Good WHM changes, now fix Imperator

[Atreus]

PLD performs extremely well, but it feels like cheeks to play because of how Imperator works.

Imperator is an oGCD that, for whatever reason, has the most insane animation lock I've ever seen in the game outside of limit breaks. Upon use, you're gated from weaving like one might normally for a period. Then, unless you finesse it (tap it only once or chamber a GCD before Imperator), you automatically queue up Confiteor and could end up locked even longer. It feels like a hardcast spell that you can't interrupt once you start. This shows up in high level games frequently.

This has nothing to do with when damage applies as per the hit registration change. It's your ability to take further action after using this oGCD.

The fact so much of the kit is gated behind Imperator feels like lazy design as well. I've no doubt I'm waiting an entire expansion for the next job rework where this changes, but every move/effect in your kit should not be gated behind one thing. Atonement has historically been tied to Intervene. Holy Spirit in the past has been tied to Requiescat separately. All of it being bundled into one now is zzzz.

"Just pre-prep it"
Then put the Sacred Claim effect on something else, like Confiteor again.

Anyway this has nothing to do with the job being good or bad. It's how the job can feel to play sometimes, which in my experience since 2.0 is probably the least enjoyable feel. /endrant

Edit: also sacred claim being glitched out against Chiten and Nebula is wack, fix it finally please

[Degunuts]

Let my man press his buttons smh

[DolphinsFan]

Agreed. Imperator feels very uncomfortable and I was surprised to see it didn't get touched in the latest update.

[Ser_Valeriant]

I agree. Having abilities on a combo button makes queuing them too prone to mistakes and compounds further with longer animations. Imperator is very touchy to use properly for seemingly no reason.

[CamuiKushi]

Gonna agree. The other changes to PLD help it feel very snappy, but this is a pretty big pain point.

[Atreus]

Bringing this back, because the trend seems to be to keep the nerfs flowing without addressing the feel of the job.

Lessen the animation lock of Imperator and add a measure to stop the auto-queuing of Confiteor. Or just separate the buttons.

Separate the Atonement combo from Imperator. Not everything needs to be gated behind one move.

Sheltron bomb is a pointless, inconsistent mechanic as is gating Sword Oath behind it. The only way to correct it is allowing manual detonation like Riddle of Earth. Otherwise, just delete the bomb portion and give back the mitigation it's lost.

Sacred Claim is still bugged vs. Chiten, Nebula, and now I've realized Wreath of Ice. Literally any "reflect' mechanic tells the server that claim doesn't exist, instead of allowing both to exist and cancel each other.

I don't want buffs. I want the feel of the job improved and things fixed.

[Atreus]

I've submitted a bug report for the Sacred Claim effect twice (the second time with more vivid detail) and they both came back as "Working as Intended".

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...er-any-healing

If that's really working as intended, then that's horrendous. At this point, just get rid of Sacred Claim and replace with some other effect.

[Atreus]

Nope. Imperator animation lock is still awful.

[gidsonBrand]

Would have thought with the animation speed ups that this would get some love. Like, the third hit of Warrior's GCD got buffed before a core part of Paladin.

Game's weird sometimes.

[Valence]

I don't know if I agree with the solutions offered, but I definitely do want to add my voice on Imperator. This is an off GCD ability that has something like 2s of animation delay, preventing you to do literally anything else (beyond moving). Cannot recuperate, cannot purify, cannot guard, cannot anything. I'd understand if it was a channeled ability like Honing, even a LB, or whatever where you commit to it, but here it's just an animation delay where your hotbar just looks frozen for no reason, and it feels terrible. Not only this, but the skill also unlocks Confiteor, which is a SPELL, so it's on the GCD. Having an oGCD button turning into a GCD button is certainly a design choice alright...