Holy Shield Change: For the first 2s that holy shield is active, has the ability to <See Reflect Options Below> the next spell cast on the player. When this occurs, all charges of Holy Shield are immediately consumed. (Possibly increase HS cooldown + number of charges).
Reflect Option 1: Simple spell reflect back to the caster.
Reflect Option 2: Reflects the spell, causing the spell to be diverted to up to 3 targets near the player. The damage done is divided by the number of targets hit. (This would fit into the AoE pattern of most of the paladins abilities, making it different from Warriors).
Reflect Option 3: Different actions based on the current active seal on the paladin:
SoL: A portion of the spell dmg is converted to life, healing the paladin (or divided among raid members).
SoW: A portion of the spell dmg is converted to mana (could restore mana to just paladin or raid).
SoC: A portion of the spell is reflected back at the caster (or see option 2).
SoJ: Silences the caster for 3s. Spell dmg is still taken. (This would allow paladins to actually pull casters to the group).
No Seal: Spell dmg still taken. No Reflect.
Note: Does not reflect AoE based dmg. AoE dmg has no effect on HS or its charges.
I think any of these options would work well, I am partial to the 3rd option because it allows for greater thought and skill to figure which effect you want to achieve.
Balance Options:
1. Remove all spell mitigation on talents. (the 6% + stam talent).
2. Change HoJ back to what it was, having no interrupt ability for spell casting (except of course on stunnable targets).
3. There are so many knobs to tweek regarding HS, almost any type of balancing is possible. (Ex. could have specific effect based on amount of charges left, could make it possible for spell to reflect to friendly target within X range (randomly), etc etc,).
4. Make this specific change to HS a separate talent (part of improved HS), or make it a glyph (so it will take up a valuable glyph slot).
Pros:
1. Gives paladins a unique ability that is not just another warrior cloned ability.
2. Allows paladins a way to gain ranged spell mitigation via personal skill and timing (HoJ can't interupt ranged targets, which casters usually are).
3. Creates a much wider disparity between skilled and unskilled players. Doesn't rely on passive abilities, but quick reflexes and timing.
Cons:
1. Eats holy shield charges, thus trading the HS melee reduction/threat for spell dmg reduction.
2. Creates unique situations (ex. paladin tanking many trash mobs, needs HS up, but if caster also on the paladin will eat HS charges, requiring another tank to pick up the caster or it be CC'd).
3. Takes more skill to use! Possible to miss out on the reflection window component.
I could go on and on with alternatives, but I am only trying to plant a seed here. I feel this is a solid, balanced base for the devs to run with and make a totally unique and fun ability. As I've stated, paladin spell mitigation is fine as it stands right now, but this kind of change could breath more life into the standard HS/Judge/Conc/HotR rotation spam and require the paladin to have to hold off and time certain skills depending on the situation. It also blends right in to the whole paladin motif rather than piggybacking our spell mitigation on passive talents.
Thanks for reading.