The State of Class Identities: Paladin

For Hearthstone players of the world, the class identity of Paladin may have always been the most obvious of all classes: A holy warrior that fights for what is good, antagonizing all evil beings and their actions with utmost conviction. This very general description applies not only to Hearthstone’s class but the famous Paladin identity in modern fantasy story-telling as a whole which goes way back to medieval literature.

Blizzard picked this easy-to-understand, “black and white” character concept and put it into their games, starting with Warcraft II. Going forward, the Paladin class became an Alliance-exclusive playable character archetype in World of Warcraft and turned out to be one of the most popular class choices over the last 15 years of Blizzard’s MMO.

With the creation of Hearthstone, the core values of the Paladin fantasy couldn’t have been translated more clearly. However, over the course of the years of development, Paladin suffered several identity crises, and only just recently turned into a prime example of fantasy-driven card design thanks to Scholomance Academy and the Pure Paladin archetype. 

In the second part of our Class Identities series, we dive deep into Paladin lore, the history of Paladin class design in Hearthstone up to this day, and possible future developments that would fit the Paladin identity.

The Past of Paladin

As already said, the original translation between Warcraft’s take on Paladin fantasy and the first look of the Paladin class after Hearthstone’s release just made sense. Besides Druid, Paladins in World of Warcraft are the only class that is able to fulfill all three “trinity” roles that modern-day MMOs offer: they can tank, deal and heal damage based on their specialization. In all of those roles they are also able to use the power of the Holy Light, the resource behind Azeroth’s “world religion”, to bless their allies in battle.

Looking at Paladin’s Basic and Classic set, the “jack-of-all-trades” fantasy is easily showcased through several core mechanics in card design: Healing and stat increases build synergy between cards, while an arsenal of weapons together with the Divine Shield mechanic enables Paladins to bestow the holy word upon their enemies in melee combat.

Sadly, the streamlined Paladin experience of becoming a blessed warrior who fights for the one sacred purpose has been washed away over the course of the years, and that only gets clearer once we have taken a closer look at the most influential Paladin archetypes in Hearthstone history.

First, and certainly most shockingly, there is Murloc Paladin. MURLOC Paladin. We have dug deep in the libraries of Warcraft lore, and after our zealous studies, one thing remains very certain: There is not a single reason why the Paladin class identity and the Murloc minion type would be a particularly great match.

To be honest, the decision to put together the warriors of the Holy Light and the non-intelligent life form most certainly derived from fantasy-independent design concepts like advertising some sort of “Zoo Paladin” playstyle. And while we all love Hearthstone’s silly approach to Warcraft lore, murlocs, in general, should stay the neutral tribe they still are in all other Warcraft universes.

Other tribe-related archetypes like Dragon or Mech Paladin can be put in the “murloc basket” of poor decisions regarding essential class fantasy that just water down the noble and stringent Paladin identity. Thankfully, Paladin’s top archetypes over the years did not only include tribe-heavy lists. Both Secret Paladin and Silver Hand Paladin showed true potential in terms of providing the archetypical “feel” of being a warrior of the light. 

In terms of class design, the inclusion of secrets as a Paladin mechanic always felt somewhat arbitrary, but it does make sense lore-wise: Every cult-like group has secrets that only the believers should know, and every nonbeliever will be punished if they try to reveal those secrets. Another great lore approach is the Paladin secret as some sort of “divine intervention” in-between their own turns – a last-ditch effort either to convert their seemingly lost enemies or to save their wounded brethren.

Silver Hand Paladin, or “Dude” Paladin, relied on swarming the board with Silver Hand Recruits, which on their own showcased the structural hierarchy of Paladins in the world of Azeroth. The Order of the Knights of the Silver Hand was the first group of paladins in the Alliance, led by Tirion Fordring, to fight in the name of the Holy Light. And what else would be more paladin-like then to overwhelm the enemy with members of the most elite group of paladins that Warcraft lore has seen?

The Present of Paladin

Despite the earnest efforts of Paladin archetypes becoming more identity-related, lists like Murloc and Aggro Paladin put the class back into the state of using neutral card design more than anything. The first step away from this rollercoaster of finding Paladin’s identity was the inclusion of Librams with the Ashes of Outland expansion.

We don’t need to talk a whole lot about the obvious lore implications of Librams. Paladins use books as a source of information – and not only for the sake of historic accuracy, but also to learn about the holy magic of the Light that they intend to use on the battlefield. The full art of Uther Lightbringer, one of Azeroth’s most influential paladins, shows him holding a libram, and that should be enough evidence to see how important librams are to the Paladin class fantasy.

The introduced minions to support the released Librams fully immerse themselves in the way of the Paladin – Lightforged Zealot and Aldor Truthseeker showcase its core values through their names alone.

Together with Lightforged Crusader, a unique card design that single-handedly kickstarted the Pure Paladin archetype, the Libram package was destined to pair up with highly synergistic Paladin cards. However, it was Scholomance Academy’s card additions that gave Pure Paladin enough fuel to light up the zealous fire of a list that was highly competitive and purely relied on class cards.

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