The shortened recast times were definitely needed.

Spirits Within change was well done. Having that move whiff and waiting 2 minutes for an ability that was only good as moderate single-target spike damage was terrible. Increasing the accuracy and granting an enmity bonus will definitely make it easier to hold hate on bosses.

Cover I can actually see being useful in cases such as the Myrmidon Princess fight where WHMs get swarmed by ants. The recast timer makes it so that you can use it at least once every guard pop.

The whole regen effect on Divine Veil is just odd. It basically requires you to have a WHM to make use of it. If it simply granted the Regen effect on everyone around you upon activation, it would be much more useful in small groups that don't have a WHM. The guaranteed blocks almost certainly means that it will NOT completely negate physical damage. That's what Hallowed Ground is for. This ability would actually be good if blocking significantly reduced damage. Hopefully there is an update in the future that fixes this. Honestly, they should tack on the guaranteed blocks onto Outmaneuver and revamp this ability entirely to address either damage reduction or MP issues.

I don't think the buffs are enough to see PLD as the better tank in any endgame situation though. While it got some boosts to holding hate against single targets and some utility, it still has neither the tools to reduce damage nor the HP to survive against powerful attacks. MP is still a problem, cast interruption is still a problem, AoE tanking is still a problem.

I would like to see Holy Succor receive a faster cast time. Hell, they should make it instant cast. At least that would make it more likely that you land your heal before the WHM and actually receive the benefit of Cure enmity. It would also justify the poor MP efficiency of the spell, solve the cast interruption problems, and give you more time to focus on dodging enemy attacks.

PLD still needs some work.