I was a paladin in 2004, raided as holy of course and such.
Thinking about giving it another go, with the knowledge I have today and seeing if it’s still fun for me.
My question for you guys, how do you play and what’s your favorite spec? Personally I liked Prot with holy shield doing some reflecting damage farming and stuff.
I raid and PVP as Holy/Prot. It works pretty well, though I’m not really set up for tanking so much as just for general surviveability.
You could definitely do well with tanking 5 mans and AoE farming as Prot though. Get a couple of damage on struck items like Naglering, a Shield Spike, etc. You’d want to go Holy as secondary, even if only for consecration. Raid-wise might be tricky, as you’d be an offtank at best. Most likely you’d be able to fill a role as someone that normally heals, but can off-tank as needed for trash, and as the Paladin that casts Blessing of Sanctuary on the tanks, as most Deep Holy paladins won’t have that.
I press Flash of Light.
Holy Light if I’m feeling sneaky.
I like doing holy talents and 1h for tanking.
It’s fun. But not most optimal.
If you PvP plz don’t forget you can heal lawls
The first toon I ever made in vanilla was a paladin. I remember getting him to about 40 then re-rolling a warrior. I didn’t have fond memories of my paladin. It was the last thing I considered for classic. I was bored and made one. I’m having a blast tanking and healing dungeons. My ultimate goal is to heal in raids and tank a 5-man every now and then as holy/prot.
Unless you like to heal, dont roll a paladin. No one really wants to even see a Ret lol
Personally, I think Paladins is one of the most mis-played classes and virtually all of the guides are ‘wrong’ in the sense that they fundamentally misunderstand the class.
From retail, players have an expectation that you’ll pick a role, focus myopically on that role and it will all work out. This strategy works pretty well if you’re a Mage or a Holy Priest.
It doesn’t work so well for Paladins because Paladins aren’t very good at any particular role. They can tank, but you’d almost always prefer a Druid or Warrior. They can dps, but you’d generally prefer virtually anyone else. They can heal, but can’t match the output of Druids, Priests and Shaman.
Indeed, the key features of the Paladin class are generally abilities that are invariant (or nearly so) with spec/gear - the Blessings, Hands, Auras, etc. What this means in practice is that a decent Paladin isn’t one who emphasizes being the best possible tank, the best possible healer or the best possible dps but the best possible support.
Perhaps the biggest part of this is that, no matter what role you’re trying to fill, you need to be able to take a beating. Maybe not a raid boss level beating, but when something goes horribly wrong you should be one of the people left standing. Likewise, you’re never going to be considered serious dps, but you shouldn’t feel completely silly swinging your weapon.
This sort of ‘balanced’ approach to a Paladin works better than a myopically focused approach because you just don’t gain all that much with such focus. Paladins are amongst the worst scaling classes for any role so no one really expects them to put up competitive numbers in their role. They expect them to fill in the gaps and reliably provide their support.
Mine too. I was soooo laughably bad, taking talents in ret, yet using sword and shield because I got hit too much and couldn’t kill stuff. I only made it to about the mid teens before I gave up and switched to warlock. In TBC I did a blood elf paladin alt that I actually did much better with, once I actually understood the game. In a way, playing a paladin now is about redeeming myself for that first awful attempt.
I want you to make a video or guide. You seem to have it figured out. I wish I understood this 15 years ago.
Imagine thinking a shaman or druid can out heal a paladin lmao. Get a clue dude paladins and priests are the goats of healing classic.
What sort of farming suggestions do you guys have? I used to aoe Prot farm like crazy, are there other tricks I could try? What’s your favorite dungeon to solo farm?
didnt that first lvl 40 clear of MC use a bunch of paladins specifically because they outheal the other 3? they still brought priests because they numerically were so close but they only brought one druid for buff and B rez. lol
Ugly men dont like looking at attractive men to. Of course people dont like looking at Ret. That persons having more fun then everyone else
Druids have better throughput than Paladins on short fights.
Love it!
I really like the utility of a paladin - they’re kind of a walking buff to a party, and that’s how I play. That being said, ret is a blast. You won’t shine on a DPS meter, but when crap hits the fan and you know your class, you’ll be noticed. Be a team player when it comes to buffs and auras (I frequently give up sanctuary aura in lieu of something that will help the party as a whole.)
I prefer to gear up with pally plate, so I always stack some int (I won’t wear leather or mail… Paladins should be able to take a few hits!)
Paladins are great in PvP. Our blessing of Freedom, blessing of protection, divine shield and lay in hands are incredibly powerful.
We have some heal buttons, and they should be used. But regardless if what others say, they’re not the ONLY buttons you should use!
I like pretty much everything you said, but this passage summarized things beautifully.
Thank you for that!
I press auto-attack, and then go get a drink or something.
I play as holy/prot, but I use the full toolkit as needed.