new mechanic idea

[Doombringer]

so we all know that there's 2 big issues facing paladin today.

1) difficult/impossible to hold hate

2) even if they do hold hate, the real threat is hugely damaging AOE attacks anyway. so the paladin is barely protecting allies from anything.


problem 1 is actually already on SEs radar, as per here. (http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/28932-Interim-Report-%E2%80%93-Sorry-to-keep-you-all-waiting!) so i'm just going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they solve this problem, and tackle the other one.



there's probably multiple ways around the second, i can think of 2 broad options off the top of my head...

first would be some kind of AOE defensive ability, aura, or spell for paladin. but i don't really like this idea. it's fairly passive. the pally doesn't actually need to be tanking, he just has to BE there.


the other idea that i like a lot better is a mechanic that reduces the damage of any AOE attack, AFTER it goes through the paladin. so if the paladin is the primary target of an AOE ability he takes normal damage, but all SECONDARY targets (basically anybody it hits other than the paladin) take reduced damage.

this way the paladin still has to be tanking for it to work.

this could be a job trait, an ability, or even a spell. anything so long as it's self cast only and can be kept up full time. but since i think it's important to be a full time mechanic, i'd rather it be a trait or a spell. trait is just simple, always on. a spell allows the strength of the effect to scale with enhancing or divine magic skill to allow the dedicated and properly skilled/geared paladins to set themselves further apart.


the only real downside i see is that there's no precedent for this in the game now. it might be straight up impossible. but if the enmity system is under the microscope, i feel like it could be a big help.

[Oakrest]

problem 1 is actually already on SEs radar, as per here. (http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/28932-Interim-Report-%E2%80%93-Sorry-to-keep-you-all-waiting!)

I'm watching and waiting anxiously to see what they do to the enmity system ... more than any other issue. *Fingers crossed*


the other idea that i like a lot better is a mechanic that reduces the damage of any AOE attack, AFTER it goes through the paladin

This is a fantastic idea. Without going into a ton of discussion, I see this working a bit like 'Mana wall' where something is depleted in exchange for damage mitigation across the party (of course specifically talking about aoe damage). It could be as simple as actually using mana per damage, but it could be something more intricate too where say VIT is reduced 1 point per X amount of damage until a limit of -50 VIT is reached on the buff, and then vit resets and the buff is removed.

If it was a spell or even JA that activated this, it should last for a lengthy period of time, or at least until the cooldown is up again.

[Economizer]

2) even if they do hold hate, the real threat is hugely damaging AOE attacks anyway. so the paladin is barely protecting allies from anything.

There are a few methods for this already, although it would be nice to see more.

The first that come to mind is Flash, which can often cause an AoE attack too miss most of the party when timed right - I'd like to see more situations where Stun might not always cut it, but Flash would.

Another that is in the pipes is the new PLD 2hour, which has the effect of making everyone less likely to get smacked by those nasty AoE.

So basically, lowering the monsters accuracy is on method, at least for physical AoE attacks (White Mages tend to deal with magical AoE attacks). This could be extended to having mobs hitting a Paladin or targeted on it have reduced accuracy for attacks that don't hit the Paladin. One method of this that comes to mind would be a spikes spell much like Reprisal that makes the monster have lowered accuracy for a short time after hitting the target against any target that doesn't have that spikes spell on it.

The alternative method I'd think of would involve changing the way the job ability Cover works into more of a stanced job ability, or giving Paladin a "Coverstance" job ability. Instead of just targeting one party member, it could target multiple, and thus any target that is positioned behind the Paladin would benefit from Cover, including for AoE attacks, although this might kill the Paladin unless it somehow reduces multiple AoE hits or the Paladin's defense is particularly high enough. Coverstance would really be an easy fix-all for all of Paladin's woes really.