PLD is just boring

[Dhex]

I like Paladin until I accidentally fat-finger one of my cooldowns and end the entire raid early~

[Eye_Gore]

My main is a PLD, I found it to be fun. I've leveled up a few other classes, with the exception of Bard you can have the rest. Honestly they all seemed the same to me (of the ones I brought up, probably why I didn't keep on leveling them to 60). Sure its easy, it doesn't have to worry about this stack or that stack or running out of time on this stack. I'll always say maybe its just me getting up there in the years, and at this point "ain't got time for rotation, stack, nonsense". I could play it with my eyes closed and not find it boring. To each his own.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

I began as a PLD, dabbled in WAR just before Heavensward, and have really found my niche with DRK, but that's not to say I dislike PLD. I do love the defense orientation of the job, but as a result, I just feel like a lightning rod for enemy damage and party heals. Whereas with WAR and DRK, I'm not just the tough guy of the team, I'm in the fight too. Having become almost entirely professional DPS after hitting 50 with PLD, DRK feels like the best of both worlds for me.

My only other gripe is one of aesthetics, namely animations for the attacks. Fast Blade>[wait a day]>Savage/Riot Blade>[write a book]>Rage of Halone/Goring Blade>[feel the mild rush fade]>[repeat]. . . I can literally FEEL the global cooldown. Now I understand it's the same GCD everyone has, but outside of casters/healers, I don't think any other job's animations leave such a noticeable gap in between, and that really makes it feel. . . well, slow.

[Ercapote]

been a PLD since 2.0 changed to WAR fter leveling all 3 tanks to 60 for this specific reason, not to add that it currently it's the worst tank of the 3, it's the simples and boring class of the entire game, I was bias through 2.0 and blind by the incredibly nice aesthetic of being the "SHINI PROTECTOR OF THE GROUP" because that's how I identify myself and I still love that concept + sword and shield, But I could not bear anymore how incredibly BORING AND BAD this class currently is.

so, all 3 tanks do the same pop CD, and 3 combo. (that's the basic)

WAR - has the stack mechanics and pretty interesting (everything) (self-sustain,DPS,Rotation,defensive mechanics and the best raid wide buffs/utility) + cool animations and sound that for some reason makes their attacks actually feel heavy for some reason...you just feel that power.

DRK - incredibly fun MP mechanics that make you be attached and really though of your gameplay, I consider DRK the hardest tank of the 3, + same defense as pld - shield but + magic defense, add some amazing visuals and sounds for all his attacks that just looks incredibly nice in every aspect.

PLD - currently, the tank with less dps, the tank with unnecessary defense (that doesn't stand out by any change from the other 2 tanks), pretty basic stands 3 combos and buffs... raid wide utility is laughably noticeable, specially in alexander, add a complete set of situational abilities that just makes the class even more boring, now lets trough to the mix that none of paladins animations are...welp... cool.

so yeah all this people saying they like the simplistic form of the class makes me laugh, there's seriously not a single class in the game that is so utterly simple and boring, why does paladin has to be one? I like warriors and DRK gameplay, but I love the shield and the sword and this class could honestly be so good. but people hide behind the. "I like it simple leave me alone" or "if you like such then go play it."

And enters more on the bias scenario so hard that they fail to realize this class with some minor teacks could be even more fun than what it actually is.

[Brian_]

I was a PLD main until Alex Savage was released. Even now, I still try to play it as much as possible. So, I have sufficient experience with both PLD and WAR.

WAR does not feel that much more "active" when you are playing. You rotate through 2 combos (Eye and BB) with the situational application of the third (Path), have some DoT upkeep with Fracture (which you do have to time with Deliverance stacks for maximization), and have a few openers to remember (enmity opener, DPS opener, fell-cleave rotation). You have some trivial CD min-maxing (looking at the timings in the fight and figuring out when you can just use a dCD to push stacks) and basically no stance management since it's oGCD and doesn't interrupt anything. It's really not that difficult or complex a job once you have your rotations down to muscle memory.

After the Shield Swipe change, PLD is a lot more active. You have another 15 second proc-based oGCD to manage. Pair that with your 30s recast oGCD SW, 25s recast CoS, 30s recast Sheltron, (all of which you are trying to cram into a 90s recast 30s duration buff window) and you have plenty of stuff to manage on top of much more taxing stance management (because it costs 2 GCDs, MP, and breaks combos to dance). Pair that with the fact that more of PLD's mitigation is activated oGCDs and you are really juggling a lot of stuff in fights now. Before, to be brutally honest, there really wasn't much punishment to poor Sheltron up-time and you never used Shield Swipe let alone tried to cram it into a FoF window with a proper rotation.

PLD feels pretty good now in content that tries not to make PLD horrible (like Thordan EX).

[Ercapote]

PLD feels pretty good now in content that tries not to make PLD horrible (like Thordan EX).

I don't know what you feel "more active" about the shield swipe change, yeah you have it OGCD which was something it was needed but it stills requires a block to proc it + the 15 sec CD, for what I've experience so far that change did nothing but add comfort to that attack but it's still almost at the same pace of how it was before, adding a rough 4% if blocking rates are good of extra dps you can push in, and while I agree Thordan is fun, it doesn't change the current situation whit paladin, it's just a fight literally adjusted to paladin, and it should be the other way around, paladin and any other class should be able to adjust to any other fight, then new fight will come and the problem will still be there. it will be like trying to act blind to the problem "if we don't see it, it doesn't exist" that's what SE is currently playing with PLD.

[Brian_]

You can have content that makes any class irrelevant. The class balance and the raid design / tuning are intertwined, not mutually exclusive like you imply. You don't design content devoid of class context and then expect classes to adjust to it. You design content with classes in mind. It has always been this way. You just have to be smart about it and create content that allows all classes to be relevant.

Thordan EX shows that they understand how to make PLD relevant in content. I don't think there is a point in adjusting A1S-A4S at this point outside of making it easier to clear for everyone. At this point, PLD comps being weaker than DRK / WAR are not the main reason you are stuck. So, the next bar that will gauge class balance will be in 3.2. How the landscape changes by then is anyone's guess.

And the Shield Swipe change is a large one because it gives added value to numerous skills, adds thought and depth to the previously non-existent PLD rotation if you want to maximize DPS, and fills in some real gaps in PLD skill synergy. If you aren't trying to maximize your DPS through skill and approaching the level where the gap in tank DPS matters, then you really have no grounds to complain about it.

I don't think people have really put that much thought into it yet, but think of this. It's a marginal difference but if you aren't trying to get the most out of your class, you shouldn't be complaining about imbalance.

Shield swipe gives more value and thought to Sheltron. There really wasn't that much of a point to using Sheltron off CD in a lot of content. Now, doing so rewards you with a more consistent DPS increase. It also gives Sheltron the added value of being able to force a Swipe proc. So, when you don't need to save Sheltron for mechanic damage, it still has value to push DPS -- just like WAR CDs.

The same holds true for Bulwark. Bulwark is not really too impactful in a lot of content. If you see your Swipe nearing the end of its CD with still no proc, you can throw Sheltron out to force proc it, Bulwark on the next to force proc it, Sheltron on the one after to force proc it, and hopefully somewhere in there you get a few natural blocks that let you delay some of your CD usage to better ensure 100% SS efficiency.

Shield swipe gives even more value to FoF because you now have 2~3 extra oGCD damage skills that benefit from FoF (the timing window for 3 swipes in a FoF window would probably be really tight and require some min-maxing with SkS). There might actually be a real FoF rotation to maximize DPS based on SkS now.

Swipe allows PLDs to stay in Sword Oath more freely because you now have another oGCD enmity generator every 15 seconds.

And, because of the same reason, it lets you RA more instead of using RoH.

It also makes Cover, Sheltron, and Bulwark slightly less situational when you are OTing. You can pre-queue Sheltron / Bulwark, Cover the MT, and proc / use 2 Swipes for your FoF window while OTing. Covering the MT before was just something cute you could do with really minimal benefits. Now, it has further practical usage.

So, when I say PLD has a lot more depth, it's true. For me, it's a lot more fun to play because of the nuance involved.

[VargasVermillion]

If you like PLD that's all well and good but don't pretend it has anything the other tanks don't in regards to depth or 'fun factor', as for usefulness well I'm sure we've heard enough about that already.

[Cheraa]

I want Flash to be reworked that it delivers DMG with a Potency of 70.
The effect should be changed that it is an PBAE circle that moves from the center to the outer range.

This would help so much in AOE tanking after all.

With the introduction of DRK, we have now three tanks, WAR and DRK have AOE Skills with 100+ Potency that can be spammed. Flash is just unrewarding and generates way to less enmity with its missing DMG part.

[TheLastRaven]

I actually love playing a paladin but everyone likes being this super flashy DPS machine. Simply because you think the class is boring does not make it so for everyone. If you wanna do 4 flips and a 360 weapon swing while beak dancing theres other classes.