I made a short video going over why I believe 4 DK and Holy Paladin is the best melee comp and a solid choice for beginners in Shadowlands. If you want to experience some M+, some PvP, and everything in between: this is the comp for you. I kept the focus of the video primarily around the Holy Paladin. Death Knights benefits have remained largely the same over the years, although I've put some of them below.
The execution of this video is frankly not good and needs to be improved for the future. Probably should have just completely cut out the ratings at the end.
Strengths - One of the easiest melee comps to play. 5 prot paladins might be the only easier comp.
- Very versatile. Can be run as a trinity with 3 UH/Frost, 4 Blood, or 4 Frost for PvP
- As with any healer driven team, doesn't require much beyond a default Isboxer configuration, although I am showcasing a pro system setup with focus healing in this video.
Cons -Death Knights are not very mobile, no speed boost. You have a gap closer and a slow.
-2H Frost is not very strong at the moment
-4/5 Tank comps get kinda boring at the higher level keys.
Holy Paladin - Holy Paladins belong in melee. There's a risk/reward structure to their damage, and they're the highest dps healer at the moment.
- It's really fun to play. Glimmer is fun and being a shockadin has always been fun.
- Keeping beacon on your paladin gives your paladin a crazy amount of survivability, as the healer will primarily be dpsing with a 4 tank comp.
- Holy Paladin mastery is based around their proximity to their healing targets, making being in melee make the most amount of sense.
- They wear plate, so the armor stacking is real with this comp.
- Compared to the other healers (monk maybe the only exception), being in melee isn't particularly challenging or inefficient. Contrast to a priest for example, who doesn't have as much armor and needs to be able to free cast without constantly moving, the Pally is the clear winner.
Death Knights: - 2H FROST IS BACK!! Not very good though, definitely more boxer friendly (in PvP) than Unholy.
- 2H Frost will have way more PvP viability than Unholy does. Unholy doesn't have much burst and the damage is very predictable. Getting quick kills just isn't there.
- Blood has always been a viable choice in PvE.
- Having 4 death grips, 4 interrupts, 4 stuns, a magic immunity, and a self healing mechanism is insane for a class with no actual direct heal.
Final Ratings:
Ease: 3/5
Since it is a melee comp, it can't really score higher than a 3. It is a very easy melee comp though.
Versatility: 4/5
The only comp more versatile than this is likely 5x Druids.
PvE Viability: 4/5
4x Blood was really strong in BFA Season 4 because of Twilight Dev. I was still doing some pretty difficult keys with 3 UH, and I think if you really invested yourself into playing this as a trinity, you'd see success. It's certainly viable, but no one is playing it trinity.
PvP Viability: 4/5
I'm not a huge PvPer, and PvP is largely balance related. I didn't give it a 5 because 2H Frost could completely fall on its face.
11-02-2020, 12:06 PM
Lyonheart
Thank you for excellent write up/vid! This is the comp I have been thinking about for sure. i will level all my teams as one class and decide comps later. But based on my play testing of the 5 melee comps, Paladins just have a lot to offer ( other than top dps ). They are the safest by far. The healing/shield/rezes ect. Makes them easy and safe. And i think they are fun. They also do respectable DPS ( both 5 prot and 5 ret ) Admittingly, I am partial to the fantasy of Paladins though.
I will definitely try and step out of my comfort zone this expansion and try different comps/specs like DKs, and I have just grown to love melee comps. It is why i am leveling them all during pre patch! I cant wait to see how far some of you go with melee in Shadowlands!
11-02-2020, 01:53 PM
z0k
I should do a separate video on 5 paladins. It's a strong comp for sure. I don't think I did a great job explaining necessarily why, but I don't think it's as easy to play as 4 DKs and a pally. I say that largely because you actually need to do some thought around the configuration with paladins once you get into higher content. Whereas with the DKs and paladin, you can simply drive from the healer, spam dps buttons, and use mouseover macros to heal like you would when you normally control a healer. Someone with 20 minutes of Isboxer experience can probably figure it out. With paladins you have to navigate focus healing, word of glory usage, etc.
11-02-2020, 07:33 PM
Lyonheart
Quote:
Originally Posted by z0k
I should do a separate video on 5 paladins. It's a strong comp for sure. I don't think I did a great job explaining necessarily why, but I don't think it's as easy to play as 4 DKs and a pally. I say that largely because you actually need to do some thought around the configuration with paladins once you get into higher content. Whereas with the DKs and paladin, you can simply drive from the healer, spam dps buttons, and use mouseover macros to heal like you would when you normally control a healer. Someone with 20 minutes of Isboxer experience can probably figure it out. With paladins you have to navigate focus healing, word of glory usage, etc.
When i heal .. i just use vuhdo and repeater regions.. i know.. lazy, but it works well. I have a mix of paladins doing flash heal and some do WoG..i know its not the best method.. i overheal a ton.. but I hardly need big heals..and all the OH SHIT moments are handled with the plethora of shields and other oh shit buttons. But that takes away from DPS.. so i can see your comp being better..so i will 100% try it! I think i might level a new paladin just for the DK team.
