Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Months after 2.3, I'm still not feeling the love.

I knew that Paladins were going to be good after Patch 2.3. Now, several months after Patch 2.3, I still can't believe HOW good we are!

Consistently, I am at the top of the damage meter in EVERY SINGLE PUG I'M EVER IN (assuming that I have been brought into the PUG to fulfill the role of DPS and I am doing DPS throughout the whole run, as opposed to tanking or healing).

I exaggerate a bit, I was passed up on one occasion in Mana Tombs at level 69 by a 70 Mage (but not the 70 Warlock who was with us).

At this time, I am using
The Oathkeeper and it is a very good weapon. But it's still no Thunder, and certainly no Hammer of the Naaru. With my last Paladin that I leveled to 70, Runic; I didn't experience anywhere NEAR this much damage output, and he was using the Lionheart Blade two weeks after hitting 70 (okay, so I didn't have a flying mount for a month or so after, I spent my mount money on mats for that sword). Arcten has no such equipment (as of this writing, not even a single epic). Runic had a better weapon, a better Seal (Blood), and better gear.

I think I am exaggerating again. By "better" gear, I mean Runic had "Paladin" gear.

I didn't ever stack spell damage, I just simply chose not to equip an item unless it was Plate with both Strength AND Intellect on it (unless it was healing or tanking gear). This got the job done, and even though Runic was no slouch, Arcten is still smashing where he was on the damage meters, with a Rare-quality weapon at that.

So yes, Patch 2.3 was the absolute best thing that has ever happened to the Paladin class, specifically, those of us who chose to be Retribution.

But Patch 2.3 changed up the way the game is played a bit. Instead of "Paladin" gear, to do well, this time around I had to gear myself like a Mortal Strike Warrior.

Seal of Command deals holy damage based off a percentage of weapon damage.

Seal of Blood deals holy damage based off a percentage of weapon damage.

Crusader Strike deals normal damage based off a percentage of weapon damage (and gets no bonus from Spell Damage).

I'm seeing a pattern here!

All the aforementioned abilities use your Weapon's Damage, Weapon Skill, Expertise, Strength, Attack Power, and melee Crit % to calculate their damage!

Don't Warriors have a similar setup? Something like Mortal Strike? Mortal Strike Warriors go heavy STR, AP, AGI, Crit %, and Hit in their gear.

I have too (well, working on the Hit for Kara at least, not quite there yet). And I can look you in the eye and honestly say (ego aside), "yes, I have geared myself like a Mortal Strike Warrior, and yes my speciality is throwing out insane melee damage in nice big chunks, and yes, I'm pretty damn good at it".

I go into a fight, I'm buffed with my max'd out BoMight, Sanctity Aura is up. I Judge Crusader, toss up Seal of Command and pop my Crusader Strike, Hammer of Justice, and Judgement whenever their cooldowns are done until the other thing dies. Usually, I won't even get a Hammer of Justice in. The cooldown is too long and the other thing dies too fast. All the while, Vengeance is going off constantly, I'm throwing down damage numbers in the thousands with each hit, then I'll get a big spike from a weapon crit, a SoCo crit, and a CStrike crit to finish the deal.

The chunks at which their life bar disappears; it is honestly a bit insane.

No, I am not melting faces with the furious pyroblast crit from hell. I am coming close though (over time). I am also frequently putting out melee/holy damage that would frighten small children (playing lesser Paladins).

I am scared to death to go into Karazhan. I'm scared it's going to be a big blow to my ego. Here I am crushing mobs in PvE with my earth-shattering blows, completely destroying the reputation that the class' spec has gathered since game launch. And then in Kara, I'll be the "new raider" in Blues trying to put a dent in the damage meter compared to my friends and guildmates in full epics. And again, the "LoLRetnoob" curse will haunt me once again.

I'm not sure what to do about that.

Paladincraft.net has a pretty good (albeit dated pre-2.3) rundown with benchmarks for a Paladin just entering Kara. Age aside, I think they are pretty good benchmarks. I think I can probably meet them. But it doesn't quite fix the issue. If you give a Retribution Paladin a chance to deal some DPS in a PUG, you will be pleasantly surprised. Assuming, of course, they have not half-assed their gear.

But I'm not convinced that the mentality of "Yes! Paladins can be DPS class now, and they should be desired as such!" has been accepted by or shared by the WoW community at large (aside from the players who play Ret and have first-hand knowledge of what we can do). Hopefully, others with the same mindset as me can work to change this.

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