World of Warcraft has a very ambitious plan and with the upcoming release of The War Within, the team at Blizzard has introduced a brand new Hero Talents system for the expansion.
We will be taking a close look at one of the three Hero Talent trees for Paladins and examining just how powerful we can expect the talents to be.
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WoW The War Within Lightsmith Paladin Hero Talent Tree
Since there is a lot to cover in the initial Hero Talent tree, we will be separately examining all of the nodes so we can get a better understanding of the core concepts.
Lightsmith Paladin Hero Talent Tree Keystone
Holy Armaments:
- Will the Light to coalesce and become manifest at a target location as a Holy Armament, which may be wielded by you or your allies. Alternates between Holy Bulwark and Sacred Weapon. Lats 20 sc after being cast. Max 2 charges.
Holy Bulwark:
- While wielding a Holy Bulwark, gain an absorption shield for 15% of your maximum health and an additional 5% every 2 seconds, stacking up to 30%.
Sacred Weapon:
- While wielding a Sacred Weapon, your spells and abilities have a chance to deal additional Holy damage or healing.
Lightsmith Paladin
Hero Talent Tree Row 1
Choice Node: Rite of Sanctification & Rite of Adjuration
Rite of Sanctification:
- Imbue your weapon with the power of the Light, increasing your armor by 5% and your primary stat by 1%. Lasts 1 hour. Weapon imbue.
Rite of Adjuration:
- Imbue your weapon with the power of the Light, increasing your Stamina by 3% and causing your Holy Power spenders to sometimes unleash a burst of healing around a target. Weapon imbue.
Solidarity:
- If an ally picks up an Armament, you also gain its benefits. If you pick up an Armament, a nearby ally also gains its benefits.
Choice Node: Divine Guidance & Blessed Assurance
Divine Guidance:
- For each Holy Power ability cast, your next Consecration does additional Holy damage or healing split across all enemies, up to a fixed total.
Blessed Assurance:
- Casting a Holy Power spender increases the damage and healing of your next Crusader Strike by 100%.
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Lightsmith Paladin
Hero Talent Tree
Row 2
Laying Down Arms:
- When an Armament fades from you, the cooldown of Lay on Hands is reduced by 15 seconds, and you gain Shining Light or Infusion of Light.
Choice Node: Divine Inspiration & Forewarning
Divine Inspiration:
- Your spells and abilities have a chance to manifest a Holy Armament nearby.
Forewarning:
- The cooldown of Holy Armaments is reduced by 20%.
Choice Node: Fear No Evil & Excoriation
Fear No Evil:
- While wielding an Armament the duration of Fear effects is reduced by 50%.
Excoriation:
- Enemies within 5 yards of Hammer of Justice’s target are slowed by 15%.
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Lightsmith Paladin
Hero Talent Tree Row 3
Shared Resolve:
- The effect of your active Aura is increased by 33% on targets with your Armaments.
Valiance:
- Consuming Shining Light or Infusion of Light extends the duration of any active Armaments by 3.0 seconds, or reduces the cooldown by 3 seconds if none exist.
Hammer and Anvil:
- Judgment critical strikes cause a shockwave around the target, dealing additional Holy damage or healing at the target's location.
Lightsmith Paladin Hero Talent Tree Capstone
Blessing of the Forge:
- Avenging Wrath summons an additional Sacred Weapon, and during Avenging Wrath your Sacred Weapon casts spells on your target and echoes the effects of your Holy Power abilities.
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Summary
Overall, this Hero Talent tree aims to increase the utility of Paladins whilst not only giving way to making them stronger healing capabilities but also giving the Protection spec some more damage and healing potential, so whichever role you decide to play, you will have adequate stats and abilities from these new talents.
It surely is exciting to see that else will be added in WoW's newest expansion. Hopefully, the new direction and design philosophy will lend its way to a better and more enjoyable experience for players. As of now, it is difficult to examine and predict whether or not the new Hero Talent trees will break the game or offer insufficient stats, abilities, etc. to make a big enough impact on gameplay.
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