Thoughts on PLD changes

[Sqwall]

While I do play on a controller, 4.0 was probably the straw that broke the camels back for that group of players for PLD. Simply just to many skills. It was just to much for a x-cross bar to handle. You really had to get creative with your macro sets to save time when cycling through 3 other people, and even worse with 8 man to throw out intervention. I even went as far as making 2 intervention macros for party member 3 and 4 in and 8 man, same skill just different targets on which healer I wanted to save if needed. When OT you have more forgiveness to target the MT with intervention and I would make a whole new MT x-cross bar and an OT x-cross bar for this reason.

[Thela]

Did they change something about Clemency?
Because it's driving me insane when I heal in dungeons... It seems like there's more Clemency spammers around than before, lol.
And every time that I point it out and tell PLD's that they're not going to die and don't need to use Clemency they're either rude or don't respond or tell me why.

While this is possibly not the reason, you have to keep in mind that PLD's Spirits Within ability scales with how much HP you have. It does a fair chunk of damage when you're at full health and pitiful damage when you're low health. For this reason letting the PLD sit at low health just because they won't die is a dps loss for them.

But that aside, I don't ever cast clemency unless i can see the healer is struggling (or maybe even dead with noone to res them, saving a wipe is still a thing sometimes) and I feel the majority of PLD's will never use it either unless absolutely necessary.

[aodhan_ofinnegain]

I personally avoid using clemency where possible, unless healer is really struggling with a big pull and I miss time a CD, and like ~15% hp and healer is spamming heals, or it's prog and healers are down, there is genuinely no other reason to use clemency and hp penalty on spirits within (stipulation does not belong on a tank), isn't really a reason.
Personally it feels disingenuous to the healers, who are there to heal and in harder content it can screw with their planned healing. Remember if you do die it's just a game go back to the start or get a raise, just let the healers to their thing and worry about doing dmg, longer you waste using clemency the more damage you take overall because you're not doing damage.

[Hezzlocks]

Historically, sword and shield are deadlier than just a sword.

Yeah, this is pretty true. Shields aren't just for defense. They can be used to catch your opponent's weapon and throw them off balance, making for a much easier target, and of course being slammed at full force by a solid piece of steel or even wood will disorientate you and leave you wide open.

Of course, yeah, a well-placed blow with a very large very sharp sword will do more damage in a single hit, with the possibility of even cleaving through the shield if it finds a weak spot. And in-game logic of course typically has sword/shield combos do less damage, so yeah

[Eclair_Xysha]

I honestly think they shouldn't have put Cover with the Oath system. They should have just leave it as that. The Oath system is expensive as is... 50 points each skill. Sheltron, Intervention, now Cover.

[Sancho_Nyanta]

Did they change something about Clemency?
Because it's driving me insane when I heal in dungeons... It seems like there's more Clemency spammers around than before, lol.
And every time that I point it out and tell PLD's that they're not going to die and don't need to use Clemency they're either rude or don't respond or tell me why.

It's honestly very irritating and feels like they don't trust me <_<.
Just because you're bellow 80% hp doesn't mean that you're going to die or that I am sleeping ( btw I have insta heals )...

If they changed Clemency and made it useful for dps somehow then for some reason people refuse to tell me.

As a Drk main who is currently leveling PLD as my 2nd lv80 job. I can say that I've seen A LOT of healers not be able (or wanting?) to adjust to the amount of incoming damage when I'm doing larger pulls. It is a fact that there is more incoming damage and we have lost some of the CDs that we previously had and tank have to adjust their CD rotation, but I've also seen healers still not yet adjusting to the amount of dmg we have incoming and still trying to Dps like it is 4.X. Like when I'm down to like 25% hp and I see them casting Holy/Gravity or otherwise attacking rather than casting healing spells. In 4.x I wouldn't have thought about it much but with how much dmg is being done, then if my CDs run out at the wrong time then that HP will be gone fast. It doesn't help when our invulns feel like they have a year long delay that can kill us even tho we pop it and it's on CD (squenix pls T__T). Caused me like 2/3 wipes before I just started using clemency if I drop around 1/2 of my HP to help the healers out. I think everyone just has to get use to the way things are and then there'll be less reliance/use of Clemency.

[VargasVermillion]

Of course, yeah, a well-placed blow with a very large very sharp sword will do more damage in a single hit, with the possibility of even cleaving through the shield if it finds a weak spot. And in-game logic of course typically has sword/shield combos do less damage, so yeah

Cleaving a shield would be practically impossible, a poorly made or damaged one maybe. The only time you'd hit a shield would be either your blow was blocked or you willingly attacked it, both bad options.

[AlexSag]

I'm loving PLD this expansion. I love the nearly constant mitigation shelltron gives, I love the new rotation and being able to insta-cast while using requiescat, I love that we have both a physical aoe rotation and a magical aoe rotation. The only thing I'm afraid of is the incoming nerfs. We always get nerfed post expansion. I just hope it's minor.

[dragoelete]

Cleaving a shield would be practically impossible, a poorly made or damaged one maybe. The only time you'd hit a shield would be either your blow was blocked or you willingly attacked it, both bad options.

i will say if im using a purely woden shield or a shield that only has metal around the edges your not gonna see me blocking a giant sword or axe im gonna def try my best to dodge and only block as a last resort since a giant sword would fracture the bones in your arm from the impact and in the case of a giant axe ... wel axes were made to cut wood so i wouldnt feel to comfy blocking an axe with a wooden shield.

[TouchandFeel]

Cleaving a shield would be practically impossible, a poorly made or damaged one maybe. The only time you'd hit a shield would be either your blow was blocked or you willingly attacked it, both bad options.

You definitely can break or cleave through a shield with the right weapon.

Most shields used in actual combat throughout history weren't made from large sheets of metal, but from wood that was often reinforced with leather binding and strategically placed small pieces of metal for greater strength. Shields made almost entirely of metal didn't really appear until much later and were much smaller in size and tended to be for tourney, ceremonial use or fencing like the buckler. The sheer weight and unwieldiness of a large metal shield pretty much excludes their practical use on the battlefield.

A weapon with enough weight and inertia behind it like a large axe, maul or a large heavy sword like the Dacian Falx would potentially be able to get through a shield or at least mess it up enough to render it fairly useless.
Historical records even mention how the Roman legions were thrown for a loop a bit because of certain weapons like the Francisca and the Dacian Falx being able to break through their shields and injure or kill the soldier, rendering their shield formations less effective.

Also, directly attacking the shield in an attempt to break it was a tactic that was actually used on the battlefield. In the instance of large shieldwall formations, the intent of directly attacking the shields is obvious, to break the through the formation. In foot combat, shields would sometimes be targeted in an attempt to hinder the enemy. Many shields were not actually just held but strapped to the body in some way, such as a forearm strap or shoulder strap. If you break your enemy's shield and render it virtually useless, that leaves them encumbered with a busted shield getting in the way of their movement, giving you an advantage that could be the difference between life or death.