AOE boosting with prot pally for dummies ?

[Moorea]

Hi,

I respecced my level 80 formerly ret pally to prot to make it a booster - but I have no clue / experience with a level 80 prot

Here is the toon in question
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Firetree&n=Dpal

I'm looking for advice on the best rotation and maybe also talents if I got them wrong as well as easy to get gear that would help

As a practice I went to Ramps and I'm able to pull a bunch with:

Seal of Light / Righteous Fury / Blessing of Sanctuary / Devotion Aura (should I use retribution?)

I put up Sacred Shield and Divine Plea
Then run around and gather mobs
Then randomly judgement of light if I'm low in hp or judgment of wisdom if low in mana
and consecrate and holy wrath when I get around to it

It's odd because sometimes my healths and mana stay topped/maxed and sometimes it goes down scarily fast - not sure when that happens if it's because I miss some proc/buff/shield/something

Also if when using consecrate it uses a lot of mana yet recount shows it's doing 44% of my dmg (my titanium shield spike is doing only 5%... )

On my other pally I had farmed for ages the figurine of collosus in Shattered halls but I don't know if I have the patience to do that again (plus I don't think I even have the key to get in on that toon)

Thanks for sharing

[ragawaga]

Regarding the damage you're taking, that's quite possibly because you have fairly low damage mitigation for a tank.

Here's my prot pally : http://eu.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Ravenholdt&n=Melchi%C3%A1h

Granted you're fighting mobs 20 levels below you....but as you won't be bursting them down quickly in a prot spec you'll be wanting a more damage reduction.

As far as your spec goes that seems ok.

For boosting I don't often use sacred shield unless it's going wrong as it stops ret aura from working. When I've made my pull I just drop a consecrate and use my macro for standard 969 rotation. If you don't know what that is, do a quick google, there's tons of info out there about it. I of course have divine plea up (as well as it being glyphed), blessing of sanctuary and seal of wisdom. if it all goes pear shaped and you need to heal...pop sacred shield, concentration aura and start flashes of light.

Well....that's how I do it anyway.......other people might have different takes on it.

[Ualaa]

I use Blessing of Sanctuary, which is a lot of mana returned when lower level mobs are being blocked, dodged and parried. Between that and Divine Plea, mana is not much of an issue.

I like Devotion Aura, because it increases healing received (which I hope increases Seal of Light) and because it increases my armor slightly, which reduces damage taken. Since I'm the only one who has any threat, I don't really use Retribution Aura, although that might kill lower level things a bit faster.

I generally don't bother with Sacred Shield, but that is probably a good idea. Consecrate once is decent, but the key is breaking line of sight, so casters have to close the distance and keeping Holy Shield up. That ups the block a lot and has them die incredibly quickly by trying to kill me.

A few shields is a good idea when boosting; my shield is the one piece which takes a beating.

I'm spec'd a little differently: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#sV0oZE0tAruMGsIufzxo:NpGzcm

[shaeman]

You didn't mention keeping holy shield. Definitely keep this up at all times.
Other than that - ensure that all the mobs are in front of you - you'll not be blocking damage if they get behind you.

[alcattle]

Paladins is the class I know least about. I am trying to level one now and always looking for good guides. Did not see one from Jame (wow-pro) so the wiki was next option Paladin AoE grinding (http://"http://wowwiki.com/Paladin_AoE_grinding/) Might help but need more input

[Whowantstoknow]

Tips:

1. Keep up sacred shield
2. Strafe Sideways so you are not letting the mobs hit your back
3. Bubble heal when you get low
4. Get the lowbies to heal you if possible
5. In the lowbie instances strip off anything that can lose durability and use a vendor shield
6. Keep up divine plea

Your aura will depend on what you are doing. If you are pulling the whole instance and running back to the alts you want to use devo so you dont kill any mobs before the get back into range of your alts.

If your alts are close enough that you can kill on the move then its ok to use Ret aura. Ive said it a few times that I really love Seal of Command for Aoe/trash.

Talents wise Divinity is widely recognised as not very good so I would swap those points out (though to be fair this talent is better for heroics than raids until you outgear the instance) Reckoning is usually a bad choice but for trash and Powerleveling it should be good. Ive said it a few times that I really love Seal of Command for Aoe/trash

[Lyonheart]

TIP! In the SMs, you can kill mobs anywhere in the zone, with your alts at the entrance, and your alts will get credit. ( i only boost in the library and cathedral, so I do not know if this works in the other two zones ) I use my bear tank, I just run though swiping everything until I'm at the end. I turn on ML when I'm looting ( if i loot) so i can send loot back to my alts. I do not loot much though.

The library: i start here IF and only IF i plan on doing low level Bgs with the alts I'm boosting. otherwise I just boost in cathedral. Why start in library? >> Deadman's Hand is why. Its an awesome ring for noobs and is great in Bg. it procs of ranged damage as well as melee 8). Keep master loot on and just kill your way though to the boss. I normally get a few rings by the time my alts need to move to cathedral, around 26ish or so.



The cathedral, I run though the lower section and swipe everything until the entire bottom level is dead. I LoS the casters by running up the stairs and just around the corner. Once the first section is dead, I sneak past the mobs and open the church door, run in and pull the boss, then run out and kill it all outside. When you pull the boss, everything INSIDE will come with him. When he dies and gets rezed ( he needs to die outside the church doors ) He will pull "most" everything left outside with him again.

I used to PL with my paly, but for these SM zones.. I found the bear way easier. But I'm sure you can use any class that can kill multi mobs at once to do this.

[Ualaa]

Not pally specific but still decent.

Turn on master looter.
Have your booster opt out of loot.
Set the threshold to green and above (or blue).

Ignore corpses unless they sparkle.
In which case you have something which should be master looted.
You can send to your booster if you like.
If you have an enchanter, they can DE everything and leveling enchanting basically for free.

[Multibocks]

Crap thats how that works, I always messed it up. Thank god I have no classes left that I want to boost.

/pukesatthethought

Well until the next heroic class lol.

[Moorea]

Thanks for all the answers - I looked up 969 but

a) it doesn't fit in a single macro

b) seems to be mostly for max threat and not really for max AOE dmg

I had forgotten some skills (like holy shield) - I'm curious if anyone here would share the boosting (large amount of mobs) they are using

about gear back when I did last that I got the sporegear rep shield that aoe poison - is there any level 80 equivalent of that shield ? (I'm disapointed by the dmg the titanium shield spike seems to do)

ps: yes the master looter + pass on loot really helps looting only the useful stuff - I used that last time I was boosting long ago

[heffner]

Thanks for all the answers - I looked up 969 but

a) it doesn't fit in a single macro

Sure it does! See the wiki: http://www.dual-boxing.com/wiki/index.php/Macro:Using_Click#Protection

Although, you might be right that this spell sequence isn't optimal for boosting. Also, there is probably a better hybrid spec (prot and ret) for boosting with a paladin, but I am not sure what that is. Also, your glyphs might differ from prot (e.g., glyph of consecration).

[Ualaa]

The 96969 is more for challenging content.

All you really need is Holy Shield for boosting.
And maybe the odd consecrate.

Auto attack with Seal of Light or Seal of Wisdom, depending on if your need is health or mana.
Keep up Divine Plea.
Blessing of Sanctuary for more mana.

[Stealthy]

TIP! In the SMs, you can kill mobs anywhere in the zone, with your alts at the entrance, and your alts will get credit. ( i only boost in the library and cathedral, so I do not know if this works in the other two zones ) I use my bear tank, I just run though swiping everything until I'm at the end. I turn on ML when I'm looting ( if i loot) so i can send loot back to my alts. I do not loot much though.


Just some further info to this - there are actually range limits in SM as follows:

SM GY: all human mobs within range from entrance. You'll need to move for undead mobs & last boss (the stairs up to the undead area is a good place to park your alts).
SM Library: All mobs& bosses within range from entrance
SM Armory: All mobs& bosses within range from entrance except for last corridor & boss - move your alts to the courtyard once cleared and park there.
SM Cath: All mobs outside cathedral within range from entrance. Pull the boss outide of the cathedral (all mobs inside cathedral will agro as well) and you'll be fine.

Cheers,
S.

[Lyonheart]

Just some further info to this - there are actually range limits in SM as follows:

SM GY: all human mobs within range from entrance. You'll need to move for undead mobs & last boss (the stairs up to the undead area is a good place to park your alts).
SM Library: All mobs& bosses within range from entrance
SM Armory: All mobs& bosses within range from entrance except for last corridor & boss - move your alts to the courtyard once cleared and park there.
SM Cath: All mobs outside cathedral within range from entrance. Pull the boss outide of the cathedral (all mobs inside cathedral will agro as well) and you'll be fine.

Cheers,
S.

In the Cath, You can kill that secret boss behind the hidden wall, with your alts at the entrance, and they will get exp. But yea.. when you pull the boss outside.. the mobs come out with him.

[Stealthy]

In the Cath, You can kill that secret boss behind the hidden wall, with your alts at the entrance, and they will get exp. But yea.. when you pull the boss outside.. the mobs come out with him.

Yes you can, however if you tank the bosses at the altar you will defintely NOT get exp if your alts are camped at the entrance. I tested this tonight and had to pull them back from the altar to get exp on my alt.

Cheers,
S.

[Tofino]

Slightly disappointed with boosting xp since RAF xp doesn't apply (since the mobs are trivial to the booster). The xp is fine, but I'm constantly running into the instances-per-hour limit. Happened both in SFK and now in SM Cath.

SM Cathedral is great fun for a prot pally though. Zone in and kill the guy who aggros your noobs. Then run through and run a course around the bottom and top levels pulling everything, finally stopping around a corner somewhere and consecrate/HSing. If you have Blessing of Santuary up and set of Divine Plea about 5 sec before you start the kill, your mana won't drop -- BoS alone should keep it maxed with all the hits. Second pull is even easier as you run toward Mograine, hit him with a frisbee, then run out of the place and around a corner, and everyone comes running up to you. Fun! But as I said, a bit too fast as I keep getting the "You have entered too many instances recently" message.

[Ualaa]

You want to make sure every toon is grouped with a toon in their level range who is also RAF linked.
If the booster is your only RAF link, then you're not going to get the 3x experience.

Basically, you need to be within 4 levels (if you're 15th, then 11-19 works) of the other toon.
And neither of you can be 60th.

Your booster can be in the chain with you.
If A is the booster, then B is fine because of the link to C.
A -- B -- C -- D -- E

If A is the booster, then no one gets RAF here:
A -- B
A -- C
A -- D
A -- E

[Moorea]

what ualaa said ! if you don't get the xp you must have a missing link in you raf chain

[heyaz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBDAYZdQDdU

That's really the hardest pull you'll do unless you boost into Underbog. The lower level ones are trivial.

btw that pull is way easier with seal/judgement of light which I wasn't using.

[heyaz]

SM Cathedral is great fun for a prot pally though. Zone in and kill the guy who aggros your noobs. Then run through and run a course around the bottom and top levels pulling everything, finally stopping around a corner somewhere and consecrate/HSing. If you have Blessing of Santuary up and set of Divine Plea about 5 sec before you start the kill, your mana won't drop -- BoS alone should keep it maxed with all the hits. Second pull is even easier as you run toward Mograine, hit him with a frisbee, then run out of the place and around a corner, and everyone comes running up to you. Fun! But as I said, a bit too fast as I keep getting the "You have entered too many instances recently" message.

Much easier method - run straight to the boss, pull him, run back. Entire instance will auto-aggro. Takes under a minute

[heyaz]

Slightly disappointed with boosting xp since RAF xp doesn't apply (since the mobs are trivial to the booster).

Booster needs to be on an unlinked account and you get full RAF bonus....

Either that or they changed something since I did it 2 weeks ago

[Moorea]

no you don't need booster to be unlinked - I get raf bonus fine with my linked booster

some notes:

rfc is annoying with shield slam - I do only the first half - leave lowbies at entrance - nice from 8-14

get any boot speed enchant it helps A LOT

sfk is awesome - get xp even from the end with lowbies parked at entrance !

[Ualaa]

The only thing you need for the RAF bonus is:

a) to be linked to another account which is within 4 levels of you; and
b) for both you and the linked account to be 59th or lower; and
c) for the mobs to not be grey for either account.

If you are account B, in this chain (A -- B -- C), and A is level 80, but you and C are both level 20, and facing level 18 mobs, you get RAF.

[Simulacra]

put 3 points in improved devotion aura, this way you get a +6% healing effect when using ANY aura - so you can then use retribution aura
put 2 points in pursuit of justice so you can run faster
get a few of these shields and wack titansteel spikes on them http://www.wowdb.com/item.aspx?id=25828

[Moorea]

put 2 points in pursuit of justice so you can run faster
is pursuit of justice with 2 points more on foot speed than a speed enchant or same (what about 1 pt) ?

[heyaz]

no you don't need booster to be unlinked - I get raf bonus fine with my linked booster

some notes:

rfc is annoying with shield slam - I do only the first half - leave lowbies at entrance - nice from 8-14

get any boot speed enchant it helps A LOT

sfk is awesome - get xp even from the end with lowbies parked at entrance !

Did you chain the accounts? If you're playing a booster on the main, you aren't playing a low level toon on that main account, and the account directly linked to that one shouldn't get bonus xp if all the mobs are trivial to the toon its linked with.

I always did 2 accounts with 2 RAFs, and a totally separate account to boost.

[Moorea]

having unlinked booster obviously works too but you don't need to as long as there is someone else in the party for which the linked too can get raf bonus from

[Simulacra]

is pursuit of justice with 2 points more on foot speed than a speed enchant or same (what about 1 pt) ?

I'd go with 2 and put +stam on your boots, you can really notice the difference in speed - I'm not sure that putting 1 in the talent and then having a speed enchant will stack.
edit : just checked - no stacking. Plus you get 50% reduction in disarm.

Top tip I got from a thread here a long time ago: When pulling the instance don't run, strafe instead, this way your shield will block attacks from behind and the mobs will also get struck with the poison spores from the shield . It's the best aoe tanking shield I've seen, this method works well in SM.

[heyaz]

having unlinked booster obviously works too but you don't need to as long as there is someone else in the party for which the linked too can get raf bonus from

ah yes. I didn't chain mine so unlinked was the only way to go.

[Stealthy]

Much easier method - run straight to the boss, pull him, run back. Entire instance will auto-aggro. Takes under a minute

I don't think this works any more - I was doing SM Cath runs on the weekend, and when I aggro'd the boss, it pulls all the mobs inside the cathedral, but those outside don't aggro. Or is there something I'm missing?

Cheers,
S.