Paladin PvP Guide for FFXIV

The Paladin's PvP kit offers a wide range of utility abilities, including a low-cooldown single-target gapcloser stun, self-sustain and the ability to give your teammates healing if they hit targets with your debuff. One of the standout features of Paladin is its signature ability, Guardian, which excels in coordinated team play due to the unique and powerful effect of redirecting damage. Additionally, Paladin's Limit Break is incredibly impactful, capable of turning the tide of battle on both offense and defense. It being a long cooldown, it can sway the course of a match.

This guide will focus on Crystalline Conflict. While bits and pieces may be applicable to other PvP game modes like Frontlines, it is not specifically aimed at them.

Strengths

• High team utility
• High survivability
• Guardian to redirect damage
• Limit Break can counter enemies team damage and swing games
• Able to reduce Guard reduction and apply amplifiers

Weaknesses

• Highly team-reliant
• Becomes priority target when using Guardian
• Reliant on Guard for save Guardian usage.

4.

Skill Selection

Recuperate Standard-issue Elixer Guard Purify Sprint

Every job has access to a few common actions, but some will have additonal info for you.

3.1.

Recuperate

Recuperate – This is your most important healing ability. MP in PVP is only used for this ability. With a max of 10,000 MP, recup will consume 2,500 and heals you for 15,000 HP. The amount of healing received can be increased and reduced by healing up or down status effects, such as Summon Seraph to increase or Biolysis to decrease. You gain 500 MP per 3 seconds passively, something to keep in mind!

Every job has access to a few common actions, but some will have additonal info for you.

3.2.

Standard-issue Elixer

Standard-issue Elixir – This is your second-most important healing ability. Elixir allows you to gain back all your HP and MP, resetting yourself for the next fight! The listed cast time is 4.5 seconds, which means the cast is actually snapshotted as complete after 4 seconds, after which you can move and opponents can no longer cancel your Elixir. You'll see moments where you get hit, and the position will still finish.

When not under pressure, make sure to top up your resourcers for the next fight. As with the animations counted in the death timer, you will be out for 20~ seconds instead vs a 4 second Elixir!

Every job has access to a few common actions, but some will have additonal info for you.

3.3.

Guard

Guard – Grants 90% damage reduction and immunity to most crowd-control debuffs for up to 5 seconds. Using another action cancels this guard early. Damage over Time effects that have been applied before Guard will always tick for the full amount and wont be negated with Guard!

Per Patch 7.1, there have been multiple abilities added that work against Guarded targets. Where Shield Smite and Chain Stratagem half the defensive bonus of Guard (90% → 45%), there are also abilities that simply ignore guard when dealing damage; Drill, Assassinate, Enchanted Riposte, Disesteem, Wreath of Fire, Serpent's Tail and Chaotic Spring

Damage per ability is now tight to animations, compared to pre-7.1 where the damage would registrate when pressed. This means Guard is more reactive than it has been before, but it's also possible now to start ability animations that will hit the moment your Guard ends. Beware of your surroundings and what the enemy is doing!

A Paladin-specific trick to escape after your Guard runs out is to use Intervene on a far away enemy target to quickly dash out of danger and apply a stun to the target. Guard will also be a big part of your Guardian playstyle; more on that later.

Every job has access to a few common actions, but some will have additonal info for you.

3.4.

Purify

Purify – Cleanses all common crowd-control debuffs and provides a 3-second immunity to further crowd control, draw in and knockback effects. Use this to prevent yourself from getting CC-chained to death.

With the amount of crowd-control abilities, try not to be trigger-happy when using Purify. Taking a stun with no follow up from the enemy team, doesnt bring you in danger! If you have no defensives ready against a crowd-control heavy enemy team, it's recommended to play defensively before making another engage.

Every job has access to a few common actions, but some will have additonal info for you.

3.5.

Sprint

Sprint – Toggle for increased movement speed. This is a GCD and using any other action cancels the buff, so be smart in using it. Paladin has a lot of ranged ability tools, so when you chase someone, be sure to use them and Intervene onto the target. If you are using off-global abilities repeatedly while running away or chasing, you should try to late-weave them if you can afford to, to avoid canceling too much of the Sprint duration.

Paladin has high offensive and defensive capabilities, with some of the strongest mitigation and utility tools in the game. With Paladin's kit, you are able to redirect damage, apply melee and ranged damage, provide healing to your party, increase damage taken to enemies, reduce the effect of guard and apply damage mitigation to yourself.

Imperator deals a ranged attack of 4000 damage on and around it's target. Everyone hit by this ability will be debuffed with Sacred Claim for 10 seconds, allowing you and your party to heal for 3000 HP when hitting the target. Sacred Claim is not effected by healing up or down effects. The healing will not be granted when hitting into counter abilities like Fated Circle (Nebula), Wreath of Ice and Hissatsu: Chiten. The healing of Sacred Claim is applied per hit target, meaning if you hit two targets with the debuff, you heal for 3000 * 2 = 6000 HP.

Upon using Imperator, your Royal Authority combo changes into Atonement → Supplication → Sepulchre. This is a stronger version of your standard filler combo, dealing 30,000 damage combined. This combo does not break by any other GCD. On your status bar you will see how long the timer will last to excecute this ability. You will also gain the ranged attack Confiteor, dealing 10,000 damage to everyone hit and healing you for 8000 HP once. This heal is effected by healing up and down effects.

Holy Spirit deals a ranged attack of 8,000 potency on a 12 seconds cooldown. This ability also grants you healing to a potency of 8,000HP. The damage is not related to the amount of healing you gain, however this heal is effected by healing up and down effects. Holy Spirit a good ranged attack to use as a follow-up for a target that is fleeting away. It also can be good defensively for when you are disengaging and want an extra heal for yourself as you find a place to hide. The ability does more damage than your basic Royal Authority combo, and can be used in part of your burst from ranged.

Shield Smite has a unique effect that has been introduced since patch 7.1. This AoE GCD ability hits everyone in a cone before you, centered on the target, for 8000 damage. For everyone that has been hit, their damage taken is increased by 10%. On top of that, this ability allows you to half the defensive bonus of Guard while they are under the effect of Guard itself, making their damage taken from -90% to -45% + the 10% damage increase. This ability being on a 24 second cooldown and being AoE means it can be used as an amplifier on multiple targets that are stacked up or make the enemy's Guard way less valuable. If this ability hits multiple people in Guard, all of their guards have been reduced.

An example of the math with Shield Smite with Supplication, a 10,000 damage ability, goes as follows:

• Target in Guard = 90% reduction. Supplication hits for 10,000 × 0.10 = 1,000 damage.
• Target in Guard = 90% reduction. Hit by Shield Smite, the reduction is 45% and an amplifier is being applied of 10%. Supplication hits for (10000 * 0,55) * 1,1 = 6050 damage.

Intervene is your gapcloser, which is also tight to your stun. The ability is your tool of movement and should be used tactically. The ability does 2000 damage and applies a stun for 2 seconds, on a 12 second cooldown. With this ability being half of the cooldown of Purify you can track their purify more easily. Try to keep an eye on when your opponents burn their Purifies (watch for the Purify icon on the enemy list buff bar) and keep track of their Purify cooldowns to maximize your stun effectiveness. Intervene is also great value defensively for usage with Guardian, as you can use it as a gapcloser after you Guardian and Guard to get away from your current position. For example you can target someone in the back of the enemy team as an escape!

Holy Sheltron grants you a shield of 8,000 potency for 4 seconds. This shield is effected by healing up and down effects, as shields are considered as heals in this game. Since the hit registration of PvP have been adjusted, you are able to shield more incoming damage as a reflex. An example of this is Zantetsuken, which deals 100% of your maximum HP in damage under the effect of Kuzushi, granted by Hissatsu: Chiten. Once you see the samurai start their animation of the Limit Break towards you, you can press Sheltron and survive it, where in the past the shield would ghost. The same would go for a Limit Break like Marksman's Spite, where you can now mitigate the damage once it's locked on top of you. When using Holy Sheltron, the follow up effect is determined by the shield being absorbed or not, both granting different effects.

• The shield is absorbed: Shield Oath
  • When the shield is fully absorbed, you gain the Shield Oath Effect. For the next 8 seconds, your damage taken is reduced by 15%. This makes you more tanky after your shield is gone. Combine this with Holy Spirit and Imperator for a heavy amount of sustain on the field. Be aware, that this damage mitigation will only be applied after the shield is fully absorbed.

• The shield is not absorbed: Sword Oath
  • When the shield isnt absorbed, the shield will deal AoE damage around you with a damage of 150% of your remainder shield potency. Enemies hit by this effect will also gain the Heavy debuff for 4 seconds, slowing their movementspeed by 75%. Once the shield has exploded, you gain the Sword Oath Effect. For the next 8 seconds, your damage will be increased by 15%. When you are pre-using Holy Sheltron for an engage, you can suprise the enemy. A full shield exploding will do 12,000 damage AoE around you after 3 seconds. Using Intervene right before the shield explodes can be unexpected damage on the target, who are now also stunned. You can also use Holy Sheltron during your Limit Break Phalanx, where you dont receive damage. This is an amazing way to charge your Sheltron and gain an extra 15% damage on your combo.

Guardian is the ability that Paladin is mainly known for. Guardian being able to redirect damage towards the Paladin makes it one of the strongest mitigation tools that we currently have. All damage intended for the target that you cover will be redirected towards you instead for 8 seconds.

The ranged of Guardian, also known as Cover, is 20 yalms. Once you are using Guardian on a party member, aslong they are in 10 yalms, all the damage they will receive is going to you. Be aware that Damage over Time abilities that have been applied before Guardian, will still do damage to your party member. Once under the effect of cover, your party member is also able to use Standard-issue Elixir, giving them a 'free' reset while under your protection. When the enemy uses AoE abilities, it is possible you take double damage. This is why it's important to have Guard or Holy Sheltron ready when you want to cover someone. This will mitigate the damage you receive on both yourself and your party member.

With your Guard lasting 5 seconds, and an elixir taking around 4 seconds, it is important to keep an eye out on your party member. Are they going to use the elixir? Do you have to use your guard make you both survive? What is my escape route? There are a lot of things to consider when you want to cover someone and how to get away. In the higher rating matches, players will often focus you once you put the cover out. A way of escaping is Intervene, where you use it on the most far away enemy and escape. With cover it's range, be mindful that you do split ways with your partner so that you dont take additional damage in your escape for survival!

Good use of Guardian requires game knowledge. Knowing what the enemy team is capable off with the jobs that they have, such as burst and limit breaks. Or when a Dancer wants to use Contradance and you can offer them protection while being in animation lock. With Patch 7.1, you are now able to use Guardian more quickly and effective. With the new system it is possible to cover Limit Breaks who would snapshot in the past, such as:

• Machinist's Marksman's Spite
• Ninja's Seiton Tenchu
• Reaper's Perfectio
• Samurai's Zantetsuken

Once the animation of these Limit Breaks start, you are still able to cover your party member and take the damage for them. This is incredibly valuable against execution Limit Breaks. Playing the game and learning more about classes, you will learn when you need to cover someone. May it be that their guard runs out and are low on MP or that you read the enemy team and prevent damage to your team in the first place. A good tool to communicate with your team for when you can cover, is the quick chat of /quickchat Guard, letting your team know the cooldown of your Guard!

While it has the longest charge time within the game of 120 seconds, Phalanx can be an absolute game changer for offensive and defensive play. This Limit Break grants you Hallowed Ground, making you impervious to most attacks for 10 seconds, while reducing the damage taken to your partymembers by 33%. This effect will be applied upon use of the Limit Break to every party member in range. Under this effect, Phalanx will change and allow you to use the Blade of Valor combo. Be aware that the stage event in Cloud 9, where you get knocked into the sky, does go through your Hallowed Ground and you will receive 30,000 damage.

The Blade of Valor combo is a strong AoE ranged attack around the target. Landing Blade of Faith, Blade of Truth and Blade of Valor will deal around 36,000 AoE damage, which can be buffed by Holy Sheltron and Shield Smite. While hitting your unlimited blade works combo, for each usage you will heal for 8,000 HP aswell, making you able to heal up from your abilities while immune to damage!

Phalanx is at its strongest in large group battles, shining especially in overtime situations to turn a game around or to put the final nail in the coffin. Try not to use it without three or four teammates in range and in line of sight. In addition, it is often also better to opt not to use it in a 1v5 or 2v5 situation and save it for the next big team fight instead.

Having a charge of 120 seconds, Phalanx is an expensive yet valuable tool to turn a fight into your favor. Being able to mitigate a lot of the enemy damage, it's often used as a counter Limit Break to jobs like Astrologian with Celestial River, Dancer's Contradance or Dragoon's Sky Shatter. You are able to stall for over 10 seconds, and give yourself and a partymember immunity of damage with Guardian. it's not advices to use Phalanx in a 1v5 situation before overtime. Keep it and regroup for the next fight. There will be cases where it's adviced to use it, but these are rare stalling moments where you need to buy time for your team to regroup.

As we learned from our abilities, there is a lot of damage possible within your kit. When we are talking about burst, we look how we can do the most damage in a short amount of time. For Paladin, you can do a melee and a ranged combo.

• Holy Sheltron - To charge your shield explosion and Sword Oath buff
• Shield Smite - To put your amplifier up or Guard reduction
• Intervene - Dash to the target right as your shield will explode
• Imperator - Apply AoE Damage and Sacred Claim
• Confiteor - A quick follow up with high AoE Damage and healing

This combo does about 40,000 damage within 5 seconds. Almost everything being AoE and the target being stunned for the big part of this. Sheltron can fall off due to damage, making this burst lose a lot of damage, but gaining sustain in return for it with Shield Oath. Do note that the Sepulchre combo wasnt used, as the first hit does less than Confiteor. After this combo, follow up with your enhanced 1-2-3 combo to pressure the target further!

for the ranged combo, it is more supportive than a burst for when a target tries to run away. This combo will gain you a lot of passive healing for yourself aswell, so it can be used offensively and defensively alike. For the ranged combo we look at the following;

• Holy Sheltron - To charge your shield explosion and Sword Oath buff
• Imperator - Apply AoE Damage and Sacred Claim
• Confiteor - A quick follow up with high AoE Damage and healing
• Holy Spirit - A decent ranged attack for damage and healing

This combo does between 20,000 and 24,000 damage from ranged within 4 seconds. Here it's also possible that sheltron may fall off due to the shield being absorbed but gaining sustain back for it with Shield Oath. With this combo, as you hit the Sacred Claim target, you heal about 22,000 HP passively by doing damage!

Macros are useful to assist in you during the games. There are a few macros that are basic for every job to have, while Paladin may have some unique ones to assist you in combat. A basic macro to have is the /target <attack1> and/or /target <circle>, which let you automatically focus the person who is marked with the "Target to Attack 1" or "Circle" marker. Knowing that regions play with different markers for this, it's recommanded to have both. This marker often indicates the person that the team wants to focus.

Here are a few useful macros for Paladin. First up we have the target macro for Guardian. After selecting the partymember in your team, using this macro will put a bind 1 marker on your head and a bind 2 marker on your partymember. This shows your member where the both of you are to stay in range of the cover. After 9 seconds, the markers will desolve again:

/merror off
/pvpac "Guardian" >t<
/quickchat "Covering Target"
/mk bind1 >me<
/mk bind2 >target> >wait.9<
/mk bind2 >me> >wait.1<
/mk bind2 >me<
/micon "Guardian" pvpaction
/micon Guardian pvpaction

Second is the mouse-over version, meaning it will try to activate on whatever your mouse is on, whether it be the name entry in your party list or the player's model on your screen:

/merror off
/pvpac Guardian <mo>
/pvpac Guardian <mo>
/pvpac Guardian <mo>
/pvpac Guardian <mo>
/pvpac Guardian <mo>
/pvpac Guardian <mo>
/pvpac Guardian <mo>
/pvpac Guardian <mo>
/pvpac Guardian <mo>
/pvpac Guardian <mo>
/pvpac Guardian <mo>
/pvpac Guardian <mo>
/pvpac Guardian <mo>
/micon Guardian pvpaction

Lastly for Guardian we have the Target-of-Target macro. This is a macro that will, as it says, target your target's target. Meaning it will try to activate on the target of whoever you focus. I recommend this macro to counter single target bursts or Limit Breaks like mentioned earlier. For example once the Samurai uses their Limit Break, using this macro would make you cover their target and (hopefully) save them from death.

/merror off
/pvpac "Guardian" <tt<
/pvpac "Guardian" <tt<
/pvpac "Guardian" <tt<
/pvpac "Guardian" <tt<
/pvpac "Guardian" <tt<
/pvpac "Guardian" <tt<
/pvpac "Guardian" <tt<
/quickchat "Covering Target" <tt<
/micon Guardian pvpaction