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style="">Living in a State of
Flux
Continuing
the trend of massive changes to go with its
Massively Multiplayer Online Game, Blizzard has spent significant time
modifying the way the class plays. Major changes have occurred in both
the PvE
and PvP areas of play. In focusing on PvP, the Paladin has endured
quite a
ride. During the
first go around, the Paladin was relegated to healing
in PvP.
Lately though; the Paladin has enjoyed significant success in PvP. The
Paladin
has gone from worst to first, then back to the middle and now rests
somewhere
in the middle. When you run into a Paladin in PvP the only way
you’ll know by
sight which spec he/she is will become clear when you get hit with a
2-hander,
a flying shield or you see near-by targets get healed to full. Of
course there
is the tell-tale sign of big weapons and shields, but finally there is
viability with all three specs.
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style="">Is a Paladin Viable
in Arenas?
Right
now half of the top ten arena teams on the tournament
realm have a Paladin. Looking at the current top ten teams for this
season of
PvP shows there is only one Paladin in the 2v2 Arena teams, there are
four
Paladins in the 3v3 bracket and all but two teams have a Paladin in the
5v5
bracket. In the year of the Death Knight it is fairly amazing to see
this kind
of Paladin participation. Rogues have been a staple in PvP, but
Paladins are
giving them a run for their money in the pseudo and actual professional
ranks.
style="">
style="">Holy, Protection,
Retribution and You
The
Holy spec Paladin has a long history in PvP. With
Cleanse, Blessing of Freedom (now Hand of Freedom), Blessing of
Protection (now
Hand of Protection), and of course some great single target heals, the
Holy
Paladin has been a very popular choice for PvP. It never hurts to wear
plate
either. So what’s new? Well now that seals last 30 minutes,
the Judgement
button should be your friend. Even if you aren’t contributing
damage, you
should be judging anything around you. Since healing is more of support
role,
there aren’t many different strategies – just keep
your team alive! That and
stun the Rogues that get within range. Don’t forget Lay on
Hands and the
Paladin signature move, the bubble.
Protection
is not the typical PvP spec, but with 35,000 hit
points, 25,000 armor and all kinds of instant cast spells, Protection
can be
quite fun in PvP. The Protection tree includes instant casts of Hammer
of
Righteousness (hit a few at a time) and Shield of Righteousness (if you
have a
high block value this can hit nice and hard). These spells in addition
to the
Captain America-type shield throw (Avenger’s Shield) really
allow the Player to
choose with their spec of choice instead of only seeing one or two
viable
options.
Retribution
continues its climb up the PvP ladders. Paladins
came out of the shoot fast when the latest post Patch 3.0 arena season
started,
but fell out of favor briefly before returning to prominence. The
amount of
damage a Retribution Paladin can pump out in a very short time has made
them
prime targets for nerf bat. Burst damage has been addressed on the
Public Test
Realm (PTR), so expect fights to last a little longer when Patch 3.2
arrives.
Crusader Strike and Divine Storm are both nice and proccing an instant
Flash of
Light through The Art of War talent really adds to survivability.
style="">Laying on the Pain
Now
that we’ve been brought up to speed on some of the
various specs available to the Paladin, let’s run through
some basic moves and
tactics for fighting the other classes in the game. Blizzard has said
repeatedly that they do not balance the game for 1v1 which is nice
because more
times than not we (as Paladins) have the upper hand!
style="">General Note on PvP –
Mono y Mono
One on
one PvP is decided almost always by the player who
gets the drop on the other player. Not necessarily the first hit, but
the
character that is able to set up first and prime a few moves will
typically win
the day.
What this means is that you
must always keep your “Head on a swivel” as my
football coach used to say. Do
not get caught with blinders on, someone invariably has you in their
sights and
you’ll be in spirit form faster than you can say “I
hate rogues.”
style="">Class by Class
style="">Druids
are one of
our hybrid brethren that have also enjoyed quite a boost to all three
of their
talent trees. Once a Boomkin (Balance Druid) would have been laughed
out of an
Arena, now they can really bring a lot of tricks and damage to a fight.
Regardless of the Druid spec (actually this applies to any PvP
scenario) have
your Hand of Freedom spell ready. A Balance Druid will try to keep some
distance so expect Roots. Clean that with HoF and also be ready to
dispel
Moonfire’s DOT with Cleanse. Balance Druids have high armor
(similar to Bear
Druids) so using Holy Damage is critical. When out and about keep the
stun
handy if they try to jump into travel form. Stun them and use Hammer of
Wrath
and any other instant casts you have off of cooldown. Against Feral
Druids you
can expect a big chunk of your health to disappear if a cat gets the
first
stealth shot in. Don’t worry, they have to rebuild energy,
the key is to have
your PvP trinkets and BoF ready so you keep them in front of you.
Speaking of
trinkets, you will need a PvP “Movement Impairment
Trinket” to remove Cyclone,
and all Druids cast it. If any Druid attempts to pop out of form and
heal, stun
them and make them pay for being a Druid.
style="">General Note on PvP
#2:
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style="">
Formost PvP fights you will want to use Judgement of Justice
to keep them from getting too far away.
style="">Class By Class
Continued
style="">Death Knights
have now been around long enough for some basic PvP routine research.
The key
to Death Knights (and all Paladin targets really) is to keep them
close. Even
though the Death Knight has various Area of Effect abilities, the
damage isn’t
that severe and is better than getting Death Gripped. Keys to fighting
a Death
Knight include the usual timing of stuns, cleansing and HoF.
Additionally
though, when a Death Knight pops his bubble of Magic Shell, switch to
Crusader
Strikes and Divine Storm so that your melee hits still get through
– don’t
waste mana on any Holy Damage, it won’t make it to the target.
style="">Hunters,
oh
Hunters I have hated you so. Prior to any ranged attacks being
available and
other mechanics that allowed Hunters to kite into infinity, I struggled
mightily against Hunters. They still have their tricks and have added a
few
(Mana burn and Disengage) but the tide has turned. The key is to get
close
enough for the burst damage of the Paladin to wipe the Hunter out. Some
of the
stings can be Cleansed so evaluate if the sting is actually doing much
damage
or if you should just let it tick. Paladins can always use Judgement or
Divine
Plea to grab some mana. Tips: Getting close sounds easier than it is,
so
practice with trinkets, bubbles, cleansing, etc. to make sure you can
get
within striking distance. Also, if the Hunter kicks into high gear and
puts on
Aspect of the Pack, hit him with Hand of Reckoning, even though it does
little
damage it has the longest reach and will stun the Hunter.
style="">Mages are
the
proverbial Glass Canons. A few big crits at the wrong time and the
fight will
be over; the only question is which side won. If the Paladin can get
his/her
hands on the Mage the fight is going to be over quickly in favor of the
Paladin. If on the other hand, the Mage can stay clear of the damage
and
unleash the big hits, it will be lights out for the Paladin. Tips: Eye
for an
Eye is a great talent to bounce some of the critical spell damage back
on the
Mage, but this is getting changed in the upcoming patch. Be sure to
cleanse as
much as possible as Mage spells can have additional effects if their
targets
have a DOT.
[protip]Remember
that you can cast Crusader Strike and
Divine Storm when silenced or counter spelled![/protip]
style="">Priests
are much
tougher than their pretty cloth clothing appears. With an arsenal of
Fear,
DOTs, Mana Burn and their own ability to heal, a Priest is formidable.
When a
purple people eater Priest (Shadow Spec Priest) heads your way, switch
to
Shadow Resist Aura if you think of it. Outside of that, be ready with
trinkets
to get out of Fear and you may want to pop a bubble to clear off the
seemingly
endless string of DOTs and Debuffs they can launch. Somewhere between
fighting
a Mage (big potential for nukes) and Hunter (ability to kite), Priests
are yet
another class where your ability to get close will determine who wins
the fight.
style="">Rogues
are the
stereotypical PvP class. They hit without warning and they hit very
hard, many
times without getting a scratch themselves. The classic anti-Rogue
routine used
to be spamming a downgraded Consecrate to keep the Rogues from sneaking
up.
With the increased cost of Consecrate this technique is not really
viable. The
goal now is to be ready for that first hit. It’s similar to
surviving the first
bite of great white shark. If you can get away (mostly intact) after
the first
big smack, then you may survive the rest of the encounter. As always,
time your
stuns and have BoF ready. One key element when fighting Rogues (or
Feral
Druids) who insist on trying to get behind you is to use Divine Storm
and its
360 degree arc. After you’re engaged with the Rogue, drop
Consecrate if he/she
vanishes and try to un-stealth them.
style="">Shaman
are the
hybrids that have not enjoyed the kind of love Druids and Paladins have
received over the last couple of patches. While both Elemental and
Enhancement
Shaman can cause significant damage in PvE, their PvP damage falls
short
typically and their relatively small health pools are ripe for the
picking.
Restoration Shaman can make for a long fight, but they typically
can’t overcome
the damage output and healing of a well played Paladin. Enhancement
Shaman will
want to be Toe to Toe, so let them have it. As with all Shaman, be wary
of the
types of Totems being dropped and react accordingly (if you see Tremor
Totem,
don’t stun unless interrupting a heal). Elemental Shaman will
do their best to
keep you off of them. Watch for Stoneclaw Totems and remember that a
Grounding
Totem will eat up your Repentance, so don’t fall for that
trick – what a waste
of a perfectly good stun!
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style="">Warlock,
oh the
poor Warlock. Once the masters of disaster, they have been relegated to
riding
side-saddle to their previous form. Nevertheless, a Warlock is a worthy
adversary and will become even more so once the next patch goes live.
Warlocks
are similar to Shadow Priests and switching to Shadow Resist Aura might
not be
a bad idea. Also expect a significant number of DOTs and Fears. Trinket
and
Cleanse when appropriate, but do not dispel Unstable Affliction or you
will
take a big chunk of damage. As with other ranged classes, your goal is
to get
up close and personal. BoF will get you out of the Exhaustion snare and
don’t
forget that Warlocks have some nasty finishing moves so don’t
wait too long to
bubble.
style="">Warriors
are
closest to our archetype than many of the others on this list. This
fight is
going to be a toe-to-toe knock down drag out between two knights in
somewhat
shiny armor (Northrend armor isn’t so shiny). With the amount
of damage a
Paladin can deal and still be able to take a punch, this fight should
be tailor
made for a Paladin. Be wary of the Mortal Strike debuff and know what
it will
do when you try and heal yourself, but outside of that, the goal is to
try and
get behind the Warrior and do more damage to him than he does to you.
Since you
will both be staying in close proximity, a dose of Consecrate will help
you as
it is not mitigated by armor. Likewise dealing as much Holy damage as
possible
is in your best interest. Stuns have marginal success at best since
Warriors
have many tricks to get out of snares. Other than that, the goal is to
outlast
the other plate-wearer.
The
state of the game is never going to be completely
balanced. Some would say the Paladin is overpowered and is deserving of
some
nerfs (which we seem to be getting). I hope the above can help out
those of you
who have started heading into Arenas or preparing for the new
Battleground we
will receive with Call of the Crusade.
style="">The Future Is Now
In
case you haven’t heard, Patch 3.2 the Call of the Crusade
is bearing down on us. Regardless of what we believe to be the current
position
of the class, there are some significant changes in the works. This
guide will
be re-evaluated as we get closer to realizing the final version of
Patch 3.2 so
stay tuned!
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