All in all the idea is that playing a Holy Paladin in raids isn't fun:
the gearing is really simple (spell power, int, crit, and nothing else matters),
the gameplay is simplistic (Holy Light spam, ehre you come),
the mobility & raid healing is very limited.
Though I'm playing a Holy Paladin for a good number of months now (was prot before WotLK), I do agree that, compared to a priest, the gameplay of a paladin is very limited. We are healing powerhouses, mana batteries and can outlast nearly all other healers. But we are not very fun to play ... and that's a very important issue in a game.
Quoting Ghostcrawler:
We have some plans for Holy paladins in 3.2. We'll talk more about them when we get closer and we are more confident that they are the actual changes that will go live (modulo PTR feedback).Let's hope they're going to find a new direction for us that can bring a bit more variety to our gameplay, that would be really sweet.
I don't play holy very much in PVE but I do have to say that it is a blast to play in PVP, especially arena. However, it should be fun to play no matter what (PVE or PVP).
ReplyDeleteIn the Arena Holy Paladin have an edge over most other healers, I should say 2.
ReplyDeleteFirst they wear plate, which gives you a few more seconds of survival against a rogue stun lock that is deadly to most priests (and druids sometimes).
Secondly they have the holy bubble that is just the only real solution to burst teams nowadays ... if a DK & ret paladin/warrior/mage are bursting you, nothing will save you but a bubble.
Sadly (from my point of view) these are the only real adges of a paladin as a healer in the arena, we have less mobility, less utility (though hand of freedom is huge but nerfed again and again) and less adaptability than most healers (druids are the kinds and once resilience will become stronger I promise you they will dominate Arena healing as they did in season 3 & 4).
Now, I must agree that for the moment, our ability to survive makes us fun to play in the Arena :P
(and in bgs even more, how often have I seen a rogue die on my retribution aura ...)
My point was mainly for PvE, especially in 25 men raids, where paladins are MT healers and nothing else (other healing classes do all other healing roles much better than us), and most of the time just chain cast Flash Light & Holy Light without much more brain activity :P