Tree of Savior Forum

Paladin's Defense

Err, am i the only one that is still bothered because of Paladin’s lack of physical defense? I mean, he IS a close quarter fighter AND a blue class, so i think he should have some tools to keep it going even if he’s taking hits. Meanwhile, he has a party buff that reduces elemental damage, a protective barrier and a party healing property. He has Iron Skin, sure, but its only at most a 10% reduction self buff with a high uptime, and i would rather have it as a self buff physical defense only with a more relevant value, as ITS NOT WORTHY OF 15 POINTS right now.

He doesnt have a bad defensive skillset, he just isn’t nearly as sturdy as i hoped he would be for a melee frontline and he was supposed to be the diehard of cleric’s tree and he isn’t, as he’s actually just a DPS/Support Hybrid.

1 Like

Paladin’s “extra” physical defense comes in form of high CON modifier for the class. If you invest heavily into CON equips and such, you can become a pretty sturdy character.

However what you say is true. Paladin’s never been a full defensive class, they have always been dps/support hybrids. Stone Skin would be acceptable if it costed 5 skill points, but 15 skill points for 6% dmg reduction is abysmal. Resist Elements can be a great dmg reduction skill but the 50% uptime makes it more pvp oriented than anything else. Barrier’s +50% mdef reduction is good but the Barrier: Devotion attribute is suicidal now, even on a full CON build. The lack of 100% uptime on it also makes it less appealing as a buff. It’s impossible to play as a “tanker” or “devotion” paladin now because of those things. Oh and I forgot to mention they lost the ability to shield block (just why?).

I think there should be at least an attribute that halves the effect of Resist Elements reduction but doubles it’s duration, to make it a more constant reduction in PvM. Stone Skin should be made 5 skill points cap instead of 15. Barrier: Devotion could cancel out if your hp is below 50% (still risky af though). Demolition given +2 overheats and 15% def ignore (seriously, this skill is worse than Smite). And another 15-skill point party buff to increase Block damage reduction by 2% per skill level, so at max level blocking reduces 80% dmg instead of 50%. Sanctuary should also be reworked to at the very least make you invulnerable to knockdown/knockback while casting.

3 Likes

Barrier: Devotion could also get an attribute to reduce the durability burden on your equips.

2 Likes

Every Cleric,Swordsman and Quarrel Shooter can actively block with shield now by pressing the C button.

In my opinion Stone Skin should go back to its old formula that boost block.

1 Like

Well, you DO get a higher base Con value from becoming a Paladin, but the thing is: you can invest on CON equips for any class and they will get more resilient, so it’s not really a feature of the class, but from the system itself. It’s not so much of an issue if you wanna go support actually, since you get yourself a shield, but if you go DPS, it’s a bit awkward, since the game stimulates you going as a 2H because of the mastery attribute (+5 AoE attack ratio).

You would already lose DPS by going with a Mace and Shield by the flat value difference between a 1H/2H (meanwhile, swordsman that specialize in shields get to use the shield’s defense value instead), but you also lose the 2 handed attribute from Cleric (10% on Strike types) and the +5 AoE attack ratio as well.

Of course it’s not the end of the world if you lose that extra DPS, but if you compromise and neglect the shield, the CON defense bonuses that you get by default on picking Paladin don’t even compensate for your lack of a shield, so i think that it should be looked at. I would like, to start with, either to get a defensive option that makes up for the lack of shield with 100% uptime, or for them to at least allow 1 handers to get the +5 AoE attack ratio bonus as well. If possible, i would like both.

I absolutely agree with all your points, as there isn’t really a good reason for Resist Elements to not have a 100% uptime if needed (it can be reduced back to 50% on PvP, which is not an issue), Demolition lacks the proper damage without the sinergies, and at least that Stone Skin should need a rework. I’m just not entirely sure Paladin needs another party buff, since i feel that adjusting the skills he already has would be enough, but if they are going to do it, i would advice for them to give it an attribute that make it into a self buff instead. That way, he would receive other features that could make Paladin more durable in situations when you wanna go solo or full DPS, without overtunning the support style. I like that idea more, since it’s a way to define if you wanna support the team or go for a more self centered style.

2 Likes

I guess people don’t really dislike Paladin’s actual state. I mean, he deserve some rework, as most of the classes after Re:build do as well, but the point i find most disturbing isn’t that Paladin is actually a support class, it’s that, at the moment, Cleric doesn’t have a worthy blue class.

Yep, Paladin is a defensive support, but a support noneless ,and there are many other support oriented classes on the cleric tree, even if some aren’t doing too hot right now.

So much wasted potential. I think it’s very strange that the devs thought that 50% physical dmg reduction on Cassis Crista, a 1 level skill investment that also gives damage, was ok, but were super conservative about Iron Skin that is a 15 level skill, with a 100 attribute level bonus investment that in the end… is worth 10% damage reduction total. This is not okay.

I don’t think Paladin getting anywhere near Petalsta’s survivability is okay either, since it lacks Paladin’s utility, but the complete lack of a defensive option in the cleric class tree is disgusting.

1 Like

tbh Paladin should have more survivability than any Peltasta because Paladin is currently designed as a Class that takes damage for others (i.e. soaking it up) instead of Peltasta who focuses on boosting AoE defense ratio and defense so he can prevent attacks from hitting nearby allies.

That alone would be reason to boost Restoration and Stone Skin to levels where Paladin can actually tank the damage for a party inside Barrier without

  1. dying
  2. having his armor shredded by taking continuous hits

I think the bad part about Paladin is that it relies on other Classes inside the Cleric tree to be useful (e.g. Inquisitor for damage, Plague Doctor/Priest for survival/Diev for status boost with higher uptime) while Peltasta is a standalone Class that has damage (shield def used for attacks) and survivability + aggro management, making it feasible for any build to have it (also, the high base CON factor sets the CON very high for any Class combination, while Paladins mediocre CON is easily diluted with the “wrong” Class combinations inside the Cleric tree).

Paladin could be more useful if it actually offered more for Clerics offensively (e.g. a Conviction attribute that changes the elemental boost into a holy property boost for the player, or provides additional holy property damage for all Cleric skills) and defensively (e.g. a boosted block rate or the ability to block with a two-handed mace similarly to what Highlander does),
because overall Cleric lacks all forms of effective defense-focused skills in Re:build.

2 Likes

Well, while i agree that Paladin’s devotion style would require him to be at least as sturdy as a Petalsta, i don’t think that would be possible without a full rework to him (which i would be totally fine if they did).

He has some party defensive options and a AoE healing option that Petalsta don’t have, but neither are that good. If they could allow him to have a skill path that really allowed him to really make Barrier’s attribute be useful and not a suicide one, i could even accept getting some of the features cut to have a more specialized class. As you said, the major problem right now is lack of class identity, so Paladin doesn’t do anything on it’s own and has some general tools that are a bit clunky.

1 Like

I am noob, but I think that the idea of allowing the possibility of 2 functional stances: 1Handed+Shield and 2Handed sounds cool.

according to the developers there’s a patch coming in the future for paladin. Hope paladin gets buffed, since all the re:build changes made paladin boring and underwhelmed

1 Like

I hope you are right… :confused:

Hm. About Demolition… it also could have better animation and effects. The way it is now it doesnt feel awesome like it should.

Swinging several times fast like the hammer is light… its not cool. It should be one heavy catastrophic hit.

But mechanics are more important matter, of course. :þ