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WoW Forever: Holy Strike and a faster Lay on Hands for paladins
The last class deep dive before launch reworks all 3 paladin trees, makes Consecration baseline at level 20 and cuts Lay on Hands to 20 minutes.
Blizzard has published its paladin deep dive for WoW Forever, the final part of its class preview series. Every change comes from the beta and can still move before the worldwide launch on 4 November. Talents unlock at level 10, with one-point gold medal talents at 11, 21 and 31 points plus a new one at 16, and Dual Specialization opens at level 40.
Every paladin now learns Holy Strike at level 6, an instant Holy attack based on 50% of weapon damage, and Seal of Fury at level 10, which adds Holy damage to each swing and grants an absorb shield equal to 50% of that bonus. Judgement no longer uses up the active Seal, Consecration is learned by all paladins at level 20 instead of being a Holy talent, and Lay on Hands drops from a 1-hour cooldown to 20 minutes. Seal twisting is no longer baseline; it returns as the Retribution talent Twist of Light.
For Holy, Holy Shock moves from the 31-point to the 21-point gold medal and its cooldown falls from 30 to 10 seconds. The new 31-point talent, Light's Vigil, marks an ally or an enemy for 30 seconds so that the next Holy Shock on that target does not trigger its cooldown; cast on an ally, it also heals the whole party. Voice of Truth, the new 11-point talent, grants 6 seconds of immunity to Silence and Interrupt on a 3-minute cooldown.
Protection gains Templar's Bulwark at 21 points, an absorb shield equal to 100% of maximum health for 8 seconds on a 5-minute cooldown, and Holy Shield now requires it. Improved Righteous Fury no longer adds threat but reduces damage taken by up to 6%, and Blessing of Kings becomes baseline. Blizzard lists known issues with Reckoning, including that it cannot save up 4 charges, and says fixes are planned.
In Retribution, the new 16-point Sacred Arbiter raises Holy Strike damage by 20%, Repentance moves to 21 points, and Champion of the Light adds spell damage equal to up to 30% of Intellect, after starting the beta at 100% and dropping to 60%. Pursuit of Justice now gives 15% movement speed instead of 8%.
