What Makes a Paladin? An Essay on Paladin Identity

[Brannigan]

You're a bodyguard. You're sworn to protect corrupt officials,

This isn't true of the Sultansworn and it's especially not true of player character paladins. NPC paladins are basically the elite knights of Ul'dah, sworn to protect the sultan(a), the sultanate, and her people. I know knights in real history were often not so chivalrous, but these are Knights with a capital K (which is why they're called paladins) - they're supposed to actually be virtuous and follow their code.

A paladin swears allegiance to the sultanate.
A paladin shall be the sword and shield of the sultanate.
A paladin defends the people of the realm.
...
A true paladin is one who bends his knee to a higher cause, and offers his sword and shield without promise of reward. The battle arts that the paladin learns have been held secret, nurtured, and perfected within the ranks of the Sultansworn elite for nigh on these six hundred years. But remember that fancy swordplay and well-polished armor do not make you a paladin. You must be just in your heart and strive always to be an exemplar of true virtue.

Obviously, this doesn't always actually happen even in game, which is why Jenlyns gets punked during the level 30-50 quests.

Player paladins are free paladins, which are basically wandering do-gooders who act with a code of honor.

A free paladin has no master. Instead he travels all lands, and in every place takes up the cause of the unarmed and defenseless. You swear fealty not to a lord, but to yourself - you are nobility amongst adventurers.

The problem with trying to build a story around this concept is that it's the job description of the warrior of light already. So we could have a quest about protecting the weak and helpless, but that's basically every quest in the game already. Instead, Paladin 30-60 is about trying to restore the honor to a once-great organization that is currently in decline (30-50 is also about making Jenlyns into a confident captain).

WHO CARES ABOUT THAT GODDAMN SWORD?!??!?!!

The Sultansworn serve the sultan, but nowadays Ul'dah is mostly controlled by the syndicate. They've lost Oathkeeper - a legendary sword that is the symbol of their order and used to glow so brightly that it made night look like day. To top it all off, their previous captain is supposedly the guy who stole the sword. It's like if the president stole the Statue of Liberty somehow and defected to an enemy state - it just completely undermines the legitimacy of the whole organization.

Getting Oathkeeper back is important to restoring the morale and the honor of the Sultansworn. Jenlyns even says as much if you visit him after PLD 60

In fact, it would seem that every sworn brother and sister has been attending to their duties with a renewed pride ever since Oathkeeper was returned to us.

So, yeah, the paladin job quests could use a little bit more heroics and chivalry, but I think it's an okay quest line as it is.

As far as paladin gameplay identity goes, if they wanted to strengthen it it's simple

1) improve cover
2) improve clemency
3) improve divine veil
4) improve tempered will
5) improve shield swipe/other shield moves

Everything else (except hallowed ground) either DRK or WAR does better. The best "paladin moment" in the game is Hallowed Ground vs Akh Morn. I had another one just today, though, when I covered a guy who messed up Thordan EX's gaze and got feared into a frontal cone. It was really awesome, but it was also a 1/1000 occurrence.

Saving people and surviving impossible stuff is supposed to be our 10k Fell Cleave, but our "saving people" skills are too weak and unwieldy. Also, as your party improves your opportunities to shine come up less often. You don't need the stars to align to do badass warrior or dark knight stuff (though I do find DRK lacking in "wow" moments outside of some Plunge stuff.)

Anyway. That's what I think. Sorry for rambling, it's late.

One more thing about paladins/oathkeeper

Jenlyns: Oathkeeper may not shine for me as it did for you, but perhaps, in time, it will.
Jenlyns: But even should it not, I will not lose heart, for a paladin's virtue is not in the radiance of his blade, but in the righteousness of his actions.
Jenlyns: By what we decide to do every day, we will be good men. Or not.

[BlackomegaKingofwaffles]

OP have you considered moving to Balmung?

[Brian_]

You know, as a PLD main, I used to spend a lot of time arguing for the side of PLDs earlier on when it was really an issue for Savage progression.

At this point, it's topics like this that make people think PLDs are a bunch of babies.

Seriously? Shield Oath provides no additional mitigation "when compared to other tanks’ stances"? ...what? Sword Oath is bad...? What is even going on anymore? Have PLDs become this stupid?

At this point, it feels like PLDs are just crying for the sake of crying. They still have some issues but so many topics are just horrible sky-is-falling overreacting garbage.

[Bravely_Default]

Sword oath is underestimated, off tanking paladins damage is actually right in line with the other classes. shield oath as part of a full kit is statistically worse then the other two. grit and darkside can be used together which allows for much greater MT DPS. Defiance because of the stack mechanics inherent to a warrior makes it better for pumping out damage as MT in the end. If you look at defiance, shield oath, and grit as individual moves they are almost exactly the same. I think the paladin just needs another small buff and a few changes and it will be fine.

[Reynhart]

First, let me say this. Your post is wonderfuly written AND very insightful, kudos

Now, onto the different parts of your analysis.

I am also choosing to forego mention of Cecil, since his story lends itself more to the Dark Knight trope than the Knight/Paladin trope

This part confuses me, since Cecil is exactly what a PLD should be like. He has a strong will, a great sense of duty and honor, and impersonate the most icnonic trait of Paladin: Protect the weak !
He's exactly what a "sword and board damage soaker" is supposed to be...except that he also hit like a truck, because offline games don't need balance

Fix The Identity

That's the most basic problem of PLD.
We're the tank "that mitigates"...hmm, sure, so we're the tank that...tanks ? It's clearly not enough.
To fit with previous incarnation, we could be the "tank that heals" or the "tank that protects other". The most interesting part is that both archetypes can shine more as OT than MT (If you're the one who takes the hit all the time, you can't really heal yourself, and you have not many to protect).
That would help break the "PLD is supposed to be MT" mentality that was always wrong...except between 2.0 and 2.1.

Fix the Story

I must admit that the story didn't bothered me...until I read your summary. And then it hit me ! Let's look at WAR and DRK...so, I guess...SPOILERS

• WAR storyline follow the path of Curious Gorge, who can't really control his Inner Beast. You train, you fight, yada-yada, and, at the end, what do you learn ? WAR gets its full potential when he's engulfed by his desire to...protect the others. Ok...I guess...
• DRK storyline follow Sidurgu (Yes, the Frey part is clearly not lore heavy...but it sure was fun as hell !) who tries to protect a child from the Inquisition. And at the end, you learn that this desire is its most powerful weapon, but you should not force it unto others...

Ok, is it me, or every other tank has a stronger "protect the others" aesop than us ?

Fix the job

For that part, I always thought than "more healing capabilities" was the right way to go. Now, I saw another interesting part. Again, it's tied to the identity, the what-should-be story and the older incarnations.
DRG's iconic skill is Jump, and XIV sure delivered in that way, with four different jumps. Our most iconic skill is Cover. So, what if that Cover part was expanded ?

First, Cover should benefit from a much shorter cooldown. After all, it's not like it would help negate too much damage since we'll still be taking hits.
I've run The Vault multiple times as a PLD, and it always bugged me that I had only time for one Cover (If the fight goes fast) when the first boss decides to go medieval on the healer.

Moreover, it should have more effects, that could be tied to other skills. For example, on top on redirecting damage, it could replenish some MP in Sword Oath, target several people in Shield Oath, or automatically teleport us to the weakest party member when used with Tempered Will. That's only some raw examples...

I'd really like Sheltron to be changed too in that direction, where you could block the next attack in front if you, even though you're not its target. After all, look at the animation, this thing is huge, and it should provide protection for all party members behind it.

Seriously? Shield Oath provides no additional mitigation "when compared to other tanks’ stances"?

Let's look at other tank stance, would you ?

• Defiance : Increase HP and healing received. Except the tiny bit lacking healing boost, it's on par whith Shield Oath. BUT, it allows you to build Wrath which increase parry rate, and gives you acces to Inner Beast for self-healing.
• Grit : Well...it's Shield Oath. BUT, it give a HP absorb effect to Soul Eater (And with Dark Arts, those hits can heal you for a lot)
• Shield Oath is just Shield Oath...is doesn't change any of our skill, it doesn't offer anything more.

We can also say the same for the DPS stance.

• Deliverance : Increases damage (Albeitly less than Sword Oath). BUT allows you to build Abandon, which increases Critical and grants access to Fell Cleave.
• Darkside : Increases damage...on par with Sword Oath, I think. BUT gives you access to Dark Arts, we can be applied to lots of skills.
• Sword Oath : Increases damage...that's all.

Keep in mind that the philosophy behind this post is not that we want stronger skills (In terms or raw numbers), to crush the other tanks under our shiny supremacy.
No, we wan't more identity, more mechanics, something that greatly affect our gameplay.

[Freyyy]

People are still thinking that Darkside is a DPS stance..?

[Reynhart]

People are still thinking that Darkside is a DPS stance..?

It might have something to do with...you know..."Increases damage by 15%"

But, I think you might say that "no-Grit" is the DPS mode of DRK. It doesn't really change anything when you compare the three tanks.

[Brian_]

Let's look at other tank stance, would you ?

• Defiance : Increase HP and healing received. Except the tiny bit lacking healing boost, it's on par whith Shield Oath. BUT, it allows you to build Wrath which increase parry rate, and gives you acces to Inner Beast for self-healing.
• Grit : Well...it's Shield Oath. BUT, it give a HP absorb effect to Soul Eater (And with Dark Arts, those hits can heal you for a lot)
• Shield Oath is just Shield Oath...is doesn't change any of our skill, it doesn't offer anything more.

We can also say the same for the DPS stance.

• Deliverance : Increases damage (Albeitly less than Sword Oath). BUT allows you to build Abandon, which increases Critical and grants access to Fell Cleave.
• Darkside : Increases damage...on par with Sword Oath, I think. BUT gives you access to Dark Arts, we can be applied to lots of skills.
• Sword Oath : Increases damage...that's all.

Keep in mind that the philosophy behind this post is not that we want stronger skills (In terms or raw numbers), to crush the other tanks under our shiny supremacy.
No, we wan't more identity, more mechanics, something that greatly affect our gameplay.

The reason I didn't bother to respond to the earlier post regarding stances is because at least they returned to a point of honesty in the end when it ended on the note that all the tank stances are actually the same... because they are. This is just misguided and misinformed garbage. You can't look at the entire tank's kit and then single-out the only balanced part of it as the problem. It doesn't work like that.

Are you even reading what you're writing? You're essentially saying Shield Oath is lackluster because of Inner Beast and Soul-eater. You're saying Sword Oath is weak because of Fell Cleave. Read that again. Does that make sense to you? If it does, you need to check your logic.

Nevermind the fact that DRK has no offensive stance. Darkside is a persistent damage buff along the lines of Maim and Eye. It's just that instead of spending GCDs and TP to maintain it, they spend MP. The uniqueness of DRK is that they have no offensive stance but achieve the same effectiveness through activated abilities like Blood Weapon. It fits their play-style because they are a high-input oGCD micro-management job.

What really pisses me off is these people asking for more and crying about what they don't have when they aren't getting anywhere close to the most out of what they do have.

[Reynhart]

You're essentially saying Shield Oath is lackluster because of Inner Beast and Soul-eater. You're saying Sword Oath is weak because of Fell Cleave. Read that again. Does that make sense to you? If it does, you need to check your logic.

No, I'm saying that Shield and Sword Oath are bland because they doesn't change anything besides their basic effect. Back in 2.x, it was even worse. Since both Oath are "fire and forget" skills, the gameplay difference between Gladiator and Paladin was minimal. When compared to MRD and WAR, you could clearly see what the OP called the "lack of Identity".
Again, I'm not talking about stronger or weaker skills.

Nevermind the fact that DRK has no offensive stance. Darkside is a persistent damage buff along the lines of Maim and Eye.

Sorry, but no. Maim and Eye will fall if you don't reapply them, Blood of the Dragon will fall if you don't manage it properly. Darkside is a stance, it changes the gameplay of DRK (Again, something that no oath does, wether you have one activated or not) and it will never fall by itself.
And it's absolutely offensive.

What really pisses me off is these people asking for more and crying about what they don't have when they aren't getting anywhere close to the most out of what they do have.

Maybe it's because what we do have is either what the other tanks have or so situationnal that you could probably forgot you have them. Pray tell me how I can get the most out of Awareness...or Protect...or Cure...or Raise...

[Brian_]

No, I'm saying that Shield and Sword Oath are bland because they doesn't change anything besides their basic effect. Back in 2.x, it was even worse. Since both Oath are "fire and forget" skills, the gameplay difference between Gladiator and Paladin was minimal. When compared to MRD and WAR, you could clearly see what the OP called the "lack of Identity".
Again, I'm not talking about stronger or weaker skills.


Sorry, but no. Maim and Eye will fall if you don't reapply them, Blood of the Dragon will fall if you don't manage it properly. Darkside is a stance, and it will never fall by itself.
And it's absolutely offensive.


Maybe it's because what we do have is either what the other tank have or so situationnal that you could probably forgot you have them. Pray tell me how I can get the most out of Awareness...or Protect...or Cure...or Raise...

I really don't get how things are so hard to understand for some people. The flavor of Defiance, Deliverance, Grit have nothing to do with Defiance, Deliverance, and Grit. Grit and Shield Oath are almost literally exactly the same. Their flavor comes from the surrounding tool-kit. I'll phrase it as simply as I can for you. Shield Oath and Sword Oath are not the problem. They are not bland. They are not boring. They are not fire and forget. It is the tool-kit surrounding them that is the difference. WARs have their equivalent to Shield Oath. PLDs don't have their equivalent to Inner Beast. The criticism and targeting of the discussion is way off mark just like all these PLD topics crying about stuff. At the same time, the actual good posts from people with educated opinions get buried under the mountain of garbage.

And seriously? Blood of the Dragon will fall off if you don't manage it properly but Darkside is a stance because it will never fall off by itself... unless you don't manage it properly. Darkside will fall off if you mess up your MP management just like Maim or Eye will fall off if you mess up your GCD rotation. It's not a stance. It is an activated buff that fits into the MP management DRKs deal with.

How do you get the most out of Awareness? You pop it together with Bulwark to push crits off the hit table so that you can maximize your chances of blocking an attack. The same logic applies to Sheltron. I don't know why you are cross classing Protect, Cure, and Raise, though. If you think those skills are part of maximizing PLD play, well, I don't need to say much.