Goodbye Divine Shield, Hello Mass Dispel
by Mike Schramm 
Sep 12th 2006 at 7:49PM
People are still kind of reacting to the expansion Priest spells and talents release from yesterday. Some priests are thrilled that they can now heal (albeit weakly) in shadowform, other priests think they got screwed over big (especially considering how Eyonix had hyped the talents). Other players are wondering if even rogues will get pets soon, while still more players just want the priests to stop whining.But one talent that has raised a lot of hackles is the new Mass Dispel, available from the priest trainer at level 70. At first, players were kind of confused about the purpose of the spell-- an aoe dispel is nice, but is it really worth it? But pretty quickly, it became clear exactly why Mass Dispel is so huge: it dispells "normally undispellable" buffs. Like, Kalgan points out, the Paladin's Divine Shield. If you said "whoah" after reading that, you're either Keanu Reeves... or you've played a Paladin. Divine Shield is essential to the pally class-- Blizzard has even said it's a core ability that they've designed the class around. Everyone else may dislike the bubblehearth, but that's what Paladins can do that no other class can. Until now.
Our fave Pally resource, Paladinsucks, offers up not just one but two posts on the subject. They call it, without question, "the worst Paladin nerf ever concieved." Now, Kalgan points out that MD has a relatively high cost to priests, has a casting time that a pally could counter with a stun, and is (so far) the only talent in the whole game that can counter DS. But Paladinsucks has a better point-- Paladins are known, for better or worse, for that little 12 seconds of immunity, and now that Shield has been shattered. Of course these talents are still subject to change, so things aren't set in stone. But the days of bubblehearthing as we know them may be over.
Filed under: Paladin, Priest, PvP, Expansions
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
solstone Sep 12th 2006 9:34PM
The comment about priests has [sic] no right to whine looks to be a joke from the comment about warlocks getting shafted (on the contrary, general consensus is warlocks got the best review) and the sarcastic /emo sign off. By and large, the new talents in the holy tree do nothing to benefit PvE raiders. AoE renew is a great idea, but to waste talent points on shitty abilities like Blessed Resilience and Lightwell (giving up divine spirit in the process) is just absurd.
Pickypants Sep 12th 2006 10:17PM
Oh man.. This is so awesome.
I am rolling up a priest right now.
Goodbye to all those smug pallies, hello carnage. =)
AcceptableRisk Sep 12th 2006 11:17PM
This thing is also somewhat grin-inducing to the warlocks out here. I'm talking about Unstable Affliction. It won't take long for priests to figure out not to directly dispel the thing, but they likely won't be quite so discriminate about Mass Dispelling all over the place. You better believe I'll be teaming up with some paladins while PvPing in order to try and draw a few Mass Dispels.
Or perhaps priests will wise up the the idea when they see warlocks afoot. Either way, it'll make things more interesting.
freakachu Sep 13th 2006 12:49AM
oh yeah, one class with the ability to spend 1k+ mana to dispell the damn thing COMPLETELY NEGATES IT in all situations, clearly. because EVERY SINGLE PALLY has an enemy priest following them at ALL TIMES who will dispell their shield every time. yep. what you didn't see that in the BC info?
btw, mass dispell is not a talent, it's a trainable skill.
twh Sep 13th 2006 12:56AM
Utter BS... complete and utter BS.
There was no reason to justify this nerf.
We have no real ranged attack, no CC, no method to counter ranged, no real reistances to magic, one easily shut down magic tree, abysmal DPS, and, of course, 1.9 which ruined our trees to the point of no return.
HOW THE HELL DOES THIS MAKE THIS BALANCED?!
Jake B Sep 13th 2006 3:57AM
I think the idea is that paladins need to change up the way they fight. If they get in a fight with a priest, instead of bubbling and healing, just use hammer of justice and heal. There is a 6 second stun that gives plenty of time for 3k-3.4k worth of heals. Just because 1 class can dispel divine shield does not mean that big of a nerf.
Hammer of Justice Rank 4:
http://www.thottbot.com/?sp=10308
Holy Light Rank 9:
http://www.thottbot.com/?sp=25292
nea Sep 13th 2006 4:32AM
Jesus Christ.
Warriors crying over TM.
Priests crying becose, well, I've no idea why.
Paladins crying becose thier new deatwish, which is stronger then warrior's one and is NOT a talent, will be dispellable along with thier bubble.
If you really dislike BC changes to , then reroll warlocks so people who actually enjoy playing those classes (and knowing HOW to play them) can actually have some fun.
Mordiceius Sep 13th 2006 9:05AM
I play a 60 UD end-game raiding priest and I just must say that overall I am not too excited for the changes. Mass dispel is meh. Seems more for PVP than PVE. That shadow mending is meh (too little too late IMO). That AOE renew would be death to any priest that uses it. Mending heal is mediocre at best. Shadow Word: Death is just a lame attempt to recreate shadowburn. The Shades of Darkness seem worthless.
The only thing that really seems any good is Binding Heal, and that is only for PVP.
Overall, it seems like PVP priests were thrown a little bone while PVE priests were given nothing at all. It is really disappointing. I had said before that the priest talent release would seal the deal on whether I rerolled Blood Elf Paladin for my guild come xpac and I think as of now, I'll be rerolling.
Mike Sep 23rd 2006 3:09AM
I love it!
That damn palidin thing was more than annoying. I've never seen it used for anything other than delaying the inevatible death of the pally.
The typical situation goes something like this:
A paladin breaks through the front lines, and is immediately attacked by 3 or 4 people. He puts up the shield, and slowly wanders around doing not much at all, but maybe healing and slowly beating on someone.
Some people waste some mana trying to hit the guy. Time passes, and the shield finally falls. Several of the people in the vicinity have noticed a large commotion behind the front lines, and are turning their attention to investigate. This results in the near immediate death of the paladin. The game resumes.
What is the point? He can just stand there for a second and take a little time-out before getting wasted?
It's annoying as hell. I can't think of any other skill that any other class has that is that annoying. I don't mind fighting other classes, because I know that for almost every skill, there is a counter-skill.
This is just an annoyance and I'm so glad there's going to finally be something to compensate.
Kaylos Sep 13th 2006 11:05AM
First of all, I think designing a class around immunity bubbles was pretty lame in the first place. but now that it here, a nerf like this is pretty lame.
To freakachu, I was told once by someone that no horde shaman ever follows a warrior around in BGs dropping Windfury Totems for him constantly. Yet every good team I have run into does exactly that. I was told no one dispels or purges, yet everytime I enter a BG against a team that is worth a dime, all my buffs are gone within moments of engagement. I have been told no one cleanses or decurses, yet ask any warlock that has faced a "good" team how long his DoTs lasted on targets.
People get in thsi mindset that "oh, no one would ever do that." They are right to an extent. All the people who "lose", whine about getting "rolled", and complain the other side is "overpowered" never do those things. The people that do though, win. The teams with Paladin healers, priests not in shadow form, Windfury totem dropping shamans, mages decursing, Cleansing, Blessing of Freedom going to someone other than the paladin, rogues that protect healers with stuns or play defense, etc, etc. These are the people that win, and you better believe me, If I know we are facing a paladin, you better be pretty sure that any priest that wants to stay in my group and get honor better be ready to dispel that shield, and I am sure dispelling Divine shield will be come the rule, not the exception for good priests in good teams.
Mordiceius Sep 13th 2006 2:11PM
Very well said, Kaylos. I completely agree.
Mike Schramm Sep 13th 2006 2:13PM
I agree. I don't exactly follow warriors around on my shaman, but if I happen to see one next to me and in my party, you can bet the first thing I drop is a windfury (then maybe a strength, or a stoneskin if I'm feeling defensive).
If this is the only way to dispel Divine Shield, you better believe that people will use it to dispel Divine Shield as much as they can. And like it or not, that's a fundamental change in the way the Pally class works.
Abe Sep 13th 2006 2:31PM
props to kaylos
people tend to complain when their class's skills (or in this case, someone else's skills) and talents are changed to make it harder for that person to outshine everyone else on their team. Simply because you can't be the person with the most killing blows doesn't mean you weren't just as important to your team's victory.
twh Sep 13th 2006 2:56PM
Your points are well made, Kaylos, but that doesn't obscure the overall picture that Blizzard is painting: They don't want paladins in PvP, so they're nerfing them to the point where it's becoming impossible for us to be able to do anything viable in PvP.
I reiterate my same statement before, that this does nothing for balance, and simply forces another uneeded nerf on an already nerfed to hell and back class.
It won't be long before paladins are ultimately deleted from the game because they can't do a thing in either PvE or PvP (which they can't do anymore anyway, obviously).
Mordiceius Sep 14th 2006 9:09AM
twh, if you think Paladins are worthless for PvE, I am going to invalidate your argument because you obviously do not know what you are talking about. Paladins in PvP should think of their role as a priest in plate. Pallys have some of the best heals and can take a beating while they're at it. A paladin's focus should be healing and that is that. (I play a priest and a pally)
twh Sep 14th 2006 11:48AM
Mord;
either you didn't read my post right, have never touched a paladin, or I wrote something wrong. I'm betting on the two former.
My point is that it seems that paladins are only to be made for PvE, since our PvP abilities have been nerf'ed to the ground. And that's another problem with the perceptions of many. We're NOT supposed to be 'priests in plate'. We're supposed to be on the front line, priests are supposed to be in the back, either casting heals or long range spells. We're supposed to be in the front, taking damage, dealing moderate damage, and healing to the best of our ability, however easily countered it may be.
We're NOT supposed to be in the back! But, Blizzard thinks that screwing over the entire basis of one classes balances out the whole PvP table, and as a result, we all the more.
Mordiceius Sep 14th 2006 3:08PM
twh, I never said paladins were not supposed to be in the front. They're supposed to be 'oh shit' tanks. They may have a point when they need to tank, like a druid. The thing is, if you look at the new talents, one of the ways a paladin gains aggro is by HEALING. I remember seeing the talent "your heals do 50% more aggro". They're supposed to be front line HEALERS.
Burgdorn Sep 25th 2006 7:55PM
God... sometimes I just don't know if anyone understands a paladin at all beyond my server. First off, when they say we are "designed" around our shield doesn't mean that we are suppose to use that as our primary ability. It means that they really liked the shield concept and wanted it to work for the paladin since they had shields in WC3. It isn't a core ability, our seals and auras are core abilities. The shield if use properly just is a way of continuing the fight artificially beyond ones lifespan.
By being able to constantly heal when you are pummelled to death adds a level of complexity to your opponents. That is what the shield really is for. Now what does this mean? Who knows, but I assure you that it will help with the balance of added DPS the Paladins will get in the future. Sheeesh.
Phil King Sep 23rd 2006 5:48PM
Well I'm mad about this because when Horde finally gets pallys, Blizzard makes the sheild dispellable. Come on, after Horde having to deal with that notorious pally shield for so long, blizzard gives it to us but with a catch -its not as good anymore. I guess ill go crymore
Conso Sep 26th 2006 10:21PM
Wow...I must not be playing paladins right lmfao. I like the concept of priest's getting some new move they consider 'cool'. Because I will just run my same old drill, repentance, judge command, wait a few secs while adding damage with another seal of command, HoJ, judge another command then finish it off as nessecary. Same combo used everytime on every class, only thing I have ever used shield for is to break polymorph, stuns, and incapcitates when my insignia was on cooldown.