#0 - Sept. 12, 2006, 2:01 p.m.
Paladins Everywhere.
Where once immunity.
To sin was,
Had.
Now there is only
Laugh Out Loud.
- E.J. Thribb (17 1/2)
Right. I've been trying to think this one through for a while, but words have failed me for a while.
Now, in general, paladins have suffered fairly badly at the hands of class balance. We suffered the largest single nerf in the game's history (Holy Strike would be the most powerful melee attack in the game as of this point, were it still here). We had the mixed blessing of 1.9 which while making Retribution paladins actually viable, destroyed the traditional and far more powerful Protection specced Reckadin, which would have remained viable well into 1.12 even with the changes to Vengeance.
However, this change to Divine Shield is too large. Divine Shield cannot and should not be dispelled by anything.
Blizzard, you won't read this of course, because it's rare I see any kind of official response after such a gigantic change in the immediate time after the announcement, but I am going to say something pretty simple.
You cannot fundamentally change a crowning ability of a class without giving something in return. If Divine Shield is now dispellable by any class that is player controlled, there will be some clever player out there who will find a way to use it against us. Meaning they will do so without firing Unstable Affliction, or anything of that nature. The fact it is targetted GUARENTEES THAT. You cannot even think about it in the hands of a nub because how many people fear a nub paladin or a nub warrior? No one. The class isn't balanced around stupid people, it's balanced around smart people.
But wait, RheyRhey, other classes have class defining abilities that can be dispelled and interrupted too? Doesn't that make you a nub?
No, sweetheart, no it doesn't. Why can I say that?
Stealth, while it can be countered, has very specific rules governing its operation. Stealth, for example, is guarenteed to be broken by DoTs, but while in stealth a rogue is capable of numerous special abilities that initiate or break the flow of combat. A rogue can always, through one method or another to reenter stealth. This also does not account for the fact that Stealth is also only one aspect of their class. A rogue will always know of the circumstances in which Stealth is functional, what they can do in stealth.
Every class defining ability has certain limitations that are commonly known but also certain guarentees. Stealth is permanently availible out of combat and can be entered in combat using a special ability. It enables new abilities. Warrior stances are immutable. They can't be dispelled, they can be changed, but changing them causes rage loss. Druid shapeshifting has numerous boons. While it disables spells in some forms it provides benefits that the druid can rely upon. Priests and mages both have multiple spell schools they can fall back on in the case of one of them being locked up, each with multiple controlled DPS abilities, if not healing abilities.
Why doesn't Divine Shield fit in anymore? The reason why is because in order for Divine Shield to work, a CLASS has to not be present. Seriously. An entire class has to not be around at that time. Which is, as they say, about as likely to happen as the moon exploding due to a duststorm in the Saraha.
Some of these abilities are counterable. Warlock pets are obviously killable, so are totems (although not through a preferred method) however one thing is in common for all these abilities (except of course, Divine Shield).
The class can function without them.
A shaman can drop a Grounding Totem at a moment's notice and absorb a pyroblast in mid air and then have it wanded without losing anything. Once that Pyro is down, it's function is complete. They can plan ahead. A warlock can still function without a pet by relying on their burst DPS. A mage can function without Pyroblast or Iceblock or Arcane Power. While a hunter has a dead zone they have multiple abilities to expand the distance between them and their enemy or outright kill them before they can respond again.
The point is, no class is reliant on a single given ability to perform their class role in PvP as a paladin is. Divine Shield is what makes a paladin what they are. We suffer through long cast time heals for Divine Shield. We suffer through low DPS for Divine Shield. We have no ranged abilities due to Divine Shield.
ALL OUR ABILITIES ARE TIED INTO AND BALANCED VIA DIVINE SHIELD. It is so obvious it hurts.
So if, infact, a priest, even by luck, can dispel a class defining ability, with a five minute cooldown and leave a paladin TOTALLY DEFENSELESS, then it is time the class changed and Divine Shield was moved to a lesser roll.
Meaning we get faster, more powerful heals.
Meaning we hit like holy warriors should.
Meaning we are what we should have been in the first place.
