Remove/adjust Goring Blade.

[aodhan_ofinnegain]

Royal Authority would still give 1 stack of DV, Using atonement twice would give you another stack, I never mentioned that using royal authority wouldn't still give you a Stack of Divine might, I think you've missed the point completely here, Lowering how much you use Atonement will help to break up the lacking filler phase.

Let me explain the changes: You get one stack of Divine might from royal authority, you get another stack of divine might for using Atonement twice, aka once you spent your stacks of atonement you will gain a stack of Might. this replaces your 3rd atonement with another Holy spirit, you also are able to hold two Divine Mights at a time to be more flexiable, Does that make better sense? It wouldn't change PLD at lower levels, other then holding two Divine Mights.

Lets also talk about PLD at "lower levels" because the job at anything below 64, is beyond boring to play anyway it feels like the Job is only being taken into account at level 80-90, because is PLD even fun in the first place at lower levels? no how about Holy spirit in general is gained at lower levels? divine might aswell, We need More to do at lower levels in the first place, so even if I suggested any changes to PLD that might effect it at lower levels, my position is that it's already needs major changes at lower levels.

I would advise fleshing out your points more in future so there is no confusion as your point read as if you moved the DM stack to Atonement not that you would gain a second from Atonement.

I will agree below 64 is boring for PLD but I'd argue that's the case for most jobs. Like, at level 68 onwards it's fine, obviously at 76, Atonement breaks up the RA combo spam, it's something else to do and track.

But as boring as PLD is at the lower levels I'd argue most tanks are in the same boat, under level 70 most of them are kinda boring to play,or missing key components from their kits.

[Rithy255]

I would advise fleshing out your points more in future so there is no confusion as your point read as if you moved the DM stack to Atonement not that you would gain a second from Atonement.

I will agree below 64 is boring for PLD but I'd argue that's the case for most jobs. Like, at level 68 onwards it's fine, obviously at 76, Atonement breaks up the RA combo spam, it's something else to do and track.

But as boring as PLD is at the lower levels I'd argue most tanks are in the same boat, under level 70 most of them are kinda boring to play,or missing key components from their kits.

My Og quote mentioned getting a stack after using your atonement combo & how you could hold two, I never mentioned royal authority in the first place, granted I've always struggled with forming sentences due to being dyslexic... but y'know maybe something I see as clear might not come across the same way to others.

at early Plds clearly the worst out of all the other tanks, I think that's the main issue, other tanks are yeah kind of boring, but they all have other stuff to manage while pld has? uh fight or flight and like goring blade at 54? it also takes ages to get any of your sustain (not counting clemency) or gap closer? so PLD feels really underwhelming to me defensively not just offensively (shelltron being early is at least a plus), most tanks at least feel decent at 60, I'd argue PLD feels just really bland, I don't think the job comes together properly until around 70-80 even then in 70 you're missing a lot.

I think all tanks, even a lot of DPS need a lot of care In ARR/hw content that content is already boring and tedious enough, I know myself when getting synched down anything below 60 it's a chore, Some Jobs such as Red mage, Summoner and Samurai are actually decently fun at 50 so it's not like its impossible to move down some more skills on Jobs, but PLD to me feels like one of the worst jobs to be synched down on, Which is funny when i compare it to something like dark knight where I actually enjoy it more then other tanks at lower levels, but at 90 it's easily my least favourite, No contest.

[dspguy]

If players want storm's eye combo... then go play WAR. As it stands already, the tank job skillset are so similar.

[Rithy255]

If players want storm's eye combo... then go play WAR. As it stands already, the tank job skillset are so similar.

PLD already had a separate combo in 6.2, having "storms eye" is way more interesting then having current goring blade, Pld's general filler rotation needs something and clearly a strict 21 DOT isn't going to work with the new design, but current goring blade doesn't either.

Edit: Could even be a 30second DOT that stacks up to 60 maybe then it wouldn't be "storms eye clone" even though you'd use it the same way as the other suggestion.

[Mikey_R]

Why does Goring Blade necessarily have to be in a combo? It could be on a 20/30 second cooldown (as opposed to 60s), which is something else you will have to pay attention to in your rotation.

What I wouldn't do is give it the ability to grant a damage buff which you can keep up indefinitely, just like Warrior or Dark Knight. We already have 2 tanks that fit that, so keep it on the side of Gunbreaker and original Paladin design.

If you want to give it more than just a hard hitting attack, you could attach a short, powerful DoT (15 seconds as an example), however, I probably wouldn't make it a DoT with a 100% uptime.

I would also want it to have some sort of AoE falloff damage, just so it can be used in trash packs. If you want to combine this with the DoT idea, it could be a more unique attack where the initial hit is the same for every enemy, however, the DoT is only applied to the initial target, that gives it an effective falloff damage that I believe would be unique across all jobs.

So, with everything I have said, how about this:

Goring Blade, 30 second cooldown. Deals 350 potency to target and all surrounding enemies. Additional effect: Damage over Time, Potency: 70; Duration: 15 Seconds. (Total 700 Potency on primary target, 350 on remaining, meaning it is effectively a 50% damage dropoff, the same as (almost) every other similar action for PLD).

This still gives you the really strong DoT application that the old Goring Blade used to have, whilst also keeping it inline with the newer PLD idea. It can also be used in AoE, so you don't have the weird awkwardness of a 'missing GCD' in the buff window, which comes with the effect that, your your 3 extra GCDs, that is your AoE combo (Total Eclipse > Prominence > Holy Circle) all fitting in nicely.

[Rithy255]

Why does Goring Blade necessarily have to be in a combo? It could be on a 20/30 second cooldown (as opposed to 60s), which is something else you will have to pay attention to in your rotation.

Because it would fit the Job better imo, I don't really want Goring blade to be strict like it used to be, but one of the things I liked about OLD pld is the varity in GCD attacks it had, right now down time feels a bit too bland for my liking, giving PLD a separate combo finisher would in general help to make down time more interesting, With PLD you already should have been keeping up your DOT, like warrior it was just way way more stricter then it used to be, I don't really count dark knight as it's something you never really have to even think about honestly, but keeping up that goring/valor Dot was already apart of Original Paladin was always about having two different finisher options

Your idea is better then what we currently got granted, but I liked PLD having two different combo finishers personally it felt more interesting and broke up your atonements a bit.

[Riion]

Goring Blade should be activated by FoF. Basically a physical Confiteor. What sucks about Goring Blade now is if it drifts you generally can't recover it. Confiteor, on the other hand, can be used anytime under a Req window and that won't affect its use under the next window.

[Mikey_R]

Because it would fit the Job better imo, I don't really want Goring blade to be strict like it used to be, but one of the things I liked about OLD pld is the varity in GCD attacks it had,...

The problem then becomes, how do you construct a rotation around that concept? Assuming the Blade combo is kept in burst, it causes issues in making a clean 60 second rotation whilst keeping Goring Blade in a combo, which is why I suggested making it a shorter cooldown, to emulate the increased usage, whilst not having the restriction of a combo.

To illustrate the point, we need to look at the GCD breakdown in a minute. at base 2.5, PLD gets 24 GCDs per minute, assuming you want 3 used of Goring Blade, that means it is broken down into 20 second segments, each one being 8 GCDs long. 3 used for Goring Blade, another 3 for Royal Authority, that leaves 2 more, 1 Atonement and 1 Holy Spirit. However, the issue then comes when you want to add in the blade combo once a minute. You do your 3 for Goring Blade, 4 for blade combo, we are already 7 GCDs in the 8 GCD cycle and have a spare GCD to use. The only option is Fast Blade, but you will either clip Goring Blade a GCD early, or it will be delayed until after a Royal Authority combo. Assuming it is a DoT, either way, you lose damage, if it is a damage up effect, then you would obviously clip it early (though, if it acted the same as Storm's Eye, not an issue). Irregardless of the outcome though, once you get back to the next 60 second burst, your GCD is not lined up anymore. The same issues arise from looking at a 30 second window between Goring Blade with 12 GCDs. The blade combo will misalign things.

Now, in regards to refreshing DoTs for Goring Blade, that isn't ideal either. There are only 2 jobs that 'refresh' DoT timers, Bard and Black Mage. Both only refresh the DoT as late as possible in order to not lose out on damage, the earlier you use the refreshing GCD, the lower effective potency of the initial casts. However, if you want it to just add on time, whilst it sounds good, it causes other issues, mainly when looking at buffs, in this case Fight or Flight. Assuming if you use a buffed Goring Blade, the total time is now all classed as buffed and, if you use an unbuffed one, the remaining time would also be unbuffed, after the first minute, when you refresh Goring Blade, it will be under FoF and the assumption here is that you will build the DoT up to max with the FoF Goring Blade, so now you have a full minute where you don't want to touch Goring Blade again, otherwise the damage gained from FoF will be lost. On the flipside, when you have to build it back up again, you will just be spamming the Goring Blade combo over and over in order to build up as much time as possible for the next FoF window. This then makes alternating minute windows where you either want to use Goring Blade or not. I know I might not have explained it very well, so hopefully the following will help to highlight it more clearly:

1st minute, build up Goring Blade timer
2nd minute, FoF buffed Goring Blade
3rd minute, build up Goring Blade
4th minute, FoF buffed Going Blade etc.

You already do not want the minute windows to be uninteresting by doing the same things over and over, however, by increasing the DoT timer with every application (as opposed to refreshing), that is exactly what would happen. The complete opposite to what you want.

The whole reason current Paladin can get away with having the combos not line up perfectly with the 60 second window is purely BECAUSE they do not have a buff/debuff to maintain under combo conditions, however, they COULD plan the usage of a buff/debuff at certain points in the rotation with the intent to NOT keep them up at all times. Now, whilst when I proposed the change to Goring Blade, I had not considered everything I have detailed here in this post, I already knew that keeping a buff/debuff as a sustained thing would completely mess with the current iteration, which is why it all started out as shortening it to a 30 second cooldown with the intent that the DoT was NOT sustained.

If you want a sustained buff/debuff then you would have to redesign how the job plays and the combo structure of the job in general. As a last thought, I hadn't even considered Divine Might Holy Spirit and the fact it would become more restrictive with a sustained buff/debuff, but we will leave that for now.

Goring Blade should be activated by FoF. Basically a physical Confiteor. What sucks about Goring Blade now is if it drifts you generally can't recover it. Confiteor, on the other hand, can be used anytime under a Req window and that won't affect its use under the next window.

Did you want Sonic Break to only activate under No Mercy? How about Gnashing Fang combo or Double Down? Drill, Air Anchor and Chainsaw? Phlegma? All of these are GCDs that have a cooldown, if you do not use them, they will drift, should the same logic be applied there as well?

I also don't know how you can possibly drift Goring Blade, you just use it after FoF as your next GCD anyway, so, as long as you keep to the 1 minute rotation, there shouldn't be an issue.

[Kemeko]

First, before we can really debate what Goring Blade will do as well as other actions and buffs, like if Fight or Flight and Requiescat should even touch each other, we have to understand the crux of the problem. Let's simplify it, at 2.5 gcd we have a box that has room for 24 blocks. We can have any block shape we want and multiple of them, but we are still limited to 24 total if we don't want the box overstuffed. Now, let's look at each level box and see what blocks we have that can fit in it. Then, work on solutions from the ground up that, hopefully, fixes the rotation once and for all.

Level 60 Blocks:

[Goring Blade] = (Block of 1)
[Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Royal Authority] = (Block of 3)

Current Rotation: (Total of 25 Blocks)
[Goring Blade] x 1 = (1 Block)
[Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Royal Authority] x 8 = (24 Blocks)

With the current rotation, we can already see it does not line up, because the box is overfilled.

Option A: Add 1 extra Goring Blade (block of 1) by changing the cooldown to 30s.
Test:
[Goring Blade](1) x 2 = (Block of 2)
[Royal Authority](3) x 7 = (Block of 21)
(Total of 23 Blocks)
Result: Adding 1 extra Goring Blade (block of 1) does not fit in the box.

Option B: Add 2 extra Goring Blade (block of 1) by changing the cooldown to 20s.
Test:
[Goring Blade](1) x 3 = (Block of 3)
[Royal Authority](3) x 7 = (Block of 21)
(Total of 24 Blocks)
Result: Adding 2 extra Goring Blade (block of 1) does fit in the box, however, this is what we had in the 6.2 iteration, just not as a combo.

Option C: Turn Goring Blade into a (1-2-3) combo again as a (block of 3).
Test:
[Goring Blade](3) x 4 = (Block of 12)
[Royal Authority](3) x 4 = (Block of 12)
(Total of 24 Blocks)
Result: Turning Goring Blade into (1-2-3) combo does fit in the box, however, the results may vary depending on the effects, and leaves no room for future iterations.
Example:
[Goring Blade](3)[Royal Authority](3) x 4 will fit in the box.
[Goring Blade](3)[Royal Authority](3)[Royal Authority](3) x 3 will not fit in the box.

Option D: Turn Goring Blade into a (1-2-3) combo again as a (block of 3). Add Shield Bash as a (1-3) combo.
New Blocks:
[Shield Bash][Goring Blade] = (Block of 2)
[Shield Bash][Royal Authority] = (Block of 2)
Test:
[Goring Blade](2) x 3 = (Block of 6)
[Royal Authority](2) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Goring Blade](3) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Royal Authority](3) x 6 = (Block of 18)
(Total of 24 Blocks)
Result: Adding Shield Bash as a (1-3) combo will fit in the box, make any new blocks fit in the box, and leaves room for future iterations. This is essentially the solution to everything.
Example:
[Goring Blade](2)[Royal Authority](2) x 6 will fit in the box.
[Goring Blade](2)[Royal Authority](3)[Royal Authority](3) x 3 will fit in the box.
[Goring Blade](3)[Royal Authority](2)[Royal Authority](3) x 3 will fit in the box.

Now that we solved the level 60 box, let's move on to the level 70 box with the new blocks, because everything has to work from the ground up.

Level 70 with new Blocks:
[Shield Bash][Goring Blade][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 3)
[Shield Bash][Royal Authority][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 3)
[Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Goring Blade][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 4)
[Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Royal Authority][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 4)
[Holy Spirit] = (Block of 1)
[Requiescat](4) = (Block of 4)

Option A: Requiescat at a stack of 4.
Test:
[Goring Blade](2+1) x 2 = (Block of 6)
[Royal Authority](2+1) x 2 = (Block of 6)
[Goring Blade](3+1) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Royal Authority](3+1) x 2 = (Block of 8)
[Requiescat](4) x 1 = (Block of 4)
(Total of 24 Blocks)
Result: Requiescat at a stack of 4 does fit in the box, however, it is very limited and leaves no room for future iterations.

Option B: Requiescat increased to a stack of 5.
Test:
[Goring Blade](2+1) x 2 = (Block of 6)
[Royal Authority](2+1) x 2 = (Block of 6)
[Goring Blade](3+1) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Royal Authority](3+1) x 2 = (Block of 8)
[Requiescat](5) x 1 = (Block of 5)
(Total of 25 Blocks)
Result: Requiescat increased to a stack of 5 does not fit in the box.

Option C: Divine Might stacks and combines with Requiescat.
Test:
[Goring Blade](2+0) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Royal Authority](2+0) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Goring Blade](3+0) x 2 = (Block of 6)
[Royal Authority](3+0) x 4 = (Block of 12)
[Holy Spirit](1) x 1 = (Block of 1)
[Requiescat](4) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Requiescat](5) x 1 = (Block of 5)
(Total of 24 Blocks)
Result: Divine Might stacks and combines with Requiescat fits in the box with any size stack of Requiescat, and leaves room for future iterations.

Now that we have established that to continue forward, Divine Might must stack with Requiescat, we can move on the level 80 box with the new blocks. Putting Requiescat at a stack of 5, for future iterations.

Level 80 with new Blocks:
[Shield Bash][Goring Blade][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 3)
[Shield Bash][Royal Authority][Atonement][Atonement][Atonement][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 6)
[Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Goring Blade][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 4)
[Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Royal Authority][Atonement][Atonement][Atonement][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 7)
[Holy Spirit] = (Block of 1)
[Confiteor] = (Block of 1)
[Requiescat](5) = (Block of 5)

Option A: Sword Oath remains at a stack of 3.
Test:
[Goring Blade](2+0) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Royal Authority](5+0) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Goring Blade](3+0) x 2 = (Block of 6)
[Royal Authority](6+0) x 2 = (Block of 12)
[Holy Spirit](1) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Confiteor](1) x 1 = (Block of 1)
[Requiescat](5) x 1 = (Block of 5)
(Total of 24 Blocks)
Result: Sword Oath at a stack of 3 fits in the box, however, there was a shortage of Divine Might leading to either using an unbuffed Holy Spirit or Confiteor outside of Requiescat(5).

Option B: Atonement is now a (1-2-3) combo and gives 2 Sword Oath and 2 Divine Might, while remaining as an optional combo filler that uses Sword Oath, otherwise it is the exact same as Royal Authority. Sword Oath now increases Fast Blade, Riot Blade, and Shield Bash potencies.
New Blocks:
[Shield Bash][Atonement][Atonement][Atonement][Holy Spirit][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 6)
[Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Atonement][Atonement][Atonement][Holy Spirit][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 7)
Test:
[Goring Blade](2+0) x 2 = (Block of 4)
[Royal Authority](2+0+0) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Atonement](2+0+0) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Goring Blade](3+0) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Royal Authority](3+0+0) x 2 = (Block of 6)
[Atonement](3+0+0) x 2 = (Block of 6)
[Holy Spirit](1) x 3 = (Block of 3)
[Confiteor](1) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Requiescat](5) x 1 = (Block of 5)
(Total of 24 Blocks)
Result: Atonement as a (1-2-3) combo that gives 2 Sword Oath and 2 Divine Might, while remaining as an optional combo filler that uses Sword Oath, along with the Sword Oath changes, fits in the box. There is an excess of 1 Divine Might which should not affect potencies if ignored and helps with prolonged disengagements, or swap an extra Shield Bash to fit in the extra Divine Might. With Sword Oath changed, there is flexibility in the rotation to allow for increased tactics, such as using Shield Lob in the middle of a rotation, Atonement remaining as a filler and starting a new combo (Ex. [Atonement][Riot Blade][Atonement]) allowing for better utility and MP recovery, and letting Goring Blade consume Sword Oath for increased potencies along with Circle of Scorn. Also, Sword Oath can now be introduced at level 60 to ensure Goring Blade and other actions/ogcds get the full effect without altering the solved rotation.

With Atonement and Sword Oath reinforcing the rotation, lets move on to the level 90 box with the new blocks.

Level 90 with new Blocks:
[Shield Bash][Goring Blade][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 3)
[Shield Bash][Royal Authority][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 3)
[Shield Bash][Atonement][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 3)
[Shield Bash][Royal Authority][Atonement][Atonement][Atonement][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 6)
[Shield Bash][Atonement][Atonement][Atonement][Holy Spirit][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 6)
[Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Goring Blade][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 4)
[Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Royal Authority][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 4)
[Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Atonement][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 4)
[Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Royal Authority][Atonement][Atonement][Atonement][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 7)
[Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Atonement][Atonement][Atonement][Atonement][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 7)
[Atonement][Riot Blade][Goring Blade][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 4)
[Atonement][Riot Blade][Royal Authority][Atonement][Atonement][Atonement][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 7)
[Atonement][Riot Blade][Atonement][Atonement][Atonement][Holy Spirit][Holy Spirit] = (Block of 7)
[Holy Spirit] = (Block of 1)
[Confiteor][Blade of Faith][Blade of Truth][Blade of Valor] = (Block of 4)
[Requiescat](5) = (Block of 5)

Final Test:
[Goring Blade](2+0) x 2 = (Block of 4)
[Royal Authority](2+0+0) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Atonement](2+0+0) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Goring Blade](3+0) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Royal Authority](3+0+0) x 2 = (Block of 6)
[Atonement](3+0+0) x 2 = (Block of 6)
[Holy Spirit](1) x 3 = (Block of 3)
[Confiteor](4) x 0 = (Block of 0)
[Requiescat](5) x 1 = (Block of 5)
(Total of 24 Blocks)
Result: The introduced Confiteor combo fit in the box, with an excess of 4 Divine Might, further increasing tactics, while not affecting potencies.

Rotation example A:

[Shield Bash][Goring Blade][Holy Spirit][Holy Spirit][Confiteor][Blade of Faith][Blade of Truth][Blade of Valor]
[Shield Bash][Goring Blade][Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Royal Authority][Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Atonement]
[Shield Bash][Goring Blade][Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Royal Authority][Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Atonement]

Rotation example B:

[Shield Bash][Goring Blade][Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Royal Authority][Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Atonement]
[Holy Spirit][Holy Spirit][Holy Spirit][Holy Spirit][Confiteor][Blade of Faith][Blade of Truth][Blade of Valor]
[Shield Bash][Goring Blade][Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Royal Authority][Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Atonement]

Rotation example C:

[Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Royal Authority][Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Atonement][Shield Bash][Goring Blade]
[Holy Spirit][Holy Spirit][Holy Spirit][Holy Spirit][Confiteor][Blade of Faith][Blade of Truth][Blade of Valor]
[Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Royal Authority][Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Atonement][Shield Bash][Goring Blade]

Rotation example D (aka. The Scuffed Rotation):

[Atonement][Riot Blade][Atonement][Riot Blade][Atonement][Confiteor][Blade of Faith][Blade of Truth]
[Blade of Valor][Holy Spirit][Riot Blade][Goring Blade][Shield Bash][Royal Authority][Fast Blade][Shield Lob]
[Riot Blade][Royal Authority][Atonement][Shield Bash][Goring Blade][Holy Spirit][Holy Spirit][Holy Spirit]

With the new revamped rotations to choose from, you can fit whatever type of buff you want in Goring Blade, though dots is off the table because any dot past the first 30s of the rotation has a chance for potency loss with boss jumps. Goring Blade (Storm's Eye version), for example, results in no loss in potency. Goring Blade (Sword Oath) also results in no loss in potency. In turn, you can have a Goring Blade (Sword Oath)(Storm's Eye version) as well. Blade of Valor can have (Storm's Eye version) added because it would take the place of one Goring Blade in the rotation, like it did before, as well as giving Sword Oath to enhance any form of burst, regardless if Fight or Flight and Requiescat are one or two separate burst windows. Overcapping on resources is a better option than a lack of resources, it's not like we're losing dps from too much MP or Oath Gauge either. Excess Divine Might serves to allow flexibility because we can't always perform a clean loop in fights, while having no impact on ppm if potencies and 1/2 burst windows are adjusted right.

Side note: Example of Atonement as a starter/finisher/filler along with Riot Blade.

[Action][Weaponskill] Riot Blade (Lv. 4)
Delivers an attack with a potency of 150.
Combo Action: Fast Blade or Atonement
Combo Potency: 250
Combo Sword Oath Potency: 300
Combo Bonus: Restores MP (1000 MP)

[Action][Weaponskill] Atonement (Lv. 76)
Delivers an attack with a potency of 100.
Sword Oath Potency: 300
Sword Oath is not consumed with Combo Action.
Additional Effect: Restores MP (1000 MP)
Combo Action: Riot Blade or Shield Bash
Combo Potency: 300
Combo Bonus: Grants 2 stacks of Sword Oath
Duration: 30s
Combo Bonus: Grants 2 stacks of Divine Might (Up to 5)
Duration: 30s

[Mikey_R]

Atonement as a (1-2-3) combo that gives 2 Sword Oath and 2 Divine Might, along with the Sword Oath changes, fits in the box

From the level 80 rotation.

[Fast Blade][Riot Blade][Royal Authority][Atonement][Atonement][Atonement][Holy Spirit]

This is one of your blocks from the 90 rotation, which is 3 SO and 1 DM, why has it changed? You were the one that wanted consistency. Not that it matters as, by your own admission, you were either short a GCD or up a GCD at level 80, depending on how you wanted to play it out.

Now, we can get to the level 90 stuff. We will assume Royal Authority gives 3 SO stacks and 1 DM stack, and Goring Blade gives 1 DM stack. This is what you yourself have outlined just by looking at your proposals.

I was going to write something a bit more lengthy, however, I have stumbled at the first hurdle. From the start of a fight, show me what the intended clean loop is, because I cannot work it out. Either I'm massively overcapping resources going into the minute mark, or, I'm short. The fact you can get a 24 block out of messing around with some GCDs is fine, that has never been an issue, the issue is HOW they all interact with each other to make a loop. Bearing in mind, this only applies if you want a buff/debuff that is sustained. This is why current PLD does not have to adhere to a strict 60 second rotation.