#0 - Nov. 9, 2007, 1:50 p.m.
This is a little compilation of some frequently asked questions within the Paladin community. Im making this so it might help others getting a quick answer to their questions instead of making the same threads over and over again. Might be a helping hand for quite a few.
As mentioned in the source, this post is also a "Work in Progress". Heavy changes are to be expected over the next few months as we move over to Cataclysm itself.
[UPDATED]
October 30th, 2010 (v 4.0.1)
Q: Slow or quick weapon?
A: Slow, because Seals and Judgements are not being normalized. This means the higher damage range on slower weapons is always better (as long as it has STR instead of AGI on it).
Q: What Seal for PvE?
A: Seal of Truth is the superior singletarget seal, while Seal of Righteousness is our prefered multitarget seal (due to the Seals of Command talent providing cleave).
Q: What Seal for PvP?
A: It really boils down to Seal of Righteousness for flat out damage and cleave, and Seal of Justice for the runspeed debuff. Remember, Seal of Justice also deals acceptable damage now, so it's not a bad choice.
Q: What is the hit cap for retribution paladins?
A: Level 80 is still the level cap, which means you still need 8% melee hit with a 2hander. You need 262 hit rating to reach the cap, or 32,8 hit rating to reach 1%. Note that Draenei paladins will only require 7% hit on gear to reach the cap. In PvP, the hit cap is only 5%. In PvE, it is very important to be hit-capped.
Q: What about judgements? They are spells, right?
A: No, Judgements are now considered Melee attacks, that cannot be dodged, parried or blocked. They require the same hit rating as melee swings (262 hit rating or 8%).
Q: What kind of gear should i aim for?
A: There is no "correct" answer to this. I suggest you download Rawr (http://www.codeplex.com/Rawr) and start building yourself a template, based on where you stand content-wise. Generally speaking: Plate with Strength on it is good!
Q: Is Libram swapping a dps boost?
A: No. Librams are now considered Relics, and are to be shared with Death Knights, Druids and Shamans. They now have stats, and often sockets. Always choose the highest item level relic.
Q: What about using Leather/Mail gear?
A: This is not viable anymore, for two reasons. Leather/Mail no longer have any attack power attached to it, which means strength items will always be more powerful. In addition, if you wear full plate armor, you will gain the Plate Specialization bonus of 5% additional strength.
Q: What stats is important then?
A: You should try to stack (in order):
- 1. Strength - Always stack as much STR as possible.
2. Hit Rating - Stack until you reach the cap, which is 246 rating or 8%. (or 7% for Draenei).
3 Expertise - Cap is 172 Rating (or 95 Rating with Glyph of Seal of Truth) which gives 22 Expertise. Expertise should come naturally as your gear improves. You should try to avoid gemming or enchanting for Expertise. Remember, Dwarfs using mace, and Humans using mace/sword needs even less due to racial bonuses. (Numbers coming up shortly)
4. Haste - With Sanctity of Battle, haste now lowers your Crusader Strike cooldown. Try to aim for the "soft cap" which is where CS drops to roughly 3sec cooldown. Any additional haste only boosts autoattacks.
5. Crit Rating - It's not useful to have too much crit, so you should NOT gem for it. Gem for STR instead.
6. Mastery - As of now, this stat is pretty much useless. Expect this to change come Cataclysm however.
Q: What kind of gems should I use?
A: Pure strength gems, ignore everything else! The only exception is when you want to activate your meta gem (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41398). Try to do this by meeting a +STR socket bonus, using a prismatic gem.
Q: What is the weapon speed normalization for Crusader Strike, Templar's Verdict and Divine Storm?
A: 3.3 ( Read more about normalization here: http://www.wowwiki.com/Normalize )
Q: Can Crusader strike and Divine Storm proc Seals?
A: Yes and No. They will not stack the Dot portion of Seal of Truth but once you have 5 stacks on your target, they will proc the 33% extra holy damage. The other seals will proc off both abilities.
Q: What professions would be the strongest combo if i want to max my DPS?
A: Blacksmithing and Jewelcrafting is the strongest combo for retribution until Cataclysm is live.
Q: What weapon enchant is better?
A: Berserking, until Cataclysm is live.
Q: What is our base rotation for PvE DPS?
A: Our "rotation" is still somewhat priority based. Remember that this rotation will change as soon as you hit level 81, but as of now, this is how it the priority works out: CS > Filler > CS > Filler > CS > Finisher
- Single Target Priority: Templar's Verdict > Hammer of Wrath > Crusader Strike > Exorcism > Judgement > Holy Wrath > Consecration
Multi Target Priority: Divine Storm > Crusader Strike > Hammer of Wrath > Exorcism > Judgement > Holy Wrath > Consecration
A few things have changed from wotlk, to prevent "facerolling" being
- #1 Never use Templar's Verdict or Divine Storm unless you have 3 stacks of Holy Power
#2 Never cast exorcism unless you have an Art of War proc.
#3 If you do not have 3x Holy Power and Crusader Strike is on cooldown, use filler abilities such as Exorcism (#2 still applies), Judgement, Hammer of Wrath, Holy Wrath, Consecration or Divine Plea.
#4 Crusader Strike should be cast between every ability you use. Only exception is when you can hit 2x 3HP Templar's Verdict or 1x 3HP Templars Verdict and Hammer of Wrath.
Q: Whats the best food buff for DPS?
A: Dragonfin Filet is the best until Cataclysm is released.
Q: What is the best DPS spec for raids?
A: People are reporting having great success with http://www.wowhead.com/talent#s0hZMZcbGsdkszfk - which translates into http://www.wowhead.com/talent#abhMZMZcbGsdkszfk at level 85. The filler talent in Acts of Sacrifice can be put in whatever you prefer in the Retri tree.
Q: Which Glyphs should i use?
A: Prime glyphs directly affect our DPS. Which one is "the best" remains to be tested, but these are all good alternatives. Major glyphs mostly buffs our mana efficiency, so I'd go for the three listed below. When it comes to minor glyphs, I've figured I gained the most for reduced mana cost on seals, due to seal swapping in Heroics and between different types of trash.
Prime
- - Glyph of Seal of Truth
- Glyph of Templar's Verdict
- Glyph of Crusader Strike
- Glyph of Exorcism
- Glyph of Judgement
Major
- - Glyph of Hammer of Wrath
- Glyph of Rebuke
- Glyph of the Ascetic Crusader
Minor
- - Glyph of Lay on Hands
- Glyph of Insight
- Glyph of Justice
- Glyph of Righteousness
- Glyph of Truth
Q: How to utilize Reforging?
A: Reforging allows you to exchange 40% of a combat rating already on an item and converts it into a combat rating not already on an item. This is how you should prioritize:
- - Get Hit capped! If you are under the Hit cap, reforge your weakest stat into Hit.
- Get Expertise capped! If you are under the cap, reforge your weakest stat into Expertise.
- Get Haste (soft)capped. If you have a Crusader Strike with more than 3sec CD, reforge your weakest stats into Haste.
- Crit, Crit and even more Crit. If you have capped all of the above, more Crit will be the best way to improve your DPS.
NOTE: Your "Weakest" stat will always be the the one yielding the lowest DPS upgrade (aka the stuff you're already capped at) - and Mastery being the weakest of them all. (AT THE MOMENT! Frequent changes prevents a consistent, reliable list from being made)
Other useful links:
- http://elitistjerks.com/f76/t106276-retribution_concordance_4_0_1_a/
- http://www.codeplex.com/Rawr
Inner sanctum of theorycrafting:
Rawr - A great program used to compare gear/specs and what to obtain.
