Quote Originally Posted by Garnatian View Post
No, they won't.

Their mitigation will only be slightly behind PLD. They have a way better version of Rampart (Inner Beast), a better version of Sentinel (Vengeance) and (we'll have to wait and see) an ability on par with Block (Storm's Path) this on top of their increased Healing Received and HP buffer make them the much better Tank.

If it weren't for the fact that BRDs are getting nerfed, I wouldn't recommend taking a PLD in 2.1 if these changes go through.
Shield Oath vs Defiance
Shield Oath is straight up better. If we convert Shield Oath into it's actual effect in terms of eHP and eHealing, we get +25% to both. Defiance is +25% eHP and only +20% eHealing. Defiance is beter than it was, but it still isn't as good as Shield Oath.

Rampart vs Inner Beast:
Both 20%. Rampart is up for longer, Inner Beast is usable more often. If you time it correctly, Inner Beast should be usable for most large spikes. As long as you time it correctly and you both have something to hit and actually hit it. We will have to test once it is released, but I wouldn't be surprised if it works like most other buffs currently, if the mob has a stoneskin or is invulnerable and you don't do any damage, you likely wont get the damage reduction. Meanwhile Rampart is just a button you click and you get your buff, and it doesn't really matter if you time it slightly wrong because it lasts for 20 seconds.

No real advantage here, both abilities good, with pros and cons. I'd say this one is balanced, with the advantage going either way depending on the situation.

Sentinel vs Vengeance:
40% for 10 seconds every 3 minutes versus 30% for 15 seconds every 2 minutes. Vengeance is going to be less reduction, for longer, more often. Neither of these abilities is going to be up for all the spikes, or even half of them. Again, depending on how you use them, the advantage could go either way. Sentinel will reduce the larger hits by 33% more than Vengeance, but Vengeance will be able to be used more often. But Inner Beast will be available for pretty much all large hits. I honestly don't see Vengeance being used for a single large spike, as IB is already available for that. instead I see Vengeance being used to fill the gap between 2 Inner Beasts to reduce something else, either extra damage incoming from mobs that will be dead by the end of the duration or for example on the Dreadnaughts where you need prolonged good mitigation rather than large amounts of mitigation for one hit. Neither of these abilities are on short enough cooldowns that you're going to use them as they come up,and they are both very good effects. They are bordering close on the Too Awesome to Use threshold.

Again, different uses and the advantage could go either way. I'm inclined to say Vengeance is slightly better, but the difference is more in their use than their power. Sentinel for that one big attack that you wont have rampart for but don't want to use Hallowed and Vengeance to fill in the gaps of Inner Beasts. Both are good and I honestly don't know which one I would pick if given the choice.

Comparing Block to Storm's Path is silly. Storm's Path should be compared to Rage of Halone's STR debuff, but we can't really compare it until we have numbers. I expect it to be 2-3% and not in my wildest fever dreams could I see it ever being higher than 5% without being on such a short timer that you have to use nothing but this combo to keep it up.

I do like the fact that you completely ignored the Hallowed vs Holmgang comparison. Probably because Hallowed is just straight up better than Holmgang in every way except recast. Funny how things that don't help an argument have a convenient habit of being ignored.