v1.0 - No stats at this time
The Paladin is a melee support built to face the front lines with all the conviction of his faith and the ability to empower his allies in the fight ahead. He wields a longsword and shield and wears full platemail and crownhelm. His trait allows him to toggle between a Defensive aura and an Offensive aura, whichever is more important at the time, benefiting most immediately from increased health regeneration or stronger basic attacks. His skills are primarily supportive of the team, having a heal that also acts as a damage skill, a unique style of shield skill, as well as a small stun. Borrowing from his kit in Diablo 2, he can be built as a powerful support assassin in his own right or focus heavily on a variety of support purist options.
I have not come across any other paladin concepts before making this, but there may be similarities to any that are out there.
The most immediately difficult part was making him unique enough compared to Uther and providing a shield that doesn't take from either Reghar or Tassadar. I believe his shield ability has achieved this endeavor beautifully and is entirely unique compared to other support classes as it applies stacks of Block to the target rather than a health or damage shield. I also feel I've made him different enough from Uther in his heal and his stun that both will fit into their own playstyle well enough without the D2 Paladin being Uther with auras. The stun skill is less a stun and more of an interrupt and damage skill, but can be talented for an offensive support build, while having only one heal that explodes on impact rather than healing/damaging in a line. Like Kharazim, there is plenty of room to commit to a more offensive build and still achieve a good level of support for your team.
My design philosophy with my D2 hero concepts is to be able to bring in as much of their D2 kit as possible in as balanced a way as possible. Talents effect precisely how you'll determine the part of the kit you would use and focus on and leaving room for multiple builds, just as with D2.
D2 Assassin concept:
http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/concept/d2-assassin-3559
D2 Necromancer concept:
http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/concept/d2-necromancer-3440
D2 Amazon concept:
http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/concept/d2-amazon-3439
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No stats at this time
Heroes of the Storm Build Guides
1) If you look into game, you find that every healer got targeted or autotargeted heal for simply reason. Healers have to be reliable. Uthers W is probably only heal skillshot in game and even thought it heal everything in way, his Q is preferred heal.
This version holy bolt will collide with 1st target, which will make it even less reliable than Uthers W and simply uncompetive as healer.
2) Rather than another big ulti AoE I would prefer Fist of Heavens as low cd single strike with some healing component
3) Divine Blessing of Akarat sounds boring. I believe there could be more interesting option.
2. That would start making him too much like Kharazim and he was already hard enough to make different from Uther. He needs to be unique enough on his own. There really are no area heal nukes in game and Fist of the Heavens plays into his offensive support theme given the nature of Holy Bolt so it's both thematic and useful.
3. I can try and think of something different, but at this point his kit is used up. I feel a very unique support role would be to follow from his capacity in D2 to rely on his auras, so a heroic playing off of that would be a logical choice. If I make it a level 20 active skill, that risks being way OP considering he'd still have a heroic, and how to give him an appropriate alternative heroic will be difficult. The only skill really left (without using the hammer that Johanna can talent) is Vengeance. I have ideas for that now, though, so I'll add an alternative proposition.
2. I can't see how it would make him too much like Kharazim.
2. I already gave Smite a heal on use AOE. I'd rather not mimic that with a heroic. And by Kharazim, I mean the PBAoE healing and 3rd basic heal proc. Each skill he brings to the table needs to be reasonably different from existing skills from other heroes. Too much overlap and it just becomes a matter of which one is better in more situations or otherwise has the better stats. Know what I mean? I think his heroics as they are now, and the alt I offered over Blessing, could be sufficient (though without Blessing, the heroics now become too similar as they do the same thing...)