WoW Introductory guide to fighting paladins

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Ah, Paladins. Otherwise known as the game's God-class. Paladins, next to hunters, arguably have the lowest skill to success ratio among all classes in the game. This means that many players with low familiarity with the game can pick up a paladin and play the class with relative ease and have moderate success in the battlegrounds. Retribution paladins, in particular, are so easy to play that it can be addicting. Many players easily get the delusion that they're good. This is what prompted Blizzard to call out the spec, saying that it is successful in lower Arena brackets but significantly less so against tougher competition.

Paladins also enjoy a significant psychological edge against a lot of players because of their reputation, giving them an advantage even before the fight begins. Well, today we're focusing on how to fight paladins in our series of guides aimed at teaching players basic strategies against particular classes. We've discussed death knights, druids, hunters, and last week, mages. After the jump, we'll break down a paladin's strengths, discuss their frequently used skills, and eventually their weaknesses. As fearsome as paladins can be in combat, they suffer from glaring weaknesses, too. As long as you keep those weaknesses in mind, you should fare better against them on the battlefield.

The basics

A paladin's core strength lies in her ability to outlast an opponent. This is what made retribution so fearsome in addition to its formerly extremely powerful burst damage. Paladins wear plate armor, can heal, self-dispel, and have a number of damage mitigation and immunity abilities that enable them to survive assault from most classes. Paladins rely on self buffs, and they have two kinds: blessings and hands. Blessings are basic stat buffs such as Blessing of Might, Blessing of Wisdom, and Blessing of Kings. In PvP, expect to see paladins with Blessing of Kings as it also provides a boost to health. Hands are situational buffs that have cooldowns and you should expect to see paladins use Hand of Freedom frequently. This will be key to a lot of strategies, so watch out for it. Paladins can also use Hand of Protection, although rarely on themselves because it causes Forbearance, which will prevent them from using the more important clutch spell, Divine Shield.

Let's run through a paladin's commonly used abilities in combat:

Sacred Shield
This level 80 spell is key to paladin PvP. Paladins will have it up at almost all times, whether on themselves or a friendly target. If you see a retribution paladin without this buff up, rest easy in the knowledge that you're probably up against a beginner (or a thankfully forgetful opponent). If you have offensive dispel capabilities such as Purge or Dispel Magic, make sure to spam them against paladins until they're completely stripped of buffs. Sacred Shield scales, so it can mitigate a lot of damage and prolong the fight unnecessarily.

Divine Shield
Notice how it's another 'shield' spell? This should get the point across that paladins are about defensiveness. Divine Shield is also known as the vaunted paladin 'bubble', and should be visible as a 'bubble' of light around the paladin. When this is active, the paladin cannot be harmed in any way and many paladins use it as a last resort. If you play a priest, you can use Mass Dispel, and if you're a warrior, you can use Shattering Throw, an ability Blizzard made specifically to counter Divine Shield (it even has the same 5 minute cooldown).

Always watch out for this ability. While it is the paladin's most powerful, signature defensive spell, it also indicates their greatest weakness -- a period of Forbearance. In Arenas, a paladin who has used up her Divine Shield becomes a prime target for a switch. The same applies for Battlegrounds and world PvP. Once the ability has been used or if a paladin has the Forbearance debuff, they are at their weakest. Unleash as much damage as you can during this period.

Divine Plea
A paladin lasts only as long her mana. As long as a paladin has mana, they can be dangerous opponents. Divine Plea is an important spell that paladins use to quickly regain mana, and the smart ones will use it long before they go OOM, usually almost every cooldown. The good news is that it's dispellable. If you have any sort of dispel ability, remove Divine Plea, even on a holy paladin. The healing penalty is something they would gladly incur in order to regain mana, so don't let them have it.

Avenging Wrath
Arguably having one of the sexiest graphics in the game, appearing as luminous wings of vengeful light on the paladin, Avenging Wrath is another cooldown ability used extensively in PvP. Paladins use this with abandon more than other abilities, particularly retribution paladins, who have it on a relatively shorter 2 minute cooldown. As fearsome as the ability is, it suffers one fatal flaw -- it's completely dispellable and, if you're a mage, Spellstealable. It also triggers an internal cooldown for abilities such as Divine Shield and Hand of Protection, which means that while a Paladin is most powerful with Avenging Wrath up, they are also ironically the most vulnerable. Smart paladins will be extremely wary of using this ability against shamans, priests, or even warlocks with a Felhunter out or a warrior with a shield. Instead of looking at this ability with fear, think of it as an opening. For thirty seconds, the paladin will lose access to his defensive fallbacks, making it a great opportunity to strike.

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Hand of Freedom
This single spell makes it appear that paladins have great mobility, but players who understand that this is a buff that lasts for only 6 to 10 seconds will know that paladins are supremely kiteable. Removing Hand of Freedom makes paladins susceptible to physical snares or Curse of Exhaustion. It's on a 25 second cooldown, so time snares to land immediately after Hand of Freedom has expired and it will be easy enough to create some distance between yourself and the paladin or, if you're a melee class, keep them close.

Cleanse
That said, in addition to Hand of Freedom, paladins are able to Cleanse magical snares, making them that much more difficult to kite. Cleanse is also frequently used to keep paladins free of DoTs and other debuffs, which adds to their survivability. It can remove magic, poison, and disease effects and is relatively cheap to cast. This is an underrated paladin spell and many fresh players and unskilled PvP players will forget to cast this often. You should get an idea of a paladin's skill level by applying some debuffs and seeing how she reacts. This is one of the most powerful tools in their arsenal and a paladin who uses it often and well is a force to be reckoned with.

Hammer of Justice
So paladins can protect themselves with all manner of shields and self-dispels, and they can stun you, too? Ouch. Aside from Divine Shield, paladins are feared and loathed for their stun. It's on a one minute cooldown, although if you've PvP'd enough times, you would probably swear they had it off cooldown all the time. Talents in the protection tree can bring the cooldown down to 30 seconds, but most retribution pallies will have it at 40 seconds. The good news? You can safely use a cc-break against this because paladins don't have anything else. Retribution will have Repentance, but that breaks on damage. A paladin who uses Hammer of Justice on a target wants control of the fight (or counter a spell). Don't let them have it. Break the stun and waste the paladin's cooldown.

Hammer of Wrath
Finally, you should be reminded that even the most harmless-looking paladin has access to a few offensive spells, most notably the Hammer of Wrath, which can be hurled on targets at 20% health or less. Granted, being that low in the battlegrounds probably mean you're due for an appointment with the Spirit Healer, anyway, but always mind your health around a paladin. Two things to remember: Hammer of Wrath has a travel time and it fizzles if the target becomes ineligible. This means that even if Hammer of Wrath is an instant cast spell, there's enough time to pump up your health above the 20% threshold to cancel it. You can use AddOns such as MikScrollingBattleText to warn you exactly when you have or are about to cross that threshold.

A note on paladin spellcasting

In addition to their considerable abilities to survive, don't forget that paladins are also a healing class. This means that any paladin regardless of spec is capable of healing themselves, albeit with varying degrees of efficiency. Fortunately, they have two basic heals that are easy to remember: Holy Light and Flash of Light. Protection and retribution paladins will hardly bother with Holy Light, but it is the absolute worst PvP offense to allow a holy paladin to get off a Rank 13 Holy Light. It is a 2.5 second cast spell that can change the complexion of a battle by bringing a paladin or her comrade from the brink of death to very nearly full health. One important thing to remember is unlike other spellcasters, paladins have only one school of magic -- Holy. Interrupting, or even better, Counterspelling a paladin in the middle of casting a spell will lock them out of their only school and consequently lock them out of most of their abilities.

Holy

While retribution paladins will be plentiful, the upper echelons of Arena PvP are occupied by holy paladins. As mentioned, a paladin allowed to cast Holy Lights unmolested is a formidable force. It is far better to allow a paladin to escape with a few Flashes of Light rather than a full-on, high-crit Holy Light. Always have your enemy cast bar active so as to know what spell they're casting and watch out for Holy Lights. As with all healers, Mortal Strike effects work well.

Of course, it would be great folly to think that holy paladins are limited to Holy Lights. The vastly improved Holy Shock is a powerful tool that can be used both offensively and defensively. It's on a low 6 second cooldown, so holy paladins who plan to go on the offensive can easily do so, pairing the ability with Shield of Righteousness to inflict some damage on opponents. Even though holy paladins do not deal a lot of damage, they have the ability to keep themselves up indefinitely, allowing them to whittle away at opponents who can't heal themselves. Never underestimate a holy paladin's ability to shift to the offensive, so always watch your health.

It is usually wisest to fight a holy paladin up close. They have poor mobility and must periodically stop to cast a heal. They will run, stop to heal, and run again. Limiting their mobility will bother them greatly, even if their heals aren't disrupted directly. Aside from Hand of Freedom, they are unable to remove physical snares such as Hamstring and Wing Clip, so bother them with that if you must. Even dispellable snares and roots such as rogue Crippling Poison will have them casting Cleanse instead of heals, which should help you in the fight.

Stacking debuffs on them will distract them from healing, and attacking them (physically) will bother their casting. Many Holy Paladins will fire off a Holy Light just to proc Light's Grace at the start of a battle. This is a magical buff and should be dispelled if possible. Offensive dispels will work wonders against any paladin. Always remove their buffs, and be mindful of where they apply Beacon of Light. In Battlegrounds, they usually place it on themselves, making it easier to spot and remove.

Because holy paladins rely on spellcasting more than the other specs, who can overcome a magic school lockout through melee attacks, they suffer from silences and interrupts more but are able to recover relatively quickly. Force them to blow their cooldowns by stunning, silencing, and interrupting them. When faced with a stun-lock or silence + high burst damage, many holy paladins will instinctively cast Hand of Protection or Divine Shield. Essentially, a paladin who has blown her cooldown will be an easier target, but expect a combat reset -- meaning expect the paladin to get up to full health one or more times during the fight. Watch out for activated abilities such as Aura Mastery, which will basically allow the paladin to obscenely spam Holy Lights for six seconds. Let them have that brief moment of glory.

As mentioned, a paladin's mana is a paladin's life. Whittle their mana down to zero and you've won the fight. Easier said than done, considering paladins have Divine Plea and holy paladins can be very mana efficient when they crit -- and holy paladins crit quite a bit. While draining mana isn't as effective as it once was, it's still a good tactic to use with the proper timing.

Capitalize on their poor mobility, long casting times -- Curse of Tongues works exceptionally well against them, and inability to remove enemy buffs. Holy paladins are a tough fight unless you play a class with specific tools to counter casting and reduce the efficacy of heals.

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Protection

As difficult as holy paladins are to kill, protection paladins in PvP are even worse. A ridiculously high health pool, powerful damage output, and considerable tools for longevity make protection paladins awful fights for many players. Protection paladins have a good number of mitigation talents, ridiculous mana regeneration with Blessing of Sanctuary and Guarded by the Light, and dishes out pain with properly glyphed Avenger's Shields among other attacks. This makes protection paladins absolute hell to fight with a melee class. If you are a rogue, for example, my best advice would be to vanish. No, really. Get some friends. Protection paladins are too much trouble to solo and is arguably the worst kind of paladin to face off against.

Despite the nerfs, protection remains a formidable PvP spec with enough mitigation and a high health pool to shrug off most attacks and enough healing ability to recover should they get low. Even interrupts won't faze them too much because many of their instant abilities will work even with a school lockout and a few seconds of silence won't be enough to cut them down, either. Protection can also stun enemies every thirty seconds thanks to talents. Up close, protection can deal massive damage using Shield of Righteousness and Hammer of the Righteous, as well as keep up Holy Shield for even more mitigation and retributive damage. Generally, melee range is bad news -- even their Judgements slow melee attacks -- and you have their work cut out for you against protection.

The small upside is that casters have a much easier time against them. Keep them on the defensive by kiting them, even using magical snares and roots. Be sure to dispel Hand of Freedom or be sure to maintain your distance throughout the duration of the spell, as paladins have no rush or charge ability that can close the distance. The basic spell you need to watch out for is Avenger's Shield, which is an interrupt. It has travel time and a barely noticeable delay before the silence effect, but it can easily ruin a caster's plans. Keep track of Avenger's Shield's 30 second cooldown using AddOns like Afflicted 3.

Paladin mobility, as pointed out, is very low, and players able to keep a protection paladin at bay will eventually win out. Keep at max range at all times -- preferably at the 40 yard distance with proper talents -- and you should be safe even from Avenger's Shield. A protection paladin not hitting anything and not capitalizing on Blessing of Sanctuary won't last very long, so pour on as much damage as you can from afar. Drain their mana as much as possible, because they'll have limited ways to regain them. As long as you dispel Divine Plea as soon as it goes up, you should be alright. I forget that Divine Plea cannot be dispelled on a protection-specced paladin because of Guarded by the Light. However, you can manage to prevent a 100% uptime. (thanks to Adjatha for pointing this out!)

If you play an affliction warlock with the talent, use Curse of Exhaustion at will. If they use Hand of Freedom, either eat it with a Felhunter's Devour Magic or Fear the paladin for the duration of the buff. The idea for casters is to keep them at a distance at all times. If you're a caster squaring off against a protection paladin, have fun and good luck. If you're a melee class, it might be best to find another target.

Retribution

Much of the paladin's fearsome aura can be attributed to one freak point in the game's history where the retribution tree was fixed to become viable and abilities such as Avenging Wrath and Divine Shield could be used at the same time. It was a glorious time for paladins and a terrible time to be any other class or any other spec for that matter. Blizzard has done much to curb a retribution paladin's ridiculous burst output since then but the stigma remains and retadins are still among the most feared types of paladins on the battlefield.

The irony is that retribution actually has the lowest survivability of all three specs and are the easiest to kill. Retribution does not have as many tools as either holy or protection and must always make strategic decisions regarding a The Art of War proc, whether to use it offensively for an instant cast Exorcism or defensively with an instant cast Flash of Light. While they move faster on average than other kinds of paladins, they have no other mobility tools other than the Hand of Freedom. It should be clear by now that Hand of Freedom is pretty much the only free movement spell that paladins have. They cannot close distances except through stuns if they are within range, or by wasting a Repentance. Retribution paladins are so eager to get within range that they will not hesitate to cast Repentance despite a one minute cooldown.

Most retribution paladins will keep on the offensive, attacking and hoping that their burst damage overcomes their opponents' defenses. Many will use Avenging Wrath even while at a distance while closing in. These will be indicators of your opponent's skill level. While retribution's burst is considerable, it is no longer at the point where simply attacking and using stuns blindly will overcome enemies, especially under the new Resilience environment. The good news is that many players of lesser skill gravitate towards retribution because it's easy -- there are so many instant cast abilities that don't require much coordination to use. Judgements, Crusader Strike, and Divine Storm are always used when they are up. Use this anecdote to your advantage.

Wait for Avenging Wrath. If you are able to dispel it or crowd control a paladin with it up, you take away her greatest strength and open up for an attack when she is weakest. Kite as much as you can, although retribution paladins are experts at dispelling magical and poison-based snares by necessity. A retribution paladin has no ranged attack that should cause worry, as Exorcism normally has a cast time and a retribution paladin that can't hit anything won't proc The Art of War. Hampering their mobility upsets them more than it will any other kind of paladin.

Better retribution paladins will fight defensively, saving much of their cooldowns and conserving their mana. They will almost always have Sacred Shield up and Divine Plea whenever it's available considering their small mana pool. Bait these players as much as possible by making them think you're vulnerable. Paladins have nothing against stuns except a talented Hand of Freedom and a Blessing of Protection (or Divine Shield) which they will be loath to use. Classes that can open with a stun can do it to bait a trinket or a Hand of Freedom, which will leave them open to subsequent forms of crowd control.

Be wary of using abilities such as Metamorphosis or Lichborne, as most PvP paladins will have Turn Evil glyphed to be instant. They have even fewer solutions to heals than protection paladins and have no offensive dispels, so classes that can heal and put up defensive shields or HoTs should be able to handle retribution's assault with relative ease. Retribution only has Hammer of Justice, which should be removed with a CC break. After that, healers can freely cast even long cast spells without fear of interruption as long as Repentance is on cooldown. Smarter retadins will save what little interrupts they have against a healer in the hopes of keeping them from spellcasting long enough to burn them down. Don't fall for it.

Disarm effects work well against retribution and a vast majority will not have a shield switch macro and use Shield of Righteousness. Dismantle works even better, as even prepared paladins will not be able to equip a shield. Weaponless retadins won't be able to use a majority of their abilities and will be forced on the defensive. Pursuit of Justice will reduce the duration of disarm effects, but it should be enough to slow them down.

Knowing that retribution paladins are only really deadly up close -- and not even so much against classes that can heal themselves -- should be key in defeating them. They have a limited number of CC breaks and their most important ones will leave them susceptible to further attacks, and aside from Pursuit of Justice have no speed boost to close gaps.

Final notes

There are a few other tools in a paladin's toolbox that will be seen in PvP. Hand of Sacrifice is a clutch spell that Arena veterans use to break CC on themselves, but isn't a natural response for most Battleground or world PvP paladins. Lay on Hands also sees less use now that it confers Forbearance and the thirty second lockout from Avenging Wrath, but is still available to use as a last resort for desperate paladins. Be confident in the knowledge that if you see this ability used, the paladin is running out of options and is an even easier target despite getting back to full health.

Paladins may be the among the most resilient classes in the game, but they are far from invincible. Well, they're invincible for only twelve seconds at a time, anyway. Just keep in mind that once those twelve seconds are up, that is when a paladin is weakest. Always watch out for when the paladin blows specific cooldowns as mentioned in the first part of this article. Strike fast, strike hard, profit.
 

Source: wow.com

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