Blizzard's Paladin class deep dive for World of Warcraft: Forever (WoW: Forever for short) went up on 15 October, the last in the series. Blizzard's post lists the class's ability and talent changes. The short version: every Paladin gets Holy Strike, a new tanking Seal and Consecration at level 20, and Retribution gets a new kind of Seal Twisting.

The Paladin is a holy warrior who can heal, tank (hold enemies' attention so others can fight) or deal damage up close. Its Seals are buffs it puts on itself that add an effect to its attacks, and Judgement is an ability that strikes an enemy with the power of the active Seal. Blizzard says the class may keep changing through the beta, the test version people can play before release. For the other classes, see our pieces on the Hunter and Druid, the Priest and Warrior, the Mage and Shaman and the Rogue and Warlock.

How do talents work in WoW: Forever?

Talents are upgrades you buy with points to shape a character inside their class, laid out in three trees for each class. In our talent calculator, rows further down a tree need more points spent in it first.

Blizzard says talents start at level 10 and keep a familiar structure. The one-point milestone talents at 11, 21 and 31 points stay, and a new one joins at 16 points. Blizzard calls these gold medal talents. The table below lists the ones the post names.

To change your talents, Legacy talents included, you visit a class trainer, the in-game teacher for your class, in one of the major cities. Dual Specialization, a second saved talent setup, opens at level 40.

What changes for every Paladin?

A Paladin's three trees are Holy (healing and Holy spells), Protection (tanking) and Retribution (melee damage). Here are the baseline changes, the ones every Paladin gets.

A raid is a group of players taking on a dungeon built for a large group. Blizzard says Seal of Fury's bonus damage is the same on every swing, unlike Seal of Righteousness, so it favours a fast weapon while tanking. Its shield doesn't stack. A taunt makes an enemy attack you, and this one has a 10-yard reach, where a Druid's Growl and a Warrior's Taunt have 5. Blizzard says that lets a Paladin reach enemies farther away than other tanks can.

Righteous Fury's bonus drops because Protection Paladins have more Holy damage than in Classic Era, the re-released original game. Blizzard says Consecration's 4-enemy limit keeps Paladins level with the Warrior's Thunderclap on threat, and keeps the Classic Era feel instead of the area-damage play of early expansions.

What is the new Seal Twisting?

Seal Twisting is swapping between Seals mid-fight to get more than one Seal's effect. Blizzard says it no longer works baseline, as it did in Classic Era and Classic Anniversary. Instead it comes through Twist of Light, the new 31-point Retribution talent, which Blizzard says keeps the swapping but makes it easier and less strict on timing.

Twist of Light makes Seals 20% cheaper in Mana, the resource a Paladin spends on spells. When you replace a damage Seal, it leaves an Echo, so your next melee attack gets the old Seal's effect as well as the new one's. Blizzard says the Mana will be hard to keep up forever, and points to Judgement of Wisdom and the Holy talent Reverence to help. For players who would rather skip all that, Holy Shock sits in Holy as the other route, for a build that mixes in Holy talents.

Paladin milestone talents

Silence stops a target casting spells, and Interrupt cuts off the spell being cast. Light's Vigil on an enemy deals extra Holy damage and refunds 75% of its Mana cost. On an ally, it heals every member of that ally's party, the small group they play in. Blizzard says a Holy Paladin can set it up on several parties in a raid, then fire Holy Shock back to back when the whole raid takes a big hit.

Templar's Bulwark applies Forbearance, a lingering effect that blocks some protective spells while it lasts, and it can't be used while Forbearance is on you. Blizzard says Protection needed a survival cooldown like other tanks have. Holy Shield now needs Templar's Bulwark first.

What else changes in each tree?

Each tree also gets new and moved talents beyond the milestones. Here are the main ones the post explains, tree by tree.

Holy. Healing Light and Unyielding Faith move up to row 2. Reverence, new on row 3, keeps up to 30% of your Mana regeneration from Spirit going while you cast. Infusion of Light, new on row 4, lets Holy Shock and Flash of Light critical hits, extra-strong ones, cut up to 1 second off your next Holy Light. Divine Precision adds up to 18% hit chance with Holy spells, because Blizzard doesn't plan hit chance on plate healing gear. Illumination's Mana refund drops to 50% of the spell's base cost, which Blizzard says was historically too strong.

Protection. Improved Righteous Fury no longer raises threat: it cuts damage taken by up to 6% while Righteous Fury is on. Sacred Duty, new on row 3, adds up to 4% Stamina and takes up to 1 minute off Divine Shield, Divine Protection and Templar's Bulwark. Reckoning can now also trigger after a block, no more than once every 1.5 seconds. On 15 October Blizzard said Reckoning could not yet save up 4 charges and that a fix was planned. Blessing of Sanctuary and Improved Concentration Aura are removed, and Blessing of Kings becomes baseline.

Retribution. Sanctified Judgement, new on row 3, can refund up to 60% of the judged Seal's cost. Vengeance now lasts 30 seconds and stacks 3 times at up to 3% each, 9% in all. Before, it gave up to 15% for 8 seconds and fell off often. Pursuit of Justice goes up to 15% movement speed from 8%. Champion of the Light, new on row 6, turns up to 30% of your Intellect into spell damage. Improved Retribution Aura and Sanctity Aura are removed.

Our favourite is Seal of Fury, the new tanking Seal every Paladin learns at level 10. Each swing adds Holy damage, half of that comes back as a shield, and its Judgement taunts from 10 yards where a Druid's Growl and a Warrior's Taunt reach 5. Our reading: that lets a Paladin tank grab an enemy those two can't reach yet.

Compared: the post against our talent calculator today

Our talent calculator is built from the beta's own game files, now Forever build 1.60.1.70450 of 16 October. Every new talent the post names is in it, and every milestone talent sits at the points the post gives. Four details differ, and here is how we read them.

The calculator also drops two talents the post never names: Improved Devotion Aura from Protection and Improved Blessing of Might from Retribution. We refresh the calculator as new beta builds appear. The Paladin class page shows which Paladin abilities are new since Classic Era.

Strengths and weaknesses

Blizzard sums up the class like this.

• Paladins keep their Seal and Judgement system and are very strong against Undead and Demons. Their range is limited, and Holy talents stretch it, but not as far as other Mana users. They have no Interrupt and no way to slow an enemy down.
• After these changes, Blizzard says Paladins can be highly effective tanks, competitive damage dealers and the strongest single-target healers in the game. Healing a whole party at once takes more planning, but new talents help them step into that role.

Paladin is the last class deep dive. Blizzard says it will keep listening to feedback as the beta nears its end, ahead of the worldwide launch on 4 November.