Cata paladin - to be or not to be

[Pokot]

Hello, fellow paladins!

I've got a question for all of you and especially those who have beta access or follow the class changes closely.

Basically, I've recently gotten rid of my account (cough-cough) in hopes I would start over with my little brother who has never played before. Alas some things are not meant to be and now I am looking for a class I would enjoy playing pretty much alone through late Wotlk and Cataclysm.

You see, the class has suited me very well before because I liked all the utility it provided. Be it holy or ret - helping my teammates is what I liked most (smashing faces is a wonderful bonus tho). So the question is - with all the changes to the dispel mechanics on different classes and other stuff will the paladin class have the same utility as it does now?

Thanks in advance!

Also, if you think my English sucked be it grammar or anything for that matter - tell me . I would gladly learn from my mistakes.

[Aildaris]

Utility wise, paladins seem to have gained a few, if not odd, (*cough* Selfless Healer *cough*) utility. Paladins have received a lot of depth with our new mechanic Holy Power. But unfortunately Ret paladins have an unclear and currently dark outlook on PvP.

With all the changes to dispels and such our already poor gap-closing capabilities have been destroyed to the point we have an no chance against any semi-competent range class; ANY of them can keep ret paladins at a comfortable distance away from them.

But other than that, paladins are looking very good and I am confident that blizz will fix the problems facing retadins in PvP.

Sorry if my explanations are NOT very clear but I suggest looking at the new paladin beta trees on the main page and the paladin beta changes threads for a more explanatory view on our changes.

[zcks]

Utility wise, paladins seem to have gained a few, if not odd, (*cough* Selfless Healer *cough*) utility. Paladins have received a lot of depth with our new mechanic Holy Power. But unfortunately Ret paladins have an unclear and currently dark outlook on PvP.

With all the changes to dispels and such our already poor gap-closing capabilities have been destroyed to the point we have an no chance against any semi-competent range class; ANY of them can keep ret paladins at a comfortable distance away from them.

But other than that, paladins are looking very good and I am confident that blizz will fix the problems facing retadins in PvP.

Sorry if my explanations are NOT very clear but I suggest looking at the new paladin beta trees on the main page and the paladin beta changes threads for a more explanatory view on our changes.

This ^ with less enthusiasm for blizzard fixing retributions pvp problems. We look like we will be do fine in pve but blizzards track record with us in pvp gives me very little hope. Druids especially boomkin on the other hand look like they will be exceptionally good at all aspects of the game so if you have never tried them before I'd suggest giving them a try.

[ShadCroly]

With each Beta build, I'm trying to decode what Blizzard's plan is for Holy Paladins, and as it stands, I'm lost. We have some pretty interesting talents to work with (Light of Dawn and Tower of Radiance <3), but without some more solid numbers on our healers, it's too early to really assess how well we'll be performing in our currently popular Tank Heal role and the possible Raid Heal role.

That, and I'm still confused to hell as to why Holy Light has a slower casting time than the spell that's supposed to be our slowest heal...

[Ronark]

With each Beta build, I'm trying to decode what Blizzard's plan is for Holy Paladins, and as it stands, I'm lost. We have some pretty interesting talents to work with (Light of Dawn and Tower of Radiance <3), but without some more solid numbers on our healers, it's too early to really assess how well we'll be performing in our currently popular Tank Heal role and the possible Raid Heal role.

That, and I'm still confused to hell as to why Holy Light has a slower casting time than the spell that's supposed to be our slowest heal...

Paladins are still Core-Tank healers, but can raid heal in a pinch (not as effectively as other classes can, but still can none-the-less). HS will be your primary go-to heal, followed by HL when HS is on cooldown.

DL is the big tank heal, and costs the same as HL does on Live
FoL is the fast heal, but costs a lot more than on Live.
HL costs about the same as FoL on Live, but heals for more.

[Pokot]

Thank you for your opinions. I must say I am not a big fan of holy - I've healed through most of BC content as an alt healer and it was fun but call me dumb I still can't get the hang of beacon in wotlk. But I've fully enjoyed prot and ret. What can I say - I guess zcks is right and it's time to try something new. Thanks once again.