Sword Oath Idea

[AeraCross]

I've always felt that Sword Oath was a little underwhelming. This is not about the current state of PLD dps at the moment, I simply feel that adding an extra 50 potency on our auto attack is boring and it never truly felt like a fun stance.

Seeing as Conj is one of our cross classes as PLD, I thought it would be fun and interesting if Sword Oath reflected that. My Idea is this:

Sword Oath
Swaps current STR and VIT attribute ratings, while increasing TP Regeneration by X% and reducing enmity generated.

This would make the spell much more intersting while also carrying a certain amount of risk. Swapping STR and VIT will provide more damage but at the cost of maximum hp and the reduction of enmity also prevents this stance from being used while tanking.

The only negative I can think of is that swapping STR and VIT stats may give PLD too much dmg as a tank class. But, please comment more about the idea rather than the numbers as numbers can always be modified.

[Tadus]

Ehhhhhh idk it sounds a bit too whm like. I would rather go w some new way like stack of lights ( posted in another forum)

[Duelle]

I can get behind this. Adds to off-tank DPS while not further encouraging tanking in DPS stance. Not the sole fix to all our problems, but a nice addition.

[Cabalabob]

Don't like it, STR PLD's would actually end up being weaker in sword oath.

I agree it would be nice for sword oath to get a buff, just not this.

Maybe make it 3 additional 50 potency hits rather than just 1. But with a 50% accuracy cap. And give it an animation of 3 light swords surrounding the PLD that fly at the enemy when you auto attack. Both WAR and DRK get to look pretty in their stances why don't we!?

[rawker]

since the core of PLD tanking is simplicity, i would suggest that each time a weapon skill is used, you gain 1 stack of Sword Oath which adds a flat 5 potency to all your attacks. caps at 5 stacks, starts at 1 upon activating Sword Oath. that will make us look like we're accelerating in dps, to give incentive to those who sit in the stance.

[Duelle]

since the core of PLD tanking is simplicity, i would suggest that each time a weapon skill is used, you gain 1 stack of Sword Oath which adds a flat 5 potency to all your attacks. caps at 5 stacks, starts at 1 upon activating Sword Oath. that will make us look like we're accelerating in dps, to give incentive to those who sit in the stance.

Oh, you mean a ramp-up mechanic. That could also work.

Don't like it, STR PLD's would actually end up being weaker in sword oath.

Only if you've been going all STR all the time. My current stats include 804 STR and 889 VIT, so under the OP's idea when off-tanking my STR and VIT values would shift, leading to a DPS gain since my resulting STR would be higher than my resulting VIT in Sword Oath. I'm also okay with reduced enmity in Sword Oath in exchange for better TP regen.

[Shurrikhan]

Oh, you mean a ramp-up mechanic. That could also work.
Only if you've been going all STR all the time. My current stats include 804 STR and 889 VIT, so under the OP's idea when off-tanking my STR and VIT values would shift, leading to a DPS gain since my resulting STR would be higher than my resulting VIT in Sword Oath. I'm also okay with reduced enmity in Sword Oath in exchange for better TP regen.

Wouldn't this even further condemn PLDs for stance-dancing, a tank aspect in which they are already weakest among the three? You'd also be by a large the squishiest OT and run the Defiance issue upon leaving Sword Oath -- you'd have to wait for your health to be restored before you've gained the tank stance's full eHP benefits.

And wouldn't the latter just exacerbate PLD's enmity issue? It can already produce less enmity than the other two, making it difficult to use RA out of tank stance. With those changes it will be the only tank that cannot remotely maintain enmity outside of tank stance.

I'm all for more creative Oaths, but PLD's issue is already that it is inferior both in general (dps, OT and especially MT) and specific (stance-dancing, enmity, OT dps loss for mitigating) points. Whatever changes are made should effectively close those gaps whilst seeking that increased identity.

Additionally, though this is arguably just personal, it feels reaaallly weird to me to turn Strength into a stance-equalizing stat (+ dps in tank stance, + tankiness in dps stance)... For one, it means it's almost always going to be unideal. You can argue that that's just how PLD should be unique, but most tanks are already long since geared basically according to the guidelines (unfortunate as they are) that most fending accs are shit.

What I'd like to see from Sword Oath:
- If using a "ramp-up" or "resource" mechanic, it shouldn't start from the minimum position, but rather about midway (slightly favoring staying in a given stance), full (favors stance-dancing), or at a position based on past action, likely using a shared resource between both Oaths generated by relevant actions (potency dealt/mitigated/covered/healed, etc.). The last option would probably be the most engaging, but arguable least PLD-like, as we have something of a characteristic of being a sort of 'standing guard', always at the ready and plentiful useful even when not at the sort of eye of the storm (the place where DRK and WAR further excel in terms of combined dps and mitigation).
- If it continues to do bonus AA damage, it should be slightly buffed and actually based on AA damage (e.g. 75% of weapon AA dmg), not weaponskill potency (a flat 50 potency tacked onto varying AA speeds). In this way a 1.7s blade still causes the same Sword Oath bonus dps over time as a 2.6s blade. (Both deal the higher, 1.7s value.)
- Improved control; "resource" use should be manipulable, preferably in a way that brings out the differences in Oaths and what Paladin uniquely brings 'to the table'.
- Improve rotational options and/or variance; right now one of our largest downsides of Shield Swipe is that even if it were buffed, it would still cost us dps to use more than once per Goring Blade, just because of how tight its tri-combo is. Essentially it leaves PLD with little to no variance -- GB, RoH, RA; GB, RoH, RA; GB, RoH, RA... Anything that can allow us variance through procs and/or modifiers I would love to see.

[Noxifer]

The only negative I can think of is that swapping STR and VIT stats may give PLD too much dmg as a tank class.

Well, considering Paladins are the furthest down on the damage scale (even if I'm not sure by how much, since I haven't kept myself too up to date on that since HW hit), I'm not sure it would make them OP. On the contrary, I think it might mean we'd see Warriors get a challenger to their OT throne. Since the decreased HP and Enmity would mean you'd avoid MTing in Sword Oath (apart from longer phases of no-damage or no-tank-busters, due to the GCDs missed by switching oaths), it'd mainly affect OT value. It'd also mean that their MT damage would be lower, since Paladins would most likely opt to go with VIT specs/bling for more of a damage increase in OT stance -- or with pentamelds, of course, for the 'best of both worlds'.

Hopefully it'd also prevent future issues like the current, where Paladins are 'unwanted' in Alex Savage due to lower damage output. It'd help equalize the three tank jobs without making them identical.

I personally like the idea =)

(Edit: My FC's Paladin pointed out to me that since you get an increase of DPS output of 20% anyway without Shield Oath and that the extra auto-attacks is an improvement since auto-attacks in general count for about 20-25% of the total damage, so it could be a bit over the top... But I still like it xD Considering Warriors not only lose the 20% damage loss but gains a 5% damage boost, plus extra stack abilities to use.)

[Kydi]

I quite like this idea for all tanks actually. It would be quite a neat solution to making vitality accessories useful and making tanks feel "tankier" (imo).

[Jonnycbad]

I wish Sword Oath made us glow faintlyt. WAR and DRK get cool glowy stances. I wanna be radiant :/

Or in Sword Oath, every sword slash leaves a trail of white energy on the target, kind of like FFXI PLD's "Enlight" spell.


Sword Oath is pretty boring...now if it added +50 Potency to all GCD's too, that would be neat.