Paladins are pretty much shit in raids. Their utility doesn't really stack, and 90% of it is rendered obsolete by the presence of a cleric which is guaranteed. They have Brell's and really weak heals, neither of which make a serious difference. An SK can offtank just as well while also taking on the role of FD puller, and do okayish DPS when not tanking, both of which are vastly superior to whatever a paladin can do.
The way to look at it is this: in what situation will any raid ever miss a paladin? When would they ever feel hindered by the absence of a paladin? You might bring one for Brell's, that's it, and that doesn't really make the whole class any good. You could just bring a buff bitch alt if it came to that, the actual presence of the paladin is largely pointless as they do nothing well. However, the SK fills one of the most crucial roles in the game, and the value of having a tank doing the FD pulling is not to be underestimated.
The only situation where I would ever even consider picking a paladin if I had other options is if I was taking a group to a place where CRing is a bitch and the healer is a druid or shaman. The ability to rez people is useful when your group is parked at the bottom of Sebilis. In terms of actual performance, paladin is basically the worst class in the game alongside ranger, one is just slightly more of a tank while the other leans towards DPS. They're like two sides of the same shitty coin, the two worst classes in this era by some distance.
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