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2v2 & 5v5: Viability of Paladins in Arena, Part 2
October 2nd, 2007 by Szletica ·
Welcome to the second part of the Viability of Paladins in Arena. I will begin by discussing 2v2 Arena. If you haven’t already noticed, partner choices available are quite limited for Paladin in the 2v2 environment. Warrior/Paladin and Warlock/Paladin are two dominating 2v2 combinations. Why? Although Paladin’s are powerhouse healers built to outlast, they are very vulnerable to spell interruptions such as Kick, Pummel, Counterspell and other forms of CC. The reason behind this is that all of Paladin’s healing moves — excluding Holy Shock — require casting time. During the time when a Paladin is CCed or spell locked, their partner has to survive whatever damage is being inflicted. Therefore, the most ideal and effective partner for a Paladin is someone with tons of life and survivability; hence why a Soul Link Warlock or a Warrior become great choices.
One might bring up Rogue and Mage because both of those classes have a great amount of survivability as well. However, in terms of lasting power, they simply can not match the effectiveness of a Warlock or Warrior. With Paladin being the most defensive of the healers (least amount of offensive ability), they really need a partner who can win the fight in a long game.
After we have limited our choice of partners, let’s go over some basics. Begin each Arena with Blessing of Kings on yourself for the extra boost in max health and Mana. However, don’t forget to switch to Blessing of Wisdom as the fight progresses, especially if you are not the target of focus fire.
Almost every lineup that you’ll face in Arena will have someone able to impair your movement, with moves such as Hamstring, Crippling Poison or Curse of Exhaustion. It is important to know how to use one of the most powerful tools you have: Blessing of Freedom. Besides using Freedom to kite in case of playing with a Warlock, Freedom can also be used to chase players and repel some damage. Imagine a Frost Mage charging up a full cast Shatter combo on your Warrior; right before the Frostbolt finishes casting, simply cast Freedom on your Warrior to deny all the potential crits. Remember that, although Freedom can be dispelled, the initial root breaking effect can not be prevented. Strategies have been developed around using this spell for a quick escape on your partner while you catch some breathe and drink.
Blessing of Protection was one of the key reasons to the popularity of Paladins in 5v5 Arena. It effectively removes Mortal Strike and grants physical immunity. Even if it gets dispelled within seconds, that’s often long enough for your team to bring the target back to full life. This second life spell is even more versatile in 2v2. With just one other partner and much less focus fire, you no longer need to save this for defense; this spell is even stronger when used offensively. Instead of having your Warrior partner sitting idly during a 6 second Kidney Shot, simply use Blessing of Protection and then Blessing of Might. Or, if you’re paired with a Warlock, this could help them land that much needed Fear or Drain Mana. The options of using this spell both offensively and defensively will grant you the much needed edge to reach your goal.
Another issue that’s often brought up, is the lack of mobility while healing. It is very important to use line-of-sight to your advantage as a Paladin. Often times, there will be an enemy with the ability to threaten your Mana pool. With Mana Burn having a longer casting time than heals, you can effectively pop out, land a heal, and then dodge the Mana Burn. Drain Mana, however, tends to stick, even if you are no longer within line-of-sight, but it can be cleansed, instead.
Keep in mind, that even though it might feel like a waste, you should still use Divine Shield under situations where you would be eating multiple Mana Burn or Drain, otherwise. Don’t always think of the Divine Shield as a life saver, most of the times, it’s just as important to save your Mana. The fact that you can use Divine Shield to prevent any interruption or silencing effects such as Kick, Counterspell or Silence is just icing on the cake. Don’t be afraid to use it early to prevent a Counterspell. All too often do I see Paladins letting their partner die because they ate an early Counterspell, because they wanted to “save” their Divine Shield.
As a defensive healer, you’re the backbone of the team in 2v2. Paladin requires a great sense of awareness of a situation, and is one of the classes that can be considered “easy to pick up, but hard to master”.
I will attempt to breakdown the class farther in the next article. Meanwhile, feel free to respond to this article under comments and I will be glad to answer any questions.
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October 3rd, 2007 at 4:41 am
wuz sup man. i liked ur article, and it may help me with the tip to make freedom prevent the super combo from mages, but i wanted to watch videos from u cuz u must be the master man… i was in a 1750 rating team, than I jumped to a 2k rating, ive been sucking of course, from 1700-1800 is the worst bracket and the hardest to get in cuz of the experienced players. imagin me from 1700 to 2k , I do good sometimes but most of the times i let my partner(warrior full arena merciless) die. specialy to a warlock+Spriest team, pst some videos please bro… and keep up the very good work
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:07 am
Excellent breakdown of the class role in 2v2 (and 5v5), I play a warlock, and I’ve always rolled with a priest. This might just make me seek out a good paladin instead
October 3rd, 2007 at 9:27 am
Thanks guys, I’m so glad you found some useful tips from this article. I will try to fraps some footage of me in an arena or two, with my 5v5 team and 2v2 team. That’s great that you jumped from 1750 to 2k with just this advice, imagine now what you can do with it if you master it
Mnemoni, paladins are great to 2v2 with if you’re a Warlock. Alot of top 2v2 teams consist of Paladin/Warlock.
Hope both of you experience further success in the future, and stay tuned for the next part, coming soon!
October 3rd, 2007 at 10:37 am
warriors can leave kidney shot with berserker rage not?
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:00 am
No, Warriors can only break incapacitating effects such as Gouge or Sap.
There’s no way to break a Stun except for Trinket, Blink or BoP.
Warriors do tend to resist a lot of stuns tho.
October 3rd, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Orc Warriors resist a lot of stuns.
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Don’t forget Ice Block and Divine Shield Szletica :).
October 4th, 2007 at 10:01 am
my team is having trouble fighting priest+rogue combo…
my team is warlock+me (as a paladin)
we are both pretty much geared up with pvp set and at high rating too.
warlock is in sl spec, but then still can easily get torned by a well geared rogue + priest combo…
i dont really have time to heal up my teamate’s pet before it goes down so he quick summoned up a void walker but still got pwned…
sorry for my bad english, i play in tw wow server…any suggestion fighting against rogue+priest combo??
October 4th, 2007 at 10:08 am
Any Rogue that’s focusing on the Warrior and not the Pally, is stupid. No smart Rogue would Kidney Shot a warrior, especially with the healer up.
October 4th, 2007 at 10:23 am
A rogue has difficulty chasing a paladin while hamstringed and the paladin has Freedom and the ability to cleanse poisons.
All the warrior really has to do is outlive the rogue’s cooldowns, and it’s not that hard. AR+Evasion and a kidney shot on either the warrior or the paladin? Warrior trinkets, gets Freedom, intercept stuns the rogue and hamstring, kite the rogue. Rogue trinkets, vanishes, whatever, a HoJ will accomplish the same thing. The rogue can’t do too much to win the fight. It mainly depends on how good your priest is at chasing their paladin. If the warrior’s on your priest, you MAY have a chance at taking out the paladin, but they can intervene-hamstring-freedom kite and warrior intercepts back to priest. I’m sure this site’s authors will cover the fight in more detail soon.
October 4th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Hey Sula,
Priest/Rogue is a tough combo. You’re team is using VW, which is a good call since it is very hard to kill relative to a felhunter. If you see the Rogue stunlocking, applying poisons, and basically, beating the hell out of the pet, you should really try to keep the pet alive as long as possible. I have done the following during these situations:
A) Have the pet retreat, cleanse, and heal pet to full.
B) You guys can stay at a distance from where your pet is dying and summon a new one while the VW is being killed. Because during this time you do have some time to do something of this sort.
C) Freedom the pet, HoJ the Rogue, and cleanse the pet (removing the poisons), and heal the pet to full.
I typically resummon another pet if I find I am low on mana. Otherwise, if you think you can spare the mana on keeping a pet up, by all means do so. The pet is what keeps your Warlock alive, and what keeps the Priest from drinking =P
Just remember, your Warlock should be applying pressure to the Priest via Mana Drain. This keeps the Priest on his toes. At the same time, Curse of Exhaustion is highly recommended on the Rogue. If you have any other questions, feel free.
October 4th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
Huh. Yet another website jam packed with nothing but holy pally crap. GG.
October 5th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Why not try Arena with a Retribution spec?
October 5th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Hey Iliya,
As of now (that is the current patch of WoW), Retribution Paladins are not viable enough to reach the top tier of arenas. Sure, they are able to dish out of alot of damage, but Crusader Strike still has a fairly long cd, and with Glad arena gear, you are still lacking resilience (it has none). As a Ret. Paladin, I’m sure you can make your way to 1900-2000 range, but to be at the very top, it just isn’t possible right now. Ret. Paladins are lacking the mana pool to even pose a threat to opposing teams. Opposing teams could just Manaburn, Drain Mana, or Viper Sting you, and once you’re all out mana, you basically will pose no threat to them. Keep in mind though, there are some rumored changes coming to 2.3 which I think would greatly enhance the Ret. tree and viability in arenas. But as of now, it really doesn’t look like it’s possible. However, I’m not trying to discourage you from testing it out, but just telling you what I have seen and experienced as a Paladin myself.
October 5th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
I’m actually a protection paladin, but I’m just trying to spread the word that Holy isn’t our only spec… oh, as for the arena range you mentioned, this gentleman’s 5v5 is above the range you assumed.
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Magtheridon&n=Kamil
Ziss: Unfortunately Kamil played 0% of their games and the other 2 Paladins they have on their 5v5 are both… Holy
October 5th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
So Iliya,
idk if you noticed but your ret pally, hasn’t even played games in his 3s or 5s team. He only played in his 2s and is sitting around the rating Szletica mentionned. No resilience, no way you go above 2k. (As a ret pally). Maybe it’ll be different with 2.3 changes.
October 5th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Nvm you notced, i just read your last sentence.
October 5th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
I concede defeat. However, I don’t find the Holy spec to be a very fun spec to play at all. So, I guess I needn’t be around here anymore.
October 6th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
I’m currently in a 2000 rating 5v5 team. I find it shameful to say but a resto shaman seems to be doing a better job of helping the team win then i am. The team favors solo healers relying on burt damages and more the half my time in there i find myself silenced, CCed, and all other manners to tick me off. The way you are making it sound in a 5v5 scenario is that there are 2 healers, how is a paladin supposed to work alone then? I’ve no other form of defense for myself except for a dispellable bubble and my other defenses are one at a time and again easily dispellable. Once i’m silenced i cant hit any spell since they are holy and once i hit my bubble i’m prime target to take out which is fairly easy, i blessing of sacrfice the prime target to break sheeps until it’s dispelled off and i’m left with a cool down going bah while my target dies. my flash of light on a ms/wound victim is only 600-900 and as their focused that barely makes a dent in is so i have to have big heals that only go 2-3k and am fast out of mana on top of being mana drained/burned. ontop of this people are calling for dispells and freedom left and right when i only have 1 and cleansing is an issue as it diverts my attention from healing a focus target. I dont really see myself as a power house for healing as a solo healer unless i’m doing something wrong?
October 7th, 2007 at 12:42 am
So from what it seems like, you are running a 4 dps lineup? Perhaps you can provide me with more information such as the group composition? Thanks.
October 7th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
“i liked ur article, and it may help me with the tip to make freedom prevent the super combo from mages”
i find it pretty sad that people have to have common sense handed to them.
good quality article though…
October 7th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Group Make up is Warrior/Rogue, Shadow Priest, Ice Mage, Warlock, and me.
October 8th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Only because its a 4dps team doesn’t mean that all they have to worry about is dpsing. Your shadow priest should be mana burning an enemy caster, mage should be keeping a target polymorphed and warlock should be keeping a target feared. That knocks out 3dps (an oom caster is not a threat). Warrior rogue should be debuffing, slowing, stunning the enemy rogue/warrior. Overall, if everybody does their job well enough, you should be forced to heal against only 1 dps.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
I have the same problems that Mikou does. Granted, my friends and I haven’t been 70 for more than a couple months, so gear is still a large part of the problem. However, we also are rolling with 4 dps and 1 healer, ME. Lineup is Enhancement Shaman (I’m aware of the spec’s shortcomings), Survival Hunter, MS Warrior, Frost Mage, and a Holy Pally (me). My team dies like little girls, about half of the time. Often times we will lose someone before I can BOP or Heal them (this happens most often to our Enhancement Shaman), either due to CC or interrupts. I find druid CC to be the worst, as it seems that I can’t bubble out of it. Long story short, our team has shortcomings, and I can’t figure out how to overcome them as a healer.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
BTW. Don’t think that I am whining because I’m a noob at this type of PvP. I’ve done a lot of it before, and skill wise I would say that I compare favorably to most of the other healers I have seen in 2v2 and 3v3 arena where things tend to go a bit more slowly.
October 11th, 2007 at 3:42 am
As a paladin with a 2000+ rating in every bracket being holy…. we’re very very poor healers. Don’t let this blog fool you. There’s always a natural progression within the game where certain classes are the focus of being first targets. During season 1, Preists, Shaman, even Warlocks were the big target. Once Resil kicked in, those classes were no longer the prime targets in arenas, but more just, “CC them and hope for the best”. During season 2, Paladins have gotten progressively worse in arena healing. What was once a strong 2s team (Warrior / Paladin) is now a joke due to lack of CC, instant casts, escaping, and mobility.
As far as I’m concerned, Paladin is a complete broken class. We can do mediocre in 3s and 5s, but we still fall behind other healers in terms of utility. Holy is turning poor for PvP, Prot will ALWAYS be poor for pvp, and Ret.. no matter what they do to it will be mediocre for PvP, but it is turning into what could be the best spec for PvP Paladins. (Don’t knock the new Vindication)