Everything you wanted to know about Aura Mastery but were afraid to ask
by Elizabeth Harper 
Mar 17th 2009 at 1:00PM
Perhaps you've heard about the new Holy Paladin talent Aura Mastery. If not, here's the basics: to get it, you need to drop 11 points in the Holy tree. For your investment, you receive a new skill which will, for ten seconds every two minutes, cause your Concentration Aura to make all affected targets immune to silence and interrupt effects and improve the effect of all other auras by 100%.
And though everyone tends to stop reading and gape for a moment when they hit the part about "immune to silence and interrupt," keep reading. That's right boys and girls, it will also double the effect of any aura you have up for its 10 second duration. Devotion Aura? Check! Retribution Aura? Check! Fire Resistance Aura? Frost Resistance Aura? Shadow Resistance Aura? Check, check, and check! Crusader Aura? Double-check! If you take a look at the video above, you can see Aura Mastery and Crusader Aura in action as two Paladins with Crusader Aura up race out on the Shimmering Flats racetrack. (That flash of light is Aura Mastery being aactivated.)
So who's going to be grabbing this talent? Though silence and interrupt immunity would certainly have its occasional uses in PvE, this seems more of a PvP talent, where getting silenced or interrupted could mean game over. Ten seconds of boosted armor, resistances, or reflective damage doesn't seem that overwhelming (note that in the current PTR build, Aura Mastery's bonus is not changed by any other Aura-effecting talents) -- they're all very situational, but I can imagine situations when each could be useful. (Boss about to enrage? Some extra armor for the tank couldn't hurt. Is that fire Mage sending something evil your way? Boost your resistance to 260 for ten seconds.) For the cost of just one talent point, this seems hard to say no to, because situationally useful or not, in the situations in which it's useful, it's going to be very useful. (And, if nothing else, it's not a bad filler point.)
Filed under: Paladin, Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
NovaDeez Mar 17th 2009 1:07PM
Now I definitely need to level my pally!
bundee Mar 17th 2009 1:07PM
I 2v2 with a holy pally so this sounds like a welcome addition
Lemons Mar 17th 2009 2:59PM
Yes because holy pallys have been so woefully underpowered in S5...
Wait, what?
Paul Mar 17th 2009 1:09PM
WoW!
Avrsion Mar 17th 2009 1:12PM
Zoom Zoom
Matazuma Mar 17th 2009 2:20PM
NITRO ACTIVATE!!!!
Thander Mar 17th 2009 1:10PM
Blizzard will nerf it so the ability dismounts you.
Then, you only have 5.5 seconds of extra speed. (GCD+3sec cast)
supracom Mar 17th 2009 2:04PM
Charger and other mounts aren't on the GCD.
But hopefully Blizz doesn't make the ability dismount you. Path of Frost doesn't dismount you, so maybe there's hope for us pallies.
Ultranator Mar 17th 2009 2:43PM
But Shaman's "Water Walking" spell does dismount you. And that's something that's been bothering me for a while, but oh well.
lbizzle Mar 17th 2009 3:11PM
Why would it do so when you can change to any other aura while mounted?
There are many reasons why this talent could be overpowered, but here's a hint: it's not that one.
Zach Mar 17th 2009 5:07PM
@Ultranator - Shaman Water Walking no longer dismounts you.
Chukie Mar 17th 2009 1:11PM
Bring several holy pallies to your AV and rush to the other sides boss that much faster?
If av was still relevant this might break it....
(well break it more)
Tumleren Mar 17th 2009 1:27PM
You can easily take this as Ret too - Check out this build: http://ptr.wowhead.com/?talent=sxVzZVZVfbtbIuhdIfsu
Granted, it's not a PvP spec, but you get the point.
jlpknights82 Mar 17th 2009 1:13PM
As a Holy Paladin, I take this talent anyway to extend my Aura's distance. I'll be taking it again after the change!
Who knows what the bosses in Ulduar will throw at us when they are released. That immunity and the bonus effects could come in very very useful.
Remember the days of yore back when you wiped 15 times on Gruul during an AOE silence? This could totally prevent that! (Or at least it could prevent it for 10 seconds once ever 2 minutes. XD)
Tumleren Mar 17th 2009 1:21PM
Fuck. Yea.
Mure Mar 17th 2009 1:28PM
i can see this being a big + to raids or groups. my question is can the pally who casts this spell be able to switch aura once activated and have the bones transfer over to the newly activated aura, or would the 100% bones cancel when the aura is changed?
IncubusHead Mar 17th 2009 1:33PM
bleh, framerate much?
Sanctis Mar 17th 2009 1:43PM
Finally! Something nice for holy paladins in 3.1. Everything else seemed to be putting us down.
tweezer Mar 17th 2009 1:37PM
Do we know if it increaces all additions to auras through talents by 100%? Does it double the damage and haste to ret aura?
Zoidberg Mar 17th 2009 1:44PM
I miss my riding crop.