Bulwark

So I'd like to direct your attention to this L46 cooldown called Bulwark, a Paladin ability.

Every time I've used Bulwark during a large pull, or for a tank buster lately, I feel like it doesn't mitigate any damage at all. It's like the increased block rate doesn't even matter. I've been a career Paladin for a long time, but I don't remember having any issues with Bulwark before. Although I'm pretty confident there is something I'm not seeing here. I hope I'm not the only one feeling like something is wrong with this ability.

If anyone proficient at math or something could shed some light on this, I'd be very grateful.

If you feel that way, perhaps you aren't facing front against the mobs. Block/parry don't work if the attack is magical too. It is bound to block attacks during large pulls. For tank busters though, 100% reliability is for you to use Sheltron if you know it's going to hit you.

First, I'd like to say that Bulwark isn't true mitigation like "Rampart" or "Shadowskin".

Bulwark only increase Block Rate by 60%. There's that other 40% where it DON'T trigger.

Couple Bulwark + Sheltron, and you're safe.

Bulwark is an additive 60% block rate increase, coupled with your natural block rate so if you had a 20% block rate and used bulwark you'd have 80%. If you have a tower shield you'll notice you block less than with a kite shield during bulwark because of its naturally lower block rate, but each block mitigates more.

Never use bulwark alone for a tank buster, couple it with a proper cd, even a minor one like foresight or Shelton.

You only block or parry when facing an enemy so anything behind or on your flank won't be blocked, locking on to an enemy helps make sure you're always facing them.

You also cannot block or parry while casting, so if you're using stoneskin or clemency during bulwark you're negating the effect.

Finally you can't block magic attacks, so if the tank buster is magical or the trash pull is magic only (like elementals) then bulwark or any cooldown to do with block/parry is redundant.

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Originally Posted by Jim_Berry

First, I'd like to say that Bulwark isn't true mitigation like "Rampart" or "Shadowskin".

Bulwark only increase Block Rate by 60%. There's that other 40% where it DON'T trigger.

Couple Bulwark + Sheltron, and you're safe.

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It's less than 40%. Your shield has a base block chance of >0%. :0

Never couple Bulwark with Sheltron. That's silly. Sheltron is an instant block. Assuming you have say 15% block rate with your base, using Sheltron alone is +85% block rate. If you use it with Bulwark active, you're sitting at 75% natural rate, so Sheltron is only doing the extra +25%. Unless a physical tank buster comes in the duration of Bulwark, Sheltron is strictly pointless during those 15s.

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Originally Posted by Cabalabob

Finally you can't block magic attacks, so if the tank buster is magical or the trash pull is magic only (like elementals) then bulwark or any cooldown to do with block/parry is redundant.

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It's not redundant. Redundancy implies that you're stacking something with one effect on top of something else with the same effect when the additional thing is not necessary. A good example is the above - using Sheltron during Bulwark is redundant. Stacking parry on a Paladin is redundant.

Using Bulwark or Sheltron against a horde of elementals is useless, pointless, or ineffective, not redundant.

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Originally Posted by Sarcatica

If you feel that way, perhaps you aren't facing front against the mobs.

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Why any tank would ever turn their butt to the boss is beyond me. Don't worry.

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Originally Posted by Cabalabob

You also cannot block or parry while casting

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Honestly, I was not aware of this. It's information like this that makes me not regret having to look like an idiot for asking these questions. Thank you kindly. =)

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Originally Posted by JackFross

It's less than 40%. Your shield has a base block chance of >0%. :0

Never couple Bulwark with Sheltron. That's silly. Sheltron is an instant block. Assuming you have say 15% block rate with your base, using Sheltron alone is +85% block rate. If you use it with Bulwark active, you're sitting at 75% natural rate, so Sheltron is only doing the extra +25%. Unless a physical tank buster comes in the duration of Bulwark, Sheltron is strictly pointless during those 15s.


It's not redundant. Redundancy implies that you're stacking something with one effect on top of something else with the same effect when the additional thing is not necessary. A good example is the above - using Sheltron during Bulwark is redundant. Stacking parry on a Paladin is redundant.

Using Bulwark or Sheltron against a horde of elementals is useless, pointless, or ineffective, not redundant.

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If a tank buster is coming and you're only using bulwark you're leaving yourself at the mercy of RNG, if you have Shelton up you guarantee that you will reduce the tank buster with a block and then also have an increased chance to block everything that comes after, if you have no cd's up except bulwark and Shelton when a physical tank buster comes you should most definitely use them together, you'll want to block multiple hits to make sure you don't get 1 shot after the tank buster and you want to KNOW you're going to block the tank buster itself.

Yes you could use them sequentially but then you leave yourself open to animation lag so it's simply safer to use them together.

redundant
rɪˈdʌnd(ə)nt/
adjective
not or no longer needed or useful; superfluous.
"an appropriate use for a redundant church"
synonyms: unnecessary, not required, inessential, unessential, needless, unneeded, uncalled for, dispensable, disposable, expendable, unwanted, useless

The problem with Bulwark is that there are (technically) three distinct types of shields in the game; Bucklers (high block rate, low block strength), Kite Shields (medium block rate, medium block strength), and Tower Shields (low block rate, high block strength). The devs kind of fail us in that bucklers haven't been seen at endgame since 2.x, and 3.2 endgame contains no tower shields either, but that's sort of beside the point.

Bulwark should be a 100% block chance, but that would create a situation where Bucklers and even Kite Shields are basically strictly inferior to Tower Shields - choosing between three defensive cooldowns that have the same duration and cooldown, only one is ~15% damage reduction, one is ~20%, and one is ~30% is kind of a no-brainer.

What I wish they would do is give the skill some built-in detection of what kind of shield you're using, and have the cooldown and/or duration change based on that, with the block rate set to 100% in all versions to eliminate RNG.

Bulwark with a Tower Shield could have a 10 second duration and a 180s cooldown, making it a similar (somewhat weaker) cooldown to Sentinel.
Bulwark with a Kite Shield could have a 15 second duration and a 120s cooldown, making it a similar (somewhat weaker) cooldown to Rampart.
Bulwark with a Buckler could have a 20-25 second duration and a 90s cooldown, making it into a high-uptime, low-effect cooldown similar to a Warrior using Foresight and Bloodbath.


I don't really expect that to ever happen, but it would definitely help Bulwark feel like a reliable part of the Paladin's toolkit instead of the loser skill it is now.

Honestly the worst part of Bulwark is its Recast time. All tanks have cooldowns that are a little on the dicey side and not intended for mitigating TBs (if you use Bulwark on a TB and nothing else... yeah.) but when used properly smooth out incoming damage and provide spike mitigation. But none of them have a fucking 3 minute recast.

That having been said, I don't think PLD needs defensive buffs. Its more or less fine where it is on mitigation if you ask me.

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Originally Posted by Cabalabob

Yes you could use them sequentially but then you leave yourself open to animation lag so it's simply safer to use them together.

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This is all fair, for sure, there's just never a situation where you should run into that problem, if you've been properly rotating cooldowns. At the *very least* you'll still have Foresight, Rampart's ugly little brother that nobody wants to talk to. Most times it'll be ramp > sen > ramp > hg > ramp > sen > ramp > ???????? (with Sheltron for each if they're physical) and it's really rare that you'll encounter a fight that throws that much shit at you to actually make all of your stuff be on cooldown, assuming you handle stuff properly. As a last ditch effort to save yourself from a mistake, yeah, but in general, you shouldn't be stacking Sheltron and Bulwark. Like... except in that very -very- rare circumstance you just lined up.

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Originally Posted by Syzygian

That having been said, I don't think PLD needs defensive buffs. Its more or less fine where it is on mitigation if you ask me.

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The 3-minute cooldown on Bulwark is definitely annoying as hell. It feels like a niche utility cooldown, but it's way too long to be used like that. You basically need to use it when you need/want a string of consistent blocks and almost have to work your cooldown rotation around it, because of how long its timer is.

Like in A1S, I would roll (since I didn't tank that fight in ShO, even for the buster) Awareness and 10-15s later Foresight after each buster to keep my incoming damage more consistent through the final runoff before the jump, since it's likely to die to that final cleave. I *WISH* I could have used Bulwark there, too, but it was a 2-minute spread, not 3-minute, so Bulwark could be used once, but not the second time. :\

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redundant
rɪˈdʌnd(ə)nt/
adjective
not or no longer needed or useful; superfluous.

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It's a matter of usage. You don't use "redundant" the same way you use "useless." Synonyms aren't always interchangeable. :0
The Redundant Department of Redundancies Department doesn't have nearly the same punny meaning as the Useless Department of Uselessness Department, for example.

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Originally Posted by Torunya

Why any tank would ever turn their butt to the boss is beyond me. Don't worry.

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I think Enemy "gaze" types attacks will miss if you turn your back to them. Like a basilisk trying to turn you to stone.

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Originally Posted by Ragology

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Except for petrification mechanics and the likes, obviously.

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Originally Posted by Syzygian

Honestly the worst part of Bulwark is its Recast time. All tanks have cooldowns that are a little on the dicey side and not intended for mitigating TBs (if you use Bulwark on a TB and nothing else... yeah.) but when used properly smooth out incoming damage and provide spike mitigation. But none of them have a fucking 3 minute recast.

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This! Afterall its only 60% and lasts 15s so having a 3min recast on CD that is meant for fluff damage is too much for my taste, 90-120s would be more in like with DD and RI. 120s would be good recast as it would synch with Awarness and Foresight because you want to combo those 3 CD to make most out of them(they have pretty awesome synegry imo).

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Originally Posted by Torunya

Except for petrification mechanics and the likes, obviously.

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Oh, does turning away still work on the boss in void ark though?

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Originally Posted by Ragology

Oh, does turning away still work on the boss in void ark though?

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Yes, I was agreeing with you as well. This is however more on the topic of the effectiveness of Bulwark, which is what I primarily had in mind in relation to my statement on why no tank should turn their butt to the boss. Mechanics aside.

This is legit because of how the combat table works. Block will only work on non-critical physical damage. It's useful exactly for what you have described, where you are facing off against a large swath of enemies - the more enemies are attacking you, the more normalized the mitigation shall become.

But you always want to pair Bulwark with Awareness. More than any other PLD cooldown, Bulwark is made significantly more effective by Awareness. A physical attack that cannot critically hit is one that is also that much more likely to block an attack. On its own, Bulwark mitigates 7-15% of damage, depending on your shield type (Tower/Scutum > Kite > Buckler). Pair it with Awareness, and the two will provide more mitigation than Rampart (to where, on big pulls, it's actually the first CD pair I hit after Hallowed Ground and Sentinel).

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Originally Posted by JackFross

Never couple Bulwark with Sheltron. That's silly.

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Different folks for different strokes. Solo Bulwark don't always help against physical tank busters, as I (and other have proven) that I took the less amount of damage from, say, Sephirot if I coupled Bulwark with Sheltron. Bulwark alone was like I never used the CD.

Not saying you're incorrect, but many people tell me to do this or do that, but end up finding my own way to work.

So, yeah, on Sephirot for example again, my comfortability and safeness relies greatly when I could Bulwark and Sheltron. And to be honest, in one group, I coupled Sheltron for each tank buster with each CD (Foresight + Sheltron, Rampart + Sheltron, etc...) because Sheltron was always ready. My healers never complained. In fact, some asked me to do what I did previous when I DON'T couple Sheltron.

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Originally Posted by Cabalabob

Never use bulwark alone for a tank buster, couple it with a proper cd, even a minor one like foresight or Shelton.


You also cannot block or parry while casting, so if you're using stoneskin or clemency during bulwark you're negating the effect.

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For the first line, thank you. Thank you so much.

For the second line, I have to question that. I recently turned "Flying Text" on after NOT using it since like 2013. I turned it on recently because I've been playing with AST, and I don't know the cards by colors, but by name. That said, I swear, before the change to Clemency, I would sometimes get "Parried" or "Blocked" on my screen during Clemency's cast time. I noticed it because back then, I would time the cast with Holy Bladedance from the Knight on Thordan, and would get the text.

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Originally Posted by Jim_Berry

For the second line, I have to question that. I recently turned "Flying Text" on after NOT using it since like 2013. I turned it on recently because I've been playing with AST, and I don't know the cards by colors, but by name. That said, I swear, before the change to Clemency, I would sometimes get "Parried" or "Blocked" on my screen during Clemency's cast time. I noticed it because back then, I would time the cast with Holy Bladedance from the Knight on Thordan, and would get the text.

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Test for yourself, it's not difficult, go to azys lla, find an owlbear around 11:10, wait for it to cast gust avoid it and pop Shelton and awareness while its casting (so it won't attack you while you're putting it on) then when it's finished casting gust start casting stoneskin and see if you block when it auto attacks you while you're casting.

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Originally Posted by Synestra

This! Afterall its only 60% and lasts 15s so having a 3min recast on CD that is meant for fluff damage is too much for my taste, 90-120s would be more in like with DD and RI. 120s would be good recast as it would synch with Awarness and Foresight because you want to combo those 3 CD to make most out of them(they have pretty awesome synegry imo).

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I totally agree with you here, but the problem with Bulwark's long ass CD timer is the gradual increases in block rate/strength over the course of the patch, which is probably why SE refuses to adjust it's obnoxious CD timer.

Someone else in the forums pointed this out to me once before. As we get further and further into the patch cycle, shields improve. By the end of it, the amount of mitigation provided by our blocks increases quite a bit. At the end of the 2.x cycle, for example, the mitigation provided by a Pld's block was very near to the mitigation provided by Sentinel. Some people would consider that a little overpowered, even if it is only for physical dmg.

I definitely agree that the Timers for Bulwark and Awareness should be adjusted to provide better Pld synergy. Awareness is a Pld move, for crying out loud. There's no reason why Pld's should get the least utility out of it. However, I can kind of see why it hasn't been adjusted (even if I don't agree with it). I don't think SE wants to overpower Pld's physical defense by, essentially, giving them an extra Sentinel cast every ~120 seconds (coupled with an Awareness every 90 seconds, in an ideal world). That said, SE is also the main peddler of that myth in which Pld's are somehow the king of physical mitigation. So, really, it wouldn't be too out of place with what they've tried to sell us in the past if they did do this.

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Originally Posted by Jim_Berry

I swear, before the change to Clemency, I would sometimes get "Parried" or "Blocked" on my screen during Clemency's cast time. I noticed it because back then, I would time the cast with Holy Bladedance from the Knight on Thordan, and would get the text.

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You could also have exploited the magic pixel for Pld cast times.

It's a little weird, but near the end of a cast bar a Pld can actually move despite seemingly being locked into the casting animation (something you may have noticed from time to time while dodging AoE's). It's tricky timing, but to the outside observer it looks as though you are moving and casting at the same time. The reason is that the game registers the action as "completed" a short time before the animation is done. Whm's, for example, finish the actual cast of holy LONG before the glowy disco-ball goes off. Pld's Flash mechanic works in a similar fashion, as well. If you've ever Flashed while running, you might notice that the flash light gets left behind you, fixing the AoE in that spot rather than where you are in real time. It's something you can easily test just by casting flash while moving at a steady run in one direction.

The reason I mention this is because your character's block rate is also restored during this time. As soon as your character is capable of moving, your block rate is back in action. So it's possible that you were blocking attacks during that magical little period of time in which the game's visuals are not keeping up with the calculations being done in the background. It's easier to notice on multi-hit moves like Holy Blade Dance, because you're being hit consecutively. The initial volley of hits (during the bulk of your cast) are not blocked because you are considered to be "casting." However, the hits that land near the very end of your cast bar can, sometimes, be blocked if they happen to line up with when the game considers the cast to be done and completed. It's a strange thing to see in practice, and not something I'd recommend relying on, but it could explain why you remember blocking the occasional hit while casting.

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Originally Posted by Februs

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Well to compensate CD reduction they could always lower block % from 60% to 55-50%, that should be reasonable tradeoff.

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Originally Posted by Crater

What I wish they would do is give the skill some built-in detection of what kind of shield you're using, and have the cooldown and/or duration change based on that, with the block rate set to 100% in all versions to eliminate RNG.

Bulwark with a Tower Shield could have a 10 second duration and a 180s cooldown, making it a similar (somewhat weaker) cooldown to Sentinel.
Bulwark with a Kite Shield could have a 15 second duration and a 120s cooldown, making it a similar (somewhat weaker) cooldown to Rampart.
Bulwark with a Buckler could have a 20-25 second duration and a 90s cooldown, making it into a high-uptime, low-effect cooldown similar to a Warrior using Foresight and Bloodbath.

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That's a nice idea.

In addition to the above change to Bulwark, I'd like to see the selection of shield type have an impact on your speed/TP based on the size of the shield.

Tower Shields are heavy lumps of metal, anyone using one is going to be slower and tire out more easily.
Kite Shields are lighter, and more nimble than Towers, so they have less impact on speed and endurance.
Bucklers are the lightest and anyone using a buckler is going to be faster and tire less quickly than with a heavier shield.

In FFXIV Speed is skillspeed and endurance comes down to TP (for DoW folks at least). So I'd like to see;

• TowerShields reduce skillspeed by 5% and increase TP use by 5% all the time. To retain balance, I think the block strength needs to increase for Towers. To best accomplish that I think when in Shield Oath Tower Shields should gain a 5% buff to block strength. This is a much more defensive shield after all.
• KiteShield as the baseline shield for PLD they have no impact on present SkillSpeed or TP, they are the all-rounder shield with no positive or negative impact on SS, TP or block strength.
• Bucklers should result in a 5% increase to SkillSpeed and a 5% reduction in the TP cost of your skills. Although I don't think this change would hurt balance, I think that to compensate for any balance issue I think that when in Sword Oath the block strength of a buckler should be reduced by 5%

This would make the choice of shield situational, and emphasize the point/purpose of our two stances.

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Originally Posted by Synestra

Well to compensate CD reduction they could always lower block % from 60% to 55-50%, that should be reasonable tradeoff.

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I agree. It's not the only trade off that they could have done, as well.

Like every problem facing Pld's, there are multiple ways in which SE could have made adjustments to make it agreeable. Even the idea of having sword and shield effects depending on the type equipped would have been fine, especially because it was the direction they seemed to be going in before they decided to homogenize all of the Pld gear. Instead, they choose to put their heads in the sand and ignore it. I was really hoping that they were going to come up for air in 3.2 and address some of these long standing issues, but I kinda knew that they wouldn't.