Patch 3.0.8 brought in quite a number of changes to the game, many of which

affect PvP directly. I wrote about most of the changes in the other day's column,

but as you can imagine, trying to cover all the bases with all the classes can get

quite hefty. So before I reach Blizzard levels of 'soon', I'm cheating and appending

the rest of the class balance changes here and pretend the whole Wintergrasp

fiasco never happened. Oh, and yes, that button should work now.

CLASS BALANCE
Mages
Despite all the calls for nerfs for many classes, for some reason Mages have tiptoed

past the madding crowd and continued to Pyroblast unsuspecting enemies for 10k

damage without anyone batting an eyelash. Maybe it's their Invisibility, I don't

know, but Mages are incredibly powerful opponents in PvP but don't elicit calls for

nerfs. Christian was right in saying that Frost is no longer the spec for PvP. It now

shares the spotlight with Arcane, with the highest ranked Mage in the world

sporting a 60/ 0/ 11 build (although a Frost-specced 20/ 0/ 51 gnome isn't far

behind).

So you think Mages are strong in PvP? Well, they've just been buffed. Evocation's

cooldown was reduced to four minutes, and with Arcane Mages having access to

the improved Arcane Flows, they can Evocate every minute. It was never a viable

tactic to try and drain a Mage, but even with the spark of hope given by the

change to mana drain mechanics, Mages will never run out of mana. The extremely

RNG behavior of Mirror Images Polymorphing the most unlikely targets has been

curtailed somewhat with the range of the copy's Polymorph down to a mere 8

yards. This is pretty good.
Compared to other cloth classes, Mages have a considerably high survivability rate,

with Ice Block, Blink, and Invisibility at their disposal. In an environment where

burst damage is king (except in higher level Arenas, where healing is once again

proving to be dominant), a Mage's high burst (Arcane Barrage, anyone?) and

unaltered survivability keeps Mages in a good place.

Paladins
I wrote about how Paladins must feel like kings right now, and Patch 3.0.8 makes

them even better. Paladins are just about the best class for PvP right now --

almost overpowered, I'm ashamed to admit. Simply that in the current

environment where so many abilities can remove HoTs, direct heals are pure win.

With haste and talents that reduce healing cast time, a 6-second Holy Shock, and

incredible survivability, Holy Paladins are simply the best healers in Arenas right now.

Patch 3.0.8 revised a few things, the biggest buff being the removal of

Forbearance from Avenging Wrath. This should see the spell see more use in

Arena play. Holy Paladins' offensive capabilities were also buffed, with Judgements

of the Pure increasing damage done by seals and judgements. Not only can

Paladins throw out 18k Holy Lights in about 1.5 seconds, they can poke you with

judgements and stuff, too.

Divine Shield was reworked to apply a 50% damage penalty instead of an attack

speed penalty, making it more balanced. It won't be as frightening to see a

Retribution Paladin rush in all bubbled and swinging her mace around. But the best

buff to Paladins isn't actually a buff to the class but a change in dispel resistance

mechanics. This means the abominable Cleanse just got a little better. It might

actually work now instead of being a waste of the GCD.

Glyph of Turn Evil was nerfed to add an 8 second cooldown to the spell. A freely

spammable crowd control was just too powerful against Unholy Death Knights and

Demonology Warlocks. It was possible to shut down a ghoul or gargoyle entirely

and waste Metamorphosis. Diminishing returns and the new cooldown should see

this ability toned down in Arena play. Glyph of Hammer of Justice is now a range

increase, instead of an additional second of stun. Not a terrible nerf, and will prove

to be useful in allowing Retribution Paladins catch up to opponents, their kitability

being their biggest weakness right now.

Hopefully we'll see class representation balance out a bit more as the seasons

progress. Otherwise, if Paladins continue to dominate, I'm afraid we might see

nerfs to impair Paladin healing, which wouldn't be good for the class at all. It will be

Season 1 all over again, where nerfs to the class because of Arena representation

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