September 7th (Today)

Maintenance will be from 10 AM to 6 PM PST

Updates will not affect game once maintenance is over

September 9th

Maintenance will take place however you will be able to play Final Fantasy XI. After 3PM, you will need to download an update. Again, this will not affect the game.

September 13th

Maintenance will be from 10 AM to 4 PM PST

The July-August announcements will be in affect. Stuff like Etudes being single target and Utsusemi getting removed by an AoE will be in effect after this update.

This will be it for planned updates up towards CoP's release and European release. There will be a separate update when you install CoP and run it for the first time.

Oh. And here I thought I only needed to buy Raise after Sept 21st...Oh well. It's not like it's expensive and can't pass buy Selbina...

Letting paladins have raise at level 50 is retarded anyway, most races wont have enough mp for it until around level 75 anyway.

Originally posted by crayzieman
Letting paladins have raise at level 50 is retarded anyway, most races wont have enough mp for it until around level 75 anyway.

Well apparently you know next to nothing about Paladins. Even Elvaans that have the second lowest MP have over 150 MP at around level 46. Do you really think Square Enix would be stupid enough to give a spell to a class that wouldn't have enough MP to cast it ? Having Raise is not going to be extremely useful to us, but at least it has better uses than, say, Banish or Holy.

And besides, what's wrong with having a few more potential raisers ? That's always useful.

I'm used to playing with non-crap Galka paladins, which is the best paladin class. :P

Originally posted by crayzieman
I'm used to playing with non-crap Galka paladins, which is the best paladin class. :P

Galkas ? The best Paladins ??? Heh.


I'm a hume and all told me I'm better than most Galka Paladins they had...


Yeah, Galka are tough, but at higher levels you need a lot of MP to keep hate, and they are sadly lacking in that department. For this reason, I don't think they're that good as Paladins, they'd best be Warriors or Monks.

Humes and Elvaans would be better choices. Humes may have a bit less VIT, but it's still average enough and they have good MND and MP. Elvaans are between Galkas and Humes, and because of that they look like they're made for that job.

Tarutarus are the total opposite of Galkas, they can hold hate easily with all their MP, but they're a bit weak.

As for Mithras, I don't really see why they'd be Paladins when they're better suited for Thieves, Rangers or Samurais...oh well.

Mithra PLD = Evasion = hold hate.
maybe.

ps Galka and Taru PLDs are pwnz j00.

Originally posted by PlasmaTorture
Mithra PLD = Evasion = hold hate.
maybe.

ps Galka and Taru PLDs are pwnz j00.


lol Yeah, whatever. My whole LS and I prefer the Humes for Paladins. Oh well.

Being able to take damage well is the staple of being able to hold hate well. Galka are the best at taking damage. All you need is a rdm or a a pld that has decent skills in staff and Galka are better than any other class for paladin.

Originally posted by crayzieman
Being able to take damage well is the staple of being able to hold hate well. Galka are the best at taking damage. All you need is a rdm or a a pld that has decent skills in staff and Galka are better than any other class for paladin.


Wrong, the player himself must be any good. And so that is why a lot of Humes may outshine a Galka at tanking.


The "staple" to holding hate is actually Provoking and Curing and using all those hate building abilities. Being able to take less damage is just one part of it. Else they'd be no good Taru Paladins.

OK so the preliminary update has taken place. No changes to gameplay yet as was said before, but an update must be downloaded to play. This download was estimated to take 40-90 mins depending on connection; however, even on my 56k dialup the whole thing took less than 25 mins. I talked with some Broadband and dsl users who said it only took them 2-5 mins. I say hoorah for less than expected downtime. I only hope the next update is as light.

Indeed, I noticed it went quite fast , about 2 minutes, I was surprised.

The paladins I play with hardly ever need to cure themselves. Being able to take damage is a major factor in holding hate, trust me. It's one of the only reasons why ninja's are even half way decent at holding hate. Since they never, or rarely, get hit the mon hardly ever turns away from them. Taking more damage makes you lose hate. That's why using things like earth staff and jelly ring are good in xp parties (a total of -25% physical damage taken).

About the only thing the paladin in our linkshell (who is the single best paladin on the whole server, japanese included) has to use to keep hate is usualy just flash and provoke. He rarely uses defender or rampart unless he really needs to pull agro and he will toss in a cure 3 on himself every now and again, but only maybe 2 or 3 times per battle at the most.

Think of it this way: Povoke draws say... 100 hate or whatever... flash another 100... defender 100, cure 3 yourself 120 or so.. thats 420. A mob hits you for 200 you are down to 220, etc. I'm sure that calculation is different then that and there's other things to take into account like enmity+ and shit, but thats the gist of it. Take less damage, you lose less hate.

Originally posted by crayzieman


About the only thing the paladin in our linkshell (who is the single best paladin on the whole server, japanese included) has to use to keep hate is usualy just flash and provoke. He rarely uses defender or rampart unless he really needs to pull agro and he will toss in a cure 3 on himself every now and again, but only maybe 2 or 3 times per battle at the most.



Let me guess, he's a Galka ? Well, I'm hume and I do about the same thing (barring Rampart, I don't have it yet) and can hold hate just as well, keeping the mob glued on me for entire fights. The only difference ? I take a bit more damage and so I need to cure mabye once or twice more but I hold hate just as well. The best tank is not the one that takes the less damage, it's the one that keeps the mob glued on him. Period. A Ninja that doesn't get hit doesn't generate more hate, it just doesn't go down. No, actually, it does, because Provoke's effect diminushes over time.

Galkas don't have as much MP so they can't use as much hate-holding abilities, therefore they can't be the "best" tanks. Healing generates more hate than taking damage, so since a Hume needs more healing, he generates more hate and keeps it more easily.

Taking less or no damage is better for keeping hate then having to heal yourself. Taking less damage is more consistent then having to heal yourself. There's always the chance of your heal getting interrupted or completely stopped (by silence, etc) Also if you have to heal yourself that probably means the whm needs to heal you more too, gathering unneeded hate for the whm.

I don't see why you are arguing with me on this anyway, the proof is with ninja's. They take little to no damage, thus they can keep hate decently (I never said good, but my point is still relevant). If they were actually getting hit by the mob they wouldn't be able to keep hate at all, but the fact that they don't, or rarely do, shows that taking little to no damage is better for keeping hate.

You really must not party with people that go all out. My point will become apparent once you get higher in level and rangers get things like sidewinder and BLM's can burst for 1000+. Just wait, you'll see :)

Originally posted by crayzieman
Taking less or no damage is better for keeping hate then having to heal yourself. Taking less damage is more consistent then having to heal yourself. There's always the chance of your heal getting interrupted or completely stopped (by silence, etc) Also if you have to heal yourself that probably means the whm needs to heal you more too, gathering unneeded hate for the whm.

I don't see why you are arguing with me on this anyway, the proof is with ninja's. They take little to no damage, thus they can keep hate decently (I never said good, but my point is still relevant). If they were actually getting hit by the mob they wouldn't be able to keep hate at all, but the fact that they don't, or rarely do, shows that taking little to no damage is better for keeping hate.

You really must not party with people that go all out. My point will become apparent once you get higher in level and rangers get things like sidewinder and BLM's can burst for 1000+. Just wait, you'll see :)

I'm already starting to see what you mean about the BLM and RNGs. Yet they don't have to hold back as much with a Paladin than with a Ninja. Ninjas can't make hate go high, they're good at making it not go down. Paladins have their hate go down, but are much better at getting it very high. So, just time the next Provoke and Flash right along with a Cure III and even a Freeze MB can be tanked without much of a problem. I know I can, I managed to keep hate on a Freeze MB (although only once or twice, most of the time I'd have to Cover the BLM to give me time to gain hate back), so I know it's possible. It's all in the timing.

The reason why I'm "arguing" (which isn't really arguing) is that so far I've never met any Galka Paladin that were any better than me or any other Hume Paladin I've met. And you'd think after reaching level 50 I've seen at least once if they're that much better than anyone else. And also, I've heard a few LS members complain about how a Galka Paladin in their party can't hold hate.

Also, while I'm far from doubting your Paladin friend's abilities, saying that he is "the best" on the whole server is quite pretentious, no matter how you look at it.

That's pretty much why I don't understand what's so great about Galka Paladins...I still think they're better as Warriors or Monks. I've always believed the best Paladin is the one that keeps the hate better and that is due to the best balance of VIT, MND and MP and in my book, it is the Humes.

There's ways for making up for the lack of MP. Like I said, simply making sure you have a RDM in the party is usualy enough. Also, getting good with a staff helps too, because once you get Spirit Taker you have almost an endless supply of MP. Spirit Taker does damage and gives you MP based on how much damage you do. It usualy does anywhere from 80-200 damage as well, even with defender and sentinal.

I've found that people tend to be biased, simply because they picked what race/job they have, and love it.
I myself started out the game, back when it was released for PC in North America, with the intention of becoming an uber Dragoon. At the time, I didn't know just how gimped the job was, but it still remains my favorite, simply because I've loved Dragoons since FF4.
Anywho, it's the abilities of the player, and the party that matter.
For example, I've partied with Paladins of all races, many times, in and outside of my Linkshell. Again and again, I've found that a shitty player, is a shitty player, despite race. And on the other side of the spectrum, and great player is a great player, despite race.
Then of course, there are the abilities of the party itself you are in, and of course, the mobs you are fighting.
A Galka PLD can be awesome, IF the player knows how to play the job, and IF the party knows how to compensate for a lack of Galka MP. Same basically goes for any other race, just that what needs to be compensated is different.
All in all, it doesn't really matter what job and race are picked. I've had just as many bad Hume PLD as I have good ones, just as with any given race. In the end, other than a balanced party, it comes down to you and your party's ability to play the jobs well, despite race.

Sometimes which race you are matters, sometimes it doesn't.. I could ive just as many situations where it does as i could for when it doesn't. Race really starts to matter once you start fighting HNM's and gods and whatnot. A taru paladin would get eaten alive by a god as well as a ninja galka.

There's sometimes where race comes into play even early in the game.. a mithra or taru mnk at level 10 would'nt be able to do shit for damage, and I know this out of personal experiance. I have a mithra alt that I have as a mnk right now (with the best possible gear for the level) and she can't do shit for damage.

People who say 100% of the time that race doesn't matter haven't ever really tried to compare or haven't been in a situation where race obviously does matter.

It matters more often then you might think.

Update is comlete barring some emergency maintainance taking place this afternoon. Check the information section in your playonline viewer for full details.

Supposedly BLM's will now have the ability to use Scythes but I have not yet found one I am able to equip, more as the story developes.