I am, sadly, not in Anaheim, but I did purchase the virtual ticket, so I’m going to attempt to separate my own feelings about the various announcements separate from paladin information, so there may be a few posts this weekend. Also, paladin information is kind of scarce at the moment. All we have is some info about the talent trees and such.<\/p>\n
Please bear in mind that this is all based on the WoW Preview and Class Talent System panels and anything can (and may!) change.<\/strong><\/p>\n So, first up, they’ve changed up talents and such. Gone are the days of a huge talent tree. At level 90, we will have 6 tiers, with 3 choices on each tier. You get to pick one from each tier and that’s it. You get these choices at level 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90.<\/p>\n That said, you still get your “iconic” abilities at level 10. You will, however, now get more<\/em> iconic abilities as you level.<\/p>\n So you’ll have:<\/p>\n Core Class Abilities – things that are available to everyone in the class They showed a slide of some of the Holy Paladin spec abilities. These are things you get for going Holy at level 10 when you choose to specialize. Bear in mind that these may not be exactly the same as they currently are!<\/p>\n Level 10<\/strong>: Holy Shock and Walk in the Light<\/a>. This looks to be the same passive we currently have. That’s all they gave us for holy and it’s all based on a screenshot, so I’m sure no one should count on that info to remain all that accurate. :)<\/p>\n Now, as to the paladin talents. Remember, these are available to all paladins<\/em>! And we can only choose one of each tier. Thanks much to Walks<\/a> for sending me his written-out versions of the talent choices. :)<\/p>\n Level 15<\/strong><\/p>\n This is the Movement tier. Your choices are:<\/p>\n Speed of Light<\/span> (instant, 1m cooldown) Well. Interesting. This is obviously taken from our current Holy Radiance sprint move, although it lasts two seconds more than our current Holy Radiance sprint and I’m sure the healing done isn’t terribly strong.<\/p>\n Long Arm of the Law<\/span> (8s cooldown) So this is a sprint that can happen every 8 seconds, but it lasts 2 seconds less than Speed of Light and is 15% less fast. Still, it’s not a button you hit that you wouldn’t normally hit at some point, so it’s kind of passive. Interesting.<\/p>\n Pursuit of Justice<\/span> So that’s a maximum of 30% speed, but it could be, well, forever. Interesting.<\/p>\n As a holy paladin participating in PVE content, based on this information, I would likely select Speed of Light.<\/p>\n Level 30<\/strong><\/p>\n This is the Crowd Control tier.<\/p>\n Fist of Justice<\/span> (Instant, 30s cooldown) This replaces<\/em> Hammer of Justice, but you’ll note that the CD is 30s, not the 60s that HoJ is.<\/p>\n Repentance<\/span> (1.5s cast, no cooldown) Seal of Justice So that’s clearly the PVP way to go. ;) Actually, the Fist of Justice might be, too. Repentance for me!<\/p>\n Level 45<\/strong><\/p>\n This can be considered the damage reduction tier. Sort of.<\/p>\n Blessed Life<\/span> (8s internal cooldown) They did say that, absolutely, this is direct-damage. Standing in AOE will not proc this.<\/p>\n Sacred Shield<\/span> (60s internal cooldown) Sadly, this is not the Sacred Shield of WotLK, but rather the one from the ret tree.<\/p>\n Ardent Defender<\/span> (Instant, 3m cooldown) Yup, Ardent Defender is planned to be available to all paladins.<\/p>\n I would probably grab Sacred Shield, since, as a healer, it’s rare that something will choose to beat on me specifically, so Blessed Life is a bit less useful. Ardent Defender is also more useful for someone expecting to take damage, so Sacred Shield seems to be the choice.<\/p>\n Level 60<\/strong><\/p>\n This is clearly the healing tier. Finally, something that might be useful for us in terms of healing!<\/p>\n Selfless Healer<\/span> (8s internal cooldown) Interesting. Over the course of 16 seconds, you can get a free Flash of Light. If Judgements of the Pure continues into 5.0 the way that it’s going to work in 4.3, this will probably not be the optimal choice for a PVE-based holy paladin, just because we’re not going to judge that much.<\/p>\n
\nSpec Abilities – things that are available to everyone in that spec of that class
\nTalents – the 6 talents you choose at various levels.<\/p>\n
\nLevel 20<\/strong>: Holy Wrath. Yes, that’s right, this is now specific to holy paladins, as far as we know.
\nLevel 30<\/strong>: Judgements of the Pure. I expect this will work similarly to how JotP will work in 4.3.
\nLevel 32<\/strong>: Holy Light. Yup, this is specific to holy paladins. It was mentioned that all paladins will have Flash of Light but Holy Light and Divine Light will be specific to holy paladins.
\nLevel 34<\/strong>: Sacred Cleansing. Well, at least we don’t have to put a talent point here, eh? ;)
\nLevel 38<\/strong>: Holy Radiance. Well, that’s accessible a lot sooner, geez!
\nLevel 40<\/strong>: Beacon of Light. Available around the same point as it is now.
\nLevel 46<\/strong>: Divine Plea. Interesting place for it.
\nLevel 50<\/strong>: Infusion of Light.<\/p>\n
\nIncreases your movement speed by 60% for 6 seconds. During this time, you radiate healing to nearby allies.<\/p>\n
\nA successful Judgment increases your movement speed by 45% for 4 seconds.<\/p>\n
\nYou gain 10% movement speed for each current charge of Holy Power.<\/p>\n
\nStuns the target for 6 seconds.<\/p>\n
\nPuts the enemy target in a state of meditation, incapacitating them for up to 1 minute. Any damage from sources other than Censure will awaken the target. Usable against Demons, Dragonkin, Giants, Humanoids, and Undead.<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Fills the Paladin with Holy Light, causing direct attacks to reduce the target’s movement speed by 50% for 5 sec and deal 87 additional Holy damage.<\/p>\n
\nYou have a 100% change to gain a charge of Holy Power whenever you take direct damage or are stunned, feared, or immobilized. This effect cannot occur more than once every 8 seconds.<\/p>\n
\nWhen reduced below 30% health, you gain the Sacred Shield effect. Sacred Shield absorbs damage and increases healing received by 20%. Lasts 15 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once every 60 seconds.<\/p>\n
\nReduces damage taken by 20% for 10 seconds. While Ardent Defender if active, the next attack that will kill you will instead cause you to be healed for 15% of your maximum health.<\/p>\n
\nYour successful Judgments reduce the mana cost of your next Flash of Light by 50% and improve its effectiveness by 50% when used to heal others. Stacks up to 2 times.<\/p>\n