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BluetrackerHow to Fix the Paladin Dilemma
We still, as yet, have not received an adequate response from Blizzard regarding the fact that our role changes more drastically than any other class in endgame raiding. Though we still wear plate, we find ourselves standing at the back of raids thanks to the fact that our heals are efficient and generate little aggro, and we have nothing comparable to offer on the front lines. Here is what I would do to change that:
Make Consecration as it is now a trainable ability.
Move Holy Shock to the end of the Protection Tree as a second ability requiring 30 points in Protection. Remove its healing element and replace it with a threat generation modifier like Holy Shield has - say 20%.
In the place of Holy Shock, put Improved Consecration - requiring 30 points in the Holy Tree. Improved Consecration would cost the same amount of mana, but heal friendlies within the area of effect for 1.5 times the amount it deals as damage to enemies. At the top rank, that's 576 health over 8 seconds.
Move Repentance to the Holy Tree as a second talent requiring 30 points in Holy. In its place in Retribution, put a new aura - Haste Aura - that would burn 200 mana per tick to increase melee attack speed by 20% and casting speedy by 10% of all party members within 20 yards. If the Shaman class gets Bloodlust in some form, the addition of something like this to the Paladin class would become absolutely necessary for faction balance.
These changes would help to put Paladins back in their proper places on the front lines. Holy Paladins could stay up front casting Improved Consecration. Protection Paladins would have a more reliable means of grabbing aggro quickly and holding onto it if something gets loose. Retributions would be highly desireable in DPS groups up front, and actually get to beat on things and put talents like Vengeance to use.
Make Consecration as it is now a trainable ability.
Move Holy Shock to the end of the Protection Tree as a second ability requiring 30 points in Protection. Remove its healing element and replace it with a threat generation modifier like Holy Shield has - say 20%.
In the place of Holy Shock, put Improved Consecration - requiring 30 points in the Holy Tree. Improved Consecration would cost the same amount of mana, but heal friendlies within the area of effect for 1.5 times the amount it deals as damage to enemies. At the top rank, that's 576 health over 8 seconds.
Move Repentance to the Holy Tree as a second talent requiring 30 points in Holy. In its place in Retribution, put a new aura - Haste Aura - that would burn 200 mana per tick to increase melee attack speed by 20% and casting speedy by 10% of all party members within 20 yards. If the Shaman class gets Bloodlust in some form, the addition of something like this to the Paladin class would become absolutely necessary for faction balance.
These changes would help to put Paladins back in their proper places on the front lines. Holy Paladins could stay up front casting Improved Consecration. Protection Paladins would have a more reliable means of grabbing aggro quickly and holding onto it if something gets loose. Retributions would be highly desireable in DPS groups up front, and actually get to beat on things and put talents like Vengeance to use.
posted by Vaelin at 10:53:00 PM
5 Comments:
What purpose would repentance serve for healing, particularly in PvE raids? And taking repentance from ret ruins the viability of the stun+SoC mechanic, and thereby the PvP viability of the tree. Overall, your suggestions really weaken PvP to bolster PvE, specifically raid PvE. And since a mana-less paladin is a dead paladin, a spell that burns through your entire pool before you can judge four times enfeebles Ret even further. Overall, your panacea sounds more like a personal wish list.
The repentance move was more of an afterthought, it wouldn't have to be pushed out of Retribution. That being said, I don't think the changes would weaken the class in PvP.
The main reason our auras suck is because they cost no mana, can be changed instantly, and can't be purged off. You would have to use the Haste Aura wisely and at key moments when you need an edge, like during an Arathi Basin node assault.
Improved Consecration would also be great in PvP, healing your teammates while damaging the enemy. As for Protection, think about this from the warrior standpoint. Few warriors that prefer to PvP spec protection. Every class has trees that are better for one thing than another.
What about this instead ?
1) Make Consecration a Trainable Skill
2) Make Seal of Command a Trainable Talent
3) Remove Improved Devotion Aura
4) Add a 10% movement speed reduction to Judgement of Justice
Tree Changes
Holy
Move 11pt Talent to replace consecration.
Holy Shock (as per existing spec)
New 31pt Talent to replace Holy Shock
Improved Consecration
Will also heal Party members in range by x over 8 secs
Reasoning
Improved consecration, gives Paladin’s a Heal over time ability which is not overpowered & is still unique to the Paladin
Overall the Holy Tree is in pretty good shape already. These changes will allow a small change in the way Holy Paladins utilize their skills, It will also allow make a ranged pull available to a wider number of Paladins.
Protection
I’ll admit to being a little out of my depth here I’ve only specked into protection to get BOK but I hope these changes work
Move Tier 2 Talent to Tier 1
Improved Armour Protection
New Tier 2 Talent (replacing improved armour protection)
Magic Resistance (Arcane/Frost/Fire/Shadow/Nature)
Your natural resistance to magical effects is increased by 2/4/6/8/10 pts
Holy Shield
Move back to 21pt Talent
New 31pt Talent
Voice of Authority
Improves Party members Magical protection by X%, Increases the Casters threat generation by X% Instant Cast 10 sec Duration, 30 sec cooldown
Reasoning
Removing improved devotion aura is a no brainer really.
Improved armour protection is a pretty useful talent , well it helps us take damage.
Improved magic resistances will give Paladins more reason to stand in the front lines in higher level instances.
Voice of Heaven – This is trickier, we need something that helps hold mobs, but as Paladins are really a support class boosting party member’s protection albeit for a small amount of time could in given situations turn the tide of battle.
Retribution
Sanctity Aura – Replaces Seal of command as an 11pt Talent
New 21pt Talent to replace Sanctity Aura
Improved Seal of Command
Your seal of command will be 100% of Weapon damage, Flash of Light & Holy Light are only 50% effective whilst this seal is active.
Reasoning
Ok well moving Sanctity Aura to 11pts will give greater synergy to all forms of holy damage & with Seal of command becoming a trainable Talent people will still then have a reason just to go to 11pts in the retribution tree.
Improved Seal of Command – Yep on the face of it this is a straight up buff, but in reality it will reduce our survivability by adding an additional Cost for Healing .
Overall
I think these changes offer the opportunity for greater versatility for the Paladin particularly in a solo environment.
It gives an easier option for a ranged pull, something most of us want, but that in itself consumes a lot of mana.
It offers Healers a HOT spell (we are the only healing class that doesn’t have one)
It offers the Tanks a further threat generating mechanism whilst still boosting party support
It gives Retribution specked Paladins the opportunity to do more DPS at the cost of survivability.
I don’t believe these suggestions would allow the Paladin to replace the Warrior as main tank, Rogue as Damage Dealer or Priest/Resto Druid as main Healer.
Shaman are getting their talent review so I doubt these changes will cause a faction imbalance. I think for most Shaman the major concern is their PVE utility.
Before dismissing these changes as overpowered please consider that in order to benefit from them Paladins will have to trade versatility for a large amount of mana & therefore survivability. Hopefully that is where the balance is achieved.
This will sound a bit radical but how about:
Move lay on hands to the 31 point holy tree talent. Put it on a 10-15 minute cooldown.
Move Divine Shield to the 31 point protection talent. Cooldown remains the same, and weaponspeed debuff goes away. The paladin does not lose any hate while behind the shield, and perhaps there is even a small boost to healing spells (making a combat healer spec via the protection tree desireable).
Make conencration, holy shield, holy shock, repetence and seal of command all base skills. To replace them, a shield charge and shield bash go into protection, some type of damage spell goes into 31 point retribution, or a group buff as you described, in addition to vengence stacking up to three times. In holy we get conencration as an AoE heal, and perhaps a HoT?
All in all, the concept would be to get rid of the paladin being based around long timers in order to make them more viable in whatever aspect of the class they choose via talents.
Yeah I know it's crazy, and yeah I know it will never happen. ;)
Warning, pseudo-off-topic
As promised, the shaman review preamble and outline changes, from Eyonix:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-shaman&t=532462&s=blizzard&tmp=1#blizzard
(I was tempted to post the whole thing, but thought better of it).
Lookks interesting. Highlights include a buff to all 31pt talents, nerf to Windfury, and the usual talent consolidation. At first glance, it looks like it is much better than the Pally review, but I urge you to read for yourself and make up your own mind.
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