Holy paladins make no sense

[Halwyn]

So there is this class that was supposed to be "holy warriors", that is priests trained in melee fights and this spec pretty much turn them again into kind of priests but this time in plates instead of dresses ;D
Nonsense.

Your point? Paladins can go melee, if situation requires and take on his foe face-to-face. Priest can't. Moreso, even the basis of a class was a hero unit from WC3 where you had a guy that just autoattacking stuff to death, because his entire toolkit was defense/support (and all of it - magic).

[Thage]

The original paladins were priests who were trained in combat and learned to use the Light offensively as well as defensively. Holy paladins fill the fantasy of a paladin who focuses on the use of the Light to bolster their allies rather than punish their enemies or defend their allies from harm. If you want to argue this route, Uther himself (arguably the iconic paladin) tells Turalyon that paladins serve where they are called, whether it's swinging hammers at orcs on the battlefield or healing the sick and wounded at the Cathedral in Stormwind (source: Beyond the Dark Portal by Christie Golden and Aaron Rosenberg). Holy as a spec makes perfect sense, as even back in WC3 healing allied units was one of the key features of the Paladin hero class.

[Nuniqt]

I think what we all learned from this thread is that holy paladins for sure make sense and that protection paladins are the real ones who have no foundation in lore...

[Thundering]

I think the problem is more linked to how they are pictured in the game with so many ranged healing spells are quiet few reasons for them to be true paladins that is stand in the middle of it Buffing, smaching hte evil dude face in while throwing out a heal now and then. Currently they are still to much like a priest they need a more unique playstyle that fits their lore.

[GreenJesus]

There is the Crusader strike build where you melee an enemy and your heals get reduced cooldowns... Some people saying we have too many "ranged healing spells" it is just gameplay purposes. If holy pallies could only heal allies in melee there would be 0 pallies healing EVER.

[Nuniqt]

We do significantly more healing to targets closer to us through our mastery. While we can heal targets at range its certainly not optimal 9 times out of 10. Also many of us use crusader strike because of predictable AoE to reduce the cd of shock and LoD which requires melee range. Between those two things, it nearly always boils down to nearly all Pallies stacking in melee. To do otherwise would be highly unoptimal unless using lightbringer and some need to be at ranged which in my experience is almost never.

So for gameplay reasons, yeah, we're melee healers. Im totally happy if they go all in on that fantasy more though. More proximity heals and buffs at the cost of ranged. Could be fun.

[Super Kami Dende]

So there is this class that was supposed to be "holy warriors", that is priests trained in melee fights and this spec pretty much turn them again into kind of priests but this time in plates instead of dresses ;D
Nonsense.

The difference being before they were changed to the extent they are now, they had a lot of Moves which dealt in dealing damage to Undead. They are basically the Cleric/Inquisitor archetype in the WoW universe. More heavily armoured Holymen that are trained in dealing with Demonic/Undead Monsters. Whereas Priests are more about healing only.

[sammygm]

pretty sure you stay back and at best cast judgment once in a while, and if you tried to melee anything, a hunters pet would outdamage your "big hammer" ;]

This is how you can tell which holy paladins are absolutely terrible.

[Taeldorian]

Exactly. Which is why we should remove priests from the game and let paladins wear rags if they please.

Sorry priests

100% agree

[gobio]

Spec is just a game mechanics. Lore almost often always refers the character in their class.

EDIT : Maybe with exception of some shadow priest.

[Thundering]

Spec is just a game mechanics. Lore almost often always refers the character in their class.

EDIT : Maybe with exception of some shadow priest.

Uther has been refered to being a Holy paladin, so there is more cases where the speccs have defined chars 2.

[Firann]

Paladins are more than a base class. They are a hybrid / hero class. Even in DnD or games that follow that rule set, a paladin needs to train as a fighter and helaer.

Clerics (the equivalent to holy paladins) and paladins are an entirely different class. While both hate undead and fight for their patreon, paladins are more martial / militia where as clerics are more caster oriented. Clerics can also serve “evil” dieties where paladins are always more on the lawful good side.

The Warcraft paladin started ingame (rts games) as the more martial / militant arm however in WC3 and WoW it has evolved into a Paladin / Cleric hybrid as both serve the same fundamental fantasy. Holy paladin could have easily been one of the priest specs and called battle priests

[Deleted]

They make perfect sense, just play CM in the first talent row if you need your melee fix for the class to make sense.

[Ryneon]

Why do swordmage or spellswords exist? The same reasoning applies. Seems pretty basic to me... healers or dps that are usually closer to danger, speaking from a logic and/or lore perspective. Also you know... exorcism and stuff.

Game perspective? The class is built that way. Mastery: Lightbringer is an awesome element.