Ret Vs. Prot Leveling/Questing Advice

[RehabOC80]

Sorry, had to re-post this cuz the other didn't get any replies. Apologies if this isn't allowed or if I didn't wait long enough.

Hey Guys, I decided I'm going to level my Paladin to 85 instead of my Rogue since he's a Miner/Skinner(Rogue is Eng) and have the mats for my Rogue and sell the skins, to make a profit.

Anyways, back on-topic. I was just wondering if it really is worth me switching to my Ret offspec to level, if it's THAT much faster than Prot leveling/Questing if any quicker at all? I'm also gonna finish out some of the Northrend quest zones to accumulate some gold and get Epic Flying on this toon before Cata hits. As I'm currently Prot, I took the time and gold to Re-forge/Re-Gem/Re-chant all my gear and if I decide to use my Ret spec at all, I'm not going to waste the money doing that because it would defeat the purpose of me trying to make gold. I have a Ret set of gear that's basicly Naxx/Ulduar/Heroic pieces that's been gemmed and enchanted when that was my main spec before I switched to Prot.

TL;DR Is Ret leveling so much faster than Prot, that I should level as Ret come Cata/grinding NR quests for gold?

Thanks, much obliged.

Also -- If you all do recommend going Ret, I'll of course go check out EJ to read up on all the changes, the new priority, mastery(which I hear is terrible) and what not, but if you have any big obvious or "secret" tips to Ret post-patch, it'd be much appreciated if you filled me in, since I have't played Ret in a couple/few months.

P.S. -- How bout Ret Vs. Prot in PvP?

[meliancill]

its a personal thing, yes and no while prot will take less damage ret has better self healing as of 4.0.3a since they will be nerfing prots self healing quiet alot ( WoG by 50% via tallents )

prot alsow hits quite hard but imo only with vengence stacked up and that wont happen while leveling.

ImHo ret > prot for lvling

[Zelol]

Im planning on using both to level to 85. Mostly will be questing in ret spec and instant dungeons as prot to finnish all the quests i get to dungeons and so fort. The final decision is something you will make at 85 anyway, gear will change alot on the way there. Im sure you can keep 2 sets with you.

I think this will be the fastest way.

[meliancill]

what zelol said. i didnt even think about using a prot spec for dungeon quests lol, will be doing that myself - thanks.

[RehabOC80]

Im planning on using both to level to 85. Mostly will be questing in ret spec and instant dungeons as prot to finnish all the quests i get to dungeons and so fort. The final decision is something you will make at 85 anyway, gear will change alot on the way there. Im sure you can keep 2 sets with you.

I think this will be the fastest way.

We'll I'm gonna main Prot at 85 either way, I know that, I was jw for questing purposes.

[Gallahadd]

gunna be doing the same thing I have since I rolled this guy :P ProtProtProt, I tried ret for a bit but just couldn't get the hang of it.
add in that prot has much faster kill speed than it used to and even the quest which use to suck for prot (namely any quest that didn't envolve rounding up and AoEing down mobs :P) will be faster and more effcient that they used to be. Times all that by the fact that mobs in the higher level areas hit VERY hard(good both for prot's higher survivability, and getting Vengeance) and prot seems like a totally viable leveling solution.

[RehabOC80]

gunna be doing the same thing I have since I rolled this guy :P ProtProtProt, I tried ret for a bit but just couldn't get the hang of it.
add in that prot has much faster kill speed than it used to and even the quest which use to suck for prot (namely any quest that didn't envolve rounding up and AoEing down mobs :P) will be faster and more effcient that they used to be. Times all that by the fact that mobs in the higher level areas hit VERY hard(good both for prot's higher survivability, and getting Vengeance) and prot seems like a totally viable leveling solution.

I don't disagree that it's viable, I just wanted to know which was faster and more efficient.

I leveled Ret back when you got CS as 40 and DS at 50, and up until then Ret was horrible(now it's like making a f'n box cake it's so ez.) I was jw w/ all the changes, if it had made Prot a quicker and better leveling spec w/ mobs that hit like dump trucks and what not, but since these people recommend Ret, I'll at least give it a shit.(lol Shot, my bad)

Either way I'll have my main spec as Prot for dungeons and what not, and my off-spec Ret for soloing/quests(that don't require elites and what not that Prot would be suited best for.)

[Pepsibubblez]

Sad as this maybe ... I'm working on my fifth Paladin - all of which have leveled 'Prot' ... Yes, ret does a lot of dmg and it's really fun to play, but it doesn't come anywhere close the protections survivability and being able to 'Tag' 10+ mobs and let them kill themselves.

[RehabOC80]

Sad as this maybe ... I'm working on my fifth Paladin - all of which have leveled 'Prot' ... Yes, ret does a lot of dmg and it's really fun to play, but it doesn't come anywhere close the protections survivability and being able to 'Tag' 10+ mobs and let them kill themselves.

That's also not 80-85, or are you speaking as of on Beta?

[Svenok]

i will be levelling as prot, mainly because i like being able to keep more than 1 mob on me at a time.
it's been said elsewhere that single mob encounters will be tougher in Cataclysm, i don't remember where i heard it, so take it with a grain of salt.

i've always used my main as prot and don't see the need to change it now.

[Hizzy]

Prot all the way, faster AoE kills for the "collect x amount of y thing for me" quests and instant dungeon queues

[gneerox]

I think you should level what you enjoy playing. If you're going to be a tank - then tank your way to 85. You'll learn new tricks as you level.

[RehabOC80]

I think you should level what you enjoy playing. If you're going to be a tank - then tank your way to 85. You'll learn new tricks as you level.

I enjoy both very much. The reason I was thinking about leveling as Ret is because I was originally Ret when I leveled, and then stayed Ret through most of Naxx. I got tired of que times and spamming for Tanks, so I got a Prot set up and went tank from there on until Ulduar. After that I had my Rogue to 80(my original main) so I switched over to him and took him the rest of the way up thru ICC.

So what I'm trying to say is that I can't decide which I'd like more for questing, so if Ret was def better than Prot leveling, I was gonna go Ret to quest and then do Prot in dungeons and what not. When I hit 85 I'll have Prot as my main spec to gear it up first and put most effort into it.

I also am a very avid reader of Maintankadin and EJ so I always know how to play whichever spec I use, as well as Gem/Chant/Gear etc.

[Painal]

Im personally gonna be leveling in a prot spec with ret gear. Currently ive been doing heroics in this gear, and i have plenty of survivabiltiy and can easily pull 5k dps with 22k shield of the righteous crits and 12k+ avenegers shield crits
With the high damage of mobs, i can see prot not only having more survivability, but also being a lot safer if you accidently pull too many mobs.
An added bonus is instant dungeon ques.