PLD not using an Earth Staff? I could care less, but what about a PLD who cannot hold hate? I am by new means an expert on the job, but this PLD IMO had issues.
Zone = Boyada Tree(sp?)
Party(lvl 63-64) = RDM, BRD(me), DRK, PLD, BLM, MNK & THF(the MNK left about an 2 hours after we started and was replaced by the THF)
Target Mob: Crawlers
We started the party in the at the small pond area thats filled with crawlers and darters. We set camp in the water with the DRK pulling. First thing I noticed about the PLD was that he was a mover. Every fight he moved, this *is* a BRD specific complaint, I can't hit my songs properly if people keep moving. However, with a RDM in the PT, I was not to concerned with that. Especially since his MP rarely got below 200. He would flash, but cures were few and far between. As a result, the DRK would often get hate for a good portion of each fight. The DRK ended up tanking about a third of each fight, and he wasn't even using Soul Eater + Last Resort + Beserk Guillotine WS. This being said, we managed to keep the chains going.
Now fast forward an hour or so, and our MNK has to leave. A replacement THF arrives and we change camps to one of the tunnels filled with crawlers. The tunnels have a higher risk factor, as there is a better chance of links and pops at camp. Now the PLD has SATA to help hold hate, and for the first five minutes with the THF, he looked like a different player. His MP was being used, he was using all his skills, and he did not lose hate. We thought perhaps someone else had been playing his character because this was not the same PLD. Unfortunatly he could not sustain this level of play, and he quickly reverted back to his old self. The RDM, upset with the PLD not using MP, began to wait until his HP were near red before healing. I asked the RDM about this and she, "I'm giving him refresh and waiting in an effort to make him use his MP." Although this was an extreme measure IMO, it did force the PLD to heal himself.
At the end of the day the party did OK. Not great XP but not bad. The fact that we did OK made me wonder what could have been. The main things I noticed about this PLD was that he seemed to react to losing hate, instead of constantly trying to stack hate on himeself.
For example, THF SATAs on PLD, mob turns to PLD, DRK hits mob, mob faces DRK, PLD provokes and gets hate, DRK gets hate back, PLD uses Flash.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't it be better to voke and flash directly after SATA, then use your healing and other skills like sheild bash until those are ready to use again? Perhaps this pally had an off night, because I can't see getting through 64 levels if the best you can consistantly do is hold hate for little over half the fight.