The Paladin currently faces challenges that go beyond a single skill or mechanic, involving both PvP and PvE content. In PvP, the game currently features extremely high damage levels, causing many fights to be decided within just a few seconds and considerably reducing the room for reaction, strategy, and endurance. In certain situations, even characters specifically built to withstand large amounts of damage, such as Tanks, can be hit-killed or eliminated by an extremely short sequence of attacks. NOTE: I hope everything is understandable, as I used a translator since I don't speak English. In PvE, the situation also deserves attention. Current Guild Raids and the new Dungeons combine high damage with large swarms of monsters, creating increasingly demanding encounters in terms of survivability, crowd control, and sustain. When large groups of enemies are capable of dealing enormous amounts of damage simultaneously, the defensive role of a class such as the Paladin becomes even more important, especially in content where the group depends on the Tank's ability to remain standing for long periods of combat. For this reason, I believe the Paladin needs to be evaluated based on the current state of the game as a whole, rather than simply being compared to the performance it had in older content. The progressive increase in difficulty, enemy damage, the number of monsters present in encounters, and PvP lethality requires the class's survival and sustain tools to evolve accordingly. The purpose of these suggestions is not simply to make the Paladin more powerful or turn it into a dominant class. The intention is to allow the Paladin to consistently fulfill the role it was designed for, both in PvE and PvP, while maintaining a strong defensive identity and giving players enough room to react, use their tools, and make decisions during combat. With this in mind, the following changes aim to improve the Paladin's overall consistency and effectiveness in the current state of the game, taking into account the significant increase in PvE difficulty, large swarms of enemies, the high damage of the new Dungeons and Guild Raids, and especially the high lethality currently present in PvP. INNER FORCE Inner Force needs an urgent review! Despite having good defensive potential "on paper", a large part of its effectiveness is concentrated when the Paladin has already lost most of its health, around 95%. This progression creates a major conflict when compared to the current game environment, which features high PvP damage — both damage over time and burst damage — as well as intense damage received in new Dungeons and Guild Raids. This can cause the Paladin to be defeated before it can actually take advantage of its main survival tool. The proposal is not simply intended to increase the maximum power of the skill, but to make its defensive progression more consistent throughout the entire fight. In other words, it should be effective from the beginning of the battle without harming game balance. The Paladin should receive meaningful protection from the start and, as its health decreases, gradually become more resistant, preserving the main identity of Inner Force while allowing it to fulfill its role as a survival tool more effectively. Current mechanic: Reduces all incoming damage by 2.5% for every 10/8.5/6.5/4.5% of the character's lost health. Increasing the skill level increases its strength. Suggestion 1: Improved initial and gradual effectiveness Reduces all incoming damage by 20% (15% in PvP), plus an additional 0.5% (0.3% in PvP) for every 6.5/4.5/2.5/1.5% of the character's lost health. Here, we would see an improvement to the initial protection, allowing the Paladin to enter combat with 20% damage reduction, preventing it from being instantly defeated. At the same time, the skill's gradual damage reduction would become more effective, allowing the character to reach approximately the same final reduction as the current version, but with the effect scaling through smaller health-loss intervals. This would make the damage reduction more effective and noticeable throughout the fight while keeping its final value very close to the current one. In other words, the skill would maintain essentially the same overall effect while becoming much more noticeable from the beginning. Suggestion 2: Improvement only to the initial effect Reduces all incoming damage by 15% (10% in PvP), plus an additional 2.5% (2% in PvP) for every 10/8.5/6.5/4.5% of the character's lost health. This is a much more subtle improvement, focused only on the initial protection provided by the skill. It would probably result in a relatively small difference, since the amount of health that must still be lost to achieve a significant increase would remain high. The "tank while dying" mechanic would therefore remain, but the Paladin would have slightly more initial protection. Suggestion 3: Overall improvement Reduces all incoming damage by 20% (15% in PvP). For every 16/14/12/10% of health lost, grants 1 stack of Light Protection, up to a maximum of 8 stacks. Each stack of Light Protection reduces all incoming damage by 5%. Here, we can see a change that provides greater initial and intermediate survivability, while preserving the main characteristic of the skill and improving the Paladin's overall quality of life. The Paladin would have its maximum reduction available while still having 20% of its health remaining, giving the player enough time to react to different situations and make the best decision instead of being defeated before being able to use its defensive tools effectively. PALADIN'S PRAYER Paladin's Prayer deserves some adjustments because its current function does not completely meet the needs and identity of the character. Although the skill still has some utility, its mechanic can be inconsistent for different Paladin builds, especially because it depends on the next basic attack to take advantage of its effect. This can limit its usefulness in situations where the Paladin is focused on defense, support, or continuous skill usage. Therefore, some adjustments could make Paladin's Prayer more reliable, versatile, and relevant without necessarily increasing its power excessively. The idea would be to give the skill a clearer role within the Paladin's kit and make it contribute more effectively to the class's identity as a tank, support, and protector of the group. Current mechanic: Applies Paladin's Prayer to the character and party members within 9 meters for 8/10/12/14 seconds by default, or applies Paladin's Retribution with a chance equal to the character's Critical Hit chance. The next successful basic attack under Paladin's Prayer deals additional magic damage equal to 120/130/150/170% of the character's Magic Power or 110/120/130/145% of the character's Physical Power, and under Paladin's Retribution deals additional magic damage equal to 155/170/190/215% of the character's Magic Power or 125/140/160/180% of Physical Power, based on the dominant damage type. The skill's cooldown increases by 1.5 for each party member. Suggestion 1: Applies Paladin's Prayer to the character and all party members within 9 meters. Prayer increases Resistance by 5/10/15/20% for 8/10/12/14 seconds. The effect is reduced by 2 percentage points for each party member affected. This change would give Paladin's Prayer a clearer and more relevant defensive function, strengthening its identity as a protection and support skill. The Resistance bonus would help the Paladin and its allies deal with control effects more effectively, while the 9-meter range would encourage the group to remain relatively close together. Reducing the bonus by 2 percentage points for each affected party member would also help maintain balance, preventing the skill from providing an excessively high bonus to multiple players at the same time. This creates a good balance between individual protection and group protection. Furthermore, this change would complement Inner Force well: while Inner Force increases the Paladin's resistance as its health decreases, Prayer would provide protection against control effects and help the Paladin continue performing its role as a tank and support character. Suggestion 2: Applies Paladin's Prayer to the character and party members within 9 meters. When using a shield: Increases Resistance by 5/10/15/20% for 8/10/12/14 seconds. The effect is reduced by 2 percentage points for each additional party member affected. When using a two-handed weapon: Increases the character's Skill Power by 6/8/10/12% for 8/10/12/14 seconds. The effect is reduced by 1 percentage point for each additional party member affected. This change would make Paladin's Prayer more versatile and better suited to the different roles of the class. When using a shield, Prayer would have a defensive and supportive function, increasing the Resistance of the Paladin and its allies, while reducing the bonus as more members are affected would help keep the skill balanced. When using a two-handed weapon, Prayer would take on an offensive function by increasing Skill Power for a limited period. Reducing the bonus by 1 percentage point per additional party member would also prevent the group-wide effect from becoming excessive. This would allow Prayer to adapt to the equipment being used and support the Paladin's two main playstyles: shield for tank/support and two-handed weapon for damage. It would also prevent one build from receiving a skill that is poorly suited to its role, making Prayer more relevant and consistent with the class's identity. SUN SEAL Sun Seal deserves a small improvement because, although it is an important Paladin skill, its current impact does not consistently match the class's expected performance. An improvement would allow the skill to have greater relevance during combat, strengthening the Paladin's identity as a sustain-oriented character and increasing its effectiveness without necessarily making it unbalanced. Current mechanic: Attacks the enemy with the character's dominant damage type, dealing damage equal to 180/200/220/250% of Magic Power or 170/180/200/220% of Physical Power, and applies Sun Seal for 8/10/12/15 seconds. Any damage dealt to the affected target heals the attacker for 12/16/20/25% of the damage dealt. Suggestion: Attacks the enemy with the character's dominant damage type, dealing damage equal to 180/200/220/250% of Magic Power or 170/180/200/220% of Physical Power, and applies Sun Seal for 8/10/12/15 seconds. Any damage dealt to the affected target heals the attacker for 12/14/18/22% of the damage dealt. The Sun Seal effect cannot be resisted or avoided. This change would make Sun Seal more consistent and effective without changing its core identity. The skill would continue to function as an important source of damage and sustain. Although the healing percentage would be slightly lower than before, making the effect guaranteed would preserve the skill's sustain function. Preventing Sun Seal from being resisted or avoided removes one of the main inconsistencies of the skill: losing its primary source of sustain because of resistance or evasion. This would make Sun Seal more reliable for both two-handed and shield Paladins, allowing them to maintain their survivability more consistently during combat without simply increasing the healing values. Among the various possible changes to this skill, this is the one that fits the character most effectively regardless of build or playstyle, without requiring changes to the skill's mechanics or adding additional ways of using it. SACRED SHIELD Sacred Shield deserves some improvements because it is one of the Paladin's main defensive tools and should represent a significant moment of protection and resistance during combat. Currently, however, its impact may not be proportional to the importance of the skill within the character's kit, especially when compared to the threats and damage levels present in current content. A carefully balanced improvement would not need to make the Paladin excessively durable; the goal is simply to make Sacred Shield provide more consistent and reliable protection when it is actually needed. This would increase the Paladin's effectiveness without removing its weaknesses, making the skill more relevant, satisfying to use, and consistent with the class's role as a protector, survivor, and support character. Current mechanic: Applies Sacred Shield to the character or ally for 10/13/16/20 seconds, absorbing all damage equal to 10/15/20/30% of the character's maximum health. Starting from level 3, the effect is also applied to the character when it is applied to an ally. Suggestion 1: Applies Sacred Shield to the character or ally for 10/13/16/20 seconds, absorbing all damage equal to 25/35/45/55% of the character's maximum health. Starting from level 3, the effect is also applied to the character when it is applied to an ally within 4 meters of the character. Suggestion 2: Applies Sacred Shield to the character or ally for 10/13/16/20 seconds, absorbing all damage equal to 10/15/20/30% of the character's maximum health. When the shield is destroyed, the character takes 5/8/12/15% less damage for 3/4/5/6 seconds. Starting from level 3, the effect is also applied to the character when it is applied to an ally within 4 meters. Sacred Shield is one of the Paladin's main defensive tools, but its current impact may not be enough to keep up with the intensity of damage present in the game. Therefore, both proposals aim to significantly strengthen the skill without moving away from its original defensive purpose. Suggestion 1 focuses on direct and consistent defensive power, increasing the shield's absorption capacity depending on the skill level and allowing the Paladin to benefit as well when protecting an ally. Suggestion 2 takes a more balanced approach: it keeps the original absorption values but adds damage reduction after the shield is destroyed, creating a second layer of protection and giving the skill greater strategic value. Both options make Sacred Shield more relevant without simply turning the Paladin into an excessively durable character. Therefore, either change would be capable of modernizing the skill and improving the Paladin's gameplay experience while preserving its role as a defensive protector and support character. CELESTIAL LIGHT Celestial Light should be one of the skills that best represents the Paladin's ability to keep its group alive, especially in situations where several allies are taking damage at the same time. However, in practice, its sustain potential can fall short of what would be expected from a skill of this type, meaning that the Paladin cannot always turn its presence into a truly significant defensive advantage for the group. A carefully designed improvement could correct this difference, making Celestial Light more impactful and reliable without taking away the space of dedicated healers. The goal would not simply be to increase its numbers, but to make the skill better fulfill its purpose: being an effective response from the Paladin when its allies most need protection and recovery. Current mechanic: Heals the character or ally for 30/55/80/105/130 plus 110/115/120/130/140% of the character's Magic Power. Critical Heal chance is increased by 3/4/6/8/10%. Suggestion 1: Heals the character or ally for 80/100/120/150/200 plus 140%/160%/180%/200%/220% of the character's Magic Power. Critical Heal chance is increased by 3%/4%/6%/8%/10%. Suggestion 2: Heals the character or ally for 40%/60%/80%/100%/120% of the character's Magic Power plus 4%/4%/6%/8%/10% of the character's maximum health. Critical Heal chance is increased by 3%/4%/6%/8%/10%. Suggestion 3: Heals the character or ally for 30/55/80/105/130 plus 110/115/120/130/140% of the character's Magic Power and grants the Celestial Healing effect. This effect restores 3% of health every 2 seconds for 6/7/8/9/10 seconds. Critical Heal chance is increased by 3/4/6/8/10%. Celestial Light deserves an improvement because it is one of the Paladin's main sustain tools, but its healing may not currently provide the level of impact expected from such an important skill. The three proposals approach this problem in different ways: increasing its healing efficiency, allowing the skill to better benefit different builds, or making its recovery continue for several seconds after being used. The goal is not to turn the Paladin into a pure healer or create an excessively powerful skill, but simply to make Celestial Light something the player can genuinely rely on when they or an ally are under heavy pressure. Any of the three changes would already represent a significant improvement, and I believe any of them would be a fair addition to the next update, making the skill more relevant, satisfying, and consistent with the Paladin's identity without requiring a complete rework of the class. LIGHT DEFENSE Light Defense deserves to be reviewed because there is a considerable difference between the value displayed by the skill and the impact it actually provides in combat. A bonus of up to 40% to Physical and Magical Defense may look significant at first glance, but it does not represent 40% damage reduction, and its benefit tends to become less noticeable as the Paladin already accumulates high defense values. For a skill that should be one of the Paladin's main defensive tools while also protecting the entire group, its effect could be more meaningful. A carefully balanced improvement would not necessarily need to simply increase the group's resistance dramatically; instead, it could make the investment in this skill translate into more noticeable survivability that better matches the Paladin's role as a defender. Current mechanic: Applies Light Defense to the character and party members for 50/60/70/80 seconds, increasing Physical and Magical Defense by 10/20/30/40%. Suggestion 1: Applies Light Defense to the character and party members for 50/60/70/80 seconds, increasing maximum health by 5/10/15/20%. The effect is reduced by 2.5% for each additional party member affected by the skill. Suggestion 2: Applies Light Defense to the character and party members for 50/60/70/80 seconds, increasing Physical and Magical Defense by 25/35/45/55%. Suggestion 3: Applies Light Defense to the character and party members for 40/50/60/70 seconds, increasing Physical and Magical Defense by 10/20/30/40% and maximum health by 4/6/8/10%. All three proposals offer different but equally valid ways of making Light Defense more relevant for the current Paladin. Whether by increasing the group's maximum health in a scalable way, directly strengthening Physical and Magical Defense, or combining defense with maximum health, all of these options would make the effect more noticeable and useful during combat. Most importantly, none of them changes the original purpose of the skill: all three remain tools for group protection, simply making that protection more compatible with the current state of the game. Any of these changes would already represent a significant quality-of-life improvement for the Paladin, giving the player a greater sense of security, utility, and impact while performing their role as the group's defender. Note: I will not discuss Purify, Harad's Call, Stunning Strike, Illumination, Aura of Light, Persuasion, or Harad's Banner, as these are skills that already perform their roles well and are satisfactory for what they are designed to do. LAST BUT NOT LEAST... TALENT: POWER SURGE As we all know, Power Surge was once one of the Paladin's strongest healing tools. When it was released, the talent gave the class a very significant sustain capability and helped establish the Paladin as a reliable source of healing and support within a group. However, over the course of various updates and balance changes, its impact gradually decreased while the amount of damage present in the game continued to increase. Today, the amount of burst damage and, especially, sustained damage makes the recovery provided by the talent relatively insignificant in many situations. Therefore, we believe Power Surge deserves to be reviewed — not to make it excessively powerful again as it was upon release, but to restore part of its relevance and allow it to once again fulfill the sustain role it should have within the Paladin's kit. Current mechanic: Applies the Power Surge effect to the character, healing the character and allies within 6 meters for 5% of lost health every 5 seconds. Affects up to 8 friendly targets. Suggestion 1: Applies the Power Surge effect to the character, healing the character and allies within 6 meters for 5% of lost health every 5 seconds. The effect's interval is reduced by 0.1 seconds for every 10% Skill Cooldown of the character. Affects up to 8 friendly targets. Suggestion 2: Applies the Power Surge effect to the character, healing the character and allies within 5 meters for 5% of lost health plus 10% of the character's Magic Damage every 5 seconds. Affects up to 7 friendly targets. Either of these two proposals would be a good way to update Power Surge without turning the Paladin into an excessive source of healing. Both changes preserve the essence of the talent while allowing it to better keep up with the pace of current combat and rewarding players who invest in support-oriented stats. One option improves the frequency of recovery gradually, while the other allows the healing potential to also scale with the Paladin's own performance. In both cases, the result would be more consistent and useful group support without creating an unreasonable amount of healing or taking away the role of dedicated healing classes. This would be a quality-of-life improvement that strengthens the Paladin exactly where it should excel: keeping its group alive during prolonged encounters. These are the ideas I was able to put together after analyzing the opinions of veteran players, the current state of the game, and discussions on the forum. I hope our administrators will look favorably upon the Paladin, because in the current state of the game, the class feels considerably outdated and is often one of the last choices among the many strong tank options available in the game. I hope everyone will share their thoughts, opinions, and suggestions.
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FIRMIANO · 1 hour ago 1 hr