imho, the best paladin spec ever in any version of wow for any role was the Legion melee-healing Holy spec. It was the only true hybrid paladin spec ever created that was capable of fulfilling at least 2 roles (healing and dps) and being a lot of fun to play as a melee healer/dps. The Legion holy melee healing spec was never finished, it was incomplete but it was an amazing spec. Legion holy REQUIRED the legion artifact holy paladin weapon to be viable. Strangely, melee dps was determined by int, not strength, that should have been changed.
As far as I am concerned in legion the other two paladin specs could have been deleted and holy could have been used for all 3 roles with some fine tuning. The current holy spec is garbage without the legion artifact mace.
What do you think was the best paladin build/spec ever?
I liked super haste retribution back in Mists of Pandaria. I could push out so much damage. I also liked protection spec in Wrath of the Lich King because it was active and because we had Holy Wrath to use for snap threat against undead.
Ret cata was so strong you could play triple dps in 3s at 2700 rating because ret off healing was so good, thus making it the best hybrid iteration of ret, maybe not mechanically/gameplay wise because it wasnt fluid, but that’s honestly an easy fix.
I can only really talk about Holy. BFA’s Glimmer build is really but I think I would still choose MOP’s Eternal Flame build. It’s a bit hard to tell because I really enjoyed the EF build back then but I’ve also changed as a player so not sure if current me would feel the same or not.
Hands down we were stronger in cata and mop for holy. Eternal flame across the raid. Able to actively AOE heal and illuminated healing was fantastic. We even had Mana Regen
I was thinking more in terms of what I find “fun”. As far as what version was stronger I think it depends on how you look at it: We had a more complete toolkit and even shielding trough illuminated healing, but the rest of the healers also had more tools.
I think in a direct comparison MOP’s version was stronger, but let’s not forget how dominant and Glimmer has been, so I think in a relative sense (comparing how strong it is compared to the other healers) then Glimmer is probably more overpowered.
Personally, I loved sitting in melee to auto attack the boss and toss a judgment every minute for Mana Regen. Most didn’t know we could do that. Rarely ever went oom. I started this guy, for illuminated healing and near infinite Mana lol. Being able to cast, single target, AOE, beacon on tank. I enjoyed the playstyle because there was always something to do.
I do not like, having to actively dps to maximize healing. So to me, more fun, stronger, better mastery…no question to me which was better/fun.
Sorry I kinda rambled there. Point was I didn’t mind stacking in melee or being able to be a caster, so long as I had the option. Being forced to dps to heal…I cant stand that and preferred our older builds.
Yeah I also felt this way back then, I remmber doing that and also using Crusader strike to generate HP when possible, it felt like it was an optional thing that not everybody did, it could get you a little extra but didn’t feel mandatory…
But I was also very casual and didn’t care for min/maxing or really researching for the absolute optimal play, now that I do and information is generally more available I have the feeling the exact same thing would now feel mandatory and being in melee would not be considered optional.
It was a “little extra” in heroics. But even then it wasn’t mandatory. With our mastery being illuminated healing and having holy radiance. You could actually stack a shield on a group, (or individual with a cheap heal) and sit back for a minute to Regen.
You could actuallY make down time to regen if you needed it. Which was fantastic. And one of the main reasons to run with a pally healer then. It lessoned the strain on the whole raid. Which…I’m not gonna lie, was pretty nice lol. We still didn’t have a raid heal(Devo was our big thing still) but being able to shield the whole raid for…anywhere from 30k- 56k, made the feel goods smile lol.
This is exactly how I feel. I don’t mind having to DPS as a healer, but I do hate being forced to do so as a melee just to maximize our healing abilities.