Paladin Change(s)

[Ultimatecalibur]

I thought it would finally mean a lower weapon delay weapon would be more powerful , ala SpSpd and DoTs.

Lower delay weapons were previously more powerful at the same ilevel in Sword Oath and have been that way since the start of 2.X. A 2.08 delay weapon was doing roughly ~173 potency every 3 seconds in Sword Oath versus the ~169 potency of 2.16 delay weapons and ~167 of 2.24 delay weapons.

So I guess this change will be somewhat minimal, though it's still very welcome, in any case. I wonder what the amount of GCDs equalling a damage gain from SwO is after this change.

Its a definite increase in Paladin Auto-attack damage even before being combined with the changes to auto-attacking (i.e, you no longer need to be facing the target to auto-attack so more auto attacks will be going out if you are close enough to your target). Now every sword should be doing 175 potency per 3 sec with auto attacks. 2.08 Delay weapons should be going to 52 potency per extra attack, 2.16 to 54 potency per extra attack and 2.24 to 56 potency per attack.

This should be a serious boost in Paladin PvP damage output.

[Februs]

This should be a serious boost in Paladin PvP damage output.

Definitely the case on paper. The variant settings for Face Target and melee range within the arena also contribute greatly to increase dps output, which is nice considering how abysmally low Pld dps is within the arena. It's also a testable feature on the dueling deck, however the results will be a bit skewed, as the net code on the deck still reflects the PvE range and face target settings instead of PvP settings. Another problem is that, within a match, Pld's often don't have 100% up time on their auto attacks as they could be forced to stop attacking in favour of party defense like Cover or Clemency. If we want an accurate test of how this will effect Pally dps in the arena, then we'd have to actually play a round of Feast. Though, that's not likely to happen until the majority of the community finishes up the new content. As with every new patch, queues are dead right now. In the worst case scenario, we might not see actual results on this until Season 3.

One thing that would be definite "bad news" for PvP'ers is that the changes will probably result in more homogenized gear styles, eliminating some options for min/maxing your PvP build. That said, the writing has been on the wall for a long time now. I don't think anyone is surprised to see curved swords and bucklers getting slowly phased out of the game, at this point. I was honestly shocked when they released a curved sword for the Nidhogg ex fight, though, so who knows what SE is planning.