You've Got Mail!

While I'd rarely kept many secrets about decrying the paladin class, in general, throughout my WoW career, it had always fascinated me to see to what "depths" Holy pallies would "descend" just to get +Healing gear. Pallies in cloth and leather weren't uncommon, and since they were unavailable to the Alliance, shaman weren't ever a factor, so when there'd be a random piece of +Heal chain mail dropped, it was as good as the paladin's that wanted it. But for someone that could wear all four armor classes, if they weren't wearing the highest, then that cloth or leather piece was obviously ill-gotten. Made me want to grab them by the metaphorical lapels and slam them up against a locker. You know, get all Jack Bauer on them: "Who was the poor druid or priest that was gypped out of their healing gear, just so you could feel adequate, Warrior of Light???" As I leveled Echuta through The Burning Crusade, I remember a litany of swear words whenever I'd go to turn in a long quest chain that culminated in a group quest where the reward was hidden from sight- (tucked neatly away into 3 more steps of the chain which were rarely more than standing right where you were and talking to the same guy again and again)- and finding that the reward for plate wearers was +dmg/healing, rather than strength, stamina, or defense. Once I began to level Lucy, and Outland became more and more of a realistic destination, I vowed never to become THAT pally- the one in the back with all the scavenged gear. I knew for a fact that there was more than enough +dmg plate out there that there'd never be a need to downrank my armor class.

And I was right. From a certain point of view.

It looks like Blizzard overcompensated for the fact that you don't really find any +spell dmg/healing plate until lvl 60 in WoW 1.0. What they neglected to do, however, is supplement that with straight +healing plate at level 70. I mention all of this because Lucy got her first two epics in Karazhan, the other night. They were both Restoration shaman drops- chain mail. I had to make the decision of whether or not I was going to violate my stern paladin principles (LOLZ) and become THAT paladin. We had 4 priests, so they certainly couldn't use them, and they were clear and present upgrades over the green "of Healing" pieces that I had. Maulgar, the other night, proved to me that AC hardly matters in the healing world, because I was still getting Pyroblast one-shot by one of the ogres, plate-be damned. Might as well take the upgrades any way I can get them, at that point.

It dawned on me, though, that while it was easy to hate on the pallies in a general, prejudicial sense, I never stopped to think about what you do when you're forced with the realization that just because you might love healing with this class, that doesn't mean that Blizzard is going to play nice with drops for your particular class. The more I've looked into it, the more I realize that the only specs that got shafted more than the Holy paladins in the pre-expansion world were the Retribution and Protection ones. All of the +dmg plate you see once you arrive in Outland is Blizz making amends to not giving the players of the class the tools they needed to succeed.