Shield Skill Vs. Byakko

/nin aside because usually shadows go down so fast on Byakko. What would you think a good number of +shield skill that would be needed to stay close to cap on Koieng Shield?

I don't know what the cap for it is, and i want to get a as close as i can for a shadows down set.

Also any further input or advise towards tanking Byakko would help. Thanks.

Ya i have the 4/4 Shield. Buckler Earring, Gallant, Shield Torque, Koenig Helm, But I'm in the process of saving for Boxers, so ill have to count that out for now.

Though also wondering if there's any set formula for Shield skill block rate compared to a specific monsters stat?

Try reading this. Shield activation rate on koenig after 300 skill is quite close to cap, 310 skill should probably be sufficient, although I have 314 on my set.

Other than that make sure you are getting x2 march from a brd on byakko and have slow/elegy land then it's all down to luck.

Pretty much everything Mabrook said is wrong.

Ok, yea getting the right support helps as well. And thanks for that link i'll look over it.

lol ya, pretty much sums it up x.x

The only things that are proven to increase shield proc rate are Shield Skill and Shield Size, though Agility is theorized to also. This is of course hard to test, because adding AGI is going to also increase parry and evade rates thereby skewing the results.

Except that our parry and evade skill is too low to proc more than the minimum 5% on anything like Byakko.

Your biggest tool in your bag of tricks for this situation is Reprisal. Try to wear haste+ gear every time you cast it and keep haste and march on. Around 315 with reprisal and you can get your ichi up while getting smacked most of the time.

An Aegis pld in my old LS used to cast raise on people with reprisal up while getting hundred fisted in dynamis.

I personally save reprisal for when i need to get ichi back up. Ride Ichi, cast ni in emergency. Not the other way around.

look at my gear sets. When he wipes your shadows and you have hate, put on your ichi gear anyways. its your maximum shield you can reach while implementing a vit/damage taken and idle set for sustainability.

One of the big things paladins nowadays don't look at is survivability. I myself was guilty of that at one time. You need to limit your gear sets for mp conservation as well to not lose mp where you don't need to.

Im not sure what all the modifiers for shield are other than shield skill stacking and the size. But I do know that with my shield setup it proc's enough for me to stay in/above yellow before my timers are up.

Sadly Byakko can 1 shot any pld if you get unlucky enough. triple attack x2 + a critical razor fang is something all plds will experience at one time or another

Well the night that i posted this we went 3/3 on byakko. I did, unfortunately, get Razor Clawed or w/e it is for about 1150 and it took me out. I died a few times but lived enough to make us win. All the advise helped a ton.

We Also had quite a few DD on byakko and learned soon enough that we can have everyone going nuts on it right at start because not enough hate build for one and 2 because it would TP move faster than shadows could be reapplied.

Good support and an awesome co-tank helped us by far :D

People who claim you can cap shield skill on pld disapoint me. No matter how much you stack you won't reach the cap on anything high level. Testing has been done many times regarding +shield skill and even against low level mobs like steelshell crabs you notice very small fractional increases in block rate at best. I would say against HNM and simliar level NMs your block rate will be around 40-50% at best. The best solution for tanking byakko is to have blms stun as soon as a pld starts taking damage. Elegy helps a bit as well but most sky linkshells dont use brd/blm.

Yoshikiii, if you're having trouble tanking byakko (i.e dying), let me give you a few tips that have kept all of my tanks alive on him for as long as I can remember.



This shield/defense build is sufficient enough to keep you alive. It doesn't offer the excessive amount of shield skill that a lot of these other endgame PLDs have, but this will work. I also included exerts from my defense build as well. When using a shield setup, you should use as much DEFENSE as you can with it, because if you're using a shield setup, chances are, you'll be taking damage.

BRD elegy can be a pain some times, but my BRDs don't have problems landing it on him. If your RDM is not enfeebling, this is a problem as well. He is susceptible to Slow, Paralyze, and Blind. Make sure all 3 of those are on, as well as Bio (to weaken attacks). What I do is watch the RDMs cast their spells and see if they land it or not. Believe it or not, some endgame RDMs will just cast it and not even pay attention to see if it lands or not. So just double-check them.

The real problem comes when he uses TP moves in conjunction with his stupidly high triple attack rate. He will basically triple attack every 1 in 3 hits. (so 33% rate). Sometimes its even every other hit. So you will need to pay close attention to it. Diaga sucks as well. Keep your shadows at 2, it's a safe bet, really. Once you hit 2 shadows, start casting your ichi right before Byakko attacks you. If it doesn't triple attack, just cancel your current shadows... If it does triple attack, just pray that your shield blocks that last attack.

Most PLDs may bash me for this, but I strongly recommend tanking this in a full shield setup. You'll be losing your gear haste for the most part, but you won't regret it when byakko uses triple attack > razor fang. But as far as I know, as long as you're getting haste + marchx2, you should be fine on tanking this NM. You really don't want to be blinking every time you cast utsusemi because it can be a pain for healers (I've been there!) to target you again, and give you the appropriate heals/status removals in time.

i have 0 shield merits, there all on weapons for my DD, hoping lv increase lets me add some, he hasnt dropped me with his stupid trip attack -> claw cyclone in a good long while

My IDLE for TP build


Utsusemi: Ichi Casting


nuevo is PLD augmented: fastcast/enmity
SE added <stpt> and <stal>
mages should use them, nobody complains about all they blinking they do to maximize their job -.-
HP+ merits 8/8^^ i sit at about 1400hp as Mithra in idle tank gear, fun time tho when i get knocked down to under 80hp =P

Sub ninja and play better.

Spellcast and <stpt>/<stal> say hi. If you don't blink, you're going to be a hugely inefficient Paladin.

Just a question totally un-related to topic. Is Flash blind reliable enough on mobs like Byakko that you can get Ichi off just from their blind?

the only thing that's really going to help on byakko (aside from getting any slow or elegy to land) will be a practiced stun cycle with several blm. have them time their stuns so that there's enough leeway between them, so that they can stun a -ga spell should byakko start casting relatively shortly after the last stunner in the cycle stunned it and not leave the next stunner with their timer down (stunning even with shadows up will help your timers). aside from that -damage gear is your best friend, even more so than any gear with high def or vit (jelly ring isn't always best for sky gods because of their additional effect, unleess someone can throw and land a wind).

Don't forget that DRK can stun if you have any in your LS.

yes, drk also has stun. my own drk use to be in the stun cycle, but hate generation became a large problem for me and I was eventually taken out due to 'unreliability' (death), lol. this is the only reason I neglected to bring it up. I know most drk aren't keen on subbing nin or revising their hate balancing for enemies on this scale, so it may be best not to force them to continually use such a hate generating tool, lol.

Have at least 2 brd/blms and 2 rdm/blms and you'll have slow+elegy on byakko the entire fight which honestly makes tanking him pretty easy even with the triple attacks. I've 7-manned and 8-manned byakko a dozen or so times with no problem. Honestly, it always helped to have brd/blms and rdm/blms for sky guardians and it will make your life as a tank much easier.

Don't forget to have someone I don't care who it is come /whm to Paralyna..gotta get that crap off fast when lowmanning.

/wave Biggy

On Byakko I use Simba Buckler MP HP Emnity and its nice Block rate. Some people have already said about Stun, it really is a life saver.

When your timers are down or you are casting ichi ask your BLMs to stun.

Apart from that you have Repraisal which when under Haste isnt too bad a recast

Somthing else which I personally find extreamly useful is HP. I know a lot of people flame and cry about using HP stuff, but on Byakko it really helps. On slots where you dont have shield/haste/fastcast I try put HP i.e BBQ ring and honestly many times I have sat at 40HP~ after triple att + TP/Spell and been thankful for having that extra HP

Byakko is one of them mobs however that no matter what gear you have, how awesome you think you are, if he wants to go SSJ on your *** he will.

I used koeing shield last night /nin. but thing is when casting ichi Only I put shield skill on right before casting ichi though I hit reprisal when it is up ahead of time. then hit my shield skill macro, and cast ichi... I do not really have to worry about Loq earring in ichi because with shield skill hit recast should not matter. I mean tanking something like that you have marchx2 which should be enough to have ustsu timers back up provided you have enough haste.

I take shield skill seriously, but my problem with simba buckler... is I do not have it. I always really wanted the item from adamantoise. But I wonder if it could be sold to me, pretty much. I think it is better than simba despite the mp it has. Not like I never used a type one shield before I have one when I was skill up shield skill. But it is way to low to consider going /nin on byakko or any god and it's defense is too low.

Despite the defense on koeing and simba, koeing will make you take less damage. But the simba buckler blocks a lot, so it is a matter of personal preference. If you are like me and strap on a ton of shield skill+ reprisal before casting ichi; then when that is gone use Ni which should have all your haste parts in it including loq earring. There should be no problem with using koeing. I usually have 67/70 when on pld.

It's because all the gear I have in there concerning enmity , shield skill, homam, and rings. More gear will soon be in there too... so I need to make room to dump the needless stuff in my inventory.

This.
idc how amazingly skilled/geared you are, diaga > triple attack > razor fang > triple attack will leave you face down. Unless you're an elvaan.

There is no reason to ever use a shield other than Kaiser, Terror, or Aegis. If you need a buckler sized shield to keep shadows up, please learn to count to 3 better, or play another job.

something I can do for my ichi is have the ethereal earring taken out for buckler or loq. Problem is having enough space in ichi macro to equip ethereal back on for buckler...

I usually after casting ni stick on shield skill after doing all I have done hit up reprisal or try to since it is next to ni and ichi and then cast ichi, provided it is up.

Ouch.... I use Koeing, that is not bad right?

I mean, never used buckler shield except for when I skilled up shield with the agi +3 one. I do not use it any more though, that was funny what you said though.


Simba and the adamantoise shield are not bad for casting shadows, but if byakko or said different god or what ever you are fighting gets a hit off you will take a lot of damage compared to the other 3 you mentioned. This is a reason I do not want to use them. It would be nice to have the one I wanted, but oh well I am fine as is.