im the strongest human alive! look at my class, losers!
weep because i don’t make any serious points…
Wait were there really people who thought paladins are better than warriors?
I think the crucial weakness of a Paladin is, and always will be, doubt.
The Light answers anyone, but it only truly manifests actual power in those who believe absolutely in their cause, in their ideals. And even then, it takes a ridiculous amount of training to properly master the spellcraft and the state of mind required to call on the Light’s power to perform any real spellcasting.
So the instant a Paladin’s sense of will or belief in what they are doing starts to flag, be it healing wounded soldiers, holding up a magical barrier or trying to pierce an enemy’s defences with blades infused with the Light, the Paladin’s abilities weaken.
Furthermore, Paladins take the healing and defensive abilities of a Holy Priest and marry them with generic martial talent and armor skills of a Warrior. This makes them very effective and difficult to put down … but they’re walking that razor’s edge by trying to marry two very different disciplines into a singular whole. Those that do it, do very well, but those who side too far one way or the other? They fail, hard.
A Warrior, on the other hand, is iron will, training until the maneuvers are second nature and a body honed to the bleeding edge of mortal perfection, augmented further with the same magical items and protections available to a Paladin. While they lack the magical defenses and self-healing ability of a Paladin, a Warrior is pure physical power and raw stamina, able to smash through your defences or pick them apart at will, able to push through the pain that would cripple others and stop a spellcaster’s chant dead on the spot and strike that finishing blow of their own. While purely physical can lead to some devastating weaknesses when you’re fighting an opponent that won’t sit still, won’t stay in range of your sword and can pull magical bull 
barriers out of their behind, inevitably such things are only short-term measures and, in the end, if the Warrior can keep in the fight long enough and keep their enemy burning resources, they will win in the end.
For the Paladin to lose, they have to lose their faith in themselves and their cause, which weakens their magical abilities and leaves them with just their generic martial techniques and their heavy armor.
For the Warrior to lose, they have to be hit hard enough that they can’t power on through, and kept from getting up in the face of their opponent.
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Yeah, but he was AFK like 80% of the fight.
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If the Lightforged bother to have warriors, even when they’re culturally and maybe even physically predisposed toward pallydom, then there must be something they contribute. Someone who “can’t hack it” in a millennia-long war with demons seems more likely to focus on crafts and the like.
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Everyone keeps forgetting the real power of Warriors.
They can basically take a nuke and go “No! That did not happen! It’s fake news!” with Ignore Pain.
I mean this still leaves the problem of “aren’t those generic martial techniques and heavy armor just as good as the warrior’s?”, even taking into account the added challenge paladins face of balancing their priestly and warrior aspects.
It is always tough justifying totally non-magical fighters standing toe to toe with magical ones in a fantasy setting, and in WoW Warriors seem to be the only totally non-magic class. Hunters and rogues come close, but rogues use a little shadow magic and Hunters have a degree of coordination with animals that is magical compared to the real world level of training a crab could achieve.
I’m sort of inclined to think along Arkturas’ idea
That some magic or magic-like force that exists in Azeroth gives warriors abilities that put them on-par or stronger than any other class. Paladins and Warriors probably do the same number of push-ups every day but the Warrior’s senses and strength have a unique advantage by trading that mental/spiritual connection to the Light with a mental/spiritual connection to… chi? The “spirit” element? Their own soul? Something that doesn’t exist in the real world, where a guy with a pointy stick is about the least threatening type of soldier you could have.
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I’m pretty sure goku can beat up superman!
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i always feel like there is no true “non magic” class in wow
considering warriors can grow in size, summon lightning, and do Herculean feats… They’re no different. A Warrior is different to a magicless dude with a sword. The way I like to think about it is using a system similar to the Dark Side of the Force. Anger, passion, fear, all these super primal emotions empower a warrior’s body. Through the manipulation of their own emotions and the emotions of the battlefield, their power grows. This goes from the sense of respect all the way to the sense of terror.
A warrior is not limited by physical plateaus. They are only limited by their willingness to keep pushing on, to win. Let us not forget that Thorim, Hodir, Odyn, and a ton of other titanic beings are considered “Warriors” even though they use magic. It is not magic that stops a being from becoming a warrior. It is armor, weaponry, and willpower that does.
A footman is not a warrior. A grunt is not a warrior. Same as how a Knight isn’t a paladin. What defines these people is their disciplines and what pushes them to fight, fight beyond normal limits.
Edit:
Let us not forget the battelord’s ability to drop from orbit and easily survive. Her ability to outpace and best each of the storm forged valarjar, as she was their proven better. She killed great beasts, demons above and beyond normal power, and even defeated a Titan Keeper corrupted by the Fel. She was also practically immortal! Warriors are secretly OP, everyone’s just too busy caring about the Cosmic Opera of The Same Evil Power But In Different Colors.
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I’m just going to say it: paladins are objectively better than warriors
People who claim Paladins are superior to Warriors and Priests.
Me, and Intellectual:
The Light Will Protec…aaaaahhh…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
~ Highlord TIrion Fordring, World of WarCraft: Legion
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Not to nitpick but I think that was Terenas, when he says, “Rise up, champions of the Light!”
Going back and listening, it turns out that is is King Terenas. Which adds some confusion into who’s the strongest priest in Warcraft.
I never thought about it that way, but this makes a lot of sense when you consider the Shout skills. The ability to send a whole group of equally tough people fleeing just by yelling at them is some next-level stuff.
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Warriors are Dovahkiin confirmed
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If warriors are so cool why don’t they have guns
Hunters 1 Warriors 0 Paladins 0
I was there when they did.
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Where’s that Aslan meme when I need him?
I remember having to roll against a Fury warrior for a ranged weapon upgrade. Thank goodness that’s over.
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Everyone waxes nostalgic about WoW, but I still remember wearing Mail shoulders for AGES at TBC endgame specifically because it was the best piece, stat wise, I could get for my Holy Paladin.
Ah, TBC Holy Paladins.
We never ran out of mana. Ever.
Insert “I was THERE, Gandalf” meme here
So, first of all, not triggered, but I am going to argue this point.
Turalyon is still in his prime. He was in his prime during the Second War, and shortly after Draenor was broken into Outland, he met X’era, and was immediately Lightforged, becoming immortal. (Correction: Apparently 40 years passed before he was Lightforged. Considering he looks nowhere near as old as he should, I can only presume (though have no evidence to support the theory) that the Lightforging process reverses aging to a suitable state to act as an Eternal Protector of the Light). This is how he survived living one thousand years in the Twisting Nether, let alone spending that time fighting some of the most powerful demons in existence while also commanding the Army of the Light. I don’t know if he always had gray hair or not, but I would say the stress of a thousand+ years of combat against a nigh unbeatable enemy might have had a hand in that.
That isn’t to say Liadrin still couldn’t, theoretically, be stronger.
I agree with whoever said it, but this ultimately boils down to a fun thought experiment rather than something that could be proven. The closest we could get to proving who is, “stronger,” through the lore, is pointing out that the Alliance lore-wise wins the Arathi Warfront. As Turalyon and Liadrin are both commanders, this would mean Turalyon essentially defeats Liadrin. Granted, that’s not in single combat, but rather as commanders of armies, so even taking the liberty of assuming those two were the canon matched commanders, its not really any kind of definitive proof.
Turalyon’s obvious strengths lie not only in being Lightforged and being one of the original five ordained paladins of the Silver Hand, but also in over a thousand years of extensive combat experience against elite enemies. By the same token, that’s 1,000 years of fighting a very specific kind of enemy, whereas Liadrin has significantly more experience fighting other Paladins. That’s not to say Turalyon never would’ve sparred with other Lightforged, but rather, Liadrin simply has more experience dealing with Paladins like Turalyon.
Liadrin’s obvious strengths would be the fact that the Sunwell is an infinite font of the Light, meaning her ability to the Light can never be threatened unless the Sunwell itself is threatened. It’s unlikely Turalyon would up and lose his faith in the Light, but given his family situation (Alleria and the Void), I wouldn’t put it as anywhere near as impossible as Liadrin losing it. I think Liadrin’s greater weaknesses would be the fact that she has not been a Paladin for very long (comparatively), and prior to being a Paladin, she was a Priest, meaning she doesn’t have anywhere near the physical combat experience Turalyon has.
Call me biased for posting on an Alliance character, let alone a Paladin, but I would say, without any extreme mitigating factors such as special equipment or battlefield advantage, that Turalyon in every encounter would utterly trounce Liadrin. Lightforging seems like a much stronger connection to the Light than the Sunwell could provide, and being both in his prime and having extensive training and experience in combat as well as wielding the Light, he just outclasses her and just about any other Paladin without question. I doubt even Tirion or Uther could’ve held a candle to Turalyon.
Sorry, couldn’t help myself.
Anyways, to the main topic, “better,” is very subjective and I think we lack a proper criteria by which to judge that on. Paladins strike me as infinitely more defensive compared to warriors. A Paladin will outlast his or her opponent, while a warrior is basically fighting to kill their opponent before they themselves run out of steam and are killed.
I’d say (as others have), that this stigma of Paladins being superior stems from the fact that Paladins were not as numerous as Warriors, and made for excellent commanders due to their battle-ready skill sets, and their ability to augment the defenses, offenses, and other attributes of their allies (auras/blessings), as well as to provide healing directly on the battlefield.
It’s natural to consider that the commander is, “better,” than the soldier, but that’s not always the case, especially where humans are concerned. WoW does a good job typically of showing how most human commanders earned their positions through great personal strength, loyal service, and competency. We’re only now seeing what is typically a staple in other franchises and IPs, in aristocracy/royalty acting as commanders when they’re more suited to standing back and playing support (mainly, Anduin the Priest).
So, are Paladins better than Warriors? In some ways, yes, but in others, no.
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