Ret Pally 4.0.1
Jayel — Wed, 10/13/2010 - 16:45
I'll start by hitting the big changes and then get into more details later. First say goodbye to the faceroll rotation and say hello to a very rigid and unforgiving rotation. I am loving the holy power mechanic so far and I have to say that its going to be really easy to spot Paladins who know what they are doing and those that have no clue.
I'll get into talent changes, stats, reforging this weekend when I have time to be detailed.
Most of the information is from either my own findings or reading from EJ_RET_4.0.1
Rotation.
I dont have tons of data to go by yet but I have spent a lot of time on the target dummy and I feel like I have the basic rotation down. First off Crusader Strike (CS) is our main way of getting Holy Power (HP). Every time it hits we get 1 HP. With my current gear + talent (I'll get into this later) my CS comes off CD about every 3 seconds. This gives me time to react to AoW procs (free instant cast of Exorsim) or , Judge, holy wrath (HW), throw my hammer (if in execute range or if I have wings active). Templars Verdict (TV) and Divine Storm (DS) our the only DPS finishers we have at level 80 and each should only be used when you have 3 HP. DS now is only used if you have multiple targets and TV will be the main finisher you use. Seal of Truth is the dps seal. The 31 point talent Zealotry also consumes HP and should also only be used when you have 3 HP. This talent allows CS to grand 3 HP instead of just 1 so you will change your rotation accordingly. Here is what my rotation looks like currently for three different phases of a fight.
Meat and Potatoes (no heroism, wings, or execute range)
CS filler CS filler CS .. TV will replace CS or filler if you have 3 holy power
filler: judge, HW, Exorcism procs.
For procs that appear if its the Mastery proc Hand of Light (TV as though you have 3 HP and doesnt use any HP) its always #1 priority. If there is AoW proc and I have 3 HP already then its TV then Exorcism. There is a talent that give a 40% change of gaining HP from Judgements, Exorcism, (others) so you dont want to use a skill if you already have 3 HP and potentially waste that HP. Sometimes you will find that you will proc 2-3 Hand of light in a row so its important to use them and then get back into the rotation.
Wings + Zealotry
hammer CS TV filler CS TV filler CS TV hammer ...
(looking into if it is really best to use zealotry with Wings or not.
This is an easy area to screw up and I'm still working on perfecting it. I would say that while wings is up hammer hits hard and should be #1 priority. I may change my mind as I get more data but thats my feeling right now. Again any TV procs that happen should be consumed right away and exorcism procs should be used as fillers since TV currently hits a lot harder then Exorcism.
Execute Range
Pretty much the same as Meat and Potatoes except that you use hammer as a filler when its available.
As you can see the old rotation is dead and gone.
You'll notice that I never mentioned consecrate because its a huge mana dump atm and the damage that it does is almost equal to the mana (2.5k ish). On multiple targets you'll change out TV with DS and add consecrate (maybe worth it on 4+ mobs) as a filler but otherwise its the same rotation as I stated above.
I'll get some more in here as time permits.
The boost they gave to us is good. Not OP good but it puts us close to where we were pre 4.0.1 so that its the new rotation thats hindering damage and not because we are swinging a wet noodle..


been really busy
Jayel — Wed, 10/27/2010 - 15:16So I havent really had any time to update this. Ret DPS is at a pretty decent spot right now. AOE damage is pretty terrible but I'll trade AOE damage for our currently decent single target DPS. EJ has some really good info so go check that out for more in depth reading..
Some stuff I have learned off
FireWire — Thu, 10/28/2010 - 15:59Some stuff I have learned off EJ is that you waste dps by having wings and zeal up at the same time, it's better to stick to zeal then possibly wings right after, rotation of both should always be more towards your TV as it's the hardest hitting, but the pally rotation during zeal should be CS TV CS TV CS TV unless your proc hits, then it's CS TV TV, for your wings, it should be CS Hammer CS filler CS TV then try to use your hammer as your filler, although it hits like a truck, TV . also some pvp tips is rebuke procs your seal currently(don't quite know if that's changed or not). also to get a pretty big DPS boost, unless this has been fixed, your censure DoT(off SoT) will not update with every tick of haste meaning that it will go off your intitial haste, therefore if you prepot and don't let it fall off, your seal will become that much more effective.
Those are off EJ if people are too lazy to read it.
Hey jayel, you should find
Lilpuddinpop — Wed, 10/13/2010 - 17:18Hey jayel, you should find another ret buddy. Then a warrior buddy or 2. Then all 4 of you try to do better dps then the one destro Lock or one arcane Mage in raid.
Totally jk buddy. I bet in
Lilpuddinpop — Wed, 10/13/2010 - 17:21Totally jk buddy. I bet in raid you guys do fine
after looking at parses
Lilpuddinpop — Thu, 10/14/2010 - 11:27Ret pallies are not nerf'd to crap like everyone is saying, jayel you were only doing about 500 less dps on ave. in icc 25.
I think rets and other classes just feel shunned because they didnt get the buffs the other classes did and stayed the same.
but, i hear they are nerfing shadowP, mage dps. but only searing pain for locks..... good thing i wasnt using searing pain at all to do 16-18k dps
I agree
Jayel — Thu, 10/14/2010 - 12:09Ret dps is not terrible. The rotation is much harder now and will take me a while to get fully used to. I felt like I did a pretty good job of watching my CDs, and keeping my rotation as close to optimal as I could. I'm all for pure dps buffs but it seems more like all types of casters got a huge kick in the dps while most melee got kicked in the crotch.
at least you can move out of
Keisjaa — Thu, 10/14/2010 - 20:27at least you can move out of Maleable Goo...
in cata
Lilpuddinpop — Thu, 10/14/2010 - 16:22your going to have like 7000str soon enough. i can see your spells hitting insane in a short time.