London Calling, Now with Questions!

Last night I was able to join an ICC guild run.

We had started it last week (Wednesday), with the intent of downing Marrowgar in Heroic, and seeing if we had gotten our toons/specs/etc semi-organized.

During the pre-Marrow trash (where they stack on top of each other) I was top DPS at ~7,800-8k.

"Looks like Bal has things worked out" was one comment made. It was nice, but felt empty since I would get 10-12k on the same trash pre-patch.

I don't remember any specifics about Marrow (we wiped several times before backing down from Heroic to regular) but I was still near the top.


Fast forward to last night, where it was the regular ICC team, plus 3 alt guildies (I am one of the replacements)

We tried Lady Deathwhisper (LDW) 7 or 8 times on heroic before (again) giving up and swatting her on regular. (we could probably do it on Heroic, but with the DCs, and a lack of familiarity, as well as getting late, we just wanted it done) On DW (and her trash adds), I was struggling to get 4k DPS. The tanks were doing more DPS than I was.



We then moved towards Heroic Lootship. On the way there, we dropped that dragon (no clue what the name is...)

I was late getting into that fight (connection issues) and participated for the last ~10 seconds or so.

And pulled down 11k single target DPS. With a 32k Templar's Verdict crit.

?!?!?!?


I didn't pay much attention to the meter on Gunship since it's such a unique mechanic, that DPS is almost irrelevant (I am on the away team and canon operator)

A couple observations here, with questions nearer the end:

• During ALL the Lady Deathwhisper fights, I had Art of War (AoW) proc MAYBE 3 times.


• Lots of small, fairly quick dying, INDIVIDUAL targets means lots of movement with little ramp up, or AoE opportunities.


• I hate running that fight (LDW) with a DK tank. (I have troubles distinguishing the various ground effects and who cast D&D, etc)


• I would lose Holy Power (HP) stacks between some mobs, at least occasionally.


• Having guildies use large AoE abilities on a boss that has melee DPS that is MCed is a bad thing.


• I have no clue how to really deal with groups of trash, let alone single trash mobs.


• I don't use wings on most (single mob especially) trash since over half of it is wasted while I run from mob to mob.


• If I'm lucky and the stars align, Ret *can* do some crazy stupid DPS, but aside from that rare occurrence, we (or at least *I*) am struggling.


• It's nearly impossible to get into any kind of rhythm. Either you sit there spamming 1 or 2 keys, or you are overwhelmed with multiple procs, totally limited due to GCDs.

Overall, I was using CS and Judge, followed by DS or TV when it came up and Holy Wrath for good measure. If there were other mobs near, I would drop consecrate. I had Seal of Righteous active.

I switched to Seal of Truth for LDW herself (or any boss) and would do the sme, except I would swap exclusively to Templar's Verdict in place of DS. I would keep Consecrate up as long as mana wasn't a concern.

Oh, I would pop wings at the start of the boss, and occasionally hit zealotry. In my brief stints at the test dummy, I just haven't seen it help that much, and it can really complicate our rotation with little or no benefit.


So here are the questions for anyone (Ret) that might read this...

• 
  What is a good seal & HP combo and basic strategy to use against multiple, separate, "easy" mobs?
  
  How do you have your bars set up?
  
  Do you bother with Zealotry?
  
  How can I save 15% on car insurance?

Lastly...

I've been readin a couple of Ret Paladin threads on various sites, and it's really disheartening. (this relates to Tam's post from yesterday, and my reply to it HERE)

Generally, the "top" type players are really enjoying the new sensory overloaded, complicated aspects of the new Ret system. (they aren't fans of its over-dependance on randmomness, but that's minor) They love the fact that to be half way competant, you need to spend lots of time practicing this & that (hours & hours on a test dummy) and then be really great at having raid awareness, Proc awareness, etc.

I would guess that a REALLY good player would beat my DPS by 20-30% right now. (assuming same gear) Pre- patch I think it would be 5, 10, or MAYBE 15% better.

Don't get me wrong, I realize that good players DESERVE a return on their abilities, time spent, etc. BUT, that type of disparity between good & average** could easily mean that a VERY large portion of players won't have the option to play new content. They'll be relegated to running content 2+ tiers (or levels) after it's "current".

Either that or Blizzard would need to nerf the content so much that those very same top players will bitch & moan that everything is (legitimately) too easy for them.

Which then leads me back to what is (IMHO) the best option: reduce the skill/benefit curve.

Oh yeah, and fix Ret. I despise the holy power crap. I don't want stacking combo points. PERIOD. That's fine & dandy for rogues and kitty droods, but (beating the dead horse) if I wanted that I would have rolled one of them.

There's a reason that paladins have remained so popular, despite being (often) underpowered: they are (or were) a fun and relatively easy class to pick up and play. There was an awful lot to gain by going from "mediocre" to "average", and still more to gain by getting "good" at the class, but still, it was a straight forward, sword & "sorcery" class. Now it feels a bit like "Street Fighter" with this combo BS.

If I am unable to "get over it" or if Blizz doesn't relent (basicaly a given) I don't know what class I would play. I like melee, but hate the whole rage thing (again, like HP, you start with zilch) I have a fundamental distaste for DKs and I obviously don't want a rogue.

Ranged (casters or Hunters) don't really interest me either.

And somehow, I don't see me healing...

**(yeah, I conisder myself average, though current issues may be lowering my self esteem a bit)

Rotation will Spin you Right 'Round Baby, Right 'Round

That is a (bad) screen cap of "the business end" of my rotation. It starts at 5, and goes to the right. The spells are in "collision order"/priority order, in that I have:

#5 - Hammer of Wrath (HoW) - note it's only available when enemy health = low
#6 - Crusdader Strike (CS)
#7 - Judgement of Wisdom (Jud)
#8 - Divine Storm (DS)
#9 - Exorcism (Ex)
#0 - Consecration (Con)

What this means is that, assuming all 6 spells are "ready", I go with the one furthest left (HoW) because, by doing so, I will be doing the maximum possible DPS. (please note that these are based on the end of patch 3.2, and I know that different Tier armor pieces can affect the optimal order)

Per the 3.3 patch, it should be:
HoW > Judgement > CS > DS > Consecration > Exorcism

#5 - Hammer of Wrath (HoW)
#6 - Judgement of Wisdom (Jud)
#7 - Crusdader Strike (CS)
#8 - Divine Storm (DS)
#9 - Consecration (Con)
#0 - Exorcism (Ex)

I guess I should be switching a few around. Oops. That happens when you don't read EJ often enough. I have a bit 'o tweaking to do tonight!

SO, in a "perfect" DPS setting, I will be standingbehlind/side of the boss, hitting the left most button that is lit up. (generally though, only 1 will be lit at any one time)

Yes, for the most part, it's a "whack-a-mole" of casting whichever spell is coming off cooldown (CD) If 2 or more happen to cool at the same time, left one "wins". This is the old "First Come First Serve" (FCFS) rotation. Yes, it kinda sucks, but it's what we're stuck with.

Now, the above "perfect" situation does happen once you are into an encounter (boss especially) but isn't always the best (for me).

So, here is how *I* handle a few different situations:

NOTE - please refer to my last post about focus, following the tank, and general buffing info! HERE

Generic Trash Fight, Multiple (3+) mobs

1 - Target the marked mob, or use the /assist to hit the tank's target
2 - let the tank fight for 3-5 seconds BEFORE MOVING
3 - Spam the Judgement attack as I run into melee range.
4 - As I run into the middle of the mobs, drop Consecration
5 - Get placed behind the mobs (ideally facing the rest of the group for good visibility)
6 - Divine Storm (right as the Global Cool Down (GCD) expires


"Drum the keys". I posted this quick video a while back:



This will keep the 4 highest DPS spells humming along without ANY need to keep your eyes glued to the action bars. You WILL need to glance down to see if HoW or the lowest DPS need to be hit - you can't ignore your action bars. But, you don't have to focus on them, just glance over every 2-3 seconds.

Absolute "nth degree min/maxers" (folks that focus to the extreme on maximizing DPS and minimizing inefficiencies) will probably cringe at this. However, I have one HUGE reason to do this:

Situational Awareness.

Because Rets don't have an established, repeatable rotation, it forces you to keep a rather close eye on what spells are coming off CD. Every second you are focused on your action bars is one second you are NOT focusing on the rest of your group.

"But you are losing out on 1%, 2%, 3%, 5%, or more % DPS!"

Big deal.

If you are grouped with comparably geard and comparably skilled "pure" DPS class (mages, warlocks and rogues come to mind) then you are not going to be topping the DPS meters. Worrying about getting to 4,400 DPS instead of 4,000 DPS really doesn't matter; the others probably doing 5,ooo+ anyhow.

WHY...

Here's where Ret "utility" comes into play. While you're drumming your fingers and looking the whole situation over, YOU can taunt off any baddies that aggro onto the healer, or any overeager casters/etc. YOU can keep a closer eye on your surroundings to make sure you aren't "standing in the bad" or watching for spawns or pats (patrols) that wander in.

No, you can't tank 'em, but you can gather 'em in, and bring them over to the tank to take care of. (you can survive a few seconds of that)

It puts you in a MUCH better position to notice when the "oh shit" moments I mentioned in my last post happen. There's nothing worse than watching your rotation, TRYING to stay out of the bad, only to notice your health bar is about zero, and you are the last party member left standing.

I'm not saying that all (or even MOST) wipes can be avoided, but some can, and looking like (and feeling like) the hero is nice.

One other note about my rotation and start - yes, I start off "out of order", but with multiple 3 or more mobs, DS and Cons will MASSIVELY bump your DPS because of their AoE nature.


Single/Double Trash Mobs - Just kill 'em.

BOSSES/mini-bosses


Pre-fight, do any buffs you need/want.

The are only a couple differences here:

1 - Hit sacred Shield as I run in (out of range
2 - Spam Judgement as I get closer
3 - Get into position
4 - Start (and keep) finger drumming/rotation
5 - Occasionaly hit Divine Plea (for mana) and if able, Sacred Shield (or any other "helpful" spells)


Other than that, same as above.


One other (major) thing needs to be looked at, but it's a modifier for all of the above situations:


In An Organized and Trusted Raid Group (with Vent)

A couple things are different here:

1 - You can "let your guard down" a little bit.
2 - Go ahead an pop your wings
3 - Don't drum your keys, WATCH your cooldowns
4 - LISTEN to your raid leader (RL) and rely on THEM to let you know when an "oh shit" is about to happen.
5 - If you don't have vent? Well, maybe you *do* drum the keys for a bit. It's hard to even read raid chat if you're whacking the FCFS mole... but you should be able to trust the group you're with, you can focus on your DPS rotation.


You don't get to totally ignore your surroundings, but you are now in a situation where your primary focus needs to be DPS. (unless you are assigned to "protect the healer", etc) You were brought in your Blessings, Auras, your durability and your DPS.

Hope this helps!