There weren't very many exciting things for
Paladins at the
Worldwide Invitational Panel earlier today, and this reflects the development we've seen leak out from the
Wrath of the Lich King Alpha. The sneak peek of the Alpha showed that while most classes have proposed talents and abilities mapped out, there's still very little work done for Paladins. This doesn't mean Blizzard isn't thinking about the class, though. In fact, from the few things they've mentioned, it looks like they're moving in the right direction.
- Confirming something the Paladin community has known for quite some time now -- Retribution itemization
blows is very poor. They're moving itemization for Retribution Paladins to share items with Death Knights and Warriors. This means future Retribution items will have no Intellect on them... could this herald some Strength as mana mechanic?
- UPDATE: Also on the Retribution Paladin front, Blizzard mentioned during the Q&A that Retadins will have their group utility increased by making them more efficient DPS-wise. No details on exactly how, but this little bit of information should send a thrill down the spine of every 2-hander swinging Paladin out there.
- Hand of Purity is a new "reactive healing" spell for Paladins, something that the oft-maligned 'two-button healers' sorely need. It will work as a clutch Prayer of Mending-type spell. Will it be instant cast? As the two staple heals of a Paladin unenviably have casting times, maybe this new spell will actually be something to thank the Light for. Having another healing spell to cast during encounters should be a real blessing.
- Speaking of blessings, overlapping Blessings have always been a problem with Paladin support, with active Blessings like Blessing of Freedom and Protection overwriting passive Blessings already on the target like Blessing of Kings. Blizzard plans to allow these spells to be non-exclusive and rename them. Not much, but it definitely addresses existing issues.
These changes aren't as exciting as a Warlock's Demon Form (or Illidanform, as Blizzard staffers jokingly call it), or a Warrior's Titan's Grip, the changes show that Blizzard knows what's wrong with the class and is serious about fixing it. So while there hasn't been any major news like a new
tanking tree for
Hunters or greater
Arena viability for
Priests, we're hoping to see more exciting stuff for Paladins!
WoW Insider is on the ground in Paris at the Blizzard Invitational bringing you the big announcements and latest Wrath news as it happens. Check out our latest coverage!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
6-28-2008 @ 1:34PM
Nightsbane said...
F you blizzard. you didnt bother beta testing paladins in the original wow beta and it looks like your not going to do anything worth a damn in the WotLK alpha/beta
F you Blizzard!
Reply
6-29-2008 @ 5:22AM
Ichthus said...
Paladins have fairly different mechanics on game play than a lot of other classes. Shamans were in a bigger hole than Paladins. Hunter pets have been screwy for a while.
Paladins, overall, are decently stable even if they aren't OMGAWESOME!!!!1!!1. Paladins can get parties most of the time, just not as ret. They're talking about improving/fixing that. Just because they haven't announced something doesn't mean they're not going to do something about it.
Basically, grow up, shut up, and wait until it actually reaches beta. Alpha means that 'not all features implemented'. Beta means 'all features implemented, but not necessarily working right'.
6-28-2008 @ 3:37PM
Shinkou said...
@ Ichthus
Right now I'd say we're about average to a little below average as far as Holy goes. We've got great mana regen thanks to our crit mechanics but as for overall healing there's much more to be wanted. Two spells? Not even a HoT or group healing spell? C'mon Blizz.
Currently my guild is in SWP content and as an officer and Paladin lead I'd much rather have some resto shamans, CoH priests, and resto druids in the raid than 2-3 Paladins. I've heard of some guilds having paladins in the raid outside in group 6 just so they can buff whenever the raid needs.
From Kara to most of Hyjal Paladins are great but beyond that in which the overall raid starts taking large amounts of damage single target healers like us just can't keep up as well. Don't get me wrong, we're amazing single target healers but other than that... eh. Same goes for pvp. All you need is to have a rogue kick, mage CS, hunter silence shot and we're pretty much done since nearly everything we need and use is in that one tree alone.
Overall I'm hoping that Hand of Purity will help us with those problems and for Christ's sake make aura's raid wide just like Shaman totems. Otherwise, I'll be switching back to my Priest in WoTLK or rerolling a Resto Shaman.
6-28-2008 @ 1:38PM
Germ said...
There better be exciting stuff for paladins! There better be!
Reply
6-28-2008 @ 1:39PM
Nightsbane said...
unlikely, shaman gets raid wide totems, raid wide unleashed rage, windfury for all melee now, redone weapon enchants that help melee and healing and caster dps. we dont get shit
6-28-2008 @ 1:38PM
paladin said...
Well, I hope they address some inherent design issues. For example, Seal and Judgement of Command scaling with spell damage (look it up on wowwiki.com). The superiority of Seal of Blood over Seal of Command. Abilities like Exorcism, Holy Wrath, Consecration and so on that scales only with spell damage, we still don't have an AP to SD talent like Shamans now have. Chronic mana issues, often when I raid I always bring at least 40 mana pots to ensure I don't run out of mana and yes I chug em by the minute.
Make Exorcism and Holy Wrath usable on Humanoids, yes I said it! :D
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6-29-2008 @ 2:02PM
summerty said...
Mana problem? Pick up Alchemy, get the trinket with +40% return from mana pot, and stack Int. Spiritual Attunement and shadow priest in group help a lot too.
6-28-2008 @ 2:03PM
Anenome said...
This is utter BS. I've been waiting to see if they would do anything with paladins before deciding to give up my prot pally to go Deathknight, seems pretty clear that Blizz's attitude towards paladins is still that they suck and will always suck.
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6-28-2008 @ 2:44PM
BigFire said...
As the old jokes goes, since no one at Blizzard DEV plays Paladin, they really don't know what to do with the class. This tradition looks to continue in the expansion.
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6-28-2008 @ 2:48PM
Witty said...
Like most of the previous posters, I'm also disapointed with with the lack of attention that the paladin class is recieving. However, I don't think we need any loladin protest as of yet. We are still about 6+ months away from getting our hands on the expansion and God only knows what Blizzard will do in that time span.
I'm just saying don't start your QQ'ing just yet.
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6-28-2008 @ 2:56PM
Joseph said...
Wow, I had really been holding my breath for the WWI hoping to see some of the new Paladin changes released, but nothing. Absolutely nothing.
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6-28-2008 @ 4:51PM
Heleth said...
If this is really all they've got to show by release my raid will have one less blessing. This is pathetic.
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6-28-2008 @ 7:03PM
Menalaous said...
They keep saying that they are wanting to move in the direction of WC3 for warriors, do it for pallys! With the introduction of Death Knights ( the arch-rival of a Paladin and their direct opposite in Warcraft) it seams we should see some use of the DK to balance the Pally. Or even some way to make ret slightly more offensive making the pally a little more leveling friendly. I love my pallies, but between 25-40 life gets lets say, dull
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6-28-2008 @ 8:46PM
Tim Grussing said...
WTF warriors get to duel weild 2h weapons and what does ret get? some better itemization? fuck u blizzard.
THEY DUEL WEILD 2H WEAPONS!
Reply
6-30-2008 @ 11:38AM
Wulfhere said...
The word is 'dual'. We're not attacking our own weapons.
Seriously, if you guys ever wonder why paladins have such a bad rap, you might want to check the tone of these posts. Every time any other class gets anything, paladins want something too. Rogues get Cheat Death, what about paladins? Shamans get much needed improvements, what about paladins?
Warriors got pretty heavily shafted by rage normalization while you got awesome improvements to your tanking viability, I didn't hear a lot of 'what about warriors' out of you then. Suck it up now.
6-28-2008 @ 8:56PM
twh said...
These sound like things paladins should have gotten two years ago.
Where are the paladin buffs?
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6-28-2008 @ 9:44PM
Iwanttobeasleep said...
The first note is something that's already been announced, informally, and with less detail. We knew they were going to use the same gear as warrs, so I suppose it was reasonable to expect there would be something new to do with mana since that'd rule out int, even if that was never discussed.
The third one is, well, decent, but downright irrelevant. It's not an announcement to get excited for the new expansion, it's a patch note.
Admittedly, the second one I am cautiously optimistic about, but it still doesn't compare. When the other classes got fixes, they were awesome and epic and made the class cool. This just makes paladins more functional.
This is totally disappointing because paladins could play such an awesome part of the new expansion. We're the enemy of the undead, and Wrath is all about the undead! How about an anti-undead buff? Or a new anti-undead spell? Why not a holy avatar, or a holy form? Or go really cool and work in a way to melee and heal that's better than Judgment of Light (because at that point, if you're not using Crusader to buff your DPS, you might as well use Wisdom for your casters to enjoy).
Not to mention the seal/judge system needs a bit of a rework, particularly to keep up with the buffs other classes are getting.
So, yeah, fuck you Blizzard, this had better be the one Panel you attended hungover and fucked up.
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6-29-2008 @ 5:19AM
Angus said...
Okay folks, look at it this way.
You have 2 classes at 60% of where other classes are.
So, do you make those classes go to 100% with the buffs in the expansion and then work on the classes at 100% and give them buffs?
Or, do you make the other classes have incredible buffs and give them buffs, THEN get the 60% classes up to 100% of the new standard.
Shaman got some pretty good buffs. But if they had done this in TBC we'd be up to par. I am thinking if they follow through and don't screw things up, we might have have shaman close to equal to others.
Now, if they are waiting to get Paladins set, and get them up to 100% AFTER the other classes have the new standard, perfect.
I just hope they aren't stupid.
I won't hold my breath though. =(
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6-29-2008 @ 5:20AM
Ensane said...
seems like a reroll to me.. though i liked paladins.
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6-29-2008 @ 5:21AM
Angel said...
Really dissapointing! I play a paladin for 3 years and we always get the left overs... We get nothing! not even leftovers! As other classes get a lot but decide to take the left overs too :D
I mean Blizzard common!
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