Why does Paladin keep Riot Blade but not Savage Blade in 5.0?

Personally I never liked riot blade as a skill, but that's visually speaking. The job uses a sword that is designed as a slashing weapon, yet this skill is a jab. Not only that it's more like a slow little poke that doesn't feel impactful like the other skills. The other skills like Fast Blade or Royal Authority have really fast sweeping strikes that feel really good to use. Personally I find Savage Blade to be far better than Riot Blade. It stays true to the fighting style, and feels a lot more impactful. Since Shadowbringers is making big sweeping changes I would hate to see it go. I think the effects should remain the same, just use Savage Blade and it's animation instead.

Alternative animations would be nice.

I really liked Power Slash's animation, Scourge's animation, I'm going to miss the more cavalier Dark Passenber compared to traditional spritework Flood of Shadow.

The old cross class system showed how many animations they actually put in / have available, and some of them are simpler but more heavily weighted. Skull Sunder on Paladin/Dark Knight, Savage Blade on Dark Knight / Warrior.

We don't get mechanical customization, so aesthetic customization would be very welcome.

I agree that riot blade does look a bit bland but swords aren't just used for slashing attacks.

I like that PLD has a thrust attack in its combo, but I do think Riot Blade could be sped up to be a bit "punchier" (SAM's Shinten is a good example of what I mean).

The animation also makes more sense over Savage Blade when you consider that Riot Blade restores MP, especially when Spirits Within will also restore MP in ShB. Both it and Riot Blade are thrusts with the same kind of glow around the sword.

Fun fact, riot blade was a high level skill in 1.0. I think it was in the upper 40s, or the level 50 ability.

EDIT, it was the 50 skill.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0bUjHHeBh4I

What I would do personally for the first patch is make Savage Blade the combo finisher that should proc Sword Oath which turns your 1-2-3 into Rage of Halone ->Atonement -> Royal Authority, give it a bit more "Flash" for single target combat... and helps free up button bloat...

I find riot blades animation to be fitting.