Since the devs recently said theyre looking to change the banner and remove the healing (which i am very much in favor of), I thought maybe the possibility of a new ability altogether is possible.

Ive mained bulwark since the beginning, over 300 hrs in the game and lvled all classes to 25, (rly looking forward to prestige)

and it really feels like the banner is the only ability in the game that doesnt boost the classes combat effectiveness. Tactical has an area dmg tool, assault and vanguard has a mobility and dmg tool, sniper has a repositioning and get out of jail free tool, and heavy has an ability to rain down fire without retaliation tool. Bulwarks banner stands out in the sense that it doesnt boost the bulwarks combat effectiveness. While it might allow u to hit around u mindlessly for a short while, that isnt the optimal thing to do when surrounded as bulwark, ud rather get the parry dmg, or potentially build up block charge, both of which would make the banner redundant. If you remove the healing from the banner, would it even really be used much? and to how much success? the illusion of safety can often be more dangerous then the danger and make a good player make bad mistakes. 

PERSONALLY, ive never been a fan of the banner, and thought a more selfish active ability or potentially a buffing ability would be cooler. 

my two suggestions are:

1:

True strike: The bulwark makes one heavy swing with his melee weapon for massive dmg. Short cd or multiple charges, could tie multiple cool perks into this to really create build diversity, also rather simple to animate, yet still an impactfull and fun ability.

(Im also for giving assault and bulwark a healing perk similar to vanguard, especially if the healing for bulwark is removed, in which case i believe one could make "killing, or putting an enemy into execute state with this ability heals bulwark for X" a good sustain perk, alas this post isnt about that, just wanted to mention)

2:

immovable fortress: The bulwark raises his shield and embodies the emperors strength to become immune to knock backs and dmg from the front for X seconds, the bulwark can use his melee weapon normally in this state. 

while this might be a bit weird to animate, im sure there are good ways to pull it off. Personally i believe either of these options would really bring home the "palading, frontline fighter vibe"

Let me know if u agree or disagree!