Well, lots of changes inbound again!  Paladins continue to get everything switched around, so let’s take a look at what is new (and there is alot!).  For my part, I am absolutely stoked about the NEW INTERRUPT, Rebuke!  Holy Power as an added combat mechanic is awesome, so utilizing this in combination with mana will definitely add some complexity to our DPS.  I am wondering how strong Templar’s Verdict really is, because it looks titanic from this end.

First, if you would like to see all Paladin changes, MMO-Champion has a very nice compilation HERE.

NEW Abilities and Talents

• Rebuke – Interrupts spellcasting and prevents any spell in that school from being cast for 4 sec. 10 Mana, 5 yd range, Instant cast, 10 sec cooldown
• Inquisition – Lvl 83 – Consumes Holy Power to increase your Holy Damage by 30%. Lasts 10 sec per charge of Holy Power consumed.  20% of base mana, Instant cast
• Zealotry – Your Crusader Strike generates 3 stacks of Holy Power per strike for the next 30 sec. Requires 3 stacks of Holy Power to use.  Instant, 3 min cooldown
• Wrath of the Lightbringer – Increases the critical strike chance of your Holy Wrath ability by 25% and reduces the cooldown of your Avenging Wrath ability by 0.5/1 sec. /
• Improved Crusader Strike – Increases the damage of your Crusader Strike by 15/30% and decreases its cooldown by 1.5/3 sec.
• Templar’s Verdict – An instant weapon attack that causes a percentage of weapon damage. Consumes all applications of Holy Power to increase damage dealt:
  1 Holy Power: 55% Weapon Damage
  2 Holy Power: 125% Weapon Damage
  3 Holy Power: 225% Weapon Damage
  20% of base mana, 5 yd range, Instant cast
• Rule of Law – Increases the critical strike effect chance of your Crusader Strike and Holy Light by 5/10/15%.

Talent Tree Moves

• Conviction is now a Tier 2 talent. Down from Tier 6.
• Sanctity of Battle is now a Tier 3 talent. Down from Tier 6. Now reduces cooldown of Exorcism by 3/6 secs. (Up from 2/4 secs)
• Fanaticism  (Tier 4) is now Improved Judgement (Tier 2) – Increases the damage of your Judgement spell by 15% and decreases its cooldown by 3 sec.
• The Art of War is now a Tier 4 talent, down from Tier 3. It now has a 15/30% chance to proc from any melee attack (Old – 100% proc from Critical) and no longer reduce the casting time of Holy Light.
• Seals of Retribution is now a Tier 4 talent. Up from Tier 3.
• Eye for an Eye is now a Tier 1 talent. Up from Tier 2. It now gives you a 5/10% chance to cause 30% of the damage taken back to the attacker.
• Righteous Vengeance is now a Tier 6 talent. up from Tier 2.
• Heart of the Crusader is now a Tier 3 (Up from Tier 1) single-rank (Down from 3 ranks) talent.

Other Changes

• Divine Storm – An instant weapon attack that causes 20% of weapon damage to up to all enemies within 8 yards. The Divine Storm heals up to 3 party or raid members totaling 25% of the damage caused. Consumes all applications of Holy Power to increase damage dealt:
  1 Holy Power: 22% Weapon Damage
  2 Holy Power: 50% Weapon Damage
  3 Holy Power: 90% Weapon Damage / 20% of base mana, Instant cast
• Crusader Strike now grants a charge of Holy Power.
• Swift Retribution is now a single rank talent increasing melee and ranged attack speed by 20%.
• Judgements of the Wise now grants you 40% of your base mana over 10 sec. (Old – immediately grants you 25% of your base mana)

Khor’s Thoughts

Divine Storm got it’s max damage upped to 90% with a full cost of 3 holy power.  Interesting to see how this will play out in AoE situations.  Right now, I’m thinking I want Templar’s Verdict with Seals of Retribution going nuts in packs of mobs, so we will see.

Rebuke gives us a much needed interrupt.  No, it’s not the gap-closer we still want, but this is a huge step in PvP world, as well as helping interrupt in raids and dungeons.

Righteous Vengeance got knocked all the way back down to Tier 6, which is essentially where it was originally.   I guess its functionality is better served at later levels anyways.  Not too depressed about this here.

Eye for an Eye all the way up to Tier 1?  I immediately thought now way is this even getting touched for leveling and PvE.  But in PvP and particularly Prot Paladins dipping into the Ret tree will love this.  I see pretty much all Paladin tanks taking this ability in Tier 1 for end-game raiding.

Art of War now procs from any melee attack, at a 30% proc rate.  That’s not too terrible, and I’ll hold judgement until I can actually test it.

Templar’s Verdict is pure win.  I love this.  225% weapon damage, enhanced by Seals of Retribution…greatness.

Inquisition will be awesome combined with Avenging Wrath.

Speaking of Avenging Wrath, reduction of cooldown by 1 second?  Is that a mis-type? Wrath of the Lightbringer says a reduction of AW cooldown by .5/1 second.  2 minute cooldown reduced to 1 min 59 seconds?  Got to be an error.

Zealotry is an interesting mechanic, and I can’t wait to test out its optimal placement in our rotations.  We definitely have alot more to choose from.  I see hitting Zealotry > Inquisition > Crusader Strike > Templar’s Verdict > CS > TV > CS > TV, etc.  Of course, Judgement is in there somewhere, too