[ad_1]
Final Fantasy 14’s 6.3 update brought a lot of new content, but it also introduced a much-needed rework for the Paladin, one of the game’s tank jobs. Before 6.3, Paladin (PLD) was a tank that had a pretty strict rotation and didn’t really have burst windows like most other jobs. This generally made them deal less damage than other tanks because they couldn’t make use of 2 minute buffs like Arcane Circle and Embolden.
With the removal of DoTs from Blade of Valor and Goring Blade, the addition of Divine Might, and the change to Fight or Flight, the PLD rotation looks completely different than it did in the last patch. Below is an overview of what makes the PLD rotation different, as well as how to perform two variations of the rotation.
Small disclaimer for new players: the rounds discussed below are only relevant at level 90, though you might want to read up on the theory if you’re still leveling up your paladin to optimize your damage output.
Final Fantasy 14 Paladin 6.3 Rotation (as of January 11, 2023)
Paladin rotation theory
6.3 Paladin revolves around throwing all your hard hitting abilities while the fight or flight is on, as it only has 8 GCDs per minute (at 2.5 GCD). This means you’ll want to squeeze in all of your oCGDs (Intervene, Expiacion, Circle of Scorn) as well as your Confiteor combo. You also want to discard your Goring Blade as it is now a standalone GCD with a 60 second cooldown timer. That’s five GCDs for a Confiteor and Goring Blade combo.
But what about the other three GCDs? Your most powerful GCDs outside of a Confiteor and Goring Blade combo are Royal Authority, Atonement, and Holy Spirit. Atonement and royal authority beat the Holy Spirit by a decent amount, but if you have divine power, the Holy Spirit is better. Either way, you’ll want to match these GCDs to maximize your damage output.
One neat thing about the new PLD rotation is that you can be much more flexible with your GCDs during the filler parts of the rotation. You can use Holy Spirit when you are out of target range and drop atonements if you lose action time for a mechanic.
Currently, there are two ways to perform the PLD rotation. The following rotations were taken from Balance Discord serverA server dedicated to FFXIV raid related information, so check it out if you’re into that sort of thing.
60’s round
(You can find the full image Here)
The 60 second round is by far the easier of the two rounds you can learn for a paladin. It’s pretty simple, with a one-minute loop after your first minute. Every Fight or Flight (FoF) you use after the draw will contain two Rubbed Holy Spirits, Royal Authority, Goring Blade, and the Confiteor combo. You will use your 1-2-3 combo between FoF, use Expiacion and Circle of Scorn off cooldown, and hold Intervenes for FoF windows.
Here is a video showing the full round:
(embed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBAzqBCQdjo(/embed)
Note that you will have to take off one or two kofra every minute. You will drop one before the one and two minute burst during each successive FoF window. You will also notice that we hold our divine power from a combination of royal authority to use within FoF. By using Riot Blade then Royal Authority, we can use our existing Divine Might and then gain another stack right after. This way you can use two Cooked Holy Spirits within one FoF using a combination of Confiteor and Goring Blade.
120 round
(You can find the full image Here)
The 120 second round does about the same amount of damage as the 60 second round, but it offers a bit more flexibility during your refill phase while also giving you some extra healing. This is thanks to the Holy Spirit; You’ll use 2-3 Holy Spirits on downtime, some of them without mud, allowing you to hit the target while it’s out of melee range. Holy Spirit also heals you a decent amount, so it’s good to use if you’re low on health. Note that you can use the Holy Spirit between combining your Royal Authority without resetting it.
This is how the 120th round looks like:
(embed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBlA2qXzS7U(/embed)
Unbuffered Holy Spirit has a 1.5 second cast time, which means you can’t move or double weave until the cast ends. Casting the Holy Spirit this way (also known as hardcasting) can feel slow or restrictive, so feel free to choose whichever spin feels more comfortable for you.
And so do the paladin rounds for 6.3! Note that these rotations are tentative as of January 11, 2023, and depending on power changes or additional rotation optimizations, it may well look different in the future. For now though, enjoy the revamped paladin, and good luck with your raids and experiments!
source: Balance Discord server
[ad_2]