06-17-2004, 11:00 PM
Pete,Jun 15 2004, 06:36 PM Wrote:Paladin: the most useful auras are now spells. Guess that is one way to get us to use the useless auras. Depending on duration, a Paladin can now spend 110% of their time in a group buffing and healing. I guess they crossed the line from a primarily a front line fighter to a REMF. Again, will have to see how it plays out.I've had a chance to test things a bit on my Pally and I can tell you that I'm not happy about the changes to the class. While I don't doubt that the Paladin was a bit overpowered in the last push they're very gimped in the present push. With the removal of the most popular seals to be auras and with one of said auras being moved to a higher level while being reduced in effectiveness, the pally is just as useful in a party. I personally thought the pally was pretty close to balanced in the last push. Could tank pretty effectively, but not as effectively as a warrior. Could heal but not nearly as well or as efficiently as a priest. Could buff but not nearly as well as a druid. And could deal damage but couldn't hope to match a warrior, rogue or *chuckle* a mage. The only change I would have made would have been to cut back on the cool down on fist of justice as this was the only skill the pally had to interrupt casters and rooters. As the paladin is now he/she can only contribute one aura to the party, can't tank nearly as well and even with the improvements to Crusader Strike he/she are still underpowered for the mana cost. Even with these kinds of tradeoffs I find the paladin not nearly as much fun to play with only a few abilities available even at later levels.
It would appear also that the stun on the first stage of charge is a chance to stun. I would say that there is a 20% chance or less to stun on Level 1 charge. I've also noticed that when a mob has been stunned it has been of very short duration. Just long enough to get off a follow up attack if you charged/rended.