Long term Ret or Holy

[Pandra]

Hi I have started playing wow again for nearly a week now and after January 3rd will only play very casually when school starts so I really have to pick a spec and stick with it since I wont have time to grind honor gear or farm to make starter pvp gear. I am currently Ret for leveling and pve wise I like it but our damage seems really bursty. In pvp I have some success when my cool downs are up so I can stay on casters since I am whacking away and cant really hurt them without procs or holy power so making the most out of the limited opportunities to hit a caster can be frustrating. I know as I get better gear my damage and sustainability will increase but also my opposition will be harder to kill as well so Im wondering if post resilience Ret will be nearly as much fun. I enjoy Ret in BGs when playing with healers and good control classes like mages or locks otherwise if i am the only support class I get really frustrating since I think hybrids can not heal that well anymore and repentance always is broken my random players who try to kill the dps and not the healers or is not usable if the person has dots on them. My heals seem pretty weak and if I use holy power to heal then my damage is going to hurt and Ill just end up standing there not doing anything.

The other spec I am considering is Holy because healers are needed and I think I would have more influence in BGs(Im not doing rated BGs atm since I just hit 85 and have crap gear). I mean I really do not have any concerns why not to go Holy other than playing sporadically it will be harder to get into raids as an under geared healer then as a under geared dps. And also the fact I have not played Holy since TBC and holy power was odd enough I thought as Ret. Holy seems very alien to me.

I mean either spec I will dedicate to learning and getting better I am really not sure why I chose my least favorite played class as the one to level in Cataclysm but Im gonna stick it out since I do not have time to level another character and get started on gear before school. Once I start school I just plan on doing dailies while I still need rep then arena and rated BGs and Tol Barad raid weekly. i guess I am just asking for suggestions on which path to delve into that you guys see as being one that will be successful since a respec will likely be out of the question once I get going.

[ciggy]

No reason not to play both. Honor gear will come fast from what i've seen so far.

It really comes down to what you enjoy more. I do ret for pvp and holy for pve, but I haven't really done much on my pally since cata. Got mage/shaman up first.

[palindrome]

Damage is not weaker for rets, it just takes a little more getting used to in Cata. With Inquisition and TV and with new rotations, you just have to play it and practice. The same with Holy, just learn it. As Ciggy stated, why not play both?

If you want easy heroic dungeon grinds, I suggest prot.

[Helakion]

Depends on what you like mate, Id say if you wanted to get serious go holy. Ret is not the best atm but can have it moments, fun in bg's against the lesser players but dont expect to beat any other class that knows what their doing. Your gonna get people storming in here telling you they are great with their ret but they aint, the best atm are not even that great. All the same its still fine to have your fun with

[EndGame]

Damage is not weaker for rets, it just takes a little more getting used to in Cata. With Inquisition and TV and with new rotations, you just have to play it and practice. The same with Holy, just learn it. As Ciggy stated, why not play both?

If you want easy heroic dungeon grinds, I suggest prot.

Ret damage in heroics is ok. Ret damage in raids is abysmal.