PLD changes

[Eorzean_username]

Rotation changes

• Bold of them to keep FOF as an activated action instead of a Trait.
• Goring Blade change is hilarious in a sad way. I think the SE office had a contest for "least creative possible way to modify Goring Blade", and this won. Literally just, "I give up"-tier design decision.
• Generic Tank combo system now. Royal Authority stands in for Storm's Path/Solid Barrel/Souleater; Atonement stands in for Storm's Eye/off-burst Gnashing Fang; Holy Spirit stands in for Fell Cleave/Burst Strike/Bloodspiller as the "sometimes I press something else" Gauge dump (but without a gauge, in an exciting twist).
• Generic burst system now. FOF stands in for No Mercy; Goring Blade stands in for Sonic Break; Req stands in for Inner Release/Delirium; Confiteor+Blades stands in for other "spamfests" like Inner Chaos+FC+Primal Rend/Bloodspillers/burst Gnashing Fang.

Nothing surprising, SE basically only knows how to rearrange the same basic puzzle pieces into slightly different shapes, at this point.

Will it play "bad"? Nah. People enjoy WAR in its current state, people will enjoy PLD. It'll be just another chill Job where you press things as they light up, and try not to do anything ridiculously-foolish with your keypresses.

If anything, it fits into the current game design better now. Any complaints should probably be directed at that overall design, rather than Paladin specifically just for trying to fit in. But also realistically, this design is widely-successful, so I don't expect it to change. Most players simply do not care.

Gap-closers dealing damage

This is still annoying as hell, and still looks ridiculous visually, as the player model keeps furiously head-butting itself into the opponent in the middle of a burst-cycle, and I still envy Monks for being freed from this tiresome and spammy ritual.

Circle of Scorn

Still incredibly basic and boring, but I guess SE needs to save something to sell us in 7.0 as our level 94 "upgrade".

Looking forward to Circle of Chastity in 2024.

Proc'ing Holy Circle during AOE

This is actually a good change that helps to break up the monotony of Paladin AOE. While minor overall, this is a good idea from a "playfeel" perspective.

Shield Bash

I think the hate on Shield Bash is excessive.

It does have niche uses in places like Eureka and Deep Dungeon as a last-ditch control tool.

On the other hand, if I follow my own argument of, "Buttons shouldn't exist if you barely ever press them"... then hm. I guess Shield Bash is pretty much antiquated in nearly all other content.

...I don't know. Because I personally get good use out of Shield Bash in certain content, I don't mind it. But I would also understand, and not really care, if Shield Bash got assassinated.

To be honest, I feel like Shield Swipe was the better "Did you know that I have a shield?!" action — having a reactive proc on Paladin was fun. The old Shield Swipe was a bit too RNG, but something similar — like a 40% proc when spending Atonement — would inject some flavor back into Paladin (and also actually do something with that increasingly-decorative Shield in the off-hand slot).