Disclaimer: I understand Paladins have gotten a lot of work put into the Class over these last two expansions. I am not saying Paladins aren’t viable, I’m just expressing some remaining “problems” that result in Paladins still feeling a bit underwhelming/unfun to play.
The time and effort put into Paladins is greatly appreciated.
Just going to get right into it, with a pretty straight forward structure of Problem, Feedback, Questions:
Paladin Class
Problem #1: Lack of uniqueness to Paladins within the World of Warcraft Universe.
- Feedback:
- Paladins, the class, still feel like they lack this unique Class (or spec) Feature that you find on a lot of other classes. While all classes deal damage or heal with a certain school of magic, most also have some more defining feature.
- Examples:
- Death Knight: Uses Death Magic, but is the only class to summon Undead, have Blue Skin, Unique Eye features, etc…
- Demon Hunter: Uses Chaos Magic, but has slow fall Wings, double Jump, unique race features such as tattoos and blindfolds, and a unique weapon; Warglaives.
- Shaman: Uses Earthen Magic, but has Weapon Imbues, Elemental Shields, an reinforced fantasy of Totems, Ancestors, Ghost Wolfs, etc…
- Questions:
- Is there any unique perk that could come to Paladins or any of the singular specs? (like Fury and Dual Wielding 2handers)
- Is there more emphasis that could be put on Auras, Blessings, Seals, Divine Steed, or any other ability that reinforce that Class Fantasy?
- How does Blizzard feel about Death Charger encroaching on that Paladin+Divine Steed Fantasy?
- Now that Death Charger has been a thing for a bit, has it given a different perspective on how mounted combat works in the World of Warcraft universe? Good or Bad? (personally-- still hate Divine Steed
)
Problem #2: Lack of Customization in the Class Tree due to running out of Talents.
- Feedback:
- The class tree feels like it’s been a really solid step in the right direction, but still falls short in a few areas, most notably the lack of customization due to lack of talents.
- This isn’t due to “hard choices,” but more so, I took the 26/31 talents that are “mandatory” and threw the other 5 into whatever. Instead of 15 are mandatory, 15 are choice.
- Questions:
- Is there any room to further condense some of our Class Talents, such as;
- Obduracy, Holy Aegis, Sanctified Plates, Seal of Might, Vengeful Wrath, etc…
- Is there any room to further condense some of our Class Talents, such as;
Problem #3: Divine Toll is NOT a fun ability to press.
- Feedback: in Single Target combat, and most notably for Ret and Holy, Divine Toll doesn’t really feel fun to press. It’s just an empowered version of an existing spell and doesn’t really carry any weight to it.
- Questions:
- What makes Divine Toll significant to the Paladin Class? What’s “Kyrian” about this ability, or has that become dated? (Blessing of Seasons
) - What makes Divine Toll fun to press?
- What is the fantasy that is being double down’d on?
- Why is Divine Toll Judgement for Ret and not say Blade of Justice, the spec specific ability?
- Does Holy’s Divine Toll interact with all the Holy Shock talents? Why or why not?
- Is there another ability that could be added to make Paladins more fun to play, especially in smaller group combat?
- Is there more utility that could be expressed in Divine Toll?
- Blade Storm, The HUNT, Abom Limb, Convoke, etc…
- What makes Divine Toll significant to the Paladin Class? What’s “Kyrian” about this ability, or has that become dated? (Blessing of Seasons
Problem #4: Continuing the discussion from Undermine(d) Development Notes:
- Feedback:
- Cool this ability is being buffed, but just curious why this isn’t a Blessing?
- Questions:
- Would this make more sense to upgrade Cleanse into “Blessing of Salvation” or whatever, to better tie into that Paladin fantasy?
- Better synergize with other talents?
- Or is “Cleanse” iconic to the class you wouldn’t want to replace it? (Which is understandable, just curious)
Problem #5: Words Matter – What is a Blessing?
- Feedback:
- Paladins are in a unique spot where Passives and random buffs are gaining the word “Blessing” while simultaneously having other talents work while under the effects of “Blessings.”
- Holy Ritual [Class Talent]
- Blessed Calling [Class Talent]
- Questions:
- As far as Paladins go, what does it mean to be a “Blessing?”
- Which Talents work with which Blessings, and how do you better inform the average player?
- Blessing of Freedom
- Blessing of Sacrfice
- Blessing of Protection/Spellwarding
- Blessing of Sancatuary
- Blessing of Winter?
- Blessing of Spring?
- Blessing of Summer?
- Blessing of Autumn?
- Blessing of Dawn?
- Blessing of Dusk?
- Blessing of An’she?
Problem #6: Capstone Class Talents and how they reflect the specs.
- Feedback:
- While the Class Tree has been a big step in the right direction, again, there’s still some confusing or lackluster talents. Especially towards the bottom of the Tree.
- Questions:
- How does Lightbearer reflect Protection?
- How does Light’s Revocation reflect Retribution?
- How does Blizzard kindof feel about these last 3 rows of talents and could some things be redesigned or better organized to kindof give Paladins a more solid feel of specializing into a certain “type” of Paladin?
Problem #7: Continuing the discussion from Undermine(d) Development Notes:
- Feedback:
- This feels like we’re again losing Class Fantasy in the search for Class Balance.
- Questions:
- Not to say this is a bad thing, but again, how does Blizzard better balance this to ensure that Fury Warriors aren’t healing for more than Paladins after these nerfs? -.-’
Holy Paladin
(Shorter as they seem to be getting the most changes)
Problem #1: Weapon Specialization / Spec Fantasy
- Feedback:
- 2handed weapons, Librams?, Shields?.. This has been going on for like 2 1/2 years now…
- Questions:
- Seriously, what’s up with the 2handers on Paladins lol?
- SoTR, Denounce, Holy Wrath?
- Not being able to DPS while leveling in Legion? Guys got any plans for this before that Legion Remix?
Problem #2: Strength of Casted Heals vs Holy Power Spenders
- Feedback:
- Don’t want to give too much feedback here cause it feels like this will be changing throughout the 11.1 PTR, which is nice, but it doesn’t feel great on Holy Paladins being at such the mercy of tunning.
- Questions:
- Any other plans to share about the balancing of Casted Heals, Holy Power Spenders, and Beacon of Virtue?
Problem #3: Double downing on a playstyle
- Feedback:
- Similar to above, it doesn’t feel great to not have more choice in our overall Caster vs Melee playstyle and the talents can feel like they lack customization.
- Questions:
- Are there any plans to give more solid builds options, to allow players better customization and playstyles between being a Caster vs Melee Paladin?
- Any plans to enhance Crusader Strike?
- Any plans to make a Holy Bolt type spell?
- Any Plans to make a Denounce vs Shinning Righteousness choice node?
Again, Holy Paladin seems to be getting more changes, so I’ll end my ramble here for now, till testing can be done. 
Protection:
Problem #1: Avenger’s Shield, Blessed Hammer and Judgement feel like they lack solid spell identity.
- Feedback:
- I just started playing my Paladin in hopes of Tanking in 11.1, but my initial feel for playing the spec has been pretty bland…
- #1) For how iconic Avenger’s Shield is too the spec, it doesn’t feel all that great to press.
- #2) Blessed Hammer feels weak and the animation and vfx feels dated and doesn’t feel like it carries weight.
- #3) Judgement feels more like a “Holy Bolt” (or Holy Hammer) than a “Condemn.” It feels like it’s lost all meaning in the sense of actually Judging a target.
-
Questions:
- Something that stuck out too me the most when playing Protection was Crusader’s Judgement and Bastion of Light.
- Judgement no longer felt like you were Judging an enemy, unleashing a seal, or whatever, but more like: Holy Bolt → Holy Power, Holy Bolt → Holy Power, Holy Bolt → Holy Power
- Is there a way to make Judgement feel more iconic to the Spec while also putting more emphasize on Avenger’s Shield and Blessed Hammer?
- Could Crusader’s Judgement and Bastion of Light work off a different ability?
- Should AS generate Holy Power and be more important to the feel of the spec?
- Could Blessed Hammer get a slight redesign to feel more impactful/powerful? How would 2 chargers work?
- Something that stuck out too me the most when playing Protection was Crusader’s Judgement and Bastion of Light.
Problem #2: Templar Fantasy feels pretty bad on Protection.
- Feedback:
- Again, not an expert on Prot, I plan to main it in 11.1, but my initial experience is that Templar feels like an awful fantasy, lol.
- Hitting Eye of Tyr into Light’s Hammer just doesn’t feel fluid and looks pretty goofy.
- Continuing the discussion from Undermine(d) Development Notes:
- Questions:
- Is there a better fantasy/flow you can give to the Eye of Tyr + Hammer of Light combo?
- Why not just make Hammer of Light replace SotR at this point? Would that not feel smoother?
- I’m not a fan of hitting my Keybind for Eye of Tyr (or WoA) into hitting it again for Hammer of Light. It doesn’t feel like a combo, but just spammy/sloppy, I know more changes are coming to make this a bit smoother, but just curious, how do you make a Combo feel good on a Keyboard Input system?
Again, I am by no means an expert on Protection I plan to play it more next patch, just wanted to give a bit of feedback for these few things that initially felt pretty bad when swapping over.
Retribution
Problem #1: Talent Choice nodes that lack meaningful Choice
- Feedback:
-
Something very interesting and maybe unique on Paladins right now is that we have all these choice nodes that don’t feel like great choices…
- Final Verdict vs Justicar’s Vengeance
- Vanguard’s Momentum vs Sanctify
- Improved Blade of Justice vs Holy Blade
- Swift Justice vs Light of Justice
- Tempest of the Lightbringer vs Inquisitor’s Ire
- Boundless Judgment vs Improved Judgment
- Crusading Strikes vs Templar Strikes
- Empyrean Power vs Judge, Jury and Executioner
- Light’s Celerity vs Guided Prayer
- Aegis of Protection vs Shield of Vengeance
- Final Reckoning vs Execution Sentence
- Blade of Vengeance vs Holy Flames
-
Every single Ret Paladin ability somehow has a choice node, but it does not feel like there’s any real substance there, lol…
-
- Questions:
- Is there any chance that Blizzard uses this unique opportunity to test out more of a solid Holystrike vs Holyflames (Radiant, w/e) builds?
- Is there a level of sandbox testing that can be done on Paladins with abilities like Sanctity, JV, Inquistor’s Ire, etc… to make a new playstyle that doesn’t effect the current playstyle by adding in synergetic talents? (Increases Holyfire damage done, etc…)
- How does Blizzard feel about having all these choice nodes, but none feeling that real choices? How is this portrayed to new Players?
- Any chance Ret could see a re-arrangement to their Talent Tree, especially the middle?
Problem #2: Melee vs Range – A Mid-Range Spec whose spells and abilities do not feel mid-range.
- Feedback:
- This is more about Jurisdiction, Blade of Justice and Final Verdict, but for a “Mid Range Spec” our abilities don’t feel like mid range spells.
- The targeting, animations, etc… don’t really feel like they represent a mid-range class you’d find in other video games and can feel quite deceiving at times, especially in PvP.
- Questions:
- Again, how does Blizzard feel about the Range on Ret Paladins?
- What’s working what isn’t?
- How do you as designers, communicate spells and abilities being “mid-range?”
- Do you feel like BoJ and FV are successful at doing so?
- Any plans to update BoJ, TV/FV/JV, or any other ability to better represent this role?
Problem #3: Over budgeted Wake of Ashes while simultaneously diminishing the iconic Avenging Wrath.
- Feedback:
- There is a part that agrees Radiant Glory stream lining Avenging Wrath has helped the class, but there’s also the feel of this ability being extremely over budgeted.
- Avenging Wrath has lost almost all weight to the ability, and Wake of Ashes has become this bloated mess of a spell.
- Questions:
- How does Blizzard feel about Radiant Glory now that its been live for a few months?
- Do you not think Wake of Ashes has become bloated or overbudgeted?
- How does Blizzard feel about Avenging Wrath and Crusade being an “iconic” spec ability?
- Has Blizzard unintentionally diminished the iconic-ness of Avenging Wrath and how do you get that back?
- What’s the most important thing that happens when you press Wake of Ashes?
- The damage?
- The 3 HP Generation?
- The Searing Light Proc?
- The Truth’s Wake DoT?
- The activation of Hammer of Light/Dawnlight?
- The activation of Wings?
Problem #4: Deals XYZ Holy Damage to all targets in front of you… which ability am I speaking about?
- Feedback:
- The Ret talents are all beginning to feel very unimaginative, and boring. =/
- Wake of Ashes, Hammer of Light, Divine Arbiter, Searing Light, Final Reckoning, Light’s Deliverance, Divine Toll… all these abilities just instantly deal XYZ holy damage…
- Questions:
- How does Blizzard feel about these capstone abilities, and could some change to be more unique?
- Could Divine Toll have more utility?
- Champion’s Spear, Abom Limb, The Hunt, etc…
- Could cooldowns have more fantasy? (Blessing of Might)
- Could Light’s Deliverance and Divine Arbiter merge?
- What’s the difference between Final Reckoning and Searing Light?
- Could Executioner’s Sentence do more?
Problem #5: Dawnlights and Empyrean Hammer – the hidden 45% of your DPS!!
- Feedback:
- The Hero Talents for Ret feels a bit wonky right now because the bulk of Paladin dps feels like it comes from a “hidden” application.
- Dawnlights and Empyrean Hammers don’t really feel in control of the Paladin, and without a DPS Meter, Paladins kindof have no indication of where almost 40% of their DPS is truly coming from.
- It doesn’t feel great to not have Wake of Ashes empower your Holy Power Spenders, as that usually feels like a better indicator of “something is happening.” (IE: Diablolist Warlocks)
- Questions:
- Does Blizzard feel like Dawnlights and Empyrean Hammers are clearly indicated to the Player? (Cause personally I don’t)
- How does Blizzard feel about the identity/fantasy of Templar? What’s the most important aspect to the Hero Tree? Hammer of Light? Empyrean Hammers?
- I’m honestly not a fan of Templar at all.
- The Combo feels sloppy, Empyrean Hammers feel hidden, there’s no fantasy being double down’d on, etc…
- I’m honestly not a fan of Templar at all.
Problem #6: PvP Talents feel lacking in identifying an unique Class Strength
- Feedback:
- Again, something that looks like it may change a bit more over the course of the patch, but just want to make mention of a few things.
- Paladins in PvP feel extremely bland and boring. As more and more classes gain “unique” Paladin abilities, the strength and value of our spells feels like they continue to dwindle with nothing in return.
I spoke briefly in the Paladin forums about this, and I don’t want this to sound like a “victim complex” 
but it does feel like other classes are encroaching on the Paladin design quite a bit.
Take a look at this from Warriors;
Continuing the discussion from Undermine(d) Development Notes:
- Questions:
- Where do you draw the line with Berserker Roar and Blessing of Sanctuary?
- AoE vs Single Target, usable while CC’d, etc…
- An Arms Warrior may feel like Rogue encroach on them in PvP, does Blizzard feel like there could be a similar encroachment of Arms Warrior talents to Paladins?
- Where do you draw the line with Berserker Roar and Blessing of Sanctuary?
If we look at Arms Talents:
Arms PvP Talents:
- Defensive Talents:
- Battlefield Commander
- Master and Commander
- Duel
- Safeguard
- Disarm
- Berserker Roar
- Rebound
- Offensive Talents:
- Demolition
- Dragon Charge
- Sharpen Blade
- Strom of Destruction
- Are Warriors becoming too defensive, and in the process has the design of their spells encroached on the potential of any Paladin spell designs?
- For example: Duel
- Should Arms have Duel, and if the answer is “maybe…no… probably not…” Could Duel then be redesigned for Paladins?
- This isn’t to get Arms nerfed by any means, but to give them their own identity while simultaneously giving Paladins a better one as well.
- How can Spreading the Word feel more like Battlefield Commander?
- Could Divine Toll be improved baseline to make sure Paladins aren’t locked into talents?
- Could Blessing of Sanctuary and Blessing of Spell Warding be combined?
- Any chance for a new Aura?
- Any chance to upgrade other abilities like Cleanse, FoL, WoG, Divine Steed? lol
Ight I’ll be done thanks for your time.