Now I have said many times, I honestly don't see myself making the move to Cataclysm. However this may change, will that be because of the Paladin Class changes? Let's talk it over and see.

(yes I'm following the order of everything posted on MMO Champ)

Blinding Shield (level 81): Causes damage and blinds all nearby targets. This effect might end up only damaging those facing the paladin’s shield, in a manner similar to Eadric the Pure's ability Radiance in Trial of the Champion. The Holy tree will have a talent to increase the damage and critical strike chance, while the Protection tree will have a talent to make this spell instant cast. 2-second base cast time. Requires a shield.

Ok this is interesting, we will be getting what seems to be a pretty decent PvP ability. Also it wont be a bad CC ability in a raid. Since it looks like Blizz is wanting us to go away from our current trash strat (gather it up and AOE it all down) and maybe go back to a CC pull type strat this may be a good initial pull utility, or better yet an Oh Fuck! people are dying help the tank get everything CC Them now! I'm not too Impressed by this ability but it may be fun from time to time.

Healing Hands (level 83): Healing Hands is a new healing spell. The paladin radiates heals from him or herself, almost like a Healing Stream Totem. It has a short range, but a long enough duration that the paladin can cast other heals while Healing Hands remains active. 15-second cooldown. 6-second duration 

Ok so stick the pally where the aoe damage is going to be hitting and have them hit HH while flashing the rest of the raid! Can't fully speculate on the usefulness of this until we see how this figures into the new healing format. Also how great can it be with a 15 second CD? I suppose if it's on par with a healing stream totem (as it is now) that would be fairly useful in the new healing format.

Guardian of Ancient Kings (level 85): Summons a temporary guardian that looks like a winged creature of light armed with a sword. The visual is similar to that of the Resurrection spell used by the paladin in Warcraft III. The guardian has a different effect depending on the talent spec of the paladin. For Holy paladins, the guardian heals the most wounded ally in the area. For Protection paladins, the guardian absorbs some incoming damage. For Retribution paladins, it damages an enemy, similar to the death knight Gargoyle or the Nibelung staff. 3-minute cooldown. 30-second duration (this might vary depending on which guardian appears).

First off, see This Video That is what this ability will kinda look like supposedly. If they can make it pretty damned cool looking this may just be worth it for the looks of the ability alone. So Healing the most wounded ally.

I'm curious about the wording on this, Let say theres 4 people in raid who are below 100% health. one is Orky who is at 40% "the most wounded ally" then we have Onrique and Ag at 75% and then I'm at 95%. Will this guardian come out and heal Orky and only Orky for 30 seconds? or once Orky is at 80%+ will the Guardian move onto Ag and Onrique... better yet! if people are at the same % who will he heal? what is the priority? is it alphabetical? or in order of party in raid? We'll have to get further info on it before anyone can really speculate further.

The other abilities of this guardian seem to be pretty straight forward. We'll just have to see what the numbers are. It appears this will be a "go to" CD for Pallies in Cataclysm.

I want to continue this blog in awhile and discuss further changes but for now I need a break.