Are we ever going to see a proper Paladin in the game?

One thing about LOL is there are a lot of champs with aspects of a Paladin from other games, there isn't a pure paladin as I see it. I guess the first thing we need to do is define a paladin. I'm not going with the full-tank guy that MMOs use. That's an Mud/Mush creation for the needs of that genre, which got ported into MMOs because of an intelligence cascade. I'm thinking more of a PnP style fighter with fewer combat tricks but a little more utility and specialized damage.

In LOL terms we are probably looking at a sustained damage AD bruiser with a little bit of utility (like a heal or AoE aura).

How do I get to this?

1. Paladins are guys in heavy armor, sure. Full plate and a shield baby. Or full plate and a big sword. That's not the whole story though.
2. However they also have evil smiting skills as well as a holy avenger (bonus damage against evil). He can turn undead (make them go bye-bye), but not as well as the cleric can. He's not just a tank, even though he can do that, he's got decent sustained damage by wailing away with his sword every turn. Basically he's got specialized damage for the things that need killing.
3. Yes paladins have a healing skill and/or an aura of some kind. Maybe they've got a little magic, but it is more of an emergency back-up for the cleric in the team.
4. Don't ask me why they get a horse when they are running around in the narrow confines of a building or dungeon 90% of the time. I think that was a bad mechanic to reenforce the knight in armor shtick. However, a knight on horseback with a lance in the middle ages was the equivalent of a heavily armed tank with a huge ass cannon stomping your average soldiers into the ground.

So how do some of the current LoL champs stack up? - well, he's got a self heal, tank, and a smite but he's too much of a tank. He's not quite right

- she's tanky, does damage, has some utility in the form of a heal and variable CC, but she doesn't have the right theme overall which is the issue and her heals are too selfish. She's probably the closest one right now.

- she's got a smite, sustained damage, utility, she looks right... and she's an AP glass cannon. Nope.

- she's tanky (but not quite unless really fed). She has utility in the form of CC (no heals though). She looks right. Her ult screams smiting evil. But she's not a sustained damage dealer... her kit wants to be a CC assassin/bruiser, she plays like a knight charging in, but she's a support/tank.

- A dwarven paladin? Well she's tanky. She does damage and smites people with her Q (for now). She looks right for the job with the hammer and shield. Her charging in is about right for the knight charge idea. No utility so she doesn't pass muster. Her background could lend her to being a paladin of justice though.

- Well he's got armor. He's got a heal and a stun for utility. He's not a front-line damage dealer though. He's a worse PnP paladin than leona and more of an MMO style meatshield.

**So where does this leave us? ** I think for balance reasons, a Paladin is a tricky beast to pull off. I mean of the 6 champs I listed, not one of them builds a lot of AD aside from Irelia or Poppy. Irelia and Poppy can also build more as tanks with TF and aren't always full bruisers. 2 are stuck as support tanks (free Leona) which isn't right for a paladin. Leona can build bruiser in the top and jungle, but she doesn't go into those lanes much. Kayle is an AP glass cannon and is right out.

It feels like Riot is dancing around a paladin without getting the formula right.

So how could that be done? Well the easiest way is to give poppy a heal in her rework, overloading something if you have to. That might not be right for her because she's more of a dwarf warrior and not quite a paladin. Thematically... it might fit her nicely with her old backstory. Option 2 would be to encourage leona to be less of a support and more of a bruiser and maybe give her small AD scalings in addition to AP. Now she's popular as a support, but I would argue that's because she plays more like a bruiser and she is gold dependent like one too. However, she's in a good spot so I wouldn't mess with her on that alone. I think a switch would suit her well, but riot hate supports with a passion especially when they leave lane. The other champs wouldn't be as easy to tweak.

So what would I build a new paladin champ around? First I think I'd start with the following 4 things: tanky but not an MMO meat shield, sustained damage but not an ADC, some form of heal or utility maybe as an aura, and smite evil in the face with a big sword. They are also leaders or inspiring figures, you can't leave that out if possible. Build wise I think you'd make a champ who gets 2 defensive items, boots, two offensive items, and one optional item for the match. He shouldn't be too tanky such that he can only be a meatshield and his base damages should be low enough and his scalings just high enough that he can't be a full tank for his role.

Kit idea Passive - Every time you AA, allies near you gain X health. This would reinforce his role in the front line and take care of the heal.

Q - A damage spell on lowish CD (for the TF users) and resets your AA. Think Poppy's Q or Vi's E. I'd want to put a passive effect that scales off of AD to reinforce you aren't just a tank but that might be a bit much. Maybe bonus damage against enemy champs and the dragon/baron only?

W - I'd like to see a melee ranged stun or silence that's on a medium CD.

E - A hard engage skill like Leona's E, Poppy's E, or Vi's Q.

R - An active aura that gives nearby allies tenacity, armor, mr, and maybe a small shield or a heal if there isn't an AoE heal in the passive. This is a leadership aura that would work with the idea of a leader on the battlefield and give the right utility in the right skill slot. Paladin's need to be heroes and this would have the heroic leader feel to it... he'd be the guy in the front rallying people to him.