies!!
Holy shit you must have been bored...

I reactivated your character, it's good for the next 3 days lol.