Hi! My first post :)

I'm pretty set on playing a holy pally after release. I like the class fantasy & enjoy healing both PvP and PvE. Also played vanilla from day 1, and raided quite a bit (as a shammy).

One thing that's been bothering me, though.. I understand that best gear for paladins tend to be cloth gear, some of which are actually DPS items. And tier 1/2 sets are not good for healing at all. So, will I be competing with all other casters for the same gear? Will loot councils only give me the suboptimal tier 1/2 gear (as DPS is arguably more important than healing for MC/BWL)?

Thanks!

This depends entirely on your guild. Some guilds will focus on progression and distribute loot in the BEST way to optimize their teams. Other guilds that are more casual will distribute loot in a casual and messy fashion that typically revolves around who you know rather than your performance.

You may get in a DKP guild and depending on their ruleset you may be able to buy whatever the hell you want. There is no concrete answer to this question because it will depend on who you end up playing with. Ensure that you discuss this with your guild long before the raid to avoid any surprises.

As you kinda alude to, it becomes a tricky balancing game. And sadly - in my experience at least - healers are the most neglected group of raiders, so right off the bat, I am always apprehensive when it comes to loot allocation based on BiS considerations, notably for Paladins wanting Crit.

For competent leadership, this wont be more than a detail, but for the vast majority of guilds (LC based at least) then I maintain my apprehension.

Dont expect to get https://classic.wowhead.com/item=17103/ ... -mageblade, or your mages and warlocks will rage.

Looking at http://www.wowclassicbis.com/ the items you want from MC is mostly leather drops, so you would be fighting with druids on gear.

From what I experienced as Pala, there aren't that many items that you would compete for with dps classes.