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Classes
Class races	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	Ev	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Quests	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	Evuid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Abilities	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	Evuid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Trainers	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	-	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Armor sets	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	Evuid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Useful macros	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	-	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Class Halls	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	-	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior

This article is about the general class description. For related articles, see Category:Paladins. For the Warcraft III hero unit, see Paladin (Warcraft III).

Paladin

New Class Icon

The paladin is a holy knight, a hybrid class with the ability to play a variety of different roles — healing (holy), tanking (protection), and DPS (retribution). They have auras, blessings and seals that provide useful buffs for other players while withstanding heavy physical damage with plate armor and strong defensive abilities.

Overview

• Holy paladins have devoted themselves to spellcasting. The most common use of the holy tree is healing; they take points in improving their healing spells allowing them to easily fill the position of a healer in a party or raid situation. Important talents such as [Beacon of Light], [Light of Dawn] and [Aura Mastery] are found in the Holy tree. With the introduction of Holy Power as a second resource system, Paladin's gained [Word of Glory] which has no mana costs, instead it uses Holy Power. You can build up Holy Power with [Holy Shock] and then unleash it with [Word of Glory] or [Light of Dawn].

A less known utility of the Holy tree is the spellcaster dps role. Instead of healing, the paladin attacks enemies with spells such as [Holy Shock] and [Exorcism], for which [Denounce] is crucial: Holy dps can't be found under level 31.

• Protection paladins are also excellent tanks. [Judgements of the Wise] provides the paladin with 30% base mana over 10 seconds. Through the use of a shield, and the wearing of plate armor, they can mitigate quite a bit of physical damage. They also excel at tanking multiple mobs at the same time through the use of [Hammer of the Righteous], [Holy Wrath], and [Consecration]. Paladin tanks have gained widespread acceptance in the community.

• Retribution paladins specialize in melee DPS and are able to increase their DPS by a considerable margin and fight several targets at a time with a good efficiency. Retribution damage favors slow two handed weapons and cause sudden damage spikes through both melee and spell crits. Through the now baseline retribution talent [Crusader Strike] and tier 3 talent [Divine Storm] they can deal considerable weapon based burst damage for AoE damage or for single target damage [Templar's Verdict] is a new melee range attack that deals additional weapon damage base on Holy Power consumption. Additionally, retribution paladins bring a large amount of raid utility, making them valuable in endgame instances. Retribution paladins are popular for their increased damage abilities for groups with the talent [Communion], increasing the damage of the paladin's group by 3%.

Paladins have several anti-undead and demon abilities such as [Exorcism], [Holy Wrath], and [Turn Evil] which make them very effective when fighting Demon and Undead targets (not including Forsaken players, who are considered Humanoids for balance reasons). [Exorcism] and [Holy Wrath] work against all targets, but have additional mechanics when dealing with undead and demon.

In PvP, the paladin's most well-known strength is his/her ability to outlast his opponent(s). With plate armor, their ability to heal themselves and allies, and a near-complete invulnerability every few minutes, they are a hard target to take down. Paladins can also do a surprising amount of burst-damage and have good access to stun abilities. Paladins also make great supporting characters, buffing and healing team-mates while being able to survive the enemy's attention. Paladins are particularly vulnerable to [Silence] and Interrupt effects, as all of a paladin's abilities are part of a single magic school (holy). In addition, dispel effects are powerful against paladins.

Background

Paladins are the virtuous defenders of the weak and tireless, unfaltering enemies of the undead. Mixing elements of the warrior and the clerics of the Holy Light, the paladin is a tough melee fighter. The tradition of the Holy Light is unique to a few of the Alliance races and the blood elves of the Horde. With Cataclycsm, the tauren find themselves able to tap into the power of the Sun and train as paladins as well.

The paladin is a "warrior of the Holy Light". They uphold all that is good and true in the world and revile all that is evil and sinister — especially undead and the Burning Legion. They offer succor to the beleaguered and smite their enemies with holy fervor. They are particularly potent against undead, as these creatures threaten the goodly races and the Holy Light burns them terribly. The presence of any evil is reprehensible to the paladin, but he focuses his efforts on destroying undead and demons. These warriors uphold the tenets of the Holy Light and defend the Alliance from the predations of any threat to their peoples. Found in almost every corner of Azeroth fighting the forces of evil and barbarism, these stalwart warriors of faith ceaselessly uphold their vigil against demonic forces from beyond the Dark Portal. Humans, draenei, and Ironforge dwarves are the most likely to become paladins, as these races revere the Holy Light. Blood elves known as Blood Knights use to bend the powers of the Light to their will, using a captured Naaru. After events at the Sunwell, they have begun using the Light legitimately. The paladin order, also called the Knights of the Silver Hand, grew out of humanity’s culture, and its greatest heroes and fiercest proponents are humans. Ironforge dwarves possess the toughness needed to withstand the onslaught of the paladins’ many enemies. High elves rarely become paladins, though this has changed somewhat, as their blood elf brothers and sisters expand the Blood Knight order. The Blood Knights are commonly mistaken as the enemy of the Knights of the Silver Hand by outsiders unfamiliar with the ways of the Light, but this is false presumption. Paladins are the embodiment of good and selfless dedication to the protection of their peoples. They help the innocent and punish the wicked. As such, paladins are generally of good alignment.

There are however, also evil Paladins such as those in the Scarlet Crusade.

File:RetributionAura.jpg

A dwarf paladin fighting, with the retribution aura, against undead skeletons.

During the Second War, some paladins' eyes glowed with inner power of the Light, such as the paladin Turalyon. This is not the case for all paladins, though it occurs in game with certain paladin armor sets.

Second War

Paladins are a holy order of warriors whose purpose is to defend and shepherd the war-torn populace of Lordaeron. Archbishop Alonsus Faol perceived that the pious Clerics of Northshire, who suffered such terrible attrition in the First War, were ill-suited for the dangers of combat. Along with many of the surviving Clerics of Northshire, he sought those of only the greatest virtue among the knighthood of Lordaeron and tutored them in the ways of magic. Led by the crusading Uther the Lightbringer, it now rests upon these paladins — christened the Knights of the Silver Hand — to heal the wounds sustained in combat and to restore faith in the promise of freedom from Orcish tyranny.[2]

15 Years After the Second War

The Archbishop, Alonsus Faol, prior to the Second War, founded the Order of the Knights of the Silver Hand. The holy knights, or paladins, as they are commonly called, led the battle against the evil orcs and helped to save the lands of Lordaeron from ruin. Though it has been nearly 15 years since the end of the Second War, the paladins still work selflessly to protect humanity from the gnawing jaws of evil. Empowered by the Light, these mighty warriors brandish both their warhammers and holy fire in the battle against all those who would trample the meek and innocent.

Third War

Although the paladins were once loved and revered throughout the lands of Lordaeron, they have since fallen on into hard times. The entire Order of the Silver Hand was disbanded for refusing to kill innocent townsfolk who were believed to be contaminated by the dreaded Undead plague of the Scourge. Disenfranchised and driven from their former homes, the paladins still work selflessly to protect humanity from the gnawing jaws of evil. Empowered by the Light, these mighty warriors now brandish both warhammer and holy fire in offensive battle against all who would trample the meek and innocent.[3]

History

File:Paladin-character.gif

Human paladin

The Knights of the Silver Hand was the original paladin order. Formed during the Second War, it was at its height until the time of the Plague. As paladins were immune to the Plague (and indeed all diseases), many members of the Order survived the initial push of the Scourge. Unfortunately, the corrupted Arthas Menethil killed many paladins upon his return (including Uther the Lightbringer), leaving only a scattered few. The Order of the Silver Hand was disbanded by prince Arthas Menethil when Uther the Lightbringer refused to aid Arthas in his purging of the city of Stratholme.

Following the invasion of the Scourge, many of the order's paladins joined a zealous group of followers of the Light known as the Scarlet Crusade. However, many of these paladins have become fanatical towards their ambition of destroying the Scourge, to the point that those not wearing their colors are deemed corrupted. After leaving the Crusade, some paladins decided to join the Argent Dawn. Some paladins have also turned from the light and joined Arthas Menethil as death knights.

Others fled south, to the Kingdom of Stormwind. The paladin order, still referring to themselves as the Order of the Silver Hand, now thrives under new leadership at the Cathedral of Light in Stormwind City. Over time, the followers of the Holy Light spread their philosophy to the dwarves of Ironforge, who soon adopted the tenets of the order as well. Though decimated, the Knights of the Silver Hand eventually bounced back.

In a World of Warcraft questline, Tirion Fordring vows to restore the original order, which later merges with the Argent Dawn to form the Argent Crusade.

The Blood Knights are a paladin order within the blood elves. The Hand of Argus is a paladin order within the draenei. The Sunwalkers is a paladin order with the tauren.

Code of conduct

A paladin must be good and will lose all Light-given abilities if he ever willingly commits an evil act. Additionally, the paladin’s code requires that he respect legitimate authority, act with honor (not lying, not cheating, not using poison and so forth), help those in need (provided they do not use their help for evil or chaotic ends), and punish those who harm or threaten innocents. While he may adventure with others from different organizations, a paladin will never knowingly associate with evil persons, nor will he continue an association with someone who consistently offends his moral code. A paladin may accept only henchmen, followers or cohorts whose intentions are good. A paladin who violates this code, becomes an ex-paladin, and loses all Light-given abilities until he atones for his violations.

Paladins don't always have to work within good or neutral organizations as seen by the Scarlet Crusade and others — however, they do have to believe they are working for good organizations or have faith that their cause is good and just. A paladin can be evil (as illustrated by Renault Mograine and Arthas before he took up Frostmourne, but his holy powers did start to weaken after he culled Stratholme; the further down the dark path he went, the more they faded until eventually left him), but as long as they believe their cause to be just, the Light will continue to serve them.

Similarly, the Light cannot be forcibly stripped from a paladin that personally conducts himself in an honorable manner. When Tirion Fordring defended the orc Eitrigg from his fellow humans, he was banished from the Order of the Silver Hand, and a ceremony was performed by Uther the Lightbringer to strip him of his power. However, the ceremony failed, and while Tirion accepted his sentence of exile, he retained his paladin powers.

Notable paladins

• Uther the Lightbringer
• Arthas Menethil (formerly, later a death knight and then became The Lich King, now dead)
• Tirion Fordring
• Bolvar Fordragon (formerly, now the current Lich King)
• Alexandros Mograine (formerly, later a death knight, redeemed by his son)
• Saidan Dathrohan
• Terenas Menethil II
• Lady Liadrin
• Turalyon
•   Daelin Proudmoore

Races

Main article: Paladin races

The paladin class can be played by the following races:

Race		Strength	Agility	Stamina	Intellect	Spirit	Armor	Health	Mana
	Draenei	23	17	22	20	23	34	58	80
	Dwarf	27	16	23	19	20	32	68	79
	Human	22	20	22	20	21	40	58	80
	Blood elf	19	22	22	23	19	44	58	125
	Tauren	27	15	24	15	23	?	?	?

Blood elf paladins belong to the Order of Blood Knights, while human and dwarven paladins are usually from the Knights of the Silver Hand. Currently, draenei paladins are members of an organization called the Hand of Argus, but this may change with time as the draenei are now part of the Alliance and some may consider joining the Silver Hand.

In Cataclysm

This section concerns content related to Cataclysm.

As of the Cataclysm expansion, Tauren are the second race of the Horde to be able to take on the role of paladin. Tauren paladins are called Sunwalkers.

Aponi Brightmane, an NPC on The Elder Rise in Thunderbluff, is believed to have been the first in-game Tauren paladin. She has a conversation with Tahu Sagewind about drawing powers from the sun as the Druid can draw power from the moon.

Racial mounts

Each paladin order has a different mount.

• Human, Dwarf: [Summon Warhorse], Charger
• Draenei: [Summon Exarch's Elekk], [Summon Great Exarch's Elekk]
• Blood Elf: [Summon Warhorse], [Summon Charger]
• Tauren: [Summon Sunwalker Kodo], [Summon Great Sunwalker Kodo]
• All:  [Argent Charger]

Gear

File:Paladin silver hand.jpg

Human paladin

See also: Paladin sets

Paladins can wear cloth, leather, mail or plate armor and may use a shield. They can use polearms and one or two handed swords, axes and maces.

Paladins cannot dual wield, or wield daggers, fist weapons or staves. They also cannot use ranged weapons. In lieu of a ranged weapon slot, paladins receive a Libram (relic) slot. They have no spammable ranged attacks, but can use [Hand of Reckoning], [Exorcism], and [Avenger's Shield] (if Protection) or (if holy), [Holy Shock] to pull, as needed. [Righteous Defense] can also be used as a ranged pull, albeit its mechanics are a tad different.

They can summon their own Warhorse at level 20 after learning it from the trainer. The epic Charger is trainable at level 40.

Abilities

Main article: Paladin abilities

Paladins play a key role by buffing their allies. However, they also have a few other handy spells and abilities in their arsenal.

Auras

Main article: Paladin auras

In addition to spell buffs (see Blessings below) paladins have the ability to use auras, area-of-effect buffs that boost the abilities of all party members within a certain radius. Only one aura may be active per paladin, but multiple paladins can use different auras within a group (although two paladins using the same aura gain no additional effect instead defaulting to the aura cast by the higher level paladin). The auras themselves cost no mana to operate, have no innate cooldown (other than the Global Cooldown), and may be switched between at will.

Blessings

Main article: Blessing

As of patch 4.01 Blessings have been consolidated into 2 buffs, [Blessing of Might] and [Blessing of Kings], with both having a 60 minute duration. Unlike their previous incarnations, these blessings are no longer single target and are raid wide casts.

Seals

File:BEPallyfemale2.JPG

Blood elf paladins used to receive their holy power from the naaru M'uru. After the revitalization of the Sunwell, the blood elves now channel their powers directly through the renewed font of power.

Main article: Seal (ability)

Seals are long term self-buffs which boost the paladin's power temporarily. Effectively, they add a weapon proc to their melee strikes. Additionally, paladins can unleash these seals upon an enemy with the Judgment ability, causing holy damage and causing an effect depending on which seal is used.

Hands

Main article: Hand (spell)

Hands are spell buffs that can be cast on party and raid members. Hands are derived from previous blessings, and includes [Hand of Freedom], [Hand of Protection], [Hand of Sacrifice], and [Hand of Salvation].

Talents

Main article: Paladin talents are split into three categories:

• Holy - for healing and occasional spellcasting dps.
• Protection - for tanking.
• Retribution - for melee dps.

Talent builders can be found at:

• Official Blizzard site
• Wowtal
• ThottBot
• Wowhead
• MMO-Champion's Talent Calculator

Stats

Main article: Tips and advice for paladins

Paladin stats by paladin type. Primary stats for each paladin type in alphabetical order, and not necessarily in order of importance; that is left up to the player based upon their goal and playstyle.

Secondary stats can be optionally obtained after your primary stats have been met, if you choose to do so.

Holy (healing)	Holy (dps)	Protection	Retribution
Primary Stats
Critical strike rating Haste rating 676 Intellect	Critical strike rating Intellect Spirit ( [Enlightened Judgements] 17% 1742)	Block rating Defense rating Dodge rating Expertise rating Hit rating Stamina	Critical strike rating 25%+ Expertise rating 26% 781 Hit rating 8% 961 (841 Draenei) Strength (for Attack power + scales with BoK)
Secondary Stats
Mastery Spirit	Haste rating (look out for the haste cap) Hit rating (aim for spirit, 17% 1742)	Agility (for extra Dodge rating) Armor Mastery Strength	Agility (for extra Critical strike rating) Haste rating Mastery
Stats to Avoid
Hit rating Strength	Agility Mastery (main stat for pvp, useless for pve) Strength	Critical strike rating Haste rating	Intellect

Quests

Main article: Paladin quests

Paladins once had several class-specific quests which allowed the character to learn valuable spells. However, like other class-specific quests they were phased out with .

End-game expectations

Draenei paladin

Paladins are a very unique class that have the ability to perform all three major functions required in group or raid play depending on their spec.

Healing

Main article: Paladins as healers

Through the holy tree, Paladins are able to empower their healing even further. The holy tree's most important talent, [Beacon of Light], allows 50% of a Paladin's direct heals to be mirrored to the affected friendly target.

Tanking

Main article: Paladins as tanks

Through the protection tree, paladins gain an increased ability to tank enemies. Paladins are especially well known for their ability to tank many enemies at once with rapid threat production. Paladin tanking was once largely reliant on reflective damage, but can now effectively generate multi-target threat through the AoE spell [Consecration] and the multi-target attack [Hammer of the Righteous] to hold aggro on multiple targets. Strong stamina scaling, simple and very high threat generation and the superb [Ardent Defender] talent make paladins perhaps the best tanks in the game.

Damage

Main article: Paladins as DPS

Through the retribution tree, paladins are able to significantly increase their own personal damage output while also bringing a large amount of unique raid utility. Through abilities such as [Crusader Strike], [Divine Storm], [Templar's Verdict] and [Seal of Truth] retribution paladins are able to increase their own personal DPS greatly above the normal level. In addition, retribution paladins bring some raid utility with [Communion] which grants a 3% increase in raid damage.

The retribution tree was once considered a joke until it was redesigned to use the same gear as warriors with damaged based off physical rather than spell power. It has remained a very strong tree since that time and often considered "OP" hence Ghostcrawler's line about one of his hobbies being "nerfing paladins".

Through the holy tree, paladins are capable of dealing a high amount of dps for a long time. Their main cast, [Exorcism], deals a chunk of damage with a low amount of casting time, granting flexibility. [Holy Shock] grants holy power which can be used with [Inquisition]. Since they share gear with paladins that heal, they can assist the healers of the party in severe situations.

The holy tree is, still, considered as a joke for dps, however holy dps can be extremely powerful. There are still alot of people not accepting holy dps due to prejudices. Luckily, increasingly more people accept holy as a dps spec.

Cataclysm changes

Holy Power

Paladins have received a new resource system, similar to Rogue's combo points called Holy Power. It is gained by using various spells, such as [Holy Shock], [Crusader Strike], and [Hammer of the Righteous], while being consumed by spells such as [Word of Glory], [Light of Dawn], [Shield of Righteousness], and [Templar's Verdict]. Up to three stacks of Holy Power is applied, and it will stay available for 30-seconds in and out of combat.

General preview

Cataclysm Class Preview: Paladin | 2010-04-14 14:05 |  Nethaera

In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm we’ll be making several changes to class talents and abilities across the board. While this list only outlines some of our plans for the paladin class, we want to give you a look at the new high-level abilities and an overview of how the new Mastery system will work with each talent spec.

New Paladin Spells

Blinding Shield (available at level 81): Causes damage and blinds all nearby targets. This effect might end up only damaging those facing the paladin’s shield, in a manner similar to Eadric the Pure's ability Radiance in Trial of the Champion. The Holy tree will have a talent to increase the damage and critical strike chance, while the Protection tree will have a talent to make this spell instant cast. 2-second base cast time. Requires a shield.

[Healing Hands] (level 83): Healing Hands is a new healing spell. The paladin radiates heals from him or herself, almost like a [Healing Stream Totem]. It has a short range, but a long enough duration that the paladin can cast other heals while Healing Hands remains active. 15-second cooldown. 6-second duration.

[Guardian of Ancient Kings] (level 85): Summons a temporary guardian that looks like a winged creature of light armed with a sword. The visual is similar to that of the Resurrection spell used by the paladin in Warcraft III. The guardian has a different effect depending on the talent spec of the paladin. For Holy paladins, the guardian heals the most wounded ally in the area. For Protection paladins, the guardian absorbs some incoming damage. For Retribution paladins, it damages an enemy, similar to the death knight Gargoyle or the Nibelung staff. 3-minute cooldown. 30-second duration (this might vary depending on which guardian appears).

Changes to Abilities and Mechanics

Next you will find a list of some of the paladin spell and ability changes, followed by our intentions for improving each talent tree for the release of Cataclysm. There will be further changes, but those revealed below should offer some insight into our goals.

• [Crusader Strike] will be a core ability for all paladins, gained at level 1. We think the paladin leveling experience is hurt by not having an instant attack. Retribution will be getting a new talent in its place that either modifies Crusader Strike or replaces it completely.
• [Cleanse] is being rebalanced to work with the new dispel system. It will dispel defensive magic (debuffs on friendly targets), diseases, and poisons.
• [Blessing of Might] will provide the benefit of  [Wisdom] as well. If you have two paladins in your group, one will do  [Kings] on everyone and the other will do Might on everyone. There should be much less need, and ideally no need, to provide specific buffs to specific classes.
• [Holy Shock] will be a core healing spell available to all paladins.

New Talents and Talent Changes

• We want to ease off the defensive capabilities of Retribution and Holy paladins slightly. We think the powerful paladin defenses have been one of the things holding Retribution paladins back, especially in Arenas. One change we’re considering is lowering Divine Shield’s duration by a couple of seconds. Having said that, Retribution does pretty well in Battlegrounds, and Battlegrounds will be a much bigger focus in Cataclysm since they can provide the best PvP rewards. Furthermore, the healing environment of Cataclysm is going to be different such that a paladin may not be able to fully heal themselves during the duration of Divine Shield to begin with, so this may not be a problem.
• We feel Retribution paladins need one more mechanic which involves some risk of the player pushing the wrong button, making the rotation a bit less forgiving. In addition, we want to add to this spec more PvP utility. Right now the successes of the Retribution paladin in PvP seem to be reduced to either doing decent burst damage, or just being good at staying alive.
• We want to increase the duration of [Sacred Shield] to 30 minutes and keep the limit to one target. The intention is that the paladin can use it on their main healing target. That said, we would like to improve the Holy paladin toolbox and niche so that they don’t feel quite like the obvious choice for tank healing while perceived as a weak group healer.
• We want to add to the Holy tree a nice big heal to correspond with [Greater Heal]. [Flash of Light] remains a fast heal, but will be more expensive to justify the cast speed. [Holy Light] will be the go-to heal that has average efficiency and throughput. [Beacon of Light] needs to be changed so that its benefit is letting the paladin heal two targets at once, not letting the paladin get two heals for the mana cost of one. It’s intended to save GCDs and targeting time, not mana.
• Holy paladins will use spirit as their mana regeneration stat.
• Protection paladins need a different rotation between single-target and multi-target tanking. Likewise, we're looking to add the necessity to use an additional cooldown in each rotation.
• [Holy Shield] will no longer have charges. It will be designed to improve block chance while active, and will continue to provide a small amount of damage and threat.

Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses

Holy

1. Healing
2. Meditation
3. Critical Healing Effect: When the paladin gets a crit on a heal, it will heal for more.

Protection

1. Damage Reduction
2. Vengeance
3. Block Amount: We want to keep the kit of the paladin as a tank who blocks a lot. So by contrast, the warrior tank will sometimes get critical blocks, but the paladin will absorb more damage with normal blocks.

Retribution

1. Melee Damage
2. Melee Critical Damage
3. Holy Damage: Any attack that does Holy damage will have its damage increased.

Vengeance

This is a mechanic to ensure that tank damage (and therefore threat) doesn't fall behind as damage-dealing classes improve their gear during the course of the expansion. All tanking specs will have Vengeance as their second talent tree passive bonus. Whenever a tank gets hit, Vengeance will give them a stacking attack power buff equal to 5% of the damage done, up to a maximum of 10% of the character's un-buffed health. For boss encounters, we expect that tanks will always have the attack power bonus equal to 10% of their health. The 5% and 10% bonuses assume 51 talent points have been put into the Protection tree. These values will be smaller at lower levels. Vengeance will let us continue to make tank gear more or less the way we do today – there will be some damage-dealing stats, but mostly survival-oriented stats.

We hope you enjoyed this preview, and we're looking forward to hearing your initial thoughts and feedback on these additions and changes. Please keep in mind that this information represents a work in progress and is subject to change as development on Cataclysm continues.

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Clarifications

Cataclysm Class Preview: Paladin | 2010-04-14 17:02 |  Nethaera

Here's a bit more clarification on some of these changes. Also, please keep in mind that this is merely a preview and we'll still have more to go in testing up to and including any other changes that aren't listed here in the preview.

We've updated the Flash of Light reference to make it a bit more clear in the original post as follows.

• Flash of Light remains a fast heal, but will be more expensive to justify the cast speed. Holy Light will be the go-to heal that has average efficiency and throughput. Beacon of Light needs to be changed so that its benefit is letting the paladin heal two targets at once, not letting the paladin get two heals for the mana cost of one. It’s intended to save GCDs and targeting time, not mana.

In addition we’re changing the paladin heal design to match that of the other healers. Holy Light is the middle heal. It’s very efficient, but not particularly fast and doesn’t have a lot of throughput. Flash of Light will be the faster heal that costs more mana. (Currently paladins sort of flip the model around by having a fast, efficient heal.) Holy paladins can talent into an additional heal that is like a giant Holy Light. It might take three of these big heals (or two crits) to get a tank from death’s door back to 100% health.

Currently on live, Beacon of Light is a tool that allows paladins to target more than just the main tank. In Cataclysm if it just doubles their healing, it is going to be overpowered. We have two ways we might handle this and we’ll experiment to see which feels better. The first is that Beacon only works on some heals, such as Flash of Light or Holy Light (but not the big one). An alternative idea is that Beacon increases the mana cost of a heal cast on a beaconed target, since you’re essentially getting a double heal. Under this model, Beacon itself would cost no mana.

Also on the live realms currently, paladins have huge mana pools and massive throughput. The trade-off is that they are excellent single target healers and much weaker in other roles. We want paladins to be slightly more interchangeable with other healers. In Cataclysm, you should be able to have a Holy priest on the tank and a Holy paladin on the raid. We’re not sure we’ll back off of the current healing roles completely, but we definitely want to add more breadth to those whose roles are currently too narrow.

As for the Guardian of Ancient Kings. First, it's important to understand that this is not a pet nor does it have a pet bar associated with it. Second, it's also not meant to last for very long. So, it's not a pet in the traditional sense. It's a friend in need when you need it, but not a permanent companion.

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Cataclysm Class Preview: Paladin | 2010-04-14 17:57 |  Nethaera

Things are going to be a bit vague yet since many ideas (as you can read in the preview and my follow-up) are still ideas that we want to try out. Also, from reading the various posts in all of the class previews, we're running into a few misunderstandings that will hopefully clear up with time and additional information. One of those misunderstandings is in regard to certain abilities either being perceived as too PvP centric or not PvP centric enough. We'll do what we can to correct these perceptions and expand upon this information as we go along. There is a fine balance being done that is looking at creating a variety of tools for each class that are neither purely situational nor a part of every rotation.

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Videos

Paladin Class Changes by TGN on YouTube
Part 1	Part 2

Paladin videos by TGN on YouTube
Protection Paladin 5 vs 1	Retribution DPS Rundown

Protection Guides by TGN on YouTube
Rotations	Word of Glory in action

Additional notes

• In-game paladin is often abbreviated into pala, pal or pally by players.

See also

• Paladin attributes
• See Paladin races for paladins by race.
• See List of paladins for notable paladins of various races from lore.
• See Tips and advice for paladins for further advice and tips on the paladin's varying roles.
• See the paladin category for further information on the paladin class.
• Statistics of paladins from Warcraft II.
• Divine Magic
• Spell power coefficient
• Paladin twinking guide
• Gear mechanics of paladins as tanks

External links

Wikipedia 

Retribution Sanctuary @ www.cromfel.com First Paladin community dedicated to Retribution

Ret Paladin.com Everything to know about Retribution paladins, from Retpaladin.com

Retribution Paladins A Site for the Casual Hardcore Ret Paladin!

HolyPaladin.net Frequently updated guides for Holy Paladins

orlangur-8eyed.livejournal.com Paladin base health and mana

WowInsider The Light and How to Swing It — weekly paladin feature at WoW Insider

WowInsider Paladin guides at WoW Insider

WowInsider Paladin Tanking 101

RETLOL:The Guide The definitive guide to leveling, gearing and playing your Retribution Paladin in PvE and PvP.

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