What happens when.....

[Exodus_Kenpachi]

Snip

I think you are missing my point. What I am trying to say is that PLD utility needs to be changed/increased. Right now the only tank utility in the game falls into 3 categories that matter: Personal DPS, Raid DPS buffs, and Raid Mitigation. Nothing outside of those three things matters at all on a raid level. Designing a fight that better suits PLDs "tools" basically means making the fight have physical busters, physical raidwide damage, and trash mobs that make the shield useful. The problem with that is that IT WON'T MATTER. People will still bring WAR for the increased DPS, Path, and the fact that they mitigate physical moves just as well as magical moves. People will still bring a DrK because guess what, it does more DPS, can survive everything in an encounter, and has utility with Reprisal and Delirium Blade.

The core problem with PLD is that nobody gives a shit about how much a tank can mitigate. It is literally a non-issue. This is due to the tank meta revolving around scripted burst damage, weak AAs, defensive stats being alonst worthless, and what utility a tank brings to the table.

So once again we need look at the three things that MATTER: Personal DPS, Raid DPS increases, and Raid Mitigation.

The only area that makes sense for PLD to be buffed is in Raid DPS incease (Think Ninja). This would go a long way in alleviating the tanking problems. Particularly the PLD+Drk party composition problems.

If you make PLD the Raid Wide DPS buff + High personal mitigation + Low Personal DPS tank and DrK the Raid Wide Damage Taken Debuff tank with moderate personal DPS then there would be some incentive to run DrK+PLD.

The problem that we will continue to see with the 3 tank system is that parties will generally be taking whichever composition allows for the most DPS.

So until we see the day when WAR+PLD, WAR+DRK, and PLD+DRK all equal comparable raid DPS; one tank will continue to be left out.

[Shining_Tiger_Excalibur]

snip.

I'm overjoyed at how you guys are handling the situation right now and from what I'm seeing the majority of us are in agreement on the overall issue that Paladin faces; that issue is it needs SOMETHING other than the "I survive hits better" philosophy that the developers have forced onto the job. Paladins have an excessive amount of defensive cooldowns yet it doesn't possess the ability to overcome its weaknesses by using them. I can relate this to Psychology in such a way of "Classical Conditioning."


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_conditioning

'Classical conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus. Usually, the conditioned stimulus (CS) is a neutral stimulus (e.g., the sound of a tuning fork), the unconditioned stimulus (US) is biologically potent (e.g., the taste of food) and the unconditioned response (UR) to the unconditioned stimulus is an unlearned reflex response (e.g., salivation). After pairing is repeated (some learning may occur already after only one pairing), the organism exhibits a conditioned response (CR) to the conditioned stimulus when the conditioned stimulus is presented alone. The conditioned response is usually similar to the unconditioned response (see below), but unlike the unconditioned response, it must be acquired through experience and is relatively impermanent.'

If you apply that quote in such a way that it relates to Paladin, you'll realize that we're not rewarded with anything for doing our job other than survival. The more I think about it, THAT'S the reason so many are feeling empty when playing Paladin. We just survive and that's it. There's no intangible emotion like Joy or Pride involved after taking a huge hit because we know we're still doing peanuts for damage and surviving only the same as the other two tanks.

[Syzygian]

If you make PLD the Raid Wide DPS buff + High personal mitigation + Low Personal DPS tank and DrK the Raid Wide Damage Taken Debuff tank with moderate personal DPS then there would be some incentive to run DrK+PLD.

This sounds good but it would almost make DRK the de-facto MT across any content unless the raid dps buff PLD gets is specifically gated behind them tanking something. If PLD got a buff like that that was usable regardless of stance you would assuredly get the most bang for your buck putting the DRK in the MT slot every time since they top the DPS charts in that role if they are allowed to stance-dance liberally.

weak AAs

Living Liquid called saying something about his 11K AA crits, I think its for you.