So, I am mostly making this thread to address a pet peeve of mine. Wherever I go there seems to be this misconception that Paladins are just better than Warriors by default because they have holy super powers. While it is true that Paladins are able to use the light to great effect, people need to understand that Paladins are NOT just better Warriors.
Your typical Paladin spends alot of their time in deep meditation/contemplation of the light, and must split their time between studying and practicing combat. Furthermore, most Paladins are bound by codes of ethics that can be really easy for their opponents to abuse. A good example of this would be when Tirion Fording deliberately allows Eitrigg to retrieve his weapon instead of finishing the Orc off in the story âOf Blood and Honor.â
Warriors by contrasts are individuals who put alot more focus and time into mastering the art of combat and not much else. They train to fight with whatever they can grab and however they need to. They are likely more versatile in a straight up fight than most Paladins, and unlike Paladins they do not need to follow specific codes of conduct in order to be a Warrior (though they may have one) nor is there a need for them to meditate or study religious texts. A good example of this is found in the Novel âArthasâ where Uther points out that although he was the one to teach Arthas honorable combat, it was actually Muradin who taught Arthas how to fight to WIN.
The point of this thread is not to show that Warriors are secretly better than Paladins, (or vice-versa) but to point out that Warriors and Paladins excel in different roles. If you need a heavily armored combat medic or someone who can drive back the forces of darkness? You need a Paladin. But if you need someone to charge the front lines of the enemy or take on an epic monster single-handed? Then you need a Warrior.
From my point of view, I think the reason why warriors just look like sub-paladins is because the gameâs flashy nature tends to lean way more toward the magical over physical feats. Paladins come with a built-in power to augment their melee, which makes them look more special.
On the other hand, I think warriors tend to either need 1) outside magical boosts to compete, 2) job to showcase how strong their enemy is, or 3) straight up die. Examples off the top of my head being:
Saurfang Jr running in to get pasted by the lich king
Varian being enchanted by a wolf god to give him endless stamina
Garrosh being augmented by an old god heart
Garrosh again as Thrall overcomes him with shaman magic
Grom being pinned with ease by Gulâdanâs warlock magic
Varian literally going out with a bang
Saurfang not being able to keep up with Malfurion
Saurfang again, as an example of all three in the same cutscene: gets clowned on by Sylvanas, only nicks her because of a magical splitting sword, and then dies anyway.
Thrall and Baineâs rather pitiful shows in the Maw intro; Thrall in particular only partially overcomes this when he finally juices back up with shaman magic.
Although to be fair, Grom in the WoD intro does pop an axe in a pitlordâs head and survives (with intervention). But he was originally set up to be the big bad so he kinda needed to live at the time.
Other than that, I donât think warriors are often shown to be all that successful on their own merits. So if you can choose to be a warrior, or a warrior with a spot of off-healing, why go without?
Blizz is very obsessed with ever escalating magic, which has taken its toll of Warriors (and the Horde, which is oversaturated with them). Warriors are sort of only around to make self-sacrifice plays and let the magical powerhouses strut their stuff as they effortlessly body them. Non-Magic charged Hunters and Rogues arenât much better off ⊠they just donât share that honorable death motif.
Warriors seem to be on some Achilles, Beowulf type ish though if weâre looking at the player class.
As for lore theyâre the most open to interpretation class there is. Thereâs some hints to say like Gnomes use applied mathematics tactically to win, whereas Tauren presumably just stomp on the pulverized mess left after their first swing impacted.
But thereâs nothing to say a Gnome couldnât be a pint sized avatar of hate, and a Tauren warriors the one more concerned about intricate tactics.
The intro to Shadowlands in the Maw really drove it home too. Jaina was kicking butt and taking names and even Anduin thwarted the Jailer directly for half a heartbeat, while Baine was as useful as a sack of potatoes and Thrall was too busy looking for a new axe in the Mawâs discount bargain bin.
Iâm basing it on the fact that he one shotted a Fel Reaver twice the size of the house I live in. And then preceded to go all lawnmower on the Legion to cover the escape of Genn and the others.
The man went out on a wave of pure awesome. That ends any notion of warriors not being awesome if they strive for it.
Well, the Argent Crusade got there first and suffered for that.
That said I did just recall the Paladin campaign. Varian got Disenchanted by a Fel Beam. Tirion got blasted by a similar beam, dropped in the Fel Lava, and still survived, only to be tortured to near death, but still having the time to appoint a new Ashbringer.
Iâd love to see the crazy things you could show off a Priest doing. Engulfing enemies in holy fire that heals the righteous as it burns the wicked, conduct a symphony with the music of creation to save countless from death, or merely utter some forbidden words of eldritch portent that causes a whole room of adversaries to flee, turn on eachother or claw at their own eyes as madness as hot as the stars boils their very mind.
Iâd like to know because all weâve got is Anduin. Who just keeps running around with a weapon he literally canât wield so itâs only useful when he hands it to a Warrior or when his body gets hijacked. Other than that he punched a guy.
To be fair he does drop the Dome and shot his friends back by presumably double tapping Ultimate Radiance. Which is a rookie movie but the guyâs still just getting into PvP so, Iâll give him a pass. Clearly heâs getting carried by the Worgen Fury Warrior.
He most certainly can since like most of the Hero PCâs, Tyrande, Thrall, Rexxar, he can use the powers of multiple classes, (IKhadgar can use all three mage specs at once.) in his case, Paladin and Priest. According to lore the first Alliance Paladins started out as Priests.
Heâs at least competent with the blade at the Battle of Lordaeron, heâs not spectacular with it, but heâs not Varian.
He doesnât use any Paladin abilities, though. In Legion at least he used Penance, Psychic Scream, Greater Heal and a super Power Word: Barrier called Power Word: Aegis.
With the fire and frost here itâs more obviously Mage. But honestly they donât get much play in the action scenes outside casting a big spell that breaks ish. Like her big flying magic ship that somehow wasnât even a part of her boss fight which was just tragic.
And thatâs a shame. Because in PvP, especially on Priest, youâre pretty intimately familiar with countering, losing or killing melee attackers with clever usage of spells.
Then we just see Anduin swinging a bit of metal at people. When if youâve ever ever gotten to a nice vantage point in an EBG on a S Priest and marked enough people with Vampiric Touch before hitting Void Form - well youâve created your own Return of the King Act 3 Ghost Army moment.
He uses the Paladin ability of wearing metal armor while being blonde. And his being a Paladin preserves the Arthas paralell that heâs going through this year.
{Rescues Alliance from Maw & though shaken, stand triumphantly} â {Rescues Horde from Maw who literally go sit in a corner} Yeah, Alliance definitely win on having competency in their leadership thatâs at the Shadowlands this round. lol
Would be rather cool if lore-wise Warriors were given untold physical strength, power & endurance to be Warriors from Loa, Wild-Gods & other cosmic forces. Would also make more sense to the sight of a petite female Blood elf in full clad armour heaving a massive weapon. lol
Just wearing plate and having a two-handed sword while wielding the Light doesnât make one a paladin, at least not in the case of humans. Anduin has never used any paladin abilities, nor has he ever sworn the oaths or received the blessings generally required to turn a priest into a paladin, nor has he ever trained in the ways of fighting like a paladin. Arthas had Uther training him in the ways of the Silver Hand, while Anduin does not have an equivalent paladin mentor showing him how to walk that path. The fact that he wasnât good at melee combat, and furthermore his strong resistance to improving his skills in that area because he didnât want to be a warrior, was a major point of conflict between him and Varian. Heâs not suddenly a paladin just because he carries his fatherâs sword out of sentimentality and symbolism while wearing plate armor so he doesnât get immediately squished on the battlefield.
Yeah, Alliance definitely win on having competency in their leadership thatâs at the Shadowlands this round. lol