*EDIT* Added some of the community ideas.
Hey all, I wanted to try to start a constructive(and hopefully fun) conversation around Paladin. It might be too late, but with job updates incoming at some point this year, I was hoping to get a compilation of decent ideas to post on the official forums.
I feel like Paladin is in a tough spot currently. With the game's evolution and the dominance of RUN, it doesn't leave many scenarios where you'd actually want/need a PLD. Arguably RUN is preferable to PLD for just about all content.
I have both jobs geared decently well, and in my experience RUN brings so much to the table, that I find very few instances where I can justify bringing PLD instead.
Arguably...
RUN offers better damage
RUN offers better group magic damage via gambit and rayke
RUN offers superior hate control
RUN offers acceptable damage mitigation (in some cases better, on par, or slightly worse than PLD - but still all to acceptable levels)
RUN offers better overall party damage mitigation
My goal isn't to try an match all of these elements, but to try to provide PLD a bigger niche to fill. Hopefully its enough to justify using it on more content.
Here are my proposals. Please consider them independently of each other. I'm not suggesting that they all be implemented together or even each bullet point within being implemented.
Fix shield block rate
Allow reforging of Aegis and Ochain with shield skill+. RUN gets enhanced Parry Skill on their weapon. Why can't PLD get Shield Skill on their best shields. Not sure how much would be necessary for balance.
Implement a job trait similar to Inquartata that grants a fixed +block rate, with similar gear enhancements.
consider block+ gear before calculating Reprisal Mod. Credit Martel
Let it block ranged attacks. Credit Martel
Give it a unique mechanism to hold hate better than RUN
Give it another native hate tool
It's obscene that the job is almost 100% reliant on a subjob for its ability to hold hate. Ridiculous and quite honestly terrible design that it's best option is spamming subjob spells that have no chance of landing or abilities that it'll immediately turn off.
Give it foil
Give it a Spell/JA that helps with party magic damage mitigation. 1 minute recast. This would force a single AoE magic damage ability/spell to be single target on the PLD. Could come with the negative that it's MDT+10% or something. If it's a JA, perhaps combine it with another adjustment I'll mention next.
Enhance Rampart
If the wiki is accurate about the Def boost, then adjust this to give much more def. Perhaps a % based on current PLD def.
In conjunction with the above new JA. Drop Rampart recast to 1 minute as well. Rampart could not be up at the same time as the new JA. I feel like this + the new JA can rival All-for-One, Valiance, and Liement while still having weaknesses of basically only eating one move each.
Enhance cover
Drop it's recast to 60-90 seconds.
Give it an additional effect of providing AoE physical damage mitigation in a wide cone behind the PLD. Perhaps tied to Phalanx or perhaps just a PDT II effect.
Block AoEs from hitting Covered PC. Credit to Martel
While active it cover's whoever has hate. As hate shifts around they just need to run behind the PLD. Credit to Martel
While active it cover's everyone in alliance behind the PLD. Credit Eightball.
I'd actually like this to be an ability we could full time and switch targets maybe with a 5-10 second recast. It'd be pretty strong, but would require some player input to maximize it. And have it so you can cover any PC in alliance
Fix Flash
Just let the damn thing land without a shit ton of magic acc and actually be potent enough to have something miss. I miss when Flash actually took effect. We HAVE to gear this thing for Enmity because that's basically our only good native tool.
flashga. Credit Martel. Would be really good for PLD to get some kind of AoE hate move.
Adjust Enlight
Fix Atonement
Have it mirror Mordant Rime but with STR and VIT as modifiers. With the additional effect being an enmity increases with TP.
No clue how hard this would be, but make it only target party members and it literally drains their enmity, but deals no damage. Scales with TP and Enmity+ gear for a multiplicative effect on drained enmity.
something...anything... please god make it suck less...
magic evasion
Give PLD better magic evasion. Credit Martel. Personal note, I wouldn't necessarily want RUN levels of MEva for a sense of keeping jobs unique, but holy crap PLD gear in general has awful MEva. Just give a bump to AF/Relic/Empy gear MEva.
shield bash
My goal in the above was to turn PLD into the safer party/alliance tank that's actually able to hold hate on longer fights. I don't want PLD to try to approach RUNs damage output. I also don't want PLD to try to provide the same status effect defenses. I don't necessarily like that I'd have PLD eat into RUN's magic defenses superiority, but with the game in its current state, magic damage is the killer. PLD just needs some mechanism to help the party mitigate magic damage. I feel like RUN will still dominate most of the game. I don't see these changes eating into anything besides maybe Dynamis D and some of the really tough end game fights, but this would at least give PLD a purpose. I think many people will still prefer kill speed, but possibly this lets people trade some kill speed for safety.
Some of these are probably overpowered and I'm all for people ripping them apart. Maybe while doing so, provide how it might be balanced.
Thanks for reading.