Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

That doesn't change anything, as it is a very dull & boring class to level up to 30.

The main benefit of Crusader has never been the permanent Holy Sword but the AC bonus combined with the free weapon focus feats : you get to be in the frontline without using a shield.

Going full Crusader rewards you with 2 more Shield AC than a Brooch of Shielding provides with no access to Tumble. A 26 Paladin / 4 Anointed Knight, for example, equals the Crusader's perceived AC superiority.

Brooch of Shielding + Tumble = 7 AC
Crusader + Tumble = 7 AC

In the very specific scenario of being in a situation in which classes with spells are unable to use their spells, the Crusader "shines," but then he'd be better off as a 30 Fighter.

On the plus side, if you have a cleric, wizard or druid with you and they buff you, you become something utterly disgusting and very much feared if you build your Crusader correctly. With divine shield, you can easily reach high 60's in AC, and as a full great smiter with keen and a Falchion,

If a Crusader has been built to Great Smite, it has not been built correctly. Further, a non-Crusader paladin with access to the same support will outperform the Crusader by virtue of stacking STR and CHA buffs and Paladin weapon buff spells, as we're now assuming access to spell casting.

Crusader, like the other paladin kits, should wrap up at level 20, which would allow for some diversity in builds and, perhaps, make them competitive with the other paladin kits.

1+19 crusader gaining permanent holy sword would be a much cooler thing.

Then it would have a fighting chance.

We have been begging for both better Holy Weapon scaling AND a reduction of Crusader to Level 20—like all the other Paladin Kits!!!!—for like a really long time.

viewtopic.php?f=443&t=67908&start=105

But what we’ve had to accept is that no changes happen on BGTSCC unless a Dev takes it upon themselves to do so (said volunteerism that fuels BGTSCC). Ao only knows of maybe Valefort will take pity on us and jump back into scripting and give us such a gift! Hi Valefort!!

Nonetheless, I for one am a yuuuge fan of the Crusader. As a player that just can’t stand buffing, the Crusader is always at near top potential, infinity. And then you get Divine Shield and EDM on top for bursts of awesomeness.

There are definitely more powerful combinations for Building a Paladin, but it requires Actions that are tedious and limited. I, for one, greatly appreciate a lower level of magic buffing required to have a “good time” and be viable in adventuring through the CRs of the Server.

But surely, better scaling, allows for at least SOME options for cross-classing, and at least, feeling like the leveling of a “pure” Crusader doesn’t lag along a few 3 level spreads.

Throwing cold water on this. I feel the Crusader kit is fine as is. Paladin class is already plenty strong and diverse. There is no reason to make "all paladins kits strong." Play Crusader for RP and it's all fine. And if we compare the Crusader kit to the Ranger's Hunter kit, Crusader is still way better imo than Hunter.

Or the pally vs the blackguard, for that matter...