The 20th Anniversary patch otherwise known as 11.0.5 brings some changes to the Paladin class, including major class tree changes, and some minor changes to the Protection spec tree itself. 11.0.5 is not a rework for Protection where things will be fundamentally different. The focus seems to be the class tree for Paladins. But that will trickle down to each spec in different ways. There is a perception in the community that if your class gets a whole bunch of patch notes, then it's nothing but great and that something will be overpowered. But in this case, the power level of Protection Paladin won't change that much and the spec will retain some of the same issues it has in 11.0.2.
In this article, I'll discuss some of the changes in 11.0.5, how they affect Protection, as well as some concerns and issues.
What is Gained in Patch 11.0.5
We'll start with what was gained in 11.0.5. It's always more fun to talk about the positives and how things are better.
Class Tree Flexibility
With the removal of power-based talents like
Justification, we'll have more flexibility in the class tree to pick up utility. In 11.0.2, Paladins have to dedicate points to power choices and that can severely limit what utility can be taken. It boils down to picking strictly mandatories and dropping the nice to-haves. 11.0.5 will change this by allowing Paladins to have more nice haves.
Crowd Control
Paladins will have more mob control through more accessible talents.
Blinding Light will no longer be locked behind
Cleanse Toxins, and
Fist of Justice will be a single point with the same overall value. The most obvious place this will be a difference maker is Mythic+ where stops for trash can help a group tremendously. Then there is
Turn Evil, which received a supporting choice node with two talents:
Wrench Evil and
Stand Against Evil. Neither will see play right now but could in the future depending on Mythic+ dungeon pools.
A New Defensive Cooldown
With the addition of
Empyreal Ward,
Lay on Hands will become a core defensive cooldown in 11.0.5.
Empyreal Ward currently increases total armor by 100%, including after buffs like
Shield of the Righteous. This synergizes with
Tirion's Devotion and
Uther's Counsel so you can have it on a short cooldown. It will be easily plannable for Mythic+ and Raid as part of a CD rotation. You can even sell it to Guardian Druids, who will want it for damage from
Thorns of Iron.
Less Opportunity Cost
Divine Toll, including the
Divine Resonance and
Quickened Invocation choice node and
Divine Purpose were moved up in the tree. This reduces their opportunity cost compared to 11.0.2. There is a lot of tension between picking
Divine Purpose or
Divine Resonance when both can be critical elements of a talent setup. And taking both in 11.0.2, meant you were giving up something else that's equally powerful. This change could also make a talent like
For Whom the Bell Tolls playable, which it isn't in 11.0.2.
Spec Talents With More Weight
We got a new talent called
Refining Fire in the spec tree. It's a version of the 2pc Aberrus set and adds weight to
Avenger's Shield, which it badly needs. Additionally,
Gift of the Golden Val'kyr and
Uther's Counsel were made 1 point talents with 2x the value. For example in 11.0.2,
Gift of the Golden Val'kyr would give ~20s of cooldown reduction on
Guardian of Ancient Kings when you
Divine Toll since you usually only play 1 point. With the value doubled in 11.0.5,
Divine Toll will give 40 seconds of cooldown reduction on
Guardian of Ancient Kings. Combined with a more effective
Uther's Counsel, we'll have more availability of our large cooldowns.
What Will Become Baseline?
Now let's talk about what will be core in 11.0.5 and will no longer require talent points.
So overall, we're just getting previous talents for free. They'll be built-in. This will ultimately keep the power level very similar to what it is now and let the new talents live on top of it. This means that we're only gaining and the spec will be better in 11.0.5 compared to 11.0.2.
Sample Build Analysis
I thought I would show and talk about a
sample build that will be possible in 11.0.5. We'll use a Mythic+ example as it will be way more obvious what was gained compared to 11.0.2. Here is a possible build in 11.0.5.
With this build, here are the differences with a typical 11.0.2 build in Mythic+:
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. You could easily rearrange the class tree to pick up other utility options that might prove valuable. With this class tree, we have that flexibility.
Concerns & Bugs
Not A Silver Bullet
This patch is still not a silver bullet to Protection's problems. It helps with some of the mitigation concerns by increasing cooldown uptime but outside of cooldowns, the spec will be as difficult to play as it is today. Protection will still have the same relative passive mitigation and that keeps spike damage a threat. The core problem with Paladin's mitigation right now isn't singular health spikes that happen every so often; the issue is that the threat of health spikes are constant and tools like
Word of Glory are limited because of mana costs and tuning levels. There is no moment outside of cooldowns where Protection Paladins feel strong or safe which leads to a completely different game experience from playing the other tanks.
Talent Tuning
While I am very glowing in my points above that Protection is better, the new class tree does have some imperfect talents. The biggest offender is
Stoicism. This reduces stun duration by 20% and while this might appear to be a "PvP talent" - it's only a 10% reduction in PvP. It can't be a PvP talent if it's nerfed in PvP to start with.
Sacred Strength is another talent that needs a tuning pass. At 2%, it's not close to
Divine Purpose in terms of effectiveness. It has to be higher to be an even choice on the same choice node.
Bugs
As usual, here are the most important bugs to fix before 11.0.5 is released.
Final Thoughts
I'm generally very positive about 11.0.5 and the changes that are coming. There are changes in this patch that I didn't even cover like the new choice node for Lightsmith, which gives it access to more interrupts or team support tricks. The core of the patch is about options and giving more of them. It beefs up some cooldown availability for Protection that it desperately needs. It won't solve everything but life will be a bit better.
