Devotion Paladin, Red area woos

xalabi

Most other classes have a shift ability that lets them get out of the evil-red-circles quickly. Paladins, like Guardian Fighters, instead raise their shields to brace for impact. Devotion Paladins only get a 30% damage reduction when they shift-guard, which at least in my case, on some boss fights (i.e. eLoL and eSoT final bosses) means that even at full hp, shift-guarding on red = instant death. The only way to survive is to walk out of the red, which requires fast reaction, low lag and 'animation canceling' (if I use cure wounds before the red appears, I cant move till the animation ends).

So, I made this post for two reasons:
1) To point out a difficulty, that seems excessive to me, and I would like to see fixed (i.e. make sanctuary, our shift-guard, block a higher percentage of damage only on bossfight-red-aoe-attacks)
2) To share experiences with other Paladins regarding how to deal with the difficulty: Is this a problem for you guys as well? Do some of you have enough defensive stats to survive these red circles while guarding? Are you using relentless avenger to quickly jump on an ally, or Radiant strike on an opponent? Is there a way to cancel 'cure wounds' animation faster, etc.

s1lv3rdrgnforum

I will wait for them to fix mitigation issues in general and then look at where Pally is at that time.

alkemist80

Lostmauth laser eyes on a healadin and no tank to catch it, time to kiss my *** goodbye.

Also sanctuary activates slightly faster now, it's still not as responsive to the pace of the game. Many times I press shift and it's not raised in time to catch whatever red zone that is about to land at my feet. Having more T1 pieces help but before then, red zone = instant death. Now I may or may not survive. It's best to just avoid it overall.

I agree that the deactivation is slow too. Such as I change my mind and want to run out of the red instead.. and I'm still moving at a snails pace, which then means I'm too slow to raise my sanctuary and too slow to walk out.

hawkeyel

I agree that the deactivation is slow too. Such as I change my mind and want to run out of the red instead.. and I'm still moving at a snails pace, which then means I'm too slow to raise my sanctuary and too slow to walk out. Sounds just like a GF sort of day.

sh0uj0

Had to pop in and say I totally agree with this.

The sheer unresponsiveness of the ability also means you pretty much have to activate it instantly so that it kicks in in time for the moment of impact. I generally just use it less for mitigation and more for the crowd control immunity when I can't walk out and have no choice but to use it. I also never use it for allies because if an ally is about to die, the damage reduction bonus it provides is negligible and all classes (even the GWF/SW) have better shift abilities to avoid red.

And wish I had tips, but my tip is don't use it unless you have no choice. Chances are trying to activate it will kill you and you'll have a better chance walking out. Also spec justice so that you get the movement speed boost feats to improve your odds of doing so. Justice also has the benefit of ensuring you'll have encounters that are more useful than the shift ability off cooldown to help an ally.

It doesn't protect me (reliably) and it doesn't do jack for party members, making it the worst shift ability out there in my opinion.

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aidek0

I am a Tankadin and I've done some VT's and the ghost phase seemed brutal at first. I'm used to a SW and she could fly past the ghosts and made it in time to reach the end of the red line, before it triggered. I'm getting used to it a bit more, just by playing and not giving up, but I could imagine it might be worse for a healadin. The other day I was able to take a hit and walk on, for a healadin that would not have been possible.
But keep in mind, you're not alone in any dungeon! While your tank can not help you with every red area, he should be able to shield the group when things go wrong. The lasers in LoL for example should not even be something you should concern yourself about, thats a job for a tank, not a healadin.
Overall, walking out of the red areas might still be the best and quickest solution. Pressing shift, will only make it more likely you get hit(even tho it hits for less).

openforbreakfast wrote: »

Currently Cryptic's design is anti-tank or at least its anti absorption tank.

I couldnt disagree more! Because of the increase in damage, I would actually say the exact opposite of that is true. Leaving it at that, dont wanna ninja the thread.

khimera906

I don't know if this is happening to anyone else, but I find that a lot of times even though my shield is up (I'm talking about the animation), the effects of Sanctuary don't trigger.

alkemist80

aidek0 wrote: »

The lasers in LoL for example should not even be something you should concern yourself about, thats a job for a tank, not a healadin.

I agree with this, though there are times things do go wrong. If the tank does die, lostmauth will start targeting laser eyes at the next person on the aggro table. Or even in random queues, the game is now designed for tank and heals but the queue will just dump in any random player!? Primarily a DPS class and I end up with 4 DPS and me as heals. It makes queues faster but the whole system is botched up if you couldn't advance without a tank. T1 is possible without a tank but it really depends on the group. Normally it's difficult to almost to wanting to beat my head against the wall, but that is a whole different problem.

Anyways, not having some sort of dodge mechanic really bites and leaves us vulnerable.. and I thought shadow slip/sprint was bad, this is even worse. The only saving grace is that for a healadin, our shift mechanic actually heals. That is if I'm still alive.