Then what is he supposed to wear when hitting that level, before he gets any af3? :P
Gonna assume he does'nt have any homam etc!
Hehe good question =p
PLD was my third job, it allowed me to break into Sky and Sea/Limbus, and other (older) Endgame events, it really is fun. Now that VW has given it a new lease of life its again another good job to put effort into.
Now at the OP :) Levelling is alot different now as you know, but there are some really nice pieces out there to get pre 75.
From your level range, try and mix up pieces of the
Eisenbrust and the
I.M. Cuirass set as they are probably amongst the nicer defensive pieces up to 60. Thankfully, the
PLD Artifact is all the job needs once you are high enough, and the +1 feet can happily see you well at 99, with perhaps throwing in something like a
Royal Knight Chainmail,
Hauby/+1 or another DD body should you desire to.
High 60s you can pretty much full time the
Iron Ram Hauberk set, its a beautiful gear set for PLD and covers everything the job needs, except haste. Use a
Swift Belt and later perhaps the
Wally Turban should you desire to. Add in something like a
Terror Shield and pick up a
Dagda's Shield for later and you cant go wrong.
Personally, I would go with the
Iron Ram set until you start getting
Creed gear, as the
Perle Hauberk set is okay for its level, its actually quite nice for
some DD jobs, but for PLD it really reeks. However there is alot better out there at a slightly lower level.
Accessories are personal preference, but anything that boosts damage and eminity are the way to go. HP, haste and any form of -Damage Taken are also nice to have as you level. I'll leave this to you as accessories are the most customisable in gear sets/macros.
Several items of note:
Rajas Ring,
Swift Belt,
Cerb. Mantle +1,
Shield Torque,
Parade Gorget,
Jelly Ring... you get the idea.
Now, my suggestions on some gear that you could be working on for when you hit 75+, assuming you have the ability and the time to get the items. But hey, who cares how long it takes as long as you get it in the end, right? :)
Start saving seals for
Creed +1 gear, just all the set, its a really nice endgame set, and its quite obtainable. Just take friends, go shouting, see who bites. Same with +2s, probably prioritizing the body, then personal preference after that.
In the meantime, if Sky eventing is attractive to you, the
Koenig Schaller and
Gauntlets are great for high defensive stuff. Really not hard to get either.
Do Dynamis! Solo, go with friends, etc. Not only is it a decent money maker but
PLD Relic seems to drop well and you
may prefer it to the
Iron Ram gear. I personally don't, but with the Relic+2 options you may deem it a better choice.
With the recent changes, Limbus is a hell of a lot more accessible than before. I ran a Omega/Ultima shell for a year until health issues forced me to stop eventing, and then stop playing for a while, the group we had were really good and we never lost, and many people had full sets of both by the time we disbanded. Even at 75 low man groups and even soloers could get itself a Omega set. Again, take some LS members and other friends, and get yaself a few sets. Even now the
Homam gear, namely the hands, legs and feet, are nice pieces. And who knows where your newly geared and pimped out PLD will take you.. you could potentially get the Arch Omega versions later!
Just remember: having the best of the gear makes your job easier yes, but it is not essential to go far in things such like Voidwatch, Limbus, Abyssea etc. It all goes down to how well you play the job at the end of the day, that should be any players focus but sadly that is getting rarer in todays XI. Just make it as best as you possibly can, I bet its probably better than you think you can achieve :)
Sorry for such a long post, but PLD is a job I've always had pride in, and have tried to be the best I possibly could. I hope some of the suggestions on this topic help ya out!
Merry Christmas!
tldr: As much of the
Creed +1 set as you can get, and some reasonably decent accessories (
Creed Collar,
Twilight Torque,
Swift/Goading Belt,
Atheling Mantle etc) will make you a competant higher content Paladin. And from there you can only improve further!