Tier III Einherjar

Overview

Now I find that more and more these days, people are asking me about strategies for Einherjar, as it is a very popular event and one of the most liked in the game.  Tier I and II are usually always manageable, but the majority of people come to me to ask about Tier III.  When we stopped doing Einherjar in ApkalluVendetta, we had 14 Odin's under our belt and we had become highly efficient when it came to clearing zones most people would consider difficult. 

Whilest I can't offer you specific strategy to win every time, I can offer general advice, setups and boss tips that should give you the edge when it comes to Tier III Einherjar.  Let us begin our magical journey through the Einherjar world.

Pulling

This is the most basic question when it comes to any Einherjar.  Who should pull?  Most people assume a PLD should pull.  While this is a solid choice, you don't need it to be a PLD.  Most of the time, PLD isn't necessary AT ALL in Einherjar.  The only time somebody should come PLD is if they don't have any other useful jobs.  If you do have a PLD available, make sure he isn't as dumb as a rock and he can pull.  

If you don't have a PLD, the next best thing is a RDM.  Preferably one who doesn't have to worry about curing an entire party of DD's.  Bringing a RDM/DRK and putting them in a BLM PT is nominal here.  The RDM/DRK can pull.  Sometimes he'll die, but if he does it's not that big of a deal, since he only really has to Refresh BLMs anyway.  If he does happen to die, send a BRD to pull while the RDM breaks weakness.

Pulls have to be fast and furious.  Not saying you should go out there trying to link every mob you can.  Keep the groups of mobs manageable.  When the DD's and BLM's are fighting the last one or two, go pull some more.  There should be very little downtime (None if possible) between pulls.

As always, I recommend getting somebody you TRUST to pull.  One mistake can easily screw up a perfectly manageable clear.  I know because I've messed up before.  Don't take pulling lightly.  It makes or breaks a run.

Setup

This is the bane of many LS's existance.  They go in with a subpar setup.  Having the proper setup can faciliate a run in ways you've never imagined.  No, strategies like "All melee" or "All mage" don't work.  A nice mix is essential to getting consistant clears.  The ideal 30-36 person run should look similar to this.

Melee Party #1
WAR/SAM
WAR/SAM
WAR/NIN
BRD/WHM
COR/WHM
WHM/SCH

Melee Party #2
SAM/WAR
SAM/WAR
DRK/SAM
BRD/WHM
COR/WHM
WHM/SCH

Melee Party #3
WAR/NIN
WAR/NIN
DRG/SAM
WAR/SAM
WHM/SCH
BRD/WHM

Black Mage Party #1
BLM/WHM
BLM/WHM
BLM/WHM
BLM/WHM
BRD/WHM
COR/WHM

Black Mage Party #2
BLM/WHM
BLM/WHM
BLM/WHM
BLM/WHM
RDM/DRK
BRD/WHM

Black Mage Party #3
BLM/WHM
BLM/WHM
BLM/WHM
BLM/WHM
COR/WHM
BRD/WHM

If you ever managed to get this near perfect setup, you should feel VERY comfortable.  Of course, common sense applies here.  Most support jobs in all 6 parties can be interchanged.  The only thing I would highly recommend is having 3 healers/support jobs in the melee parties.  I find that one healer and one support can run out of MP really fast, especially if you get an unlucky set of mobs. 

While I realize most people are never going to get this close to a perfect setup, it's still very possible to clear on a consistant basis with fewer people. For these situations, I recommend 2 BLM PTs and 2 Melee parties at least.  Any less than that and you might be in trouble if you are looking for a decent success rate.  The overall key is to keep it balanced.

General Advice

Refreshs in the BLM PT's can be interchanged as well, depending on what you have.  I highly urge you to keep a RDM/DRK in one of them though, as they come in handy for the Khim/Cerb/Hydra bosses.

Obviously, I suggest using your BEST MELEES.  Don't be putting some WAR/SAM in there that doesn't know how to play their damn job.  DRG is nice for Angon, but it can be neglected if you don't have a suitable DRG that doesn't suck.  

Use one of the WAR/NIN's as the /assist.  Have them Provoke so the WAR/SAM's dont have to do it and Seigan tank. 

BLM's should be nuking proverbial balls after mobs are put to sleep, only resting when they need MP.  With a powerhouse setup like this,  all or most of the mobs should be dead before the first Sleepga wears off.  Sub for BLM doesn't really matter.  I like them to have Reraise though, so I tell them /WHM.  One BLM in each party can be exchanged for a SCH if they are available.

The most common mistake is telling all your melee to sub NIN.  It really is a waste, especially since SAMs and /SAMs can Seigan if they really need to.  You will also have 3 healers/support jobs in each melee party to keep everybody cured and status ailment free.  You are losing so much power telling everybody to sub NIN.  Keep a few WAR/NINs to be assist and backup but that should be it. 

The question I get more often than not is whether or not BRDs should rotate.  My answer is usually this:  If you find that you can do it WITHOUT constant mistake, go for it.  If you keep messing up the order and/or the BRD's cant focus on sleeping mobs (Especially mobs that can only be light slept), just save the rotation for the boss.  We have never had to rotate BRD's for normal mobs in Einherjar, it is not necessary in any way to be consistantly successful in Tier III.  However, we ALWAYS rotate 3 BRD's with Soul Voice/Troubador for the boss.  You should prepare for rotating 3 BRDs for the boss at the very least.

Use ONE /assist.  You don't need two and it creates a headache, especially if you get some spammy mobs.  You'll clear the mobs just as fast using one assist.  If you manage to get even close to the mentioned 36 person setup, mobs should die in seconds.  Just hope you have a fast assist to keep the pace up.

Try to seperate mages from melee.  Don't all try to crowd in the corner leaving all 36 of you to get hit with a stupid AoE move.  There is PLENTY of room to spread out along the wall (So long as you actually hug the wall).  Try to limit the amount of people getting hit with AoE's, it is a huge MP saver and you can focus on killing, rather than not dying.   I find that most people need constant reminders of this, especially since mobs will run to mages a lot.  If you find that everybody gets grouped up again after a few mobs, yell at them to get the hell away from each other. 

BLM's should stun as often as possible.  You should have at least 6 BLM's, regardless of how many people you have total.  Tell them to stun everytime it is up.  With 9 BLMs and a DRK stunning everytime it is up, you will really limit the amount of TP moves a mob will use.  I don't think I need to tell you why that is important.  Like the last bit of advice I gave you, I find that people need reminded of this pretty frequently.  If you find that nobody is stunning anymore, just say something about it in LS.  They'll start doing it again.

In my experiences, I have found that BRD's are a little more squishy than BLM's.  If BRD's are the only thing that can sleep a particular group of mobs, KEEP THEM ALIVE. Keeping them alive is priority.  

No, bombs aren't immune to Stun.  Stun lands 50% of the time.  Don't abandon stunning Self Destruction because it WILL end up in failure.  Have everybody and their mother try and stun that shit and you will survive.  Usually Bombs only last long enough to ready one or two TP moves.  Just have to hope stun timers are back up by the time another Self Destruction comes around. 

Going along with the same theme, you may run into mobs that resist Sleepga AND lullaby.  I usually find that again, the resist rate is about 50% for both.  Keep trying and you should be able to land it.  Repose and Light Shots can come in handy here as well, utilize them.  Wolfs and single/triple Bombs are notorious for this.  

Quick thinking is a must.  If a highly undesireable set of mobs pops, just don't stand there and shit your pants thinking of what to do.  Get out there and pull those bastards.  Remember, the more mobs that pop, the less HP they have.  You CAN do it.  Just don't give up because you get a shitty group of mobs.  Keep pulling and keep killing and you will be surprised.  There have been a few times where we have gotten the max amount of mobs possible and we cleared the entire chamber with more than 5 minutes left.   It's not hard, just tell everybody to keep their cool.


Boss Strategies

Vampyr Jarl

Probably one of the easiest bosses here.  Rotate 3 Soul Voiced BRD's and zerg the piss out of him.  Have somebody keep track of the time, because 2 minutes after engaging, he will split into either a bunch of bats or hounds.  The RDM/DRK can Chainspell and Stun at the 1:45 mark to prevent him from splitting.  Usually he will die really fast, especially with powerhouse melee's zerging his ass. 

If you can't manage to finish him off in the alloted amount of time, he will change into a bunch of bats or hounds.  You have to kill the right one for him to change back into the Vampyr.  It's random which one it is, just keep killing until he changes back.  Finish him off after this.  I'm not sure if the bats or hounds can be slept.  I think they just run around hitting random people.  If I remember correctly, they aren't THAT threatening anyway.

Easy.

Freke, Gorgimera & Stoorworm

A step up in difficulty from the Vampyr, but still pretty easy.  Same basic strategy applies when taking them on.  Rotate 3 BRDs and zerg the piss out of them.  They have all the standards abilities that their normal counterparts have.  With 3 parties worth of heavy DD and 3 parties worth of BLM ripping them a new asshole, they should die within minutes.  When it comes time for their respective "Rage" moves, have the RDM/DRK Chainspell and camp Gates/Fulmination/Nerve Gas.  Don't spam Stun, as they will build resist.  Just stun the Rage moves.  The purpose of Chainspell is so that you can recast it if they decide to use these moves in quick succession. 

Things can get out of hand if several of their more damaging TP moves get off in a short period of time.  Have the WHM's ready to Benediction if it comes to that, although it usually doesn't.  A good strategy for healers is to spam /as on Freke, Gorgimera or Stoorworm.  This will give them the target with hate so they can focus their cures on that person, instead of having to guess or worse, turn filters off  to see who is getting hit.  Keep status ailments off the melee!  You have 3 people capable of curing/erasing in each melee party for a reason.

Dendainsonne

The pissed off King Behemoth mob.  This is where things start to get difficult.   SE designed this to be an Anti-Zerg mob.  The more people you have hitting it, the more often it will cast and spam Meteor.  The flaw of this, is that it still has a recast time on Meteor.  The only time people zerging this run into trouble is when it decides to use Thunderbolt every TP move.   Keep Barthunder up to reduce Stun length and thunder damage.  If Dendainsonne is less than 50%, WHM's can freely cast Curaga IV and Benediction without getting hate probably.  I recommend everybody being in semi close.  Meteor and Thunderbolt will hit everybody in a large radius, so there is no reason for mages to be over 20 away like they usually are.  Don't have everybody attack from front, and don't have anybody attack from the back.  Kickout still sucks.  Just another basic zerg strategy with a twist.  People are likely to die, but that actually makes it kind of easier because you have less people hitting it, meaning it won't meteor as much.  

RDM's Chainspell curing can help as well.  RDM/DRK is essentially worthless here for stunning purposes, as it can't be stunned.  

No, Meteor isn't fire based, dont try to Fire Carol or Barfira.

Motsognir

Your favorite, my favorite, everybody loves Mister Motsognir.  He floats around in a chair with a shit eating grin on his face along with his 12 demon buddies.   While he may be the hardest Tier III boss, there is a plus side to getting him as your boss.  That plus being that you will only have 1 wave of mobs before Motsognir pops.  Motsognir will ALWAYS pop with his 12 demon friends on the second wave.   Meaning you will probably have ample time to fight him.  If you do happen to wipe, there is also possibility that you can reraise and finish him off as well.  Those are the two plus sides to getting him as a boss.

The objective is to kill the 12 demons.  Killing each demon will take a % of Motsognirs health off...He cannot be harmed otherwise.  While it may sound easy, it can get messy REAL fast.  He will use Hellsnap TP move to wake up all the demons left alive AND stun everybody in range.  Meaning if he uses it close to BLMs, they will be stunned while getting raped from the Demons that just woke up.  He also has several other TP moves, but nothing as serious as Hellsnap.  It is a good idea for the BLMs and BRDs to NOT stay together, to avoid everybody being stunned at once.  Need to Sleepga the Demons ASAP after they wake up, or they will just cause havoc.  Keeping the Demon's asleep is probably the most important thing in this fight.  

I suggest having the RDM/DRK keeping trying to run Motsognir away from the group.  The RDM/DRK can zombie if need be, but as long as the BLM's and melee's arent getting stunned every 10 seconds, you should be alright.  

As for the Demons, you'll definitely want to Soul Voice and rotate 3 BRD's.   There are 4 BLM mobs, 4 DRK mobs and 4 WAR mobs.  BLM's need to go first, they wield wands so they are easily identified.  Tell BLM's to Stun as often as possible.  After the BLM Demons are dead, you can finish off the other 8 in any order.  Keep stunning, their TP moves aren't very forgiving (Quadrastrike and Condemnation).  The fight gets easier the more of them you kill, obviously. 

Motsognir can also cast -ga3's which is a pain.  But like I said, try and keep him away from the action.  Be warned he does have Draw-In if you get too far away. 

Keep chipping away at the Demons and don't stay directly in the middle of the chamber.  Try to be semi-close to a wall so if you do happen to wipe, you can get back up and finish the last couple demons.  You should have time remaining, because remember you only had one wave of mobs before this!  Motsognir cannot regen HP due to the nature of the fight.

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Hope this guide helps those who are having difficulty in Tier III.

If you have questions or comments you can contact me on AIM @ Belkinator14 or MWHQB36.

Ix'Aern Dragoon

Overview

The last remaining Ix'Aern is also the easiest. I have only recently decided to try it because of claims of it "being impossible" due to them changing the portal glitch. Let me assure you, it is still REALLY easy.

What You Need

- Enough patience to actually pop it.

What Helps

- Capped Bio III

Getting There

If you are trying this, you should probably have some idea how to get to the general area. If you don't know, go look it up somewhere. But to attempt this, I highly recommend you use the 2 northern most rooms with teleporter mists in them. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe it is the only way to solo this. Ix'Aern also has to pop at one of those rooms, you cannot drag it from the southern rooms to the teleport mists.

Popping

The worst part, especially solo. You have to kill Aerns in the northern rooms until it pops. Sometimes it takes 1 aern, other times it takes literally over 3 hours. More random sea bullshit. They are quite tedious to solo on RDM. Decent resist rates and the ability to Reraise when you have no MP or Convert are the killers (Although you can simply take the teleport mist if things get bad). Not to mention random jobs...You have a DRG, NIN and SMN in the 2 northern rooms with their annoying pets and Utsusemi. If you can manage to tough out soloing these bastards until Ix'Aern pops, you made it past the difficult part!


Pulling & The Fight

Fighting in the northern most rooms gives you the advantage of the teleporter mists, as I mentioned. As soon as you hit one of these, it deaggro's and returns to its spawn place a stones throw away. However, like all other mobs, the DoTs such as Poison and Bio remain even after it deaggro's you. Whenever it settles down in its resting place, Bio III it and run. Often times you'll have 3 normal Aerns, 3 wynavs and Ix'DRG on your ass as soon as you finish casting. Horde Lullaby and Medusa Javelin from Ix'DRG can quickly end your attempt if you aren't careful. That is why I recommend only casting Poison II along with Bio III if you don't link ALL of the aerns around. Bio III is the most important thing to keep on because it has a set duration. If you were to cast Poison II, it has the potential to wear off immediately or while you are zoning back and forth. If you don't see the message that it wears off, it will probably regen chunks at a time when it has no DoTs on. A capped Bio III will last long enough for you to zone, then zone back, rebuff, then rest a few ticks of MP. When it wears off, repeat the same procedure.

Beware of TP moves Medusa Javelin (Petrify) and Depuration (Full erase). If you get Depuration, make sure you reapply at least one DoT before you zone, or it's going to regen to full HP. It also has Aurorial Wind and Impact Stream, but most of the time you'll be too far away for those to even hit you.

Remember it goes unclaimed everytime you zone, make sure you don't have some creepers breathing down your back waiting to take it.



The last few % of his HP are crucial as well. You obviously can't let it die unclaimed or you just wasted all that time for nothing. So to ensure you can finish it off without the use of DoT, make sure your nuke setup is up to par and make sure you have Convert and Chainspell available. When it gets to about 2%, Convert so you have full MP (If necessary), make sure you are fully buffed and pop Chainspell and Blizzard III it to death. Make sure some sort of DoT is on while you are preparing or else it will regen and you'll be shit out of luck.


Estimated Time : 45 Minutes - 1:30 hours (Depends on how often you apply Poison and if you mess up by letting it Regen a tick)
Difficulty : *

I've done tanking guides for RDM and NIN, but have yet do write one for my one true love. PLD was the only job I had at 75 for about 3 years, I have watched it evolve before my very eyes. From the days of PLD/WAR tanking sky gods,  to the birth of mainstream PLD/NIN. I have been through all the game changes and all the gear revolutions. PLD was the first true tank. It is also the only tank that can't double as something else. So you better be good at it, or you are leveling another job.

PLD/NIN


Overview & History: The oldest tank in the book. Before NIN was discovered, before TP burns, before manaburns, you NEEDED a PLD tank in your EXP party. It started out simple and PLDs were incredibly dependent on support. Shield skill lacked usefulness, there was no such thing as Auto Refresh, Sanction Refresh or Parade Gorget, Sentinel only added defense, Rampart didn't have a Magic Shield and Shield Bash didn't always stun. Believe me when I say old school PLD's had it a lot harder than PLD's do today.

There are two main play styles for endgame PLD tanking. The first being a somewhat dated PLD/WAR strategy that involves SMN's or /SMN's to spam Aerial Armor. Although rarely employed, there are some servers that only know this method. Fortunately, for you the reader, I don't do that crap. The other style is PLD/NIN, which I'm sure most LS's have turned to by now. It has all the necessary tools to generate extreme enmity in a quick and efficient manner. It also has Shield Skill, Utsusemi and straight defense working to keep you alive.

Note: I know there are several different ways to play PLD/NIN and I know some people get really defensive when you don't do it their way. But there are multiple ways to be successful as PLD/NIN. I will try to cover all of them without "offending" too many people.


Merit Distribution: Like all jobs, there are few merits you just shouldn't go without. PLD can go a couple different directions, which can heavily depend on what kind of gear you have.

HP: 4
MP: 4
Shield Skill: 4
Sword Skill: 8
Parrying Skill: 4
Enmity Increase: 4
Enemy Critical Hit Rate: 4
Sentinel Recast: 5
Shield Bash Recast: ??
Cover Length: ??
Rampart Recast: ??
Chivalry: 5
Fealty: 1
Guardian: 4

HP & MP is pretty standard, it's nice to have a mix of both. Adjust according to race. Shield Skill is a no brainer, if you plan on doing a good bit of tanking on PLD, CAP SHIELD SKILL MERITS. If you rarely play PLD and have a lot of melee jobs you need to cap merits for, I could see you skipping the Combat Skills section, but if you are PLD main, there is NO reason you shouldn't have this capped. Sword Skill & Parrying Skill are filler if you don't have any melee jobs that need attention. With capped Sword Skill, you will be able to get 300 TP faster for Chivalry or Spirits Within (Which ultimately can lead to you doing incredible damage over the course of the fight). Parrying is just kind of there, helpful and quite often clutch, but also not necessary. Enmity Increase duh. Enemy Critical Hit Rate is what I would prefer over Spell Interruption Rate, personal preference, you could mix the two if you really wanted. Chivalry is a pretty neat ability that can come in handy when you are in an MP bind. No reason you shouldn't cap this, as the other Group Two merits are kinda meh. Fealty should at least get one merit, due to its random usefulness. It DRASTICALLY reduces all non elemental magic damage and makes you resist every enfeeble (Except Bio and Dia) under the sun. Non elemental magic includes things like Mijin Gakure and Meteor (Yes, they are non elemental magic, both of them, THEY ARE NOT FIRE BASED). So it can definitely save you from EXP loss when fighting KS99 Behemoth or NIN mobs in dynamis. You will literally take less than 200 damage from KS99 Behemoths final Meteor. I have also resisted Vrtra's charm repeatedly when Fealty is applied, that is how strong it is. Guardian is the last thing you will probably merit on PLD. They came up with the concept before they beefed up Sentinel and didn't bother changing it, but it is better than Iron Will or nothing. Does exactly what the description says.

Now the last few are where you can take different courses. Definitely cap Sentinel as it is an amazing job ability. Increased Enmity from all actions while it is up AND you take piddly damage at the same time. Why you wouldn't cap this is beyond me. Your other choices are Shield Bash Recast, Cover Length & Rampart Recast. The first question you may ask is "Cover Length? What the hell for?" and the answer is Valor Surcoat. Valor Surcoat's Cover Effect against Jormugand, Wyrm, Ouryu and Tiamat is incredibly overpowered. You can get full MP back in a few hits when they are in the air, then use that full MP to cure yourself to full HP then have some MP left over. If you have a Valor Surcoat and plan on tanking aforementioned Wyrms, definitely take a look at Cover Length merits. If not, you can split merits between Shield Bash and Rampart. Of course Shield Bash is nearly 100% chance of stunning now, so I am immediately attracted to that. On the other hand, a free Stoneskin when Wyrm's fly is always nice. In the end, it comes down to if you are going to be tanking a lot of Wyrms or just some beginner mobs.

Gear: Probably the part most of you are anxious to read and probably where I will receive the most criticism.

There are 3 very basic gear sets you are going to be looking for. They include Haste, Enmity and Shield. Any self respecting PLD will have these 3 gear setups. I also use combinations of the 3 builds, as well as some completely different builds for certain situations.

I will offer the most practical gear advice I can. I will also tell you when you should use the sets of gear.

Flash

Slot	Item	Mod	Mod	Mod
Head	Walahra Turban	+5% Haste
Neck	Ritter Gorget	+3 Enmity
Back	Cerberus Mantle	+3 Enmity
Body	Nuevo Coselete	Spellcasting Time -5%	Spell Recast Time -2%	+5 Enmity
Hands	Homam Manopolas	+3% Haste	+3 Enmity
Legs	Homam Cosciales	+3% Haste	Spellcasting Time -2%	Spell Recast Time -1%
Feet	Homam Gambieras	+3% Haste
Waist	Swift Belt	+4% Haste
Earring 1	Loquacious Earring	Spellcasting Time -2%	Spell Recast Time -1%
Earring 2	Hades Earring +1	+2 Enmity
Ring 1	Sattva Ring	+3 Enmity
Ring 2	Hercules' Ring	+3 Enmity

This set is custom made for Flash. Due to haste's drastic reduction of recast on longer recast spells like Flash, I urge you to use as much haste as you can (With the exception of Blitz ring, I wouldn't give up 3 enmity for 1 haste in a ring slot) in your Flash macro. Another reason that Flash should be cast in Haste gear as oppose to full out Enmity, is that during longer fights, you are going to cap your enmity level within a matter of minutes. Of course you are bound to lose hate through getting shadows taken or getting hit, but one Flash will put you right back at cap (And you could recast Flash faster with Haste gear). It's useful to keep the hate balanced between your co-tanks. You also have enough Enmity gear in this setup to put some hate behind the Flash too (+26 Enmity with merits) - So you aren't completely neglecting Enmity either.


Utsusemi: Ni

Head: Walahra Turban                              +5% Haste
Neck: Shield Torque                                 +7 Shield Skill
Hands: Homam Manopolas                       +3% Haste
Legs: Homam Cosciales                          +3% Haste, Spellcasting Time -2%, Spell Recast Time -1%
Feet: Homam Gambieras                         +3% Haste
Waist: Swift Belt                                      +4% Haste
Back: Boxer's Mantle                              +10 Shield Skill
Ear: Buckler Earring                                +3 Shield Skill
Ear: Loquacious Earring                           Spellcasting Time -2%, Spell Recast Time -1%

This equipment should be swapped in whenever you are casting Utsusemi: Ni. It is still the full Haste setup to shorten that lengthy Ni timer, but it equips Shield gear any place it can just in case a mob gets in a hit in during that short period of time you are casting.

Shield

Head: Koenig Schaller                             +5 Shield Skill
Neck: Shield Torque                                +7 Shield Skill
Back: Boxer's Mantle                              +10 Shield Skill
Feet: Gallant Leggings +1                        +12 Shield Skill
Ear: Buckler Earring                                 +3 Shield Skill

Your Utsusemi: Ichi macro. The longer cast time leaves you vulnerable to more attacks and chances of getting interrupted (duh). So this is a nice way to combat the long casting time. Of course you are missing the haste from gear, but Ichi timer is already pretty low, especially since you will have the Haste spell and maybe even a March or two most of the time.

This can also be used when no timers are up and you are about to get pummeled. Aside from Utsusemi, Shield skill is most reliable thing you have.

Of course in any of the shield builds, you can use Knight's Earring instead of Buckler Earring (Like I do because I'm gangster like that).

Enmity

This is a set that can really vary gear wise. Some of the gear being a lot more difficult to attain than others. I will list what I use, then I will list what can be used as alternatives (Both better and worse).

Head: Bahamut's Mask                        +8 Enmity
Neck: Ritter Gorget                              +3 Enmity
Ear: Hades Earring +1                          +2 Enmity
Ear: Hades Earring +1                          +2 Enmity
Body: Valor Surcoat                             +4 Enmity
Hands: Homam Manopolas                   +3 Enmity
Ring: Sattva Ring                                 +3 Enmity
Ring: Hercules' Ring                             +3 Enmity
Back: Valor Cape                                 +3 Enmity
Waist: Trance Belt                                +4 Enmity
Legs: Valor Breeches                           +3 Enmity
Feet: Askar Gambieras                         +2 Enmity

Use this set of gear for ALL cures, Sentinel (Change Askar Boots to Valor Leggings for Sentinel) and Shield Bash. Pretty simple concept because Haste doesn't effect Job Abilities at all and wearing Haste gear to minimize Cure recast times is a joke. With Haste spell you are already at the lowest recast time for Cures anyway. So put all you got into them.

You can also use this set for Rampart if you aren't looking to up the Stoneskin maximum damage. (Some instances, the magical stoneskin just isn't really that useful.)

This may be as close to perfect as many will get. To better it, you would need to be extremely lucky in Dynamis - Tavnazia and get every piece of the Hydra Haubert set. You could replace the Valor Cape with a Cerberus Mantle +1 also.

Downgrades would be as follow

Head: Aegishjalmr, Valor Coronet, Gallant Coronet
Neck: Harmonia's Torque
Ear: Hades Earring
Body: Gallant Surcoat, Adaman Cuirass
Hands: Valor Gauntlets, Gallant Gauntlets
Ring: Mermaid Ring
Back: Cerberus Mantle, Resentment Cape
Waist: Warwolf's Belt
Legs: Adaman Cuisses, Gallant Leggings
Feet: Valor Leggings, Adaman Sabatons

I think most of the item's on the downgrade list are possible to get for just about anybody (Especially if they are on the endgame scene...)

No shame in having to resort to the downgraded items, at least you are on the right track.

Standing

Not everybody will have one of these and sometimes the gear in it will vary, but it is a nice addition, especially if you have some of the gear I list.

Head: Walahra Turban                              +5% Haste
Neck: Parade Gorget                                Refresh Effect
Body: Ares's Cuirass                                Refresh Effect +24 Attack
Hands: Homam Manopolas                       +3% Haste, +4 Accuracy
Legs: Homam Cosciales                          +3% Haste, +3 Accuracy
Feet: Homam Gambieras                         +3% Haste, +6 Accuracy
Back: Cerberus Mantle                             +12 Attack
Waist: Swift Belt                                      +4% Haste, +3 Accuracy
Ear: Ethereal Earring                                +5 Attack, 3% Damage Converted to MP

A mix of the haste gear for meleeing and refresh for extra MP. After every action (Yeah I know thats a lot, just get in the habit and it will become like second nature) just hit this macro. You'll get TP for Spirits or Chivalry pretty fast, especially if you capped Sword merits and use Dorado Sushi (Accuracy and Enmity in one food, hurray). Sometimes I will switch out Parade Gorget for Fortitude Torque if I have accuracy problems (I am lucky enough to have a Gjallarhorn keeping me close to full MP most of the time anyway). With this setup, you should be doing decent damage, getting 2 ticks of refresh from gear a lone AND getting back bits of MP if you get smacked around with a magical attack.

Although I do encourage engaging mobs, I do not recommend it for Tiamat. He has super ninja counter skills that will bug you the entire fight and engaging will do more harm than good.

I hate to neglect the stellar item known as Defending Ring, but this would probably be the gear set it goes with.

Barfire

I don't have one of these for my PLD, although I probably should. If you need to see what gear to use for this, you can scroll down until you find the NIN tanking guide and just piece together what both PLD and NIN can use. Fill in whatever doesn't match with the next best thing.

Weapons/Shield/Ranged

There are a couple choices for a weapon. The most obvious being Macuahuitl +1. I recommend every PLD have one, as there are only 2-3 weapons as useful as this. You can't go wrong with 4 Enmity in a slot with not much else to offer.

Although Macuahuitl +1 is rarely trumped, Hauteclaire is the second weapon option and arguably better in most instances. It is the highest Damage Per Second weapon a PLD can use besides Excalibur, it has the accuracy to improve your TP gain and the heralded -7% physical damage.  Due to my firm belief in PLD being able to put up some respectable numbers on HNM parses (As evident with Stanislav), I rarely take Hauteclaire off.

The final weapon choice is Templar Mace. A weapon good in low man HNM fights where Enmity isn't as important as staying alive. It is a nice change up to the Hauteclaire where it is impractical to melee (Tiamat, Vrtra, Jormungand, King Behemoth).

Shields is a topic a lot of PLD's ask about since the release of Wivre Shield. The thing that looks stupid but has 5 Enmity on it. Honestly, you don't need the extra 2 enmity, it isn't doing much and the Wivre Shield probably costs more money. But if you REALLY like seeing high Enmity numbers, go for it.

The tried and true shield is of course Koenig Shield. Got the 3 enmity, 5 VIT (10 damage on Rampart Stoneskin) and the Beast Killer effect which kicks in on Kirin, Byakko, and King Behemoth. The HQ is even better.

Aegis is a dream. The granddaddy of them all. I need not explain why this is the best shield in the game.

There are only one thing I would suggest for the Ranged slot and that would be Lamian Kaman for the MP and Magic Defense Bonus that will always be there. Got HQ? Great!

I would not suggest changing any Weapons/Shield/Ranged item mid fight because you'll lose TP. If you don't need TP for fights like Tiamat, you could switch weapons and such for a Barfire setup.

Tips:

- Sentinel is arguably your best job ability, but the uses can vary depending on the fight and the number of people you have.

If you have enough support and damage, spam it every time it is up. Try to use it right before you cast Flash to boost its maximum Enmity output.

If you are in a low man situation where damage is slow and steady without much threat of hate getting stolen, use it for emergency situations only. If you are down to 300 HP or less, just crank out a Sentinel while you get your shit together.

- Cure bomb anybody that isn't full HP. Look down the alliance list and just cure anybody to full if you don't have timers up for enmity generating abilities. Look for those BRD's running in and out to buff, as they are subject to AoE as they are doing it.

- If you are fighting Jormungand, Ouryu or Tiamat, save Rampart for when it flies. The magic stoneskin will probably be wasted if you use it on the ground. If you aren't fighting any of the listed mobs, just spam it every time its up. It is a good amount of enmity.

- Khimaira and Cerberus TP moves are annoying (To say the least), but a good PLD will be able to Shield Bash them if his timer is up. Dreadstorm, Tourbillion and Fulmination are Shield Bash targets for Khimaira. Lavaspit and Gates of Hades for Cerberus. Anything else you can either use it when you are in trouble and need a second to cast Utsusemi, or just spam it for hate.

- If you are looking to increase the Stoneskin from Rampart, equip all the VIT gear you can (Probably varies greatly for different people, Koenig is ideal.) The formula is believed to be VIT * 2 = Maximum damage absorbed.

- Some people like to spam the Enfeebling Ninjutsu Ichi spells for hate. It does work, but you shouldn't really need to do it. If you are in need of hate that badly every time you tank something, try making an HP macro, curing yourself to full with Cure IV, then taking all the HP gear off so you are back where you started. Repeat the HP macro and continue curing yourself. It's a cheap way to get hate, but it works and it's better than wasting your money spamming slow casting Ichi spells.

- Will all these gear swapping you will Blink Gear....A LOT. Make sure your support doesn't try to cure your from a macro or you could get put in sticky situations. /ma "Cure V" Yourname ...Have your mages make a macro that says that or they better start typing it out.

- Of course, with Windower Macros and Spellcast (The plugin), you can do amazing things with macros. You could even go as far as starting with one set of gear (Lets say Shield) for the beginning of the cast...then end the last .005 second of the casting with another set of gear (Haste). Anybody that feels obligated to put that much work into it can certainly do so. I choose not too because trying to time macros to work that way is next to impossible due to lag. Even the tiniest server lag that you cannot prevent could throw it the timing of the macro off, making it rather useless.

Conclusion:

Haste is not the key, Enmity is not the key, Shield is not the key. It is how you use them all when the situation calls for it. Are you going to be the best you can be by just using one of these sets? No. You can get a lot more out of yourself if you just invest some time and effort into these gear sets and your macros.



If you see any mistakes, let me know and I'll fix them as soon as possible.

AIM: BELKINATOR14
Email: altfan28@yahoo.com

First off let me say that pulling Ix'Aern MNK and DRK is pretty brutal without the aid of a friend. There is too much junk in between the area where they pop and a safe area to pull it. Suiciding or a "decoy" is almost always necessary to pull either. Although with practice, patience and wit, you may be able to pull them effectively by yourself (I'm getting the hang of it). I will post the strategies I have found to work for pulling and fighting both Ix'Aerns whether you are solo or with a friend.


Ix'Aern Monk

What You Need

- Reraise item
- Some HQ Aern Organs

What Helps

- Crimson Cuisses
- Bio 3 with 211 Dark Magic Skill
- Dalmatica or Duelist's Chapeau (Solo)

Getting There

This is a tough one, as it can be very time consuming just getting to the basement of the palace. I have drawn over maps from Wiki to show the way you should travel to get through the ground floor, into the basement and to the spawn point.




With those maps, you can see the western route is far more easy. You don't have to guide any Quislumins and you can cut through the Ebon Panel room in the basement so you don't have to dodge Ghrah's and Pots like you do on the east side. The east side you have to guide 2 Quislumins which can be a real big pain, as you will probably have to kill mobs that aggro its slow moving ass. Getting to the ??? can take longer than the actual fight, especially if it isn't on the side you first look because the ??? doesn't move until it's popped.

Pulling - Duo

A simple suicide pull is required to get the Ix'Aern to the Ebon Panel rooms which are clearly labeled on the map above. Once in the Ebon Panel room, you are safe from all possible Aerns, Ghrahs and Pots. Drop your party so both of you are solo and make sure the one who is doing the suicide pull has Reraise (You both should have it anyway). Have the suicider pop it and run toward the Ebon Panel room, linking everything in his way (Ghrahs included). The person who is not suiciding should follow behind closely BEHIND him. As long as the suicider can aggro the last Ghrah in the hallway leading to the Ebon Panel room, he did his job perfectly. It is them safe for him to die. All mobs that linked will depop within a few seconds while Ix'Aern remains. The second RDM can then safely grab the NM and begin kiting it around the room. The suicide puller can reraise and rest OUTSIDE of party until unweakened (If they are in party, Ix'Mnk will try to pot shot them when he runs around because hate is razor thin).

Pulling - Solo

The same basic idea as before...only you are solo and you have to do both parts by yourself. Pop it and run to the nearest Ebon Panel room. Make sure you die in the far side of the room. As soon as you die, get back up via Reraise (Ix'Aern doesn't aggro). Cast Stoneskin, Utsusemi, Refresh and cure yourself to full. Immediately after doing that, cast Bio on Ix'Aern from as far away as you can. After that, you just need to RUN. With Crimson Cuisses he will never catch you as long as you just run (Do NOT stop and try to cast something on yourself unless it is Utsusemi Ni). You can do this for 5 minutes while you break weakness. You can gradually nurse yourself back to full health and HP with perfectly timed refreshes and cures. I recommend casting both Refresh, Stoneskin Cure IV, and Bio in AF1 Hat/AF 2 Body because it really does reduce the casting time drastically which is a Godsend for this fight.

The Fight - Duo

Bind and Gravity DO NOT WORK!

Another day in the life of an NM slaying RDM. Bio 3 and Poison 2 work like a charm as usual. You can divide the DoT duties between two people which is nice and can save some time. I suggest having somebody with 211+ Dark Magic Skill cast the Bio 3 and the other person do Poison 2. It's not really hard at all unless it gets a fluke Impact Stream off and you get stunned and butt raped. Use the terrain to gain some distance at first, then you can just kite it around the outside until you need to cast something. With constant Bio/Poison, it dies in 30-40 minutes. If one of the RDM's has solid hate, the other can stop and cast Blizzard III to speed up the fight a bit. It uses Hundred Fists once...not really a problem but if you really want to be safe, just run and skip casting for about a minute and it will never catch you.

The Fight - Solo

Bind and Gravity DO NOT WORK!

A good deal harder than if you were with a friend, but still manageable. The reason I say it is harder is because the only time it will stop chasing you is to use TP (Doesn't cast magic, obviously). So you really gotta cast and go. There can be no hesitation in between. Like I mentioned in the solo pulling portion, macro in Fast Cast gear to everything to give yourself a few seconds. The offensive strategy doesn't change, Bio and Poison. Although you will never get enough time to cast an elemental spell, so that is out the window. It can attack 2-4 times which is annoying, but I usually just keep Utsusemi up and Stoneskin is kind of last on the list of things to do. If it hits you once, you can just keep running and it will get left behind. When you get a good distance between yourself, recast Utsusemi. Keep yourself in white HP whenever possible. When it uses Hundred Fists, you just need to run and skip casting for a minute. It can only use it once so I'd rather stay alive than risk dying to cast Bio or something. The fact that you are solo and have to cast both DoT's while trying to stay alive will probably add about 15 minutes to your total time (Not to mention the fact you have about 10 minutes at the beginning of just trying to stay alive) but it's still a relatively short fight compared to some other things.

Estimated Time - Duo: 35 Minutes
Estimated Time - Solo: 1 Hour
Difficulty - Duo: *
Difficulty - Solo: * * *


Ix'Aern Dark Knight

What You Need

- To not kill yourself while trying to pop it
- To not kill yourself while fighting it
- To not kill yourself when it doesn't drop the cape
- Reraise
- Chainspell (You NEED this to pull if you are solo)

What Helps

- Crimson Cuisses
- Dalmatica or Duelist's Chapeau
- Capped Bio 3 with 211 Dark Magic Skill

Getting There

Alright, well you have to stalk down the ??? that moves every 45-60 minutes. If you don't know where it can pop, just go check out FFXIwiki. I assume when you find it, you will only be able to kill a few Aerns in the room before it moves so you have to work fast.

Pulling - Duo

First we should really talk about popping. You need to kill the Aern's in the room until one of you gets the message "You are enveloped in sheer animosity." which is completely random. You could get the message the first Aern, or it could take you over THREE HOURS -- like I said, completely random. After you get the message, you have 10 minutes to examine the ??? to pop Ix'Aern. So take your time, get rested up and make sure both of you know what it is you are doing.

Now, for pulling. I will assume there are 2 Aw'Aerns still alive in the room. Have the person that didn't get the message drop PT.  Whoever got the message, pop it and the Ix'Aern will be claimed to them, but the two Qn'Aern helpers will not be. The outside person Chainspell Gravity the two Qn'Aerns and whatever Aw'Aerns are left in the room and take them to the zone to the Palace. The person with Ix'Aern will head the opposite direction to the Jailer of Fortitude pop location closest to where Ix'Aern popped. Use the map below to help.



Proceed kiting in the square rooms circled on the map. Be warned though, there are 2 mobs that will aggro on the way to these rooms. One ghrah and one pot. You can easily dodge the pop if you know which eye doesn't aggro and you've had practice. But sometimes you can't avoid the ghrah. You will probably have to hold out with the ghrah and NM on you at the same time until your partner gets back at which time you can sleep the adds and log off and your friend can take over kiting the NM.

Pulling - Solo

Ok, this is very similar to the Ix'MNK strategy for pulling except that this time, the Aern has two helpers. When you pop it, use Chainspell and Gravity the two Qn'Aerns and head to the nearest square room. When you get there, head to the "back" of the room and you need to die ASAP so the Qn's are left far behind with gravity. Get up, buff and cast on the NM before it can migrate back and you will get it without his little helpers because they are so far away and won't link. Kite it while weakened until you can nurse yourself back to full HP/MP which is easier than Ix'MNK because it stops to cast stupid little DRK spells which means you can get greater separation.

The Fight - Duo

Bind, Gravity and Poison DO NOT WORK!

Easier to fight than Ix'MNK, but it has more HP and it can reraise as many times as it wants. You could potentially be sitting here for HOURS. Make sure Bio is on at all times, as it is the only source of DoT for this fight. Blizzard III greatly speeds up the fight. Have one person kite around the room and one person remain stationary. Have the stationary person cast Blizzard III as Ix'Aern runs by him. By the time he finishes casting, Ix'Aern will be a good distance away and will have to turn around. The RDM that just nuked is now the kiter and the other RDM should get ready to nuke when the NM runs by him. You can repeat this strategy indefinitely without any real problems and it is probably the most efficient way to handle this NM with 2 RDMs. If it doesn't drop anything when it dies, that means it is going to Reraise. When it drops Deed of Moderation or Vice of Avarice, it is done for good.

The Fight - Solo

Bind, Gravity and Poison DO NOT WORK!

Honestly, I don't know why you would WANT to do this, but it is possible. Bio 3 only takes an incredibly long time, probably over an hour to kill it once. Pair that with the fact that it can Reraise however many times it wants and you could be sitting here for OVER 10 HOURS. Of course nobody has that kind of time, but you could always get lucky and it only reraises once and you get a Vice. So I'll give you the strategy anyway.

Bio 3 and run like usual. He will stop and cast tier 2 nukes, this is when you would want to cast Blizzard III on it (Making sure you have 3 shadows up because he will probably catch up and hit you a couple times before you can move). Unresisted Blizzard III's take off 3-4% of his health so that GREATLY increases the speed of the fight. Make sure you run away from Blood Weapon. I know it doesn't sound too threatening, but he gets speed and attack bonuses when his Blood Weapon is on which is EXTREMELY noticeable. Oh ya and he gets about 1-2% HP back every time he hits you with it. So just run and skip casting for a minute. He can use it multiple times per life. Not much else to say, pretty standard RDM/NIN solo fight. Just can't use Bind, Gravity or Poison....

If you get fed up with the reraises, just ask some friends to come help.

Estimated Time - Duo: ???
Estimated Time - Solo: ???
Difficulty - Duo: *
Difficulty - Solo: * *

RDM/NIN, the end all, be all of well....everything. It's so much versatility packed into one little job. Whether it be tanking or soloing, RDM can do it efficiently. Although RDM is such an incredible job, a lot of people disgrace the job when trying to accomplish the afore mentioned tasks.  Misuse of gear, spells, or overall lack of skill can be the downfall of any aspiring RDM. In this entry, I will try to offer some insight into the tanking world of RDM.


Red Mage / Ninja -- As a Tank

Overview & History: RDM/NIN as a tank has become very popular over the months. It was first made public by Phalanxx of FantasticImpromptu. It was later adopted by fellow FI members and became their main tank. The idea slowly spread to other LS's including Kazoku, LabyrinthofPhantasm, ApkalluVendetta and even UnDeFeatable. Although mocked and laughed at when it made its debut, members of the endgame community immediately recognized advantages of the combo over traditional PLD or NIN tanks. It had all the tools to be a completely self sustaining tank. Damage reduction with Stoneskin, Phalanx, Protect, Shell and a natural magic defense bonus. Pair the following damage reduction spells with a Fast Casted and often Hasted (Possibly even double March from a BRD) Utsusemi: Ichi & Ni and its not uncommon for you to go without HP for extended periods of time while tanking. When you lose HP, you have the necessary Cures to keep yourself alive and in operating condition. But keeping yourself alive isn't worth a damn unless you can pull some kind of hate. This is the downfall of many amateur RDM tanks. Hate spells at your disposal include Sleep, Sleep 2, Bind, Dispel, Cure III, Cure IV and Blind. Sleep, Sleep 2 and Cure IV should be the staples of your hate holding foundation. While hasted and marched, it is possible to spam hate keeping spells non-stop, especially if you are trying to take hate off of your tanking partner and don't need to rebuff yourself. As I mentioned earlier, the problem here is most amateurs either focus all their time on buffing and staying alive OR they only focus on keeping hate at whatever the cost, meaning they do not buff themselves properly. It is important to find a balance in your technique. If you cannot find a balance, you are useless, defeating the whole purpose.

Merit Distribution: I understand that most everybody has another job to consider when distributing merits. Keep in mind that this would be the ideal setup of merits for a RDM tank.

HP: 4
MP: 4
Parrying Skill: 4
Enhancing Magic: 8
Enmity Increase: 4
Enemy Critical Hit Rate: 4 OR Spell Interruption Rate: 4
Convert: 5

I will now explain the choices. HP and MP can differ, usually depending on race. Galka might go 2 HP, 6 MP and Tarutaru might go 6 HP and 2 MP. Most of the time Mithra, Elvaan and Hume will be good with an equal balance of both, as both are important to the job. Parrying Skill is often a skill many RDM tanks underestimate, probably because they don't have it any where close to the cap (Which happens to be 200). When fighting HNM, I get at least 3 parries per fight, most of the time they are life savers. Using an Earth Staff will increase your chances as well, as two handed weapons get a parrying bonus. Enhancing Magic is an obvious choice, 16 levels of enhancing magic make it more easy to reach the Stoneskin damage cap, meaning you don't have to wear as much MND gear while casting Stoneskin, leaving room for things such as Duelist's Tabard, Warlock's Chapeau, Loquacious Earring or Swift Belt. Enmity Increase is obvious. Enemy Critical Hit Rate and Spell Interruption Rate I find rather useless, but I suppose they would give you a slight advantage. Personal preference, I opted to finish out the "Other" Category with Critical Hit for my NIN. Convert is a given for a RDM based solely around tanking. Pair the fact that a RDM/NIN tank without a Duelist's Chapeau or Dalmatica can run out of MP rather quickly, with the overall uselessness of the other Category 1 choices for tanking and you arrive at the obvious choice of maxing out Convert.

Gear: Equipment is another tough spot for amateurs. They think stacking haste or enmity in every possible slot will make them good. Not true in the least. To address the issue of stacking haste; it is incredibly easy to meet the lowest possible timers with only a few pieces of gear, haste spell and double march. The following are the lowest recast timers you can possibly get for a few spells.

Utsusemi: Ichi - 15 seconds
Utsusemi: Ni - 22 seconds
Stoneskin - 15 seconds
Refresh - 13 seconds
Haste - 13 seconds

The above caps can be reached with 4 pieces of gear, 2 marches and haste spell. Dispelling the myth that stacking haste gear in every slot is useful.

The next misconception is that enmity gear piled high would be an efficient use of equipment slots. Wrong over and over again. Truth be told, you need about 15 enmity total (Gear and Merits together) to be able to keep the mob off nuke spamming BLMs. Any more enmity and you are setting yourself up for solo tanking, as you should keep an enmity level similar to your tanking partners. This way it is easier to take hate on command, rather than struggling while one tank has all the hate and is getting beat down. But to sum it up, both tanks should have roughly +15 enmity and you are golden. Different rules apply if your co-tank is a PLD or a NIN, as RDM uses a different type of hate.

The following is the ideal equipment setups for a variety of situations.

Utsusemi

Head: Warlock's Chapeau         Spellcasting Time -10%, Spell Recast Time -5%
Body: Duelist's Tabard              Spellcasting Time -10%, Spell Recast Time -5%   
Earring 1: Loquacious Earring   Spellcasting Time -2%, Spell Recast Time -1%
Waist: Swift Belt                      +4% Haste

The above setup, coupled with haste and double march will reach the lowest Utsusemi recast timers.
Note: You can achieve 15 second Ichi without Swift Belt. Unfortunately without Swift Belt, your Ni timer will be 23 seconds, instead of the minimum of 22 seconds.

Stoneskin

Head: Warlock's Chapeau          Spellcasting Time -10%, Spell Recast Time -5%
Body: Duelist's Tabard               Spellcasting Time -10%, Spell Recast Time -5%
Neck: Enhancing Torque             +7 Enhancing Magic
Hands: Duelist's Gloves              +15 Enhancing Magic
Legs: Warlock's Tights +1          +15 Enhancing Magic +5 MND
Feet: Duelist's Boots                  +4 MND
Back: Rainbow Cape                  +3 MND
Ring 1: Aqua Ring                     +5 MND
Ring 2: Aqua Ring                     +5 MND
Earring 1: Loquacious Earring    Spellcasting Time -2%, Spell Recast Time -1%

The above setup will achieve a full Stoneskin (350 damage absorbed) while maintaining the lowest recast time of 15 seconds. You may alter various pieces of MND gear depending on race. If you have full Enhancing Magic merits, you can drop the Enhancing Torque and perhaps some various MND gear. Although rare, there is an item that will push your Stoneskin past its 350 damage threshold.

Neck: Stone Gorget                  Enhances "Stoneskin" Effect

The use of a Stone Gorget causes Stoneskin to absorb an extra 30 damage, thus causing Stoneskin to absorb 380 damage, instead of 350 damage.

If you are in need of determining how much your own Stoneskin absorbs, the formula is as follows:

X = (Enhancing Magic / 3) + Total MND
F = Damage Absorbed
F = X (if X < 80)
F = X2 - 60 (if 80 <= X <= 130)
F = X3 - 190 (if X > 130) Most RDM's will naturally end up here

Magic Defense

Range: Lamian Kaman +1          +2 Magic Def. Bonus
Hands: Duelist's Gloves              +2 Magic Def. Bonus
Waist: Resolute Belt                  +2 Magic Def. Bonus
Ring 1: Merman's Ring               -4% Magic Damage Taken
Ring 2: Merman's Ring               -4% Magic Damage Taken
Earring 1: Merman's Earring       -2% Magic Damage Taken
Earring 2: Merman's Earring       -2% Magic Damage Taken
Back: Resentment Cape             -5% Magic Damage Taken

While somewhat simplistic in nature, this assortment of items can greatly reduce the amount of magic damage taken. It can cut the amount of magic damage you take by 1/4. Essentially saving yourself time and MP. There are some rare alternatives and pick ups you can get to enhance your magic defense gear.

Body: Dalmatica                        +5 Magic Def. Bonus
Feet: Ataractic Solea                  +4 Magic Def. Bonus
Ring 1: Shadow Ring                  Occasionally Annuls Magic Damage
Ring 2: Minerva's Ring                -8% Magic Damage Taken          
Ring 2: Defending Ring               -10% Damage Taken

 Shadow Ring far surpasses it's mantle counterpart, as it kicks in almost 25% of the time. All five are good pickups IF you can manage to get your hands on them.

Enmity

Neck: Harmonia's Torque           +3 Enmity
Back: Cerberus Mantle              +3 Enmity
Waist: Trance Belt                     +4 Enmity
Ring 1: Sattva Ring                    +3 Enmity
Ring 2: Mermaid Ring                 +2 Enmity

This setup will give you +15 enmity. As mentioned before, 15 enmity is pretty much all you need. Usually add 4 to that from merits and you'll hover around 19 or 20 enmity. As long as your RDM/NIN co-tank can match that number, you will have no problems. You will notice I left Body and Head piece out (Among other things) because the combinations can vary. A Fast Cast setup, while nice, is not needed, as you usually will not get the whole way through your hate cycle.

Note: PLD uses a different type of hate via Provoke and more notably Flash. PLD will require more enmity, as their only spell that is similar in hate structure to RDM is Cure. The following graphs document hate in a unique way. As a long time tank, I find that graphs to be completely true. Credit to Elmer the Pointy of BlueGartr Forums.





Although those are the only four sets of gear needed, I personally use a Standing Macro, which I default back to after everything I do. It may not be necessary for everyone.

Standing

Head: Duelist's Chapeau         Auto-Refresh
Body: Dalmatica                    Auto-Refresh
Back: Shadow Mantle            Occasionally Annuls Physical Damage
Legs: Crimson Cuisses         Movement Speed +12%, Elemental Resists, HP/MP +25
Earring 2: Ethereal Earring    Converts 3% of Damage Taken to MP

Getting at least 5 MP per tick (Usually more with a COR or a BRD) is nice. The Shadow Mantle, while completely unreliable, could kick in at a clutch moment. The Crimson Cuisses aren't really something you need to stand in, it just makes me feel safer knowing that if something were to happen, I could run the hell away 12% faster than everybody else. Also good for kited mobs such as King Behemoth or Kirin (If that is something you kite). The Ethereal Earring is more of a full time job, rather than a standing piece. I just threw it in there because I felt it should be mentioned. It can either be extremely useful or extremely not useful. Practically all HNM have some devastating moves, while their normal attacks do anywhere from 150-350 without Stoneskin. If you do happen to get caught with your pants down, why not get 5-10 MP back every time you get your face bashed in?

The last thing to address about gear is Weapons. You will see most RDM's dual wielding Beaver Tails (Macuahuitl +1's) because as I stated earlier, they believe if they get as much enmity as possible, they will win the internet. Honestly, you don't even need to carry them around unless you know you're co-tank uses them and you want to keep a close level of enmity. Full time Earth/Terra Staff because who knows when a mob could rip off a TP move, then 2 double attacks in a row, killing you in a matter of seconds.

Tips:

- Know your co-tank and their play style. Adjust accordingly to assure the only people getting hate are the tanks.
- Convert is not only a way to regain MP, you can use it for hate as well. Cure IV yourself a couple times after converting for some quick hate
- Shell IV can greatly reduce the amount of magic damage you take, USE IT. If your WHM's have AF2 pants and merits, let them cast the bar-spells.
- Keep yourself Refreshed...nobody else is going to do it for you and in the heat of the fight, you may often forget. Same goes with Haste.
- On that same note, don't bother Refreshing or Hasting anybody else. You got shit to do, they can get that elsewhere.
- With capped Enhancing Magic and Duelist's Gloves, your Phalanx will reduce 25 damage from all attacks. Thats a lot of damage over the course of a fight. Be sure to keep Phalanx up.
- Make sure you engage the mob while you are taking it down. Parries are a life saver.
- If you have hate, focus on keeping yourself buffed with Stoneskin and Utsusemi. Between buffs, throw out a Blind, Sleep or Sleep2 to ensure you still have hate. If you are getting beat down, spam yourself with Cure IV until you can get Utsusemi back up. Then proceed to recast Stoneskin so you are at max capacity once again.
- March x2 and Ballad x2 greatly increase efficiency. Seek two BRD's for your tank party. WHM and COR aren't bad either, as they have Devotion and Evoker/Magus Roll respectively.
- A good hate cycle includes Sleep, Sleep 2, Blind, Dispel and Cures.

That wraps up my guide to the world of RDM/NIN tanking. Any suggestions, questions or adds can be messaged to altfan28@yahoo.com