Paladin glyphs in Beta build 8885
A few new glyphs have popped up in the latest Beta build, and basing it on MMO Champion's list, it looks like some old ones have changed. A quick glance at the glyphs show them to be rather underwhelming, however, and I'm not so sure Blizzard is taking the right direction with them. Let's take a closer look.
Glyph of Blessing of Kings
Reduce the mana cost of your Blessing of Kings and Greater Blessing of Kings spells by 50%.
This seems to be either a changed Glyph or another one for the same spell, I'm not too sure. The other one, which I discussed in a previous post, also increases attack power by 3%. Not very useful for casters, sure, but certainly better than this one. This Glyph downright blows. Why? Because Blessing of Kings and specially Greater Blessing of Kings are preparatory spells! The mana cost reduction is irrelevant because Paladins cast this spell during downtime, the buffing up stage. Paladins will have the opportunity to drink before the encounter so mana saved from this spell is utterly worthless. In PvP, where Blessings are routinely dispelled, this Glyph is slightly more useful. However, it's probably best to save that Glyph slot -- even a minor one -- for something better.
Glyph of Sense Undead
Damage against Undead increased by 1% while your Sense Undead abilityAlthough it's an unimpressive looking Glyph, I'll have to confess I actually like it. Leveling up in Northrend, particularly, I had Sense Undead up virtually all the time because I'm not a gatherer. With the sheer number of Undead in Northrend, it only makes sense to keep Undead tracking up as often as possible. It's not a fantastic Glyph by any means, but it's not total garbage, either. A Minor Glyph at best.
Glyph of the Warhorse
Reduce the casting time of your Summon Charger and Summon Warhorse spells by 0.5 sec.
Finally something moderately useful. More of a PvP Glyph than anything, being able to mount up faster -- specially in the Battlegrounds -- is pretty handy. If it were a 1.5 sec reduction, it would be pretty awesome. But right now it gets a grade of 'not too bad'.
Glyph of Lay on Hands
Increases the mana restored by your Lay on Hands spell by 5%.
The best of this batch of Glyphs, the new and improved Lay on Hands will get even more improved with this Glyph. The Paladin's uh-oh spell is cast during the worst situations, and in those situations more mana is always good. It's not as great when cast on, say, Warrior or Death Knight tanks, but when cast on yourself or other Paladin tanks, it's gold.
Glyph of Blessing of Might / Blessing of Wisdom
Increases the duration of your Blessing of Might / Blessing of Wisdom spell by 20 min when cast on yourself.
Why? I mean, what's the point? When you're soloing, throwing up a Blessing every ten minutes isn't such a big deal. In raids or even 5-man instances, you'll be using the Greater version, anyway. This is a case of easing micromanagement where it isn't needed. Back in the days of five minute Blessings, these Glyphs might have been a godsend. Right now both Glyphs are a waste of a Glyph slot.
Well, there you have it. An underwhelming batch of Glyphs for Paladins this build. Looking at the Glyphs other classes got, I can't help but feel that these Glyphs were designed by someone who doesn't play the Paladin class. It's easy enough to invent Glyphs for spells by reducing mana costs or extending durations... but someone who actually plays the class would know if those improvements actually make sense. Right now, they don't.
It would've been nice to see additional effects to our spells like how Rogues get water walking when they Sprint with the Glyph of Blurred Speed. How cool is that? Paladins don't get anything creative or even highly useful. I'm disappointed but thankful that this is merely Beta, and I'm hopeful we'll see better -- even cooler -- Glyphs in a future build.
