It’s Official: World of Warcraft’s Most Played Class Takes One Step Forward, Two Steps Back in Midnight

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Following several rounds of early testing, Blizzard has now opened the beta for the upcoming World of Warcraft Midnight expansion to anyone who pre-purchased the Epic Edition – no invite needed! While exploring the new story and zones might reveal spoilers, players can still jump in to try out major changes. These include completely reworked and rebalanced classes, as well as a new Demon Hunter specialization called the Devourer. The Midnight expansion features a streamlining of abilities, meaning each class has fewer options – which could be both a positive and a negative change for players.

Changes in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic aim to make the game easier and less complicated. While some players appreciate this simplification and enjoy the current class design, others feel it has made the game too easy, especially for experienced players. The recent adjustments, particularly with the Paladin class, seem to be inconsistent – improvements are often followed by setbacks.

According to data, the Paladin is the most played class in retail World of Warcraft.

Say Goodbye to World of Warcraft’s Paladin as You Know It

Paladins in World of Warcraft are facing some particularly unusual challenges in the current ‘Midnight’ update, even compared to other classes. Here’s a look at the main issues:

  • Retribution Paladin:
    • There is no passive Holy Power generation anymore, which dramatically changes the gameplay loop and general feel of the class. Divine Toll doesn’t cast Judgment for free anymore, for example, and rather, it empowers your next Judgment casts. With less Holy Power generation, the spec can feel a bit slower and clunkier, even if it’s more streamlined.
    • Herald of the Sun may now outperform Templar as a Hero Tree, which could be interesting after the latter dominated most of The War Within.
    • The new World of Warcraft Apex Talents for Retribution Paladin include a special attack called Art of War, whose animation is just a wave of light in a cone, similar to the old Light of Dawn. Some fans are upset that it lacks a punch, and decent damage is all but guaranteed now that damage meters are still missing in the beta.
    • Finally, Retribution Paladins received a major 11% damage nerf across the board in the latest beta patch notes for Midnight in WoW, and that was the only change made to the spec. This is likely to compensate for the added damage to melee auto-attacks for all classes, which instead was a great and welcome change for Paladins.
  • Holy Paladin:
    • World of Warcraft cut interrupts on healers in Midnight, so Holy Paladins can no longer use Rebuke.
    • Divine Toll and Holy Prism are on a choice node, which is sad for the spec, as both were used consistently across the board. It further exacerbates the feeling of excessive pruning in this particular case.
    • A silver lining is that Light of Dawn is no longer hard-capped at 5 targets, and instead, it now heals all allies within 40 yards. This could be a massive buff to Holy Paladins in WoW Midnight Raids.
    • Holy Paladins received a potentially very good Apex Talent with Beacon of the Savior, but it was unfortunately nerfed in the recent patch by making its absorb shield 50% less powerful.
    • The spec received a 5% reduction in healing done in the recent patch.
    • A new talent, called Armory of the Light, gives players the option of using 2-handed weapons over 1-handed and shield, and still have a chance to parry incoming physical attacks. This can be fantastic for cosmetic options and gameplay, too. However, using a 2-handed weapon makes it impossible to use Shield of the Righteous, which is often woven into Holy Paladins’ rotation in TWW, and possibly even more so with Midnight removing a lot of buttons.
  • Protection Paladin:
    • The biggest change to Protection Paladin is that Consecration is no longer a mandatory tool for defenses, as the class’ Mastery is not tied to having the character stand in Consecration any longer. This is a good change, and it makes gameplay more intuitive.
    • Word of Glory no longer grants block chance, and with the loss of various tools, like Eye of Tyr, Moment of Glory, and Bastion of Light, the spec can feel squishier. Protection Paladin was already the tank with the most survivability issues, so it doesn’t help.
    • Since there is no passive Holy Power generation, players have to be more careful with the use of their Divine Steed ability, as the new Valiant Crusade talent provides the effects of Shield of the Righteous during Divine Steed and for 4 seconds afterward. This means that one has to either have the Holy Power for a Shield of the Righteous ready before a pull or time Divine Steed accordingly.

Why World of Warcraft’s Paladin Class May Not Stick the Landing in Midnight

These changes aren’t inherently negative, but given the current direction of the upcoming ‘The War Within’ expansion, they largely weaken or significantly alter how certain classes currently play. Retribution Paladin is already one of the simplest damage-dealing classes, alongside Beast Mastery Hunter, and these adjustments – like reducing abilities and slowing down the pace of gameplay without a reliable resource system – could make it even easier. It’s too early to know how these changes will affect the overall game balance in World of Warcraft, and things could still shift, but Retribution Paladin currently appears to be an average class overall.

Holy Paladins are still receiving significant updates in the current version of the game, with new talents like Armory of the Light and frequent adjustments to existing abilities. This constant change raises concerns that the class’s core role as a close-range healer might be fundamentally altered. Additionally, tanks in World of Warcraft generally perform better when they rely less on healing support. Considering that Protection Paladins are moving towards fewer defensive abilities and a resource system (Holy Power) that isn’t immediately useful at the start of combat, they might find the current gameplay less favorable.

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2025-11-16 22:06