Paladin: Guide to Races and Subjob Selection

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Job Overview
Available after completing the quest A Knight's Test. Paladins specialize in close-range combat, just like warriors. However, through long hours of spiritual training, paladins have acquired the ability to cast white magic spells, making them even more valuable on the battlefield.

Strengths

 * High VIT, defense bonus traits, and the ability to wear heavy armor make Paladin the toughest job class in the game.
 * The ability to use White Magic allows the Paladin to cure himself or other party members to replenish HP and generate enmity at the same time.
 * Paladins generate the highest amount of Enmity for party situations in the game, allowing other jobs to produce more damage with less risk.
 * Cover allows a Paladin to take damage for another job when they are attacked, lessening the risk of death for a defensively weaker job.
 * Paladins are not dependent on any sort of party setup, and can thrive in almost any feasible party combination.

Weaknesses

 * Paladin is a purely defensive job class, and is not able to do much damage in combat.
 * Even though the Paladin has the ability to cast White Magic, his/her MP pool is usually quite limited and does not have the resources of a White Mage.
 * Because of the Paladin's MP pool, resting is a very common routine in a Paladin's everyday life.
 * Spells choice compared to White Mage is very limited, also most spells come at a much later time.
 * Demand for Ninjas and Warriors as tanks at the highest levels because of the rarity of Incredibly Tough mobs and the need for tanks who can also do damage cause Paladins to sometimes suffer in the very last levels of the game when it comes to finding invites for XP or Merit parties.
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Elvaan
With a powerful set of stats, Elvaan fill the shoes of the Paladin tank with ease. Their great HP and VIT are tremendous boons. The MP required is negotiable- rings and other MP boosting equipment helps tremendously, but many times an Elvaan's ability to cast spells is just right when supported by Bards and Red Mages.

Elvaan should continue to boost the primary stats of VIT and HP while considering ways to enhance MP with earnest.

Mithra
Although Mithra may not be the "best" choice for playing Paladin, Mithra can still play the job well. The higher Agility that comes from being a Mithra can help with avoiding hits and reducing Critical Hits. However, I would suggest focusing on Vitality and defense before boosting your Agility.

Since Mithra don't have excessive amounts of HP you will probably want to boost your HP. And the MP you have as a Mithra is not bad, but you may want to boost it as well.

Hume
As with most jobs, a Hume's balanced stats makes them a viable choice for a Paladin, since they don't have to worry about handicaps. Generally Humes can focus on VIT and HP only and still be able to have a decent MP pool to work with.

Galka
Galka garner a small fanbase for being Paladins because of them having the highest HP and VIT of any other race. The tradeoff though is having the smallest MP pool to work with. Galka Paladins will spend most of thier time trying to find ways to make up for the low MP, but with some dedication, a Galka Paladin can have much success.

Tarutaru
Much like the Galka, Tarutaru have a small fanbase for Paladin because of having the largest MP pool, but at the expense of having the lowest health. Tarutaru are more likely to struggle to make up for their HP handicaps, but a dedicated one will be able to overcome them with ease. A Taru's large mp pool also allows them to become some of the best hate keepers out there, from being able to cast more often on themselves and fellow party members and being able to maintain spellcasting in longer battles than other races. In addition, a taru Paladin's larger INT score makes them less vulnerable to elemental and dark magic due to increased resist rates and taking less overall damage.

Support Job Options
The choices listed here are by no means the only ones available. These are the options that FFXI players have determined to be the strongest by common consensus however. Feel free to try out whatever combination suits your fancy.

Warrior
Paladins choose Warrior as their support job for Provoke. Increases in Strength and Vitality are also gained, and access to Defender and Double Attack help a Paladin keep hate as a tank. While it does not add anything to their MP pool, Warrior is still by far the most recognized support choice for Paladins. Many players build for this support by leveling as a Warrior to level 30 as quickly as possible. After completing the Paladin quest they can then level to level 62 or so without interruption or job changes. Below is a list of job traits and job abilities you will get from subbing Warrior, listed at the Paladin level you get them. The ones you are most likely to use have their level marked in Bold.

Ninja
Paladins choose Ninja as their support job for Utsusemi: Ni. As this suggests, a Paladin usually only uses this support job at level 74+, generally during certain merit parties like TP burns. With DD gear like Haubergeon and dual weilding swords, Paladins can put out significant damage with Swift Blade, while having Cures and Flash to help support the party in tight situations. Ninja sub can also be useful for soloing and in Ballista, where having shadows, coupled with flash and cures, can help improve survivability. Before this point though, /NIN is basically useless to a Paladin. Below is a list of job traits and spells you will get from subbing Ninja, listed at the Paladin level you get them. The ones you are most likely to use have their level marked in Bold.

Red Mage
Paladins choose Red Mage for Blink, Stoneskin and Phalanx. In addition, Paladin's innate Enhancing skill allows them to make use of bar- and en- spells. These lower the damage taken and allow Paladins to kill beasts otherwise too difficult with Warrior subbed. Subbing Red Mage isn't recommended for normal EXP parties and is generally only used when soloing. Below is a list of job traits and spells you will get from subbing Red Mage, listed at the Paladin level you get them. The ones you are most likely to use have their level marked in Bold. See Red Mage Spell List for where to find spells as well as other information.

White Mage
Paladins choose White Mage for Blink, Stoneskin and -na spells. Simularly to the subbing Red Mage, White Mage will allow Paladins to solo effectivly. Although they lack Phalanx, the addition of -na spells and Divine Seal make up for it. Subbing White Mage isn't recommended for normal EXP parties and is generally only used when soloing. Below is a list of job abilities, job traits and spells you will get from subbing White Mage, listed at the Paladin level you get them. The ones you are most likely to use have their level marked in Bold. See White Mage Spell List for where to find spells as well as other information.

Beastmaster
Paladins choose Beastmaster as their support job for easy soloing. A Paladin can easily solo very tough to incredibly tough mobs just like a normal beastmaster with some difficulty in charming but can be accomplished. Paladins/Beastmasters can wear the same armor as a beastmaster and can easily charm easy prey-even match mobs to fight VT-IT mobs. Mobs will attack a paladin's pet everytime it sends it after it, the paladin may get hit 1-3 times but the damage is insubstantial after pet regains hate. You can move out of range of the target mob and cure 3 without worry of gaining hate. VT-IT mobs usually take around 4-5 easy prey-even match mobs in order to kill. VT-IT mobs will give you 300 xp or so with exp band activated (200 without), even with your pet out. Below is a list of job abilities, job traits and Pet Commands you will get from subbing Beastmaster, listed at the Paladin level you get them.