Fix paladin. Only Class in the entire game that cannot...

[Shurrikhan]

And where, exactly, are you getting this identity? Because in my playing Paladin (and my tireless examination of it), that's not the identity I picked up. ...


...So you're saying that the established identity of Paladins is the one who leads the charge, but then you're saying their best position in a raid comp is as OT beside a DRK? That seems a bit inconsistent (which makes sense, because the Paladin toolkit itself is very schizophrenic; we are most performant when we are not "leading the charge", but our shield, its mechanics, and our cooldowns supposedly make us best suited to do exactly that).

Just to summarize my thoughts on this three-page argument that started here:

Our purpose as a free Paladin is allegedly to defend the innocent, lead the charge, and protect our allies. However, every one of our skills (at the very least up to 50) comes directly from the <not free> Sultansworn Paladins. Our only difference is we took this knowledge meant to use within that particular group, a glorified royal guard, and can now use it... freely. That does not mean that the skills themselves have ever necessarily be designed for that new purpose. Lore says we should do all that, but it doesn't necessarily say we're thereby equipped to do so — only that we have managed well enough, when we aren't busy talking about our pride, feigning death, or pursuing legendary swords.

tldr; in some cases here, our lore and the job's lore are not one and the same. But our skills are the job's, whatever new purpose we may attempt to assign them to.

YES. I like this as either an automatic thing or as an oGCD proc on damage taken (with a 1-sec internal CD). Make it so you can either counterattack one enemy for 100 potency, or slash all enemies in front of you for 60 potency apiece in response to a successful block/parry/dodge.

I'd hope it'd be more interesting than merely that execution, but, yes, something to that effect. I was imagining something more like attacks against you that are <sufficiently> mitigated (see suggested change) can be automatically deflected into an enemy based on positioning, or may cause your currently queued attack to go off early — adding to skill-cap as a PLD is able to potentially just about double their attack speed by swapping between attacking targets based on immediacy of their next strike. Something that feels like more than just a Shield Swipe A and B.

This would add some nice utility, but I'm genuinely curious as to how they'd be able to code for this (since MT isn't a hard-coded thing). Maybe tie it to the top of the enmity table?

I meant it indirectly. As the accuracy reduction from Flash would increase their chance of being blocked, dodged, or parried, it could indirectly increase counter-attack damage done by their target(s).

I believe it's been suggested before, but Tempered Will could be modified to fit this role pretty well. If they reduced the cooldown to say 120s and made it so players could dodge, parry, and block incoming attacks as well as avoid interruption, it would be very useful. They could also add a component where blocking has a 10% chance to reset the cooldown.

In regards to Clemency causing the Paladin to take unintended increased damage by being unable to block, dodge, or parry during the cast time, I think Tempered Will would be a poor solution. Paladin cast animations themselves occurs with the shield held forward, and as such I believe it would make sense if blocking at least were still available during the cast time. The lack of all RNG mitigation during the cast time noticeably impacts its self-use or "MT" value, especially during effects such as Bulwark or (correct me if I'm wrong -- Featherfoot vs. magic damage debate v2) Flash. I don't especially care what is done to balance that out, but unless it really is specifically meant to be used primarily just for support, it seems to suffer from oversights.

That said, as a way to prep for heavy attacks however, atop or in place of possible RNG mitigation, I too would like to see Tempered Will grant interruption immunity throughout the duration. However, I'd rather not see added RNG dependence on what would then be such a valuable tool, especially for those fights in which you cannot block or parry the attacks anyways (caster bosses).

I'd also like to see a GLD skill that turns Parry into Block Rate. If we have a shield, it doesn't make sense for us to stop an attack with our sword.

While it would make plenty of sense in a real life setting, albeit less frequently used except to wind and counter through the better control of the cross (unless your shield is somehow capable of similar control due to whatever shape it may have (?)), it does indeed make little sense so long as the options are mutually exclusive and the shield superior in throughput and opportunities for following actions. To be clear, the sword is generally unnecessary for covering more of your body; your stance matches your shield type — squared off only if your shield is large enough to accommodate it, while having one foot forward as we do ingame if not necessarily so. Your shield should cover the whole of your facing, whether statically (as with a tower) or actively (as with a buckler). ...If anything, I just wonder why our bucklers aren't held out in front of us with the sword resting against it, fully at the ready while giving both arms' worth of strength in a deflection...

The solution seems simple though: just rename "Parry" to "Guard", which would then happen to affect the shield instead for Gladiator/Paladin.
Or, RNG mitigation types do not remain mutually exclusive, it'd give whatever combination of the two would seem optimal (until later changes, this would probably still be purely the shield).
Or you replace the RNG and anti-physical niche-ing outright and just give it added Def/mDef.

Just modify Clemency. Lower the MP Cost similar to a whm's Cure 1 or Cure 2 spell, and give it additional effect: enmity. That way you can use your other tools to generate initial hate, then use Clemency for upkeep.

If I recall correctly, Clemency's enmity is already affected by Shield Oath. A single Conv-Clemency overheal Crit has held enmity for some 10 seconds or more for me while waiting for mobs to gather. As an overheal, it's more GCD-efficient for enmity than Flash, even if by no means more mana-efficient, and it has unlimited range, so long as the enemies you want to attract are already on your enemy list. Also, the MP cost is the only thing that keeps a PLD from having massively more healing per minute than a DRK or WAR.