How is PLD doing after update?

[MagnusDraconus]

I currently main DRK and am thinking of switching mains to PLD since the patch. Overall can anyone comment how much of a dps increase / utility they received? I guess War still is much better then DRK or PLD? Thanks.

[Jpec07]

In actuality, PLD is doing a good bit better than it was. The job no longer feels particularly lacking, and the encounters are no longer skewed in favor of DRK (PLD can actually cheese the tank swap in A5). It's not perfect yet by any means, but 3.2 did a pretty good job of rebalancing the tanks.

[Ebonwings]

At least PLD don't have to be sulking after not dealing damage at all xD 3.2 fix for PLD gives me a satisfying result.

[Litegrace]

Overall it feels a lot better than it did. Still kind of lacking in the AOE damage department (and Tempered Will is still nigh useless), but it feels a whole lot better than before. DRK and PLD both have a little catching up to do to WAR in the long run, but at least they are on roughly equal footing now.

[LucentLagombi]

Currently the dps difference is livable and the utility of clemency and divine veil are very nice in progression.

[Februs]

How is it after the updates? Almost identical to the way it was before the updates, to be honest. Breaking it down:

• Dps:
  
  It's almost identical. We got a buff in potency, but the universal tank nerf puts us right back down to where we started (possibly a bit lower, depending on your gear). You'll notice next to no difference here.
  
  
• TP:
  
  Got a slight improvement. Some of our moves had reduced Tp consumption costs, but we still have it is still completely possible for a Pld to burn their Tp bar to nothing. It just takes a little longer, especially in level sync'd content. It functions better than it used to, but if skill speed continues to go up we'll eventually find ourselves back at the bottom of the well trying to drink dirt for water.
  
  
• Stance Dancing:
  
  Identical. Stances no longer cancel our combos, but that really doesn't change anything. Some people have argued that it allows you to delay your swap until after Fast Blade in order to guarantee a second application of Goring Blade during a Fight or Flight rotation, but the total combo potency is identical within the same amount of time.
  
  The only real benefit to this change was that it allows you to be lazy or cover your own mistakes when a tank swap is necessary. I wouldn't call this an improvement, though. Most experienced tanks will anticipate tank swaps and dps checks in advance, so it doesn't make a huge difference. It's more of a Quality of Life adjustment than an "improvement."
  
  
• Divine Veil:
  
  Probably the change that I've gotten the most use out of. Being able to self activate it is a definite improvement. It should have always been this way.
  
  
• Enmity:
  
  No real change. I haven't noticed any difference whatsoever in how easy or how difficult it has been to sustain enmity. Savage Blade's enmity buff does help a little by allowing Pld to evenly spread their enmity across multiple mobs, but it hasn't made a dramatic difference in standard content. It's still an improvement, but not a big one.
  
  
• Everything else:
  
  Identical. SE went out of their way to not change a thing about the way Pld plays. Buffs haven't changed. Useless moves are still useless. Oaths are clunky and play identically to one another. Same old. Same old.

All in all, Pld is fine. It works fine, in that it functions. It's no longer the shunned tank that no one wants to see in a raid group, but that has more to do with SE reducing the stupidity of the Dps checks than it does with any "improvements" they made to the job.

It is improved, mind you, but these weren't the sweeping improvements we were hoping for. It's less stressful to play as now, and you don't feel like a pariah for daring to chose the "crappy tank."

[Ebonwings]

Faster Clemency cast, Divine Veil shield can now be activate if PLD use Clemency on self, More damage dealt in Sword Oath stance, Higher enmity generation rate. That's basically it, if I miss something please add on my fellow PLD.

[MaethusXion]

Divine Veil shield can now be activate if PLD use Clemency or Cure on self

Only thing to add. I finally had a reason to cross-class a 5th skill on my PLD again. Personally I haven't noticed a change besides TP taking a bit longer to go down, but that was sort of balanced back because of the skill speed increase on gear...

[Falar]

I wonder why they chose to up the damage of PLD when DRK is still so inferior to WAR. Now DRK is the worst tank, since the one thing they could bring was damage so at least they could be #2.

[SpookyGhost]

I wonder why they chose to up the damage of PLD when DRK is still so inferior to WAR. Now DRK is the worst tank, since the one thing they could bring was damage so at least they could be #2.

Has DRK cleared all the content? Yes.
Was DRK in WF for A5S, A6S, and A8S? Yes.

DRK is fine.