Quote Originally Posted by Jigg View Post
Actually, it kinda makes since...in a realism stand point. Granted I haven't played Gladiator since the update, but normally one doesn't parry with a shield...Maybe this is intended so that those who use shield and those who do not are better differentiated?
In a realism standpoint, you can actually parry with a shield. And even then, you could use your sword while also holding a shield to parry. But that's a semantics issue...

Gameplay wise, it weakens GLA's ability to tank. As already mentioned, with the changes to how block works, and now this, the benefits of tanking as GLA over MRD are now marginal if at all existent. What GLA mitigates through blocks, MRD mitigates through parry, and MRD has more tools at their disposal to establish and keep enmity than GLA does.

GLA felt like it was built to be a great single target tank, while a bit weak in group tanking. MRD felt like great at groups, but not as strong on single targets. GLA no longer has that spot in single target tanking, though.

Granted, these are my initial impressions after 1.19, and I could be wrong, but that is the feeling of many people I've spoken to, and it would be great to get some official information on this.