Hints of the Furture

So the twitter Dev chat has been underway an in amoungst the usual questions they alway get asked are some interesting news for Paladins.

Q: What is the goal when re-designing the paladin class? How do you plan to change rotations, talents, etc?
A. All of the paladin specializations will make use of a new resource called Holy Power. Holy Power accumulates from using Crusader Strike, Holy Shock, and some other talents. Holy Power can be consumed to augment a variety of abilities, including:

An instant mana-free heal: Word of Glory
A buff to increase holy damage done: Inquisition
A massive physical melee attack for Retribution paladins: Templar’s Verdict
Holy Shield’s duration is now extended by Holy Power
Divine Storm’s damage is now increased by Holy Power

We also introduced several new heals for Holy Paladins including Healing Hands (an AoE heal-over-time that is applied to all players standing near the paladin), Light of Dawn (a cone heal with a 30-yard range), as well as a new heal called Divine Light, which is similar to a priest's Greater Heal, and the new instant heal mentioned above, Word of Glory.

Q: Can you give us a sneak peek at one or two of the new Retribution abilities or talents?
A. Templar’s Verdict: An instant weapon attack that causes a percentage of weapon damage. Consumes all applications of Holy Power to increase damage dealt:

1 Holy Power: 55% Weapon Damage
2 Holy Power: 125% Weapon Damage
3 Holy Power: 225% Weapon Damage

Word of Glory: Consumes all Holy Power to heal a friendly target for a specific amount per application of Holy Power (0 mana cost, 0 cooldown, instant cast).

This is certanly a huge change to Paladins and while its something that has been thrown about before its not something I have seen mensioned recently.

While we will still have to wait for the next live build before we can look at this to much, it seems like we will be getting a bucket load of new spells ablilitys and proc's based around this Holy Power mechanic. I am really not sure where I will fit so many new spells on my bars but its looking promising indeed.

One thing this does concrete in is that Holy Paladins will most likey be healing from melee range much more and taking care of the Melee DPS and Tanks while others take care of the ranged.

I can not wait to see where they take this as long as its not to complicated to manage.