Why Divine Intervention is a typical Paladin spell

Man, some players are just too clever. Someone figured out a DI logout trick. Basically cast it on someone, have them logout, then have them log in when it's safe. Pretty good trick! Apparently doesn't work in Dire Maul though. Read the thread for more info on it. Read thread for more info.

As has been reported many times before, there's data on Thottbot suggesting that there's an alternative version of Divine Intervention in the works. How it got leaked isn't known. (there's also a healing aura on Thottbot, and this isn't the same aura from what the Paladin had in the beta either) Here's one of the new threads in discussing the improved Divine Intervention. It supposedly is going to change in to a resurrection skill that works after death, which is a huge improvement over what it is now.

Speakin about Divine Intervention, I've been in situations where this spell does the opposite effect of causing wipes. This is usually because I've casted it too soon and the party is without a healer, mobs/patrols still remain alive who then proceed to kill the healer when the timer of the DI runs out. Also I've been in situations where due to a bug the person who got it on them dies anyway.

Don't get me wrong. This spell are one of our best actually. When it works, it works absolutely wonderfully. It's very cool. The sad truth is that many Paladin players just don't care about this spell. I assume they discard it because the tool tip says you die when you cast it, "Why'd I like to cast a spell that makes me die?".

I've come to the conclusion that there are three areas that cause problems with this spell:

First reason: Let's say you're in a five-man and you want to use it on the Priest. Who in the group is most likely to die first? You-know-who! So if the Priest dies, the spell is useless. It's effectiveness is boosted in raid groups due to the fact that it's easier to tell whether you're about to wipe.

Second reason: Even if you've been able to cast it on a Priest, Paladin or even Druid, it's not certain that it will help you recover. First is the issue of trying to have your group die as fast as possible when it's been casted, making you scream your lungs off at them to race against the thirty second timer. I've been in situations when people just don't get this and instead try to run, shield up or heal themselves. It usually means disaster with a wasted wipe recovery and a wipe.

Third reason: And even if you've successfully been able to cast it on a Priest, Paladin or even Druid, it's not again certain that it will help you recover anyway. Because there's always the case where the DI target is too close to mobs or is in the path of a patrolling mob. When the 30 second timer runs out there's nothing else to do than to just watch things fail horribly.

I admire how the skill works. The Paladin is the toughest class to kill. So taking suicide and becoming a martyr is in line with the devoutness of the Silver Hand. It's also helpful for you to die when you cast this spell because when you've used it you want the party to die as fast as possible.

Also, isn't the spell itself ironic? The Paladin is supposed to sacrifice himself to save others, yet the entire basis of this spell is for you to hope your party dies, effectively having you rooting for their death. Is that really what the Paladin is supposed to be doing? Uther must be turning around in his grave!

Bottom line is that Divine Intervention is typical every other spell the Paladin has: not reliable. This is why I hope the thread above of the new Thottbot data is true, because it'd be a welcomed improvement.