More on Paladin state in 3.1

So yesterday I wrote a post on the evolution of paladins in the healing game (Arena & PvE) from the latest patch notes for 3.1.
I'm going to add a bit of weight to this post, just because in case some people read me, I'd be very sorry for all holy (and retribution) paladins if I see all of these change go live.

I encourage you to read these two post from The Suicidal Zebra:
*Sigh*
More 3.1 Commentary, or 'Because I Wasn't Very Rational Last Time'

The analysis is from a retribution paladin this time, so expect more on the ret talents. But nevertheless, the strong nerfs of holy are not forgotten, and I do share these thoughts.

The Sacred Shield nerf is a pretty hefty nerf to Holy PvE healing, and couples with the nerf to the Glyph of Holy Light (which cannot crit) and Infusion of Light (no more reduction to HL casting time) to make Paladin AoE healing much more difficult than at any time since 3.0 hit. This may well detrimentally impact on the viability of taking Holy Paladins to certain Hard-mode 10-man encounters in Ulduar, but the specifics of the encounter are important. Other raid healers in 25-man encounters should be able to make up for Paladin deficiencies.

Holy has been battered with the nerf bat this patch, and Ret will be dead for all intents and purposes. The fall in Paladin representation in Season 6 will be spectacular, and I doubt they'll reach even Season 3 levels thereafter. There's PvE to look forward to I guess, that is if they actually boost Ret's DPS and/or Holy are actually capable of dealing with the raid-wide damage.

These are very very valid thoughts, and this sentence does really frighten me, even if I can see the sad truth behind it: Paladin AoE healing much more difficult than at any time since 3.0 hit. This may well detrimentally impact on the viability of taking Holy Paladins to certain Hard-mode 10-man encounters in Ulduar

Keep faith my fellow paladins ... all hope is perhaps not yet lost.