What are the Classes FOR?

[Concillian]

Paladins: Ugh. They are very powerful leveling to level 60 and can take elites way above their level so people think they are overpowered. They are extremely broken endgame, however. Arguably, they bring more than shamans to MC/Onyxia because of their blessings. However, most paladins might as well by played by a bot. Casting blessings every 5 minutes and spamming cleanse is mostly what they do. OOC ressing and backup healing do require some thought but blessings and cleansings still dominate their time.
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I don't think it's arguable. Pallies are pretty powerful in raiding compared to shaman.

1) Blessing of Salvation -- this blessing alone affords SO MUCH margin for error compared to horde. 30% less threat is a HUGE amount.

2) Cleanse is way better in raiding than Purge. Horde have to rely on priests to dispel, which is compounded by the 'not enough priests' issue.

Shaman offer mana tide, which is of pretty good use, but the extra mana is not as usable without Blessing of Salvation. Pallies bring more to the table in endgame raiding.

In a raid situation, it's a good thing to split roles further, but it does bring the boredom factor into account. You can think of being a cleanse-bot as removing utility from a priest, and making their job easier. Their role is very important. Shaman have nowhere near the utility, and are more just there as a tertairy healer class, totems offer far less utility than blessings and cleanse. Mana Tide is the only 'must have' raiding totem, and it requires so many relatively low-usefulness talents to get there it's ridiculous.