When I first decided to roll a Paladin, I had no interest in healing or tanking. I rolled one back in the days before Burning Crusade, back in the heyday of the Reck Bomb. The idea of having what seemed essentially like a Warrior who had access to spells and could self-heal was extremely enticing. I've also had a fascination with the Paladin ever since I played Final Fantasy IV (released here in the States as Final Fantasy II). I've had a Paladin in every game I ever played where it was possible to have one.
I used paladins to great effect when I played Warcraft 2, and as anyone who's ever played Warcraft 3 can tell you, paladins were central to the story (Arthas Menethil, better known these days as The Lich King, started out as a Paladin of the Silver Hand under Uther the Lightbringer, the original Paladin). Oddly enough, when I started playing WoW back in June of 2005, my first character wasn't a Paladin (I rolled Horde, and thus couldn't). However, as soon as I started playing as Alliance on a different server, I created one immediately.
I used paladins to great effect when I played Warcraft 2, and as anyone who's ever played Warcraft 3 can tell you, paladins were central to the story (Arthas Menethil, better known these days as The Lich King, started out as a Paladin of the Silver Hand under Uther the Lightbringer, the original Paladin). Oddly enough, when I started playing WoW back in June of 2005, my first character wasn't a Paladin (I rolled Horde, and thus couldn't). However, as soon as I started playing as Alliance on a different server, I created one immediately.
Finishing the character creation process, I was filled with excitement -- I had a big two-handed mace, just as the paladins in Warcraft 3 did. A few moments later I was outside of Northshire Abbey and off on my first quest. I hit the trainer, and had high hopes! I was only level 2, and already had Devotion Aura and Holy Light, two abilities pulled directly from Warcraft 3. This could only get better. As I leveled though, I began to wonder, "where are my special attacks?" I had Judgment, sure, but that was a spell. I'd already played a Rogue and a Warrior, so I expected to get some kind of special attack that would do additional damage, as my other characters had. Sadly, my expectations were quickly dashed.
After a small side-trip on the internet to research Paladin abilities, I was distraught. "No special attack? Just spells?" It got worse. More research turned up another disturbing fact: all paladins do in endgame raids is heal. "This can't be right," I thought. "There were better damage dealing heroes in Warcraft 3, but the Paladin was an amazing support character, capable of healing, raising their fallen allies, and enhancing defensive capabilities all while dealing respectable damage." With no special attacks or damage dealing spell (other than Judgment, which doesn't always damage your target), the prospect of leveling up looked grim.
Paladins are the only class in the game with such a distinct disadvantage when it comes to damage dealing (as Zach talked about in detail here). Seal of Righteousness helps early on (as does Seal of Command later, if you go Ret), but neither are true substitutes for a special attack or a harmful spell -- all you've got is auto-attack and Judgment. One could argue that Shaman have a similar handicap, but Shaman have access to Lightning Bolt and Shocks (similar to damage dealing Judgments, but on a shorter cooldown and they all deal damage).
I don't expect a Paladin's melee options to match a Rogue's or even a Warrior's, but auto-attacking and praying for SoC to proc is no way to fight. I'm well aware that Crusader Strike is available (at 50, with talents), and that helps, but it doesn't make up for the fact that the other pure melee classes (rogues and warriors) either start with an instant attack, or get one at least 10 levels earlier than paladins do.
Unfortunately, I can't really think of anything we could get that wouldn't cause our other abilities to go under scrutiny (the last thing we need is a nerf). Adding an instant attack or 'on next attack' special that's available earlier on might be seen as overpowered when combined with Judgment and Seals.
Retribution paladins have come a long way -- well played and well geared ones can put out some great damage and be a viable option to fill a DPS slot in a party or raid, and with the introduction of Patch 2.4, it's likely they'll see another boost due to better itemization.
Protection paladins are some of the finest tanks around (they are my favorite by far, but then again, I'm a bit biased). Their health issue has been addressed, and should be looked at not as an alternative, but as a fine choice for a main tank. Gimmicky fights may be more difficult, but they can tank anything -- a fact which has been proven multiple times now.
Holy paladins are getting a boost to Holy Shock in 2.4, as well as access to a trinket which seems tailor made for Paladin healing (Vial of the Sunwell). A trinket can't truly make up for the lack of instant heals, but between the improved Holy Shock and this trinket, at least there are some options open for instant healing (every 15 seconds / 2 minutes, anyway). The resilience change that lessens the effects of mana burns should help those who like to PvP, since draining a Paladin's mana pool seems to be a popular tactic in arenas. In PvE situations they're as strong as they ever were, but I've never really liked the idea of paladins as a pure healer. I always saw their role being much as it was in Warcraft 3 -- melee combatants who strengthen their allies and are able to heal if necessary. I won't lie, I have healed full time with my Paladin before, but I don't think I could ever go back to it. Protection is too much fun, and is much closer to my vision of the class.
Despite all the problems and hardships I've had with the class, I still love it. I've got high hopes for the future of the class (especially heading into the next expansion... really can't wait to see those expanded talent trees), and I'm excited that the reborn Order of the Silver Hand seems to figure prominently in Wrath of the Lich King. I can't ever imagine a day where I wouldn't want to play my Paladin.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
3-19-2008 @ 7:05PM
Bretac said...
Seems to me like Protection paladins are the ones usually happy with how the class is. I suppose its because they have their own, clearly-define niche in PvE and don't have to worry about being viable in PvP.
Holy paladins used to have their niche, but it has become seriously diminished due to other healers being incredibly buffed and Arena combat highlighting the inherent flaws of no instant heals and 1 school of magic.
Retribution has been somewhat buffed in 2.3 and 2.4, but the problem is they've all been minor changes, the changes have been coming too slowly, and the changes usually break something else as a result. Minor fixes aren't going to help a spec that is fundamentally handicapped due to game mechanics, meaning something just short of a complete overhaul is needed to get Ret on par with other DPS specs.
I just wish they could fix some of it right now, beyond itemization, instead of pushing it off to the next expansion.
Reply
3-19-2008 @ 7:06PM
Deuce said...
You also missed...
1. The only physical DPS class that cant duel wield.
2. The only class without a universal ranged attack.
3. The only healing class without a HOT or a group heal.
Reply
3-19-2008 @ 11:16PM
Josh said...
1. The only physical DPS class that cant duel wield.
Besides druids.
3-19-2008 @ 11:19PM
Josh said...
In addition, druids are the only tank that can't parry or block.
Even though bear/cats mobs can.
3-20-2008 @ 9:31AM
Jusk said...
They are also the only class that has viable 2handed DPS.
3-19-2008 @ 7:08PM
Soriel Angelfyre said...
having leveled both a prot pally, and a holy pally, and working on a ret pally (level 58 as of typing this....wooooohoo outland) heres my 2 cents....
what i would like to see (and honestly doubt i ever will) would be for them to make crusader strike a baseline ability (at level 40 would make sense, but honestly i dont see it gamebreaking at 20 or 30 either....) and change the talented "strike" to a Holy strike that deals something along the lines of 75 to 80 percent of weapon damage as holy damage. i personally dont see this ever happening...but i can dream cant i?
as for holy pallies, getting access to at least a single instant heal (other than holy shock....which i feel requires a better animation for it) or even a heal over time spell would be wonderfull....finding a way around the fact that all a pally can do is holy school magic would be nice too (being silenced/spell locked sucks)
prot pallies....well...i could do the standard bitch and moan about how they could use more stamina on thier gear....and how they cant cause as much threat in single target (or spell based encounters) but i also realize that they do have thier own niche to a degree....what i would like to see though is, if single target/spell based encounters dont become less of an issue for them....then have some way they can contribute in those battles (ya...they can heal...and auto-attack and hope for a bit of damage, that is if they happen to have some healing/damage gear on them....ahh bagspace....the bane of my existance)
overall personally i like where pallies are going thus far, but they could (and should) be so much more, i cant wait to see the changes that come in wrath.
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3-20-2008 @ 11:17AM
p-diddy said...
re: crusader strike: didn't they just switch it from holy damage to melee damage solely because we ret pallies were all crying how it didn't make sense to have a spell damage-oriented crusader strike when the whole tree is melee-damage oriented (and thus people weren't geared for spell damage)?
3-19-2008 @ 7:11PM
Jordrah said...
well i think there is a problem with a melee/caster hybrid class in a game where all the classes compete against each other. in this sort of situation all classes need to have strengths and weaknesses (obviously) if you think about all the classes in wow they generally have their own individual strengths and weaknesses ex: mages deal lots of dmg (or are supposed to :\) but are very fragile and very reliant on mana.
the main classes have their obvious strengths and weaknesses, but the hybrid classes are harder to balance against the others since they have the ability to do fit more than one of the roles. a shaman for example can be seen as a priest/mage and warrior/rogue hybrid and doesnt really have the weaknesses of any of the classes (on paper). they wear mail armor so they arent as fragile as priests and mages, they have ranged spells that make them effective casters so they dont have to take the risk that comes with being in melee range, and if you do get to their melee range they are wearing mail and are able to engage in melee combat more effectively than a mage or a priest AND they can heal themselves on top of all that. where is the weakness? they of course have them in the game, but they are underpowered precisely to prevent them from being as overpowered as they sound on paper.
i dont really think hybrids can be balanced well with the other main classes because of that and i think they will be doomed to either be underpowered or overpowered (which will lead to alot of QQ and cause them to get nerfed). i dont really think they will stay one way or the other for long though because the OP or UP statues of classes in WoW is cyclical.
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3-19-2008 @ 7:17PM
George M. said...
We just need more Badges for Gear. We are the most gear dependent class in the game.
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3-19-2008 @ 7:45PM
Rob.D said...
Every class is gear dependent. The difference in the case of paladins is that the paladin's baseline abilities are so underpowered that they need large amounts of gear (and be spec'd into the role to be filled) to even be viable, and once that is the case, they are still underpowered by the same offset, it is just less apparent. Gear is only mitigation against broken class mechanics. For paladins it very difficult to fill any "hybrid" role because they are so dependent on gear and spec to fill any one role well, except in the case of trivial content for their overall level of gearing.
3-19-2008 @ 7:55PM
Wulfhere said...
You're the most gear dependent class? Seriously? More so than shamans or druids? How many sets do you actually need?
Do you actually play the game?
3-19-2008 @ 10:00PM
midknight150 said...
Actually when you get down to it, we have more gear sets than shaman and just as many as druids. Like druids we have 4 viable specs; Heal, Prot, Ret and the hybrid holy spec commonly called shockadin. To perform optimally each requires different gear, furthermore with the changes to Ret gear a shock set is getting harder to amass as spell damage disappears from plate (arena gear being the only epic plate I know of with spell power and no defensive stats.)
3-19-2008 @ 11:13PM
Jordrah said...
as Rob said we're the most gear dependent class because our baseline abilities are so underpowered. we need holy shield as well as the stamina boosting talents to tank, we need illumination and holy guidance as well as the crit talents to heal, and we need vengeance and crusader strike as well as fanaticism and the crit talents to dps. a baseline pally cant fit any of the roles as well as a baseline druid or shaman.
and as midknight said we have as many sets as a druid for tanking, healing, and 2 for dps (melee and holy). even for tanking we can have more than 1 or 2 sets: one for bosses, one for trash and one for aoe.
if we were given holy shield and crusader strike as baseline abilities and given new talents that, instead of being required to do our jobs, supplemented our ability to do them then we wouldnt be as gear dependent.
3-20-2008 @ 9:00AM
Angus said...
Actually when you get down to it, we have more gear sets than shaman and just as many as druids. Like druids we have 4 viable specs; Heal, Prot, Ret and the hybrid holy spec commonly called shockadin. To perform optimally each requires different gear.
Enhancement set, PVE: Check.
Elemental set, PVE (and PVP): Check.
Resto set, PVE (and PVP): Check.
That shockadin set is no different than a PVP set of us.
Either way, Shaman are in much of the same waters as a Paladin. No HoT, Instant is on a CD (Or is ES and vulnerable to a lot of counters). We also have long cast time for group heals making them horrible in arena as we also have a single school lockout issue.
I'm in a lot of badge gear and will continue to be as the itemization on DPS mail is for hunters.
3-20-2008 @ 1:12PM
George M. said...
For the record I have 2 Paladins. One Holy, one Prot. On weekend I spec Ret for Honor in Battlegrounds. I have 4 sets of gear for each Paladin. Holy, Prot, Ret and a Spell Damage Set.
3-19-2008 @ 7:25PM
Othey said...
I too rolled a paladin very early on and expected the same things, as I think many did. Got a big two handed mace, cool auras, and a holy light spell. I expected seals to be something "extra" that would augment instant attacks for a little more damage.
The holy tree became my least favorite tree because of all the healbotting I did for years. I felt kinda tricked (not purposely of course) by Blizzard as I was forced into the back of raids.
I too hold onto the hope that things will change for the better in WotLK. If some paladins love their holy roles, that's fine, and I seriously hope we get another healing spell in the expansion (we were the only healing class to not get one last round), but for me, I think the paladin class needs a revamp along it's "melee hybrid" origins.
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3-19-2008 @ 8:30PM
mark said...
Shaman did not get a healing spell either.
3-19-2008 @ 9:34PM
Heilig said...
Earth Shield
3-20-2008 @ 12:56AM
mark said...
We already had Earth Shield before BC.
The only thing we got in BC was Water Shield, which is a mana regen, not healing.
3-20-2008 @ 8:28AM
Kaylek said...
Chain heal.