I've never heard/experienced anything like Spike/Curve hate. A voke is a voke and a flash is a flash. There's no way to sort of "combo it" so that there is a "multiplier" or whatever. And it certainly doesn't carry over to other mobs. If that were the case then you would get better with each mob chain without adjusting your routine and that simply isn't the case.
My hate guide
Here's a good way to think of hate. And from my experience(74 pld) this seems to be THE most accurate theory.
After you effect a mob (heal another player or attempt to strike), you end up on it's hate list. Think of the hate a mob has for a player as a
value that slowly ticks down but never gets to zero (as this would constitute no battle and thus no hate at all). Basically, whoever has the highest number among everyone on the hate list is the one who's going to get attacked.
This explains situations where the mob moves "frantically" because what is actually happening is you have 2 or more people with hate values that are ticking down VERY close to each other and constantly changing who has the highest hate level. You can see this in even a more profound way when a mandragora sleeps a party and it's constantly switching between targets even though no one is hitting it.
Now, there are events that either drastically drop or raise a mob's hate. Damage delt, Amount of HP healed by a caster, provoke, etc drastically raise hate (of course the level of hate it adds on varies on what spell/job ability that is used). Taking damage is the big hate reducer (and of course,
time).
So, in light of all of that, if you're a DD and you want to lose hate after making a big hit to a mob, your hate will drop much faster if you simply turn around and stop hitting. Not only will it tick down, but you won't get positive values added on from whacking at it.
Ever notice how at later levels it's much easier to pull hate from a blm's MB than a mnk's or sam's WS? It's because the MB is a 1-time hit and afterwards the blm's hate value is consistently decreasing due to the fact that he's never hitting the mob, only taking damage. On the other hand, with a mnk or sam, you get the massive hate spike like a MB, but instead of hate ticking down quickly from time-passed and smacks to the face, it keeps making little jumps back up everytime they hit it.
If you're not sure about any of this, keep this system in mind and pay really close attention to how mobs react in a party (especially in one where your tank sucks and the mob is all over the place).
End hate guide
My PLD tanking guide
Now, as far as a PLD goes... Yes, you want to stagger your "hate tools" so that you don't "blow your wad" on one battle and be left with only flash and voke for the next 5 mins. Here's my usual routine (keep in mind this is for a high level that has all their job abilities):
My whole routine revolves around provoke's 30 second recast timer (so be prepaired to hit alt-J a LOT).
1) - As a mob's coming in, Provoke and imediately Flash (start 30secs)
2) - Sometime in the next 20 secs, get a cure3 off and heal with full potency (meaning make sure you recover the spell's full amount to generate maximum hate).
3) - 10 secs before voke is ready burn either Sentinel, Rampage, or Warcry
4) - 2nd Voke At this point you should have your hate well established.
After that voke goes off every 30 seconds with either Flash or Cure3 inbetween.
If you ration your Warcry, Sentinel, and Rampage to 1 per battle, by the time you get to the 4th fight, the first one you used will be ready again. With this system you also have Shield Bash and Cover ready to go for emergencies.
Oh, and to clarify,
Defender doesn't pull hate. It actually impedes on hate because you land a lot less of your hits (which is more important than it seems). I can hold "unflinching" hate with my sword, but I lose it from time to time with Earthstaff. The hate control is seriously like night and day
And if you're in a situation where this system isn't holding for you, I find a Cure4(full potency) will
Usually correct it. Again, I realize this system is for someone with all their spells and abilities, but you can scale this down to work at lower levels. It's the same idealogy.
Like I said before, I hit Alt-J like a mad-man to check my voke timer and I usually hit Alt-M and set the cursor to Flash so I can check that timer quickly as well.
And don't be afraid to use your MP. That's the biggest problem I see. A lot of new PLDs are stingy with the mana. Be smart about MP usage, but certainly don't be a miser.
With this style I was able to hold unflinching hate at level 52 against Freeze magic bursts WITHOUT the aid of a thf. You just have to be hungry for hate. The best word I can use to describe it is
Busy.
But yeah, I think that's it. Later in the game you start to pick up a lot of enmity+ gear which helps a great deal because that enmity+ gets compounded not only when you use a hate tool, but every time you land a hit.
End PLD tanking guide
EDIT:
It appears to me to use the minimum needed to keep hate at any one moment, so you have other gimiks to use later. The big question for me is to spam voke or not to spam voke. I have tried both, but I keep thinking to keep voke in reserve in case a blm or whm suddenly got hate. But does spamming increase the hate or not do anything to it. And does Charisma really affect the strength of Provoke?
This is a good idea at lower levels because you're not beastly yet and sharing hate with others will keep you alive more often. But as you get higher, generally you want to get into a habit of getting as much hate as you can. Definitely make voke your "heartbeat." If you miss a voke, you should almost "feel" that you missed it. Kinda like real life when you forget something when you leave the house.
and 2nd voke ~ 
