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  1. #1
    Player
    Brannigan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Posts
    1,486
    Character
    Will Brannigan
    World
    Excalibur
    Main Class
    Paladin Lv 80
    If I were given free rein to try balancing out the tanks, I think the goals would be

    -establish a strong playstyle & identity for paladin
    -bring paladin and dark knight to warrior's level
    -relax group composition requirements

    So global changes:
    -STR down and INT down are changed to damage down (for dragon kick as well). Some boss attacks slightly weakened to compensate.
    -Parry stat needs to be revamped entirely, not sure what would be best at the moment
    -Fending accessories also need to be changed

    Paladin specific:
    -Shield Swipe changed to 160 potency and combos into every paladin WS. Pacification removed. Can be used after blocking.
    -Sword Oath damage lowered to compensate for Swipe changes
    -Savage Blade and Halone enmity modifiers increased
    -Enhanced Awareness rolled into base ability
    -Enhanced Shield Swipe added at level 44, gives Shield Swipe a 20% chance to be usable when you or a party member takes magic damage.
    -Sheltron activates Shield Swipe upon taking magic damage.
    -Divine Veil recast to 90 seconds
    -Tempered Will recast to 2 minutes, also reduces TP cost of Weapon Skills by 100% for the duration
    -While in Sword Oath, Covered damage is reduced by 20%
    -Clemency cast time reduced to 2.5 seconds.
    -Shield Bash TP cost reduced to 40, leaves debuff that increases TP cost of Shield Bash by 165 for 15 seconds.

    It's kind of a lot, but it's all centered around getting swipe procs. This lets you increase your damage by using swipe at the right time. Paladin is still weaker against magic damage than the other two tanks, but with no INT/STR debuff any more the gap isn't as bad. Paladin's physical superiority is also slightly decreased by the elimination of STR debuff.

    The Cover and Tempered Will changes are there to make them more universally useful, and the Shield Bash change is to avoid a situation like A4S, where bringing a paladin means that you're forcing your DPS or other tank to do stun mechanics (or throwing away 90 TP every 30s). It still breaks combos and takes a GCD, however. Veil and Clemency are straight buffs, because they need it.

    Warrior changes:
    -They don't really need this, but I think it would be "neat" if Bloodbath was 30 seconds without the trait, and the Blood Shower trait made your Bloodbath heal nearby party members as well.

    Dark Knight changes:
    -Sole Survivor restores 200 TP as well when its requirements are met.
    -Reprisal changed to: Parries the next physical attack and retaliates with a 210 potency attack that lowers the target's damage dealt by 10% for 20 seconds. 30 second recast.
    -Dark Arts Power Slash modifier increased.
    -Dark Arts Scourge: Decreases the target's slashing resistance by 10% for 30 seconds.
    -Salted Earth: also restores (5-10 TP, haven't run numbers) every tick to party members who are standing in it.

    Trying to address any lingering TP or utility issues as well as allowing drk/pld to become available without a ninja. The Reprisal change would let them mitigate physical attacks at the same frequency as paladin and warrior, if not at the same potency, and makes their raid utility less reliant on RNG (though I think current reprisal is fine).

    Anyway, that's just me. What I expect will actually happen is:
    -enmity modifiers increased for paladin
    -potency boosted on shield swipe
    -divine veil recast reduction
    -royal authority potency increase
    and they'll call it a day.
    (0)
    Last edited by Brannigan; 09-27-2015 at 05:32 PM.

  2. #2
    Player
    eagledorf's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Posts
    610
    Character
    Jugem Mumei
    World
    Tonberry
    Main Class
    Gladiator Lv 37
    I know a lot of people like this idea of Swipe comboing into a finisher and I also think it would be fun, but I'm also not entirely sure about a mechanic as twitchy as this that only increases DPS for a tank. I would rather they just increase the potency and keep the added enmity from it low to ensure Goring Blade, Halone, and hate all remain high priorities priorities even when it procs so that tanking remains the primary concern. It would be fantastic if the Pacification actually did something so it regains its original interest entirely. (You also have to consider, if you got a proc after the first step of your combo with your adjustment you wouldn't really use it so this still means Shield Swipe is very situational compared to just a strait-up potency buff. Depending on when you got it it would be used, ignored, or held one GCD.)

    I quite like the Shield Bash idea. It's a clever way to make Shield Bash more usable without making chain-stun any cheaper than it currently is. However, for it to really be optimal to use it shouldn't cancel combos. A cancelled Royal Authority is a potency loss of 230 so a Monk has to hold their Steel Peek for the entire 40 seconds before it's better for overall DPS to have the Paladin cancel their combo (it's like 55 seconds if you just divide potencies, but assuming Monk potency is worth like 15-20% more than Paladin potency in Sword Oath it's like 40).

    The Sole Survivor idea is also clever and I like it in that it would be a fun mechanic. I don't know that your idea would be perfectly balanced (maybe it should only regen TP in Grit since DRK already has Blood Weapon for when OT), but it's a neat solution to DRK's TP issues.

    The Salted Earth idea means double DRK would give basically unlimited free TP for all melee so it's not a good idea at all since you basically use it on cooldown anyway.
    (1)
    Last edited by eagledorf; 09-28-2015 at 06:57 PM.
    http://bit.do/PLD_A4S

  3. #3
    Player
    Brannigan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Posts
    1,486
    Character
    Will Brannigan
    World
    Excalibur
    Main Class
    Paladin Lv 80
    Quote Originally Posted by eagledorf View Post
    (You also have to consider, if you got a proc after the first step of your combo with your adjustment you wouldn't really use it so this still means Shield Swipe is very situational compared to just a strait-up potency buff. Depending on when you got it it would be used, ignored, or held one GCD.)
    I think that's good, though. Every class should have ways it can screw up its execution and ways it can succeed. Plus, you have Sheltron and Bulwark to force out procs when you want them sometimes. I hadn't really considered double dark knight with salted earth, but I guess if they just got the slashing debuff that would be enough utility along with reprisal.
    (0)

  4. #4
    Player
    fm_fenrir's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Posts
    255
    Character
    Makasita Fenrir
    World
    Balmung
    Main Class
    Dragoon Lv 60
    Quote Originally Posted by Brannigan View Post
    -Savage Blade and Halone enmity modifiers increased
    -Sheltron activates Shield Swipe upon taking magic damage.
    -Divine Veil recast to 90 seconds
    You have to bundle enmity bonuses with Shield Oath, because OT PLD will destroy a MT if they get more enmity on their main DPS combo in 50-cap content. The only useful arrangement that wouldn't be fighting for threat constantly is PLD/PLD.

    The other suggestions, I don't mind so much. Divine Veil I can't comment on, but its description doesn't look that impressive for how long its CD is. Sheltron should give you one guaranteed block of whatever the next incoming damage is, irrespective of whether it gives you a Swipe proc or not.
    (0)
    #gitgud

    Ongoing mission: Tank everything on DRG. On purpose.