Paladin Specs
Paladin Specs
Holy
How to Spot: They’re not fighting. It sounds silly, but Holy Paladins are the best healers in the game, and so even though they’re wearing plate, they’re at the back of the raid tossing heals and blessings.
They Can: Heal, and conserve mana like nobody’s business. Holy Pallies don’t have anything really flashy that’s just theirs (those blessings are available to all Pallies). But they can heal a whole instance without ever dropping below half mana.
They Can’t: Dish out damage. They’re there to keep you up, not kill stuff.
Protection
How to Spot: Avenger’s Shield is a big one– if you see a Paladin throwing a shield at someone that bounces around, they’re probably heavily Protection. Blessing of Kings (that tasty buff that gives you +10% to all stats) is also in this tree, but not that far down.
They Can: Supposedly tank, but in my humble opinion, a Paladin tanking is a lot like that fight your friends got in last night at the bar– it’s fun to hear about afterwards, but you’re kind of glad you weren’t there.
They Can’t: On the other hand, they do everything else just fine. Healing isn’t as good as Holy, but it’s respectable.
Retribution (a.k.a. Retnoob, DPSadin)
How to Spot: Ah, the Retribution Paladin– what you get when you cross a class meant to be defensive with a player who wants to do damage. These guys are out there carrying around two handers, and Crusader Striking the heck out of anything they see. If you’re in a group with one, you might see Seal of Command on them, and the Sanctity Aura on yourself.
They Can: Do enough DPS to take out half the defenders in AB, bubble, heal themselves up, and then take out the other half.
They Can’t: Heal anyone but themselves while bubbled. I’m sure some Ret Paladins remember that they’re given a few healing spells, but the majority of them try to hit stuff as fast and hard as possible.
Filed under: World of Warcraft