Holy Warrior: The World of Warcraft Paladin

World of Warcraft is an online, multi-player fantasy game built on the premise of role playing. Players connect to a number of servers, meet and fight other players and computer artificial intelligence within the gaming world, and develop their characters. The characters form the basis for both the game play and the ensuing obsession throughout the gaming world; these characters can be so personalized, so specifically created from top to bottom, that the game play becomes an extension of the players themselves. For a player, the first step in exploring this infinite world is selecting the type of character he or she will become, and one of the most popular classes is the World of Warcraft paladin.

The Holy Wars

The World of Warcraft paladin is a hybrid class, meaning it encompasses certain qualities of other, more polar classes. It is a melee fighter, but also a healer; it has the strength of a generic warrior, yet the magical powers of a druid. As such, it is a popular class for players, since it is essentially a combination of the best traits of two less-than-stellar classes.

A holy warrior, the World of Warcraft paladin is strong enough to wear plate armor, yet magically-inclined enough to cast an additional shield or healing blessing. The paladin is the epitome of good; he upholds the good in the world, and destroys the bad. Because of this, the World of Warcraft paladin is especially productive when battling the undead, or other completely evil beings. He follows a strict code; if he is to break this code, and at any point commits an evil act, he loses all light-given abilities and can no longer train as a paladin until he is atoned.

Unlike the warrior class, the World of Warcraft paladin can only be played as a few races: humans, dwarves, blood elves and the draenei. If a player is determined to play as a particular race, he or she may not be able to play as a paladin and may want to consider one of the other melee or healing-based classes. However, a World of Warcraft paladin is able to wield a large number of different weapons, including swords, maces, axes and polearms. However, the paladin cannot dual wield or used ranged weapons. A paladin can wear most types of armor, including plate armor, and can use a shield. A World of Warcraft paladin can even summon a warhorse.

As far as magic is concerned, a World of Warcraft paladin can cast auras, blessings and seals, thanks for the most part to its alignment with the world of light. His talents are divided into three categories: holy, protection and retribution. Retributions is especially important to the World of Warcraft paladin: it is, in a sense, his right to use his powers directly against the forces of evil, no matter what the consequences. For the sake of goodness, the paladin can kill without consequence.

Comments