| Name | The Complete Guide to Paladins |
| Category | Class |
Hyacintha, your very own Skryer Enchantress here. Today I have with me Sevirus the Dwarven Paladin who has experienced all of the Paladin specializations and he is pretty passionate about what he does. I thought he would be the best candidate for my interview because he is such a distinctive and formidable figure!
Sevirus: Thas’ right lass. Ye’ve got that right. Arrr har har har!
Hyacintha: Mnkay, so tell us about being a Paladin and what you should think about if you are considering it for yourself.
Sevirus: Well, ya’ see, the first thing you must do is consider, is the Paladin class right for you? There are a lot of enormously wonderful things about the Paladin class but as with any class it is not for everyone. Some people try being a Paladin and last all of ten levels, while others immediately fall in love with it and it lasts a lifetime to level 70. To get a better idea of what the Paladin class stands for, I have gone ahead and accumulated a list that describes what the Paladin class is. If these things happen to be what you are looking for, then a Paladin may be the right choice, and of course, if you are not sure, then you should just try it out for yourself! The low levels do not showcase everything about a class, no matter what it is, but it may be a good way to get a fundamental idea of how the Paladin will work for you. So, here the key points are.
1) Paladins are a hybrid class and with that brings abundant alternatives for leveling, spec, and group opportunities. From healing, to tanking, to DPS, like a Druid, the Paladin can take on almost any party role.
2) Paladins are good at several things so you can change and adapt to different situations. As they can heal, tank or DPS, you may have the opportunity to switch in the heat of a needed moment. However, while they can do all these things they can not do any of them as well as a single purpose class. The exception here is that Paladins are the best at multi-target tanking.
3) Paladins can wear any kind of armor they choose to and can equip shields. What this means is that they are given a supreme amount of choice and a very high survivability rate in plate armor later in the game. While you rarely see Paladins wearing leather or mail, you may quite often see them wearing cloth for healing. Since they can wear any type of armor though, they can likely compile together some of the best healing sets in the game.
4) Paladins at level 40 and beyond are arguably the most easily surviving class in the game. In almost any situation, they can pull it off and live. Besides the fact that they have high armor and health numbers, they also have the ability to heal themselves, shield themselves, and pull off some other fantastic moves. Everyone is familiar with the ‘bubblehearth’ technique so infamous and coined by Paladins everywhere. Several blessings sported by the ever popular class provide near infinite protection in various situations.
5) Paladins have exceptional group and raid buffs in the form of Auras and Blessings. Due to these things, Paladins are always in high demand for those situations.
6) Paladins can taunt enemies of other players in tight situations. Regardless of whether you are a tank, healer, or DPSer, the fact is, as a Paladin you will have more armor than most of your other group members. For this fact alone, Paladins are excellent to have in a group. If a healer is going to get hit in a raid situation, you would much rather the one in plate get hit than the one in cloth. In straight up tanking situations, Paladins do not output as much threat per second as a Warrior does, but they can tank several targets with relative ease, where as a Warrior or Druid would have some difficulty. In multi-target tanking situations, no one can beat the Paladin.
7) Paladins can resurrect other players. What is better than a DPSer or Tank that can resurrect too?
8) Paladins are mainly viewed as a support class, so excepting if you work hard to prove yourself, you may be transferred downward to assisting on numerous other tasks rather than being the main tank or main healer.
9) To be truly successful at any of the things Paladins are able to do, you should try hard to specialize your talents and gear to that one thing you would like to focus your character on. However, this causes you to give up a lot of your flexibility as a moldable class.
To crumple it all into a fine little summary, the Paladin class is a sundry class that is on the whole a supporting, sustaining class. In a nutshell, they can heal, tank, and DPS fairly well, yet Paladins are not the most talented of the many classes in any particular facet. Their blend of abilities makes them extremely malleable and long living and it is not unusual to see a Paladin combating a monster or enemy more than a few levels higher than themselves and defeating them. While it may take a while with their low DPS, unless they are retribution specialized, they can and will survive if they have any sense about them as players.
Hyacintha: I have heard Paladins called the ‘easy button’ before. It sure sounds like if you know what you are doing, the Paladin can be the longest lived class in the game for you. Now, tell us about races, please.
Sevirus: Well, ya see, there really is no perfect race combination for a Paladin, so it is up to you to choose whichever race you would like to. Some of the racial abilities may make a small difference, but consider this; starting stats do not matter much in World of Warcraft unlike some other MMORPGs. The decision of your race will not ultimately change the entirety of your gaming experience, so you are free to make whatever choice you truly wish.
However, having said that, if you are going to make your Paladin a melee dedicated character through the retribution talents then, in such a case, a Human may be the best choice since they make available five additional points in both sword and mace weapon skills.
If you are going to be specializing in healing or tanking then, in this case, a Dwarf may be the better choice due to their stone form ability.
Blood Elves and Draenei have reasonably poor abilities specifically for being a Paladin. However, while the Gift of the Narru is pretty much absolutely pointless, the Mana draining ability that Blood Elves are given can be a deadly combination if placed behind the right player. In such a case, it really does depend on player ability, more so than the class and race setup of the character.
Hyacintha: So, Paladins are one of them mana users, right?
Sevirus: We certainly are! Mana is the miraculous energy that one has to draw on to cast their myriad of spells and use their abilities and special attacks. Paladins are no exception to this rule.
Now, keep in mind that the quantity of mana you have is determined by your intelligence and the alacrity at which it regenerates is impacted by your total spirit. Having mana is vital to being a Paladin, since it is used for all of your abilities. How a Warrior uses Rage or a Rogue uses Energy, any spell caster equivalently uses mana. If you run out of mana in a fight you will only be able to use your regular, auto attacks. Thus, you must find the need gravely important to learn to manage your mana in order to always guarantee you will have some left. The Paladin may be one of the longest lived classes, but without steadily maintained mana, they will become quite susceptible to death.
Hyacintha: Now I have heard of this weird thing. I think you call them seals. Can you tell me about seals? Are they a type of pet, maybe?
Sevirus: Har har har har! No, lassie. Seals are not animals! Ye see, Paladins have spells that are called Seals. These spells are special in that they that grant them short term bonuses in battle. The bonuses can be anything from additional damage to mana regeneration, with numerous other abilities in between. Once cast, most seals will last for thirty seconds or some similar time. This varies of course.
A Paladin may only have one seal cast upon themselves at any given time. There is no exception. Casting a new seal will write over the previous. However, a Paladin’s seals can also be "judged" onto an enemy, to produce another, intriguing effect. Judging a seal eradicates it from the Paladin themselves, and applies the same or different effect onto the targeted enemy in its place. The effects can be anything from causing damage, allowing other to revive mana on every hit, stop the enemy from fleeing, or any quantity of other constructive effects. Once judged, if the seal applies a lasting effect, such as healing per hit, the seal will remain on the enemy for a period of time that can be revitalized by additional triumphant hits by the Paladin. Really, it just depends on the spell. An enemy can have one judged effect per Paladin that they are fighting, as long as they are different effects. In other words, if more than one Paladin applies the same seal, they will not stack.
Hyacintha: Now, I have also come to understand, and so you have told me, that Paladins have very powerful buffs that you call Auras. Can you tell us about those?
Sevirus: Ya, this one is important, ye see. Paladins have harnessed the ability to tap into powerful auras that make available a buff to each person in their group that is within 30 yards or 40 yards with certain talents. The auras are permanent effects, and will last until you change them, which will in turn change them for the rest of your group. You can only have one active aura at a time. While Paladin auras do not stack, if there are several Paladins in a group they can each have a different aura active and everyone in the group will receive the effect of both auras.
Hyacintha: So, next on my list are Blessings, I believe. I have heard some funny quotes about those, like, “I’ve got Blessing of Protection, baby.”
Sevirus: Har har! Ya, we know all about that one. Ye see, Blessings are character buffs that last for five minutes or for 15 with the greater form with a reagent and they bestow very advantageous bonuses. Any certain player, including the Paladin themselves, can only be under the effect of a single blessing per Paladin in a comparable way to auras.
Blessings can make available many diverse abilities such as reduced threat generation, improved mana regeneration, superior attack power and many other fantastic effects. Thus, Paladins are always wanted in groups for the purpose of making things much easier.
Hyacintha: Good, good. Glad to know it. Now, can you tell us about what professions you would recommend if you are a Paladin?
Sevirus: Sure!
Herbalism and Alchemy are a decent combination for a Paladin since you will be able to save your mana by drinking a potion as an alternative to healing yourself, or gain mana if you are currently in a fight. Alchemy can be used to make a wide collection of exceptionally useful potions that can be sold for cash or used to make combat easier. It is really good for everyone.
Mining and Blacksmithing can be useful for a Paladin as many players find early on that creating your own weapons and armor can be very helpful compared to trying to obtain them through quests or the Auction House. The armor created through Blacksmithing can be very useful to a Paladin. Mining can be a great source of income and goes great with Blacksmithing.
Mining and Engineering are also feasible. Engineering is extremely useful for Paladins since it is one of the very limited methods they have of gaining a ranged attack. Stun grenades and a large assortment of gadgets can be very helpful in stopping escaping enemies. There are also some very good goggles and gadgets that can be helpful while leveling up.
Skinning and Leatherworking are arguable. Skinning can make you a lot of money while you are leveling up, however the leather armor is of very little use to a Paladin since you can wear much better plate armor.
Mining & Skinning or Herbalism & Skinning can be great as a combination of gathering skills is often times the best choice when starting out. Selling everything you gather on the Auction House can create enough money to fund new armor, weapons, and even a mount, although Paladins do not really have to worry about that so much.
Hyacintha: Can you tell me about the basic stat formulas for a Paladin?
Sevirus: Well missy, being a hybrid class Paladins rely on many statistics. However, the primary ones te’ look fer are Stamina, Strength and Intellect. Agility and Spirit are also important to Paladins, but generally less than the other three. My recommendation though is to specialize in a few statistics that further your talent build. For example if you are going to be a healer, then Intellect is your primary stat followed by either Spirit to rebuild your mana pool or Stamina to survive a while healing. However, most people will claim that Spirit does very little for a Paladin, and this is primarily true. For a DPS or a Tanking Paladin you would need Strength, Stamina and Agility as your stats to ensure that you can hit, hit hard and take a hit. Yet, it is still important to have a large mana pool to use your various abilities.
Furthermore, it is important te’ look at the stat formulas for the Paladin class.
Strength - Increases your Attack Power thereby increasing your damage. Strength also increases the damage that you can block with your shield.
· 1 Strength = 2 Attack Power
· 14 Attack Power = 1 DPS (Damage per second)
· Therefore, 7 Strength = 1 DPS
Stamina - Increases your health points. This is critical for Paladins since our battles are generally long and drawn out due to our low DPS.
· 1 Stamina = 10 Health points
Intellect- Increases your mana pool and your critical hit chance with spells. It also increases the speed at which you earn weapon skill points.
· 1 Intellect = 15 Mana
Spirit - Spirit raises your health and mana regeneration rate. While it is noticeable at higher levels of spirit, it takes a significant number of points in this to regain mana quickly enough that you will not want to stop and drink to gain it back.
· 4 Spirit = 1 Mana regenerated every 2 seconds
Agility - Agility increases the following: Attack power with ranged weapons, armor, critical hit chance and your chance to dodge attacks. The ranged weapon bonus is meaningless to Paladins as we can not use ranged weapons. The armor bonus is also relatively small for Paladins since we can use plate armor. The main reason to boost agility is for the critical hit %.
· 2 Agility = 1 Armor point
· 20 Agility = +1% to Critical hit
· 20 Agility = +1% to Dodge
Hyacintha: Well, we have covered quite a bit of ground in this article here, but there is one more thing I would like to go over. I have not really focused much on it in other interviews, but I think it is time for that to change. What I want to talk about here is Player versus Player. The PvP Paladin can be a very strong class for Battleground fights and Arenas. So, can you go over some of that information with us?
Sevirus: Well missy, it is important te’ go over all the different specs first. So I will touch upon those first.
PvP as a Holy Spec - Holy Spec Paladins have need of the right kind of gear style to really be most effective. Holy Shock becomes the bread and butter of any offensive Holy-spec spell casting for a Paladin. When I was Holy Spec, lassie, and PvP’ing, I found that around 300 spell damage was an adequate quantity to make many of my spells crit for around 1000, and of course this is not mitigated by armor. Depending on your guild and raid progression, you should look all over for good +spell damage, +spell healing gear. At the same time, being holy spec, you do not want to limit the other roles that you can perform. You will be one of the most excellent healing options for any group in Warsong Gulch. Being proficient enough to cast almost un-interruptedly with Spiritual Focus (Talent) and Concentration Aura makes you almost perfect for excellent heals, even when under pressure. Cleanse is even more powerful in PvP because of its multiple spell types enclosed in a solitary cleanse. If you can understand the balance between using Flash of Light for fast, resourceful healing, and Holy Light, when you have the time to cast and need to land a big heals, you will be invaluable to your teams’ success. Think with your head, not with your bubble!
PvP as a Retribution Spec - Now lassie, getting into Retribution, I will say right off that this was a very different build for me. As a crucial healer in raid environments, the biggest change fer me was the gear requirements. Paladins must have Attack Power, Agility, and Crit to really be effectual in a retribution spec. Do not be afraid to use blues in place of your healing or tank trinkets in this spec, because you will want to have your ability Vengeance up as much as possible. Repentance, a talent, is a great spell interrupter, and you will always want to make sure that you constantly have that and Hammer of Justice ready against offensive spell casters. I personally prefer Seal of Command with two handed weapons with this spec, as you are only likely to burst someone down if you can mix Vengeance, Seal of Command crits, and Judgments of Command. Paladins are all about wearing away other’s with this spec, and thus you will want to manage your Mana as efficiently as possible. Sometimes, being able to stun and Hheal, or cast Repentance and a heal will turn the tide in the battles, so managing your cool downs is of the utmost importance as a fellow Paladin.
As fer protection Paladins, I have little comment in PvP. You may simply try te’ play like you were specced another way, though I guarantee that will do no good unless you have the gear to go with it.
Hyacintha: So, what blessings should people use when they are PvPing, Sevirus?
Sevirus: Well missy, each Blessing has its own unique purpose:
Blessing of Wisdom and Might are both fairly straightforward, if yeh ask me. If you need that extra mana regeneration to last during a longer fight, use Blessing of Wisdom. If you believe like you can DPS someone down with that extra attack power boost, unquestionably use that. Remember, in either Holy or Retribution spec, you will be improving these blessings through talents, so take advantage of what you have spent points on for the best effects.
As a Paladin, Blessing of Freedom is our “bread and butter” as some would say. This is especially true when you are with a flag carrier. Blessing of Freedom can be what makes all the difference in the heat of the moment. This will clear nearly every movement impairing effect, and will allow a Druid, for example, to be able to travel unharmed away from a battle in travel form. Remember, this Blessing wipes any previous blessing that you have on the target, and it only lasts for 15 seconds, so be prepared to bless again when and as needed.
Blessing of Sacrifice is maybe the most underused Blessing that we Paladin’s have in PvP. If you are with a group, casting Blessing of Sacrifice will not only help take the edge off of your main damage takers, but will keep you from being Crowd Controlled as well. If a Mage polymorphs you, and then hits the target you have Blessing of Sacrifice on, the damage that you take from your Blessing target will break the sheep. Many times, this will also break Fear effects within a few ticks, and seduction, too. This can be very useful in groups, as you will render almost all forms of Crowd Control wholly worthless and void.
Hyacintha: So, when is the best time to go ahead and use Divine Shield?
Sevirus: I am sure glad ye’ asked this as this is perhaps the solitary most misunderstood ability that Paladins have in their arsenal. In group PvP, Divine Shield is more than a tool to avoid direct deaths. Divine Shield is often most practical when you cast it to remove debuffs, such as Mind Control or Polymorph. Bear in mind, it can also remove all forms of player casted debuffs, so often times you can allow the competition to unload on you, and then Divine Shield to force their attention elsewhere. Also commit to memory that for the duration of the shield, you are invulnerable and not losing any health. Many times, it is better to heal others while Divine Shield starts and they are the ones taking damage, and then heal yourself later near the end of the effect, right before you become vulnerable again.
Hyacintha: Fantastic information right there! Is there any last minute info we should have on PvP as a Paladin?
Sevirus: Sure thing there, lassie. A couple o’ quick facts.
· Divine Favor, which is a fail-safe critical, will also impinge on Holy Shock. If you have any trinkets you would like to use, chaining the three can provide very high burst damage. In order, you would want to cast the damage trinket, then Divine Favor, and then Holy Shock for tons of damage right away.
· Keep in mind, any Spell Damage trinkets also have an effect on things like Consecration, and Judgment of Command. These trinkets often have a length of a short time rather than single spell’s time, so make the best use of their entire duration, but do not dump mana without need. In other words, be wise with your cast.
· Blessing of Protection will permit friendly spell casters to continue casting even when immune to physical attacks. Alongside a Warrior or Rogue, this will give a caster 12 seconds of absolute invulnerability, and will save then cast time with no disruption. This ability can be dispelled, so make sure to keep an eye on all targets of Blessing of Protection to see if they need it again.
· Paladins are fairly Hybrid. Hybrid gear may grant to you flexibility, but it will not make you the most effective at specific roles. Getting healing and mana gear will make your Melee DPS significantly lower, while Attack Power and Critical Strike gear will make your healing much less, and severely limit your mana pool. Always make sure you have the gear in line with what you would like to specialize in, and do not be afraid to swap gear out constantly. Having several sets of gear is a fine thing.
Hyacintha: Fantastic! Thank you so much for your time and dedication to telling us all about Paladins Sevirus! In the next couple of guides, we will be sure to cover Paladin spells at length, gear choices, and much much more. Stay tuned!
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