tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-143712312024-03-07T19:40:07.349+01:00PaladinSucks.comKeeping you up to date on the progression of the Paladin class.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger648125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-16327387930430988082007-06-27T23:45:00.000+02:002007-06-27T23:47:32.151+02:00Many of You Probably Saw This Coming<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vlgAsJL_wErybTvB-GOvqduk2yd_SKQHkCN75VTFQlKD84sqLhXTj6CvSOdoqbDJDTytTPxhJWuZTuCEu2zwkRzm9u3wGNSuQWaCitiaLsmYe_N9foDFjLA6E61S3g-jXQlIsA/s1600-h/ripblog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vlgAsJL_wErybTvB-GOvqduk2yd_SKQHkCN75VTFQlKD84sqLhXTj6CvSOdoqbDJDTytTPxhJWuZTuCEu2zwkRzm9u3wGNSuQWaCitiaLsmYe_N9foDFjLA6E61S3g-jXQlIsA/s320/ripblog.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5080863726732209314" /></a>Thanks for the good times guys.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-56617095436345811452007-06-19T19:51:00.001+02:002007-06-19T19:54:29.706+02:00Finally.Some times Blizzard <a href="http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=110637185&sid=1">just does right thing</a>. The attunement quests and requirements were a really large part of guild stress. Removing these requirements are an excellent idea.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-54874772466447430292007-06-08T13:55:00.000+02:002007-06-08T14:08:05.840+02:00Not enough Hybrid from a HybridValandur emails me and says (this is slightly stripped down):<blockquote>I have never wanted to be a pure tank or a pure healer. I figured that since a pure retribution build had little utility for raids, I would be a hybrid.<br /><br />...I went to the Armory and looked for upgrades to my current mix of greens and blues. There is NOTHING that has more +spell damage than what I am currently wearing. Which means not only am I useless on raids, but there is no chance of a reward that will make me more effective in a hybrid role in raids. Blizzard has only created gear that will benefit a healadin, a tankadin or a ret pally that is only concerned with white damage.</blockquote>This is why I loved Judgement so much. But now in today's game it is rather impossible.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-15161304182881595442007-06-05T15:19:00.000+02:002007-06-05T19:05:20.428+02:00Nihilum vs DnTI find these <a href="http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=108231347&sid=1">EU vs US</a> threads funny and interesting on a geopolitical level.<br /><br />Edit: Grats to <a href="http://www.wowinsider.com/2007/06/05/illidan-slain-by-nihilum/">Nihilum in Illidan</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-66655654265730863492007-05-30T20:07:00.000+02:002007-05-31T20:20:39.882+02:00One Dreaded FinalSo I have one last thing to do and then I'm finished with this stupid course. Loading myself up for a four-hour session of a hand numbing experience. I got six points already from the seminars, all I need is 19 points or more to pass. Here's what I know so far: Anarchy is what states make of it, postermodernism is stupid and the HDI is probably better measurement versus the GDP.<br /><br />This has nothing to do with WoW except the fact that, if there's anything I've learned is that playing this game sure makes me subpar when it comes to educational performance. It is actually making me contemplate whether I should quit this game all together because my education is by <i>far</i> more important than this game. Hell, it's not only education, but social life. It really pains me when I reflect back upon how much I've sacrificed socially just to play my characters. Maintaining a blog by browsing endless posts on the main forum and all that jazz just adds another layer of stress on top of it.<br /><br />Really, when playing WoW, you're using up the same entertainment time as when if you were watching TV. Would you watch TV, like, 6 or 8 hours a day? Would you leave a party just so you could go home and watch TV? Anyone who does that just makes me think of a couch potato with a mustard-stained wife-beaters garment and that shower with a rag tied up on the end of a stick.<br /><br />I could play this game forever. I really could. But, I'm 21 years old. I've spent the last 2-3 years of my life playing this game. I really don't see how I can go on forever. When I put the blog on hold earlier is was cause of many contributing factors, and one of them the very reason I am giving right now.<br /><br />Two months and four more days is left on my European vacation (fortunate to have a relatively permanent settlement over here). When I get back, I don't know if I'll ever end up re-subscribing.<br /><br />Edit: I just did it and finished one hour ago. Huzzah!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-19425193889970467192007-05-28T23:51:00.001+02:002007-05-28T23:55:54.613+02:00Shattered DreamsDoh, I was preparing to go to BlizzCon....but then I evaluated my financial situation. So I'm not going anymore. I'm not <i>that</i> bothered about it. I'll eventually get to play Starcraft II and the second WoW expansion anyway. Beta, all and all, while fun, kinda ruins the experience of "finally" getting the box, installing the game and playing it for the first time. It did so for me for Warcraft 3 at least.<br /><br />Anyone else planning going though?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-12077418483892503342007-05-23T01:05:00.000+02:002007-05-23T01:07:02.159+02:00Tier 5 Weapons!Thanks Msmart for giving me <a href="http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=152.0">this link</a> with class weapons which "look" like they are a part of the set.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mmo-champion.com/images/news/2007/may/t5_weapons/paladin.jpg">Here's the Pally weapon</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mmo-champion.com/images/news/210/hyjalraid/kazrogal_loots.jpg">Here's it's stats from a raid drop</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-9854380760069799402007-05-22T11:09:00.000+02:002007-05-22T11:22:24.524+02:00Finally Some Info<a href="http://wow.stratics.com/content/features/HoC/logs/0001.php">Stratic Chat Highlights</a> from Kalgan:<br /><br />- On Enhancement/Ret being mostly solo-trees: <blockquote>Want Ret to be more than just a leveling spec.</blockquote>- Regarding Druid and Pally Tanks: <blockquote>We feel [Crushing Blows] add too random an element for players in endgame content. We expect to deal with this issue at some point in the future (although it may not be immediate). </blockquote>- Retribution viability: <blockquote>I'd like to see ret become a bit more raid viable in terms of dps and overall utility. the ret pallies will save them! next patch'! ok, maybe not or maybe... Right. At any rate, something we've noticed in our testing is that ret pallies are in kind of a jam where their dps isn't enough to get the put in a dps group in a raid. ... which makes their dps suffer even more. Hopefully we can get that solved in a way that doesn't cause ret pallies to rule the pvp universe. </blockquote>- Hybrids vs Pure classes: <blockquote>we want "pure" classes to perform better in their primary roles, with hybrids coming close, but providing additional group utility to offset their reduced primary role power</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-51468691290135367222007-05-20T12:45:00.000+02:002007-05-20T12:49:30.447+02:00Dum-dum-dee-dumI'm on a vacation right now. Going to be very absent.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-4460171460859178232007-05-19T10:07:00.000+02:002007-05-19T10:08:28.381+02:00Starcraft 2OMG!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-30571982305180275452007-05-18T09:38:00.000+02:002007-05-18T16:14:36.549+02:00He Popped EnrageWow. <a href="http://www.brokentoys.org/2007/05/17/community-relations-is-hard/">Tseric got canned.</a><br /><br />Basically the objective of the community manager is to pretend to be some form of aid in terms of false pretense of a community service. Their actual duty is to project the image of interactivity with consumers. The position never works in reality due to being wedged between the politics of company management with the obnoxiousness of ungrateful customers.<br /><br />Imagine being in a job where everything you say is taken out of context regardless of what you say, spun around in masterful ways to twist it in to something completely opposite from the original intention.<br /><br />Imagine then sustaining that day after day, continuously for years, leaving home for work preparing mentally to encounter an endless cesspool of such despicability of unimaginative behavior.<br /><br />That he quit was probably for the best for his own personal health.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-65316521013393547152007-05-14T16:29:00.000+02:002007-05-14T16:32:04.420+02:00European CMs Are Great<a href="http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=285172648&pageNo=1&sid=1#0">Good list</a> of Ret concerns and <a href="http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=285172648&pageNo=5&sid=1#81">good acknowledgment </a>of respective concerns.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-39671477026210629832007-05-13T21:58:00.000+02:002007-05-13T21:59:31.286+02:00May 19th<a href="http://www.blizzard.com">Blizzard.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-54569636191282427872007-05-11T19:55:00.000+02:002007-05-11T20:02:34.067+02:00VOIP There It Is!I am aware of the irony of having a gigantic post declaring the blog to be back, and then suddenly keep things inactive. I think I picked a really bad time cause in two hours or so I'm going to be on my way for a 48 hour flight marathon over the Atlantic (somehow I am going to be stuck on Arlanda airport for 18 hours, fortunately they have wireless internet there).<br /><br />In the meanwhile, while not Paladin related - <a href="http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=102733517&pageNo=7&sid=1#132">chew on this by Tseric</a> where he drops the hint of built-in VOIP and guild banks (from <a href="http://www.wowinsider.com/2007/05/11/tseric-may-not-be-the-most-popular-right-now-but/">WoWInsider</a>). Interesting indeed.<br /><br />Consider this post to be an open thread.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-68725826990524745792007-05-08T11:17:00.000+02:002007-05-09T04:14:48.843+02:00"They want to know if he still got it"Still here. I got bored not blogging.<br /><br />Had a really fun arena today in a 5v5. It started out like any battle in Blade's Edge - we usually confront them head-on by charging right at them. Things screwed up though and our guys were dying one by one. After about a minute or two the only two people left were me and our Holy Priest. The opposing team had two warriors. I was at like 30% health and the Priest was at like 15%. The warriors were hovering around 50-60%. I mean, there was no way in hell we'd be able to recover this. We were goners for sure...or so I thought.<br /><br />Since the Priest was the squishiest target for the warriors and because he was at lowest health they insisted on killing him first. <i>Really insisted.</i> They completely ignored me, probably thought I had my bubble still up (which I don't think I did). Then the priest said to me "toss me a Blessing of Freedom". He wanted it so he could jump up out to the platforms. What he was doing was kiting both warriors with Renew and Power Word: Shield. Fortunately the warriors both (!) missed the jump and fell down to the lower level.<br /><br />Then one of the guys on Vent said "Rez the shadow priest". So I was like "What? Oh yeah, shi--I can do that!". So I hit the rez button and began to cast it, biting my finger nails hoping not to be interrupted or getting targeted for doing it.<br /><br />By this time one of the warriors were on their way up to the bridge again. They saw me casting it, and I was going like "OMG!". But for some reason, they ran past me trying to kill the priest on the platform - but both missed the jump AGAIN! They obviously didn't know what the heck I was doing.<br /><br />I successfully rezzed the shadow priest, then me and the priest healed him up and I buffed him with BoWisdom to give him some mana<br /><br />After that it's a bit fuzzy, but I believe we just feared one warrior and started to dot the second one up eventually killing them both.<br /><br />It was truly an epic battle. Wish I would've recorded it or taken screenshots of it (think I got two). If I were the opposing team I'd crap my pants or rip my hair off. Literally. No wonder they're removing the ability to rez in arenas in 2.1. It's pretty friggin funny (and cheezy!).<br /><br />Speaking of Arena PVP. Pallies who said that <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=19343">Scrolls of Blinding Light</a> sucked should get slapped. It only got nerfed 5% speed between Classic and TBC - fortunately! Those who clamored it served no purpose were wrong back in the day and they're still wrong today. It is one of the best trinkets for Holy Paladins there is. <b>Period.</b> For over a year now it's been on my trinket slot. It is actually to the point where I am amazed it has not been nerfed more extensively. I can toss heals in really, really quick secession. A portable Heroism/Bloodlust. With arena resetting all cooldowns I can use it once every battle. Haha, I remember when the Burning Crusade came out, my first question was - "Did they add another level 70 trinket that's just like 'Scrolls?".<br /><br />Combine it with Divine Illumination and it's like being a PVP-shotgun healer. It is like being Max Payne in Bullet Time, you know. Kinda same feeling. I can heal so fast that I can keep a clothie up with Mortal Strike, rows of dots who's being focused fired longer than you think. No joke. I find myself activating Scrolls, Divine Illumination and Divine Shield all at the same time to be a pretty bad-ass combo. Invincible tank healer that can throw cheap heals really, really fast. Kek.<br /><br />In other news, the reitemization of end-game gear is great! Worldofraids.com has an <a href="http://www.worldofraids.com/news/upgraded-epic-items/">excellent list</a> of item changes on the PTR.<br /><br />For example look at the <a href="http://www.worldofraids.com/news/upgraded-epic-items/justicar-pallyset.jpg">Justicar set</a> and compare 'em to the <a href="http://thottbot.com/?set=624">existant Justicar</a>.<br /><br />Crystalforge tanking set is also available; <a href="http://www.worldofraids.com/news/upgraded-epic-items/crystalforge_faceguard.jpg">helm</a>, <a href="http://www.worldofraids.com/news/upgraded-epic-items/crystalforge_handguards.jpg">gloves</a>, <a href="http://www.worldofraids.com/news/upgraded-epic-items/crystalforge_legguards.jpg">legs</a>, <a href="http://www.worldofraids.com/news/upgraded-epic-items/crystalforge_chestguard.jpg">chest</a> and <a href="http://www.worldofraids.com/news/upgraded-epic-items/crystalforge_shoulderguards.jpg">shoulders</a>.<br /><br />If you're one of the Pallies who grabbed the <a href="http://www.worldofraids.com/news/upgraded-epic-items/karazhan-items4.jpg">Pendant of the Violet Eye</a> or <a href="http://www.worldofraids.com/news/upgraded-epic-items/karazhan-items4.jpg">Ribbons of Sacrifice</a> for fun, consider dusting them off! <br /><br />Legacy has <i>literally</i> become <a href="http://www.worldofraids.com/news/upgraded-epic-items/karazhan-items5.jpg">hunter loot</a>. To redeem yourself, check the <a href="http://www.worldofraids.com/news/upgraded-epic-items/blacksmithing/">blacksmithing weapons</a>.<br /><br />2.1 is probably going to be the best patch in World of Warcraft history. Not only is the content absolutely massive, but they have done a lot of good moves in fixing end-game. Literally every answer to someone saying something in guild chat is "lol, wait for 2.1 - it'll be fixed". The Illumination nerf, for those who know I was kinda upset about - I'm over it. As long as we can still heal heroics I'm not that bothered about it. Combined with the reitemization changes I think the effect of the nerf won't be as big as initially expected.<br /><br />Anyways, this Friday I'm off again back to Europe for two months or so. I'll be back in America right before BlizzCon and hopefully will attend (Northrend Expansion or Starcraft 2!). If anyone of you guys show up there I'd be happy to meet with you. Who knows? Maybe Blizz will have some bloggers' corner or something there which I can put all my gear. Just like as in 2004 Prez conventions where bloggers sit in a special room to stroke their own epeens. That'd be pretty cool.<br /><br />To be honest, one of the things I look forward most to are the class panels. I would really like to ask what really is holding Ret Pallies back when it comes to raiding? Is it a philosophical question due to our heals/bubble/plate or technical question of just improving our overall raid utility? Also, obviously, I would like to ask where our class is heading and maybe what is in store for us in the future, and what we can expect to come for us.<br /><br />Edit: Progressively fixing errors in text. Wrote this in the wee morning.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-60825367279192003952007-04-20T01:02:00.000+02:002007-04-20T01:07:53.230+02:00Indefinite LockdownI've decided to lock the blog down for the indefinite future as I'm contemplating in a period of reflection.<br /><br />See you at BlizzCon 2007.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-88451978409151290842007-04-20T00:51:00.000+02:002007-04-20T00:56:10.286+02:00Flibble's at it AgainIf you haven't checked it out, <a href="http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=95982632&sid=1">read Flibble's thread</a> on list of Tankadin concerns. Extremely comprehensive. Nice read.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-83123023322620568442007-04-19T22:15:00.000+02:002007-04-19T22:25:51.263+02:00Kalgan Speaks!In this thread <a href="http://blue.cardplace.com/newcache/us/96961585.htm">he addresses a lot of questions</a> man of us have. Here are the juicy bits, first is regarding Ret spec viability:<blockquote>...It isn't an immediate goal for every spec to be optimized for every aspect of the game (arenas, battlegrounds, solo-ing, raiding, heroics, etc).<br /><br />...getting each class reasonably represented in highly rated teams is a more important goal, and unfortunately the paladin class happens to be somewhat grossly over-represented in this regard. <blockquote>Then what is our pvp damage spec or are we never suposed to damage in pvp?</blockquote>If you want to do damage in pvp as a paladin, then I'd say that ret is your spec. It just so happens that it's outshined by the reality that holy paladins are much more likely to help your team win.<blockquote>I understand the illum nerf, but where did the 50% come from? It seems like a larger cut than needed!</blockquote>Now that's a valid point. We're certainly keeping an eye on the 50% number.<blockquote>Kalgan, what exactly is the purpose of the retribution tree? </blockquote>It's an effective solo'ing/questing/"grinding" tree. It's also an effective tree for damage in [solo] pvp...Ret pallies can do some surprisingly strong raid dps if they're in a good melee group dps composition [thanks to new Improved Sanctity Aura].</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-63729116264837749522007-04-19T22:14:00.000+02:002007-04-19T22:59:17.901+02:00Dang it Mastgrr!You beat me to it! Although, you did abridge some of his comments. Here they are in full, with respect to Retribution.<br /><br />It took reposting the threads to <a href="http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=96961585&sid=1&pageNo=1">version 6.0</a>, but Blizzard has finally weighed in on the debate.<br /><br />A poster in the thread asks:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:100%;"> <span class="blue">Kalgan, what exactly is the purpose of the retribution tree? What is the advantage of choosing ret over holy or protection?</span></span></blockquote><span class="blue"><small><br /></small></span>Kalgan responds:<br /><blockquote><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="blue">It's an effective solo'ing/questing/"grinding" tree. It's also an effective tree for damage in pvp, although most of our pvp is group oriented and your groupmates will generally prefer that you play a support role since their classes can often supply the needed dps but aren't able to supply the support a paladin is capable of.<br /><br />It's also quite possible to get groups for 5-person instances as a ret pally, provided you aren't the type that will rule out healing in an emergency or for certain encounters provided it would help more at that moment.</span></blockquote><span class="blue"><br />An exasperated Ret Paladin comments:<br /></span><blockquote><span class="blue"><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="blue">What answers do you need? The spec is worthless. Raid leaders won't take us, Kalgan has admitted it's useless in group PVP, and anyone with a spec of knowledge knows you need to outgear anyone to kill them. It's dead. Respec, reroll or quit.</span></span></blockquote><span class="blue"><small><br /></small></span><span class="blue">With Kalgan responding:<br /></span><span class="blue"><br /></span><span class="blue"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Actually, ret pallies can do some surprisingly strong raid dps if they're in a good melee group dps composition. Encouraging raid leaders to do this is the reason for this change: </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> - "Sanctity Aura" now increases all damage caused by affected targets by 1/2% and no longer increases healing done to affected targets.</span></blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br /><br /></span></span><span class="blue">The response from the more asinine neopaladins* on the Paladin forums is best summed up with this Q&D Google image search + Photoshop representation:<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="blue"><img src="http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/9049/holytrollszo7.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" border="0" /><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:78%;">*Neopaladin: WoW players who rolled a Paladin long after original launch and in full knowledge of their primary healer/support role and endgame caster playstyle. Usually antagonistic towards the few remaining original Paladin rollers who are unhappy with the direction the class has taken. Most recently bolstered by the influx of Horde healing classes rerolling a class formerly unavailable to their faction.</span><br /></div></div><span class="blue"><br /></span><span class="blue"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span></span><span class="blue"><br /></span><span class="blue"></span><span class="blue"><small></small></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-7570323955806518652007-04-18T09:53:00.000+02:002007-04-18T10:05:14.433+02:00T6 Pics RevealedGraphics for the tier 6 armor sets, and just about anything else you'd want to know about patch 2.1 is available over at <a href="http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=119.0">www.mmochampion.com</a> (thanks to <a href="http://www.wowinsider.com/2007/04/17/ptr-notes-massive-2-1-roundup-at-mmo-champion/">WoW Insider</a> for the tipoff). Here it is: <a href="http://www.mmo-champion.com/images/news/210/tier6/paladin_t6.jpg">Lightbringer Armor</a>.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/7153/lolt6bewbzpp1.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" border="0" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">As of writing this post, the only stats available are for the mage set. If Blizzard maintains their trend, there will be choices for different specs for appropriate classes. IMO, it's leaps and bounds better than <a href="http://lolt5.ytmnd.com/">Crystalforge</a>. While I like the overall color scheme and feel, I can already predict some of the comments that will arise:<br /><ul><li>lol, gundam (helm/shoulders)<br /></li><li>rofl, bewbz (seriously, what's up with the large plate nipples?)<br /></li></ul></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-75075290816371722522007-04-15T19:50:00.000+02:002007-04-15T20:19:22.422+02:00What the Paladin Class Should Have BeenNOTE: This is not my work, but a repost of <a href="http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=95851124&sid=1">a forum thread by Targos of Smolderthorn</a> - posting on his 70 Tauren Shaman. I found it well thought-out, and worthy of presentation to those of you who, like me, never really adapted to the WoW Paladin's only viable endgame role and playstyle. Flame if you want, but don't flame me because again, I didn't write it.<br /><br />----------------------------------<br /><br /><span class=""> First of all, this thread is not about Illumination. In fact, it's not about any current Paladin abilities. This is instead a reflection on what Paladins <i>should have been</i> -- as defined by Blizzard's philosophy but butchered in their execution.<br /><br />Blizzard has always touted Paladins as combatants, as knights wielding heavy weapons in the thick of things. They are not damage dealers, they do not go on berserker killing sprees. Instead they are reserved, honorable, defensive fighters who battle for the protection of others, and not for glory.<br /><br />The lore behind them is compelling. Paladins have shaped Azeroth like noone other throughout Warcraft history (and judging by Draenei, Warcraft future). However in this game, their current implementation is nothing short of an insult to that role by lore, and role by class description.<br /><br />To avoid the the bird brain attention span problem on this forum, I will post the meat of my suggestions first, and ramble on second. Basically, my proposal on how to fix Paladins is nothing more than 4 new (and old), linked abilities.<br /><br /><b>Holy Strike</b><br />A strike that converts 100% of the Paladin's next regular melee attack into Holy damage.<br /><br /><b>Crusader Strike</b><br />An instant strike that deals 100% weapon damage, plus 10% of your attack power and 20% of your spell damage.<br /><br /><b>Righteous Strike</b><br />An instant strike that deals 50% weapon damage and restores 300% weapon damage in health to nearby party members. Also reduces threat.<br /><br /><b>Divine Strike</b><br />An instant strike that deals 50% weapon damage and coats the Paladin with a magical shield that will absorb an amount equal to 100% weapon damage. Greatly reduces threat.<br /><br />All these strikes would be on a shared, 6 second cooldown. They would also all refresh Judgments on the target, as Crusader Strike does now. In addition, every time a Paladin strikes an enemy, a debuff would be applied to the target that increases the effects of his or her strikes by 5%, stacking up to 3 times.<br /><br />Holy Strike would be ideal for tanking, and Holy DPS Paladins. Crusader Strike is for Retribution Paladins, as it is now. Righteous Strike is for healers, and is exactly the kind of combat healing potency that is required to move Paladins out of the back of groups. Divine Strike re-emphasizes Paladins as a defensive class, and can be used by either healers or DPS, but not by tanks due to the threat reduction component.<br /><br />What would these abilities solve? Maybe not bugs, maybe not poor talents. But certainly 100% of everything that is wrong with the class at the <i>core</i>.<br /><br /><b><u>The short version:</u></b><br /><br />- It would solve Paladins being the only melee class without a single baseline melee ability.<br /><br />- It would help bring Paladins to the front lines -- where they belong according to class description.<br /><br />- It would give Paladins some much needed control in combat, instead of total reliance on procs.<br /><br />- It would give Paladins some much needed interactivity, instead of seal + auto-attack.<br /><br />- It would finally give Paladins some combat options that are not dispellable.<br /><br /><b><u>The long version:</u></b><br /><br />For one, most Paladins are in the "thick of" nothing. Everyone knows that during hard encounters, any class that can heal will be made to heal. And since currently Paladin healing is all ranged, it is best utilized from the outskirts of battle, where they don't get hit. This however alienates Paladins from participation in the actual combat, entirely. Unlike other healing classes, Paladins can't even help debuff or DPS from a range.<br /><br />Paladins also strongly lack interactivity and control in battle. Their combat system relies almost entirely on autoattack procs, which is laughable for a pure melee class. I say pure melee class because even though Paladins use spells, they are not casters and in fact have the weakest ranged combat options of any class in the game.<br /><br />Not counting their Undead-only spells, they only have 1 baseline ranged attack, and even that is only usable after they've meleed over 80% of your health away. The only other range they can get is via a 31 point Holy or a 41 point Protection talent, and those are on a 15 second and 30 second cooldown, respectively. Now, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't call that a "caster."<br /><br />Finally, Paladins suffer from a completely dispellable combat system. Their blessings, seals and judgments can all be purged, leaving them with little else but auto-attack and an aura. To be honest, it is really unclear to me why their seals are removable, when even Shamans -- who are not <i>limited</i> to their weapon buffs -- enjoy persistence.<br /><br /></span>----------------------------------<br /><br />Since I can't post on the forums anymore with an expired account, I will add my own comment to this. I love his suggestions, and agree wholly with his analysis of the problem. The question at the forefront of my mind, however, is what about our healing spells? Even if all these changes were implemented, the presence of ranged healing spells with a cast time would still not alter the status-quo. My assumption is that in his thinking, we do not even have Holy Light or Flash of Light. Paladin healing is thus done completely through Righteous Strike. Even I haven't gone this far in my suggestions (I favored making HL and FoL instant-cast, with cooldown timers so they could be used when most needed but not spammed, thus allowing the Paladin to do other things in melee). I'm also assuming that he's gotten rid of the bubble, replacing it with Divine Strike - something much less potent per instance, but usable much more often.<br /><br />What would these changes do for the class? Quite simply, they would ensure a continuity of melee playstyle from character creation to and through endgame. Paladins would not be heavy damage-dealers by any stretch, but they would still be extremely hard to kill and able to beat the snot out of you if allowed into melee range for some time. Paladins would be the primary AoE healing class in the game, and do so by means of melee. Imagine trying to melee down a Paladin alternating Divine Strike and Righteous Strike.<br /><br />Anyhow, I'm bored on a Sunday afternoon and thought I'd give you guys something else to think about besides the nerfs. Targos' suggestions really resemble what I imagine the Warrior Priest will be like which, I suppose, is why they appeal to me so much. I just hope that all the Holy Paladins talking about leaving WoW for Warhammer now in their forum posts stay the **** away from my Warrior Priest. Please, roll a Shaman, Rune Priest, or Zealot (or whatever they come up with for Dark Elves/High Elves).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-24046673344046222002007-04-13T09:13:00.000+02:002007-04-13T09:50:50.297+02:00Quote of the Patch<blockquote><blockquote>Q u o t e:<br />You mean you might need to actually mana pot after tossing a few Holy Lights? Unheard of, I know.</blockquote>I guess Holy Paladins will have to just rely on the diversity of their heals now like other healers, right? Use their HoTs, big instant heals, group heals, and preemptive mitigation spells to be useful. <br /><br />oh...</blockquote>As the guy below puts it, <a href="http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=94203777&sid=1">"sick burn on self"</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-73451840696545999252007-04-13T05:45:00.000+02:002007-04-13T06:13:59.424+02:00PTR Paladin Notes<span class=""> Volko brings us <a href="http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=94203565&sid=1">the Paladin bit </a>from the PTR notes. Props.<br /><br />Full notes available <a href="http://www.sock-puppets.com/dragonfly/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=10120">here</a>. <a href="http://ssba.hey.nu/Patch.html">Alternate link</a>, in case that one gets farked.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Paladins<br /><br /></span>- "Ardent Defender" (Protection Talent) now reduces damage taken by<br />6-30% when below 35% health.<br />- "Avenger's Shield" no longer has a minimum range. It may be used on<br />any target within 30 yards.<br />- "Avenger's Shield": The damage portion of this ability will now be<br />applied even if the victim is immune to snare.<br />- "Divine Shield": This ability no longer removes or prevents the<br />"Weakened Soul" debuff.<br />- "Eye for an Eye": Some spells did not trigger "Eye for an Eye"<br />correctly. That has been fixed.<br />- Fixed some data errors that caused "Seal of Command" and "Seal of<br />Blood" to generate more threat than intended.<br />- "Forbearance": It is no longer possible to use a macro to gain the<br />benefit of "Avenging Wrath" and "Divine Shield" at the same time.<br />- "Greater Blessing of Kings": The cost for this blessing is now twice<br />the cost of "Blessing of Kings", instead of a fixed cost of 150.<br />- "Greater Blessing of Sanctuary 2": The range on this spell was<br />incorrectly set to 30 yards. It has been changed to 40 yards.<br />- "Greater Blessing of Wisdom 3": The range on this spell was<br />incorrectly set to 30 yards. It has been changed to 40 yards.<br />- "Hammer of Wrath": Rank 4, damage increased.<br />- "Holy Concentration": This talent now affects "Binding Heal".<br />- "Illumination": This talent now only gives 50% of the mana cost of<br />the critical heal. It also now returns the correct amount of mana<br />when used with ranks 4 and 5 of "Holy Shock".<br />- "Improved Seal of Righteousness": The percentage increase in damage<br />from this talent is now applied after all bonuses from items and<br />effects which increase your spell damage.<br />- New Protection Talent added: "Improved Holy Shield", 2 ranks:<br />Increases damage caused by "Holy Shield" by 10/20% and increases the<br />number of charges of "Holy Shield" by 2/4.<br />- "One-Handed Weapon Specialization" (Protection): Now increases<br />all damage caused by the paladin by 1-5% while a one-handed weapon is<br />equipped.<br />- "Seal of Blood": This seal will no longer cause additional chances<br />for weapon procs to trigger.<br />- "Seal of Righteousness": This seal will no longer cause additional<br />chances for weapon procs to trigger.<br />- "Seal of the Crusader": The rank 7 tooltip has been fixed to read<br />the same as other ranks of this spell.<br />- "Spiritual Attunement": First-aid generated healing will no longer<br />trigger this ability. However, "Lifebloom", "Earth Shield", and<br />"Improved Leader of the Pack" will now trigger it correctly. The<br />tooltip has been adjusted to indicate it only works on healing from<br />spells.<br />- "Spiritual Attunement": Mana is no longer healed if the paladin is<br />at full health.<br />- "Stoicism" (Protection) should now properly affect all magic effects cast by the<br />Paladin and no longer applies double its intended benefit to<br />"Blessing of Might" and "Blessing of Wisdom".<br />- "Vengeance" (Retribution Talent) now increases Holy and Physical damage<br />by 1/2/3/4/5% for 15 seconds following a critical hit, but the effect<br />now stacks up to 3 times.<br />- Vindicator Aesom at Blood Watch will now correctly train a full range of paladin<br />spells.<br /><br />EDIT: Also under the Priest changes:</span> "Sanctity Aura" now increases all damage caused by affected targets by 1/2% and no longer increases healing done to affected targets.<br /><br />Not sure why they stuck it in the Priest changes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-39594899378104496952007-04-13T04:44:00.000+02:002007-04-13T05:20:51.690+02:00Who's the Lackey Now?In Lord of the Rings Online, Captains get a "pet" at level 10. They follow you around, carrying your banner that provides an AOE buff to you and your fellowship (group, in WoWspeak). They also help you kill things, and can even heal you at the expense of their own life. Here's mine. Isn't he cute?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/8382/fororbitchml8.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The Captain has little in common with the WoW Paladin, despite being the closest thing to a "Paladin" there is in the game. The only heal you start with most closely resembles Druids' Regrowth (small frontloaded burst heal with a HoT) and can heal your whole party, but can only be used after a kill. It's also instant-cast. The Captain is a melee class whose defined role in a party is to enhance other members and help focus fire. They can train to wear heavy armor at level 20 (cap is 50, I believe). It will be interesting to see how my Captain will be incorporated into group play.<br /><br />The game is still in open beta (with a level cap of 15), but since I went ahead and preordered I will be able to keep my characters into live (game launches April 24th) as well as the benefit of a reduced subscription rate. I'll try and keep you guys posted about comparisons to WoW, and specifically to WoW Paladins. Competition is the refining fire of capitalism, after all.<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14371231.post-53854398383859304752007-04-13T04:03:00.000+02:002007-04-13T04:04:22.044+02:00PTR Download Is Up<a href="http://test.worldofwarcraft.com/ptr/downloads/downloads.html">Download the client</a>, roll your thumbs and wait for Blizzard to activate.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0