Hi Noctis,

Great thread.

After reading the entire thread (and thinking about all the suggestions in the Paladin Forum), one of the key things brought up by a few people that seems to be distinctly missing when viewing the job is:

  • What is the Paladin's Unique Characteristic, and is it appealing and obvious to most players?

At the highest level, most players (average, mainstream, casual, hardcore) should be able to pick up a Paladin (or see one in action), and see a Standout Characteristic that's inherent to Paladins. And this should be appealing, desirable and effective in many situations.

We know what White Mages are (Bastion of Healing), Black Mages (Glass Cannon, Huge Burst, Ranged Damage with Low Defense), etc.

The general thought is that the Paladin should be a Defensive Job. It's a "Tank" and a Defensive Cornerstone / Foundation. But as we've seen from the majority of posts and general sentiments in the game (on both the JP and NA/EU side), it's simply not as desirable most of the time.

So while some are advocating that nothing's "wrong" with Paladin, just on a fundamental level, we should look at just how apparent and accessible a Paladin's Characteristics are, in addition to its Effectiveness.

If the majority of the players who pick Paladin (or see them in action), can survive / tank our Max Level Content, but then see another Job (Warrior) that can go through the same content, doing it just as well, if not better, and also happen to be able to be able to produce higher DPS in the process (making completing the battles, faster and easier), then Yoshida-san and company have fallen short.

Ultimately, if the Paladin is supposed to be "The Tank" / "Defense Incarnate", etc., then SE should take the time to really make it shine and standout.

A "slight" adjustment here or there probably wouldn't be enough, as again, it'd still behoove parties to go with a Warrior Tank who can tank all the content and deal much greater DPS in the process.

Ultimately, I agree with Noctis that having a noticeable Global Damage Reduction (including Magic Damage Reduction) would be one great step.

I'd like to see adjustments to Shield Block formula / Blocking in general as another improvement, and possibly adjustments to the formula for Defense vs. dLevel (or a way to make Defense builds desirable and effective instead of just stacking HP).

Hopefully adjustments come soon, or it might get to a point where Paladins develop such a bad reputation that the player base / mindset will just instinctively always want to ignore Paladins for current and future content.

Thanks.