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 reaching level 30 with at least one job.
Paladins are one of the two main "tanks", due to their 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).
==Becoming a Paladin==
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. 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 the player to Davoi, the capital of the Orc nation. Strangely enough, the proud Elvaan Knights send the player on what is basically a sneaking mission to find an old well. Inside is more than water, but a dead paladin's soul. After retrieving the knight's soul the player has proven themself worthy and earned the right to level as a Paladin.
==Abilities==
===Job abilities===
Job Ability	Level	Recast 	Duration	Description
 	1 	1:00:00	0:00:30 	Grants immunity to all physical attacks.
 	5 	0:05:00	0:03:00 	Grants resistance against undead to party members within area of effect.
 	15 	0:03:00	— 	Delivers an attack that can stun the target. Shield required.
 	30 	0:05:00	0:00:30 	Reduces physical damage taken and increases enmity.
 	35 	0:03:00	0:00:15 	Allows you to protect party members by placing yourself between them and the enemy.
 	62 	0:05:00	0:00:30 	Grants a Magic Shield effect and enhances defense for party members within area of effect.
 	 	0:10:00	— 	Converts TP to MP.
 	 	0:10:00	0:01:00 	Grants a powerful resistance to enfeebling magic.
 	78 	0:10:00	0:01:00 	Enhances the accuracy of your next divine magic spell and increases enmity.
 	87 	0:05:00	0:03:00 	Lowers accuracy, evasion, magic accuracy, magic evasion and TP gain for undead.
 	95 	0:05:00	0:01:00 	Increases chance of blocking with shield, and eliminates enmity loss.
 	96 	1:00:00	0:00:30 	Strikes the target with your shield and decreases its attack and accuracy.
===Job traits===
Job Trait	Levels 	Tier 	Description
 	1 	I 	Gives you an edge when fighting undead.
 	10 / 30 / 50 / 70 / 76 / 91	VI 	Improves defense against physical attacks.
 	20 / 40 / 60 / 75 / 81 	V 	Increases resistance against sleep.
 	25 / 50 / 75 / 96 	IV 	Grants bonus TP when blocking an attack with a shield. Also prevents spell interruption.
 	35 	I 	Gradually restores MP.
 	45 / 85 	II 	Increases your maximum HP.
 	 	Varies	Reduces enmity loss while using Sentinel.
 	 	Varies	Adds a spell interruption down effect to Rampart.
 	77 / 82 / 91 	III 	Reduces damage taken when blocking an attack with a shield.
 	79 / 85 	II 	Improves defense against critical hits.
===White Magic===
{|class="article-table FFXI" style="text-align:center" width="100%"	
Level	White Magic
5 	Cure
7 	Banish
10 	Protect
17 	Cure II
20 	Shell
30 	Cure III
30 	Protect II
34 	Banish II
===Skill ratings===
{|class="half-width article-table FFXI" style="text-align:center"	 	 	
Combat Skill	Rank	Caps by Level	Caps by Level
Combat Skill	Rank	49 	99
Dagger 	C- 	139 	368
Sword 	A+ 	150 	424
Great Sword 	B 	144 	398
Polearm 	E 	124 	300
Club 	A- 	150 	417
Staff 	A- 	150 	417
Evasion 	C 	139 	373
Shield 	A+ 	150 	424
Parrying 	C 	139 	373
==Gameplay==
===Strengths===
*Strongest defense and a high shield skill make Paladins capable of surviving hits other jobs cannot.
*Paladins have a variety of spells and abilities designed to direct enmity towards them and/or away from other party members making them ideal tanks, protectors of the party.
*Paladins have a very large amount of Enmity equipment available and can hold hate very well in most situations.
===Weaknesses===
*Depending on what enemy is to be fought, a Paladin may not be as useful as a Ninja because of the damage he will take. Some creatures hit too hard for even a paladin to survive. Other enemies attack quickly but with relatively low accuracy—high enough to hit paladins though—and pose less of a threat to other potential tanks.
*Due to player preferences, it may be difficult to find an experience party at extremely high levels.
==Support Jobs==
===Warrior===
Warrior is the major support job 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 support job to function purely as a direct damage. With the support job 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 support job 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 support job 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.
===Dancer===
The most popular job for solo Paladins in 2010, PLD/DNC allows the Paladin to continue to heal him/herself even when MP is running desperately low.
==Other appearances==
===Final Fantasy Trading Card Game===
Paladin appears on cards.
Paladin XI TCG.png|Trading card.
Paladin2 XI TCG.png|Trading card.
===Final Fantasy Portal App===
Paladin appears as a Triple Triad card.
==Gallery==
Paladin FFXI Ikeda Icon.png|Promotional artwork of the Paladin by Yuzuki Ikeda.
Mithra PLD (FFXI).png|A Mithra Paladin in Artifact Armor.
PLDAF.jpg|A group shot of all the races in Artifact Armor.
==Etymology==
Category:Jobs in Final Fantasy XI