Paladin (Final Fantasy XI)



Paladins appear in Final Fantasy XI as an advanced job available to characters who have completed the Paladin flag quest after attaining level 30 with at least one job. The quest to become a Paladin begins in San d'Oria. This is the only quest for an advanced job that has prerequisites besides a level requirement and a quest. A player must first complete two Squire's Tests before they can be eligible for the Knight's Test. The Squire's quests can be completed before the character reaches level 30.

The Quest to become a paladin takes you to Davoi, the capital of the Orc nation. Strangely enough, the proud Elvaan Knights send you on what is basically a sneaking mission to find an old well. Inside is more than water, but a dead paladin's soul. After you retrieve the knight's soul you have proven yourself worthy and earn the right to level as a Paladin.

Paladins in Final Fantasy XI are one of the two main "tanks," a massive multiplayer term for a tough character that tries to keep the attention of an enemy. They do this by having a high Vitality and Defense, protective and curative white magic, and defensive abilities like Cover, Sentinel, Rampart, and Invincible which actually does render a paladin immune to physical damage for a short period of time (magic damage is still received as normal).

Paladin Abilities
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Job Abilities

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Job Traits

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Spell List
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Combat Skill Ratings

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Magic Skill Ratings

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Strengths

 * Strongest defense in the game.
 * An A+ Rating in Sword and access to unique weapon skills make Paladins capable of doing decent damage with the right equipment.
 * An A+ Rating in shield helps them reduce damage taken, as well as a job trait that allows them to get TP for every block increasing the number on weapon skills they can preform.
 * Cover allows Paladins to save other party members as well as other abilities that benefit all of the party.

Weaknesses

 * Leveling styles from level 70-75 do not always rely upon a tank.
 * High experience loss due to many deaths exacerbates the difficulty in getting a party from 70-75.

Warrior
Warrior is the major subjob for Paladins up through level 70 and for almost every purpose they would be used in high-end events. The simple reason for this is just that warriors get the ability provoke, the simplest and most reliable way of creating enmity. Certain other abilities are enjoyed by Paladins, such as Defender and double attack.

Ninja
Sometimes Paladins between level 70 and level 75 will use a ninja subjob to function purely as a direct damage. With the subjob they can function reasonably well in TP-burn parties with their A+ rating in sword as well as benefit from Blink through Utsusemi. A ninja sub can also be useful for soloing because Utsusemi reduces the need for healing (and thus downtime), and Paladin/Ninja tanks can work in situations that don't require large amounts of enmity generation. Paladins have an advantage over some other jobs that use Ninja as a subjob in that Shield Mastery will prevent spell interruptions from damage if the hit is blocked with a shield, which when combined with Flash, substantially improves the efficacy of Utsusemi: Ichi.

Red Mage
When soloing, Red Mage can be an effective subjob for Paladins due to an increased MP pool and spells like Phalanx and Stoneskin to reduce damage, while also having en- spells like Enblizzard to increase damage dealt, usually with a sword and shield set-up.