So I am thinking about the idea of a halfling divine defender.
Does anyone know if the shared defense ability effects that divine defender or is it just the allies around him?
Divine defender looses mercy and has a divine bond that saves you less cash, since armor enchantments are cheaper than weapon. Is the archetype even worth it?
At 3rd level, a divine defender can spend one use of her lay on hands ability as a standard action to grant all adjacent allies (including paladins) a bonus.
Makes no mention of the defender him/herself, I'd say it only affects allies.
Divine Defender means the allies have to be adjacent to you to get the benefit; that might be of significantly less use if you don't have many fellow melee fighters, or if you have a rogue who spends his time away from you flanking and sneak attacking.
I'd suggest that the party would consider of more value your ability to use a mercy and cure a bevy of nasty and irritating conditions.
As for the armor divine bond... eh. They simply don't seem as much use as the weapon ones are.
Shared Defenses would not affect the paladin as it's adjacent allies only. Of course, at level 6 it looks like it might start to affect the paladin himself, as it then effects all allies in 10 feet. So maybe that's an indication that it's meant to affect themselves from the start too, although I'm not sure.
Thanks!
I kind of felt the same way. Giving up mercy just seems a little much for what you get, especially considering that with feats you can trade LoH for a raise dead. That instantly makes you everyone's best friend in PFS.