Paladins combine plate-armored melee combat with holy magic and group support. Blizzard’s Deep Dive is unusually specific about Paladin changes, outlining updates across Holy, Protection, and Retribution while emphasizing that the class should keep its recognizable strengths and limits.
Confirmed Paladin changes in Forever
- Holy Strike is part of the new toolkit and is empowered by the Retribution talent Sacred Arbiter.
- Seal of Fury is presented as a tanking direction.
- Judgment no longer consumes the active Seal.
- Consecration has updated target behavior.
- Talents across Holy, Protection, and Retribution are being revised.
The recap also names Retribution updates including Vindication, Sacred Arbiter, Champion of the Light, Instrument of the Law, and Twist of Light. Twist of Light supports Seal Twisting without relying on an external swing-timer add-on; Holy Shock is another announced path for ranged, spell-powered play. Exact values and final tuning should be checked against the current build.
Paladin design trade-offs
Blizzard’s stated aim is to make Paladins more capable as tanks, healers, and Retribution damage dealers without removing the class’s edges. The Deep Dive notes limits such as lacking an interrupt and relying on its Seal/Judgment system for taunting. Class buffs are also part of a wider baseline update; the level-16 talent milestone and group viability goal for all 27 trees are summarized on our Classes hub.
New race options
Undead Paladin is one of six newly confirmed combinations. See our Undead guide and the Forsaken Paladin news article. The compatibility guide lists the full announced roster.
Official source: Blizzard’s Forever Deep Dive panel recap.
