Sunday, May 21, 2006

Restrictions are Good

Maybe writes in a comment:
I saw a post saying that "Holy Shock" should be a baseline ability. I actually like this idea. Tanks can use it to pull/get aggro, Healadins can use it like a instant mini LOH, and Ret and PVP pallies can use it for an extra kick in damage. I don't think it's over powered either as it doesn't to a tremendous amount of damage or healing. It's just a versatile spell that all types of Pallies can use.

I agree that Holy Shock as a baseline ability would not be overpowered. However, I do not think it would be a good idea.

Restrictions define us. What we cannot do is as important as what we can do. And one of the fundamental restrictions for a paladin is that we do not have ranged attacks. It's a class-defining restriction.

Restrictions also breed creativity. Paladins need to learn to body-pull, to fight multiple enemies at once, to use Judgement of Justice effectively. I find that paladins are very sensitive to the aggro radius of mobs. Because we cannot pull, we play very differently from the other classes. A profession such as engineering is very valuable to a paladin, as is Linken's quest in Un'goro (to get the Boomerang). More so than to other classes. And this difference is good. It makes playing a paladin a unique experience.

So while a baseline Holy Shock may not be overpowered, I think it would weaken one of the major restrictions on the paladin class, leading to a less creative and unique class.

4 comments:

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  2. Well, I guess we have it as an option. A very expensive option. If you can't pull at all, a ranged attack is very valuable, and Blizz demonstrates this by putting it as an 31pt talent.

    As to Protection vs Holy, if you see the trees as healing/tanking/damage, then it doesn't make much sense.

    If you see the trees as active/reactive/passive, then it makes a lot more sense, as Holy Shock is an active ability that costs a lot of mana. Also, Consecration being in Holy makes a lot more sense using this framework.

    So it really depends on what the trees are for. Which I'm not sure anyone really knows. :)

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  3. Doh. I wish I could edit my comments lol.

    Ok, what did I say...umm...ok...you have a good point but Holy Shock has a 20 yard restriction and has a 30 second cool down so it's not like we would be getting a fantastic ranged ability. After comming within 20 meters of a mob you'd probably aggro anyway! Ranged attackers have 35-40 meter range so even with this abilty I think we would still be pretty restricted in range.

    In addition, the current placement of this ability as a 31 Holy talent makes no sense to me. I think this ability is least uesful to a Healadin. Being able to Divine Favor Holy Shock Crit something is as close to a "taunt" as tankadins are gonna get.

    Bliz gave us HoW as a ranged execute. Increased our judgements to 10 meters. They may be "poluting" the paladin class with a bit of range, but I think the utility gained by these skills far outweigh any "creativity" gained by not having it. But that's just my opinion.

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  4. Hammer of Wrath was for PvP, because Judgement of Justice doesn't work. It doesn't really let you pull.

    As for Judgements, I think that was more to clear up some problems with range. I know there were a couple of times when I'd be in melee combat with some mobs, and I'd Judge and get an "out of range" error. Which was very surprising, as I was just hitting the mob. I think the previous limit was a bit *too* restrictive.

    Regardless of the quality of Holy Shock, we would use it to pull, and being able to pull is not part of our vision, and so carries a heavy price.

    I agree it is more useful to a tanking paladin. But paladin trees are fairly messed up anyways. And at least with new healing component, it makes a kind of sense in Holy. But again, you are assuming that Holy = Healing, which may not be true. After all, Consecration is more useful to a tanking paladin as well.

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