Game Design Regarding Shield Strike's Rework...

It was fine. I like how it's an active ability now and the damage increase is nice, but I'm not going to run it because blood pact is really good on paladin and if I took shield strike then I'd have to sacrifice a paladin ability to keep blood pact. In my eyes that's not worth it. To be clear this suggestion is not about adjusting ability point costs. The fact I can't run both without some sacrifice is good and balanced.

This is more about the current value of Shield Strike as an ability. Currently it's not worth getting over other abilities because it feels very distant from the meat of paladin's general playstyle. Sure, I could just not run Blood Pact but it generates a LOT of holy power. You're kinda missing out as a paladin if you don't use blood pact. Personally, I think it'd be better if it applied a damage bonus to your uppercut for each broken mantle. The damage bonus would be lost after a single sacred surge. My reasoning for this is that Sacred Surge feels like a big part of paladin's identity, and it should play into that. This would also give you the opportunity to rename the ability as Divine Retribution, because you're dishing back the pain the enemy gave you, and it's just a cooler name.

I understand this requires the ability to be moved below Sacred Strike, which would mean finding a replacement ability for Shield Strike's current spot. Unsure what that replacement would be, but I think that you could replace Second Chance with this reworked Shield Strike. If you do decide to do that though, then I recommend making this ability enhance your next ability that requires holy power (i.e. Sacred Surge, Luster Purge, and Heavenly Trumpet), and make the bonus based off of the number of broken mantles, instead of the prior suggestion. Maybe even let it enhance radiance (I understand if this is bit much though). It'd feel much more in line with paladin's identity as a holy protector (and there'd be even more of a reason to call it Divine Retribution!).

Why replace second chance? Well...

The Problem I have with Second Chance

I think most can agree Second Chance feels pretty outdated, as it's a very boring ability. I'm of the opinion that revival mechanics such as Second Chance shouldn't be in Wynn (To be clear, I'm talking about the paladin ability Second Chance, which may seem obvious to some, but the revival mechanic in dungeons goes by the same name, so I'm mentioning this to prevent confusion. I have no issue with the second chances in dungeons.). Managing health is one of the fun parts of being a tank, Second Chance throws that out of the window until you proc it (which is pretty hard to do if you're playing paladin right). That's not fun. It's unnecessary. Also, If I'm dying as a paladin, my teammates are not likely in a scenario where they need invincibility. I main paladin, with Blood Pact, and the ONLY times I've ever died were when I was already drawing aggro (meaning my allies weren't taking damage) or when my party members were already dead because they didn't know what to do (such as killing Crystalized, dodging Greg's laser, killing Anni's sun and then the healers afterwards). I can't name a single scenario where running second chance is worth the AP. Even in regards to survivability, Brink of Madness is just better anyway.

End of Yap Session

To the Ability Team, feel free to tweak this idea to your liking. I understand if there might be some parts you like and other parts you dislike. I avoided giving any specific numbers when giving this idea because I think that makes my idea easier for you guys to incorporate into Wynn without being broken.