Paladin

Perhaps the reveal that resonated most with me was the kitchen sink attitude that Blizzard was suddenly taking towards class lore. Since Wrath of the Lich King I have been starving for more Paladin-flavored lore in this game and it was so exhilarating to see the new push that the game is taking to focus on the different classes and the stories that make them distinct and special. I’d like to talk a bit in this post about Protection Paladins in the next expansion and what we have in store for us with regards to the new class lore. I especially want to brainstorm a bit on what our artifact may be and what options are potentially available.

Class Halls are coming to World of Warcraft in Legion, and I can't wait!

This is something that tanks don’t often admit -- except when staring at their bruised face the next morning in a foggy bathroom mirror after a long raid night -- but we love doing damage. Sure, some of us may have our Skada addons defaulted to the threat tab, but the rest of us are watching DPS. We’re making sure that we’re doing more DPS than the other tank and we’re sure as hell waiting for that moment when one damage dealer in the raid or dungeon drops below us on that meter. It’s a great feeling when you are contributing more DPS to a raid than one of the actual, legitimate damage dealers. (Up until when you wipe from hitting the enrage timer.)

Hellfire Citadel's upper echelons beckon, Holy Paladins!

After Blackrock Foundry, I'm sure you're ready to fight some bosses who aren't orcs.

The Shockadin is a Holy Paladin build that trades some of our healing power for the ability to do some legitimate DPS. Named after our signature healing spell, Shockadins use Holy Shock, Denounce and Word of Glory to sear their foes with righteous indignation. It is not a true DPS spec, and we should never regard it as one. But it is absolutely a viable alternative for Holy Paladins who just want to quest without having to hit things with a big stick.

In patch 6.2, Retribution has some minor changes, awesome tier bonuses, and a handful of fun encounters in Hellfire Citadel to look forward to.

Tanking in a massively multiplayer game like World of Warcraft is when certain classes (Monks, Death Knights, Warriors, Paladins and Druids, in the case of WoW) choose a specialization and perform a role that is intended to keep the monsters in a dungeon or raid focused on said tank, and not instead on the healers or damage dealers in the group. You may already have known that, but it can be useful to establish basics right up front.

Tanking requires a lot from a player, especially when the group is all-too-happy to hoist responsibility for the success of the group right onto your potentially uncertain shoulders. It's a tough job, but we'll help you get started.

Too often I find myself falling back to the same set of talents, even though "cookie cutter" builds are supposed to be a thing of the past. Am I doing something wrong, or could it be the talents that are at fault (or could it be both)?