Smitus' guide: How to dominate Proving Grounds as Ret v2

[Smitus]

Introduction / Credentials:

Hey guys! Smitus here. For those of you who are not familiar with me, I am a main spec ret paladin who loves min maxing and long walks on the beach.
I am 14/14H siege and have been raiding hardcore since mid cata, with my original wow roots extending to vanilla.
I currently hold the #2 spot worldwide for ret in proving grounds (6884) and am only behind WF by 11 points (6895).
Full list of Ret PG scores here
This guide will skip the basics of PG and focus more on the min/max details, if you are new to PG and need more basic info, you can reference my v1 guide here.

Gearing:

In order to get the most out of you gear there are few general rules you have to follow-
-Secondary stats are the most important in evaluating gear for PG. Haste> mastery/experties/hit > crit while choosing gear.
-Sockets are sexy. The more sockets the better, haste/x gear with high sockets is the best gear.
-High ilvl > low ilvl for any gear with hit/exp. Unlike normal secondary stats, hit/exp does not scale down with gear, so 580 ring with 1000 exp is better than a 500 ring, even if the 500 ring has better itemization.

I made a list of BiS items for ret PG here, but take in mind this list was originally made for personal intent, is fluid and could change depending on professions. (also BiS trinkets are still hugely up to debate)

Talents/Glyphs:

Talents
T1- Long arm of the law: Provides consistent movement between mobs on a short (albeit tied to an ability) CD.
T2- Fist of Justice: Needed for a few specific wave strategies I go over in this guide.
T3- Irrelevant
T4- Unbreakable Spirit: This tier is almost irrelevant, US provides a CD reduction to bubble which is better than everything else in the tier.
T5- Holy Avenger: The strongest choice as the two instances of needed burst in PG are both 20 seconds long.
T6- Light's Hammer: The cleave and ability to pre-cast it before a wave to save a global as opposed to ES makes this the strongest choice.

Glyphs
Glyph of Inquisition: Mandatory as it keeps Inq up permanently.
Glyph of Double Jeopardy: A straight damage increase. The glyph can be used to it's full effect some waves
For your last glyph spot, there are two options:
Glyph of Blinding Light: Helps especially for wave 3 & 7.
Glyph of Burden of Guilt: Help's keep banana-throwers in place while you're attacking them. Helpful for wave 5 and 9.

Strategy:

Wave 1: No CD's
Simple, kill everything, take use amber globs effectively.

Wave 2: No CD's
Start with a precast of LH between the amber-weaver and one of the guardians. Start positioned where the mystic spawns and nuke mystic down before amber globe arrives. Try to time a globe to be on where the banshee spawns.

Wave 3: AW + HA
Pre cast LH, use blinding light as first global if you're glyphed it and AoE. If you don't get thrower's down before they leave group let censure + HoW kill them (unless they are 30%+).

Wave 4: GoAK
Pre cast so it hits two guardians and amber-thrower. Use globals on guardians.

Wave 5: AW + HA
Pre position yourself so you ~5 yards towards the door from the center point of the room. First global FoJ on mystic (easiest to make a macro just for this wave) and than burst out on the banana thrower. It is vital to have 5HP stored from the previous wave to burst it in time (and even a double jeopardy buff if your timing is stronk). Switch to mystic and kill it (can leave it at ~20% and let censure/HoW finish it) and start doing damage to the boss. At 0:30 a banshee spawns. Do not use TV on it, kill it with HP generators only, as you need 5HP when the shield goes down. The shield goes down at 0:20, so precast LH 1 global before that. Pop AW and TV, than HA into HoW into TV etc.

Wave 6: Berserking buff
This is the hardest wave you will face. Start by getting the berserking buff with ~2.5 seconds before the wave starts (or 1s if you have rocket boots ) You NEED a minimum of 3HP from wave 5. Your first global once moves are attackable is a DS in the middle of the 6 small adds. Than immediately hop on a mystic and start nuking it. It needs to die before the two mystics begin their second casts (~20-25s after wave start). Their first heals will target the small mobs that you divine stormed.

Wave 7: GoAK
Start with a precast of LH where the banana thrower spawns (will also be hitting 2 guardians). Use blinding light as your first global if you are glyphed it. Cleave the banana thrower down with DS/hotr and once its low enough to die to censure switch to guardians. Use amber globals to full effect.

Wave 8: AW + HA
Start with a precast of LH between the mystic and the basic mob that is in the direction of the door. Use AW/HA + DS (you can DS the mystic and a basic mob if you stand between them) to cleave them down. Banshees spawn at 0:45, 0:30, and 0:25 so be ready. Don't be afraid of the banshee timer and use DS to increase efficiency when the 0:30 and 0:25 banshees are both active.

Wave 9: Berserking buff
Start by picking up the berserking buff ~2s in advance and positioning yourself at the banana throwers spawn location. Precast LH where it will hit the guardian and a basic mob (this spot is the most specific LH spot placement in the strat). If you get lucky the banana thrower will go on top of one of the other mobs and you can cleave them down with DS/hotr. Use globals effectively. Banshee spawns at 0:30.

Wave 10: AW + HA + GoAK
One of the easiest waves for ret if played correctly. Pop guardian at ~30s. After you pop guardian it becomes identical to the wave 5 setup. Precast LH 1 global before 20s, pop AW into TV, than HA into HoW into TV etc.

Foot notes:
-It is advisable to put a raid marker near the big door, to help keep your orientation of the room straight
-There are times when attacking a mob from the front is required. Watch for parries on your TV's/CS's and adjust your rotation accordingly.
-Engineering is by the far the strongest profession for PG. Nitro boost + googles + controllable glove boost = yum

[anaxie]

Smitus is a cool guy. Hes gonna carry my Allaince ret and he doesn't afraid of anything.

[Smitus]

Smitus is a cool guy. Hes gonna carry my Allaince ret and he doesn't afraid of anything.

thanks boo

[ruusa]

Grats on your PG accomplishments Smitus! I heard PG was awful for ret, might go check it out on my pally after reading over this.

Is haste still better than strength at 463 ilvl? Should the gear be gemmed straight strength or strength/haste?

[Smitus]

Grats on your PG accomplishments Smitus! I heard PG was awful for ret, might go check it out on my pally after reading over this.

Is haste still better than strength at 463 ilvl? Should the gear be gemmed straight strength or strength/haste?

160 str > 320 haste @ 463ilvl.
The gems that should be used are (assuming socket bonus is worth it):
+160 str in red
+80str/160haste in yellow
+80str/80hit in blue
And of course reverberating in meta

[sheatfish]

At some point 2 haste > 1 str even at 463 ilvl, u better do sims for your character.

[Deleted]

oh hi guys, don't forget the mouseovers!!

[dragons]

Ye could also use Ra-den's ring those have good stats also