PLD Campaign Primer

For the most part, PLD is a great job, and very desirable in parties. Until Aht Urhgan Areas become the prime leveling ground. Colibrii have low defense, and most DD jobs start gearing their way into endgame gear by then, the result being that holding hate is an endurance trial for your patience. PLDs become useful again, briefly, when Imps become the mob ov choice, because of the PLD's ability to hold hate and stay alive while under the effects of Amnesia or Silence (But not both at once) where even one of the two completely disables a ninja tank. But once Imps are done, parties go back to the birds. And when they go back to birds, they go back with a vengeance. Suddenly one mob in camp isn't enough. You need one mob in combat and then every other mob in the zone sleeping next to the party. And that means that the party can't wait for a PLD's MP to come up. Nor can the party wait for the healer's MP if the tank takes a bad hit from Pecking Flurry. Ninja tanks become the only way to go. And that's terrible. How do you ding 75? How do you build up a buffer? How do you merit, if you don't have another 75 yet?

Luckily, there is another way. A better way. Campaign. You fight mobs with a ton of HP, alongside NPCs with a ton of HP, and are rewarded with exp and excellent gear? Sign me the heck up! But how does it work? What do I do? The first step is detailed here in Egomzez's most excellent guide Campaign: Quickstart Guide. That'll tell you how to get started. But as a PLD, you are basically a brick with a thumbtack attached. Everyone else gets their notes by putting out a ton of damage, or spamming Avatar buffs. How can you compete? That's where this guide comes in.

ALLEGIANCE
It doesn't matter who you ally with, to be honest. You can buy gear from other nations just by visiting, and you can participate in their campaigns, too. The biggest issue is that to get teleported to an area via the Campaign Arbiters, you have to have zoned in at least once in the past. (This does not work for the other cities, or Castle Zvahl). As a PLD, I recommend joining the Knights of the Iron Ram, because that Iron Ram Hauberk Set is a must-have, and you get a discount on items from your own nation. But honestly, join who you want to. It's better to have fun than to feel shackled to a bunch of snooty elvaan, thinking they're talking fancy makes them better than the rest of us. Be warned, though, that you may have some trouble, either with your allied NPCs, or with your allied PCs, depending on your nation. Additionally, you may find you have a strong dislike of the specific beastmen you're facing. Don't be afraid to participate exclusively in a foreign nation's campaigns, or to exclusively avoid a certain nation's campaigns. Yagudo's Feathered Furore has stripped me of my shield and my TP more times than I care to admit. And as a paladin, Orcish Counterstance is painful, when you are forcing the mob to face you. Work on having fun and enjoying yourself. If you want to cap out merits in Chivalry, you're going to be doing this for a long time.

SUBJOB
Honestly, Dancer sub is the way to go. I was skeptical for a while, but it works. However, I did campaign battle as Warrior sub for a long time. While you will die less as PLD/DNC, you do more damage and you hold hate much better as PLD/WAR. If you can get a friend to come with you on a healing job (Or even a melee job with /DNC) you can do /WAR no problem. If you die, someone will raise you!

IN PROGRESS