[MoP] Thoughts on the Paladin Talents

[Talen]

Thoughts on the Paladin talent tree to date....from a mainly Ret Point of view. I've offered some commentary elsewhere, but thought I'd just wrap it together.

Tier 1: Mobility
Generally an OK theme for a start, the issue here is assigning what is seen as core, vital functionality to a talent. Of the three, PoJ appears to be the weakest. Its passive and always one, but also has the least impact as a result. Both SoL and LAotL appear to be more interesting and viable choices. I'm not saying PoJ doesn't have benefits....but it is competing with SoL and LAotL. SoL and LAotL also fill different niches and have different strengths and weaknesses. As choices go, these are OK...but as I said, a melee class needs mobility baseline. What this does is simply waste an entire talent tier to provide a mechanic that the class should have. Not sure I like the huge "Here I am!!!" trail SoL leaves behind either.

Tier 2: CC
One of the more interesting and valid tiers, this still appears to be fairly weak. An improved stun effect for PvP usage, a long duration CC effect for PvE and a ranged snare that will likely be near manadatrory for Ret PvP.

Overall...the tier is perhaps too stratified into distinct roles. BoG is also a tool that adds to the issues of overloading Judgement, and works into the issue of the class requiring two talents to provide the gap closing mechanic it needs for PvP. Rep and FoJ also feel a little weak.


Tier 3: Survival
One of the better tiers. SH is now great....I loved the AoW proc in LK and I'm glad to have it back. It might work a little better if it was a little more random or reduced the mana cost as well. This works well with Ret and Prot PvE. Probably not so well with Holy. SS also looks good. EF, however.....this requires HP to cast.This makes it much less desireable for Rets, and potentially causes issues for Prot who will have to give up a SotR to cast this. Overall, some nice choices here, but like T2 this tier is perhaps overly stratified into distinct roles. A lot will depend opn the final values and how well they are balanced and scale.


Tier 4: Support
Undoutedly the weakest tier. HoPurity is interesting but appears to be highly situational...especially sicne the game appears to be reining in the use of DoTs. Its simply TOO situational, or appears to be. This looks like you are getting ready for gimmick fights and making use of the ability to easily change spec....probably not a good sign. Maybe if HoPurity was the reactive healing spell it was to be for LK. Clemancy also appears situational. There will be times when casting two HoPs or whatever back to front will be highly beneficial. But it wouidl also be very situational; more importantly, the restrictions on Hands wrt 1 per target and the effect of Forbearance promise to make it less beneficial that it would appear to be. The tier thus presents a choice between a highly situation DOT suppressant, a situational (and likely limited) burst style CD or reliable shorter CDs on the classes big guns. Between the three and the difficulty of knowing about the need in advance, US is by far the best choice. US is nice, but overall not great.

T5: HP Generation/Burst/CDs
Not sure. Three abilities currently held by Ret that are now talent based. HA is an improved Zealotry. Useful for all specs. Readily available.

SW allows ready access to certain tools during burst phases and synergises with talents such as LAotL or SH. The downside is that those tools need to be useful and viable enough to use in place of your current rotation. To put it into perspective...on live, HoW often isn't worth dropping into a rotation which effectively wastes that part of the talent. In short, if the tools are worth using the class returns to the burst monster and if they arenn't, the system is wasted.

DP is a talent that, like HA, affects HP generation by adding a degree of randomness to the rotation. This very nicely breaks the rotation up, makes it much less static. However, this version only works off HP Consumers, which really limits when this can happen.


Tier 6: Hybridism
Perhaps the most promising of the current selection of teirs.

It adds new spells, that perform the same functionality but do so in different ways. Unlike T1, this doesn't add core functionality. The spells here all heal and deal damage, depending on the target, but we have a target based AoE, a ground based AoE and a single target version. All spells have uses for all specs, in both PvE and PvP. I think Prism may look better channelled and on a 1 min CD, wiht a continually shifting secondary target effect.....but then I have visions of the Prism tank. Again, a lot here depends on the values...the spells need to be worthwhile using.


In short....T4 should perhaps be reworked. T1, T2 and T5 have issues and strong concerns, but would probably work. T3 and T6 have some minor concerns.

EJL