SK until PoP+ isn't going to do noticeably more DPS than a Pal in a group setting. The name of the grouping game is cast just enough to keep aggro and keep mana w/o stopping. But PoP+ is 95% of the game lol.
Raiding as a paladin in classic is just fine if you know your place. You are an enchanter's best friend babysitting the charmed pets. You are more useful taunting off death touches than any other class. If you miss the DT and someone else takes it, you can save your clerics by doing the cheap rez yourself. You have an instant complete heal after every rez you take. Your healing is just as good as a druid or shaman except for the big mana pool. The class is highly useful if you know when and what you need to do in the situation.
dosent the paladin rez make it so you dont need a cleric in the group and having an extra mage early on make up for the loss of dps in group settings?
Do paladins do that much less damage? No, they don't. They do just about the exact same damage as SKs for awhile, then are just a little behind until more recent expansions. People are dumb or people are just playing with awful paladins. Play what you enjoy playing, that is what you will find the most fun and stick with. Paladins just get more and more versatile and get more and move valuable until the moment you get to the min-max stuff is more an issue (VoA+) at which point their healing versatility makes it worthwhile to have them in raids no matter what.
