I have mained Bulwark since launch. I was one of the folks initially upset when Focus\Saber announced that they were doubling the cooldown of Invigorating Icon. I then saw the comment from Saber saying that they never really meant for Bulwark to be a healer or THE healer. First, I want to say thanks to Saber for being so transparent. Due to Saber's comment, I rethought how I viewed Bulwark as a class. I believe the intention was for Bulwark to be the shield and front line of the squad. He currently achieves this goal, but not as impactful as the current "healer" trait using Invigorating Icon. I suggest we kill two birds with one stone, by giving Bulwark the Iron Halo. A lot of folks would like Bulwark to have the Iron Halo to fit with lore accurate gear. We could give Bulwark the Iron Halo both as a cosmetic and ability to readjust his class to fit its original purpose. Bulwark having an Iron Halo to simply be used by other squad members (since Bulwark doesn't use range weapons often) would add team synergy and cooperation and also make Bulwark more of the "Shield" of the squad. All classes could benefit from a Bulwark who places a Banner down that gives gradual armor segments, possibly damages enemies, buffs Damage and Damage Resistance by 20% for 20 % longer AND an Iron halo to give all squad members a shield from ranged damage would really help change the class away from the "Healer".

I once took an off build for Bulwark that was about planting the banner on hordes to have a rally point where we all did more damage, had ranged resistance that enabled the banner to last 20% longer and had a dot to wittle the minoris down overtime. Apparently, that was the incorrect build to take as I should have thought about being a team player rather than being slefish for not wanting to just be a Healwark and play the class as it was meant to be. A supportive tank. Not a heal bot.

I'm not sure that replacing the Bulwark's ability with the Heavy's would quite give you the effect your looking for. But I think I understand what you're saying, helping to absorb damage for your teammates is the goal, right? So let's go over what we know;

The Heavy's Role is to hang back and lay down massive fire in the back, and protect any other ranged classes near them. Likewise the Bulwark is up in the from lines with the melee supporting them. The main differences I can see are that, the Heavy's Iron Halo moves with them and straight up absorbs ranged damage, where as the Bulwark's Banner is immobile and restores armor. Both can have extra effects that can change on perks selected, but the baseline effect of each remains intact regardless of modifiers. 

Having the banner does hamper it's effectiveness given how chaotic Melee combat can get, but there are a few options to get around this. Either a perk to increase the banner's range or make it travel with the bulwark in some way might help alleviate that issue. Then if they changed Glory's Shield to reduce all damage instead of just ranged damage, that might help a bit more with reducing damage. 

Alternatively if you dislike that idea, maybe there could be a perk to produce an energy field (smaller than the heavy's) in front of the Bulwark's Shield as they block, absorbing damage. Would definitely give the Bulwark a more "party tank" vibe, but would involve completely changing the ability. It'd kind of be like a mini-Reinhardt from Overwatch, if you've ever played that.

So long winded analysis/rambling aside, there's plenty of other options to make the Bulwark feel more defensive than just swapping it's ability to Iron Halo. But then again, I think if you're suggesting a class overhaul, maybe try and make into an idea and post it in that section? Either way hopefully something I said helps in someway, and apologies if not.

P.S. If/When they add the Apothecary Class, any healing on the Bulwark might be reduced, if not removed. Would definitely help remove the "Healer" allegations.

I've always thought the Heavy's ability has been an odd one. While it is useful, I tend to find it best to use when reviving people. Other than that certain perks mean it's best used to increase damage (Overwhelming Power) and have nearby players get their abilities back faster (Conversion Field), ranged damage absorption isn't my main use for Iron Halo. One of the Ordeals that's hard for me to do as a Heavy is Strength of Arms (absorb ranged damage) as I don't actually get shot enough. Other players are usually at medium or melee range and I'm providing the firepower at a distance. If I want to reach 10k damage absorption I actually have to force myself into situations where I'll get shot at, otherwise I don't end up using Iron Halo that often.

It'd make sense if a shield-like ability such as Iron Halo would have been better for the Bulwark and some sort of armour restoration / healing would have been given to a class like an Apothecary or something. Something that increases ranged damage and accuracy would have made a lot more sense to me. Unfortunately we aren't going to get any changes or new classes now. Hopefully that's something we'll see in SM3.

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Scarbeus wrote:

It'd make sense if a shield-like ability such as Iron Halo would have been better for the Bulwark and some sort of armour restoration / healing would have been given to a class like an Apothecary or something. Something that increases ranged damage and accuracy would have made a lot more sense to me. Unfortunately we aren't going to get any changes or new classes now. Hopefully that's something we'll see in SM3.

It didn't really occur to me to replace the Heavy's Ability with something else, all I could think of was how strange it would be to see a Heavy plant down a banner. But now that giving the Bulwark Iron Halo, and the Heavy a new ability, I'd be much more on board with that. Like you said, a Focus Fire aura or something like that could be cool, and encourage ranged folks to stay together. Or maybe an ability to call in some Heavy Ordnance like a bombing run or a giant mortar shot? Either way now I'm intrigued, great idea Brother!

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Barricade133 wrote:

I once took an off build for Bulwark that was about planting the banner on hordes to have a rally point where we all did more damage, had ranged resistance that enabled the banner to last 20% longer and had a dot to wittle the minoris down overtime. Apparently, that was the incorrect build to take as I should have thought about being a team player rather than being slefish for not wanting to just be a Healwark and play the class as it was meant to be. A supportive tank. Not a heal bot.

See I don't mind that at all.  The times(not many but there have a been a few) that someone runs something like that the team has done well.  Many times at the start of a fight the bulwark would run to the largest grouping of enemies and drop banner.  It would save the team armor and health and get rid of a large portion of whatever we were fighting.  Using the banner early meant that it had time to recover more for the next encounter.  Was nice rather than the bulwark waiting with the banner for a big heal on someone.  It would change my fighting style during the operation too.  Knowing the bulwark was doing that rather than heal I would rally to where the bulwark was fighting knowing the banner would be coming out frequently.