Why is shield swipe so bad?

[ispano]

PLD did have a pacify skill back then that made Ifrit HM useless sometimes. It would stop him from Jumping or using Fire Breaths, but did not stop his eruptions or plumes.

No they didn't.

http://mooglebox.com/ability/gladiator.php

http://mooglebox.com/ability/paladin.php

None of those abilities could pacify.

[Brannigan]

No they didn't.

http://mooglebox.com/ability/gladiator.php

http://mooglebox.com/ability/paladin.php

None of those abilities could pacify.

Riot Blade -> Contagion (Lv 50 thm, transferred your debuffs to the target). This was before PLD existed, though. Riot Blade used to pacify you for like 10s. I think it even prevented Hellfire.

Paladin having like 1 + 1/3 of a combo route with Shield Swipe sort've existing as some byproduct of a half assed idea that we should actually be doing stuff with our shields just makes it feel like a class that was never executed properly. Does it work? Yes. Could it work and actually feel cool? Certainly yes.

I pretty much agree with this (except I don't think Shield Swipe is that good, lol). Gladiator, unlike THM or CNJ, has no two handed options. You're expected to be using a shield 100% of the time. Unfortunately we only have two abilities that really interact with our shields, and Shield Swipe is pretty underwhelming. Even though Shield Bash and Shield Lob require a shield equipped, they could just as easily not and the abilities wouldn't have to change at all.