Hand of Sacrifice, for example, no longer works as an anti-Crowd Control mechanic because of the long cooldown. But what is lost in PvP was gained in PvE, as it now works extremely well as a mitigator with a 30% damage reduction. Used properly, it can buy time for our cast heals. Hand of Salvation works completely differently now, usable as a targeted Fade or Soulshatter. It's a %-based reduction, so it works extremely well with DPS that have their burst go out of control. These changes make these spells adaptive to situations, particularly the Hand of Salvation. Whereas we used to cast Blessing of Salvation on players preparatory to a fight, the new spell will have us keep an eye on threat meters for the right timing for this spell.

Another cool thing that might get lost in the shuffle is the availability of formerly faction-exclusive Seals to all players. This means that Alliance Paladins get their own Seal of Blood (called Seal of the Martyr) and Horde Paladins will get Seal of Corruption, the Blood Elf version of Seal of Vengeance. Alliance Retadins can now celebrate and be on equal footing with Horde Paladins on DPS, and Horde Paladins finally have a Damage-over-Time debuff. Seal of Corruption / Vengeance now applies a debuff 100% of the time, too.

It's a very encouraging time for Paladins. Patch 3.0 will bring new spells and a more involved way of playing. When Blizzard said they'd be overhauling the class for the better, it looks like they meant it. There's still the issue of Retribution's mana regeneration, but it's still Beta and Paladins have yet to get a second pass. Personally, I can't wait for that build to arrive. Despite my disappointment in the changes to Judgements of the Wise, with every good thing I've seen Blizzard do with the class in Beta, I'm confident that everything will work out just fine in the end.