Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Preliminary Paladin Ability Changes in Mists of Pandaria

Yesterday, Blizzard released their Official Talent Calculator for Mists of Pandaria, which includes not only the redesigned talent system, but also a list of all class skills and specialization skills. I'll spare you descriptions of all of the talents since you can just go there and look at them, and instead I'm going to go level-by-level through the Paladin abilities (both class and specialization) to outline the various changes I see. Here goes!

Level 1:
  • Armor Skills (Passive) remains relatively unchanged. It just removes the reference to training, since classes will automatically learn abilities rather than having to train them.
  • Weapon Skills (Passive) is unchanged.
  • Crusader Strike deals 176% weapon damage (rather than 135%) and generates a charge of Holy Power [ed. note: it generates a charge presently, but for whatever reason the WoWhead tooltip doesn't show it].
Level 3:
  • Seal of Command: a new single-target damage-dealing seal. "Fills the Paladin with Holy Light, causing direct attacks to deal 26 additional Holy damage." Seal of Righteousness is being moved to level 42 and having the AoE component from the Seals of Command talent built in.
  • Judgement is being moved to level 5.
Level 5:
  • Judgement is being moved here from level 3 and given a 30 yard base range (up from 10 yards) and 6 sec base cooldown (down from 8 sec).
  • Devotion Aura is effectively being removed. There is a new Holy specialization ability with the same name at level 60, but the effect is completely different.
Level 7:
  • Hammer of Justice is being moved here from level 14, but is otherwise unchanged.
  • Holy Light is being changed to a level 32 Holy specialization ability.
Level 9:
  • Word of Glory appears to be having the base cooldown removed for all Paladins.
Level 10:
  • Parry is conspicuously absent. Not sure if it's being removed or if it's just not mentioned in the new talent calculator.
  • (Holy) Holy Shock remains as-is, though the new calculator does not mention the 40 yard range for friendly targets. Not sure if this is an intended change or oversight/tooltip limitation, but I'll assume the latter.
  • (Holy) Walk in the Light remains mostly unchanged, but no longer mentions the cooldown reduction for Word of Glory. Combined with the Word of Glory change from above, it seems the cooldown will simply be removed for everyone.
  • (Holy) Meditation is gone.
  • (Protection) Avenger's Shield is unchanged.
  • (Protection) Touched by the Light gains some new effects. In addition to the current effects, it now "reduces the chance you will be critically hit by melee attacks by 6%" and "increases your mana regeneration by 10%".
  • (Protection) Vengeance seems to be unchanged (though it will probably follow 4.3 mechanics).
  • (Protection) Judgements of the Wise is being moved to level 30.
  • (Retribution) Templar's Verdict appears to require 3 Holy Power to use, and only deals 39% weapon damage (down from 90% with 3 Holy Power currently).
  • (Retribution) Sheath of Light gains some new effects. In addition to the current effects, it now also "increases the damage you deal with two-handed melee weapons by 25%" and "increases your mana regeneration by 10%".
  • (Retribution) Judgements of the Bold is being moved to level 30.
Level 12:
Level 13:
  • Redemption is being moved here from level 12, and is unchanged from the 4.3 version which increases the range to 40 yards (up from 30 yards in 4.2).
Level 14:
Level 15:
Level 16:
Level 18:
  • Divine Shield is being moved here from level 48, but is otherwise unchanged.
  • Exorcism is being changed to a Retribution specialization ability at level 50.
  • Hand of Protection is being moved to level 48.
Level 20:
  • No mention is made of the summon mount abilities for Paladins. Not sure if they're being removed or just not mentioned in the new talent calculator.
  • (Holy) Holy Wrath is being moved here from level 28 and is now a Holy specialization ability. It only costs 8% of base mana (down from 20%), has no cooldown (down from 15 sec cooldown), and no longer stuns demons and undead, but instead "prevents targets from causing critical effects for the next 6 sec."
  • (Protection) Hammer of the Righteous is moved here from the Protection tier 3 talent position. In addition to a damage increase to 39% weapon damage (up from 30%), it now also "reduces [the targets'] physical damage done by 10% for 30 sec."
Level 22:
  • Supplication (Passive): a new passive class ability with an effect similar to the last part of Crusade. "For 15 sec after you kill an enemy that yields experience or honor, your next Flash of Light heals for an additional 300%".
  • Blessing of Kings is being moved to level 32.
Level 24:
Level 26:
  • Seal of Truth is being moved here from level 44. Remains relatively unchanged, but now mentions "direct attacks" instead of "single-target attacks".
  • Retribution Aura is being removed, as are all current Paladin Auras. =(
Level 28:
  • Divine Protection is being moved here from level 30, but is otherwise unchanged.
  • Holy Wrath is being changed to a level 20 Holy specialization ability.
Level 30:
  • (Holy) Judgements of the Pure (Passive) is being moved here from the Holy tier 1 talent position. It no longer increases haste, but retains the 4.3 function of increasing Spirit. It now states "Your Judgement increases your mana regeneration from Spirit while in combat by 30%".
  • (Protection) Judgements of the Wise (Passive) is being moved here from the level 10 Protection specialization. It no longer grants mana, but instead states "Your Judgement hits grant one charge of Holy Power".
  • (Retribution)  Judgements of the Bold (Passive) is being moved here from the level 10 Retribution specialization. It no longer grants mana, but instead states "Your Judgement hits grant one charge of Holy Power and increase the physical damage taken by your target by 4% for 12 sec."
Level 32:
  • (Holy) Holy Light is being moved here from level 7 and is now a Holy specialization ability with a 2.5 sec cast time (down from 3.0 sec).
Level 33:
  • Seal of Insight is being moved here from level 33. The Glyph of Seal of Insight is being built in, so the seal now improves healing by 5% innately. Additionally, the seal now mentions "direct attacks" rather than "single-target attacks".
Level 34:
  • (Holy) Sacred Cleansing (Passive) is being moved here from the Holy tier 4 talent position.
  • (Retribution) Crusader's Zeal (Passive): a new Retribution specialization passive ability. "Your normal melee attacks have a chance to increase the attack speed by 25% for your next 3 melee swings" [ed. note: awkward wording straight from Blizzard—personally I think it should read "increase the attack speed for your next 3 melee swings by 25%"].
Level 36:
Level 38:
  • (Retribution) Divine Storm is being moved here from the Retribution tier 3 talent and is changed into an AoE version of Templar's Verdict. It now requires 3 Holy Power to use rather than 5% base mana, no longer generates Holy Power, no longer heals allies, and has no cooldown (down from 4.5 sec). It now states "An area attack that consumes 3 charges of Holy Power to cause 100% weapon damage to all enemies within 8 yards".
Level 39:
Level 40:
  • Again, no mention of the Paladin summon mount abilities.
  • (Protection) Shield of the Righteous is being moved here from the Protection tier 4 talent position and now requires 3 Holy Power to cast. In addition to dealing damage it "[improves] your block chance by 10% for 5 sec."
  • (Retribution) Hammer of Wrath is being moved here from level 46 and is now a Retribution specialization ability, but is otherwise unchanged.
Level 42:
Level 44:
  • Heart of the Crusader (Passive) is the always-on passive replacement for Crusader Aura.
  • Divine Plea is being changed to a level 46 Holy specialization ability.
  • Seal of Truth is being moved to level 26.
Level 46:
  • Turn Evil is being moved here from level 78, but is relatively unchanged. No longer states "Damage caused may interrupt the effect".
  • (Holy) Divine Plea is being moved here from level 44 and is now a Holy specialization ability, but is otherwise unchanged.
  • (Retribution) Seal of Justice is being moved here from level 64 and is now a Retribution specialization ability. Now properly slows instead of capping movement speed, and states "Fills the Paladin with Holy Light, causing direct attacks to reduce the target's movement speed by 50% for 5 sec and deal 12 additional Holy damage".
Level 48:
Level 50:
  • (Holy) Infusion of Light (Passive) is being moved here from the Holy tier 3 talent and no longer increases Holy Shock critical effect chance, but retains the 4.3 change which includes the option to reduce the cast time of Holy Radiance.
  • (Retribution) Exorcism is being moved here from level 18 and is now a Retribution specialization ability. It no longer costs mana and instead generates a charge of Holy Power, but is not always available and states "Your autoattacks have a 20% chance to activate Exorcism".
Level 52:
Level 54:
  • Rebuke is being moved to level 36.
Level 56:
  • (Holy) Divine Light is being moved here from level 62 and is now a Holy specialization ability with a 2.5 sec cast time (down from 3 sec).
Level 60:
  • (Holy) Devotion Aura is effectively the Holy specialization ability designed to replace the Holy tier 5 talent Aura Mastery and its combinations with Concentration Aura and Resistance Aura, and has no real relation to the current Devotion Aura other than reusing the name. It is an instant cast, 2 min cooldown ability which states "Inspire all party and raid members within 40 yards, granting them immunity to Silence and Interrupt effects and reducing all Fire, Frost, and Shadow damage by 20%. Lasts 6 sec."
  • (Protection) Sanctuary (Passive) [ed. note: yes, it intentionally links to Toughness] is the Protection specialization passive ability version of the Protection tier 2 talent Toughness, and has no real relation to the current Protection tier 3 talent Sanctuary other than reusing the name.
Level 62:
  • Crusader Aura is being removed and replaced by Heart of the Crusader at level 44.
  • Divine Light is being changed to a Holy specialization ability at level 56.
Level 64:
  • Seal of Justice is being changed to a Retribution specialization ability at level 46.
Level 66:
Level 70:
  • (Holy) Light of Dawn is being moved here from the Holy tier 7 talent position and is unchanged from the 4.3 iteration, which heals up to 6 targets (up from 5 in 4.2).
Level 72:
Level 76:
Level 78:
Level 78 80:
  • (Protection) Mastery: Divine Bulwark (Passive) is unchanged  [ed. note: the base block chance is 18%, though for whatever reason the WoWhead tooltip doesn't show it].
  • (Retribution) Mastery: Hand of Light (Passive)  is unchanged  [ed. note: the additional Holy damage is 17%, though for whatever reason the WoWhead tooltip doesn't show it].
Level 81:
  • Blessing of Might moved here from level 56. No longer increases attack power and mana regeneration, but instead increases mastery by 5.
  • (Retribution) Inquisition is being changed to a Retribution specialization ability and as the latter portion of Inquiry of Faith partially baked in so it lasts for 10 sec per charge of Holy Power (up from 4 sec per charge without Inquiry of Faith, but down from 12 sec per charge with Inquiry of Faith).
Level 83:
  • (Holy) Holy Radiance is being changed to a Holy specialization ability that is otherwise unchanged from its 4.3 incarnation.
Level 85:
Level 87:
  • Blinding Light: a new short-duration crowd control ability that costs 20% of base mana and is instant cast with a 3 min cooldown. "Emits a dazzling light in all directions, blinding enemies within 10 yards, causing them to wander disoriented for 6 sec."

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