Hello fellow paladins,
I'am a long-time reader and now first-time poster. The discussion going on in some topics here at mmo-champion.com-forums and on the official board has made me think about a possible solution to solve our main pvp problem (not being able to put any kind of real pressure on a healer) without making us overpowered again and without making it too easy. The goal has to be: Easy to learn, hard(er) to master.
First of, i'm a retribution-paladin since beta of wow. I have experienced all the changes this class / specc has gone through. Hell, i do even remember, when there was the seal of the crusader for improved attack speed at cost of attackpower and incresed holy dmg , when judged...
You can armory me here, if you like: http://armory.wow-europe.com/charact...krock&n=Kiaria
And please, don't make any comments on my arena ratings - we are still evaluating...
So,if possible, this post shall start a brainstroming about how to solve the main problems retribution-paladins suffer. There is a reason, why more and more palas are going prot to do dps in arena.
Its the simple lack of offensive utility which leads to being absolutely no real threat to a healer or a healed target, because our damage got nerfed a lot in recent times and resiliance / stamina went up. Face it:
Before, Retribution paladins had (if lucky) enough burst to kill a healer , who was offguard or cc-ed by some other person within a very limited time frame of less than, say, 6 seconds. This had to go, i fully agree on that point. But we never received any compensation for these nerfs. So in today's time, retribution dmg is a.) less bursty (good) , b.) completly predictable (not so good) and c.) sometimes a joke and healer-tankable (not good at all).
So, before i get carried too far away, i will explain to you my suggestions for the retribution tree. Keep in mind, that all numbers are just for illustration purposes.
I.) Repentance made baseline, duration and cooldown cut in half. Also make it work on Elementals. Not breaking on damage from dots applied from the paladin.
Explanation: By doing so, every paladin specc gets a viable CC for PvE and an interrupt on a cd less than a minute. Shouldnt be op at all.
II.) Crusader Strike moved from 41-point talent to 31 point talent. Add another glyph which adds a secondary effect: Each time, CS hits the target, targets movement speed will be reduced by 2 % for 15 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times.
Explanation: By doing so, the REALLY boring process of leveling a paladin ends sooner (lvl 40) and gets in line with our former horde counterpart, enhancement-shammy. Glyph addresses kiting problems.
III.) Divine Storm moved from 51 point talent to 41 point talent.
Explanation:Moved to make room for new 51 point talent.
IV.) New 51point-talent! Unstoppable Faith, costs X % base mana, xx second cooldown (reduced by glyph)
The paladin's faith is so strong and pure, that the light itself will assist him in the battle against his foes. Based on the current judgement on the target, the following effect will occur.
Judgement of Light: The grace of light radiates at its target and will absorb 25 % of all incoming healing effects up to a maximum of xxx healing absorbed. Cannot be dispelled.
Judgement of Wisdom: The heavenly wisdom itself will be looking at the target, increasing the cost of all spells done by the target by 20 % , until xxxx Mana has been absorbed or until y casts have been made. Also increases casting time of ALL spells by 0.x seconds. This also applies to instant cast spells. Cannot be dispelled.
Judgement of Justice: Inspired by the holy hymns of the heavens, the paladin will become furious to bring justice to his target. Instantly increses movement speed of the Paladin by 60 % and removes all movement impairing effects. Effect ends, when the paladin does the first hit at any target or casts a spell or after 10 seconds. Cannot be dispelled.
If no Judgement is active on the current target, the effect of Judgement of Justice will apply.
Explanation: First of, all numbers are purely for illustration purposes. The reason is to make the paladin think into the immidiate future. „What judgement do i need to put up to get what effect? What effect may i need in the next seconds?“ This increases skill cap. It takes the paladin hopefully a little bit away from faceroll. Also, by introducing a limitation in form of an absolute number, it isnt quite as powerfull as for instance Mortal Strike. Its a completly new mechanic – which shouldnt be hard to incorporate into the game, given the fact that these kind of spells already exists ( Lord Jaraxxus Burning Flesh for example)
This shall also adress all the weaknesses paladins have in current PvP Situations : It can apply pressure on a healer ( via 2 ways – less healing done to target or mana cost increased, but not both), so no one can afford it to completly ignore the guy with the club next to him. It also adresses the problem of a non-existent gap closer ( come on: 15 % faster than someone with JoJ iup – that means we close a distance of 10 yards between us and a fleeing target in a whooping 22,2 seconds* – you can't be serious...)
* assuming a runspeed of 3 yards / second
All in all, the proposed changes shall lower the boredom of leveling a retribution paladin while adressing the core problems of PvP without the cost of PvE damage-loss and with incresing the skill cap.
I'm looking forward into a constructive discussion without too many flames or trolls. Maybe somebody is nice enough to post this in the US Damage-Dealing-Forums and/or Paladin-forums because I'am a european (german) customer with read-only access to american boards.
Best regards,
Bleda100
PS: If someone finds spelling errors or so , i'm sorry. English is not my mother-tongue.