My 5x Paladin Guide

In anticipation of playing Retribution Paladins, as a Mists of Pandaria team, I've decided to level them up.

They're currently playing as Shock'adins (Caster DPS spec, primarily using Holy Shock and Exorcism).
I'll likely keep this as an off-spec come MoP.



The Holy Section is designed to have the ability to DPS, as a Shock'adin; and with four or five Paladins, even if Shock'adin damage is lower than most other specs (it is a Healer spec), you should have the ability to kill on your own or contribute to a kill while in a group.
Plus in the beta, the damage of Holy has been significantly raised (at least compared to their current live version), purely so a Holy spec can solo their dailies/quests at a somewhat reasonable pace; that translates into a degree of killing power while speced to heal.

However, the focus of Holy is the healing...
As a class the Paladin likely has the highest level of PvP survivability of all the healing classes... they also have very impressive healing power, when keeping a single target alive; plus they passively heal both themselves and their Beacon target, when healing others.
With four/five Paladins, that is several targets that will survive a significant amount of focused fire for a short duration (almost a minute)... and keeping those targets alive will allow them to destroy your opposition or possibly tank Drek/Vann with several of the Tower/Bunker guys still alive on a rush type game.

While in the Holy spec, whether healing or inflicting damage, the team will likely be towards the back.
They'll play very much like casters, in both modes... so normal follow of a lead toon will make the team relatively easy to control.



I'll likely add a few round-robin healing effects; these will be set up much like the Healer Mode/DPS Mode round-robin.
Basically, when its not hectic (ie, no focus is set), I generally heal via the Grid... but 4/5x Divine Light will be massive overhealing and a waste of mana.
But having each click based heal round-robin... will be much more mana efficient, whether playing whack-the-mole or spamming 2-3 clicks on the same frame and then setting one Pally to Healing Mode, with that character as their focus.



Holy Section
I really like the Healing of the Paladin on the 1x Holy Paladin & 4x Frost Death Knight team ( http://www.dual-boxing.com/threads/3...n-DK-Manifesto ).
So I decided to go for a "toggle", which can move the Pallies individually between Shock'adin and Healer mode.



The Toggle is made up of several pieces.

Spam Mapped Key
Hot Key: 1
Step One
- Do Mapped Key > FTL Assist Me > Current Window
- Do Mapped Key > DPS Mode > All Windows
- Do Mapped Key > Heal Mode > All Windows
- Do Mapped Key > Rebuke > Current Window
I have a single spam key, for both sides of the toggle; the spam key does the assist and Rebuke which is the equivalent of the DK's Mind Freeze.

DPS Mode
Hot Key: None Set
Advanced: Reset to Step 1... 2.0 seconds after last press.
Step One
- Keystroke Action > Keybind One > Current Window
Step Two
- Keystroke Action > Keybind Two > Current Window
I want to always open with an Exorcism (Denounce will replace Exorcism, in MoP), hence the reset.

Heal Mode
Hot Key: None
Advanced: Option Checked, 'Do not load this Mapped Key when the Key Map is loaded'.
Step One
- Keystroke Action > Keybind Three > Current Window
Step Two
- Keystroke Action > Keybind Four > Current Window
This mapped key is not loaded by default, so there won't be conflicts with the spam key attempting to call both DPS Mode and Heals Mode.

Rebuke
Hot Key: None
- Keystroke Action > Rebuke Keybind > All Windows.
---- Do Not Advance (checked), For At Least 2.0 seconds (checked), and Trigger Only Once (not checked).
---- Round-robin within selected Target (checked)
This mapped key will spam (once per click) in one window for 2 seconds, then the next window spams; Rebuke is off of the GCD, so will not impact our other spells/abilities in any way.

Toggle to DPS
Hot Key: Control + Right Click (Mouse Two)
Step One
- Do Mapped Key > Round Robin Toggle DPS > All Windows
---- Check: Round Robin within target group.
We cannot round robin Mapped Key State Actions, but can round robin Do Mapped Key Actions.

Toggle to Heals
Hot Key: Control + Left Click (Mouse One)
Step One
- Do Mapped Key > Round Robin Toggle Healer > All Windows
---- Check: Round Robin within target group.
We cannot round robin Mapped Key State Actions, but can round robin Do Mapped Key Actions.

Round Robin Toggle DPS
Hot Key: None
Step One
- DPS Mode > On > Current Window
- Heals Mode > Off > Current Window
- WoW Macro Action > 'Clear Focus' in 'IS Boxer Macros' > Current Window
This is done with: Key Map Actions > New Mapped Key State Action.

Round Robin Toggle Healer
Hot Key: None
Step One
- DPS Mode > Off > Current Window
- Heals Mode > On > Current Window
- Wow Macro Action > 'Focus' in 'IS Boxer Macros' > Current Window
This is done with: Key Map Actions > New Mapped Key State Action.

To create the IS Boxer macros, I did:
a) Expand the Game Helpers, in the top left pane.
b) Left click on World of Warcraft, under Game Helpers still in the top left pane.
c) Right click on Macro Sets, under World of Warcraft in the lower left pane.
d) Created a new Macro Set, and named it IS Boxer Macros.
e) Left clicked on IS Boxer Macros (lower left pane) and checked my Character Set (lower right pane) and the Toon's on this team (lower right pane).
f) Right clicked on IS Boxer Macros (lower left pane), and selected New WoW Macro (did this twice, since I have two macros).
---- i) Named the first, 'Focus', gave it a unique key combination and the command: /focus [target=mouseover]
---- ii) Named the second, 'Clear Focus', gave it a unique key combination and the command: /clearfocus

Within the game, I created a Repeater Region which I placed over my Grid Frame.
This is set to broadcast to an Action Target Group, which includes the entire team.




In Practice:
Everyone starts in the DPS Mode (because this is loaded at startup, while Heal Mode is not).
When I spam my "1" key, everyone assists the main window and alternates between keybinds "1" and "2" within Warcraft.
I have my two step macro there; it needs refining but is functional for leveling up.

Macro on Keybind 1
#show
/castsequence Exorcism, Exorcism
/cast Holy Shock

Macro on Keybind 2
#show
/castsequence reset=5 Judgement, Null

When I (Control + Left Click) on any Grid Frame, the toggle occurs.
The first character on the team turns off DPS Mode and turns on Heals Mode.
They also set focus to whichever character corresponds to the Grid Frame which my mouse is over (on the current window).
So when I continue to spam my "1" key, this character now heals their focus with these two macros (credit for which goes to Mosg2, from the original DK Manifesto):

Macro on Keybind 3
#show
/castsequence [@focus,exists,nodead] Flash of Light, Flash of Light
/cast Holy Shock

Macro on Keybind 4
#show
/castsequence [@focus,exists,nodead] Holy Shock, Holy Shock, Holy Shock, Word of Glory

If I (Control + Left Click) on another (or the same) Grid Frame, the next character will enter Heals Mode.
The same process occurs as above.
I can have multiple Paladins healing the same target, or I could have each healing a different target.

The reverse toggle is triggered by (Control + Right Click).
The relative ordering is the same, meaning whichever toon first entered Healing Mode will be the first toon to cancel Healing Mode and return to DPS Mode.
Their focus is cleared, and they receive keybinds "1" and "2" as a result of my spamming the Hot Key: 1.

Retribution Section

This section is essentially theory-craft, at this stage.
I've not played a Ret Paladin ever... but do like several of their proposed abilities, not to mention the success others had with the composition prior to the Holy Power era.



Talents
Pursuit of Justice (Tier 1)
- Passive +10% movement increase, plus an additional +10% per charge of Holy Power (maximum +30% movement)
- With Boundless Conviction (at level 85+) giving the ability to store up to five charges of HP and no ability consuming more than three charges, we will likely have at least two charges most of the time... meaning we passively equal the speed of a Feral Druid, and are faster than anything else (baring special abilities like Sprint/Dash/Burning Rush).

Fist of Justice (Tier 2)
- This changes Hammer of Justice from 10 yards on a 1 minute cooldown, to 20 yards on a 30 second cooldown.
- Because of diminishing returns on Stun, I'll likely spec two of the Paladins into this talent... the Paladins not spec'd into Fist of Justice, still have Hammer of Justice available.

Repentance (Tier 2)
- Think the Polymorph of a Mage, usable against Demons, Dragonkin, Giants, Humanoids, and Undead.
- There is a 1.5 second casting time, so we cannot use this while spamming IWT.

Sacred Shield (Tier 3)
- Passively heal the target for (6K, plus half our Spell Power) every time they take damage (with an internal six second cooldown).
- This ability lasts 30 seconds, so will likely be set to cast at the start of each combat; it is usable on targets up to 40 yards distant, meaning our Holy Spec might be interested too.
- Passive abilities are very nice boxed, one less thing to manage.

Unbreakable Spirit (Tier 4)
- For every charge of Holy Power spent, reduce the cooldown of Lay on Hands and Divine Shield by 1%, to a maximum of a 50% cooldown reduction.
- Essentially, halves the cooldown on Divine Shield (bubble) and Lay on Hands.

??? (Tier 5)
- All three look good:
a) Holy Power: Lots of Holy Power, on demand... on a 2 minute cooldown.
b) Divine Purpose: A chance for an ability that uses Holy Power to consume no Holy Power and act as if three charges were used.
c) Sanctified Wrath: Hammer of Wrath, without a cooldown during Avenging Wrath... a very high chance of getting a kill during Wings.

??? (Tier 6)
- Again unsure which will be best:
a) Holy Prism: 20 sec cooldown, moderate damage to one enemies and some healing to allies nearby or the reverse (moderate healing to one ally who radiates damage to nearby enemies).
b) Light's Hammer: 1 minute cooldown, eight pulses (one every two seconds) healing allies and harming enemies in a 10 yard radius of where the paladin was when the ability was activated.
c) Execution Sentence: 1 minute cooldown, placing a DoT on an enemy or a HoT on an ally, which starts off slowly and builds in intensity as it runs its duration.

The Fifth Man
I'll assume the team runs as four Paladins, plus a fifth character.
Since this team will run as both Retribution and Holy, we need to look at what the fifth character contributes to each role.



Paladin
- This is the simplest and easiest choice, as every character is the same.
- You won't need to manage a different set of resources and/or cooldowns, and in general are more efficient on your own resources when every member of your team is the same class.
- While a DK or Warrior looks to be an attractive choice to compliment Ret Paladins, they don't add a whole lot while you're running the team as Holy.
- Conversely, you lose out on the addition edge that something else can bring to the team.


Death Knight
Holy:
- You would likely run the DK as Blood, and lead the team with this character... meaning the toon in the front has massively higher survivability than any of the healers in the back; non-boxers at least initially target the lead toon and focus their attention there.
- In any kind of a PvE encounter, whether Heroics or killing a General in AV/IoC, you bring a legitimate tank to the encounter and have plenty of healing to keep it alive.

Ret:
- The DK would likely run as Frost, which brings Howling Blast to the table (30 yard range, 10 yard AoE, snares to 50% movement) which will greatly increase the ability to close to melee with kiting classes.
- Death Grip (or Gorefiend's Grasp, which pulls every enemy within 20 yards), effectively negates almost any root or stun effect.
- Icy Touch (glyphed) also purges the target of one effect; not sure if this will break a Bubble/Iceblock immunity effect, as a Mass Dispel or Shattering Blow... if it does, this will allow kills on basically anything the Rets are attacking... even if it doesn't, the removal of a Pain Suppression like effect is huge.
- Chains of Ice, essentially root a target, which means that target dies once the Rets are in range.


Warrior


Druid


Priest


Shaman

Reserved Four
(Last Reserve)

first

I cannot wait for this, just starte 5 x pallys myself so this will be a godsend for me :)

Hi Ualaa,

How far along are you, looks like this post is 6 weeks old or so.

I just started 5 paladins myself, just hit 10 last night.

Going to the dungeons once I hit 15.

I was planning on running them all as protection to start because I figured the AOE component would work well for the packs in dungeon content... I am not sure what spec theyll turn out as once I get into more difficult content, but I am definitely PVE focused.

I am definitely going to be stealing your toggle method above though, that looks BRILLIANT.

I am curious how you plan on handling procs and holy power, if at all?

I was thinking you could do some sort of a similar toggle where, for example, say you are monitoring HP on all your pallies and one hits 3 HP... you would then hit a key to take that paladin out of the normal spam rotation and switch him to doing whatever you want when he is at 3 HP. Or something similar to that when Zealotry is up or if you want to do selfless healer, etc etc. Then it would drop him right back into using your spam macro.

I need to ponder some more to figure out how I am going to make it work, but that was my initial thought at least.
I do like your round robin on rebuke as well.. I was going to macro it in but was concerned they would all go off at once... staggering them looks great.

Hope you post more about your plans and your progress here!

If you want to talk about rets in MoP with me hit me up with a PM and i'll hop on yahoo or something.

Good job so far.

So far, the team is only Holy.
I've not really looked at the Ret stuff, beyond the assorted MoP posts, a few youtube videos, and the talent builders.

I know there are enough pieces, that I want my Rets to be 85th, by the start of MoP.
And to have them as an option.

But I'm in the process of grinding towards 100,000 honor kills on the DK team.
And not really looking at anything else, at least now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ualaa

So far, the team is only Holy.
I've not really looked at the Ret stuff, beyond the assorted MoP posts, a few youtube videos, and the talent builders.

I know there are enough pieces, that I want my Rets to be 85th, by the start of MoP.
And to have them as an option.

But I'm in the process of grinding towards 100,000 honor kills on the DK team.
And not really looking at anything else, at least now.

---

dear god thats a lot of AV/WSG

Ugh... Now i've gotta power level 4 more pallies (if this works as well as you think Ualaa and DKs get gimped as bad as Shodokan thinks...).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peli

Ugh... Now i've gotta power level 4 more pallies (if this works as well as you think Ualaa and DKs get gimped as bad as Shodokan thinks...).

---

I don't think they are "super gimped"... they will still be powerful. Just not quite as faceroll. Then again even in their current state all expansion not many people did well with them in arena (by comparison no other class did well at all). They will certainly be as good as they are in BGs right now.