USA
EU
Korea
BluetrackerBecause Paladin is Bigger than WoW
I present to you an update on a front that I've been keeping a close eye on, especially since Blizzard has expressed a desire to nerf the last remaining bastion of fun left in a Ret Paladin's arsenal - burst damage.Gamespot just put out a great article on the Warhammer Online's Warrior Priest class.
Along with much of the same promising news we've been hearing, this article brings us some of the first screenshots and gameplay footage of the Warrior Priest. The inset picture is itself cropped from one of the screenshots found within the article.
I've heard that the developers at Mythic are not permitted to play WoW, so as to prevent consistently drawing comparisons. Clearly they have not been prevented from surfing the WoW forums or related websites (perhaps even humble PaladinSucks.com). The article is chock full of music to the ears of this disgruntled former Ret Paladin (who still refuses to spend a point in Holy out of protest, even if it is the strongest and perhaps the only viable option for general gameplay). I'll just give you the opening bit, and let you delve within for more juicy details:
GameSpot: The big reveal this time around is the warrior priest class. Give us an overview of this character and its abilities.
Steve Marvin: The warrior priest is a follower of Sigmar and comes of age in the Empire, the human lands savagely beset by the forces of Chaos. He is part churchman, part soldier, part healer, and part justiciar. His realm, his race, and most importantly his faith are all in danger of extinction at the hands of a ravening evil flood of appalling monstrosities. He is the levee that will hold back that dark tide. This is no Friar Tuck; the warrior priest strides to the front line, singing the praises of Sigmar and inspiring his fellow soldiers to hold fast. His is a grim responsibility, and the only times he smiles is as his hammer slams a creature of Chaos to the ground.
Warrior priests revel in combat, with their blessed hammers sanctifying each blow to the greater glory of Sigmar and his inevitable triumph over darkness. As his faith and righteous fury rises within him, his god fills him with the power to heal and bless those who join him in his struggle. There is no sight like that of a warrior priest in the thick of combat, dispensing death to his foes and life to his allies.
His blessings deliver health, morale, and strength to all of those within range of his voice, which seldom halts in its righteous soliloquy. Any who stand close to a warrior priest for even a few moments feel their bodies refreshed and their faith renewed. In the height of his faith and fury, he can call upon Sigmar to heal the injured, purge taint and poison from the faithful, or even return life to the newly dead. He can also call holy power to his hammer to deliver devastating blows, or channel Sigmar's wrath directly into the hearts of his foes.
The warrior priest kicks butt and takes names. He wades into combat and smashes things left and right, building up his righteous fury ability with every blow. He then releases that pent-up power with heals, cures, and devastating attacks. Just being near a warrior priest buffs you.
posted by Vaelin at 12:41:00 AM
15 Comments:
AWE
SOME
You're a WoW player, Vaelin (Waiting on Warhammer).
Anyways, posts like these are cool as long as they relate to Warcraft somehow since this is a Warcraft-related blog. I find the notion of looking at how other games experiment with the healer/warrior combo fascinating myself as it gives new views and insights on our class, and makes you wonder how things would be if they had a totally different vision.
Like ZOMG! Its Auren meets face smasher of the light!
This is one WoW account that will clsoe on War release date.
I'm also waiting on Warhammer. But imo, someone who complains about Ret Paladins sucking at PvP need to LRN2PLAY. Not all trees are meant to be great at PvP, and the damage tree is not ALWAYS the PvP tree.
The PvP/Arena tree for Paladins is the famous heavy-holy tree build. Most of the top paladins are specced that way.
The heavy ret build has been known for quite a long time now, to be the solo leveling build, even before the nerfs to burst damage.
Seriously if you think Mythic is going to do much better with a Paladin-type class you obviously have never played their FIRST paladin in dark age of camelot which was bar none the WORST PvP class from the beginning and right until today (far worse even than Thanes).
If you are going to play War Online, I highly suggest playing a ranged caster or a light tank melee dps class, as these have always been Mythics favorite type of class since time immemorial (overpowered Enchanters, Warlocks, Berserkers). Don't even think about playing a hybrid class, Mythic sucks balls at balancing those (Heretic, Reaver, Bard.. omg horrid horrid classes)
The more you know about Mythic the better, they are not the messiahs of MMOs, be forewarned.
DAOC also ended up with 44 different classes. There are 15 classes alone within the Albion race. I'm not that familiar with DAOC. To what degree was it PvP oriented? It was my understanding that the big RvR focus was something that wasn't added in until much later in its lifespan. It also appears to be an original concept.
Warhammer, though billing itself as the successor to DAOC (understandibly following in the footsteps of the RvR theme), has over two and a half decades of lore, artwork, and general flavor from which to draw.
I'm not going to praise or dis' Mythic prematurely for what could be. All I can say is that from what's been released so far, things are looking promising. We already know how the WoW Paladin has evolved, much to the chagrin of many original launch players.
Time will tell.
have you guys read any of the other class descriptions? the melee damage classes will DESTROY warrior priests in damage, and the tank classes will laugh at them. You think someone will own in dps and be one of the few to actually heal?
@Corey - It would only make sense that the melee damage classes excel beyond the Warrior Priest in raw DPS output. They don't have the healing capability and utility of a hybrid. I'm not even really looking deal massive amounts of damage. I'm just tired of the playstyle that the WoW Paladin has come to be. I want to be decently armored, and I want to beat on things. I want to be in the middle of it all, and I like the idea of helping my mates by doing it.
I've said it before - most disgruntled Ret Paladins aren't upset that their damage sucks so much as the fact that the tree is in shambles right now for endgame. They want to beat on things, not stand at the back and toss heals - something we grudgingly did leading up the expansion, hoping in vain things would change come The Burning Crusade.
I personally like playing hybrids because it's a bit easier to solo more difficult encounters and such. I like being highly self-sufficient. The Gamespot article even points this out - the Warrior Priest will be the career of choice for those who enjoy both greater self-sufficiency and the ability to enhance others.
I love the fact that the game mechanics are supposedly going to do what it's much too late for Blizzard to do without admitting they screwed up in that respect. The Warrior Priest is the ONLY healer class for the Empire, and they MUST be in the fray to achieve maximum potency.
Oh, and I don't think the tank classes will be laughing all that much, considering the Warrior Priest is the only one around able to keep them alive.
What can I say? I HATE it when the best posts on a WoW-paladin page is about paladin-esque classes in OTHER games. Looks awesome man.. =( More close vicinity buffs from ret paladin talents plxx!
As much as I think this sounds great, doesn't everyone remember the hype surrounding WoW's paladin. How many times were the notes coming from the devs saying Paladins would be right up there with the warriors dealing damage. To use an overused phrase, I plan to be causiously optimistic about this. Once humans outside of the development team start playing and exploiting bugs/learn the class I only see these Warrior Priests to be nothing more than a healing class in the back of the fight
"To what degree was it PvP oriented?"
It was extremely PvP oriented. RvR action was built into the game and its foundation right from the very beginning. The only thing that was left unimplemented was the RP rewards system, but you could fight in the frontiers and take keeps. Because RvR wasn't instanced, going out into the frontiers was always thrilling, as you never knew if and when you'd encounter the enemy. So in this sense, Daoc was vastly superior to WoW. But it could also mean an hour of aimless wandering without ever seeing an enemy.
"I'm not going to praise or dis' Mythic prematurely for what could be."
I'm not dissing Mythic but having played a daoc paladin from the beginning until I quit 3 years later, I can assure you I have the experience to know that any excitement you may feel now should be tempered with the sobering reality that Mythic has an awful trackrecord of class balance. The WoW Paladin is leaps and bounds better than the Daoc Paladin.
"Time will tell."
Cross your fingers, I mean really cross them and be afraid.
Eh, if it doesn't work out, I'll roll an Ork tank class or a neato DPS ranged class.
I have NO ranged classes to my name in WoW. Wish I started out as a Warlock/Mage. =C
-Ghmou
Retribution is the melee damage tree, and it's the world pvp tree. People who say someone needs to l2p for suggesting changes should go get AIDS and die.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
WoW isn't about World PvP, it doesn't have the reward structure nor the content to support meaningful world pvp.
And by the way newb, Holy spec is as good for world pvp as retribution. You obviously truly need to lrn2play, and also, to die of Aids after losing your legs in a suicide bomber attack.
Post a Comment
<< Home