OK, ok. Sorry OP but your not looking at Paladin as what it is actually supposed to be thematically. Paladin isn't paladin in this game. Paladin is Gladiator. That is what it is supposed to be and nothing more. The title Paladin was a bad choice to give the class lore wise altogether. It isn't scripted, storied or designed to be a shield tank. It's supposed to an offensive attacker with a shield for personal defense. Taking it into the whole shtick of what an actual Paladin does in Heavensward and further with abilities like Divine Veil and all the holy moves I can see where your misunderstanding comes from. But Paladins aren't holy rightful protectors in this game.

Also. They can't give a class too much tankiness because it would cause healers to become irrelevant so in keeping with balance they limit your shields. Now would you rather have a hotbar full of 1 hit defense buffs or mitigation tools that mitigate like 1% dmg for 2 seconds?