Thanks Blizz. I know you hate paladins for real now.
Reasons Why Healing Hands SUCK
- Short range - described like a healing totem and conjecture has been the range is real short. On top of that, it depends on where the casting paladin is standing so our movement/placement is key. Yet, we are one of the least mobile healing classes! WTH, Blizz?!
- Short duration, long CD - It lasts 6 seconds with 15 second CD. So how effective can paladins really be as raid healers then? Sure we have DSac too but so do ret/prot! Why would raid leaders feel compelled to bring holy paladins to the raid?? HL + glyph is better in this regard since there is no CD associated with it.
- Not spec dependent - Correct me if I am wrong but aren't all the paladin specs receiving this? It should scale best as holy but why are prot/ret allowed to aoe heal too? Ret also has Divine Storm so now they have TWO aoe heals. This seems a bit overpowered for PVP purposes as well.
- Self only - Healing hands basically makes the casting paladin a "beacon of light" (hehe) so fights that means the raid must all spread out, too bad sucker! Also, unless the entire raid stays in 1 spot, our "aoe" healing spell will never be able to hit the entire raid yet the traditional raid healing classes are getting spells that hit the entire raid!
Beacon of Light
Blizzard has suggested that they could change BoL so only certain heals (aka FoL) translate via BoL. However, the flaw to this change would be that it will make healing via BoL too complicated and unreliable.
Another proposed nerf is the make any spell cast when BoL is active much more expensive in terms of mana. WHY BLIZZ WHY?!
In Cataclysm where mana efficiency is key, why would holy paladins feel it necessary to waste the mana on BoL then?
I propose that instead of 100% healing translate via BoL, it should be 50% or 75% rather than only select spells. Either that or make HL, the new Greater HL and HH translate but not FoL or HS since those are our need-to-heal-right-now-damn-the-costs spells. A third possibility is to make BoL radiate out the healing received as a semi-aoe heal as HH is a really inferior, horribly designed aoe healing spell.
You could also make BoL cost no mana and last indefinitely ala Righteous Fury so to encourage holy paladins to switch up targets or if Blizz decides they want to go ahead with the silly make-all-spells-cost-more strategy (likely they will go a stupid route).
So to summarize Beacon change proposals:
- 100% -> 50%
- HL, Greater HL & HH mirrored only
- BoL -> aoe heal
- Remove duration/costs of BoL
Holy paladins are going to get a new spell that is talented, which is only a bigger version of HL. Yet why would we want to waste talent points into Greater HL when HL is going to be our bread and butter?
Either make it so that Greater HL works like HL+glyph (without a glyph!) so we have another sort of aoe heal to use when HH is on CD. The reason why I propose the included (non-glyph) aoe component to Greater HL rather than HL is because the higher cost and longer cast time should discourage holy paladins from spamming it but only to use it when necessary.
If this change goes through, HL glyph should be removed and a different glyph introduced. Greater HL glyph can then either power up the aoe component or change the mana costs or cast time.
To summarize Greater HL suggestions:
- Add aoe component baseline to Greater HL
- Remove HL glyph
The only reason why Holy paladins look so damn good in ICC outside of VDW is because of meter inflation via JoL! How is that actual real healing done by holy paladins??
Remember, holy paladins' mana regen got nerfed and they buffed Beacon to throw us a bone. Yet prior to the Beacon buff, most fights didn't require 2-3 tanks being kept up simultaneously as the key component, it was mostly having to deal with aoe raid damage - something holy paladins are truly lacking in. It was only because of holy paladin concerns of being cut from raids that we see Blizzard designing fights that require 2-3 tanks being kept up while eating massive damage.
That is why holy paladins are viewed as strong now because of current fight designs and JoL meter padding. When we go back to how it was in Vanilla & TBC with more aoe raid damage mechanics, the many weaknesses of holy paladins will definitely rear their ugly heads!
I'm so damn tired. If FFXIV looks good, maybe I should just quit WoW because Blizzard obviously does not love my class as much as I love it.
I'm not that much of a masochist. And I REFUSE to reroll.
Blizzard can care less about little ol' me but quite honestly, I think it is a telling factor when subscription numbers are stagnating and people are starting to quit WoW (or lose interest) as the big arch-villian from lore, Arthas, has finally been killed. Blizzard better make its customers happy/interested or it will start losing real money.
You've been warned, Blizzard!
Um, shouldn't paladins wait until they've actually tried the spells out before decrying them? I'm actually pretty excited about the changes. Healing Hands is cool ... and there's a reason we wear plate. Also, what are your thoughts on the Guardian of Ancient Kings?
ReplyDelete@Benjy: I would be excited about HH but what are we giving up just so we can say we have an aoe healing spell?? I still have concerns about our new aoe healing spell being on par with the toolbox of the other healing classes. Blizzard has not shown me that they understand this issue and if paladins are still too far behind other healers to fulfill the capacity for raid healing, we will fall by the wayside. Hence, the rant.
ReplyDeleteAs for Guardian of the Ancient Kings, I would think of it akin to a mage's mirror images or enhance shamans' wolves. It is not meaningful healing that we can direct ourselves, just a CD that we pop to up our HPS (said to be every 3 min).
Ahww man, I was about to start ranting about your post but I figured it's not even worth it. Just as it's not worth whining about changes that haven't happened yet and design decisions that have yet to be made. Nothing's final yet, the beta isn't even here yet. Nobody knows the exact details of the announced spells, like HH, so please, for the love of the Light, wait until bitching actually becomes meaningful.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I play a Holy pally and I absolutely love him. I just don't see any reason to worry about these changes right now. I agree on your opinion on Guardian of Ancient Kings though, it will probably be just another CD, but at least it sounds like a cool "oh shit!" button.
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ReplyDeleteI don't mean to make anyone mad but Arthas wasn't the Ultimate Lore villain x3 Seregas is (Correct my spelling?) and yea about this time people start to go off on vacations but honestly when you have a game with 8-11 million (Correct me again?) people then you get more just by (can't think of the word) what i'm trying to say is they arn't goi
ReplyDeleteing to nerf the shit out of paladins they're going to an equilibrium and whatever issues you have now put them in the forums i bet blizz will make everyone happy (or they'll take a few patches to work out the kinks ;3) So tbh i think your argument about players quitting because we've defeated arthas isn't true :3 (correct me please)
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: You may be right as people will still buy Cataclysm just to try it out but I've been reading posts about how they feel like they are done with the game now that Arthas is dead. My bf has also made comments about it and it may be that people are done for the expansion if they have killed Arthas.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Blizzard is still on the drawing board with paladins but if they don't see a problem, they won't try and fix it. Hence, my post.
I was semi-serious when I wrote that I would quit but I think odds are, I will still be playing in Cataclysm whether or not I like the changes implemented.
I am one of those wait a see types, i hated TBC but loved Wrath, lets see who Cata turns out.
ReplyDeleteBut, that being said. I know blizzard loves to screw with us. Remember the 50% MS Effect x6sec on Crusader Strike (Where did that go) or the proposed idea that paladins would use (Chains of Justice) as a gap closer *Sarcastic* (Why does that spell ring a bell) :P
I don't wish to sound like a ranter, but Blizzard says we can't give Paladins the ability to cast multiple sacred shields (because that would weaken Disc's role in a raid) yet Blizzard has made every healer an effective tank healer in cata and paladins get what exactly:
1) Guardian Spirit = Very Original
2) Holy Gas (AKA Healing Hands) *Excuse the French*
3) Our casting system compleltely wrecked..
4) a 30m Sacred Shield (Hmm, i can gaurentee you the mitigation has been nerefed to the "ground")
5) Nerf to beacon ( Great, thank you blizzard, yup we sure are great raid healers now).
6) Crit Healing = I mean just lol, lol!
Yeah - I agree with the above. I have now quit WoW. Such a shame.
ReplyDelete