First I'd like to note that I've been playing the PC version of Paladins since its release. I was primarily a third-person player (and to this day, I think Paladins is the best third-person PvP game ever created, and I'm utterly gutted that they took third-person out of the game; deciding instead to focus on the sub-optimal first-person experience, which is second-rate at best). For this reason, I don't have a ton of ranked experience under my belt (because I couldn't use third-person in ranked).

I've recently come back to the game and started a new account where I exclusively use gamepad to see how I fair. I prefer Paladins over games like Overwatch because of the depth the cards, store items, and more ability-focused gameplay provides. I'm trying to scratch that MMO-PVP itch, but I don't want to pay for WoW, and GW2 has horrible matchmaking. Oh, and healing out of combat (that alone makes Paladins better than Overwatch). I also prefer the larger hitboxes and comparatively less verticality/mobility to Overwatch (using a mouse in Overwatch, it's impossible to find a sensitivity that works for every close/far, air/ground, slow/fast engagement. You can't use gamepad in the PC version of Overwatch, because there's no crossplay).

What I've immediately noticed since switching to gamepad (and queueing for gamepad only) is that some combination of my game-knowledge/gamepad-skill/gamepad-settings - is resulting in a oppressive experience where I'm absolutely crushing and carrying nearly every game (it's happening in SMITE too). I'm able be a lot less "sweaty", refrain from giving myself carpel tunnel, and play the game at a more normal place... while still absolutely dominating using gamepad. Now, I'm perfectly aware that the game is probably still pairing me with newer players (I'm only level 12), and I'm aware that once I start playing ranked its going to get a harder. However, I still wanted to share my Tiberius build (which is different from what the pros play) because I think it's working wonderfully on gamepad regardless of my skill, and I like the concept behind it (even if it is technically sub-optimal).

The general idea behind this build is that Tiberius has a relatively slow auto-attack (especially if you're not traiting into Combat Trace) and his ultimate puts you into melee range (if you're not using it to escape/kite). So, it dawned on me, especially while playing on gamepad, that it made more sense to turn Tiberius into a bruiser.

The 5 points into Charisma are for the additional health. The reason you don't max-out Beast Slayer instead, is because both talents add 50 effective health, but Beast Slayer has an internal cooldown. The reason you don't ALSO max-out Beast Slayer, is because the other cards provide more marginal utility, and it's senseless to leave them all at level 1.

Having at least 3 points in Bragging Rights is important because bruisers thrive with self-sustain and it synergizes with Life Rip. Sure you don't have a lot of Bladed Chakrams, and they're kind of slow, but they hit like a truck, you can periodically speed them up, and they give you decent chunks of sustained healing.

The reason I put 2 points into Imbued Purpose is because this build runs the Tigron's Fury talent, which causes your Heavy Bade to explode on return. This fits the bruiser playstyle both technically and thematically. You regularly have this extremely hard-hitting sword you throw, that absolutely demolishes teams that clump, but also bursts your enemies down in duels. You're not spamming, like some full Bladed Chakram/Combat Trance build, but you're smacking enemies where it hurts with big damage, while being very difficult to kill.

The reason I put 3 points in Honed Senses is because, in a way, it's the lynchpin of the build. The reason I originally turned Tiberius into a bruiser, is because I noticed his ultimate ability seemed less impactful than other ultimate abilities on gamepad, and it essentially turned him in to a melee warrior; making it difficult to take advantage of. So I decided to front-load his survivability and sustain, but what's the point of doing that if you're rarely using the melee ultimate? Therefore, we throw 3 points into Honed Senses so we can use our ultimate more often, and so we can take advantage of our increased survivability while smacking enemies with our Striking Tigron and Whirling Blades.

As for the shop items, you level whatever you feel you need the most, but here's the idea behind what I've picked: You always want at least 1 point in Life Rip. It pairs perfectly with Bragging Rights and increases your self-sustain.

You always want to trait into Haven or Blast Shields, depending on the enemy team composition. Haven if they're mostly direct damage, Blast Shields if they're mostly AoE damage. You can attempt to trait into both if the enemy team has both damage types, but it ends up spreading you kind of thin. The reason these talents are necessary, is because you've already got insane survivability and sustain, so why not have more. Using these, you will be literally impossible to out-duel.

This survivability is then pushed even further with Cauterize. You already have 250 extra health, a 100 health shield, 45 healing chakrams + 20% life steal, 14% damage reduction, and now Cauterize allows you to reduce their healing/self-healing while you're ripping them apart. If an enemy kills you at this point, you're just bad at the game.

You can, of course, switch these Items out if you prefer. Kill to Heal is also great. Illuminate against Skye. I didn't have much luck with Wrecker or Chronos, but maybe you will. However, the talents I chose have been working best for me.

I don't really have any great insight into gameplay. You always want to land a few auto-attacks before you use Combat Trance/Heavy Blade. It's crazy the number of DPS/Flanks who will die with auto, auto, Heavy Blade, Heavy Blade Return, maybe another auto. You can auto-attack a few times, leap over the enemy, then hit them with Heavy Blade. When using Blade Dance, I prefer Striking Tigron over Whirling Blades. Whirling Blades does slightly more damage, but takes way too long to land, and it's clunky on gamepad. With Striking Tigron you can just instantly dash through the entire enemy team 5 times, dash through/to a single enemy 5 times, dash 5 times to escape, or any combination therein (Note: I do still use Whirling Blades from time to time). Oh, and last but not least, this build is somewhat reliant on landing your auto-attacks. You aren't traited into auto-attacks in any way (except for the healing on auto-attacks), so generally speaking, you need to be landing ~75%+ of your auto-attacks. My recommendation is to be a little more careful and planned when throwing out auto-attacks (like you would be with Lian or Cassie), rather than spamming them - especially when someone like Maeve is trying to duel you. Between your high damage auto-attacks, ability to speed up your auto-attacks, your reposition leap, and the burst from Heavy Blade, you're going to be outdueling all sorts of enemies who think they've gotten the drop on you (or who think they're about to kill you when BOOM).

Lastly, this build has been good against everyone so far. It does struggle a little bit against tanks with Haven. The only distinct counter I've noticed is possibly Evie. Often, a Evie will Ice Block to prevent herself from dying, I'll throw out a Heavy Blade, and I'll delete her the second she pops out of Ice Block. It's perfectly possible that a good Evie wouldn't make this mistake, but I haven't encountered a good Evie on gamepad yet. It's weak against Terminus simply because, so far, Terminus can singlehandedly carry any game on gamepad (if not because of you, because of your teammates). He's stupid OP, but of course, make sure you're attacking him from behind.