A REAL suggestion thread.

[TearValerin]

Hey, it’s another one of those threads… I know there are quite a few here, but I think one should be made that realistically looks at the problem, one apparently a lot of people tend to be unaware of. Currently standing, there are 2 major reasons why paladin is no longer fulfilling the role the community felt they were intended for; the enmity cap, and their ability to reach it quickly enough. I believe it is not the job that needs severe fixing, but the game mechanics themselves. After addressing these serious points, I will also point out minor fixes that will attribute to paladin once again fulfilling their role as the party’s safety net/tank.

To touch base before diving into the topic at hand, there needs to be a small explanation on what enmity is. Currently, player testing has come to the conclusion that there are two forms of enmity, cumulative, and volatile. Cumulative Enmity (CE from hence forth) is an enmity level that stays the same over time, which we call the “hate cap.” CE can only be lost by taking damage, while on the other hand volatile enmity is a hate that decays over time regardless of damage or not. Almost every action produces a small amount of either type, but the amount can vary greatly.

Seeing this, as previously stated, paladin cannot produce the CE cap as quickly as some of its tanking Abyssea counterparts. With the advent of evasion and counter tanking, the jobs taking over the tanking seen have no problem losing this hate cap either. I propose that this “hate cap” be removed or raised to a larger cap for the paladin job only. My other suggestion is to add more weapon skills a la “Atonement” as this is a step in the right direction for our sword toting brethren.

Once these mechanics are fixed, there are a few other alterations I would like to see, to make the job more versatile in terms of doing it’ job correctly. First, a reliable spell interruption method would be greatly appreciated, 5 min cool on Shield Bash is not enough to be a reliable spell interruption. Next, give paladin a natural +enmity JT, and “Provoke” so to say JA in order to give it more flexibility in sub job selection. Thirdly, I would like to see paladin have more MP to assist the party in healing more often should the need arise, rather than burning all of my mage's MP. Lastly, I would like to give them a slight evasion boost to reduce the chance of that CE being lost. C+ or B- even, a knight should be able to deftly dodge blows, you know.

Anyways, these are my ideas and I would love to see what others think of them, comment and critique.