Holy Paladins: A Shift in Healing Philosophy

[Kallah]

Introduction
Let me start by stating that, despite my best efforts to cross my fingers and wiggle my toes for luck, I am still not in the beta, and must therefore assume that the selection process is mostly random after all. Over the past month or so I have been reading the main page here, as well as scouring these forums and many others in search of every scrap of Holy Paladin information available. Many things have been changed around and many more are still in the process of being changed; while not everything in this post will stay spot-on for numbers, I hope that the greater idea behind it will still ring true by the time the expansion is launched. I know that, even from the get-go, some will be opposed to the idea of dramatically changing how we play our characters, and their opinion is no more right or wrong than my own. Personally, I enjoy how things are now (while admitting that we have it rough in some areas, such as 2v2 arenas) but I realize that we’ve be due for a major change for quite some time.

Where I’m Coming From
I wish I could offer you a giant list of Outlands raids as my resume, but the truth is that after raiding up to Naxx in the original game, I just wanted to relax. There’s days I wish I knew what the inside of Black Temple looked like (videos of others’ raids, although fascinating to watch, feel like looking at someone else’s vacation photos in lue of hitting the beach myself), but I have cleared all of Kara, Zul’Aman, Gruul’s, Mag’s, and The Lurker Below. If my old guild is still out there, best of luck on the rest of SSC guys. I’ve been on a variety of arena teams of all sizes, and had the best luck with a 3v3 that fought our way to 2000 for my shoulders. These days, playing my Alliance characters, I’m happy when we break 1700. I know that there are far more experienced raiders and arena-goers out there, and while I can’t speak for the cutting edge of either, I think I have a fairly good sampling of both (along with a smattering of battlegrounds, heroic instances, and nights spent running loops in Shatterath) to speak in general terms about them. All that said: I could be wrong, a little or a lot, and am always open to polite correction and constructive criticism.

The Life of a Holy Paladin: TBC
I cannot speak for every Holy Paladin out there, or even all the folks who have exactly the same spec as I do, because no two players have exactly the same habits, addons, hardware, and styles. That said, for the most part, Holy Paladins have a thin lineup active tools: despite rumors and tales Paladins of blindly spamming one button over and over, Holy Light does get a good bit of usage, even if it is a distant second to Flash of Light, and every now and then (more so in PvP) Holy Shock does get used as a heal. The lack of variety is at the center of what separates us from other healing classes: while others have a selection of specialized, highly useful tools (HoTs, Group Heals, Reactive Heals, etc) we have to approach situations from a completely different angle. What separates the poor Holy Paladins from the ones you want watching your back isn’t knowing which button to hit (after all, there’s only two) but how and when to hit those buttons. While the same could be said of many classes and specializations, it’s much more apparent when there’s no safety net (such as an instant heal, a warding shield, etc) to catch you when you repeatedly make poor choices. From what I’ve found in speaking with other Holy Paladins (in a variety of situations – I’m woefully talkative) these things are what keeps them coming back to the class: the player-skill aspect of the healing, the need to think of creative (or desperate!) ways to manage a situation, and the deceptively simple tool-set. Of course, in the greater scheme of things, Paladins offer more than just healing and curing to those they run with, since there’s a blessing for just about everyone and there’s an aura for most situations. Those things, however, are done occasionally and often out of combat, and don’t really effect what it feels like to play the class.

The Life of a Holy Paladin: WotLK
One way or another, Holy Paladins are going to wind up with several more active abilities, which will impact the core of how we play our characters. Many of our new abilities (such as Infusion of Light) are going to make our two standard heals function in new ways, while Holy Shock is going to (based on available numbers) become a viable third, instant heal. Beyond learning to heal with instant spells –a fanatic, and seemingly overlooked change – we will have Hand of Salvation and Protection to serve up on demand, so we’ll have to keep a closer eye on the threat meter as well. Beyond healing, Handing, and curing the deep Holy talents give us incentive to keep our seals and judgments active, further consuming global cool downs and giving us something to juggle amid our heals – while also furthering our desirability in groups and raids (alas, current changes do not overwhelmingly favor Holy Paladins’ PvP careers, but there is still plenty of time). If there ever were days where, in a raid or tough fight, a Paladin could mindlessly spam a single button they are soon going leaving us all behind. With the added utility (which many Paladins have longed for) comes the learning of new skills, the re-binding of mouse buttons, utilizing new addons, and most of all thinking about the situation in a whole new way. Our simplicity – for better or for worse – has been replaced with a complex system of interactions, reactions (on the part of players), and the luck-based synergy among our abilities. What will it be like to play a Paladin, day in and day out, under the new system? Only the folks in Beta can know, and only then under the current testing situations, but I’m guessing it’ll be different, more active, and hopefully more enjoyable.

Final Thoughts
There are dozens of threads covering potential specializations, the need (or at least the want) to have certain abilities retooled or retuned, and how well we’ll fair in a variety of situations. Some of what we have available in the Beta (such as reports of Sheath of Light stacking with itself) looks a little too good to be true and will most likely get turned down; however, I think the changes in over-all feel are going to stick around for the most part. I hope that all three Paladin trees get the much-needed attention we’ve been promised, and unless things go absolutely south from here, I’m very much looking forward to learning the new ins and outs of my much-loved Holy Paladin.

[Daedalon]

There is one basic thinking that you have forgot.

Holy paladins is a healing class. Our healing role can not be less or more than what other healer classes are having. Cause yes... wasn't it BLizzard that said it should not matter what class or spec you played?

You assumption is that holy paladin can be "special" spec and have no simulareties to the other 3 healing classes that are all build up on simulare 3 basic spells. Then your simply asking for a spec to die out since the designin of the encounters is based on having ANY healing class.

So... No... Currently Im discussed in what BLizzard are doing. But thats just my opinion.

And if you think that the life of the other healing classes is not about pushing the same 2-3 buttons ... then .. try to play them. They got so powerfull group spells now and are so filled with mana that they can just spam them.

[Kallah]

There is one basic thinking that you have forgot.
Holy paladins is a healing class. Our healing role can not be less or more than what other healer classes are having.
--Snipped for Space--
And if you think that the life of the other healing classes is not about pushing the same 2-3 buttons ... then .. try to play them. They got so powerfull group spells now and are so filled with mana that they can just spam them.

Holy Paladins role will, of course, still be healing. You can hammer in a nail, or tighten a screw, or weld yourself a rivet and at the end of the day you’re holding two things together – but each is held together in a completely different way, which requires completely different tools. Holy Paladins will still heal – and cure, and Hand people – but we’re going to be doing it in a different way from other classes (as well as different from how things are now, which was my primary point in the OP).

While I have never played any other healing class to end-game level, I have spoken with countless guildmates, friends, and tired people in late-night /general. I personally raid with a Tree Druid and a Holy Priest on my side, and while we all heal together, we do it in completely different ways. As you pointed out, other classes have powerful group spells, and manage their mana differently (spirit vs. mp5), lending to a completely different feeling to the game experience. No good healer, of any class and any specialization, spams a single (or even two or three) buttons without thought of where those spells are going, and what it’s going to cost them in the long run.

[naypalmacus]

A fine read Kallah,

Though other healing classes are quite similar to our Holy Spec at the moment in live, one prime example is the resto shammy and his infamous Chain Heal. However I agree that with the expansion comes a new style of Holy paladin play. With current talent specs in beta there will be two distinct holy paladins, BoL and Sheath holy paladins. Both with their own merits.