World of Warcraft’s Most Played Class Takes One Step Forward, Two Steps Back in Midnight

After several phases of alpha testing for World of Warcraft‘s Midnight expansion, Blizzard finally released the beta that players who purchased the Epic Edition of the expansion can now play and experience, regardless of invitation. While playing through the new storyline and areas may be alluring, there are obviously spoilers in doing that. However, fans can still join World of Warcraft‘s Midnight beta and experience something entirely new – the reworked and rebalanced classes, alongside the new Devourer spec for Demon Hunters. With the so-called “pruning” of abilities in Midnight, each class and spec has fewer tools to toy with, which can be a blessing and a curse.

World of Warcraft‘s removed abilities in Midnight serve the purpose of simplifying the gameplay loop and reducing mental stress. This has its pros and cons, with some fans liking what has been done so far with the various classes, and others stating that the game is too easy now, with a much lower skill ceiling at high levels. Specifically, the great pruning of Midnight and the recent beta patch notes and changes all make it clear that the Paladin class is one step forward, two steps back.

Say Goodbye to World of Warcraft’s Paladin as You Know It

There are a few reasons why World of Warcraft Paladins are in a strange state in Midnight, even stranger than some other classes. These are:

• Retribution Paladin:
  • There is no passive Holy Power generation anymore, which dramatically changes the gameplay loop and general feel of the class. Divine Toll doesn’t cast Judgment for free anymore, for example, and rather, it empowers your next Judgment casts. With less Holy Power generation, the spec can feel a bit slower and clunkier, even if it’s more streamlined.
  • Herald of the Sun may now outperform Templar as a Hero Tree, which could be interesting after the latter dominated most of The War Within.
  • The new World of Warcraft Apex Talents for Retribution Paladin include a special attack called Art of War, whose animation is just a wave of light in a cone, similar to the old Light of Dawn. Some fans are upset that it lacks a punch, and decent damage is all but guaranteed now that damage meters are still missing in the beta.
  • Finally, Retribution Paladins received a major 11% damage nerf across the board in the latest beta patch notes for Midnight in WoW, and that was the only change made to the spec. This is likely to compensate for the added damage to melee auto-attacks for all classes, which instead was a great and welcome change for Paladins.
• Holy Paladin:
  • World of Warcraft cut interrupts on healers in Midnight, so Holy Paladins can no longer use Rebuke.
  • Divine Toll and Holy Prism are on a choice node, which is sad for the spec, as both were used consistently across the board. It further exacerbates the feeling of excessive pruning in this particular case.
  • A silver lining is that Light of Dawn is no longer hard-capped at 5 targets, and instead, it now heals all allies within 40 yards. This could be a massive buff to Holy Paladins in WoW Midnight Raids.
  • Holy Paladins received a potentially very good Apex Talent with Beacon of the Savior, but it was unfortunately nerfed in the recent patch by making its absorb shield 50% less powerful.
  • The spec received a 5% reduction in healing done in the recent patch.
  • A new talent, called Armory of the Light, gives players the option of using 2-handed weapons over 1-handed and shield, and still have a chance to parry incoming physical attacks. This can be fantastic for cosmetic options and gameplay, too. However, using a 2-handed weapon makes it impossible to use Shield of the Righteous, which is often woven into Holy Paladins’ rotation in TWW, and possibly even more so with Midnight removing a lot of buttons.
• Protection Paladin:
  • The biggest change to Protection Paladin is that Consecration is no longer a mandatory tool for defenses, as the class’ Mastery is not tied to having the character stand in Consecration any longer. This is a good change, and it makes gameplay more intuitive.
  • Word of Glory no longer grants block chance, and with the loss of various tools, like Eye of Tyr, Moment of Glory, and Bastion of Light, the spec can feel squishier. Protection Paladin was already the tank with the most survivability issues, so it doesn’t help.
  • Since there is no passive Holy Power generation, players have to be more careful with the use of their Divine Steed ability, as the new Valiant Crusade talent provides the effects of Shield of the Righteous during Divine Steed and for 4 seconds afterward. This means that one has to either have the Holy Power for a Shield of the Righteous ready before a pull or time Divine Steed accordingly.

Why World of Warcraft’s Paladin Class May Not Stick the Landing in Midnight

These are not necessarily bad changes in a vacuum, but considering the current state of the spec in The War Within, these are mostly nerfs to existing playstyles, or, at least, dramatic departures from them. Retribution Paladin is already considered the easiest damage spec in the game alongside Beast Mastery Hunter, so further pruning and a slower feel with no passive Holy Power may reinforce this idea. World of Warcraft‘s meta remains to be seen for now, and things may change, but Retribution seems a middle-of-the-pack spec overall.

On the other hand, Holy Paladin is still undergoing major design changes in Midnight, with new talents like Armory of the Light being added and other abilities and passives being constantly changed. This could be a sign of a bigger problem, as the identity of the class as a melee healer may change in some shape or form. Likewise, World of Warcraft‘s tank specs can be more successful when they are less dependent on healers, and with fewer defensive cooldowns and a Holy Power generator that doesn’t directly engage pulls if pre-cast (Blessed Hammer), Protection Paladins may be in for a rougher experience overall.

Systems

Released

November 23, 2004

ESRB

T for Teen: Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence (online interactions not rated)

Engine

Unreal Engine

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