Legend of the Assbringer

A new Retribution Paladin! (again)

2008-03-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

This blog originally started with me starting a Draenei Retirubion Paladin on the server of Draenor with my wife and her new found friends here in the great, green state of Washington.
Later, I quickly grew bored with being an uber nubcake with extra weaksauce and dropped $25 to transfer my level 60 Paladin over to Draenor.

I had many exciting times with Arcten on the journey to level 70, and most of them are documented here.

However, alas, I logged into the great World of Warcraft after a month-long hiatus last weekend and was very unimpressed and uninspired for whatever reason.
I really didn't feel like playing. The magical feeling of traversing Azeroth just didn't touch me the way it once did.

I was WoW'd out.

In response to this, having a few bucks in the bank, I went out and purchased a copy of Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa.

I was pleased to find the third-person MMORPG shooter (hey, a new genre!) to be something fresh, new and exciting. Overall, Tabula Rasa is a great change of pace from WoW, though it did take some getting used to the controls. This isn't to say that TabRas's controls are bad, just a bit different. It IS satisfying to hold down the left mouse button and pump rounds from a magnum pistol into an alien badguy.

But I digress.

So I had my little foray into Richard Garriott's world only to receive a phone call from my best friend in high school while playing it my second day.

I'm am pleased to find my friend alive and well and living in the local area. So he comes over, we kill a case of beer, and tells me he's been hard-core WoW'ing.

I say, "ORLY? I happen to know a thing or two about the World of Warcraft myself! What class are you playing?"

"Well", friend responds. "I've got a 70 mage and he's fun and all, but I just rolled an alt and got him to 50 over the past couple weeks, he's a Paladin..."

"ORLLLLLLYYYYYY" replies I (with added emphasis, duplicated here). "It just so happens that I'm a bit of a Paladin myself..."

And of course, the inevitable question that WoW players will always ask each other 99% of the time, upon making real human contact in real human life with a fellow WoW'er - "What server do you play on?"

"Horde, on Detheroc".

"Oooooh, that's a PvP server, isn't it?"

"It is, Horde runs that server!"

"Hmmmmm..." I ponder for a moment. I proceed to interrogate him about his guild, the character content of his guild mates, the possible future of raid progression, things of that nature.

To surmise; the conversation ends with me agreeing to roll a Belf Retadin on his server and display their awesome prowess at killing things and me vowing to show his guild how awesome Ret Paladins truly are.

Thus born is Hellhand, Blood Elf Paladin Retribution Paladin on Detheroc.

Let's see where this little adventure leads...

Why no updates!?

2008-02-12T04:06:00.000-08:00

Well, because I haven't gotten any time to play for like the past 2 weeks and accomplish anything useful!

See, I'm moving into a new house (my family's first), working two jobs, and since I haven't had the time to sit down for 4 hours at a time and accomplish anything, I've been playing around with a lovely little WoW diversion called Dungeon Runners.

Remember Diablo, and Diablo 2? It's like that. But in this game, you don't have uber awesome weapons of holy pwnage like "Azurewrath" (the sword of the Archangel Tyrial). You instead have weapons like the "Infected Hatchet of the Wrathful Bunny from the Groovy Nether Regions" and armor like "The Late Knight's Grievances" (which are plate boots that enhance your movement speed, classy).

Oh, the best part is, Dungeon Runners is 100% FREE!

That's right, a Diablo 2 clone that's free, free, FREE!

Well, sort of. You can equip items as good as the equivalent of Green-quality in WoW on a free account. But for Dungeon Runners' equivalent of Blues, Purples, and Legendaries (of which there are many), you'll need to pay about $5 a month to NC Soft.

Yeah, that's right, I said it. I'm playing an NC Soft game. I feel like such a traitor.

For those living under a rock for the past 5 years, NC Soft has produced such games as City of Heroes/Villains, Lineage 1 & 2, Guild Wars, and Tabula Rasa (which I would still like to find a playable demo for).

Dungeon Runners is in every way a pick-up-and-play kinda game. And it has that same "slow progession, get new loots" feel to it that Diablo 2 so expertly accomplished.

To check out Dungeon Runners, and possibly get your very own Headsplitting Pickaxe of the Unruly Goat, go to http://www.dungeonrunners.com/ and have a looksie.

Me? I got tired of not being able to equip the uber-est of items so I forked out $15 for a 3-month subscription. You can usually find me on World 2 (Members-only PvE) as Clownpuncher, a Coordinated Rookie White Paladin.

What do you enjoy about the class you play the most?

2008-01-31T07:02:00.000-08:00

Blog Azeroth asks:
What do you enjoy about the class you play the most?

This one is easy.

I love playing the game under the presumption that Paladin's can't DPS, when, in fact, we totally can!

Yes, yes, maybe we couldn't before, unless we were really, REALLY good. And Patch 2.3 changed the game up a whole lot.

There is nothing more satisfying to me then being complimented on my damage output in a party and thereby shattering any preconcieved notions that person may or may not have had
about my class and chosen talent spec.

I want Paladins to raid as DPS. There's enough of us who want to. I want the WoW community at large to see that, in fact, we CAN fulfill this role, and that we should be desired as such.

Of course, I don't want the Holy specs to stop Healing, or the Protection specs to stop tanking. I want all of us to play our chosen specs to the fullest and be accepted by our peers in whatever role we chose to play. More so than that, I want Paladins to be respected for what we can accomplish in said roles. And respect is what it really boils down to.

No one has ever complained about a Paladin healing (that I've seen). Since Burning Crusade (roughly) I haven't heard any complaints about Paldins tanking either. DPSers are a dime-a-dozen, but tanks and healers are priceless.

I would go one step further and encourage my fellow Retribution Paladins to stock up on healing and tanking gear as well. Often you will be in dungeons were great blues drop that no one needs. This provides an excellent opportunity to build up on your versatility. I have no qualms with healing in cloth, or tanking in Warrior gear without INT on it.

To close I'd like to say thanks to Blog Azeroth for coming up with Shared Topics, it's a fun idea and hope to see more in the future.

I has a Thunder!

2008-01-27T19:47:00.000-08:00

I hit level 350 Blacksmith over the weekend and I had grown impatient with the gear grind to meet suggested Karazhan benchmarks. I had planned to go Hammersmith and craft myself the Stormherald series since I transferred Arcten to Draenor, but after buying my flying mount, I didn't have much to spare.

Now, since playing Runic, I had grown accustomed to being in a Karazhan raiding guild, having a weapon and gear to support my chosen talent spec, and being one of the highest-damaging Ret Paladins I knew. Shandris was a small server, and Runic had been gathering the perfect Ret gear (pre patch 2.3) that he could find for some time.

Draenor was huge, however. It'd had been months since I'd waited in a queue to log into the game server. And I knew that separating myself from the bazillion other Ret Paladins on the server would not be easy.

I geared Arcten as well as I could, and I was consistently in the top 1 or 2 damage spot in parties (though since level 70, I've been out-dpsed by even more mages, I'm done competing with them). But it still wasn't enough.

Runic had an epic 2h weapon. I wanted one for Arcten too!

Runic had heavy bonuses on his Ret gear to the right Stats. I wanted Arcten to have that too!

Runic had a couple thousand gold to blow on pretty much whatever he wanted! And dammit, I wanted Arcten to be able to blow some gold too!

So what did I do?

I cannibalized Runic and pawned all his gear.

I shelled out my $25 and transferred Runic to Draenor. Then I abused the linked neutral Auction Houses with my guildmistress, Lanikoa. I posted all kinds of uncommon and rare-quality gems and mining bars and ores for 1 copper from Runic. After which, a waiting Lanikoa quickly bought them all up as we coordinated everything over Teamspeak (actually, I just logged in with Arcten to explain which items where being put up and then logged out to post them).

Finally, I handed my guildmistress a single, Netherweave Bandage and said, "post this for exactly 1647 gold".

Runic logged back on and bought said bandage, effectively draining every last piece of gold he had on him.

The last hour waiting for my big lump of gold to show up in my GM's mailbox was the longest hour of playing WoW, EVER! But finally it came.

The bastard Auction House took about a 400g cut from it all, but some was better than none. Lanikoa handed the gold to Arcten, minus her share of the transfer and I went off skipping to the Auction House.

Now the Alliance Auction House on Draenor is a wonderful thing indeed! Chances are, if you need something, it's there.

In my case, I needed about 17 Primal Air and 13 Primal Water (the some of which I transferred from Runic to Arcten).

So I bought my mats in Stormwind and went off to craft my hammer. It was beautiful. I took it in my hand and raised it proudly and mightily exclaimed in guild chat, "I has a Thunder!"

But see, then the shakes came.

I still had a good chunk of change left over. And I wasn't sure what to do with it. Now when searching for the previous mats, I noticed that were a whole lot of Primal Fires on there, and so just for shites and giggles, I did a level 70 plate search for armor of rare quality.

Ragesteel shoulders came up, for one.

Now they were good. I mean REALLY good. Much better than the Warchief's mantle that I was using. Furthermore, they had some +Hit Rating on them (which I am hurting BADLY for in order to reach Karazhan entry-benchmark stats) AND two yellow sockets, so I could toss a deuce of Rigid Golden Draenite in there too for another +16 Hit Rating.

Yeah, I bought them; bought the Golden Draenite too!

I equipped them and suddenly felt awesome, and I was only out 160g for armor and gems.

"Hmmm... they're part of a set..."

I noticed this after I had purchased them and immediately searched the auction house for the rest of these Ragsteel pieces. None were to be found, and I still had all this gold too! So I went to the Trade channel!

/trade LF Blacksmith to Craft Ragesteel, my mats!

I got a whisper from a fellow Paladin, Betrayed. I asked what the mats were, like a noob, and I saw that the amount of Primal Fires required for the rest of the pieces were going to cost me. Geez, I'd be way better off buying this stuff on the AH, but none there, so I bought everything; the Khorium, the Fel Iron, the Primal Fires, the Elixir's of Major Strength. Everything that goes into these things I bought.

"Allright, I got the mats, meet me in Dwarf District of SW?"

So, Betrayed shows up. Come to find out that he was a mace and shield-wielding Paladin rocking full Crystalforge, cool! I hand him the mats, he crafts my stuff, I give him a healthy tip, and I'm on my way again.

But wait... Enchants! I can still squeeze +15 STR on the gloves and +6 all stats on chest! Oh, and Thunder needs something too, Savagery for me! Kthx!

So yeah, between crafting mats and enchanting mats… that gold is totally gone.

But that’s okay, because now I’m rocking (unbuffed):
1482 Attack Power
27.24% Crit
5.26% Hit

I did have to give Runic one last run through the Barrens… naked… and then end it all by flying his Tawny Windrider to the highest point above Hellfire Citadel, /dismount in the air, and then watch him fall to his doom one last time.

I logged out at the graveyard and hit the delete button for Runic on my character select screen.

Thanks for the fun times and all the gold Runic, R.I.P.

Best... group... ever...

2008-01-24T19:44:00.000-08:00

I'm working on my dailies yesterday in Skettis, I'd been camping a spawn point for the escort guy for about 10 minutes or so. My wife has the kids taken care of at this point and she's graciously giving me some time to play WoW. So I think to myself, "well, I don't think I'm gonna be able to escort this guy today, there's just too many folks camping him out and the last party I was in had horde show up at the spawn point before I could get there so screw it! I'll put myself in the LFG tool for Shadow Labyrinth and head back to town". In addition to a cloak dropped by one of the bosses in there, I needed my first key fragment for Karazhan from Shadow Labyrinth. So I cross my fingers and hope.

I get a tell from Scarletpally, "What's your spec?"

Now I know this guy. He is an extremely talented healer who runs around in a full set of healing cloth. I ran Durnholde with him as healer and he kept everyone's life bar pretty much topped off at all times. He could very well be the most skilled and best-geared healer I've met on Draenor thus far.

So, I answer him in a friendly tone with my typical reply to such a request, I didn't think he remembered me, "Well, Ret but I carry around gear for that other stuff too".

"That's good, we need a Ret Paladin". So he invites me and I join. Though I am scratching my head a bit because I'd never heard of a party needing a Ret Paladin specifically.

So I accept the invite and I see the little portraits of my party mates appear, and, habitually, I mouse over each one to see what classes we're working with.

Paladin...

Paladin...

Paladin...

Paladin...

Myself (also Paladin).

So I ask in party, "Uh... Scarlet? Did you know you invited nothing but Paladins?"

"Ya lol!"

"Well," I reply, "even if we wipe a million times over, this will still be hilarity at its utmost! So what's everyone's spec?"

The group composition was thus:
Augustus - A Human Protection Paladin (who would be full-time tank)
Scarletpally - A Human Holy Paladin (who would be full-time healer)
Sgtcrush - A Human Retribution Paladin (later replaced by Notabuffbot) (who would be full-time DPS)
Laqueeta - A Draenei Holy Paladin (who would also be full-time healer)
Notabuffbot - A Human Protection Paladin (was not present at first, replaced Sgtcrush on the last room before Murmur) (who would be full-time DPS)
Arcten - A Human Retribution Paladin, myself (who would also be full-time DPS)

So we head in, apprehensive as hell, but the general vibe in party chat is really positive. We buff up, and here is where I lol'd for the first time.

"Okay, buff up!" exclaims Scarlet. "I got Light and Concentration Aura!"

"I'll do kings and devo", says Augustus

Not many buffs left and I spent hard-earned talent points on these and I'm not about to let them go to waste! So I speak up, "I've got Imp Sanct and Might, I'll do those!"

"Shadow and Wisdom" Laqueeta casually responds.

"Well, sh!t" Sgtcrush bellows. "Ret and uhhh.." .

To be honest, I don't remember what he ended up buffing us with. I think it might have been Salvation (and Augustus would've right-clicked it off himself). I was too busy laughing my head off after I cast a single greater blessing and all of us were hit by it. Then three consecutive *boom* noises of three other greater blessings going off. But I notice Scarlet is repeatedly casting his BoWisdom on us, and my buff counter shows only 10 minutes.

"Lol, use greater Scarlet!"

"Can't! Don't have any Symbols!"

Now I always carry about three stacks of Symbols on me, just in case. But after casting a single greater blessing and having the whole party now showing the only buff I can cast now, I figured I wouldn't be needing many symbols. Carrying 300-ish probably overkill, except for situations like this, but since I didn't see reagents being much of a problem, I say to Scarletpally, "You knucklehead, c'mere!" and I hand him a stack of 100 symbols.

Wow! Efficient buffing! No repeated buffs or wasted reagents!

So I stop laughing and had to take a moment to focus. Next was coming the first pull of the run.

First pull opens up with a pack of humanoid being hit by Augustus flinging his glowing shield. Not a single target mark, just a pack of mobs, I watch closely and see which one Augustus tears into first, he's doing his thing with Seal of Vengeance. I target Augustus and immediately switch over to the little portrait of his target. The consecrate goes down and I'm wailing on the tanks target. I look over a bit and see that Sgtcrush has begun tearing into the same one.

Wow! Focused fighting! Without marks!

I look up from time to time at Augustus' heath bar, making sure I don't need to toss out an
"osh!t" heal, because he's getting wailed on by a lot of mobs... and keeping them focused on him. Every single time my eye wanders up to Augustus' life bar, he gets hit with another heal, and it jumps back up to full.

"Okay", I think "Augustus is getting healed, how about the rest of us?". I look over at Sgtcrush, and he keeps blinking with the light of a cast heal as well, hell, I'm blinking too, upwards of 1700 hit points at a time!

Wow! Flawless healing, and enough mana on the healers that absolutely none of it was wasted.

Now three of us were in melee, but I saw only two Judgments being put on the target at a time. Crusader, which I was doing, and Vengeance from Augustus. I watched his seal animation for a moment whilst fighting and notice that Sgtcrush too was Sealing and then Judging Crusader.

"Hey Crush" I whisper to him, "you mind throwing Wisdom on these guys instead, our Crusader Judgments don't stack".

"Sure man, no prob," he whispers in reply, "Kinda habit, y'know?"

"I certainly do."

Wow! A cooperative teammate willing to switch up their habitual play style a bit for the benefit of the entire party!

But wait! A FOURTH Judgment appeared on the target! Seal of Light!!! But from who?

*cue suspenseful music crescendo*

Toward the corner of my screen, I saw Laqueeta, one of our beloved healers, in her grim-looking Mask of Penance approach our foe and swing her glowing battle mace just long enough to cast this Judgment upon our target and back away. Crusader Strikes from Sgtcrush and me did their job and kept it refreshed. Offensively, our healer went above and beyond what is usually expected.

Wow! Heals that are so efficient that a healer has time mid-fight to go above and beyond and help out even more!

The rest of the pulls from each of the rooms we made it through went along just as smooth. No more Judgments were cast in error. We worked expertly off each other's synergy. No one did anything stupid. The DPS was far more than adequate.

Though briefly, on the topic of DPS, seeing 5 Hammers of Wrath all being cast simultaneously and watching a foe erupt in a fiery death of explosive holy wrath is the most awesome-looking thing, ever!

We had one wipe on trash, and that was only because we didn't think to pull a pack of mobs quite far enough back in the room of Blackheart.

A Divine Intervention was cast, but it was cast in haste and the recipient of said DI was in a very undesirable position in relation to the mobs. So all died and had to run back.

Five resurrection spells and not a single rez received! Oh the irony! But either way, we ran back, rested up, rebuffed and cleared the remaining mobs in that room flawlessly. We rebound quickly from the wipe but my heart sunk into the pit of my stomach, because up next... was Blackheart the Inciter.

For those unfamiliar with Blackheart the Inciter:
A. He drops one of the best Pre-Karazhan cloaks in the game, one that I have also added to my Karazhan-entry gear wish list, the Cloak of the Inciter.
B. He mind controls the whole party and makes you go buck-wild and fight your party mates like five starved and rabid dogs all locked in a cage together.

I am more concerned with prospect "B" at this point.

"So uhh... you guys wanna do this?"

"Pop our cool downs at start of fight and dig in."

"Okay, um, which cool downs?"

"Avenging Wrath"

"No, Divine Protection"

"No, Avenging Wrath it will be better"

"But he can't kill us if we use Protection, let's use that."

"Okay, okay, fine, the offensive guys will pop Avenging Wrath, the defense won't pop anything. Let's HOPE that he makes our squishy friend in Priest Cloth use his bubble when he MC's us!"

So, we ignited our fiery wings and laid into the boss. His health was going down very, VERY slowly (remember, that two of our members were healing full-time, so we really only had 2 DPSers as opposed to the usual 3). The fight kept going on and on and on and finally, he let us know...

"IT'S TIME FOR FUN!"

When an Ogre says, "it's time for fun", it usually isn't.

This was no different. It was not fun... well... okay... maybe it WAS a little fun seeing my avatar run around, casting seals and auras and blessings of questionable synergy and value and running up to my party mates and thwacking on them a couple times. The Consecrates were EVERYWHERE! You couldn't run around without seeing little yellow damage-over-time numbers clock up all around you. I'm not sure what Blackheart did to everyone else, but when he took control of Arcten, he seemed to favor using a Concentration Aura, Judgment of Light, and Seal of Vengeance combination against my party mates

The "fun" finally ended with the MC ending, a moment of pause, and then a big animation of Thunderclap and everyone flying away from each other and landing with about 2k more of damage inflicted than we had previously just inflicted upon each other.

Bandage up and run back in. Hope the tank would get agro back and we'd all end up in healing range again.

"IT'S TIME FOR FUN!"

Again, it wasn't, this time, Blackheart activated my furious wings and had me lay in on Augustus, our tank. The funniest thing though, was that Blackheart also had the tank spamming Consecrates and I ended up taking a lot more damage from the tank than the tank took from me. When the "fun" ended, we went back to wailing on him. Mana was looking really, REALLY slim towards the end of that fight, I think I went through about three potions over the course, but we downed him. He dropped some caster trinket instead of my cloak that he was supposed to and we pressed on.

More clearing, more flawless execution.

We got to Grandmaster Vorpil.

"Anyone done this fight before, cuz I haven't?" asks Augustus. Again, my heart sinks, as this fight is all about clever tanking. "Just kidding, lol", he chimes after a moment of shocked silence.

Bastard...

Wow! A tank that is spec'd and geared properly and knows exactly what he's supposed to do in a given situation!

Relieved, we begin and the fight goes very, VERY well. Not a single hit from a voidwalker. Vorpil dies, he dropped something else for casters, don't remember what, and we press on toward Murmur.

We start clearing Murmur's room and alas, we wipe (we didn't go after the casters first), however... a Divine Intervention (executed perfectly, this time) comes through and we are saved a run back to our corpses. We adjust our tactics accordingly and handle the casters first, this works well and we easily make our way through the room. About half-done however, Sgtcrush, the other Retribution guy has to go, due to girlfriend agro.

So we are down to four and Murmur is just a couple pulls away. And things had been going so well up until now! At this point, we're all completely sure that nothing but another Paladin will do. This is how we started the run, and damn it this is how we end it!

Oddly enough there is not a single Retribution Paladin to be found in LFG, so we discuss the prospect of our options.

"Can we make do with another Holy?"

"Not if they're spec'd to heal, we're gonna need more damage on this fight, they better have a wicked Holy Shock"

"Lemmie ask..."

"But there's no other Paladins"

"Wait... there's a new Paladin who just joined LFG, lemmie ask him his spec"

"He's Prot, do we want him?"

"Yeah, Prot can kinda DPS with 1hand"

"It's better than nothing, let's grab him"

*Notabuffbot has joined your party!*

"Let's go summon!"

Scarletpally and I begin running out, he drinks a tall glass of Haterade and starts whining about me running so much faster than him. I pass him up on the run and give him a /farewell wave with a /comfort reach around.

Outside the instance, Notabuffbot is happily waiting for us (jerk didn't even bother to tell us he'd already flown here, heh, heh). We gather him up and make our way back inside and rendezvous at the last room to Murmur, where only a few packs of mobs remain.

We buff up, get our auras and judgments straight again and we go to work.

"What happens when you have two Paladins Seal and Judging Vengeance?" I ask. My answer came soon enough.

Real ultimate face-melting power that's what!

I'm watching the life bars on these mobs go down like the Red Baron and for those who haven't seen it before, Seal of Vengeance has this stacking effect. The more stacks of seal of Vengeance on a mob, the more damage a Judgment will do, but the stacks don't go away, they stay there. I'm doing my SoComm/CStrike thing and I'm pretty pleased with myself, and then I see the Vengeance number tick on the debuff icon jump from 1 to 5 in a matter of seconds. Then I see two Judgments go off almost in synch with each other, and these life bars just drop! I am in awe of a pair of Prot Paladins just feeding off of each other's synergy. My initial doubts about a Prot Paladin filling a DPS role in this group were shattered. Somehow I knew that we were going to be fine against Murmur.

We clear the room and briefly discuss the Murmur fight.

I want to go on record saying that "running out of the circular alcove and up on its edge" is NOT enough to get away from his Sonic Boom. You have to just keep running and don't stop until you hit a wall if you can get away that fast. Then you can go back in, refresh your Judgment and go back to work!

I had an empty life bar a few times during that fight, usually after a Sonic Boom, only to be brought right back up to full HP by a deuce of Holy Light casts. Again, the damage was SLOW going. We certainly could've killed the guy faster with a Mage and a Hunter, BUT, we had mana and the survivability to Outlast Murmur. Yeah, it took two healers, and maybe having a Prot Paladin on DPS should be a last-ditch effort (which it was for us). But we did it, baby! We dropped that sucker like a five-dollar ho and cleared the who damn instance! Paladins all! He dropped MORE caster stuff (great for Scarletpally, who wears cloth anyway, lol), but I did get my First Key Fragment. I'll be back, however, because I still need that damn cloak from Blackheart the Inciter.

This was surely a fluke, and I'll probably never experience this kind of amazing party ever again (but I friended all of them, so maybe), but I would have to say this:

Best... group... *hold for dramatic pause*... EVER!

A prominent party of proficient Paladins perfectly pwns a PUG'd instance! Remember that!

Ready for Kara? Meh, not quite.

2008-01-24T11:55:00.000-08:00

My current project is gearing up for Karazhan. Looking back, I sent Runic in there WAY too early. Sure, I got some Justicar Gauntlets, and some epic healing gear, but I was SO ineffectual in there. So gearing up will be simultaneous with knocking out quests, grinding faction, and actually completing the Key quest itself.

Gearing for Karazhan, I am using 3 tools:

1. Paladincraft.net's (dated, but still good) suggested Kara-entry Paladin guide. I think their benchmark stats are fair and functional, this is the guide I will be following into Karazhan.
2. Lootzor.com - to find the gear that will help me reach the benchmarks as defined by tool #1.
3. Gem Finder - because I don't think that the innate stats from tool #2 will quite get me to the objectives as defined by tool #1.

There are a few rules I am working by:

A. Don't screw yourself out of socket bonuses - if you can't find the exact stat for the exact color you need, get something else (and don't neglect your other stats).
B. Strength is preferable over Attack Power (in similar amounts), Agility is preferable over Crit Rating (in similar amounts) - because STR comes in larger numbers, and AGI helps with Parrying and Dodging too (and I don't use a shield in Ret Gear).

For Paladins, I believe the prime stat to subsequent stat is (theorycraft, lol):
1 points Strength = 2 points Attack Power
25 points AGI = 1% Crit = 22.08 Crit Rating

Do not quote me on those. I'm sure if I weren't at work I could probably go to elitistjerks.com or WoWWikki and find some exact calculations there; but I'm not so I can't.

Using the above calculations and the 3 aforementioned tools, I have compiled a list of gear that I will be chasing down before even trying to get into a Kara raid, ensuring that I meet Paladincraft's recommended benchmarks.

Head: Overlord's Helmet of Second Sight (Quest) (CHECK)
Neck: Natasha's Choker (Quest) (CHECK)
Shoulder: Ragesteel Shoulders (Craft) (CHECK)
Back: Cloak of the Inciter (Shadow Labirynth) or Auchenai Death Shroud ([Heroic?] Crypts)
Chest: Blackened Chestplate (Quest) (CHECK)
Wrist: Bracers of Just Rewards (Heroic Ramparts)
Waist: Deathforge Girdle (Seth Halls) (CHECK)
Legs: Legguards of the Shattered Hand (World) (CHECK)
Feet: Bloodsworn Warboots (Heroic Furnace) or Vortex Walking Boots (Exalted: Ogri'la)
Finger: Ring of the Shadow Deeps (Heroic Underbog) & Shaffar's Band of Brutality (Heroic Mana Tombs)
Trinket: Abacus of Violent Odds (Mech) & Hourglass of the Unraveller (Dark Portal)
Weapon: Thunder (Crafted, Hammersmith-Only) (CHECK)

Looking over my gear right now, as of this initial writing, Hit Rating seems to be my biggest downfall. Obviously, I will need to compensate for that with gems (again, without screwing myself out of socket bonuses). But hopefully my Attack Power and Crit % won't suffer too badly as a result. This goes back to the reason why I won't mismatch sockets. There's other gems that could go in there for different stats!

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

2008-01-23T07:17:00.000-08:00

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.

An eventful 3-day weekend indeed!

2008-01-22T05:28:00.000-08:00

Wow! Thank goodness for 3-day weekends! Over the course of weekend last I was able to accomplish a number of things:

1. Watched "The Godfather" for the first time in my life. I'm convinced it's one of the best movies ever made.
2. Saw "Cloverfield" with the Missus. I thought it was an enjoyable, good movie! Very intense! Money well-spent.
3. Level from 69-70 (Thanks Nagrand!)
4. Start my Karazhan Key quest (I'm at the Shadow Labs fragment now).
5. Gathered enough gold to go to Shadowmoon Valley and purchase riding training and my flying mount (I chose a Snowy Gryphon).

Really, all I did to accomplish the above (aside from Cloverfield and The Godfather) is just knock out quests in a single zone in order as they appear in your quest log (top to bottom). That's it! I spent gold when I needed an upgrade from the AH, or on mats to craft them for myself (Adamantite Plate, ftw). Obviously, I incurred costs like repair bills, training (level 70 training cost about 100g alone), and consumables. But really, I just ran instances for gear; not even for dungeon drops, but more for the blue-quality quest rewards involved in each instance. This too, required some degree of patience, because you'll typically have to complete a good portion of all the quests in any given zone before you are granted the quests for the dungeons most closely associated with each (for example, you gotta knock out a good portion of the quests in Zangarmarsh before getting the quests for the Coilfang Reservoir instances, or most of the Terokkar Forest quests for the Auchindoun ones).

Lootzor.com has been my friend. I can access it from work. I can sort desired gear by level, stat, and dungeon difficulty involved (Normals, Heroics, Low Raid, High Raid). Seriously, it's a great little tool!

With Runic, I went from Zangarmarsh, to Nagrand, to Blade's Edge, to Shadowmoon Valley. THEN I backtracked to Netherstorm and Terrokar Forest. Keeping things in order this time around was slower in getting me to 70, but more beneficial in terms of money and gear.

Next on my to-do list I suppose is:

1. Go train up the last recipes for Mining
2. Continue to gather mats to max out Blacksmithing, Thunder will be mine...
2. Farm some Anger Guards for Ragesteel armor plans and craft them with the Khorium I've been hoarding
3. Go kill the named Orc at the Black Temple in Shadowmoon Valley and get my Shattered Halls Key.
4. Land a successful Dark Portal run.
5. Get Exalted with the Consortium for Hamad's Bargain
6. Get Revered with the Keepers of Time for the Continuum Blade and Timewarden's Legplates... because Retnoobs need tanking gear too!
7. Continue to grind out quests and work my way up to passable Heroic dungeon gear.

Auchenai Crypts are so full of suck!

2008-01-16T09:24:00.000-08:00

After browsing on Lootzor and finding The Exarch’s Protector, I decided to go finish my “What book? I don’t see any book!” quest in Shattarath to start the chain to go get it. The quest to kill `Dirty’ Larry was easy with a 65 Mage and 65 Druid with me (it’s actually really easy to find someone in Shattarath to spend 30 seconds killing an elite NPC inside the city with you). Next step took me out to Nagrand to kill some Greater Windrocs until they dropped an item, and some Aged Clefthoofs until they dropped an item. I had to get 2 more friends to kill a Mountain Gronn, but the quest item from the Mountain Gronn was 100% droprate, so we only had to kill one.

DO THIS QUEST IF YOU EVER PLAN TO GO TO ANY AUCHENDOUN INSTANCE!

More on that later…

So I handed in the quest and the questgiver made me drink an elixir that made it so I could see dead people, like all the time (NPCs, though PC ghosts would be cool too). This proved beneficial because the next quest, “Lexivus the Soul Caller” has you killing one such invisible dead person. Seriously, you can’t see, target, or hence fight against the NPC you have to kill until you do that quest, you can only see him (and other ghosts) if you finished the previous quest, (or I suppose, have an Eye of Shadow or Overlords Helm of Second Sight) then you can see Lexivus and some other ghostly beings in the game world (mostly just in Auchindoun). Well I found two friends who had also completed the previous quest (and thus could see ghosts) and we went on to challenge Lexivus. It was a tank and spank fight, we had the basics, offspec tank, offspec healer, ranged DPS, and he went down easy.

The next part of the quest (after you hand in the Lexivus one) has you go into Auchenai Crypts and kill the last boss, Exarch Maladaar.

Here’s where the story begins:

Our group composition is thus:

Myself – 68 Human Retribution Paladin. I had initially joined the group with goal of killing Exarch Maladaar and getting my Exarch’s Protector chest piece as a quest reward. I had the mindset that I’d end up either tanking or healing, and was pleasantly surprised when things worked out well and we landed a proper tank and healer (though it turns out I’d be tanking anyway, we’ll get to that).

Muadebe – 66 Human Prot Warrior (just re-spec’d from Fury, so his gear is a bit off-spec and playstyle isn’t the best from habit, but he’s passably equipped.

Zzashmazz (or a similar name of equivalent complication) – 66 Gnome Rogue. A typical, crazy Rogue that stealths up to mobs all speedy like and pokes around where he shouldn’t, scaring me half to death in the process on several occasions, but never really does anything wrong and never once got us in trouble (just makes us nervous, Rogues ALWAYS make me nervous).

Ivellios – 65 Night Elf Holy/Discipline Priest. The guy had been away from the game for a while and was just now getting back to running instances. His confidence at playing healer was shaken, but his gear and playstyle were absolutely solid. He slid right back into his old habits and was healing us like a champ after our initial wipes.

Fraq – 64 Gnome Mage. Personality traits? I couldn’t tell you. This guy barely said a word. I know that he put out solid DPS but didn’t ever sheep anything (I think I saw him sheep one thing in the entire instance, maybe because the Rogue was doing most of the sapping).

So the group looks solid, is all assembled and summoned and we head into the Crypts.

“Will someone else mark, I’ve never been here before” says the Rogue.

Silence… I think I even heard some crickets.

This question forces me to realize that I have never been here either, except for with Runic a long, long time ago.

Finally I speak up, “Well with me marking, it’d be more educated guessing on the things which I THINK we should kill first and crowd control, rather than solid, experienced first-hand knowledge”. I’m thinking that I discredit myself sufficiently to pass the buck onto someone else to step up and take responsibility for wiping our party.

*Arcten is now the leader of the party*

Awwww sh!t…

So I’m leader and I study the first patrols for a few passes. Finally I decide that the pathing Priest is going to be our first target and mark her. The Warrior watches her walk up, turn to the left and then CRACK! His Dwarven blunderbuss fills my speakers with its echoing rapport! A flawless pull! The Priestess runs toward the Warrior. We lay into her! We’re doing great!

And then these ghosts appear…

But we stay focused! I notice that the ghosts are not elites so I only move to intercept them if it’s the Healer who catches their agro, content with letting the Mage nuke them down.

It works! No deaths! I mark the next and wait for the Warrior’s shot to ring out. To me, it appears he pulled the second in the exact same spot on the other side of the room as the first, and I’m thinking it’s going to be add-free.

Nope.

Next thing I know, we’re getting beat on by 3 or 4 of these elite casters, AND their ghosts that appear out of thin air.

Wipe.

Reload, run in, half the group is dead, we get one random pather, and we die again.

Wipe (sort of, the mage survived, but we still got no rezzer).

Reload, run in, and press on.

After the second wipe, I decide that we’re doing something wrong, but can’t put my finger on it. I have the idea to put on my tanking gear, throw on Retribution Aura, toss Righteous Fury up, switch my`5’ key to Seal of Righteousness, and I’m gonna offtank! The plan is that as soon as we pull and the warrior digs into the marked mob, I’ll focus on the second mob in the pack and throw down a Consecrate as soon as I see ghosts appear.

It works! I am amazed!

We press on through the Crypts with our primary Warrior tank and our AoE Paladin offtank and we’re doing marvelously! Then we get to Shirak the Dead Watcher.

“Wait!” I tell the group. “Let me check WoWwiki!”

I go over the strategy with the group. How he slows casting time, how he reigns fiery death upon us, and the severe need to run away from the flames (both the person he focuses on and those who are near them).

The group is confident, everyone appeasr to understand what’s required, ATTACK!

Wipe.

Reload, run in, rest up.

Attack!

Wipe.

Reload, run in, rest up.

Attack!

Reload, run in, rest up, stock potions.

Wipe.

Attack!

Reload, run in, rest up.

“ENOUGH!” I shout (not really); “Ivellios (Priest) you’re doing great, but it simply isn’t enough, we’re still getting caught in the blast and taking too much damage. We’re doing this with two healers! Hopefully that will give us enough overhealing to compensate for slowed casting speed”. Ivellios understands, and agrees, and I don my healing gear. This time… THIS TIME… we kill the bastard. He drops a Druid helmet, and there are no Druids in the group /sigh.

So having two healers worked as the lynchpin here. I healed the Priest when he’d take some damage, he’d heal everyone else, and I’d help out with further healing whenever I could.

Now the problem is that everyone’s gear is red. “It’s okay!” I proudly exclaim, “there’s a repairman just outside the instance! Let’s go there now!”

So we take our little jaunt back out the instance and I run up to Harvon the Armorer and repair my gear.

“Um, Arcten?”

“Don’t worry guys, he’s right here, see? Just talk to him and repair your stuff!”

“Arcten…”

“Oh stop whining! Just click him and repair your gear! Ouch! Mine cost me 7g!”

“Arcten, we can’t see him…”

“Oh nonsense! He’s right here! Look! He’s just outside and to the left of the portal! Oh boy I hope I can get that 7g back by vendoring green drops here!”

“Arcten, seriously… we can’t see him.”

“What are you talking about? I’m browsing his wares right now!”

“Dude, you’re talking to thin air…”

“Lolwut?”

“Dude… thin air… he’s not there.”

“Oh damn… say… um… you guys did the Lexivus the Soul Caller quest right?”

“The who? Which quest is that?”

“Um… how about `What Book? I don’t see any book’?”

“We were working on that quest right before we came here, we couldn’t kill the guy.”

“Oh… um… damn…”

*Arcten hangs his head in shame*.

THIS is why you want to do the “What Book? I don’t See any Book!” quest. If not for the quest rewards at the end then AT LEAST for the convenience of having a ghostly repairman outside of Auchenai Crypts.

So the party runs to Allerian Stronghold, all except me and Fraq (who says nothing), but stands by the Meetingstone to with me to summon them back.

“Fraq, you don’t need a repair?”

*chirp chirp* (crickets)

“Ok, rdy 3 summon!”

“Lol, u said 3!”

So Fraq and I summon the rest of the team back. We return back into the crypts, I, for one, am expecting a full re-pop at any second. Amazingly, there are none.

We get to the room full of Skeletons; a LOT of skeletons.

Shield in hand, I mark the elite, hit one of the regulars with Exorcism, and the pack of 20 or skeletons runs toward me. Then, in the most awesomely stunning display of holy asskicking power EVER; I cut loose my Holy Wrath spell just right and then *KABOOM*! Golden lasers fly out in all directions from me and smack every single skeleton in the area *pew pew*.

Aggro from the skeletons? – CHECK!

So the skeletons, stuck on me like spooge on a dress, thwack away and take hit after hit from Retribution Aura and Consecrate after Consecrate. Righteous Fury does its job and this room is cleared.

Finally, we were at the big man himself, Exarch Maladaar! I can taste the metallic-ky goodness of The Exarch’s Protector already (tastes a bit like rusty iron, or the ends of a 9 volt battery, in case you were wondering).

Ewww... I’m talking about the plate chest piece you get from this quest… but I just realized how grossly that could be misinterpreted.

So yes, I can taste the Exarch’s Protector (kinda salty) and we go over the strategy for killing him. Essentially, he spawns these ghostly undead adds, they need to be killed quickly by the DPS folks while the tank keeps Maladaar focused. Shadow resistance helps out a lot here. Not too difficult. We handle this efficiently, but the damage and mana loss starts to add up towards the end of the fight. Then finally, Maladaar summons his last ghost, a gigantic version of himself, with Mortal Strike and we’re just about OOM and low on HP. We wipe… but not before killing Maladaar woot! My quest reads COMPLETE but I still want some loot, so the party resolves to run back in and kill the ghost version of the Exarch. So in my ghost form I run back into the instance and materialize, gritting my teeth because I just know that we’re going to have re-pops. Miraculously, there’s not a single re-pop in sight. I make my way to the end where we died and start my rezzing, the big ghost boss safely out of aggro range.

“I have to repair guys!”

Holy sh!t! It was Fraq! The Mage finally speaks!

“Allright man, hurry up, we’re all here and ready to kill the boss, I’m gonna be pissed if he de-spawns or the Exarch’s body decays, so HURRY! We’ll wait to loot for you.”

Stupid…

Sure enough, the ghost de-spawns, and I’m so tempted to loot the Exarch, fearing the decay of loot, but I see that by now, Fraq is back in the instance and passing through the skeleton room. Fraq shows up, we loot, it’s the Slippers of Serenity (which oddly enough, the Priest passes on and the Mage loots).

Anyway, I am glad to be done with place.

I didn’t get a single drop I wanted but I did finish the quest for my chest plate, which was the whole purpose of me going to begin with.

The irony here is that I handed in my quest, then bought gems to socket my new Exarch’s Protector with some STR, Crit, and AP stuff. I re-socketed the Light-Touched Breastplate I was using with tanking gems. And when all was said and done and socketed I ended up with a whopping 1% more Crit, 10 max damage, and 200-something armor… it was a distinctly anti-climactic feeling.

/sigh

Oh well, I guess now I remember now why I’ve only gone to Crypts once before.

It sucks.

Retribution weapon rundown (Part 2: Outland)

2008-01-10T12:10:00.000-08:00

A Retribution Paladin's damage is only as good as their weapon. We need killer weapons with awesome damage or we, quite simply, suck.

Last installment we went over what makes a great Retribution weapon. I gave you a long and well-thought out list on the best drops that came to mind (you're welcome).

This installment will be no different! But now we're onto the REALLY good stuff, Outland Loot! We will assume that since Burning Crusade was released that the pre-expansion raid dungeons are now useless and require far too much effort. I have heard that this is arguable and some would disagree with me. But at level 66 I've already replaced every single level 60 epic item I had, to include Tier 1 and 2 set pieces. All except one item, and it isn't even epic, Blackhand's Breadth (maybe that's a hint, and maybe you should chase one down too, because maybe it will last you a while in Outland before you find a suitable upgrade).

So, pre-expansion raid epics are useless! Onto the loot!

Hellreaver
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Polearm
187 - 281 Damage
Speed 3.40
(68.8 damage per second)
+30 Strength
+27 Stamina
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 60
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 25 (1.1%).
Item Level 85
Source: Drop - Hellfire Ramparts [Reinforced Fel Iron Chest]
Face it, you are noob if you don't get one these, or its near-twin the Blade of Misfortune. Consider Hellreaver to be a wake up call for all Ret Paladins newly arrived in Outland. This is the first MUST HAVE item that you will need to get if you are to carve any kind of damage out out here. DO NOT STOP RUNNING HELLFIRE RAMPARTS UNTIL YOU HAVE GOTTEN ONE OF THESE (unless of course, you are lucky enough to get a Blade of Misfortune to randomly drop or want to shell out around 100g on the AH). Hellreaver is the best thing that a DPS Paladin can get when first arriving in Outland. It sets the standard, or the "jumping off" point for all other Outland weapons to follow. Once you are level 60 and have Hellreaver under your belt, you are ready to be a Retribution Paladin in Outland.

Blade of Misfortune
Binds when equipped
Two-Hand Sword
187 - 281 Damage
Speed 3.40
(68.8 damage per second)
+29 Strength
+28 Stamina
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 60
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 45 (2.0%).
Item Level 85
Source: Drop - Random World
Yeah, I know that I just got ranting and raving about Hellreaver. But I like this thing much better. First, Arcten is Human. So I got an ADDITIONAL 1% to my Crit Rating with this because it was a sword (so for Humans, that's an equip bonus of 3% total). The DPS is the same as Hellreaver, as well as the speed and max damage. You do miss out on 2 Attack Power by choosing this (ohnoes!). But in exchange, you get a whole 1% more Crit Rating. 1% Crit is far better than 2 Attack Power. The other drawback to this versus Hellreaver? It's a random drop that binds on equip. These things are selling for about 100g on the AH in Draenor. Hellreaver is far easier to get (or more reliable to drop anyway) and will still suit you just fine. If you have Hellreaver and get a lucky drop on this thing, I'd equip it or bank it and give it to a Ret Paladin colleague.

Hatebringer
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Mace
212 - 318 Damage
Speed 3.60
(73.6 damage per second)
+25 Strength
+21 Stamina
Red Socket
Yellow Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +4 Strength
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 63
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 22 (1.0%).
Item Level 94
Source: Drop - The Underbog [Ghaz'an]
Hellreaver or Misfortune will easily last you 3 levels. Hell, I don't think you'll get a quest reward that is an upgrade between levels 60 and 63 either. So this beast is your next upgrade. Customize with gems to your liking. I for one, enjoy getting my socket bonuses. But it's been hard for me to find blue-colored melee gems. So I usually set my Ret gear blue slots with Jagged Deep Peridot or Infused Shadow Draenite. But it's just a suggestion.

Great Earthforged Hammer
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Mace
220 - 330 Damage
Speed 3.50
(78.6 damage per second)
+60 Stamina
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 65
Requires Master Hammersmith
Equip: Increases attack power by 70.
Item Level 100
Source: Recipe
I ran and ran and ran Underbogs some more until Hatebringer dropped for my other Paladin, Runic. With Arcten, however, I ran Underbogs many times and never had Hatebringer drop. Now the item from Underbogs that took me over a month to have drop with Runic was the Truth Bearer Shoulderguards. I was dreading chasing those down with Arcten. Luckily, those shoulders dropped for me on my second trip through Underbog, but Hatebringer did not. I was frustrated and already level 65 and ready to move on to other instances. But I still wanted a weapon upgrade something fierce, I just didn't want to keep running Underbogs for it. Originally Arcten was an Armorsmith, but that didn't help my weapon situation. Then I remembered that Humans get a +1% Crit with Maces and Swords (and some Hit Rating too, but the exact number escapes me). So I figured, "Hey! What the hell?" I'll take the do-it-yourself route. It worked well enough for Runic, who was a Swordsmith. So I looked over the Weaponsmithing choices again and the bind-on-pickup crafted epic weapons. I did a little bit of number crunching (theorycraft, lol) and came to the conclusion that Seal of Command would not do as much damage with the epic crafted 2h swords as it would with the 2h axes or 2h maces. Now axes are for Orcs, as they have the same weapon racial that Humans do with swords and maces. And while Orcs are pretty awesome, Arcten was not one of them. So I went with Hammersmith and gathered mats for this guy, which I thought was cooler than Hatebringer anyway (though with the right gems, the damage difference between the two is almost negligible). And seeing as how Hatebringer didn't even drop for me, it was either this or no upgrade. So I got a good level's worth out of this hammer and a bit of honor from it, though it was only one level it didn't cost me THAT much to make (I think I only spent like 15g on one of the Primals Required to craft it).

Halaani Claymore
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Sword
231 - 347 Damage
Speed 3.60
(80.3 damage per second)
+28 Strength
+42 Stamina
Durability 85 / 85
Requires Level 66
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 27 (1.2%).
Item Level 114
Source: Vendor - Blade Merchant [Halaa]
I simply cannot believe how amazing this sword is. And it's a GREEN! And that's not even commenting on how friggin EASY it was to get. Here's how you get this sword. Step 1, get a PvP group together and take Halaa in Nagrand (or just stop in the zone once in a while to see if someone else took it). Step 2, go spend 10g at the Blade Merchant there. The Blade Merchant has 3 on stock every time she spawns, just don't be the poor fool who got in line last and didn't get to buy one (oh, of note, you might want to buy a Don Amancio's Heart while you're there, just a suggestion). Seriously, I had this beast with Runic and I made it a point to get it again with Arcten. I think I spent more money on one mat to craft the Great Earthforged Hammer (meaning a primal earth) than I did on this entire sword. Again, it's a sword, and again I have a 1% to Crit Racial with it. Yay Humans!

The Oathkeeper
Binds when equipped
Two-Hand Mace
252 - 420 Damage
Speed 3.60
(93.3 damage per second)
+35 Strength
+24 Stamina
+32 Intellect
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 68
Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 30.
Item Level 115
Vendor value: 10 Gold 53 Silver 51 Copper
Source: Drop - Random World
I had one of these on Runic and I remembered how awesome it was and so I broke down and bought one for Arcten. There's really no reason not to! Runic, on Shandris, a server with low population and (at the time) low dungeon progression had a friend buy this for him for 80g, and it was worth every bit of it (I paid him back, of course). I was pleasantly surprised with Arcten, however, to see a plethora of these on the Auction House, running for about 20g each! TWENTY gold! For our newer players, in Outland, 20g is chump change (so now go run around Stormwind asking everyone level 65+ for gold)! Anyhow... so... yeah... cheap and hellaciously awesome! Sure, it's a random world drop, and there's no guarantee that you will find one in drops or on the AH, but when I went shopping, like I said, there were three available to purchase. So it's worth checking the AH once in a while when you hit 68. Furtherore, this will likely be the LAST weapon any Retribution Paladin needs before level 70. Seriously! There's simply nothing else with that high of a max damage until then.

So congratulations! You've now hit level 70 with your Oathkeeper in Hand! What now? Well now you take up Weaponsmithing. Farm mats and chose a Bind-on-Pickup Epic weapon. You have 3 choices, and from those 3 choices, you can then craft 2 more weapons. So listed here are the first weapons of each type in their respective series. Then, you grind more mats, run some heroics, and then you'll use these weapons as materials in crafting their upgraded forms (the original weapon will be consumed as a material when you craft the next stage of the series). Some will say that each of these weapons serve a different purpose are are intended for different classes. I disagree. I think all three of these make absolutely great Retribution weapons, but there are different reasons to pick over the other, and in my opinion, I think it boils down to Racial Abilities.

Lionheart Blade
Binds when picked up
Unique
Two-Hand Sword
315 - 474 Damage
Speed 3.60
(109.6 damage per second)
+47 Strength
+42 Agility
Durability 120 / 120
Requires Level 70
Requires Master Swordsmith
Equip: Increases your chance to resist Fear effects by 5%.
Item Level 107
Source: Recipe
Use: Recipe

Thunder
Binds when picked up
Unique
Two-Hand Mace
333 - 500 Damage
Speed 3.80
(109.6 damage per second)
+37 Strength
+37 Agility
+55 Stamina
Durability 120 / 120
Requires Level 70
Requires Master Hammersmith
Item Level 107
Source: Recipe
Use: Recipe

Lunar Crescent
Binds when picked up
Unique
Two-Hand Axe
324 - 487 Damage
Speed 3.70
(109.6 damage per second)
Durability 120 / 120
Requires Level 70
Requires Master Axesmith
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 47 (2.1%).
Equip: Increases attack power by 96.
Item Level 107
Source: Recipe
Use: Recipe
Of the three of them, Lionheart Blade is the fastest and has the lowest max damage. This could potentially be problematic using Seal of Command (well, not really, since it's still an awesome weapon, and you'll dig it if you like swords). But where this weapon really shines is on a Blood Elf using Seal of Blood. It's still got sizable damage, absolutely amazing stats, and when you're doing an additional 35% of your Weapon Damage with every single swing, that damage is going to add up quickly. If you're using Seal of Blood with this, you might want to have a healer though. You can probably still survive any single encounter, maybe even 2 or 3 in a row, but you'll probably need to take breaks to bandage yourself if you're going to be using Seal of Blood all the time (it does do some damage against you in proportion to how much damage you are dishing out). Humans will also benefit from our Racial affinity for swords (screw hit rating, I'm all about that extra 1% Crit), but we don't have Seal of Blood, and I think we could better make use of Seal of Command with the next option.

Thunder, to me, is the ideal Human Retribution weapon (of the BoP craftables). Of the three, it has the slowest speed and highest max damage (and it remains proportionate like this for the next 2 stages of each of these weapons). Arguably, it's ideal for any race using Seal of Command due to its slow speed (slow especially by Outland standards) and high max damage, `nuff said.

So if Thunder is the best SoCo weapon, why bother with the Lunar Crescent? Racials, that's why! Humans get an innate 1% Crit with maces but Draenei and Dwarves receive no such thing (nor Blood Elves, but they can capitalize with the Lionheart's speed with SoB, so I'm not going to bother with them). Now at level 70, 1% Crit isn't all that special, right? I disagree! It's a whole 1 PERCENT, not "rating". Instant gratification for more crits! And the poor Draenei and Dwarves don't get that.

The Lunar Crescent has 96 Attack Power. Thunder has 37 STR, which, at 2 points Attack Power per point of STR (for Paladins), Thunder actually gives you 37 x 2 = 74 Attack Power.

Yes, 96 AP is better than 74 AP, but that will come out to very similar numbers in pure damage, once you factor in weapon damage. So, for Bind on Pickup craftable Epic weapons, I have the opinion that we Retributors should equip thusly:

Lionheart Blade: Blood Elf (with SoB)
Thunder: Human
Lunar Crescent: Draenei, Dwarf

Besides, I'd like to see some diversity among the Paladin community in terms of epic weapons. Because seeing every single Paladin running around with Thunder, is, well... kinda boring.

But wait! You don't WANT to be a Weaponsmith? What do you mean you've already worked long and hard on building up a different profession and have no intentions of switching now?

Well fine, then, be difficult. If Weaponsmithing isn't your thing, perhaps PvP is. Yes, go into Battlegrounds, find an Arena Team that is better than you are and join them.

I like PvP to a degree, but not enough to grind it out for weeks at a time in hopes of making enough honor to spend on phatty lewts. I'd rather gear up on heroics and get keyed for Karazhan and find a decent Gruul Raid. What can I say? I enjoy PvE!

Gorehowl
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Axe
345 - 518 Damage
Speed 3.60
(119.9 damage per second)
+49 Strength
+43 Agility
+51 Stamina
Durability 120 / 120
Requires Level 70
"The axe of Grom Hellscream has sown terror across hundreds of battlefields."
Item Level 125
Source: Drop - Karazhan [Prince Malchezaar]
Lionheart Blade (with Runic) is officially the best weapon I have ever gotten. Maybe I suck, or maybe I can simply chalk it up to being on a low population server where Karazhan progression is almost nonexistant (a few months ago at least). However, if I WERE in a guild that had Karazhan on clear. I would definately roll on, spend DKP, or whatever for this axe. As Human, I would admit temptation for holding out for the next entry however (though in sheer damage dealing potential, I'm thinking Gorehowl tops this next easy, unless some hefty STR gems are thrown in there, then the difference is negligable).

Hammer of the Naaru
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Mace
345 - 518 Damage
Speed 3.60
(119.9 damage per second)
+30 Strength
+41 Stamina
+37 Intellect
Red Socket
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +4 Intellect
Durability 120 / 120
Requires Level 70
Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 33.
Item Level 125
Source: Drop - Gruul's Lair [High King Maulgar]
This seems like the quintissential Ret Paladin weapon. Blizzard appears to agree, as this is what the Dreanei Paladin in Justicar Armor in the opening intro movie for Burning Crusade is wielding (lore, lol). What I like about this is the high damage. In fact, this has the same DPS and max damage as Gorehowl does. Only problem is that Gorehowl, innately, with its STR and AGI bonuses will still do more damage in the long run, even if you do enchant and socket Hammer of the Naaru for max damage. I have not sat down and gone through the bonuses of every single blue and purple-quality gem, nor do I intend to. But I'm thinking that even with Rare and Epic gems socketed in this thing to boost its damage potential, Gorehowl will still put out more pure damage. So Arcten, why get it then? Why not skip Hammer of the Naaru entirely and stick with Gorehowl? Because of your raidmates, you selfish jerk! Stop thinking only about yourself! Some raid leaders are jerks too, not all of them, but a large portion of the raid leaders I've met would say "HELL NO! GOREHOWL IS NOT GOING TO A PALADIN"! Now I may disagree with his hateful spite towards my class and my choice of loot, but I can tolerate it (to a degree), as that is somewhat the nature of the raiding beast. However, a raid leader would be hard-pressed NOT to let a Paladin roll on or spend DKP or whatever for this weapon, the INT here is actually our saving grace. I can say with certainty that I've never heard of a Paladin getting c0ckbl0cked and not allowed to roll on Hammer of the Naaru. It's still a decent weapon in it's own right, and with the proper gems and enchants, it can still put out a good chunk of damage. It's also certainly better than having nothing, in the event of the above loot c0ckbl0cking. And besides, it's a mace! +1% Crit! Yay Humans! Laugh all you want but I have a crappy Racial and I'll be DAMNED if I don't make use of it. I'd be half tempted to throw in 3 Bold Living Ruby (or 2 and a Don Amancio's Heart), for an additional gem bonus of 24 STR. That would bring Hammer of the Naaru's total STR to 54, versus Gorehowl's STR of 49.

49 x 2 = 98 Attack Power (Gorehowl)54 x 2 = 108 Attack Power (Hammer of the Naaru w/+8 STR Gems x3)

It's a not huge step over, and you still won't have the Crit % from Gorehowl's AGI, but you're still putting out about the same base damage.

Retribution weapon rundown (Part 1: Azeroth)

2008-01-10T04:40:00.000-08:00

A Retribution Paladin's damage is only as good as their weapon. We need killer weapons with awesome damage or we, quite simply, suck.

THE IDEAL RETRIBUTION WEAPON:
If you are a Retribution Paladin, you are using Crusader Strike and either Seal of Command or Seal of Blood procs to kill things (because Seal of Vengeance sucks). Two of these abilities deal a percentage of your weapon's normal damage as holy damage; Seals of Blood and Command. Crusader Strike is purely physical damage now, it's not holy, despite what color the damage numbers are that flash across your screen when you hit things. But that's okay, because Crusader Strike still deals 110% of weapon damage.

How this works out is that the harder your weapons hit, the harder your holy damage will hit, resulting in some huge spikes of damage. If you are a Blood Elf and using Seal of Blood, you are lucky because your holy damage will accompany every single weapon swing of yours, there's nothing random about its dependability. If you are any Alliance race however, you will be using Seal of Command and relying on luck (and a slow weapon) for your holy damage to be inflicted. The reason you want a slower weapon is because slower weapons usually mean higher max damage numbers. Higher max damage numbers, in turn, mean that a percentage of that damage will be a larger number (inflicted as holy damage).

Too complex?
How about this simplified explanation?

The holy damage inflicted by Seal of Command will be higher with a high max-damage weapon. It will also activate more often if that weapon has a slow attack speed.

It is that typicality (is that a word?) of slow speed and high max damage that I have based my entire opinion of "good" Retribution weapons on. Thus I have compiled this list of weapons that I feel make fine weapon choices for my fellow Ret Paladins.

Begrudgingly, I will admit that these are also great weapons for Mortal Strike Warriors. And MS Warriors do a FINE job at killing things. But I want any MS Warriors or Raid leaders reading this to know that every time you try to c*ckblock a Ret Paladin for rolling on 2-hand DPS weapons, God kills a kitten. Please, save the kittens.

Ideally, this list will eventually go as far as Gruul's Lair loot (as that is the furthest I've gotten drops from with my highest level Ret Paladin, Runic on Shandris), and then further still if Arcten ever raids anything more than Karazhan.

The following stats and locations are current as of Patch 2.3.2.

Copper Battle Axe
Binds when equipped
Two-Hand Axe
23 - 35 Damage
Speed 3.20
(9.1 damage per second)
+3 Stamina
Durability 50 / 50
Requires Level 8
Item Level 13
Source: Recipe
A Copper Battle Axe, quite simply, will be your MOST IMPORTANT WEAPON EVER! As you can see, it's got an item level of 13. Purely scaled with general game difficulty, this Axe should last you 5 levels in terms of play balance. Go to Ironforge or Orgrimmar ASAP and train 2h Axe! Even if it means that you don't have the money to learn a single new spell! Get a Blacksmith to make you this or buy it off the AH as soon as you hit level 7! Have it on you when you ding to level 8. Equip it immediately. Arcten is on Draenor, Runic is on Shandris. They can both craft these. PLEASE, young Paladins, whisper ME if you're on my server and need one made. This weapon is the only "leg-up" you will need at the lowest levels. This weapon will suit you just fine until you get a green quest reward or random drop with more damage. Give your young Paladin a the best head start in life that you can give him, BUY A COPPER BATTLE AXE!

Sin'dorei Warblade (Horde-only)
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Sword
49 - 75 Damage
Speed 3.40
(18.2 damage per second)
+10 Strength
+4 Stamina
Durability 75 / 75
Item Level 21
Source: Quest - The Traitor's Destruction
This is also a close contender for most important Paladin weapon ever. But it's Horde-only, so good for you Blood Elves, but your level 20 Paladin weapon sucks, whereas The Alliance's is awesome.

Smite's Mighty Hammer
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Mace
55 - 83 Damage
Speed 3.50
(19.7 damage per second)
+11 Strength
+4 Agility
Durability 80 / 80
Requires Level 18
Item Level 23
Source: Drop - Deadmines [Mister Smite]
This is the best item for a Ret Paladin in the whole Deadmines instance.

Blood-Tempered Ranseur (Horde-only)
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Polearm
45 - 69 Damage
Speed 2.90
(19.7 damage per second)
+6 Strength
+9 Stamina
+6 Intellect
Durability 80 / 80
Item Level 23
Disenchant value: 34 Silver 69 Copper
Vendor value: 33 Silver 1 Copper
Source: Quest - The Blood Tempered Ranseur (there are prerequisites, so do your homework).
So the Horde Paladins got shafted on their level 20 Paladin weapon. It sucks. For pure damage dealing potential, I'd just go with the Sin'dorei Warblade. But meh, I think class-specific quests are a cool idea, so with Runic, I did this quest anyway, and still used it just because it was a cool-looking polearm until my next upgrade.

Verigan's Fist (Alliance - only)
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Mace
65 - 99 Damage
Speed 3.20
(25.6 damage per second)
+7 Stamina
+6 Intellect
+12 Spirit
Durability 100 / 100
Classes: Paladin
Item Level 31
Source: Quest - Test of Righteousness (there are prerequisites for this quest too, so again, do your homework).
Verigan's Fist is a far better weapon for killing things than the Blood Tempered Ranseur or the Sin'dorei Warblade. The quest is long, and you can start it at level 20. But as you can see by its item level, this weapon could very well last you for 10 levels.

Strike of the Hydra
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Sword
67 - 102 Damage
Speed 3.30
(25.6 damage per second)
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 26
Chance on hit: Corrosive acid that deals 7 Nature damage every 3 sec and lowers target's armor by 50 for 30 sec.
Item Level 31
Source: Drop - Blackfathom Deeps [Aku'mai]
This weapon was the very pinnacle of irony for me. When Arcten was at this level, I toiled and toiled and toiled... got OFF the toilet and then finished my Verigan's Fist quest. Then, I was already level 23 by the time I was finished with it all. So I was all excited, running around pwning things with my awesome Paladin mace. Then I got a whisper "You wanna go to BFD?". Well sure I wanted to go! There's some quality mail to be had there! So I show up, we have a great run, kill Aku'mai and this thing drops, this is about 2 hours after I had just finished the quest. So, I sit there, scratching my head, no other 2h sword users want it. I shrug, hit the NEED button and get a higher damage weapon less than 2 hours after I had just finished my painstaking quest. So Verigan's Fist and I have a lovely little 3-level tryst with eachother and then I pawn her off on a vendor like a cheap hobag and start diddling her older, slightly hotter sister.

Corpsemaker
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Axe
88 - 132 Damage
Speed 3.80
(28.9 damage per second)
+15 Strength
+8 Stamina
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 29
Item Level 34
Source: Drop - Razorfen Kraul [Overlord Ramtusk]
With Runic, I remember this thing feeling like my first "real" Retribution weapon. It was big, slow, hit like a truck, and the big *shunk* noise it made whenever it hit a foe was oh-so-satisfying.

X'caliboar
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Sword
98 - 148 Damage
Speed 3.30
(37.3 damage per second)
+20 Strength
+8 Stamina
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 35
Item Level 42
Source: Drop - Razorfen Downs [Ragglesnout (Rare)]
You can't depend on this drop at all. It's not on a standard boss template. But, if you are lucky enough to have Ragglesnout spawn on your Razorfen Downs run, and luckier still for him to drop this low-drop rate weapon, it will indeed make a suitable successor to your Corpsemaker.

Ravager
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Axe
104 - 157 Damage
Speed 3.50
(37.3 damage per second)
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 37
Chance on hit: You attack all nearby enemies for 9 sec causing weapon damage plus an additional 5 every 3 sec.
Item Level 42
Source: Drop - Scarlet Monastery Armory [Herod]
Ravager is in every way as beastly and satisfying a weapon as Corpsemaker, even more so. For added hilarity (or annoyance) create a /say macro that says, "BLADES OF LIGHT!" and click it each time you get the chance on hit proc to go off.

Mograine's Might
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Mace
87 - 131 Damage
Speed 2.80
(38.9 damage per second)
+17 Stamina
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 39
Item Level 44
Source: Drop - Scarlet Monastery Cathedral [Scarlet Commander Mograine]
I've seen a lot of Retribution Paladins running around with this one. It makes me /sigh. But this weapon is popular enough that it is worth noting here. Look, if this is the only weapon you can get to drop, then go ahead and use it. But both Corpsemaker and Ravager are far, FAR better choices despite that Mograine's Might has higher required and item levels on it.

Stoneslayer
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Sword
133 - 200 Damage
Speed 3.90
(42.7 damage per second)
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 40
Chance on hit: Increases damage by 10 for 8 sec.
Item Level 49
Source: Drop - Uldaman [Archaedas]
This is quite possibly one of the slowest swords in the game (and you will feel it). But as you can see, it also hits like a truck for its level. Archaedas actually drops two great Retribution items. But their difference might actually call for several trips through as you will see below.

The Rockpounder
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Mace
126 - 190 Damage
Speed 3.70
(42.7 damage per second)
+5 Strength
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 40
Item Level 49
Source: Drop - Uldaman [Archaedas]
Of the two items that Archaedas drops, I have to say that I definitely prefer this one due to its .20 faster speed and it's 28 crit strike rating, hands down. 3.70 speed isn't really fast enough to adversely affect Seal of Command proc rates.

Gatorbite Axe
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Axe
117 - 176 Damage
Speed 3.20
(45.8 damage per second)
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 48
Chance on hit: Wounds the target causing them to bleed for 230 damage over 30 sec.
Item Level 53
Source: Drop - Maraudon [Rotgrip]
When you get tired of swinging your sluggish Uldaman 2hander (and you likely will, despite the SoCo procs) you have this nasty bugger here. Normally, higher max damage and slow speed are ideal for the Retribution Paladin, and you will be seeing lower holy damage from your Seal of Command procs than from one of the Uldaman weapons. But the damage you will put out will certainly be a helluva lot faster. And really, you are only sacrificing 20-or points of damage per hit, but you will still likely put out a lot more damage over time, due to the .70 speed difference. I would suggest to chase down this weapon, but not to vendor your Uldaman weapon right away. Hang onto it. Try out the Gatorbite Axe for a while, try out your Uldaman weapon some more, see which one you like better, and stick with that.

Hammer of the Grand Crusader
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Mace
116 - 175 Damage
Speed 2.70
(53.9 damage per second)
+10 Stamina
+26 Intellect
+9 Spirit
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 58
Equip: Increases healing done by up to 22 and damage done by up to 8 for all magical spells and effects.
Item Level 63
Source: Drop - Stratholme [Balnazzar, live side]
This is a fast-swinging, decent-hitting 2h Mace. This is FAR too fast to be used effectively with Seal of Command. Yes, Seal of Command will still work, and you will still kill things. But you're looking at a pretty low proc rate (considering how fast this thing actually swings over the course of a minute). If you happen to go to Stratholme and it's an upgrade from whatever you were using (which will be Gatorbite if you follow this guide) then yes, I can't fault you for rolling and equipping it. There is another option however, and another weapon that is far superior, depending on what drops for you or how many times you feel like running Stratholme.

Demonshear
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Sword
163 - 246 Damage
Speed 3.80
(53.8 damage per second)
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 58
Chance on hit: Sends a shadowy bolt at the enemy causing 150 Shadow damage and dealing 40 damage every 2 sec for 6 sec.
Item Level 63
Disenchant value: 9 Gold 23 Silver
Vendor value: 6 Gold 54 Silver 97 Copper
Source: Drop - Stratholme [Balnazzar, live side]

This is the other option from Stratholme that I was referring to on the last item. As you can see, the max damage is significantly higher than the Hammer of the Grand Crusader, and it's slower. Now THIS is an ideal Retribution Paladin Weapon (or Human MS Warrior). The proc (while not the most frequent or dependable in the world) does augment the damage from your critical strikes, and Seal of Command in a huge way (when it does go off). HOORAY for burst damage! This sucker will be all the DPS you need to get through your first forays into Outland.

Blackhand Doomsaw
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Polearm
151 - 227 Damage
Speed 3.50
(54.0 damage per second)
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 58
Chance on hit: Wounds the target for 324 to 540 damage.
Item Level 63

Source: Drop - Blackrock Spire [Warchief Rend Blackhand, upper]

If you are unlucky enough or don't have the patience to run Stratholme multiple times (if needed) to get Demonshear, this weapon here might not be such a bad choice at all. If I remember correctly (I had them both), the proc on this guy happened a lot more often than Demonshear's did. But it's max damage is a bit lower than Demonshear's and it's speed is faster.

Ice Barbed Spear
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Polearm
155 - 233 Damage
Speed 3.60
(53.9 damage per second)
+13 Strength
+21 Agility
+20 Stamina
Durability 100 / 100
Item Level 63

Source: Quest - Hero of the Stormpike (Alliance), or Hero of the Frostwolf (Horde)

Fantastic item right here. Look at those stats! The quests are pretty easy to solo too. This should be the very last weapon you need before heading through the Dark Portal (or again, Demonshear, if PvE is more your thing).

Gearing your Paladin.

2008-01-09T07:06:00.001-08:00

Oh lord, not another "how to gear up" post.

Hahahahahaha, too bad! I'm moved to blog about this topic right now!

I got on a tangent in my last post about the color quality of items, how points add up and become item levels... blah blah blah. It was a layman's post and far from the official process by which developers build game items.

This post will talk about different options a Paladin has in gear, and I will add my opinion to each post explainaing which stats I feel are important and why I will prefer to use those stats for each of the various roles.

Stats and Spec (from least to most important and why)!

Retribution:
STR - Contributes to amount of damage stopped on a successful shield Block, and also gives Attack Power (1 point STR = 2 points AP)
Attack Power - Gives weapon damage
AGI - Contributes to your chance to Parry, Block, and Dodge attacks, also gives Melee Crit %
Melee Crit - Increases your chance to critically hit with weapons
Hit Rating - Increases your chance to hit with weapons at all. Big damage and critical attacks mean nothing if you miss your target. Don't ignore this important stat!
INT - Contributes to overall mana Mana and Spell Crit Chance (which I don't mind having for Judgement of Command). Every single one of your active combat abilities requires mana (minus Auras, if you want to call them active). Think of it as blue Rage (hey, that would be a great name for a blog!). And while I don't consider INT a super important stat anymore (on Retribution gear), it IS a very nice thing to have and I will GLADLY take it when I can get it. That of course assumes that the INT doesn't come at the cost of any of the stats above it (item levels again, heh).

Why?:
I have no hard and fast rules by which I gear up, so as with everything you read here, it's just the way I do or see things. Now I say STR first because 1 point STR = 2 points Attack Power. Attack Power = Damage. So you could also say that STR = Damage, I mean, it does. But STR has more things it affects than just Damage. How much damage is blocked by a successful shield block for one. Yes, I try to carry a separate set of gear for tanking, but in the event that I have to use the same piece of armor in both my Ret and Prot suits, the STR is more versatile than straight attack power. But there is an exception! The best DPS plate pieces I've found have STR, STA, Attack Power, and Melee Crit % on them (and some INT if it's a token drop). That's a very focused piece of melee DPS gear. However, if I compare a piece of armor with +60 Attack Power against a piece with 20 STR on it, I'm taking the straight AP piece! Why? Because 20 points STR times 2 (2 points AP for 1 point STR mind you) only equals +40 Attack Power (theorycraft, lol).

Protection
(But for God's sake, don't read my opinions on Paladin tanking! Go to Ardent Defender, Honor's Code, or Maintankadin instead!):
Defense - Reduces melee damage you take when hit. Always a good thing! Amirite?
Shield Block - Increases the chance that your little Paladin will raise his shield in time to block and negate some melee damage. For me, not being Protection spec and not having those innate blocking bonuses and defensive abilities means that I have to compensate for negated damage with shield blocking (and a Thorium, or even Mithril Shield Spike is always a good thing to have, even if the threat gain is negligable).
Spell Damage - Increases damage done by spells. In our case, Seal and Judgement of Righteousness. This is NOT something I encourage stacking (the stats making up the item level on each of your gear pieces are better allocated to more a defensive bonus). Instead, I encourage you to have ONE, single-hand weapon with a very high Spell Damage bonus on it, like the Continuum Blade to give a healthy damage bonus to your Seal of Righteousness. Hell, enchant the sucker with Spell Damage enchant too! The purpose of this, of course is higher chunks of Threat built with each hit.
STA - Increases your Hit Points and your Resilience (which makes you harder to nail with critical hits). I get hit while tanking... a lot. On the rare chance that I get a tanking item with some gem sockets, guess what's going in them? That's right, STA gems! STA is your lifeblood. If your STA is too low, then your Hit Points are too low! If your Hit Points are too low, then you will be crushed like an ant before your healer can finish casting their big healing spell on you, and your group will die! I don't put STA up higher on this list because there are few items in the game that don't offer STA bonuses. It's the most-itemized stat in the entire game! Show me a Blue Plate Armor item that doesn't have STA on it! Well... rather... I'm sure you could show me a Blue Plate drop without it, but you'd have to search for it for a long while. I don't think there's a single Set item in the game without some Stamina on it. Put simply, it could quite possibly be the single most important stat in the game because of it's direct tie to your Hit Point pool. But it is because that Stamina is on just about any piece of armor in the game, and it is a really, REALLY common bonus that I don't put more emphasis on it.

Why?:
I know that I just said that STA is the "most important stat in the game"; yet in the above section on Retribution, I don't have STA listed at all. Why is that? I don't have that listed because the my mentality about the Retribution spec is one of all-out offense. When solo, if you boost yourself to the absolute maximum of your damage-dealing capabilites you will be able to kill anything faster than it can kill you. When grouped, you have a 30% passive Threat Reduction (when the Righteous Fury ability is not active) with the talent Fanaticism, which is good, because now you actually need it. Ideally, you will also have a tank to hold that Threat while you are dealing DPS, so the boss or monster, when being handled correctly, won't be focusing on you anyhow. Hence, STA is given up with Retribution gear in favor of more offensive stats.

Holy
(I'm far from an expert here. My "healing" consists of spamming Flash of Light and the occasional Holy Light when my Flash just isn't enough, all whilst wearing my healing outfit and clicking my Decursive 2 icons when they light up and someone catches a debuff):
+ Healing - Increased Healing increases the amount healed by your healing spells. Simple enough. As Ret, or any spec really, bigger heals for the same Mana cost are without a doubt the way to go. I don't have a lot of mana to begin with (though I do have far more Mana in my Holy outift than I do in any other). So for me, without talents boosting my healing efficiency or my Mana pool, I need all the healing bang for my buck that I can get.
INT - Increases your Mana pool. Increases Spell Critical Chance. Vital to any caster, a healer especially, is Mana Mana Mana! Without it, either pop a potion or your group dies. Some Paladins argue that INT is even more important than +Healing. That very well may be the case for them, for me, I just find that most +Healing simply comes on items that already have INT. So it's a natural coefficient for itemization. Hell, I don't even really know the calculation for how much Mana a point of INT gives you, or how much, if any, does INT boost your Healing and Damage spells. Furthermore, I have no idea what the ratio of INT > Spell Crit % is. So there, I just discredited myself entirely (like I needed any help with that).
Spell Damage - I take Healing items over Spell Damage, always. Then again, I never put on my Holy outfit to kill things, ever. For career Holy Paladins though, this might be something to consider, but I'm certainly not fit to advise or explain. Instead, I give you a pat on the butt and send you on over to Blessing of Kings, "good luck!" /wave. Coriel knows her stuff, and keeps her blog updated! I refer all of your "leveling-as-Holy" questions to her!

Why?:
I feel like I did a pretty good job explaining this above. I will add here though that I prefer a specific weapon setup for my Holy outfit. One-hand Mace and Shield are the weapons of choice for me when it comes to Holy. Again, I don't level as Holy, I only heal, but if my tank ever misses a beat, I just might get beat on. And if I die while healing, then my party dies as well. Having Plate Armor and a Shield with 2k-3k or more Armor on it usually buys the time it takes for the tank to regain the aggro and for me to not die. There's also quite a few respectable shields in the game now for healers (well, Paladins and Shaman anyway) that offer hefty bonuses to healing along with the Block and Armor values to keep death at bay for a while longer. So a good INT and Healing Shield is a must, a good example of this would be the Light-Bearer's Faith Shield. This won't help you much until you're at a position where you can run Heroic Dungeons and collect Heroic Badges. But I plan to run lots of heroics before stepping foot into Karazhan this time around (I always felt out-classes wearing my BoP blues from normal 5 mans when entering Kara for the first time). For a fine example of a great healing mace to couple with the above shield would be Mogor's Anointing Club, available from the very difficult Ring of Blood quest in Nagrand. For my own Holy set, I went with a much simpler and easier-to-obtain mace, the Preserver's Cudgel, which cost me only time for faction and a few gold spent at the Cenarion Post in Zangarmarsh, though I'll definitely upgrade later on. For now, though, it's a great jumping-off point for a healing mace.

Theorycraft... lol...

2008-01-09T05:04:00.000-08:00

Theorycraft, as defined by me:
"Crunching numbers in WoW til your eyes bleed and your head hurts from the math as you try and squeeze every single benefit from every single number in the game that effects game play in some fashion or another".

Theorycrafters will get on forums and argue for posts and posts over hours and hours about calculations which affect gameplay that the game does for you, behind the scenes using the numbers that you provide for those calculations in terms of gear, stats, buffs, and talents.

See, every single thing in WoW has a number associated with it, or a "score" (actually, pretty much all games do). These "scores" provide base numbers from which the game will calculate random outcomes for everything you do.

Do you hit or miss with a weapon or spell in a fight with a boar? How often does that produce critical damage? What are the chances it will be resisted? Will you parry an attack, dodge it, or will it hit you? How much healing will that Flash of Light spell do this time?

The gear and talents that you chose to equip your character with all setup a baseline from which these things are calculated from. Just because you have a weapon that does 365 max damage with a 3.80 attack speed doesn't mean that you will always deal 365 damage. You have to factor in your Hit Rating and Strength, which factors into your Attack Power, which factors into your Weapon Damage.

Many of these things are displayed on your character sheet, if you hover your mouse over a particular stat. But pretty much everything in every instance is calculated by a random math equation. All of this happens behind the scenes. Casual players don't care about what percentage of their INT contributed to the spell damage which contributed to the frost damage they just did on that last, single Frostbolt they just threw at skunk in Elwynn forest. They just want to see the big damage numbers from a crit flash up over that dead skunk's head. They also want to know what stats on their gear they need to get bigger crits, and more often, and higher damage too!

Then there are the players who bother with actually learning these calculations to get every last bit of benefit from everything they do so they can be ZOMGUBERLEETHAX!

I am certainly no theorycrafter. I've never been good at math. And honestly, I don't really know what the hell "Avoidance" is, nor do I particularly care. I think it has something to do with Dodge Rating, Armor, Defense, Block, and Parry combined. You will not find theorycrafting here, no sir/ma'am. I don't have the time to sit down and crunch numbers and do math concerning a video game.

My "theorycraft" for gear begins and ends with this:

In my Retribution gear - If I equip one piece of armor and my max overall Damage, Melee Crit, and or/Hit Rating goes up without severely gimping any of the other aforementioned stats, it's an upgrade! I keep it! I click my Outfitter Mod and add it to that outfit.

In my Protection gear - If I equip one piece of armor and my Defense, Shield Block, or Resilience goes up without severely gimping any of the other aforementioned stats, it's an upgrade! I keep it! I click my Outfitter Mod and add it to that outfit.

In my Holy gear - If I equip one piece of armor and my Bonus Healing, INT, or Spell Crit goes up without severely gimping any of the other aforementioned stats, it's an upgrade! I keep it! I click my Outfitter Mod and add it to that outfit.

Pretty complex theorycraft, huh?

Let's talk a bit about stats on items themselves and not so much about the changes that equipping said items will have on my character sheet.

If you're browsing items in the WoW armory or on sites like Thottbot and Allakhazam, you may notice that items listed will often have an "item level" listed. This is a different number than the level required to equip it. What is it?

Essentially, a brand noob WoW player will quickly learn that equippable items have colors associated with them.

Gray, White, Green, Blue, Purple, and Orange.

This translates to to the quality of the item:
Worthless (or Inferior, I never did learn the quality given to gray items), Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, and Legendary.

How does an item get assigned a color?

This question goes back to the "item level". An item will be built and added into the game item database. Each item has points associated with it (this will all be transparent to the player). Points will be allocated to stats on that item like Armor, STR, Healing, and other stat bonuses. These points contribute to the "item level". So the "item level" is then bounced against the level required to equip said item. The result of this equation roughly determines its quality, and furthermore, the color or quality that said item will be given.

Now this is not to be confused with socket Gems. They have their own colors assigned to them for the purposes of being beneficial to items with those same color slots. A socket Gem's color is not reflected in its item quality. In fact when gems do drop, or can be purchased from NPCs, they too have quality colors associated with them; White (most often bought from faction NPC vendors, and the least powerful of socket gems), Green (pretty much every gem gathered from a mining node will be of Uncommon quality), Blue (also gathered from mining nodes, but more, well... rare), and finally your Purples (I've never mined a Purple Gem, my Atlasloot Mod says that they quite often drop off Heroic bosses).

So let's back up (the gem thing was a bit of a tangent) a bit.

Items are assigned points which are allocated to stats on that piece, this combination becomes its "item level". This is then checked against a required level to equip. The result of how good this item is when compared to what level a player has to be to equip it will be shown as its quality, or it's color.

Basically, Blue items have more points on them in relation to the level one has to be to equip it than a green one. Thus giving the player an idea of how good the item is. I've never met someone who preferred a green item over a blue item of same required level. I mean, that's why we run instances right; to get some blue drops? Because they're better, right? The same is true for raiding. People go to Karazhan to get Epic items to equip. They're just better.

And that's how these item qualities are determined! Hooray!

We got patched!

2008-01-09T04:08:00.000-08:00

So I log in yesterday and see that there is a patch downloading.

I haven't been on the forums in over a month (since I started a new job) and was pleasantly surprised, nor have I checked the test realm patch notes recently, as when I'm not working, I'd much rather be home playing.

But here's what we got:

Crusader Strike (Retribution): Now causes 110% of weapon damage and no longer gains any bonus from spell damage.

WOOT!!! Since I've started playing Arcten again in Outlands (roughly 2 weeks now) I've completely overhauled my gear. I've gone with nothing but STR, AGI, AP, Crit % (in that order). The only reason why I have INT on my gear is because I got a few lucky drops of the "Blue Lightforge" armor and there was more STR and sockets in it than my Pre-BC Paladin "raid" gear (I put quotations on "raid" because I'm referring to Molten Core/Onyxia's Lair stuff, none too impressive, and definitely not "raid gear" as compared to BC). This is a great change because Ret Paladins haven't been stacking Spell Damage gear in favor of STR/AP gear in recent months. Furthermore, we were promised by the developers on the official Paladin forums that we (Retribution Paladins) would be relying less on Spell Damage. It's nice to see Blizzard keeping their word to us, at least (though some may argue over "to what extent"). So you get a free melee swing that will do up to %110 of your normal damage (by "up to" I mean that the behind-the-scenes randomized damage calculations are still going on, based on your Paladin's stats, weapon damage, enemy armor, avoidance, etc., and all that other boring stuff that goes on during a fight in WoW, almost all of which is transparent to you, the player). There is a common misconception among the Paladin community that Crusader Strike is actually Holy Damage. I too, thought this. In fact, it is not. Yes, the spell is of the Holy School, but the damage is purely physical. Hence it does not benefit from Spell Damage gear or, sadly, Seal of the Crusader (where Holy damage is boosted, at least). Blizzard really should fix the color of the damage numbers in-game to be white instead of yellow. Yellow text thus far has been for Holy Damage. But anyway, short and sweet... I LIK THS CHANG CUZ I DONT HAS SPELLDAMAG GEARS FOR RET! ONLY MLEE!

Righteous Fury: This spell will no longer cost twice the listed mana to cast.

Though less of a "buff" and more of a "fix", I think. Fixed is still better than broken, amirite? Basically, Blizzard screwed up on the stats for our RF spell, we couldn't tell unless we were watching the numbers on our mana meter very closely whenever we cast this spell, so I, personally never saw that it was costing double the mana shown on the tooltip. So, right on Bliz! I guess thanks are in order for the fix! More mana for CStrikes, SoCo's, and Judgements!

Sanctified Judgements (Retribution): Now returns 80% of the Seal's mana cost, increased from 50%.

Again, Bliz gets a big "HELL YEAH!" from me. I am an avid supporter of the Sanctified Judgements talent, and always have been! Basically, I knew this time around, with Arcten, that I was going to spec Ret and gear him like a Mortal Strike Warrior (much to the dismay of the aforementioned Mortal Strike Warriors). I also knew that if I were going to do this, it would require me to carry three different sets of gear in order to fill the hybrid/filler role that I felt the class was originally intended to do. Why does this matter? Because my Judgement is on an 8-second cooldown, my CStrike is on a 6-second cooldown, and I no longer buff myself with Wisdom (unless healing or tanking) so I'm not regaining any mana, aside from any Mana per Second gear I may have on my Ret suit or whatever my Spirit stat allows me while in combat. Basically, an 80% mana return means that I can fight for longer without buffing Wisdom or stopping to drink, because I'm getting some of mana back with each Judgement (so again, every 8 seconds).

I am very anxious to see if the Paladin class' Retribution spec continues on this trend (which it started with Patch 2.3) in the months to come. I feel the class is finally starting to come into its own as an effective hybrid.

Assbringer's Asshats... why Arcten why?

2008-01-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

Assbringer's Asshats will be a recurring spotlight segment. Think of this as a "wall of shame". This list will be populated by folks who, possibly despite their best intentions, epic'ly failed in one way or another and I was there to see it. If you play on Draenor, you'll get far more use out of this list than a player on any other server.

Galoheart, a player I respect a great deal has an awesome post here about why your WoW reputation matters from his blog, Ardent Defender. It's definately worth a read if you've got time to browse some blogs. His point that I concur with wholeheartedly is that, yes, your reputation in this virtual world matters a great deal when it comes to joining parties, guilds, and raids; or even any other in-game event where you will be interacting with other players [which, in WoW is like... always].

So while I'm sure this is an absolute corruption of Galoheart's good intentions with his post on the matter, I'm instating the Assbringer's Asshats segment.

I will admit that when chosing my players to spotlight on here, maybe I simply witnessed a bad day in the life of one of the aforementioned asshats. Maybe they are, in fact, great people in real life. Maybe they are great guildmates who go out of their way to help out. Maybe they are truly epic, and are wearing full purples and have Black Temple on farm with their uber guild. These are all possible cases. Fact is though, is they did something that I thought was truly messed up and against the spirit of cooperation.

I believe they should be held accountable. I will go one step further and add that maybe I, too am an asshat who belongs on this list.

So as soon as someone else has a blog wtih a similar list, feel free to add me...

Loot Whores...

2008-01-07T05:55:00.001-08:00

So I'm in the LFG tool for Underbog questing around in Zangarmarsh. I have a comment posted on my LFG flag: "Ret spec, but I'll heal or tank too".

This proves beneficial, and I get a whisper from a Female Gnome Warrior. It's Umpathegreat of the guild "We Wipe on Trash".

Now I have never met this Umpathegreat, but she asks me, "What's ur spec?"

I respond, "Well, Ret, but y'know, I'm here to help, so I carry gear and will do whatever".

"You want to heal Underbog"?

In such a typical response, I reply, "All depends on how many other Paladins you got?"

"Lol why?"

"Well, I'll be happy to heal, but I've yet to meet another Ret Paladin on this server at my same level who can Out-DPS me [this is a fact, readers, I really haven't. Last run I went on I even out-DPS'd 2 Enhancement Shaman and a Hunter, no lie], so if you've got one, and they're lower level, you should have them heal instead, gear permitting".

Egotistical and ass-ish, but whatever. They need me to heal (everything I learned about healing I learned from Egotistical Priest and Road to the Dark Side, attitude included, blame them for corrupting me).

Umpathegreat responds "Well we don't have any Paladins yet!"

"Well okay then, I'm on my way!"

So I go join them in Underbog, rather, outside of it, I'm the first one there, the group is now full, I begin summoning at the stone, once I see Umpathegreat show up.

Our Underbog Group is composed as follows:
Tank: Umpathegreat our Gnome tank [Gnome warriors are an awesome novelty, by the way, maybe not in any game factor, but come on, they're Gnomes, and Warriors, that is funny it itself!],
DPS: Draenei Shaman(don't remember her name, she didn't talk much and does not contribute to this story)
DPS: Rogue (also, didn't talk much and does not contribute to this story)
DPS: Saynotopugs (Draenei Shaman) of the guild "We Wipe on Trash". Tank is his guildy, apparently.

Saynotopugs THIS is the asshat that this story will focus upon, and he will be the antagonist, as told by me.

Let me start off by explaining that there are 3 types of players that I absolutely despise, in order from most hated to least, they are as follows:

1. Ninja Looters - People who roll NEED on everything, most notoriously Bind-on-Pickup items that they cannot even equip.

2. Loot Whores - People who would rather recieve/roll on a Bind-on-Equip item for the explicit intent to sell it on the Auction House, rather than let a fellow partymate who helped earn it roll NEED who can and actually would equip it!

3. Gold Farmers/Sellers - If you don't know what a gold farmer is, you simply haven't been playing the game long enough. Selling virtual property in the game for real life money is just bad for the virtual economy, period. They are least hated on this list because I do not HAVE to purchase their gold, I can report them, and they do not impact my loot in any way.

Saynotopugs is a loot whore.

Saynotopugs is not where our story starts however. We are inside Underbog, I am buffing up and my partymates, I am also anxious and eager to heal. I happen to activate Devotion Aura. As I would not be tanking this particular run, this is for Umpathegreat's benefit, and our squishy DPSers. Umpathegreat corrects my choice of Aura by oh-so-professionally saying, "I'm way over-geared top tank this place, I have over 8k Armor. Retribution Aura would be better, lol!"

Just out of curiosity, I quickly click my tanking suit from my Outfitter mod and see that I too, have over 8k Armor in my tanking set. In fact, I have 8400-something armor, to be a bit more specific, unbuffed. And yes, I will typically tank with Retribution Aura on, as I need the holy damage shield to put out more aggro. It's just how tanking as a Paladin works, it's how we get and keep that aggro, through holy damage, on bosses, particularly melee'ing bosses, I will still make the switch to Devo Aura, just so I am a bit more armored for those thwacks. But here, this warrior, she wants Retribution Aura? But I digress...

She wants Retribution Aura (that will do all of a whopping 14 or so poitns damage with every hit, oooooooh boy, WTFPWNZ!), I ignore her and keep Devotion Aura up.

We kill the first few packs, and, anyone who's ever run Underbog knows that there is almost always a treasure chest near the entrance to the dungeon and off to the left, towards the water.

We clear our way there, someone loots the chest and lo and behold! It's a bright, shiny, Bind-on-equip Blue piece of INT & Healing plate! Hooray!

Girdle of Divine Blessing
Binds when equipped
Waist, Plate
573 Armor
+16 Stamina
+22 Intellect
Durability 45 / 45
Requires Level 65
Equip: Improves spell critical strike rating by 18 (0.8%).
Equip: Increases healing done by up to 48 and damage done by up to 16 for all magical spells and effects.

So, as I typically do in any PuG, I wait and watch all the rolls [I have a superstition that if I roll NEED on something, I'll be less likely somehow to have it NEEDed out from under me]. This is a fine, FINE piece of healing plate indeed, and I'm here playing healer, off of my spec, and this is totally an upgrade from the random green leather healing belt I was wearing.

So the rolls finish up, everyone GREEDed I'm the only NEEDer. Sure enough I get it. Then this genius Saynotopugs yells at me, "WTF man! Why did you NEED on that that?"

"Uhh... well... it's healing plate... I'm the only plate-wearer here who can cast healing spells... and I'm here healing for you, that a good enough reason?"

"Ya but it's BoE!"

"Yeah, it is bind on equip, so what, I'm equipping it, inspect me, see?"

Umpathegreat chimes in at this point, "Well you could've asked first..."

My reply to her, "Now why the hell would I ask your permission to upgrade my gear to something that no one else can wear while I'm healing here for you, it's healing plate, it can't help anyone else here? I'm the only one who can use it!"

Umpathegreat says no more, but Saynotopugs goes right back to tearing at me, "It can help us by selling!"

I am livid at this point, but I refrain from typing caps, "What the hell do you mean `help by selling'? I am here, healing for you so we can get a run down and get a shot at some loot."

"IT'S NOT EVN UR DAMN SPEC!" is Saynotopug's thought-provoking and eloquent reply.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No! U should have GREEDed we could sell it!"

"Why the the hell would you sell something that I can use while I am here NOT playing my spec to help keep you and your party healed? If anything, I NEED this item MORE to heal you guys BETTER as I'm already gimped at healing with my offspec talents. And furthermore, how dare you even think of selling something that a player could use FOR A GEAR UPGRADE who is THERE, in the party WITH YOU! You are a selfish prick, your logic is flawed, and I am shocked and apalled that you would rather take a BoE item to the Auction House then let YOUR HEALER who is here out of the goodness of his heart to let YOU play your chosen talent spec while he can not play his, and he F*CKING NEEDS IT roll on it. Now... do you want me to heal for you or not?"

I didn't say shit for the rest of the run aside from "OOM" when I needed a drink.

I was tempted to hit my hearthstone right then and there, but despite this bullshit, the group was killing well, staying alive, and progressing quickly. Her guildmate may be an asshat, and she MAY have complained about an Aura that she didn't really need anyway, but Umpathegreat was tanking very well, and I had the gut feeling that there was more good Paladin loot on its way. So I stayed...

Then we got to Swamplord Muselek.

So we efficiently kill the Swamplord, and again, lo and behold! He drops more Paladin gear! This one I had actually PLANNED on chasing down as an upgrade (hence why I was here in Underbog), whereas my Girdle of Divine Blessing was nothing more than random good luck (despite the drama which ensued over me getting it). This time, he drops...

Truth Bearer Shoulderguards
Binds when picked up
Shoulder, Plate
721 Armor
+14 Strength
+21 Stamina
+22 Intellect
Red Socket
Red Socket
Socket Bonus: +3 Spell Critical Strike Rating
Durability 80 / 80
Requires Level 63
Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 8.

I am surprised and excited, as I've had some degree of difficulty in getting these to drop, but I am taken back to my earlier good fortune with drops on this run... and I decide to give fair [smartass] warning this time, "Don't get pissed, but I'm going to NEED on those, just fair warning, don't want anyone to get all excited over me getting some Paladin loot".

Oh, Saynotopugs! How he makes me laugh! He conveniently and pleasantly responds to my obvious jab by saying, "Sure, go ahead, no one else can use them..."

I could not believe he'd left me such a blatant opening! I was shocked!

"You mean like the Healing Plate Belt from earlier? Are you going to the Exodar after this to train in Plate armor?"

"WE NEEDED THAT BY SELLING!!!!"

Yeah, whatever...

Anyway, we killed Bog Stalker on the first try. He dropped some blue dagger which (despite temptation), I did NOT roll NEED on, and then quickly hearthed out after that.

The End

P.S.
Saynotopugs is DEFINATELY a loot whore.

Introductions are in order!

2008-01-04T07:11:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Legend of Assbringer, you've stumbled upon the rants and raves of a Retribution Paladin since game launch (roughly, I mean, I started the week they patched in Onyxia, so fanboys can go get stuffed).

Quick and dirty about me.

I buy WoW, I create a Human Retribution Paladin, Arcten, on Argent Dawn, I level him to 60, I join a guild, I raid Molten Core and ZG, guild falls apart, drama ensues, I jump servers to The Scryers, /sadface.

Burning Crusade is released, I have gotten my wife into WoW, she wants to be Blood Elves, I stick to what I know, I create another Retribution Paladin, Runic, level to 70, start raiding Karazhan, guild falls apart, drama ensues, I quit playing Runic /sadface.

Wife and I move to West Coast, rather than the East, we make friends, they play Alliance on Draenor, I spend $25 and move Arcten there.

This is where the blog starts, back on my original toon, making his way through Outland in a brand new guild and a new start!

Now that we got that out of the way, what can you expect to find here?

A pissed off Retribution Paladin, that's what! Well, not really... I mean, since Patch 2.3, the class as a whole is in better shape than ever before. I can only claim so much angst. You can also find observations about the world (of Warcraft) as observed by me, your humble narrator. You can find humorous stories (as they occur to me in-game). And hopefully, maybe even that rare shred of insight to something truly useful about the class...

but probably not.

So welcome to the legend... of the GLORIOUS, um... Assbringer.