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Paladin: Guide to PLD/NIN tanking by Thycian

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About this guide

I wrote this guide, cause i wanted to put together all informations I have about the new wave of /nin tanking Paladins. This is only recommended for HNM and god fights. In exp parties you won't get hit that hard and need a fast hate producer like Provoke. So all things described in this guide refer to Lv.75 Paladins. I hope i get alot of feedback and suggestions to become better. I apologize for my bad english, it is not my native language. Please tell me of any mistakes. I hope you like it. Thycian

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How to tank as PLD/NIN

Some people may call this guide "Paladins want to be Ninjas". In some ways this is true. There are a lot of things you have to do like a Ninja would. But on the other hand you do it completely different.

PLD/NIN when geared correctly is the most powerful tank in the game, there is nothing a good PLD/NIN cannot tank with the right support.

First of all forget VIT and DEF. Your main goal has to be keeping up the shadows and holding hate. So you have to focus on Haste for shorter recast timers on everything, Enmity for more hate and HP in case shadows are down and you're being hit.

How do I keep up my shadows?

First off all, stack as much Haste as you can get to shorten the recast time of Utsusemi spells, but don't forget that Haste caps at 50%, with Dual March and the haste spell, PLD/NIN needs 15% haste (Or Fast cast) from their gear to reach this cap. So if you already reached the cap, focus on Enmity/HP/MP in the remaining slots.

To shorten the casting time use Fast Cast items. There are two for Paladin: Loquacious Earring and Homam Cosciales. Fast Cast also shortens the recast timer.

Use a shield. You have the Dual Wield ability, but it is more useful to use a shield. If you block an attack with your shield while casting a spell, you wont get interrupted. Make a macro to switch in Shield Skill+ items in case you are not able of getting shadows up.

How do I hold hate?

You don't have Provoke, meaning you'll miss your best hate producer. But on the other hand you won't lose as much HP as you would as /war. Losing HP always means losing hate also. Note that over a long fight you will hold hate better as you would as /war. Believe it or try it.

Stack Enmity+ items and macro them in for any spells and job abilities. I don't like to switch visible armor, because its harder for healers to target me, but that's up to you.

Use Flash as soon as it is ready. With capped Haste you can shorten your recast timer for Flash down to 22.5 seconds, this essentially doubles the hate in the same period of time.

Another good hate producers are your Cures. Cure yourself or your Alliance member if they get hit by AoE's or take other damage, a good tip is to watch your co-tank like a hawk, if his HP drops you can cure it for hate, this is not only beneficial to you but to your co-tank also, as if he is getting hit his shadows are down and he is in trouble. Cure IV does more hate than Cure III but needs more MP and time to cast, however since it cures double the HP, it is basically double the hate, and also less mp cost than 2 Cure IIIs. Use it situationally. Some PLD/NIN have a macro with -HP gear. Switching between this and their tanking gear results in loosing some HP which can be cured with a Cure III or Cure IV for additional hate.

Get Atonement. Like Spirits Within its magical based but not elemental. Damage is calculated based on the accumulated hate you gain. This means that the more hate you have the more damage you do. At 100% TP you can do up to 720 dmg resulting in additional hate. Use a Weaponskill like Spirits Within for initial hate at the start of a fight or save TP untill you get enough hate.

Tank Party Setup

PLD/NIN, PLD/NIN, BRD, RDM, WHM, X

The BRD will cast his two March songs, RDM for Refresh and Haste, WHM to keep you alive. The last spot could be any job you like. Maybe a WHM, COR or a second BRD for additional buffs like Ballad.

Macro suggestions

Have macros for each gear set, HP, Enmity, Full haste, Idle, Engaged, MP, MDB, and macro these in for spells/Job abilities.

For Flash, prioritize Haste over Enmity, as 50% haste yields the same effect as +100 enmity, and the cap is +100 enmity.

As stated earlier, having a HP+ macro is incredibly useful for when you need an extra hate boost and your MP is good.

Merit suggestions

I only mention PLD/NIN tanking related merits here. The ones in parantheses I did not merit cause i had no points left, but are good options too.

HP/MP

I did 4 on both, but that's my personal preference. Be sure to max out this category.

Combat skills

  • Shield Skill If you did not merit it yet, do it. It's the most important skill you have.

Others

Paladin

  • Shield Bash Recast This ability is a good hate producer. The more often you can use it, the more hate you get.
  • Sentinel Recast Sentinel should be 5/5, +100 enmity for 30 seconds is godly.
  • Fealty Great Ability to reduce or block the effect from special attacks, such like Mortal Ray or Meteor.
  • Chivalry This is a good way to use your TP. Your WS won't do much damage.
  • Guardian When merited 5/5 it reduces Volatile Enmity decay by 95%, this means that you only lose 90 VE over the 1800 you would normally loose, and that is a lot.
  • (Rampart Recast Great to reduce magical damage.)

Source entry: Paladin: Guide to PLD/NIN tanking by Thycian. Cached on this server on 5 November 2026.

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