Now that the patch has hit and Season 3 has begun I thought I'd take the time to post my thoughts on the changes and how they worked out. After weeks of debate with friends and myself I decided, like many arena Retribution Paladins, to go with the cookie-cutter 0/20/41 build. I had to give up some damage but gained utility in the process, even if that utility varies in reliability. I'll come right out and say it, I'm not thrilled about losing damage and the benefits, while good, are hit and miss in arena. Stoicism is nice to have but I'm still stunned virtually every time even with the meta gem for 18 stamina and 5% stun resistance. Totaling 15%, it still isn't much but it really makes me consider spending points elsewhere and even getting the 12 agility and 3% increased crit damage meta gem, considering the spell removal part of Stoicism isn't fantastic either with the variety of abilities that now serve that function (hello Arcane Shot). I find that with the talent I am stunned constantly and also stripped of my buffs in 1-3 removal abilities, so again it can't be banked on unlike Sanctified Seals (excellent talent).
Improved Hammer of Justice is another reason for this build and while reducing the cooldown by almost half on the spell (with the Gladiator set bonus) you have to invest deep in Protection to gain the benefit. In the matches I've had so far I can't say that having this talent either has made or broken anything, it's just nice to be able to use your abilities more often. In theory it can help to take out healers but between trinkets and Cleanse/Dispel Magic and all the passive healing a lot of these healers get (minus Paladins) it can be really challenging or impossible to kill a well geared healer as Retribution without assistance so Imp HoJ is a bit of a wash.
Moving backwards a bit to Improved Righteous Fury I find that while it's a good talent both in strength and in placement in the tree it fails in the same place Stoicism fails, as it is easily removed by many classes and thus useless considering the mana cost to recast (especially now with the double mana cost bug for the spell).
Blessing of Kings is a great all around buff to have even if it can be removed as there are still PvE concerns where it probably helps the most, but as Retribution I can even see this being let go from the build as you will most likely have Blessing of Freedom on yourself to keep in melee. This leaves Guardian's Favor and Precision, which again because our buffs are so easily removed, GF points could be spent elsewhere. Precision lets us compensate for +hit on gear while adding spell hit that is void from all plate armor in the game. This compensation also allows us to focus more on other stats to increase our longevity and offensive power. Having to essentially waste 5 points to get this talent though many object with and so do I.
As you can tell I'm being probably unfair to these talents because when they aren't removed by players they prove their worth, which is true of course but when your only means of preventing this from happening is a 30% chance then most of the time those talents will not shine and that's my complaint. They fixed this issue with Sanctified Seals, I'd love to see Stoicism buffed to maybe 60-80% removal resistance (they could remove the stun portion for all I care as it goes unnoticed 90% of the time) and place it for maybe 5 points in the Improved Devotion Aura spot and remove that talent entirely. For a class built around their buffs there needs to be more "Protection" for them to remain intact.
With all that said I'm still having a great deal of fun both in PvP and PvE despite not having the threat reduction talent and I'm looking forward to what other changes are in the works for our class.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
More Retribution Changes In The Works?
As most are aware the Season 3 date has been pushed back by a week so as of this writing we are less than 5 days away. While a disappointment there is nothing you can do about it but wait sadly. Personally, I'm using this time to decide on what to buy gear/gem/enchant-wise and also how to spend talent points.
Now getting to the meaty news, two new changes have been made today that have the official Paladin forums buzzing.
The CS change had mixed reviews in light of current gear sets that still have spell damage on them. In some ways it's a buff (if you're wearing S3 or Warrior-type dps plate), and a nerf if you're still wearing any of the tiered sets or S1/2 gear. I feel that Blizzard is making good on their promise that our reliance on spell damage will be lessened if not eliminated for Retribution however since the change is happening before our eyes some, if not most, are caught in the painful transitional phase. This is a step in the right direction no doubt as we can focus more on melee stats rather than also adding spell damage to the mix and I really don't believe this will be the last change the playstyle will be getting. Consider the following Blue post that was made recently:
Link
I think it was around Blizzcon and the Death Knight announcement that they said that they wanted to not have special plate (outside of healing plate I assume) for Warriors/Paladins/Death Knights, rather that they could share any dps/tanking plate much the same way that Feral Combat Druids and Rogues can both benefit from the same items. I think all of these factors are part of this transition and in a few months or at the latest when the expansion hits we should be looking at a brand new paladin and I can't wait.
Now getting to the meaty news, two new changes have been made today that have the official Paladin forums buzzing.
- Crusader Strike has lost its 40% spell damage bonus and instead uses 110% weapon damage.
- Sanctified Judgement will now refund 80% of the Seal's mana cost rather than 50%.
The CS change had mixed reviews in light of current gear sets that still have spell damage on them. In some ways it's a buff (if you're wearing S3 or Warrior-type dps plate), and a nerf if you're still wearing any of the tiered sets or S1/2 gear. I feel that Blizzard is making good on their promise that our reliance on spell damage will be lessened if not eliminated for Retribution however since the change is happening before our eyes some, if not most, are caught in the painful transitional phase. This is a step in the right direction no doubt as we can focus more on melee stats rather than also adding spell damage to the mix and I really don't believe this will be the last change the playstyle will be getting. Consider the following Blue post that was made recently:
"Ret badge rewards are there, technically, but it isn't as apparent as there's still some class changes coming that will be "finishing" the intended vision of hybrid itemization.
You don't want the DPS plate now, but we want you to want it. Similar to the Heart of the Wild change, and the first 'lean' into having kitties desire rogue itemization. It's an overall change in itemization focus as we move forward, and into Wrath. We're in a state of transition now, and it's going to be a bit uncomfortable in some cases."
You don't want the DPS plate now, but we want you to want it. Similar to the Heart of the Wild change, and the first 'lean' into having kitties desire rogue itemization. It's an overall change in itemization focus as we move forward, and into Wrath. We're in a state of transition now, and it's going to be a bit uncomfortable in some cases."
Link
I think it was around Blizzcon and the Death Knight announcement that they said that they wanted to not have special plate (outside of healing plate I assume) for Warriors/Paladins/Death Knights, rather that they could share any dps/tanking plate much the same way that Feral Combat Druids and Rogues can both benefit from the same items. I think all of these factors are part of this transition and in a few months or at the latest when the expansion hits we should be looking at a brand new paladin and I can't wait.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
We have a date!
Blizzard in a most unusual form announced a few days ago that patch 2.3 would be released this upcoming Tuesday (11/13/07) and one week later (11/20/07) would begin Arena Season 3, which also brings along with it all the new PvP gear. Blizzard has said that these dates could change if something terrible goes wrong with the current PTR build of 2.3 but everything appears to be well thus far, which is a good sign.
Needless to say I'm excited as are most Paladins who have a soft spot in their hearts for the Retribution tree. I truly hope this is the start of a bright new future for the spec.
Needless to say I'm excited as are most Paladins who have a soft spot in their hearts for the Retribution tree. I truly hope this is the start of a bright new future for the spec.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Back again
After another break from WoW to play some other games, some of which I still need to finish, I have decided to come back to personally test the Paladin changes in 2.3 on the PTR (public test realm). My experiences there were and are very positive, and the responsiveness from Blizzard on the problem areas (itemization, and threat being
the two biggest ones) has been unprecedented. With the background downloader already working for 2.3 I am waiting with bated breath for this release, while hoping that season 3 will begin around that date so I can cash in my banked honor/arena points and truly metamorphosis into what my original dream of the class was from the very beginnings of this game. This time however, the holy warrior won't be without thunder!
Monday, August 27, 2007
GC2007: Interview With Jeff "Tigole" Kaplan
Well worth the time to watch this video as it contains some interesting information in regard to the next expansion and future patches. He also made mention that the Retribution tree is being worked on so much that he couldn't comment on any of the changes (paraphrasing of course). If this is for good or ill only time will tell.
Video link on Curse
Video link on Curse
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Arena Healing
Now this may come across that I'm crying or whining but to be honest I don't really care because my complaints are legitimate and anyone who disagrees has never honestly healed as a paladin in an arena/battleground setting. Paladin strengths in healing stem from their overall mana endurance that other healers lack. However Paladins lack every other aspect of a good healer outside of this strength. No heal over time spells, no group healing spells, and virtually no means to buffer damage from incoming attacks so heal spells have time to land. Paladin healing is akin to precise surgery, one slip of the wrist and it will be dinner for one tonight.
Let me now go down the list of healers (when fully speced to heal) to explain my point of view.
Shaman
Now enter Line of Sight (LoS), first experienced in PvE in BWL during Firemaw I thought it was the worst concept in any boss fight I've ever seen in any game period. Now in arena play it is also considered a strategy to work with the game environment to bend the rules of combat even though channeled spells and certain pets don't obey line of sight rules. I'm having a hard time adapting to this playstyle and as such it will take a few weeks to feel comfortable with it. Basically I run around avoiding damage or other negative effects by hiding behind objects in the arena and popping out to heal my team members. The problem is that with so few options to help smooth out the spikes (Blessing of Sacrifice is about it, which in 2.2 will have a 1 minute cooldown) on a focused teammate chances are my "surgery" might fail because my heals are too slow, or my fast heal isn't healing for enough. Oh but you have an instant heal in Holy Shock! While, this is true but it doesn't do enough to warrant wasting a global cooldown cycle, especially when the target has wound poison/mortal strike. It's a gamble no matter how you look at it, but the other healing classes have better odds on nearly every front as I described above, save mana effeciency, but it doesn't matter much when your healing target is dead.
Let me now go down the list of healers (when fully speced to heal) to explain my point of view.
Shaman
- Improved Chain Heal is amazing for group healing, and then there's Nature's Swiftness for the emergency heal moments. Adding Earth Shield, which with +healing gear heals the target for substantial amounts and a very powerful 1.5 sec cast heal in Lesser Healing Wave, and you have quite the well rounded healer, especially in an arena setting. Further defense from Grounding Totem, which has a relatively short cooldown and Earth Shock to disrupt enemy casters or opposing healers (also short cooldown). Mana problems during the fight? No problem toss down a Mana Spring/Tide Totem somewhere not in plain view and you can regen a healthy amount of mana to continue to heal.
- Renew, Power Word: Shield, Prayer of Mending, Prayer of Healing, Flash Heal, Greater Heal, Binding Heal. A lengthy list of heals and defensive spells that all do a wonderful job of keeping one or many targets alive. Many are instant and fill the role of a buffer to incoming damage while the priest is either preparing a heal or needs to buy time to avoid an interrupt. While these instants are good, the priest still needs to direct heal and thankfully they have a very powerful 1.5 second cast in Flash Heal to do the job. Shadow Fiend also helps after running OOM for various reasons, while Mana Burn helps deal with enemy healers.
- Druids while they have direct healing spells rely on their assortment of instant heal over time spells to remain mobile while healing. Which coupled with Nature's Swiftness, Swiftmend, and Lifebloom (which enacts a penalty when removed), the druid is on par with the sheer number of methods available as the priest to buffer damage allowing for time to land a casted heal. Also by letting the HoT spells work and remaining in a form the druid isn't susceptible to interrupts (not casting direct heals) nor mana draining abilities, or polymorph. Also their defenses expand beyond just being highly mobile, as they can cyclone targets intelligently to prevent healing or to stop healing on a target (cyclone rotation), all while numerous HoT spells work and can be bursted thanks to Swiftmend. When under focus fire and unable to get away, the druid also can shift into Dire Bear form to effectively tank the damage while using Frenzied Rejuvenation, another uninterrupted heal in their arsenal. To top it off all druids have Innervate which will regen a good portion of their mana when speced as a healer.
- As I mentioned we have strong endurance healing, from the mana efficient Flash of Light and our Illumination (even in its nerfed state) talent, but in Arenas it is hardly adequate considering the incoming damage dwarfs its capabilities. Our bread and butter is Holy Light with Light's Grace, making it a powerful 2 second cast heal with a high chance to crit (returning mana and healing for more). We also have Holy Shock as our only means of healing on the run, but it hardly heals for enough to make a dent against damage the person is taking, not to mention its bad mana effeciency, short range (20 yards) and global cooldown that takes our other heals a second or so longer to cast after a Holy Shock. We have Blessing of Wisdom as our mana regen as well as Divine Illumination but we lack any form of burst regen like the other healers get, maybe because we are designed to be endurance healers it was deemed overkill. We have virtually no means of buffering a target to be ready for our long casted heal and being nothing but a casted healer we are always open to being locked out of every spell we have even our "Ultimate" Divine Shield, which thanks to priests is removed in short order. We have cleanse to help alleviate damage taken from damage over time spells but while cleansing we aren't healing and people are dying. We also have Hammer of Justice, but thanks to the PvP trinket/stun resist gear and talents/long cooldown it's difficult to get excited about it. Versatility just isn't there and the class itself is very much a one trick pony, as it were and every other class has seen the trick and know exactly how to shut it down. There are no surprises when fighting a Holy Paladin or a team that has one, they will always fight the same way because we have so few tools to do anything meaningful with.
Now enter Line of Sight (LoS), first experienced in PvE in BWL during Firemaw I thought it was the worst concept in any boss fight I've ever seen in any game period. Now in arena play it is also considered a strategy to work with the game environment to bend the rules of combat even though channeled spells and certain pets don't obey line of sight rules. I'm having a hard time adapting to this playstyle and as such it will take a few weeks to feel comfortable with it. Basically I run around avoiding damage or other negative effects by hiding behind objects in the arena and popping out to heal my team members. The problem is that with so few options to help smooth out the spikes (Blessing of Sacrifice is about it, which in 2.2 will have a 1 minute cooldown) on a focused teammate chances are my "surgery" might fail because my heals are too slow, or my fast heal isn't healing for enough. Oh but you have an instant heal in Holy Shock! While, this is true but it doesn't do enough to warrant wasting a global cooldown cycle, especially when the target has wound poison/mortal strike. It's a gamble no matter how you look at it, but the other healing classes have better odds on nearly every front as I described above, save mana effeciency, but it doesn't matter much when your healing target is dead.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Retribution Talent Information From Blizzcon + More
According to the official Paladin forums, some people at Blizzcon playing the demos of Wrath of the Lich King noticed some retribution tree changes. I doubt this is a complete listing but it was what was revealed on the forums. I suspect that these might creep their way into patch 2.3 and are being tested at Blizzcon to get an initial read.
One interesting note is that Shaman received a talent that provides a conversion between attack power and spell damage (much like I and others of the paladin community suggested the paladin class get). Also Blizzard stated that the next season of PvP/Arena gear WILL HAVE RESILIENCE, but season 1 and 2 will not be changed to include it. I'm just glad I haven't spent any points yet on armor this season.
- Crusader Strike is back to a 6 second cooldown.
- Vengeance lasts for 30 seconds.
- Sanctified Crusader has been merged with Improved Seal of the Crusader and is in the same spot as Imp SotC.
- Vindication now lowers all stats by 15% not just strength and agility. Its position is now found deeper in the tree.
One interesting note is that Shaman received a talent that provides a conversion between attack power and spell damage (much like I and others of the paladin community suggested the paladin class get). Also Blizzard stated that the next season of PvP/Arena gear WILL HAVE RESILIENCE, but season 1 and 2 will not be changed to include it. I'm just glad I haven't spent any points yet on armor this season.
Blizzcon - Day 1, 2007
Well Blizzcon is upon us, and the rumors are true the next expansion for World of Warcraft will be Wrath of the Lich King! I find it strange that they would leapfrog right away to the baddest boss in Azeroth but they might be feeling the pressure from Warhammer among others and feel the need to impress with their big guns.
The new "Hero" class, Death Knight seems interesting in the fact that they will be available to everyone as an unlockable and won't overwrite the character you're completing the quests on to unlock. The combat system consists of 2-handed weapon or dual-wielding tanking, no shield required and no mana/energy/rage bar but rather a totally new system using different runes (blood, frost, unholy) etched on your weapon when out of combat. This in addition to the new profession that allows you to alter your spells could lead to some very cool possibilities. Also, I should note that the class isn't meant to be super powerful over the current classes, Hero merely refers to the epic quest line that you must complete to have a Death Knight character.
Furthermore during the class philosophy panel when they got to paladins (boos could be heard) and paladin dps (laughter roared). However, beyond the mob mentality Blizzard seems quite aware of the problems with retribution and protection and is looking to implement the changes in patch 2.3, that would buff paladin dps in the retribution tree while tweaking protection to bring them in line with bears and warriors (hp pool was mentioned). Retribution itemization was also brought up and they admitted to the pitfalls and were also looking to correct them. It was also mentioned that they want to make it so every spec has a role in each facet of the game (I'm paraphrasing here), which further reinforces the upcoming retribution and protection changes. This is wonderful news and I really can't wait to see what they change to make retribution fun and viable in PvE and PvP (Arena included). This could just be more empty promises but with the new expansion/warhammer/death knights, I feel that they might honestly want to rectify the problem that they let fester for so long.
With this news of retribution buffs, and the new expansion being teeming with undead and the true betrayer of the light Arthas, I can honestly say I am FAR more excited now for Wrath of the Lich King than I EVER was for The Burning Crusade. If all goes according to planned: Holy Warrior here I come!
Monday, July 23, 2007
Blizzard and Game Design
I watched a video recently, one that I have watched before, but now in light of all that I have experienced started to make a lot more sense. Here is the video for reference.
"Evolved beyond our control" ITS YOUR GAME YOU ALWAYS HAVE CONTROL. Blizzard alone allowed paladins to fall from their original vision that he explained and they are letting the player base community design for them, and that's why we have such a problem with class balance now. As someone who actually has a degree in game design, you cant let it all run free and evolve on its own because it wont mesh with the bigger picture (that you should have set at the start of the product lifecycle) and for all those pieces (classes) to fit into the puzzle (end game pve/pvp) there must be a blending or mesh. Had they stuck to their vision and molded encounters around the tools that they have (the classes) then everyone would have a place and have a chance to be the off-spec, hell there wouldn't even be a term for that in this game because everyone would be varied based on preference and playstyle yet equally effective (fire mages in MC/BWL anyone?). Now you get cookie cutter builds and one track minds where hybrids aren't even allowed to get gear for these "off-specs", not in 5, 10, or 25 man instances. Not even in PvP can it work because you need nothing but the best gear to succeed (Arena gear) but good luck getting a high rating with an under-geared "off-spec". A giant catch-22, well done Blizzard.
"Evolved beyond our control" ITS YOUR GAME YOU ALWAYS HAVE CONTROL. Blizzard alone allowed paladins to fall from their original vision that he explained and they are letting the player base community design for them, and that's why we have such a problem with class balance now. As someone who actually has a degree in game design, you cant let it all run free and evolve on its own because it wont mesh with the bigger picture (that you should have set at the start of the product lifecycle) and for all those pieces (classes) to fit into the puzzle (end game pve/pvp) there must be a blending or mesh. Had they stuck to their vision and molded encounters around the tools that they have (the classes) then everyone would have a place and have a chance to be the off-spec, hell there wouldn't even be a term for that in this game because everyone would be varied based on preference and playstyle yet equally effective (fire mages in MC/BWL anyone?). Now you get cookie cutter builds and one track minds where hybrids aren't even allowed to get gear for these "off-specs", not in 5, 10, or 25 man instances. Not even in PvP can it work because you need nothing but the best gear to succeed (Arena gear) but good luck getting a high rating with an under-geared "off-spec". A giant catch-22, well done Blizzard.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
The PvP Grind
With no more raiding on the horizon I've decided to give retribution another try but this time with much better gear. I was retribution for most of my days at 60 and practically everyday up to that point as well, and at 60 I had some of the best gear in the game for that spec (Field Marshal's/Avengers, random Naxx pieces, Drakefang Talisman, Earthstrike, and other AQ gear) minus my Untamed Blade that I could never manage to upgrade. At 60 I also experimented with a spell damage holy build that lasted me through leveling in TBC and still serves me well currently.
But like I said, I really wanted to try retribution in TBC with proper gear so I decided to get back into the grind, both PvP and Arena. Having done the grind to Field Marshal before the expansion I am used to it but with new real life commitments my playtime is much more limited compared to what it was back then. All this meaning I'm going to have to really focus on bringing in those points, I just hope the spec is at least as successful as the one I currently have and maybe just maybe Blizzard will give some much needed attention to that tree and its associated gear.
But like I said, I really wanted to try retribution in TBC with proper gear so I decided to get back into the grind, both PvP and Arena. Having done the grind to Field Marshal before the expansion I am used to it but with new real life commitments my playtime is much more limited compared to what it was back then. All this meaning I'm going to have to really focus on bringing in those points, I just hope the spec is at least as successful as the one I currently have and maybe just maybe Blizzard will give some much needed attention to that tree and its associated gear.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Returning to the fold
Well after a few months of a break due to real life concerns I have decided to come back to the game but not in the same capacity as before. I've decided that raiding has progressively become less and less fun and I finally said to myself something that many other people eventually do: "why am I doing something that isn't fun, and furthermore why would I pay money for it"? With that I am going back to my PvP roots and arenas/battlegrounds/world PvP to enjoy myself for a paid service with a few close friends all the while still being able to upgrade my gear in a more systematic manner over random PvE drops, which is comforting considering they do seem to have that set of gear on an upgrade path as is evident with Arena Season 2.
I did enjoy PvE from the standpoint of witnessing the story of Warcraft unfold the BWL process of working through the encounters is still one of my favorite gaming experiences I've had. I wish I could see all the new things that are bound to be available in the realm of PvE but the be frank, the encounters have gone downhill since BC. All encounters now are so derivative it makes instances that are brand new incredibly boring incredibly fast, much faster than it should be. Sooner or later Blizzard will realize that the consumers are catching on to the rehash and will either move on or rather simply do something other than a mmo. PvE needs to be flexible and less dependent on others as odd as that sounds (I'd love too see bots in raids to fill in patchy spots so anyone can raid these older 40 man instances with updated loot mind you or even the new 10 and 25 man instances). Currently, Blizzard is making money hand over fist so why change what is obviously working? They have no reason to innovate encounters at the moment, which is another reason why I want out of that WoW raiding culture. However, between farming consumables/gold, waiting for people to show up for raids, and the mammoth time-sink that these factors create I can no longer afford it, which is merely a fact that I've come to grips with over the months away from the game.
I am, for a change, excited to be returning to a game that I will be playing by my pace and within my time frame rather than waiting for the moons to align in order to raid effectively. At long last I can play WoW and have fun on my terms not someone else's.
I did enjoy PvE from the standpoint of witnessing the story of Warcraft unfold the BWL process of working through the encounters is still one of my favorite gaming experiences I've had. I wish I could see all the new things that are bound to be available in the realm of PvE but the be frank, the encounters have gone downhill since BC. All encounters now are so derivative it makes instances that are brand new incredibly boring incredibly fast, much faster than it should be. Sooner or later Blizzard will realize that the consumers are catching on to the rehash and will either move on or rather simply do something other than a mmo. PvE needs to be flexible and less dependent on others as odd as that sounds (I'd love too see bots in raids to fill in patchy spots so anyone can raid these older 40 man instances with updated loot mind you or even the new 10 and 25 man instances). Currently, Blizzard is making money hand over fist so why change what is obviously working? They have no reason to innovate encounters at the moment, which is another reason why I want out of that WoW raiding culture. However, between farming consumables/gold, waiting for people to show up for raids, and the mammoth time-sink that these factors create I can no longer afford it, which is merely a fact that I've come to grips with over the months away from the game.
I am, for a change, excited to be returning to a game that I will be playing by my pace and within my time frame rather than waiting for the moons to align in order to raid effectively. At long last I can play WoW and have fun on my terms not someone else's.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Fear fear and more fear
Why in arenas (and pvp in general) is fear so vital for success more often than not especially when it's an AoE fear effect. Blizzard seems to want to make counters for such things (mass dispel for divine shield, cyclone....oh wait) and yet fear has no guaranteed counter outside of some classes' trinkets. Why is it that paladins, a mighty beacon of hope and light, are being feared all over and can not help their allies resist fear on any meaningful level? Where is the counter to mass fear?!
Blessings
5 minute blessings have their place, mostly for pvp. Greater blessings also have their place, mostly for PvE. But what if in PvE there is a class that is doing separate roles and requires separate blessings? A druid tanking and a druid healing for instance, the tanking druid would need Kings or Light (maybe Sanctuary) while the healing druid would need Wisdom or Salvation. The problem is the only way to currently do this is to apply 5 min blessings to each player, which just isn't long enough for a lot of encounters.
We need a 3rd blessing type and my suggestion is as follows:
We need a 3rd blessing type and my suggestion is as follows:
- 5 min blessing (stays exactly the same as it is now)
- 15 min blessing (no reagent cost same mana cost as current greater blessing but only effects a single target, not the class)
- 20-30 min blessing (a raised mana cost from current greater blessing and the same reagent cost)
Now this 3rd blessing could be another spell entirely or could maybe be activated by shift-clicking the greater blessing spell. Either way, something needs to be done to allow for unique and long-lasting blessings among the same class.
One final subject that has bothered me for a long time is how the short duration blessings (BoP, BoF, BoSac) overwrite the longer ones, how annoying this can be in raids when you have to BoP someone to save their life and then leaving them without their greater blessing. I propose renaming those short duration blessings to Virtues or something similar and placing them on their own system separate from blessings, seals, and auras. This way paladins can toss out the short duration buffs without regret of having to rebuff the main buff afterwards.
Priests rerolling Paladins
Another oddity I'm running into more often than not is priests rerolling paladins to main heal. *Blink* Priests are supposed to be the master healing class right? How did the class with 2 heal spells (LoH and Holy Shock don't count) become the game's best healer? Now you are more likely to bring a priest to raids for dps and utility rather than heal. Now paladins are the thing I never wanted to be: weak and helpless if attacked 1v1. Yes we can survive a while if we can dodge spell interrupts but the enemy is almost never in danger of dying if they don't choose to fight and even then our damage is so low that they might die of boredom before anything.
Meanwhile priests are very dangerous because of the damage that can put out, and their utility they bring is also desired yet a retribution paladin has no such luxury on either account. I'm just hoping that Blizzard will understand the logical errors behind the current game class structure.
Cloth wearing master healer brought for damage and utility.
Plate wearing hybrid with a massive two-handed weapon and an assortment of buffs brought for main healing and virtually no utility.
*blink*
Meanwhile priests are very dangerous because of the damage that can put out, and their utility they bring is also desired yet a retribution paladin has no such luxury on either account. I'm just hoping that Blizzard will understand the logical errors behind the current game class structure.
Cloth wearing master healer brought for damage and utility.
Plate wearing hybrid with a massive two-handed weapon and an assortment of buffs brought for main healing and virtually no utility.
*blink*
Blood Elves rant
Recently it's occurred to me that many of the Blood Elf paladins that I'm fighting in battlegrounds or arenas are merely just horde that have rerolled an alt for their guild to abuse the functions of the class like a tool. Now most likely this is for PvE purposes and it kind of sickens me to know that that is what paladins have become (at least to the horde). When they look at us they see blessings, healing, cleanse, and the "bubble". People with no knowledge of where the class was or what it's gone through nor any appreciation, because after all who can respect a heal bot? They probably don't even respect themselves, now that I think about it.
Granted there are some that were alliance paladins who switched sides and others who spec protection to tank, both of which I can respect. However it just seems all I run into are Blood Elf paladins who play like an open book.
Granted there are some that were alliance paladins who switched sides and others who spec protection to tank, both of which I can respect. However it just seems all I run into are Blood Elf paladins who play like an open book.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
The Retribution problem
We are the tank/healer class according to Blizzard PR yet the question always remains on my mind after hearing this: what is the retribution tree for then? If we aren't supposed to be able to specialize for damage (like every other class in the game) then why have a teaser of a tree available to increase our already last place damage? I began to think about it longer and came to the conclusion that the only way to fix the problem is to refocus the tree and rather than boosting our own damage we punish our enemies, causing their own damage to go down drastically. Additionally, considering we have a lot of buffs to make our groups and raids stronger the tree should also house new abilities to boost their damage. By doing these things the tree has a clear focus that doesn't conflict with the tank/healer label and also doesn't raise our own damage higher than designed and most importantly lets the retribution paladin get back in melee for a very good reason.
When looking through the retribution tree I can see that there are some debuff talents that fit with the theme I just mentioned. Namely Vindication and Sanctified Crusader, both of which do what they need to do for their placement in the tree but the tree needs more talents along this line. While playing in Outland I came across NPCs that had a spellbreaker debuff that drastically reduced my spell damage and other units that had a debilitating strike that drastically lowered my physical damage. Both of these abilities would be worthy candidates as retribution talents. Think of it: the ability to lower your opponents damage output whether it be magic or physical, therefore doing your job of guardian and protecting your group, not by heals but by your own weapon.
I think that Blizzard might have already solved the problem that retribution is dealing with currently and don't even know it yet. Retribution doesn't mean mega damage but rather punishment, what better punishment than having hot head damage classes taken down a few pegs? Or hard hitting bosses hitting for less on your MT? Raid and PvP viability achieved while giving the option for paladins that yearn to get back into melee in raids.
When looking through the retribution tree I can see that there are some debuff talents that fit with the theme I just mentioned. Namely Vindication and Sanctified Crusader, both of which do what they need to do for their placement in the tree but the tree needs more talents along this line. While playing in Outland I came across NPCs that had a spellbreaker debuff that drastically reduced my spell damage and other units that had a debilitating strike that drastically lowered my physical damage. Both of these abilities would be worthy candidates as retribution talents. Think of it: the ability to lower your opponents damage output whether it be magic or physical, therefore doing your job of guardian and protecting your group, not by heals but by your own weapon.
I think that Blizzard might have already solved the problem that retribution is dealing with currently and don't even know it yet. Retribution doesn't mean mega damage but rather punishment, what better punishment than having hot head damage classes taken down a few pegs? Or hard hitting bosses hitting for less on your MT? Raid and PvP viability achieved while giving the option for paladins that yearn to get back into melee in raids.
Then and now
Having played this class since the very beginning I sometimes look back on it and wonder has much actually changed? Yes there are new talents and abilities of varying degrees of usefulness but at the core of it all we're more or less the same class as we've always been in terms of a group setting with some incremental improvements to our solo play.
Rewind a bit to the Molten Core days and how most paladins were a bit taken back that they couldn't melee like they had been doing up to that point in a group setting, their gear being Lightforge at best (still a hybrid set with an assortment of helpful stats for meleeing and spot healing) they weren't the best equipped to be healing but being in melee was too much of a liability. That was a substantial shock to the community and the fault really lies with Blizzard's encounter and dungeon team. This realization spawned the trend of min/max raiding in WoW. A quote that's been passed around for a while "if you have a heal spell you will heal" began to surface and make sense to raid leaders.
During this transition from meleeing first healing second to healing first and waiting to heal again second, the gear began to change as well. I know that both Lawbringer and Judgement sets underwent at least two separate revisions both for individual pieces as well as set bonuses. Crit and other melee stats were replaced or diminished by more intellect and healing bonuses to better fit the new paladin Blizzard was molding (some would title this reference the cleric but I'll refrain from such naming conventions here).
Fast forward a bit to Blackwing Lair and Ahn'Qiraj and the paladin has drastically embraced the role of healer and nothing else in instances (some would further comment that even in PvP this applied since a paladin doing damage was not optimal for victory the majority of the time). Strangely both Judgement and Avenger's weren't quite the healing set to the joy of some and distress of others. It is here where a rift formed between those still clinging to how the class once was and those fully accepting where the class is headed. This conflict still rages today.
The decisions made in the armor sets in addition to the paladin review that introduced some interesting (while short lived) talent specializations gave some hope that there would finally at long last be some of the old brought back.
Enter Naxxramas. The tiered armor set here for paladins was so amazingly one-dimensional it made many players sick. Blizzard had essentially created the ultimate healing set for the class and once again, just so we wouldn't forget, restated what we are: healers. The poor protection paladins (if there were any) and struggling retribution paladins were for the most part forced to take warrior items for their specialization.
Present day Burning Crusade offers another avenue for paladins and that being the tank role. The gear is there the talents/abilities are there (both need tweaking) and it's the best it has ever been for that group of paladins. Although we face stiff competition from warriors and feral druids Blizzard has recently stated that they "aren't happy with the current state of paladin tanking" and want all three classes to be on the same level. This is good news but I wouldn't hold my breath considering the track the class has been running on over the last few years.
Finally one of the biggest topics of discussion among the paladin community is the viability of the retribution tree and how it fits in with the tank/healer hybrid Blizzard has labeled us as. It seems that it can't possibly fit at all in its current form, which is a very big problem for Blizzard that will have to be addressed. The root of the problem lies with a class that is designed to have the lowest damage output (which is still too high according to Blizzard posters) while still having a tree devoted to boosting damage a small amount while sacrificing durability and healing power that the other two trees offer. Specializing retribution now just isn't attractive at all compared to the alternatives. How they should go about fixing the logical problems of having a damage tree for a class that isn't supposed to be focusing on dealing damage is not an easy endeavor, but I will post my thoughts on it next time.
Rewind a bit to the Molten Core days and how most paladins were a bit taken back that they couldn't melee like they had been doing up to that point in a group setting, their gear being Lightforge at best (still a hybrid set with an assortment of helpful stats for meleeing and spot healing) they weren't the best equipped to be healing but being in melee was too much of a liability. That was a substantial shock to the community and the fault really lies with Blizzard's encounter and dungeon team. This realization spawned the trend of min/max raiding in WoW. A quote that's been passed around for a while "if you have a heal spell you will heal" began to surface and make sense to raid leaders.
During this transition from meleeing first healing second to healing first and waiting to heal again second, the gear began to change as well. I know that both Lawbringer and Judgement sets underwent at least two separate revisions both for individual pieces as well as set bonuses. Crit and other melee stats were replaced or diminished by more intellect and healing bonuses to better fit the new paladin Blizzard was molding (some would title this reference the cleric but I'll refrain from such naming conventions here).
Fast forward a bit to Blackwing Lair and Ahn'Qiraj and the paladin has drastically embraced the role of healer and nothing else in instances (some would further comment that even in PvP this applied since a paladin doing damage was not optimal for victory the majority of the time). Strangely both Judgement and Avenger's weren't quite the healing set to the joy of some and distress of others. It is here where a rift formed between those still clinging to how the class once was and those fully accepting where the class is headed. This conflict still rages today.
The decisions made in the armor sets in addition to the paladin review that introduced some interesting (while short lived) talent specializations gave some hope that there would finally at long last be some of the old brought back.
Enter Naxxramas. The tiered armor set here for paladins was so amazingly one-dimensional it made many players sick. Blizzard had essentially created the ultimate healing set for the class and once again, just so we wouldn't forget, restated what we are: healers. The poor protection paladins (if there were any) and struggling retribution paladins were for the most part forced to take warrior items for their specialization.
Present day Burning Crusade offers another avenue for paladins and that being the tank role. The gear is there the talents/abilities are there (both need tweaking) and it's the best it has ever been for that group of paladins. Although we face stiff competition from warriors and feral druids Blizzard has recently stated that they "aren't happy with the current state of paladin tanking" and want all three classes to be on the same level. This is good news but I wouldn't hold my breath considering the track the class has been running on over the last few years.
Finally one of the biggest topics of discussion among the paladin community is the viability of the retribution tree and how it fits in with the tank/healer hybrid Blizzard has labeled us as. It seems that it can't possibly fit at all in its current form, which is a very big problem for Blizzard that will have to be addressed. The root of the problem lies with a class that is designed to have the lowest damage output (which is still too high according to Blizzard posters) while still having a tree devoted to boosting damage a small amount while sacrificing durability and healing power that the other two trees offer. Specializing retribution now just isn't attractive at all compared to the alternatives. How they should go about fixing the logical problems of having a damage tree for a class that isn't supposed to be focusing on dealing damage is not an easy endeavor, but I will post my thoughts on it next time.
Introductions
I often tell people why I made a paladin and what better way to start this publication than to begin with that story. I played in both stress tests for World of Warcraft and also in the open beta so I have some insight to the history of this class. During that time I decided that I wanted to create a character that was tough, durable, and could solo a lot of content (I didn't know anyone who played the game and didn't want to rely on others to have my fun--despite this turning out to be inevitable).
With that I began looking at the different classes at my selection and decided that a healing class seemed logical if I wanted to be able to solo effectively. That narrowed it to priest, shaman, paladin, and druid. Shaman I immediately marked off since I wanted to play alliance (I enjoyed their story from Warcraft III and specifically the humans). Next off the list was the priest, being the "master healer" class I figured that was all they'd be good for (not knowing much about their shadow tree at all--in fact paladins didn't even have talent trees until very late beta or live I can't recall) and I wanted more versatility. So now it came down to druid or paladin, I thought about it for a few days prior to the release and came to the conclusion that druids seemed like they could do pretty much anything and survive it however I just liked the image of a knight in plate armor too much to ignore and the ability to use many kinds of weapons appealed to me.
So with that I made my decision and have stuck with it all the way--for better or worse I've tanked it.
With that I began looking at the different classes at my selection and decided that a healing class seemed logical if I wanted to be able to solo effectively. That narrowed it to priest, shaman, paladin, and druid. Shaman I immediately marked off since I wanted to play alliance (I enjoyed their story from Warcraft III and specifically the humans). Next off the list was the priest, being the "master healer" class I figured that was all they'd be good for (not knowing much about their shadow tree at all--in fact paladins didn't even have talent trees until very late beta or live I can't recall) and I wanted more versatility. So now it came down to druid or paladin, I thought about it for a few days prior to the release and came to the conclusion that druids seemed like they could do pretty much anything and survive it however I just liked the image of a knight in plate armor too much to ignore and the ability to use many kinds of weapons appealed to me.
So with that I made my decision and have stuck with it all the way--for better or worse I've tanked it.
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