Need Advice - Retribution Paladin lvl 78

[Flight]

Not a boxing question so much, but I've been reading up and getting confused everywhere else so I'm brining it back to the community I know can help.

I got hacked 2-3 years ago. Didn't know for a few months so they couldn't reimburse deleter character names/item/gold/bank contents etc. They then used my Pallie as a mining char. Leveled him from 74-78, so my boxing toons are out of sync. Plan now is to solo lvl the Pallie to 85 first from 78 then go back to my lvl 73/74 boxing crew.


So what I'm asking for help with is a basic attack sequence or even macro for Retri Pallie solo questing. I'm just so lost with the rehashing of everything Pallie. If anyone could offer this help/advice or point me to a decent link I'd appreciate it. Build I've found is : http://www.paladinlevelingspec.net/paladin-leveing-spec I'm thinking that is prolly pretty standard for leveling Pallie ?

[candlebox]

First off...Pally not Pallie.

I dont know if i should take this post seriously....all the info you need is in the forums under macros.

If you are unsure about spec, and don't want to read/do math you can always look at elitistjerks.com for top end debated specs.

But none of it should matter untill you hit 85 anyways. Just put in what sounds the best if you are to lazy.

[Flight]

First off...Pally not Pallie.

I dont know if i should take this post seriously....all the info you need is in the forums under macros.

If you are unsure about spec, and don't want to read/do math you can always look at elitistjerks.com for top end debated specs.

But none of it should matter untill you hit 85 anyways. Just put in what sounds the best if you are to lazy.

Yes I'm serious and I've spent the last four hours reading this and other forums.

The problem is a lot seems to have changed in both the recent and long term past. Also a lot is directed at lvl 85 macros, which I'm not. For instance I was confused for a while by the spec I posted because an ability called Sacred Shield has replaced one of the abilities listed (Rebuke I think off hand ?)


You'd be surprised how confusing things can be if you come back after a long break to a char, especially one that isn't max lvl and especially Paladin which seemed to have changed massively.

The reason I didn't post in other forums is because when you ask for help you tend to get told to go away and read the forums - which is what you've pretty much taken the time to type out and which I've already done and got confused.


I'll go back and spend more time reading up. if anyone could point retribution threads that aren't confusing or out of date I'd appreciate it. If I'm out of order posting then I apologise and feel free to delete the thread.

[HPAVC]

I would just go to http://www.wowpopular.com/Paladin/Retribution/Talents and do what they say in one of the top specs for your play style. Easy and you could have been 80 in the 4 hours of research. GLHF

[Flight]

I would just go to http://www.wowpopular.com/Paladin/Retribution/Talents and do what they say in one of the top specs for your play style. Easy and you could have been 80 in the 4 hours of research. GLHF

Thanks, I'll check it out.

[Khatovar]

I'd start here. Actually, the whole thing is worth reading. Paladins, especially Ret, don't have a single faceroll button anymore, you need to pay attention to what's going on and react based on priorities. My Ret uses a 3step toggle and that still doesn't even cover procs {AoW and DP} or AOE {Cons or AW}, which I do manually.

The best advice I can give is drop the Ret for something else. Spec him prot or holy and solo-level him through dungeons if you want and boost the rest of your team, then go back and boost a replacement. Or make him the new tank or healer for your group and spec your current tank/healer out to DPS. I don't know what your current group setup is, but ret really isn't the best option for boxing for a number of reasons these days.

[zenga]

Yes I'm serious and I've spent the last four hours reading this and other forums.

The problem is a lot seems to have changed in both the recent and long term past. Also a lot is directed at lvl 85 macros, which I'm not. For instance I was confused for a while by the spec I posted because an ability called Sacred Shield has replaced one of the abilities listed (Rebuke I think off hand ?)


You'd be surprised how confusing things can be if you come back after a long break to a char, especially one that isn't max lvl and especially Paladin which seemed to have changed massively.

The reason I didn't post in other forums is because when you ask for help you tend to get told to go away and read the forums - which is what you've pretty much taken the time to type out and which I've already done and got confused.


I'll go back and spend more time reading up. if anyone could point retribution threads that aren't confusing or out of date I'd appreciate it. If I'm out of order posting then I apologise and feel free to delete the thread.

I've always played protection myself, and was never interested in retribution. Since I picked up my pally with this new patch, I got a retribution off spec to see what it's like, obviously had to figure out some stuff to make it somewhat working for me. So I made myself some notes and practised a bit vs the target dummy. I'll try to share them:

- your main move is crusader strike, it generates a stack of holy power, you can have a maximum of 3 holy power
- you want an addon that tracks your amount of holy power
- you want to keep inquisition up, it's a buff that increases your damage done by 30%, if you cast inquisition, it consumes all your holy power, but the more stacks of holy power you had, the longer it lasts, you might want to track this with an addon as well
- when crusader strike is on cooldown, use judgement
- if you have 3 holy power stacks, use templar's verdict
- sometimes you get a proc called the art of war, and it makes your next exorsism cast instant, only use exorcism when this procs (you get like 2 yellow marks in your interface when this happens)
- sometimes divine purpose might proc, which makes your next move consume no holy power
- zealotry is another strong cooldown, pop it and every time you use crusader strike you'll generate 3 stacks of holy power ... in order to cast zealotry you need to have 3 holy power up, but it won't consume your holy power
- you obviously have wings, or avenging wrath
- if you have nothing to cast, you want to use consecration or holy wrath
- rebuke is your interrupt
- world of glory is your instant heal, it uses all holy power
- i run with seal of truth & kings & retribution aura

obviously this ain't a max dps guide, but more a means for myself to understand the basics of the spec
it's all centred around using holy power and what you do with it
if you don't have certain abilities at your level, just skip them

[Flight]

I'd start here. Actually, the whole thing is worth reading. Paladins, especially Ret, don't have a single faceroll button anymore, you need to pay attention to what's going on and react based on priorities. My Ret uses a 3step toggle and that still doesn't even cover procs {AoW and DP} or AOE {Cons or AW}, which I do manually.

The best advice I can give is drop the Ret for something else. Spec him prot or holy and solo-level him through dungeons if you want and boost the rest of your team, then go back and boost a replacement. Or make him the new tank or healer for your group and spec your current tank/healer out to DPS. I don't know what your current group setup is, but ret really isn't the best option for boxing for a number of reasons these days.

Thanks Khatovar. I'm working through that thread.

I've always played protection myself, and was never interested in retribution. Since I picked up my pally with this new patch, I got a retribution off spec to see what it's like, obviously had to figure out some stuff to make it somewhat working for me. So I made myself some notes and practised a bit vs the target dummy. I'll try to share them:

- your main move is crusader strike, it generates a stack of holy power, you can have a maximum of 3 holy power
- you want an addon that tracks your amount of holy power
- you want to keep inquisition up, it's a buff that increases your damage done by 30%, if you cast inquisition, it consumes all your holy power, but the more stacks of holy power you had, the longer it lasts, you might want to track this with an addon as well
- when crusader strike is on cooldown, use judgement
- if you have 3 holy power stacks, use templar's verdict
- sometimes you get a proc called the art of war, and it makes your next exorsism cast instant, only use exorcism when this procs (you get like 2 yellow marks in your interface when this happens)
- sometimes divine purpose might proc, which makes your next move consume no holy power
- zealotry is another strong cooldown, pop it and every time you use crusader strike you'll generate 3 stacks of holy power ... in order to cast zealotry you need to have 3 holy power up, but it won't consume your holy power
- you obviously have wings, or avenging wrath
- if you have nothing to cast, you want to use consecration or holy wrath
- rebuke is your interrupt
- world of glory is your instant heal, it uses all holy power
- i run with seal of truth & kings & retribution aura

obviously this ain't a max dps guide, but more a means for myself to understand the basics of the spec
it's all centred around using holy power and what you do with it
if you don't have certain abilities at your level, just skip them

Brilliant Zenga. That's a great help, thank you.

Do you have any macros that will be useful please ?




As for addons I'm reading up on clcinfo and clcret. Anyone used those ? Also this looks interesting :

http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/powerauras-classic

http://powerauras.wikispaces.com/How+to+Use

[zenga]

Do you have any macros that will be useful please ?

If you are asking for a 1 stop shop spammable castsequence: nope I don't use them. And I strongly advise against using them if you play solo. It's gonna take half an hour to get used to manually casting your abilities while questing, maybe an hour. And you gonna learn far more in this short period about the spec than when you would use 1 spammable castsequence for 2 months straight.

As for addons I'm reading up on clcinfo and clcret. Anyone used those ? Also this looks interesting :

http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/powerauras-classic

http://powerauras.wikispaces.com/How+to+Use

powerauras is pretty much the swiss knife when it comes to tracking procs, abilities, stacks, debuffs, etc ....
i can share you how i track my holy power in power auras on my prot (same goes for ret & holy actually)

/powa
click 'page 1' under character effects
chose import
paste in the pop up box
Version:4.23; b:0.1922; g:0.9529; thresholdinvert:true; icon:spell_holy_lightsgrace; x:-200; bufftype:10; texture:73; PowerType:9; threshold:1; size:0.25; y:150; texmode:2
repeat import/paste
Version:4.23; b:0.1922; g:0.9529; thresholdinvert:true; icon:spell_holy_lightsgrace; x:-200; bufftype:10; texture:73; PowerType:9; threshold:2; size:0.38; y:150; texmode:2
and once more
Version:4.23; b:0.0549; g:0.3608; thresholdinvert:true; icon:spell_holy_lightsgrace; x:-200; bufftype:10; texture:72; sound:12; PowerType:9; threshold:3; size:0.55; y:150; texmode:2

to track buff durations like inquisition i use chronobars (and for many other durations on other toons)

[Flight]

powerauras is pretty much the swiss knife when it comes to tracking procs, abilities, stacks, debuffs, etc ....
i can share you how i track my holy power in power auras on my prot (same goes for ret & holy actually)

/powa
click 'page 1' under character effects
chose import
paste in the pop up box
Version:4.23; b:0.1922; g:0.9529; thresholdinvert:true; icon:spell_holy_lightsgrace; x:-200; bufftype:10; texture:73; PowerType:9; threshold:1; size:0.25; y:150; texmode:2
repeat import/paste
Version:4.23; b:0.1922; g:0.9529; thresholdinvert:true; icon:spell_holy_lightsgrace; x:-200; bufftype:10; texture:73; PowerType:9; threshold:2; size:0.38; y:150; texmode:2
and once more
Version:4.23; b:0.0549; g:0.3608; thresholdinvert:true; icon:spell_holy_lightsgrace; x:-200; bufftype:10; texture:72; sound:12; PowerType:9; threshold:3; size:0.55; y:150; texmode:2

to track buff durations like inquisition i use chronobars (and for many other durations on other toons)

Brilliant, thank you.



As an added aside to help anyone viewing this in future the following thread is an interesting read alongside EJ, especially when considering rotations etc :

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2267589223



Most salient parts :

ROTATIONS

What you need to realize about Retribution's rotation is that it's actually a loose priority system. Hitting your buttons in the suboptimal order will not put your meters in the dirt, but you will of course be performing at a suboptimal standard (go figure).

3.1 Single Target

Note that opening rotations may differ from what you read in this section due to initial CD usage. Optimal opening rotations are discussed in section 4 (Cooldowns).

Inq > CS > HoW > Exo > TV > J > HW > Cons
Inq > CS > TV > HoW > Exo > J > HW > Cons

Either rotation works, but presently spreadsheets recommend the former selection for higher gear levels (~359+). DPS variances are rather slight between the two.

Inq > CS > TV > Exo > HoW > J > HW > Cons, or
Inq > CS > Exo > HoW > TV > J > HW > Cons

The above selections are optimal priority queues for Undead and Demon targets. Once again, DPS variances are slight. There is no real item level threshold for priority preference here. The fact that Exorcism auto-crits when used on Undead or Demons and its faster scaling causes it to pull ahead of HoW in these scenarios. (Exemplar)

Inquisition is one of the most important abilities to our damage output. It is imperative that it be up 100% of the time, if not close to it. Redcape suggests casting Inquisition at 1 HoPo and refreshing at 3 HoPo or on a Divine Purpose proc without the 4p tier bonus. With the 4p bonus, it is optimal to cast and refresh at 1 HoPo.

If Divine Purpose procs with 2 HoPo and CS off of cooldown, use CS first, then burn both TVs (one from natural HoPo, one from DP). You should immediately be able to CS again. If CS has just been used when DP procs, it is safe to burn the DP proc as a filler while you wait on the cooldown to Crusader Strike again.

3.2 Multiple Target

The AoE rotation is rather similar to single-target, simply replace Crusader Strike with Divine Storm. The rest of the priority stays the same. With Holy Wrath being a meteor effect, at 3 targets you should begin using Consecration over HW. (Exemplar)

Current modeling and tests by Redcape suggest that you should only swap to an AoE rotation for 5+ targets. In 4.1, it may be optimal to make the switch at 4+ as Divine Storm will generate a charge of HoPo when hitting four or more targets at a time.



COOLDOWNS

Since such a large part of our damage output is based on the use and effective management of our cooldowns, it's important for us to understand our cooldowns and what they do.

4.1 Avenging Wrath

Avenging Wrath increases all damage by 20% while active. Fully talented this lasts 20 seconds with a 2-minute cooldown, providing a 16.6% effective up-time. (Exemplar) This ability allows the use of HoW while active, whether target health is above or below 20%. As with any major cooldown, it is best used through Bloodlust effects. However, losing a CD cycle over the course of an encounter by waiting on a Bloodlust to burn them is a painful DPS loss.

4.2 Zealotry

Zealotry is a 20-second buff with a 2-minute cooldown which causes your Crusader Strike ability to grant 3 charges of HoPo rather than 1. Zealotry is most effective when used in conjunction with Avenging Wrath and other DPS-increasing conditions such as potions and trinkets.

The general rotation while Zealotry is active is CS > TV > filler > CS > TV > filler, etc. Any ability that is not CS qualifies as a filler, including DP procs used for free TVs.

4.3 Guardian of Ancient Kings

Guardian of Ancient Kings provides a stacking Strength buff which will stack up to 20 times, granting you an additional 20% of your current Strength (including bonuses from buffs, trinkets, and potions). The buff lasts for a total of 30 seconds.

In a CD sequence it is advised to use GoAK first to stack the Strength bonus. After ~10 seconds you would use AW and Zeal. This would provide the maximum Strength benefit for the entirety of the AW/Zeal. (Exemplar)

4.4 Effective Usage

The way you use your cooldowns is crucial to your overall output. The ability to manage your cooldowns can either make or break your DPS.

Where once it was recommended that AW and Zealotry be used separately, it is now optimal to burn these cooldowns together, all the time, every time.

If you do not have 20+ seconds of Inq already rolling, Zeal + Inq first, then AW + HoW. If you have the 20+ seconds of Inq required to cover the entire CD cycle, blow AW + HoW first, and then Zeal + TV on the next GCD. Proceed from there with your usual rotation. Bind on-use trinkets to AW.

For your first CD cycle, it's important to summon your first GoAK. 10 seconds later, burn AW/Zealotry/On-use trinkets. I recommend saving your Golemblood Potion for important burn phases (but remember only to use them during a CD cycle or you are wasting DPS).

Typically, your opening CD cycle will look something like this:

CS/GoAK > filler (x2) > CS > filler (x2) > CS > Zealotry/Inq* > AW/Trinket/Potion + HoW** > CS > TV > filler > CS > TV > HoW, etc.

* Zealotry is off of the GCD, so Inq or TV can be used on top of it.

** AW, On-use trinkets, and potions are all off of the GCD so, if they are macro'd together, it is possible to use that GCD for a HoW.