Upgrading Paladin's Weapon(s)

[Eloah]

So this isn't a big deal, mostly do to timing and because its not my main job. But i'm slightly confused by the way we obtain and upgrade the Paladin weapon's, Sword and Shield.

So last week on Friday (9-9-2016) I had finally gotten gotten enough tomes to get another primal weapon to upgrade, yay. I decided on Paladin so that I could use the glamour I'd been saving, that sweet sword from The Aery, XD. well anyway, I had it in my head to buy the tokens and out of habit I was prepared to buy 10, but "smart" me stopped at 8, thinking, oh wait the Sword usually cost less because they have a Shield. So I couldn't get the Shield, no big deal I could still glamour the Sword. Well to my surprise, when I went to upgrade the Sword, I noticed that I need both Weapons to do the upgrade. So I had to wait until today (9-14-2016) when I had enough tomes to buy the Shield. Granted a minor inconvenience, but still and inconvenience.

Now upgrading both Sword and Shield at the same time isn't a bad Idea, it makes sense and help a lot to use the upgrade mats on other things. But, If SE has finally allowed us to upgrade the items together, why can't we buy them together, the amount of tomes needed is the same regardless.

Now I understand that the Shield might be separate because, someone may only be able to get the Shield to start, or have a "better" Sword. But if that's the case, why can't the Shield be upgraded solo? I would just suggest adding in an additional option, on both the purchasing side and the upgrade side, to either Buy the Sword and Shield as a set, or upgrade just the Shield/Sword.

Just a thought what does everyone else think?

[Miles_Maelstrom]

No, sorry, I don't agree. It would be unfair to other jobs. It would be like paladin would be able to half upgrade their weapon. As you said it costs the same regardless, so it would give paladin a slight edge over all the other jobs. Since they all have a two-handed weapon that requires the full amount.

[Werhusky]

In all former weapon steps pre heavensward the upgrade of weapon and shield for pld were seperate. You needed the wepons/left side gear item for the sword and the accessory/right side item for the shield. People also complained there... Think the new version is better also that swird/shield now drop together... While i still think you should be able to loot there as one item...

Anyway pld has that special position as the only DoW using an offhand so guess however you turn it it will feel off.

[PArcher]

In Coil, you could upgrade the sword and shield separately. The problem was you needed an extra upgrade item to do so (the accessory upgrade). This put a n extra burden on the pld if they needed both (extra mat) upgraded, or gave them an advantage if they only needed 1 (less tomes)

Requiring both makes then pay the same amount (for better or worse) as every other job to upgrade. H
They still have the advantage of being able to buy their sword a week earlier if they get the tome (which, honestly, no progression group will do, but still)

[Nav_Fae]

No, sorry, I don't agree. It would be unfair to other jobs. It would be like paladin would be able to half upgrade their weapon. As you said it costs the same regardless, so it would give paladin a slight edge over all the other jobs. Since they all have a two-handed weapon that requires the full amount.

That already happens when they can spend tomes to buy their stuff separately. It's already half an upgrade to begin with.

[Eloah]

No, sorry, I don't agree. It would be unfair to other jobs. It would be like paladin would be able to half upgrade their weapon. As you said it costs the same regardless, so it would give paladin a slight edge over all the other jobs. Since they all have a two-handed weapon that requires the full amount.

I think you missed what I meant. I was stating why do we have to buy the shield separately, if the items together are the "weapon". We can upgrade them together which is good, but why can't we buy them together. Currently Paladins can get a half upgrade, which you said is unfair. What I suggested would make it fair.

That already happens when they can spend tomes to buy their stuff separately. It's already half an upgrade to begin with.

Exactly

[LineageRazor]

The fact that sword and shield are separate items AT ALL is a remnant from 1.0 days. I'm sure that, had they not felt obligated to carry equipment over from that game, Sword/shield would have been a single item, just as NIN's two daggers are a single item, MCH's gun and Aetherpack are a single item, BRD's bow and quiver are a single item, Astrologian's star globe and card rack are a single item, and so on. There are a lot of awkward things in this game that result from sword and shield being separate items, some working in PLD's favor (for example, being able to mix and match shield and sword for better stats) and some working decidedly against (for example, PLD used to need TWO Mirrors of the Whorl to upgrade both sword and shield, which was patently unfair given how rare they were - not to mention the difficult of getting both the base sword and the base shield to begin with).

Additionally, if not for those 1.0 remnants, I'm guessing THM and CNJ would never have been able to equip shields, either. GLD/PLD is the only DoW/DoM that continues to make use of the off-hand slot, and given the awkwardness of it it wouldn't surprise me if, sometime in the future, the Devs finally get fed up and go ahead and merge them - every single set in the game - into a single item. It'd be a lot of work, but one that would likely pay off in the long run.