| |
This is an attempt at cataloguing common Paladin topics, so that people end the barrage of identical threads. I am starting this because, after two weeks away from the forums, I see the same handful of topics rehashed across the first four pages, and finding unique ideas is like searching for a needle in a haystack.
I. Basic Class Information/Design
--Class Description Changed
--Paladins are/are not a support class
--Paladin roles
--Paladins can/can't tank
--Paladins are/aren't fun to play
II. Basic Abilities
--Petition to make Holy Shock trainable
--Petition to make Consecration trainable
--Petition to make Seal of Command trainable
--Strikes
III. Talents
--Seal of Command
--Reckoning
--Blessing of Kings
--Protection is Broken!
--Too Few Controllable Abilities
--Not Enough Talents for Unique Skills
--Sanctity vs Retribution Aura
IV. Itemization
--Soulforge vs. Lawbringer
--Lawbringer 8/8 bonus
--Which Epic Weapon Should I Take?
--Tier 3 Armor
V. Miscellany
--Blizzard Hates Paladins
--Who/where is our CM?
--Undead are Humanoids??
--Statements at Blizzcon on Paladins
--CMs Never Post Here?
I. Basic Class Information/Design
--The Class Description Changed. The words "capable of fearsome damage" were removed when class descriptions were rewritten in Autumn 2005. The words "tanks overall" were removed in May 2006. Similar (perceived negative) changes were made to descriptions of Shamans and Rogues. Different (perceived neutral/positive) changes were made to descriptions of Warriors.
--Paladins are/are not a support class. This remains a topic of intense debate, and will probably just turn into a flame war. Tigole described Paladins as "very much a support class" during an E3 interview, which heated up the debate. This contradicts many pre-release statements that there would be no support classes.
--Paladin roles. Paladins are a hybrid class. The role that you believe one hybrid should play is not necessarily the role one will play. This statement is identically true for Shamans, Druids, and Warriors, and nearly valid for Priests. Finding a talent build that suits your playing style is important. Forcing that style and build onto others is petty, and makes people on the forum dislike you.
--Paladins can/can't tank. Of the 9 classes in World of Warcraft, only the Mage and the Priest theoretically cannot tank any encounter -- and several Mages are trying, for amusement's sake, in high end 5 person instances. Tanking always requires good gear, high playing skill, and enough healers to keep the main tank alive. This debate is therefore meaningless.
--Paladins are/aren't fun to play. Most people consider low-level Paladins fun, and many believe that they're powerful, dynamic, and interesting. This opinion is dramatically less popular for endgame levels.
Many people consider Paladins boring and uninteractive because, whereas most classes gain many new combat options as they gain levels, the essential Paladin combat system (Seal/Judgement) does not change beyond level 4. New Seal options are gained as high as level 38, but the essence of the system (Seal, Judge, Seal, wait) remains unchanged beyond 4th level. The only new spell gained is Hammer of Wrath, at level 44, and three spells that affect Undead and Demons. Virtually all other non-Seal combat skills are either talents (e.g. Holy Shock) or uninteractive (e.g. Auras, most Blessings).
II. Basic Abilities
--Petition to Make Holy Shock Trainable. See this thread:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-paladin&t=1052678&p=1&tmp=1#post1052678
It has 30 pages of debate and signatures. Additional threads are unnecessary.
--Petition to Make Consecration Trainable. There have been multiple threads about this topic, started in many places on this forum. There are many arguments claiming that this should be trainable. Rather than reinventing the wheel, it would do more good to bump an existing thread, giving it more replies and more page views.
--Petition to Make Seal of Command Trainable. Threads have already been started, resurrected, and reposted about this talent and why it should be trainable. The only talents for which no petition exists stating why it should be trainable, are talents that almost nobody wants, such as Blessing of Sanctuary.
--Strikes. Blizzard has stated that they won't revert to Strikes. To see how the Strike system worked, fight a Scarlet Crusade Paladin. They're identical to how Paladins functioned in open Beta. The Paladin class was overhauled two weeks before release, one week before the end of open Beta. Strikes were replaced with the Seal and Judgement system, in addition to some other changes.
III. Talents
--Seal of Command. The Seal of Command proc rate is officially 6.8 PPM. This talent breaks very frequently, though, and had a notorious "Spell not Ready" bug from release to Patch 1.10.1. If you feel that Seal of Command is not working properly, test it out on some PVE mobs using the Recap addon, screencap the results, and post to the Bug Report forum. This thread explains how to post a bug report: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-paladin&t=1057042&p=1&tmp=1#post1057042
If you have a question about Seal of Command damage, go here: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-paladin&t=820894&p=1&tmp=1#post820894
--Reckoning. The mechanics of Reckoning are explained here: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-paladin&t=1069149&p=1&tmp=1#post1069149
Please do not start threads about how it is broken until you have read and understand the above topic.
--Blessing of Kings. This 11-point Protection talent is regarded by many, especially non-Paladins, as the most useful Paladin buff. It's so useful, in fact, that many Paladins are forced to take 11 points in Protection by their guild, just to be able to cast this buff. You're not alone if your guild tries to coerce you into specializing just for this. Many examples of Paladins forced to take Kings can also be found in this thread: https://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-paladin&t=1129543&p=1&tmp=1#post1129543
--Protection is Broken! It's been said a thousand times before. True or false, it's certainly unpopular: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-paladin&t=1097789&p=1&tmp=1#post1097789
The above survey, started by Gregthegreat, showed that the least popular talents, from top to bottom, were the entire Protection tree. Blessing of Kings was the only exception.
The Paladin Protection tree is the only self-incompatible talent tree in the entire game. By this, we mean that some Protection talents (e.g. Anticipation) actually reduce the effectiveness of other Protection talents (Reckoning, Redoubt). No other class has this problem, even marginally.
Note: Suggestion threads for fixing Protection are common, so please attempt to be innovative if you plan to start another one. Some examples can be found here:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-paladin&t=1116138&p=1&tmp=1#post1116138
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-paladin&t=1125031&p=1&tmp=1#post1125031
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-paladin&t=1112180&p=1&tmp=1#post1112180
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-paladin&t=1078907&p=1&tmp=1#post1078907
--Too Few Controllable Abilities. This has been discussed in many places, and can be summarized thusly: 11 of 44 Paladin talents (25%) completely depend on a random number generator (RNG). 2 are partly RNG-dependent. That's 13 in all, or around 30%. 5 of 44 Paladin talents (13%) reduce this dependency. This includes talents that require taking or dealing a critical hit, as the chance of a critical hit is random.
The first number (13 of 44) is both the highest number and highest fraction of RNG-dependent talents, for any class in World of Warcraft.
Some threads on this subject are here:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-paladin&t=1123565&p=1&tmp=1#post1123565
There used to be no class that even came close to our RNG dependence. Now, thanks to their review, Shamans are a close second, with 8 of 46 talents (17%) fully RNG-dependent, and 2 of 46 talents (4%) partially RNG-dependent. Shamans have 6 talents that can reduce this dependency, i.e. just 1 more than Paladins.
--Not Enough Talents for Unique Skills. Ahms stated this perfectly with a now-legendary thread titled "The Aspects of the Paladin Don't Shine". Though the thread is long gone, it can be summarized thus:
At 44 talents, Paladins have the least number of talents available to any class. Shamans are second least, with 46. Druids are third least, with 47.
Only 9 of 44 talents affect Blessings and Auras
Only 6 of 44 talents affect Seals and Judgements
21 of 44 talents, or 46%, affect abilities unique to Paladins. This includes new skills gained through talents, as well as long cooldown skills like Lay on Hands.
The only well-developed talents are those that mimic other classes, e.g. Healing Light.
Compared to Shamans: 12 of 46 Shaman talents affect Shocks and Lightning spells. 11 of 46 Shaman talents affect Totems. 23 of 46 Shaman talents (50%) affect abilities unique to Shamans. This includes new skills gained through talents, as well as long cooldown skills like Reincarnation.
Compared to Druids: 20 of 47 Druid talents affect feral forms. 10 of 47 Druid talents affect Balance spells. Most of these talents are not unique to Druids, as Druids are described as mimics of other classes.
Compared to Warlocks: 19 of 50 Warlock talents affect DoT or Curse spells, including channeled spells. 15 of 50 Warlock talents affect minions. If we discount talents that mimic Mages and Hunters, 34 talents (68%) affect abilities unique to Warlocks.
--Sanctity vs Retribution Aura: Which does more damage?
The answer, believe it or not, is almost always Retribution Aura...and, unlike many common topics, this one can be proven using mathematics.
Example: Ursulion, a level 60 Paladin, has 950 AP (fully buffed, incl. GotW) and uses Seal of Command with Unstoppable Force. Judging once per 8 seconds, Sanctity Aura adds (17.8*60/8) = 134 damage to the Judgement, and 247 damage to the Seal.
Retibution Aura is better if it reflects at least
381 damage per minute. Improved, reflecting 30 damage per hit, that's 12.7 hits per minute, or an attack speed of 4.72. Nothing in the game is this slow. Improved Ret Aura is always better. Now, unimproved Retribution Aura, at 20 damage per hit, needs 19.05 hits per minute, or an attack speed of 3.15. Virtually everything in the game attacks faster than this. Retribution Aura still wins.
Spamming Consecration can make Sanctity Aura more appealing, but only against single targets. This also burns mana too quickly to be viable. Sanctity Aura is most useful in single PVP with spellcasters -- Warlocks especially, who take no Retribution damage whatsoever from spamming fear spells and dots. It's also good against Undead or Demons, because of the the 10% damage bonus to Exorcism and Holy Wrath. Otherwise, Retribution Aura is virtually always a better choice, even without talents.
IV. Itemization
--Soulforge vs. Lawbringer. It is widely accepted that Soulforge is a more well-rounded armor than Lawbringer. The claim is that by replacing rare Soulforge slots with epic Lawbringer pieces, one obtains an armor set more versatile than full Lawbringer armor, with only slightly worse resistances, which is identically viable in and beyond Molten Core.
--Lawbringer 8/8 Bonus. The proc rate of the 8/8 Lawbringer bonus is extremely low. Most people report the proc rate at less than once per minute.
--Which Epic Weapon Should I Take?. http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-paladin&t=820894&p=1&tmp=1#post820894
This is a moot point for Paladins who use Seal of Righteousness, or who choose not to melee. Seal of Righteousness works best with faster weapons, and has a spell damage coefficient of 0.2. Weapon DPS and procs are therefore largely irrelevant.
--Tier 3 Armor. Paladin Tier 3 armor is for healing only. It provides no bonuses to Strength, Agility, or melee criticals. This is also true for the Shaman, Druid, and Priest armors -- Tier 3 armor pigeonholes everyone with a heal spell into a strict healing role. The number of threads protesting this is countless, but Blizzard refuses to change these armors.
Feel free to add to my list. Hopefully this will keep the number of redundant threads to a minimum.[ post edited by Flibble ]
Free Ursulion! "Speaking Out" != "Linking to Porn"
|
