First Impression of the Holy Paladin Rework in Patch 10.1.5 - Guide Writer Feedback

RPT Publié 27/05/2023 à 12:04 par HolyClarius

World of Warcraft Version 10.1.5 PTR – Fractures in Time

PALADIN

Take a look at the developer’s notes in the Paladin feedback thread.
Holy

Blessing of Freedom is now granted by default for Holy Paladins.
Echoing Blessings is now located on the class tree for Holy Paladins.
The specialization tree has seen layout adjustments:

New talent nodes.
Glimmer of Light has moved to row 2 (was row 10).
Power of the Silver Hand has moved to row 6 (was row 8).
Tower of Radiance has moved to row 7 (was row 6).
Commanding Light is now a 1 point node.
Divine Glimpse is now a 1 point node.
Sanctified Wrath, Divine Protection, Holy Light, Divine Insight, and Bestow Faith removed.

Holy Light is now learned baseline at level 11.
Divine Protection is now learned baseline at level 26.
Glimmer of Light healing increased by 500% and damage increased by 1000%.
Glimmer of Light’s healing and damage is now reduced per active Glimmer of Light. Now capped at 3 targets.
Glimmer of Light’s aura no longer appears on the personal resource display.
Holy Shock healing reduced by 15% and cooldown increased to 8.5 seconds (was 7.5 seconds).
Holy Shock no longer has an increased chance to critically strike.
Judgment now generates 1 Holy Power and costs 12% base mana (was 3%).
Barrier of Faith costs 12% base mana (was 16%) and initial absorb increased by 66%.
Hammer of Wrath cooldown increased by 100% and damage increased by 80%.
Tyr’s Deliverance healing increased by 40% and now has a 40 yard range (was 20 yards).
New Talent: Beacon of the Lightbringer – Mastery: Lightbringer now increases your healing based on the target’s proximity to either you or your Beacon of Light, whichever is closer.
New Talent: Light’s Conviction – Holy Shock now has 2 charges.
New Talent: Holy Infusion – Crusader Strike generates 1 additional Holy Power and deals 25% more damage.
New Talent: Glistening Radiance – Spending Holy Power has a 15% chance to trigger Glimmer of Light’s healing and damage.
New Talent: Overflowing Light – 50% of Glimmer of Light’s overhealing is converted into an absorb shield. The shield amount cannot exceed 15% of your max health.
New Talent: Light’s Protection – Your Holy Power spenders have a 20% chance to reduce the damage your allies with Glimmer of Light take by 8% for 4 seconds.
New Talent: Righteous Judgment – Judgment has a 50% chance to cast Consecration at the target’s location. The limit on Consecration does not apply to this effect.
New Talent: Hand of Divinity – Call upon the Light, causing your next 2 Holy Lights to heal 80% more and be instant cast.
New Talent: Shining Righteousness – Shield of the Righteous deals damage to its first target struck. Every 5 Shields of the Righteous make your next Word of Glory or Light of Dawn free.
New Talent: Daybreak – Absorb the power from within your active Glimmer of Lights, activating their healing and damage at 100% value and then granting mana per Glimmer of Light consumed.
New Talent: Rising Sunlight – After casting Daybreak, your next 3 Holy Shocks cast 2 additional times.
New Talent: Glorious Dawn – Holy Shock has a 10% chance to refund a charge on cast, increasing based on how many Glimmer of Lights you have active.
Illumination has been redesigned – Glimmer of Light can affect 5 additional targets.
Awakening has been redesigned – When you spend Holy Power, gain Awakening. At 8/16 stacks of Awakening, your next Judgment deals 30% increased damage, will critically strike, and activates Avenging Wrath for 10 seconds.
Divine Glimpse has been redesigned – Holy Shock, Judgment, and Crusader Strike have a 5% increased critical strike chance.
Veneration has been redesigned – Hammer of Wrath heals up to 5 injured allies for 500% of the damage done, split evenly among them. Flash of Light, Holy Light, and Judgment critical strikes reset the cooldown of Hammer of Wrath and make it usable on any target, regardless of their health.
Greater Judgment has been redesigned – Judgment deems the targets unworthy, preventing damage dealt by the target.
Rule of Law and Sanctified Wrath have been removed.
Light of Dawn healing decreased by 10%.
Crusader Strike’s cooldown increased by 50%.
Divine Favor’s cooldown reduced to 30 seconds.
Unending Light has moved to row 4.
Tirion’s Devotion now reduces the cooldown of Lay on Hands by 1.5 seconds per Holy Power spent (was 1 second).
Divine Revelations now refunds 2% base mana (was 1%) and increases the healing of Flash of Light by 20%.
Power of the Silver Hand may now additionally trigger from Judgment.
Relentless Inquisitor rank 2 now causes the Haste effect to stack up to 6 times (was 5).
Boundless Salvation causes Flash of Light to extend the duration of Tyr’s Deliverance by 5 seconds (was 2.5 seconds). Holy Light now extends Tyr’s Deliverance by 10 seconds (was 5 seconds).
Tirion’s Devotion’s icon has changed.
Infusion of Light no longer highlights the spells it effects on the action bar.
New Talent: Blessed Light – Glimmer of Light’s healing and damage is increased by 10%, but it can only affect 1 target at a time.
Divine Revelations has been redesigned – While empowered by Infusion of Light, Flash of Light heals for an additional 20%, and Holy Light or Judgment refund 1% of your maximum mana.
Tyr’s Deliverance now also increases the healing of Holy Shock by 25%.
Boundless Salvation now also triggers from Holy Shock to extend the duration of Tyr’s Deliverance by 2.5 seconds.
Boundless Salvation’s tooltip has been updated to be more succinct.
Daybreak now triggers Glimmer of Light for 150% value and no longer costs Mana.
Avenging Wrath: Might now increases critical strike chance by 15% (was 20%).
Avenging Wrath now increases healing and damage by 15% (was 20%).
Avenging Crusader now transfers 400% of damage dealt (was 500%).
Touch of Light healing increased by 700%.
Crusader Strike cooldown increased by 30% (was 50%).
Infusion of Light now causes Flash of Light to cost 70% less mana (was 30%) and causes Holy Light to generate 2 Holy Power (was 1).
Hand of Divinity now reduces the mana cost of Holy Light by 100%.
Shield of the Righteous damage increased by 30% and now reduces the cooldown of Crusader Strike by 2 seconds.
Shield of the Righteous now obeys the global cooldown and no longer increases Armor.
Fixed an issue that caused Holy Shock’s cooldown to not scale with Haste.
Second Sunrise has been removed.
Breaking Dawn is now a 2 point node and has moved to Second Sunrise’s previous location.
New Talent: Reclamation – Holy Shock and Crusader Strike refund up to 15% of their Mana cost and deal up to 50% more healing or damage, based on the target’s missing health.
Imbued Infusions now reduces the cooldown of Holy Shock by 2 seconds.
Hand of Divinity now reduces the mana cost of Holy Light by 50% (was 100%).
Divine Favor now additionally reduces the mana cost of Holy Light or Flash of Light by 50%.
Tirion’s Devotion now also causes Lay on Hands to restores 5% of your mana.
Faith’s Armor now triggers from Word of Glory instead of Shield of the Righteous.
Glimmer of Light now triggers its healing or damage on its current target at full value if dispelled.
Awakening can now trigger its stacking buff while its Judgment empowerment is active.
Daybreak now restores 25% less mana.
Avenging Crusader now additionally costs 18% base mana.
Word of Glory now additionally costs 6% base mana.
Light of Dawn now additionally costs 6% base mana.
Crusader Strike now costs 8% base mana (was 10%).
Holy Shock now costs 13% base mana (was 16%).
Divine Revelations now refunds 0.5% of your maximum mana (was 1%).
Flash of Light healing increased by 25%.
Holy Light healing increased by 15%.
Fixed an issue that caused Judgments empowered by Awakening to not trigger the healing from Avenging Crusader.

The Holy Paladin rework, among other things, aims to make the spec talent tree feel a lot more complete and synergized, with more interesting choices and viable talents for every playstyle. The rework succeeds in this regard, bringing about several new interactions for every possible playstyle. Whether it be the classic Horion sacré, Lueur de lumière spreading playstyle, or the Croisé vengeur playstyle, or even the more caster focused playstyle, they have all received several changes to make them feel more complete, well rounded and designed.

Holy Paladin will continue to feel familiar to long time players of the spec, and the rework will allow players to create more personalized talent builds that suit their preferences as a player. You can view the new talent tree here.

Overview of the Changes and New Talents

This reworks is major and as there have been a lot of changes and new talents introduced, it can be hard to keep track of them all. This is a list of the most important and impactful changes and new talents. We will talk about how they, potentially, affect us later in this article. You can skip these lists if you already have a good idea about the changes.

Most Important Spell and Talent Changes

Horion sacré now has 8.5 sec cooldown up from 7.5, but instead has 2 charges with the new Sentence de la Lumière talent.
Lueur de lumière now has a base target cap of 3, can be increased to 8 with the new Éblouissement talent or lowered to 1 with the new Focalisation bénie talent. Additionally, Lueur de lumière has been buffed significantly, but now does less healing or damage the more targets it is active on. It works in a way that you will still do more healing or damage the more Lueur de lumières that you have out in total.
Jugement now generates 1 Holy Power and can consume Imprégnation de lumière procs to prevent extra damage with the Jugement supérieur talent. Jugement supérieur now causes Jugement to prevent damage done by the target.
Frappe du croisé has 30% increased cooldown but can now be made to grant 2 Holy Power instead of having two charges with the new Infusion sacrée talent.
Éveil has been made more deterministic, now for every 8 Holy Power spenders you next Jugement will grant wings for 10 seconds.
Délivrance de Tyr now also increases the healing of Horion sacré, and Horion sacré can also be used to increase the duration with Salut infini.
Imprégnation de lumière now causes Lumière sacrée to grant 2 Holy Power.
Adulation now also causes Marteau de courroux to heal up to 5 people for 500% of the damage done, split evenly, and Jugement crits now reset the cooldown of Marteau de courroux. This basically makes Marteau de courroux its own mini Croisé vengeur.
Lumière de l’aube, Mot de gloire, and Croisé vengeur have had a small mana cost added to them. To off-set this the mana cost of Frappe du croisé and Horion sacré have been reduced slightly.
Courroux sanctifié has been removed.

Important New Talents (that I didnt mention above)

Radiance scintillante grants our spenders a chance to trigger our active Lueur de lumières.
Balise du Porteur de Lumière an old favourite from Legion, causes your Beacons to also counts as the center of your Mastery.
Aube, consume your currently active Lueur de lumières, causing them all to heal for 150% of the healing they would do if you only had one out, and granting you mana for each one.
Soleil montant, when casting Aube your next 3 Horion sacrés cast 2 additional times. These extra Horion sacrés all give Holy Power and trigger Lueur de lumière.
Aube glorieuse gives your Horion sacré a chance to refund a charge when cast, increasing for each Lueur de lumière you have out. This talent also works with Soleil montant, Glas divin and Résonance divine.
Lumière intarissable makes Lueur de lumière overhealing grant an absorb shield for 50% of the overhealing. This absorb shield only lasts 5 seconds at the time of writing, which makes the shield very prone to going to waste.
Droiture rayonnante causes Bouclier du vertueux to deal extra damage to the first target struck. This talent gives us a good option for a single target Holy Power damage spender. Note that Bouclier du vertueux is now on the global cooldown and no longer increases armour.
Main de la divinité makes you next 2 Lumière sacrées instant and heal for 80% more. This combines very well with Délivrance de Tyr and Salut infini as they have the same cooldown.
Reconquête, increases the healing of Horion sacré and the damage of Frappe du croisé by up to 50% based on the targets missing Health.

How Do These Changes Affect Us?

When first reading the changes it is apparent that the largest changes are to how Lueur de lumière works and with creating new interactions between various spells and talents. Holy Paladin will continue to feel familiar, though, depending on talent choices, we will see our cast priority change slightly. With the Adulation change, Marteau de courroux will now be our top priority spell to cast, and with Jugement crits resetting Marteau de courrouxs cooldown, granting Holy Power and consuming Imprégnation de lumière procs, this spell will also be much higher on the cast priority.

With Horion sacré now having 2 charges, the rotation is now much more forgiving and it lets us "pool" Horion sacré charges for upcoming damage events. This change, along side the changes to Lueur de lumière, are very welcome, as it makes the classic playstyle of spreading Lueur de lumière much more enjoyable. Combined with the new Aube, Soleil montant, and Aube glorieuse talents, Horion sacré is now a much more rewarding and fun spell to press (as it should be).

It is likely that we will want to spend our Imprégnation de lumière procs. What we spend these on will likely depend on the situation. Éclair lumineux will be fast cheap option when you need spot healing, Lumière sacrée will be the slow but a little more chunky heal, while Jugement will be the default option as the way Jugement supérieur prevents damage is very strong.

Lastly, Frappe du croisé will take a small step back in importance and no longer be one of our most pressed spells. This does not mean that we no longer have to be in melee. We still want to be in melee for mastery value, auto attack uptime and of course we will still be casting Frappe du croisé, just not as much.

Mythic+
For Mythic+, the rework is an overall improvement to all facets of the spec. With Droiture rayonnante and the buff to Lueur de lumière our single target damage will be much improved when we actively choose to do it. Additionally, our spot healing with Main de la divinité, Soleil montant, and with the buffs to Éclair lumineux and Lumière sacrée is much stronger and rewarding. These changes open up possibilities for more caster focused playstyles, as Délivrance de Tyr has also received significant buffs, while Imprégnation de lumière procs now make Éclair lumineux almost mana free. No matter what, we will keep focusing on Horion sacré by playing more around Lueur de lumière, as each Lueur de lumière pack a much bigger punch and it will have a great impact on both our damage and healing.

Holy Paladin is looking much more fun and we will have to make a lot more active choices to achieve the highest possible dps. As always with Holy Paladin, knowing when it is reasonable and not detrimental to use your resources for dps instead of healing, is the key to mastering the spec in a Mythic+ setting.

Raiding

For Raiding, the rework makes the spec feel much more connected and integrated with it self, and it grants us much more choice in talent selection.

There are a few playstyles and new fun combos that are looking to be viable. Main de la divinité and Délivrance de Tyr, combined with a Horion sacré, Lueur de lumière and Aube glorieuse focused playstyle can prove to be quite strong. Extending Délivrance de Tyr to its max duration is possible while playing such a build and it is very fun to play around in my opinion.
We can also choose to forgo Main de la divinité and Délivrance de Tyr and just focus on Horion sacré and Lueur de lumière, with a 1 minute combo of Glas divin, Aube and Soleil montant. This combo is strong and very fun to execute, as you will have a lot of Holy Power coming in from the extra Horion sacrés.

Délivrance de Tyr and Aube will both be incredibly strong and fun to learn to play around, and we might even see a build where we pick both of these cap stone talents. But to do this we give up Bénédiction de l’été, Courroux vengeur : colère and Héritage empyréen. This is a lot to give up, but it feels great to add Délivrance de Tyr and Aube to our kit, as it gives us much more flexibility and depth.

Other than that it will, potentially, also be possible to go for an actual caster build. With Imprégnation de lumière, Inflorescence du Puits de soleil, and Tour de radiance, Lumière sacrée can grant 3 or even 4 Holy Power with a single cast which is, needless to say, very powerful. I do not expect any form of caster build to become meta, but I believe it will be more viable than previously.

Here are a the builds we a toying with at the moment.

With the change to Éveil we will also have much more control over our wings uptime, and mastering this while optimizing our Marteau de courroux casts (with Adulation) without wasting Horion sacré charges or over capping on Holy Power will be the key to performing well in raids.

These playstyles give us much needed agency over our healing which is a great change of pace compared to how the spec plays on Live servers, and I personally cant wait to try all of it out in a proper raid setting once the patch goes live.

Is the Rework Good?

Yes. The rework is a resounding improvement, and probably the best version of a Holy Power based playstyle we have ever had, though that's obviously not a very high bar to clear. With a lot of new interactions between spells and talents like, Délivrance de Tyr now working with Horion sacré, how Aube and Glas divin will stack up together, and other great design changes such as, Horion sacré having 2 charges, and the changes to Lueur de lumière, Holy Paladin is looking to have much more interesting gameplay and talent choices.

The change to Adulation, is a great way to make Marteau de courroux more integrated in to the spec, instead of just being a Holy Power generator. Combined with Jugement now granting Holy Power and consuming Imprégnation de lumière procs, Frappe du croisé granting 2 Holy Power with Infusion sacrée, Lueur de lumière doing great damage now, and Droiture rayonnante actually giving us a decent option to spend Holy Power to do damage, we will finally have great options of going for active damage when we don't need to be going for full healing throughput. Combined with the addition of a mana cost to Lumière de l’aube and Mot de gloire but not to Bouclier du vertueux is a going to give us a bit more agency over our mana usage as it incentivizes us to cast Bouclier du vertueux when we do not need to heal.

The rework makes the whole talent tree feel much more interconnected and makes more talents actually interact with each other, which creates much more interesting and varied talent build opportunities. I am personally very excited to play Holy Paladin in 10.1.5!

Feedback

Jugement feels like a very overloaded spell. With it now granting Holy Power, consuming Imprégnation de lumière, preventing damage with Jugement supérieur, and working with Adulation it has become a spell that we want to press as close to on cooldown as possible to consume Imprégnation de lumière. But this comes in to a very clunky conflict with Héritage empyréen and Éveil, as these two talents encourage us to hold Jugement ready for when they are available.
I think Éveil could be tied to a different spell than Jugement. It could for example, just be that hitting the Éveil threshold makes Marteau de courroux castable and have that proc the wings.
While Héritage empyréen could simply just be a 20 or 30 second cooldown with no spell required to activate it.
This would make the rotation much less clunky.
Lumière intarissable only lasts 5 seconds and will often go to waste, it could do well with a slight duration increase.
Protection de la Lumière, this talent is a little weird. Randomly granting people a bit of damage reduction is fine, but it is strange that it is tied to spending Holy Power, since you will want people to have the damage reduction prior to them taking damage, but you dont want to spend Holy Power until they have taken damage. So it feels a little paradoxical.
With the increased focus on Bouclier du vertueux as a dps spender, with Droiture rayonnante, Holy Paladin need to have the ability to loot two-handed intellect weapons removed, as Bouclier du vertueux can only be used with a shield equipped and it is extremely frustrating to loot a weapon that you can never equip.
Lumière sacrée is too slow and grants to many Holy Power. Having it grant so much Holy Power combined with the long cast time makes it almost impossible to not over cap on Holy Shock charges or Holy Power, and it just feels wrong. I think it would be better to bring back the old Imprégnation de lumière that used to reduce Lumière sacrée's cast time, and then reduce how much Holy Power each cast gives again.
Another possible addition to the increase in Holy Power generation, not just from Lumière sacrée, would be to give us a talent that increases the Holy Power cap to 6. This would make the spec feel much smoother, and being able to pool 2 spenders for upcoming damage would add an extra layer of play and agency.
Éveil is too strong for Croisé vengeur. It will enable upwards of 80% uptime on Croisé vengeur. Compared to around 60% for Courroux vengeur, which, is also a much weaker cooldown than Croisé vengeur, even more so after the loss of Courroux sanctifié and the further 5% nerf. Right now we risk Croisé vengeur continuing to completely overshadow any other build. This would be deeply unfortunate as this playstyle does not interact well at all with almost all of the other great changes this rework has introduced. The rework offers much more agency over our healing compared to before but having Croisé vengeur be the go to would completely eliminate that improvement. Making sure that this doesn't happen has to be top priority.