REBUILDING THE PALADIN I have been playing Paladin for quite some time, and I believe the class has gradually been losing its identity over the years. The Paladin has received several nerfs and changes to its defensive and healing mechanics, while the overall damage level in the game has continued to increase. The result is a class that should be one of the main frontline tanks of the Sentinels, but currently struggles to survive long enough to use many of the tools that are supposed to keep it alive. A Paladin can be killed extremely quickly by high-damage classes and even by guild raid bosses. This creates a particularly strange situation in PvE. When the Elves' tank cannot survive a boss's attacks for a reasonable amount of time, several tanks have to constantly take turns: One takes the boss → dies → another takes over → the first revives → repeat. So, before discussing each individual skill, I believe we need to answer one question: What should be the Paladin's main characteristic? In my opinion, the Paladin's main characteristic should be: The Paladin should be a character capable of remaining in the middle of the battle, protecting their allies, and continuing to fight even under enormous pressure. I don't think the Paladin needs to become the tank with the highest defenses in the game. I also don't think the class needs to become immortal or have permanent immunity to damage. Instead, the Paladin should survive through a combination of: Reliable damage reduction; Healing and regeneration; Temporary protection; Protection for allies; Useful aggro mechanics; Defensive abilities that become stronger as the battle progresses. The Paladin should not be immortal. It should be extremely difficult to remove the Paladin from the frontline. With that in mind, we can now talk about its skills. INNER FORCE I believe this is currently one of the Paladin's biggest problems. The current mechanic of Inner Force is based on HP loss: as the Paladin loses HP, they gain more damage reduction. In fact, I like this concept. It fits the class identity very well. The problem is that the Paladin needs to take damage and survive that damage first before its main defensive mechanic becomes truly effective. This creates a dangerous situation: In other words, the skill provides its greatest protection after the Paladin has already suffered a large amount of damage. I would not remove the current HP-loss mechanic. Instead, I would give Inner Force a basic damage reduction that is active from the beginning of combat. My proposal: These are proposed values and could obviously be adjusted through balance testing. For example, in PvE: HP lost Damage reduction 0% 10% 18% 18% 36% 26% 54% 34% 72% 42% 99% 55% In PvP: HP lost Damage reduction 0% 10% 18% 16% 36% 22% 54% 28% 72% 34% 99% 43% This preserves the identity of the current skill: The difference is that it would no longer enter combat completely unprotected. This is especially important against extremely high damage. If a boss or another player can deal enough damage to kill the Paladin with a single attack, the current Inner Force simply does not have the opportunity to do its job. With a base damage reduction, the Paladin would at least have an initial layer of protection, allowing it to lose HP, activate the additional stages of Inner Force, and become progressively more resilient. PRAYER Prayer is one of the skills I would most like to see completely reworked. I understand why the old version of Prayer was removed. Increasing the target's maximum HP by 40% and restoring the additional HP could become extremely powerful when combined with other defensive mechanics. For this reason, I don't believe simply bringing the old Prayer back would be the best solution. Instead, I would give Prayer a completely new mechanic based on faith and divine blessing. My proposal: The values of 20%, 8 seconds, and 10% are only proposed values and could be adjusted through balance testing. For example, if the Paladin receives 10,000 damage during the 8 seconds: 10,000 × 20% = 2,000 Divine Power When Prayer ends, the accumulated Divine Power is converted into healing for the Paladin and nearby allies, respecting the maximum healing limit. This would create an interesting interaction with Inner Force: Take damage → lose HP → Inner Force becomes stronger → Prayer stores Divine Power → Prayer ends → part of the damage taken is converted into healing. PERSUASION Persuasion should have a much more significant role in PvP. Other tanks have aggro abilities that provide additional utility instead of simply forcing enemies to attack them. I believe Persuasion should also reward the Paladin for maintaining control of the battle. My proposal: The value of 15% is only a proposed value and could be adjusted through balance testing. The idea is to make Persuasion truly represent the role of a tank's taunt. In PvE, this would mean that the Paladin would not only draw the boss or monster toward itself, but would also protect party members from part of the damage if the enemy attempted to attack them. In PvP, this would be even more interesting, as it would allow the Paladin to protect its allies from an enemy player attempting to focus them. In other words: Persuasion → enemy is drawn to the Paladin → allies take less damage from that enemy → Paladin fulfills its role as a protector. LIGHT DEFENSE Currently, Light Defense increases the physical and magical defenses of the Paladin and its group. I would keep this part of the skill. The problem is that simply increasing defenses has become less impactful given the amount of damage currently present in the game. When tanks can receive attacks that deal thousands of points of damage, simply adding more defense does not necessarily provide enough protection. My proposal: The value of 10% is only a proposed value. The additional effect could also be replaced with something such as: +15% maximum HP; +15% damage reflection; or another defensive effect. Personally, I prefer damage reduction because it directly addresses the current problem. Light Defense should feel like true divine protection, rather than simply another source of defensive stats. HOLY SHIELD Holy Shield used to be one of the Paladin's strongest defensive tools. Today, however, the amount of damage present in the game has increased dramatically. For example, a Paladin with 15,000 HP receiving a shield equal to 30% of its maximum HP would receive: 15,000 × 30% = 4,500 shield HP If an enemy deals 5,000+ damage in a single attack, the entire shield can disappear almost instantly. This makes Holy Shield extremely difficult to use reliably against the current levels of damage. I see two possible directions for the skill. My proposal: Option 1 — Increase the shield This would give a Paladin with 15,000 HP a 9,000 HP shield instead of 4,500. Again, 60% is only a proposed value. Option 2 — Divine Retribution Another possibility would be to give Holy Shield a more unique Paladin identity: This would transform the ability from simply absorbing damage into a form of divine punishment. Personally, I believe either of these directions would be more appropriate for the current state of the game than having a shield that can disappear after a single attack. ILLUMINATION Currently, Illumination mainly functions as an aggression-generating ability and reduces the healing received by affected enemies. I would keep this characteristic, but give the skill an additional function related to the idea of divine revelation. My proposal: The values of 3 stacks and the additional damage percentage could be adjusted through balance testing. The idea is that Illumination should not only be an ability used to generate aggression. It would make the enemy pay a price for attacking the Paladin. Enemy attacks → receives Light Mark → continues attacking → accumulates marks → Paladin counterattacks → Marks are consumed → Harad punishes the enemy. HEAVENLY LIGHT I really like the idea of turning Heavenly Light into a reliable source of continuous healing. Currently, the Paladin has very limited access to reliable healing, especially considering the amount of damage present in the game. My proposal: This would result in five healing pulses during the duration of the effect. For example, with: 10,000 maximum HP 1,000 Magic Damage The Paladin would heal: 1,000 × 125% = 1,250 Plus 5 healing pulses based on maximum HP: 10,000 × 3% = 300 1,500 HP over the 5 pulses Total: 2,750 HP in total The exact values should obviously be tested and adjusted. The most important thing is that the healing scales with the character and remains relevant as the game progresses. This would also give the Paladin a reliable source of continuous healing instead of making it depend almost entirely on a single skill. DIVINE JUDGMENT — NEW SKILL In addition to changes to the existing skills, I also believe it would be interesting to consider adding a new skill to the Paladin in the future. Currently, I believe the Paladin is missing a skill that more directly represents the concept of divine judgment while also rewarding the Paladin for remaining at the center of the battle. My proposal: The values of 8 seconds, 10% damage reduction, 2% increased healing received per stack, and the maximum of 10 stacks are only proposed values and could be adjusted during balance testing. How the skill would work The idea would be to create a skill that encourages the Paladin to do exactly what a tank should do: Enter the middle of the enemies and remain on the frontline. While Divine Judgment is active: Enemies attack the Paladin → Paladin gains Faith → receives more healing → continues to endure → releases the accumulated power at the end. This would create an interesting risk-and-reward mechanic. The more the enemies focus the Paladin, the more Faith it accumulates and the stronger the final effect becomes. At the same time, enemies would have a choice: continue attacking the Paladin and increase the power it will accumulate; or leave the area and reduce the amount of Faith the Paladin can accumulate. This would also make the skill useful in both PvE and PvP. In PvE, the Paladin could use the skill to remain in the middle of groups of monsters or in front of a boss, reducing incoming damage and accumulating Faith while being attacked. In PvP, it would create an area where enemies would have to decide whether continuing to focus the Paladin is worth it, knowing that every attack contributes to strengthening its ability. The damage dealt at the end of the skill could scale according to the number of Faith stacks, rewarding the Paladin for managing to remain on the frontline for the entire duration. SURVIVABILITY IN PVE AND RAIDS This is especially important in raid content. A tank dying occasionally is normal. A tank being unable to survive a boss's attacks long enough to fulfill its role is something else. When the Elven side has to constantly alternate between several tanks because the Paladin cannot survive the boss's damage for a reasonable amount of time, the problem affects the entire faction's PvE capabilities. A tank should be able to: Enter combat. Establish aggro. Survive incoming damage. Use defensive and support abilities. Receive healing. React to dangerous mechanics. Remain on the frontline for a reasonable amount of time. Currently, the Paladin struggles with this because some of its main defensive mechanics only become truly effective after it has already lost a large portion of its HP. A tank should have enough time to actually use its entire set of defensive abilities. SURVIVABILITY IN PVP The same problem exists in PvP. The Paladin is a melee class. It needs to approach enemies, remain close to them, and use many of its abilities at relatively short ranges. This naturally makes crowd control one of its main weaknesses. At the same time, the Paladin does not have the kind of burst damage that would compensate for being controlled. Therefore, if the Paladin is meant to remain a frontline tank/support class, it needs enough defensive consistency to continue functioning under pressure. I am not suggesting permanent resistance or immunity to crowd control. I am suggesting that the Paladin have enough tools to remain functional when enemies focus it. A frontline class should be difficult to remove from the frontline. CONCLUSION The Paladin does not need to become immortal. The Paladin does not need to have the highest damage. The Paladin does not need to possess every defensive mechanic in the game. Give it meaningful protection while at full HP. Allow its defensive power to increase as its HP decreases. Give it reliable healing. Make its support abilities actually protect its allies. Make its aggro abilities contribute in some way to PvP. Give its defensive mechanics enough strength to deal with the current damage levels of Warspear. And above all, give the class a stronger connection to Harad. The Paladin should be the warrior who stands between its allies and danger, trusting in Harad even when its own life is almost gone. This, in my opinion, should be the foundation of the next Paladin rebalance. Thank you for reading, and I hope these ideas can contribute to the discussion about the future of the Paladin. Signed: ExDoff
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ExDoff · 3 minutes ago 3 min