Alliance Shamans? Horde Paladins?

by Elizabeth Harper Jul 21st 2006 at 12:51PM

While previously Blizzard posters had announced an unsurprising list of classes available for the new Draenei and Blood Elf races, but now there appears to have been a change of plan. However, Gamespot is currently reporting that in the Burning Crusade expansion, Draenei will have the option to play as Shamans while Blood Elves will have the option to play as Paladins. While I initially wondered if this was merely wishful thinking, CM Eyonix has posted on the official forums confirming it. This rather changes the argument of faction imbalance and "easy mode" favoritism - and, while it may remove some of the unique flavor of each faction, it may be a good solution for overall game balance.

[Thanks, Silvertusk]

Tags: burning crusade, BurningCrusade, faction, faction imbalance, FactionImbalance, factions, raid, raiding, raids, the burning crusade, TheBurningCrusade

Filed under: Horde, Alliance, Paladin, Shaman, News items, Expansions, Draenei, Blood Elves

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Swiftlydead Jul 21st 2006 1:07PM

.... what? Sounds cool, but how do you expect to pull off a Blood Elf shaman, or a Demon alliance race that uses shamanistic powers?

Too far fetched...

Dahlaine Jul 21st 2006 1:11PM

Eyonix's best point concerns keeping classes different. The only way to truly balance the factions in end game raiding would be to essentially cut and paste abilities for both shaman and paladins and make them equitable. Unfortunatly, this took them down the road of making them both buffbot classes, with the only difference being shamans are better for pvp and paladins have the better pve buffs. I applaud them for sticking with their guns and not making the classes a mirror image of one another. This way, each class can be developed down a distinct and different path in the expansion without greatly disrupting game balance. Current shamans and paladins should rejoice that each other classes can now be buffed significantly, without huge flames from the opposing faction.

jpc Jul 21st 2006 1:34PM

Did I or did I not call this?
Please see number 11 in this:
http://www.wowinsider.com/2006/07/17/the-future-of-the-horde/1#c1754163

zomg I'm awesome. Leave me alone I need my moment.

Kaylos Jul 21st 2006 1:51PM

Wow. That is awesome. I know horde think Paladins are overpowered, so i can't wait for them to start complaining about Paladin slow heals and slowness fo killining anything. All those long time shaman are in for a shock if they think the paladin is anything more than a healer in plate. Personally I can't wait to start leveling an alliance shaman and go to BG's throwing out 1 second flash heals, purging everything in sight, and dropping Windfury totems for all the epic 2H wearing allaince warriors. We will see how horde priests and and shaman like being two shot.

BartmanDK Jul 21st 2006 2:05PM

4.
And i cant wait for you to realise that Shaman isent Easy-mode in pvp!!

Ahms Jul 21st 2006 2:09PM

That's all they do care about now, "balance" and items. The Warcraft Universe itself no longer fits into the equation- it is bended to serve uncreative designs

It's just another game now. Sadly, though, there's really nothing else out there that isn't a direct copy to go to

Mordiceius Jul 21st 2006 2:21PM

Kaylos, you do not seem to understand, the paladins are overpowered for their BUFFS, not their survivability/healing. They can cast buffs BEFORE the battle instead of shamans having to cast during the battle. They can buff groups outside their own, and shamans can only buff their OWN group and only when they are in RANGE of the totem.

And Ahms, if there was not some sort of balance put in, we would see the end of the Horde. Take a look at the Naxxramus progression. The Alliance vs Horde progression is daunting. Alliance WAY outnumbers Horde in the advancements. Plus, this now allows Shamans and Paladins to explore different builds. We will now have a chance to see more elemental shamans instead of all restoration ones. This change opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

Mat Jul 21st 2006 2:28PM

So do you guys think that paladins are going to get /spit on in org?

:))

J Jul 21st 2006 2:39PM

Soooooooo lame. My roommate called to inform me that Shaman's officially have no endgame now... it's true to an extent. I would love somebody to explain a Shaman's endgame though if they're bored...

Kaylos Jul 21st 2006 2:47PM

.5 and I watched a good personal friend rip through to 60 in no time and and kick butt the whole way. Also, every in game friend I had that had played paladin to 60 and shaman to 60 had nothing to say but how much better shaman were in pvp than paladins. Shock, heal, heal, heal, shock, heal, purge, heal, shock.

I won't argue the PvE disparity in favor of alliance, but the PvP disparity was just about as night and day as the PvE one was. Have fun with your non-healing dpsadins.

Mordiceius Jul 21st 2006 2:47PM

nope, no spitting, end game raids will worship them.

twh Jul 21st 2006 3:00PM

I'm still going with that this is a band-aid over a gaping wound that Blizzard should have stitched closed a long time ago.

Alarius Jul 21st 2006 3:20PM

This breaks the lore in so many ways and regardless of Blizzard having to go back and fix their mistakes.

The Draenei are believers in the "Light," it doesn't make sense to not give them a Paladin class, so wtf?

Kaylos Jul 21st 2006 3:39PM

.8
I don't think shaman are going to be marginalized from end game content, in the same way that you won't see paladins marginalized from PvP. If anything, the stacking paladin and shaman buffs can be used to easily to the advantage of a raid. If anything, raid content will be that much harder once the expansion comes out to account for the extra aggro a Main tank gets with WF, kings, might, and how Salvation and Tranquil totem allow that much more aggro reduction. That and healers are almost always in demand for raids. The only issue is raid make-up. Does it go to a more 4 per class, with 4 slots for extra. (most likely DPS classes since shaman/paladins in same raid shift more classes into healing)

Paladins will bring extra buffs and "in the hands of an exceptional player" an incredibaly difficult to kill healer. Good paladins are hard to find, but when you do, they are very powerful.

I think what you are really going to see is a lot of synergy amongst the good raiding and PvP groups when it comes to Paladins/Shaman.

Belurme Jul 21st 2006 3:49PM

10. It actually makes sense if you think about it hard enough. If you read the Draenai history it says they were a shamanistic people. That right there SCREAMS Shaman as a class for them. And with the Blood Elves (who used to be part of the Alliance as High Elves back in the earlier Warcraft games) could easily have had the human and dwarven paladins teach them a thing or two about being Paladins.

I know its a cop out but I will definitely relish the fact I will be able to roll a Horde pally since all my friends play Horde and I loved my old human Pally.

Chad Jul 21st 2006 3:54PM

2 Things:

They've changed the Lore before, I expect it to happen again. Maybe Blizz can write a 12 part saga drawn by George Perez about it. The story isn't set in stone. They're doing their best to give substance to something that is primarily a GAME. I can reconcile it. Xorn is still Magneto tho, I don't care WHAT they say.

I just want to make sure I don't have to sneak into Durotar for the "Call of Fire".

Secondly, "The Light" is only divinity in one direction. As we've seen throughout WoW, and in real life, religion and belief structures are not necessarily or exclusively a belief in an ethereal substance. Look at the Trolls, or even the Night Elves. They observe an ethereal "god", VooDoo and Elune, respectively. They also observe and respect a more zen-like perspective about nature with the shaman and druid classes. Trolls even exploit arcane disciplines.

The Draenei may or may not believe in The Light. Wait for Burning Crusade to lay out the story, and even then, like I say, it might change. "The Light" might be the source of a much older religion of the Eredar. Elune might be an Old God. Allaince Priests might be kidding themselves. Shamanism might be more entwined with "The Light" than anyone realizes. How will turn out? No one knows. It's a mystery.

I just hope we'll not swimming in Belf Pallies.

Any idea whether Sylvanas will get new ears in a patch?

el oh el blizzard Jul 21st 2006 4:16PM

This is a lame cop out by blizzard. Lore isnt an issue, that was thrown out the window when they gave us the dranei back story.

This whole issue is, Blizzard taking the laziest way possible to balance the the factions for end game content. Instead of trying to keep both sides unique they flake out. Warhammer cant come fast enough it seems

Kaylos Jul 21st 2006 4:39PM

Mordecieus, in PvP Paladins buffs are near worthless against good horde teams, as they are inevitably purged/dispelled seconds into the fight. The only buffs I can rely on in PvP as a warrior are Battleshout/sharpening stones as they cannot be purged. Its as bad as fighting Garr in PvP.

I am not arguing the difference though in PvE. something had to be done about the imbalance. Is this the best solution for that, I am not really sure. the other issue is how far away this pve solution is out. The expansion is probably still months away and then you hav to wait for the Paladins on horde side to get to 60. Sure, some will be there in a matter of a week, but most won't