Shield Fortress

Shield Fortress

Job	Paladin
Type	Supportive (self buff)
Target	Self
Max level	1
SP cost	50
Cast time	0.5 sec
Cooldown	120 sec
Duration	8 sec

Shield Fortress is a defensive self-buff and emergency button of the Paladin class. For a brief window it raises the Paladin's shield into a near-impenetrable fortress that almost completely negates incoming damage and locks out the effects enemies rely on to control a tank.

Overview

Shield Fortress is the capstone of the Paladin's protective branch. It is meant to be held for the moment a fight spikes most dangerously: a burst of incoming damage, a critical control attempt, or the seconds a party needs to recover. The trade is that it is short, cannot be sustained, and forces a long wait before it can be used again.

Mechanics

Effect: For the duration the Paladin gains the following while the fortress holds:

• Incoming damage from every source is reduced by 99%. A minimum of 1 point of damage always gets through, so this is extreme mitigation rather than total immunity.
• Immunity to negative status effects. Debuffs simply fail to apply while the buff is active.
• Immunity to knockback and forced movement, keeping the Paladin rooted exactly where the party needs it.
• Casting the skill dismounts the Paladin from their Peco Peco.

When the buff ends, a lockout indicator (Forbearance) is applied for 2 minutes. In practical terms you cannot raise the fortress again until the skill's cooldown has fully passed.

Notes

• Because residual damage is always at least 1 per hit, a Paladin under Shield Fortress can still be slowly worn down by a very large number of attackers, but for any normal exchange it is effectively a damage wall.
• The knockback and debuff immunity make it especially valuable for holding a chokepoint or surviving a coordinated burst in PvP and War of Emperium.
• It cannot be recast for 2 minutes after it expires, so timing the activation around the most dangerous moment is the core of using it well.