Paladin Updates

[Alerith]

Hate to double post but you say it all here. Agree almost 100%. I used PLD some last night and can say now that it's definitely better than GLA (which it was not before). With the SW change and DV change I feel like I'm helping the party much more than before. I did some Ifrit runs and only lost hate once to my WAR friend because I had apparently been lazy on voke/flash.

Before DV was like a funny joke ability that you press when you're safe to not die from ability lock (you know, like outmaneuver), now you spam it whenever it's up (along with outmaneuver!)

Hearing over vent "what's this divine regen thing?" was kinda nice too.

On a side-note for the GLA vs PLD aspect (hasn't been mentioned in a while) I actually did notice it seems as though the class vs job intention is intact here. I was soloing the Zan'rak coffer mob and had a very rough time on PLD, whereas GLA seems much safer.

All-in-all I say good progress, and I'm with you on the fact that PLD can now tank. And I think most of us are getting it right here that they need to give us a reason for this lower HP otherwise WAR will remain the preferred tank (even though now PLD can) as it's a bit safer from the big magic attacks.

All PLD needs at this point is more HP and/or for Defense to be worth a damn, and some Magic Defense. Goring Blade and Spirit's Within serve as REASONABLE damage for a tank class, in my opinion.

But... why should we have only ONE tank ? So that we only use this one ? If WAR can't tank, while not being as good as DPS as DRG or MNK at close range, then it's WAR that won't be used.

While PLD is my favorite job, I also have a 50 WAR and I also love it. The way I see it, a lot of people seem to want PLD to blow WAR out of the water... then what's going to happen next ? People will complain that WAR is "useless".

I suppose giving PLD magic damage mitigation would indeed be nice... But even if that happens, people are still going to say "WAR has more HP and deals more damage". Then what's next ? Make PLD a DD/tank hybrid like WAR ?

Sometimes I feel as if what people really want is that PLD is a WAR that wields a sword and shield instead, and dresses in white instead of red.

It's people's current attitude that will guarantee that WAR gets the nerf bat, because right now a lot of people are sending SE this message : "You can't make PLD strong enough." So what will they answer ? "In that case, we'll lower WAR."

And it would be SO easy for them to nerf WAR, too. Remove the increased crit chance from Steel Cyclone when used in a combo and increase its recast time to 60 seconds. One simple move that would lower WAR's effectiveness as a tank by a LOT. No more HP regen, and a lot less enmity generated would make it so that, even if WAR would still have more HP to help avoid being one-shotted, it won't matter much if it has problem keeping hate... and so DDs would have to slow down for the WAR to keep hate, speed-runs would be harder... guess what happens next ?

I'd rather have TWO tanks that have different playstyles and simply require a different approach then having one that is "efficient" but supposedly always "outshined" by the other. But that's just me I suppose.

I, personally, would not be happy with PLD getting more DD potential. Because with more DD potential comes sacrifice in other areas to keep it balanced.

I play PLD for a strong defensive class, and I think it should perform as such.

Phobos is right that PLD should far outshine WAR in it's tanking, because they are two different types of tanks. (In theory. So far SE hasn't gotten the barance right.)

PLD should far excel against a single, hard hitting enemy. PLD should be far superior to WAR for this situation.
WAR should far excel against multiple, not-so-hard hitting enemies. WAR should be far superior to PLD for this situation.

Nobody is asking for ONE tank. We simply want these two classes to specialize in different forms of tanking, where one is always better than the other for certain situations.