Yoshi P's Paladin Love

[javid]

In a recent interview?? Yoshi P said they will be showing Paladin much needed love. And all hardcore players to decently well-informed tank players know the glaring (and no so glaring) issue pld has in comparison to its counterparts. Already we know Yoshi P said Pld will be getting more magic defensive cd love, and I believe he said an AOE, so we at least have that to long forward to. In the benchmark we got a sneak-peak at a new ability that appeared to be “that” AOE (with cast time…)



Later this month they are supposed to be going over the battle system changes, but you have to wonder will they focus in on each job?? Or will they be going over just the overall system changes (timers, indications, cds, merged cross-class abilities, and deleted skills). Maybe SE will feel generous and give us it all?? Lul (one can dream).



But more specifically to Paladin I’d like us to list the changes we’d look forward to then on release compare what we get with what we hope for and possible keep this as a tab of what may still need to be addressed moving further into Storm’s blood.



ISSUE:

Clemency

· cost a lot of MP (limiting to 2-3 uses at a time requiring SEVERAL, SEVERAL riot blades [MP] to re-use);
· it also can be INTERRUPTED……..;
· it will break combo rotations;
· it’s attack potency based YET it’s completely unaffected by Fight or Flight (the way Berserk buffs Equilibrium, and dps buff Second Wind) note: it is affected by Convalescence
HOPEFUL FIXES:

Clemency

· Reduce MP cost or improve MP recover , or a combination of reduced MP cost and increased MP.
· Make the spell an instant cast or give it a built-in Surecast .
· PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make it so it does not break combo…. Already pld is the only tank that’s required to lose a gcd to do a (semi-useless) defensive skill; please don’t make us lose our combo on top of that.
· This suggested fix is debatable….but I actually think Clemency is too weak…given that we have to lose a gcd to use it and we currently have only 2-3 uses available at a time I’d like to see it being worth not using a regular gcd; currently with best gear is worth the HP of one auto attack from savage bosses…. Also I understand there is a correlation between mp cost/usage, aka overall effectiveness of this skill [IMO paladin should be at least as self-sustaining as a war if not more so using white “holy” magic].


but what else are you guys hoping to see with PLD??

[Canadane]

Magic-cover would be great.

[javid]

I actually think that drk skill we see in benchmark is a magic cover....i doubt they'll cross class

Also that drk skill look like it only absorbed one attack??? Idk....

Regular cover is a pretty niche ability in raid and in dungs I wouldn't mind a magic version. Or make it so all covered (physical) dmg is 100% blocked.

[RopeDrink]

I don't bother speculating. I wait and see, then try it for myself. I'm not a raider (arrived too late for that as a relatively new player), so I'm not too phased by how PLD is in its current state. They've said they'll be bringing changes - that's good enough for me.

[Marxam]

Berserk actually buffs attack power directly while FoF only increases physical damage dealt and not the attack power. That's why clemency is not affected by FoF and WAR was designed to be a self sustain tank since 2.0 with inner beast originally being used a self heal after tank busters but that didn't work out too well. I would much rather see DRK get the better self sustain and PLD get better self and party mitigation. What I would like to see from PLD is a battle raise. Either 0 mp cost with a long recast, 60-120 secs or high mp cost with gcd. Sheltron also needs to give tp in addition to mp.

[Claymore65]

What I want to see is simple: take most of the Paladin's "Anti Physical" kit and make it apply to magic damage.

Right now, in a magic heavy (or exclusive) fight (such as Cheribert in the Vault), the following abilities become near useless:

• Shield Swipe
• Bulwark
• Cover
• Sheltron

Foresight becomes useless as a cross-class, while Rage of Halone's damage reduction no longer applies either in addition to the above. Cover is especially harmed by it's physical only restriction, as most unavoidable (or even avoidable) AOEs are magic damage.

With some of the Gladiator abilities (such as Provoke and likely Rampart/Convalescence/Awareness) becoming Role-based skills, and the likelihood of their more situational abilities being changed or removed (Tempered Will), we'll have a lot of room to (hypothetically) expand the Paladin's identity.

I'd love to see it get some more damage increasing abilities for it's allies. I like the idea of the Dark Knight and Warrior focusing more on personal damage, while the Paladin increases the damage of its allies heavily. Something like a "Foe's Requiem" that increases allies' damage to enemies near them would be neat.

[Shurrikhan]

Magic-cover would be great.

What, to make Cover relevant?
We have DRK for that...

[ChloeGrace]

Given SE's history of "fixes", the so-called love will be done half assed, and people will rejoice because it will still be better than what they had before.

[Faytte]

I would do the following, to clemency and all Paladin 'spells'.

1) Make them not spells. This means they would scale off skill speed. Only paladins right now weirdly have role based actions that scale off different stats, one of which you cant get.

This would solve the issue of being interruptable, since it would behave like flash. Keep the mana the same (it costs a lot, I know, but I think this can be offset with higher mp gain from riot blade) and if treated like flash would cause it to be combo friendly.

As for other abilities.

2) Shield Swipe should have its potency lowered, TP set to 0, made OGcD, given a 6 second CD.
3) The DoT From Circle of Scorn should stack up to three times. In addition, blocks should have a chance to reset CoS and set its casting cost to 0.
4) Moving between stances should be an OGCD that does not break combos.

[Shurrikhan]

I would do the following, to clemency and all Paladin 'spells'.

1) Make them not spells. This means they would scale off skill speed. Only paladins right now weirdly have role based actions that scale off different stats, one of which you cant get.

Is there any benefit at all to having Spell and Skill Speeds separate is what I wonder...
I could imagine it having niche balancing uses in an open customization MMO that might slightly outweigh its frustrations so long as the stat's bonuses scaled differently based on your rate of use or whatnot (e.g. as a consumed and passively regenerated acceleration resource based on the stat), but in one like XIV it just needlessly punishes our hybrids like Bard, DRK, and PLD.

It would be nice to hear what they plan to do with magic. What little I can remember of the ARR release explanations felt like there were attacks they simply did not want us to be able to mitigate, as to make healers more crucial, but magic-irrelevant CDs are the rarity, not the standard. Nonetheless, their effects can still make or break tank balance in a given fight...

...I'd love to be able to see PLD charge up its shield or whatnot for a nuke (and cost-reduced) Shield Bash or improved Shield Swipe as a result of magic damage taken, or absorbed through Shield Oath, etc. Shield Swipe (Shield Springy-Upward-Punch-Slap-Thing) has never made complete sense to me as a counter as compared to prepped ability. (A true block, rather than a parry, with the shield certainly wouldn't set you up for such an agile counter, after all.) Without a reset mechanic or immediate availability as in Low Blow's it loses out on both MT group-fight DPS growth and an otherwise far more valuable level of unique utility.