Thread: How would they fix PLD 4.0?

Having seen the damage comparisons I would like something done to Paladin for 4.0 too, some of his support skills are more like "if my team is doing horribly". Which is fine for him to be the support tank but hopefully brings a bit more then vs like DRK or WAR who can tank just as well as PLD and can also offer better damage for a longer period of time (running out of tp, while dealing less damage, so cool lol). So if they want to keep PLD as the team player tank, support like tank, then hopefully the stuff they change and add in 4.0 will help him perform even when the entire group isn't swirling down the drain and he's trying to put a stopper on it.

He's not so bad you can't use him, the difference isn't that bad - but at least looking that all tanks can tank all dungeons and Paladin is consistently worse at damage, then hopefully he can offer unique things that supplement the fact that everyone can tank just as well as him AND do more damage then him. And being able to sometimes heal the healer out of death with a clemency isn't quite enough.

Also please do something to flash~! It feels really lackluster. Thankfully if the team isn't going ALL OUT you don't really need to use it many times. But if your group is going full metal sometimes you have to use it multiple times, especially if your group out ilvls you (talking about AoE situations). That feels pretty boring, and bad because you know other tanks could provide significantly better in the same situation. I know he should probably still do less AoE damage than the other tanks, at least him specifically but something needs to be done to flash imo - make it combo with other things or change it via Paladin Trait. In another thread I suggested that it decreases other party member's enmity generation and increases your own, while also adding a very small potency tick on attacks (more so for your own) - with a combo potential with Circle Of Scorn that gives him a small burst and increase the duration (making the need to spam it less while still feeling the effects). Also could allow it to be useful to keep up on the boss too then. (The trait I suggested also made it a target able ability which will self cast if you target monsters like normal, but also so you could cast it on other tanks and be the team player Paladin is meant to be - none of this BB combo on warrior nonsense.. that's not team player lol). I like this only because it means you could start to use it less often but in more scenarios (the suggestion is a little bit more nuanced than that but pretty close). The simpler idea I liked was just making it reduce their damage and perhaps increase parties damage by a % (but you'll have to be careful about bosses then, like it doesn't work). Also I think having the small potency booster radiate from the target could be Paladin's way to get a glow like the other jobs, and probably work more balanced in PvP vs a % changer.

I'm totally cool with PLD having less damage than the other tanks but at the moment it feels like he has less damage and only really offers more when the boss is physical specific or your group is going south and needs someone to help pick up the emergency, and he only can pad a bad situation its not like he can raise everyone in combat. (With a few more opportunities to be team helpful I think would be good, and better than just circle of scorn for aoe).

Also, felt like if they wanted to add more stuff to Paladin's oaths they could - I feel like Paladin should always be under oath in terms of lore/identity so you could then turn his oaths into stance shifting AND active abilities, like activating shield oath while under shield oath would do something. Could increase his functionality without adding new abilities. You could have him gain like activating sword oath grants TP on auto attacks for a short period of time, and 50% of weapon skills cost to nearby party members as bonus TP. Activating shield oath temporarily allows your shield to block magic attacks (for a total of 1 magic attack), if successful blocking a magic attack send aether spheres to party members for a minimum of 5% mp or 75% of the blocked damage over 10 seconds.

Although I have little experience playing DRK so I don't really want to edge DRK out with the magic blocking idea, just think that if Paladin will never top the damage charts again (intentionally at least) then he shouldn't really need to question "can I tank that, well?" on any type of content (magic or not) - or at least know that he could offer quality support. Always wondered what the meta was for DRK vs WAR though.

Liked a lot of ideas in here, since I only have WAR and DRK to 50 I can't really suggest things that wouldn't edge them out and I do want their job to have a proper balance too. But for the fact that I know that Paladin is consistently, and as dev's have desired, the worst in terms of damage as a tank I think he must shine in another very valuable way then (damage = super valuable). (Paladin has had some high damage moments in the past, like with Sword Oath before WAR had it's new stuff).

Originally Posted by Edewen

Rework clemency

We'll still end up with "You're doing less damage than a DRK or a WAR, you're out". As for healers, they won't rely on you to heal incoming damage, so it'd probably end up in wasted MP.

Originally Posted by Edewen

paladins are protectors

An idea I posted some time ago is that PLD could use its mitigation tools on someone else, either by casting it directly on a target or combining them with Cover (That should work on magic damage too...). The idea would be that the OT PLD would "replace" the MT tank stance generally recommended for really big hits, allowing the MT to stay longer out of tank stance and thus increasing the overall raid DPS.

Or...Cover could transfer PLD's buffs to the covered target "Here, take this Fight or Flight for your opener, I need it less than you"

Originally Posted by Khalithar

By giving drk and pld a unique gameplay mechanic of their own that rewards you with higher damage and threat generation by playing them well rather than the purely binary defensive vs offensive stance.

Playing "well" is disturbingly vague, and the idea of being rewarded with what is usually a mutually exclusive benefit (damage and threat for having... mitigated? appropriately?) or having less than full enmity generation at the onset of a fight (since that benefit is waiting for you to... play... well?) should be no less worrisome.

I would like if PLD had a central gimmick mechanic, at least. Like Wrath on War or Dark Arts on DRK. Most jobs have some gimmick that enhances your rotation or builds up to be unleashed. Cards for AST, ammunition for MCH, aetherflow/dreadwyrm stacks for smn etc etc.

Paladin is just cooldowns and weapon skills (minor off gcd too).