Paladin / Legion changes Holy . We love the unique identity of the paladin healer and are modifying the gameplay to better support it . Single - target healing from Beacon of Light remains their marquee ability , but other abilities and talents have been adjusted to encourage holy paladins to be near the people they want to heal — including melee characters , when necessary . This is incentivized by Lightbringer , a new Mastery , which increases healing on allies near you . This is further reinforced by the addition of a row of Aura talents that provide a variety of localized beneficial effects , and refinements to some spells , such as Light of Dawn returning to being a cone . Talents will also provide players with options to incorporate offensive capabilities while healing . When allies are in need , Light of the Martyr allows the holy paladin to rapidly heal them by sacrificing personal health . Finally , we ’ re addressing gameplay restrictions caused by Holy Power — in which players often feel forced to use abilities in specific orders or ratios — by removing it in favor of making Mana the primary resource . To give you an idea of the Holy Paladin in action , here ’ s a basic look at their core combat abilities : Additionally , to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this , here ’ s one example of a Holy - specific talent : Protection . The protection paladin arsenal is already closely aligned with its theme . The primary change is the removal of Holy Power , which didn ’ t have a lot of depth and mostly amounted to limiting use of only a couple of abilities . Instead , these abilities now have cooldowns to allow for better interaction with other abilities . We ’ re also addressing an awkward control issue with Crusader Strike and Hammer of the Righteous . To improve control and depth , instead of two functionally identical ( apart from the AoE ) abilities , we ’ ve switched to one that conditionally triggers the AoE while standing in Consecration . Judgment is a good example of an ability that is staying simple — baseline — so as to provide a strong platform for talents and other effects to build upon . For defensive buttons , we ’ ve replaced Word of Glory with a self - focused spell , Light of the Protector , allowing it to be much more interesting and impactful . To give you an idea of the Protection Paladin in action , here ’ s a basic look at their core combat abilities : Additionally , to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this , here ’ s one example of a Protection - specific talent : Retribution . We ’ re making several tweaks to retribution to amplify their character . In particular , we ’ re refocusing most of their core abilities on short - range combat . So many of the retribution paladin ’ s abilities were ranged spells that they started to feel more like a caster than a melee crusader . A new ability , Blade of Justice ( along with several new talents ) will impact gameplay significantly , bolstering the inherent Retribution themes . Separating them from the other types of Paladins , retribution paladins continue to use Holy Power , serving as a strong mechanic for building interesting gameplay . To give you an idea of the Retribution Paladin in action , here ’ s a basic look at their core combat abilities : Additionally , to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this , here ’ s one example of a Retribution - specific talent :