Fact:
Defenders and avengers are widely considered "inferior" to champions and monks for various reasons. Stats back this up.

Out of 21 paladins on PKSTATS from 2021-2022 (incl. Umbrand who's date is messed up), here are the numbers:
2 Avengers
5 Defenders
9 Champions
5 Monks

Of the Avengers (Ranil (19-15), Ahrloire (6-18)), they were a combined 25-33 in PK despite being played by extremely skilled, veteran players.

Of the Defenders, I personally played 2 of them (Umbrand, Theoduin). None of the other three (Ricen, Draethus, Hanrelagon) had a single PK win.

I think this shows that Avengers and Defenders definitely need some love.


Another fact:
The only paladin dedications with edges are defenders and avengers. Champs and monks have exactly zero, because the boosts that might be edges are built into the dedication.


My recommendations:
1. Incorporate those Avenger/Defender edges into the actual dedication, so that players don't feel obligated to select them to get the most out of their dedication (therefore missing the other paladin edges that champs/monks can take).
2. Add either bleeding or lag (or both) to angelswing when using a sword. Right now, sword gives nothing while h2h and mace both give perks (silence and minor maledict, respectively).
3. Increase the hit rate of Strike of Deliverance (and other strikes). It misses far too often when perfected, considering it is the only viable skill Avengers have against non-weapon-using enemies.