WoW Forever Paladin: Holy Strike, Seal of Fury and new talents
Every Paladin change in WoW Forever: Holy Strike, Seal of Fury, baseline Consecration and new Holy, Protection and Retribution talents, from the beta client.
Blizzard picked the Paladin to show how WoW Forever reworks its classes: every specialization gets new tools, and the class keeps its gaps. Playable as a Human, Dwarf or, new in Forever, Undead, it gets a new baseline strike, a tanking Seal and new talents in all three trees. Here is every change Blizzard announced at its Deep Dive panel and in its September 24 beta notes, with the numbers and talent positions from the beta client (build 1.60.1.70009).
What every Paladin gets
Holy Strike at level 6: an instant strike for 25% of weapon damage plus 11 to 14 Holy damage at rank 1 (5 Mana), up to 50% plus 81 to 105 at rank 8, at level 60. Its cooldown is 10 seconds: Blizzard's recap said 12, and the September 24 beta notes lowered it. The same notes raised its share of weapon damage at every rank from rank 2 on.
Judgement no longer consumes your Seal, so there is no Seal to recast after each one. It keeps a 10-second cooldown.
Seal of Fury, from level 10, is a tanking Seal: melee attacks deal extra Holy damage (6 at rank 1, 35 at rank 7, level 58), and with a shield equipped, each attack also grants an absorb shield worth 50% of that Holy damage. Blizzard adds that it favors fast weapons and makes Judgement taunt while it is active.
Consecration is baseline at level 20: the first 4 enemies to enter it take extra damage, 32 on top of 16 at rank 1 and 216 on top of 96 at rank 5, with an 8-second cooldown.
Blessing of Kings is baseline at level 20 as well, like other key buffs that used to be talents: 10% more total stats for 1 hour.
Holy: more ways to heal
Voice of Truth (10 points in the tree, 1 rank): Grants you immunity to Silence and Interrupt effects. Lasts 6 sec.
Reverence (10 points in the tree, 3 ranks): Allows 30% of your Mana regeneration to continue while casting.
Infusion of Light (15 points in the tree, 2 ranks): Your Holy Shock and Flash of Light critical hits reduce the cast time of your next Holy Light cast within 15 sec by 1 sec.
Holy Shock (20 points in the tree, 1 rank): Now on a 10-second cooldown; at rank 1 it deals 129 to 139 Holy damage to an enemy or heals an ally for 110 to 118.
Consecrated Ground (20 points in the tree, 2 ranks): Gives your Holy spells 10% increased damage against the first 4 enemies that enter your Consecration.
Light's Vigil (30 points in the tree, 1 rank): Applies Light's Vigil to the target for 30 sec. Your next Holy Shock cast on them triggers no cooldown and causes enemy targets to suffer 175 to 189 Holy damage and refund 75% of Light's Vigil's Mana cost, or allied targets to heal their party for 315 to 333. The Paladin may only have one Light's Vigil active per party.
Blizzard's recap also named Improved Holy Strike, a talent that shortened Holy Strike's cooldown. The September 24 beta notes removed it from the tree and made its effect baseline, because a talent that cuts a core ability's cooldown so early in a healing tree felt required. Holy Power, at 25 points, now raises the critical strike chance of Holy Strike and Holy Shock by 15%.
Protection: a tank with its own tools
Improved Seal of Fury (10 points in the tree, 1 rank): When Seal of Fury's shield is fully absorbed, you restore Mana, 15% more for each level the attacker has over you, up to 45%. The beta's tooltip still shows 0 as the base amount.
Shield Specialization (10 points in the tree, 3 ranks): Increases the amount of damage absorbed by your shield by 30%, and gives your blocks a 100% chance to restore 6% of your maximum Mana. May only occur once every 3 sec.
Sacred Duty (10 points in the tree, 2 ranks): Increases your total Stamina by 4% and reduces the cooldown of your Divine Shield, Divine Protection, and Templar's Bulwark spells by 60 sec.
Swift Judgement (15 points in the tree, 1 rank): Finishes the remaining cooldown on your Judgement ability and reduces the Mana cost of your next Judgement by 100%. Blizzard presents it as a way to recover from a missed taunt, once per minute.
Templar's Bulwark (20 points in the tree, 1 rank): When activated, this ability grants you an absorb shield equal to 100% of your maximum health for 8 sec. Applies Forbearance for 1 min. Cannot be cast while Forbearance is active.
Reckoning (20 points in the tree, 5 ranks): Gives you a 40% chance to gain an extra attack after Blocking a melee attack and a 100% chance to gain an extra attack after being the victim of a non-periodic critical strike. It now triggers on blocks too, so a tank immune to critical strikes still benefits.
Iron Creed (25 points in the tree, 5 ranks): Increases the threat generated by your Holy Strike ability 25%. While Righteous Fury is active, Holy Strike also reduces your damage taken by 10% for 6 sec.
Retribution: melee first, Holy on the side
Vindication (10 points in the tree, 3 ranks): Your damaging melee attacks have a chance to lower the target's Attack Power and to raise yours by 3% for 30 sec.
Sacred Arbiter (15 points in the tree, 1 rank): Increases the damage of your Holy Strike ability by 20% and causes it to refresh all Judgement effects on the target.
Champion of the Light (25 points in the tree, 3 ranks): Increases your spell damage and healing by up to 100% of your Intellect.
Instrument of Law (25 points in the tree, 2 ranks): Reduces the cast time of your Hammer of Wrath by 1 sec, and reduces all threat you generate by 20% while Righteous Fury is not active. Blizzard's recap says it makes Holy Wrath instant; the beta client names Hammer of Wrath.
Twist of Light (30 points in the tree, 1 rank): Reduces the Mana cost of your Seal spells by 20%, and when you replace your Seal of Command, Seal of Righteousness, Seal of Fury, or Seal of Justice with a different Seal, gain an Echo of that Seal. Your next melee attack applies the replaced Seal's effects, consuming the Echo. That is seal twisting without a swing-timer add-on.
Retribution players who prefer range can still take Holy Shock from the Holy tree for spell-powered play.
Blizzard's September 24 beta notes also doubled Sacred Arbiter's bonus to 20% (was 10%), gave Twist of Light its Seal discount, cut Two-Handed Weapon Specialization to 2, 4 and 6% (was 3, 6 and 9%) and changed Vengeance: it now triggers on any non-periodic critical strike and stacks up to 3 times (was 5).
What Paladins still can't do
Blizzard keeps the class's limits: no interrupt, no way to slow a target the way some classes can, and a taunt that still comes through Seals and Judgement rather than its own button. Paladins stay strongest against Undead and Demons, with Exorcism, Holy Wrath and Turn Undead, and have fewer ranged options against everything else.
TagsWoW Forever PaladinHoly StrikeSeal of FuryPaladin talentsUndead Paladin
Frequently asked questions
01What's new for Paladins in WoW Forever?
Holy Strike at level 6, a Judgement that no longer consumes Seals, Seal of Fury for tanking, Consecration and Blessing of Kings baseline at level 20, and new talents in all three trees, such as Light's Vigil, Templar's Bulwark and Twist of Light.
02Can Undead be Paladins in WoW Forever?
Yes. Undead Paladin is one of the six new race and class combinations in WoW Forever, so Paladins can be Human, Dwarf or Undead.
03What does Seal of Fury do in WoW Forever?
It is a Paladin tanking Seal learned at level 10: melee attacks deal extra Holy damage and, with a shield equipped, grant an absorb shield; Blizzard says Judgement also taunts while it is active.
04What is the Holy Strike cooldown in WoW Forever?
10 seconds. Blizzard's Deep Dive recap first said 12 seconds; its September 24 beta notes lowered it to 10, which the WoW Forever beta client (build 1.60.1.70009) shows.
05Do Paladins get an interrupt in WoW Forever?
No. Blizzard keeps the WoW Forever Paladin without an interrupt or a slow, and its taunt still works through Seals and Judgement.
The WoW Forever beta goes to level 30 after the October 1 maintenance: dungeons up to City of Dalaran, Legacy points from 25, new spells and level 30 crafted helms.
The Forever Open is a $100,000 duel tournament on the WoW Forever beta: level 30 Horde characters, PvP ruleset, registration until October 4, finals on October 18.
WoW Forever adds 14 reputations, from the Kirin Tor and the Earthen Ring to The Watchers and Powderfuse: each faction's side, starting standing and rewards, from the beta client.
