Sunday, May 15, 2011

Some macros Please

What macros does Ret have for PvP?
Most of Ret PvP Macros look like this:
/cast [target=party1] Word of Glory.
You can basically fit in 1-4 for 1, and Word of Glory with Sacrifice / Freedom / Hand of Protection and you'll have most of the Macros I have. I only have 1-2 for most of them, and 1-4 for WOG for 5s. 1-4 for everything was a bit too overwhelming for me. (Not Enough Buttons + Too Crazy lol)
There are people who simplifies this by using mouseover macros and such, all personal preference. Add #showtooltip to the start of these macros if you want to see it.
Some other general macros:
1.) Start Attack + Crusader Strike
/cast Crusader Strike
/startattack

2.) Start Attack + Templar's Verdict
/cast Templar's Verdict
/startattack

3.) Focus HOJ
/cast [target=focus] Hammer of Justice

4.) Focus Repent
/cast [target=focus] Repentance
5.) Switching Between 2H and Shield
/equip [equipped:Shields] Your2HWeaponName
/equip [noequipped:Shields] your1HWeaponName
/equip [noequipped:Shields] YourShieldName

6.) Camera Distance *This is the Camera I used to use, I'm going default max zoomed out now though*
/console cameraDistanceMaxFactor 4

7.) Focus REBUKE
/cast [target=focus] Rebuke

8.) Focus Judgement
/cast [target=focus] Judgement

9.) Cancel Bubble
/cancelaura Divine Shield

10.) Cancel Wings
/cancelaura Avenging Wrath

11.) Wings + HOW - By Jecks
/cast Avenging Wrath
/cast hammer of wrath

The Support Macros I Personally Use: (switch x with number or partyx with Toon Name)

13.) Hand of Protection
/cast [target=partyX] Hand of Protection

14.) Hand of Sacrifice
/cast [target=partyX] Hand of Sacrifice

15.) Hand of Freedom
/cast [target=partyX] Hand of Freedom

16.) Word of Glory
/cast [target=partyX] Word of Glory

As said with almost everything, Macros have a lot to do with personal preference. You can also use modifiers for different skills in your macros such as Repent. Use these only as a general guideline and form your own macros!












2nd part in Guide, gems /chants

Gems / Enchants / Stats
One word, "STRENGTH", it is KING for rets for damage. It is 2x better than Hit Rating even if you are not hit capped. This means reforge hit! Do not gem into it unless it's a blue socket (use 20str / 20hit) AND it yields equal amount of stat gain.
Mastery is equal to roughly .3 of Strength, some more accurate numbers should come soon. Other than hit cap, I recommend reforging almost all into mastery and maintaining a logical amount of crit.
The only arguable stat that can go against Strength is resilience. Rets have an X on their heads and get trained all game all the time. Personally, I'm trying to stay within 3200 resilience. Just use what you feel comfortable with, I know rets who go for 4000 resilience and Rets who go under 3000.

Recommended Gems:
Meta - Strength / +3% Crit Dmg or REFLECT META (If you like RNG!)
Red - 40 Strength
Yellow - 20 Strength / 20 Resil or 20 Strength / 20 Mastery
Blue - 40 Strength or 20 Strength / 20 Hit (Depends on Socket bonus!)

Recommended Reforging:
Get Hit Cap first! (5%) After that go for mastery and possibly maintain some crit.

Recommended Enchants:
Head - 60Str / 35 Resil
Shoulders - 50Str / 25 Resil
Back - 65 Crit Rating
Chest - +20 All Stats OR 40 Resil
Wrist - 50 Strength
Hands - 50 Strength
Legs - 190AP / 50 Crit Rating
Feet - 50 Mastery or 32AP
Weapon - Weapon Chain (recommended) or Landslide. If you have the luxury have 2 weapons and have one on each, switch depending what opponents you see.

Seal
This is probably the most common question I've gotten! What seal do you use?
For a simple answer, Truth.
Here is a more complicated answer:
Generally for any target you are staying on for 10+ Seconds, Truth is the highest damage dealing seal. Especially now in 4.0.6, Censure is buffed big time.
Go Seal of Light when you're getting trained HARD, it does save lives. Use your own instincts here, do you think it's more important to bring this guy down asap with Truth / Righteousness, or to survive longer with seal of light?
Seal of Justice, this is an incredibly awkward seal. It's a horrible skill, but yet you still need to use it at times (makes no sense I know). The only time I've used this effectively is Rated BGs (slowing demolishers) and 2s when I played double Ret vs Warlock Enhancement Shaman (we had to stop the shaman).

Viable Ret Comps
Viability's definition is different for each person. I'm going to leave this section blank now that 4.0.6 appeared, I believe we can run just about anything that makes even some logical sense and be "viable" for my definition.

Professions
Doesn't really matter. Many people like engineering as it probably gives the highest overall enjoyment from fun toys.

How much resil should a Ret aim for?
As said before this is largely preference based, and on what comp you are running. I'm trying to stay at roughly 3200, but I've seen people stack to 4000 and go under 3000 as well.

What rotation do you use in PvP?
There is no rotation in PvP. Everything is situational. Keep note that our hardest hitting ability will be Templar's Verdict, which also clashes with Word of Glory as both takes holy power.
Some also simple notes is you should almost never use Templar's Verdict unless you have 3 holy power or a proc

1st part of the ret pvp Guide

Retribution Paladin PvP Guide

This guide is written mainly for players new to playing retribution in arena / PvP. I posted this on the arena junkies forum, but I'm posting it here in hopes to help more people out after receiving more and more PMs about ret questions lately.



How's Ret PvP in Season 9?
In my opinion Ret PvP is okay atm, the one thing I want to see fixed is the parry / dodge on crusader strikes doesn't proc holy power, our dispel protection and our bad survivability. However, overall we're in an okay spot. The highest I reached so far this season post 4.0.6 was 3053 before team hopping again.

PvP Talents
There are 2 big differences in how Rets are talenting for PvP atm. The 2 differences are 40second Hammer of Justice versus Last Word (Crit on Word of Glory below 35% hp).
If you are going for Last Word you will off spec mainly to Holy, if you're going for 40 second Hammer of Justice you will off spec Prot.
Also, for rated BGs you should pick up divine storm.

The rest of the talents most Rets can usually agree on or only have slight variances.

1.) http://wowtal.com/#k=Cb5YqfC6.aei.paladin
The most common specs for rets at the moment is some type of improve Hammer of Justice Spec. Some arguable talents here are:
- 2Points in Acts of Sacrifice
- Only 1 Point in AOW
- 2Points in Guardian's Favor
The rest of the talents are pretty concrete. You won't pick up sancity of battle due to the fact most rets should have very little haste in PvP, and bloodlust / heroism is disappearing from arena. I've been going 2 points into AOW lately with 1 point only into Acts.
If your freedom is constantly getting purged / spell stolen switch guardian's favor to AOW (Art of War).

2.) http://wowtal.com/#k=7m9S2H6Q.aei.paladin.
This is the probably the highest healing spec for Rets (Last Word).

Glyphs
I'm going to talk about Prime Glyphs first, for Prime Glyphs I would consider Templar's Verdict to be necessary especially now in 4.0.6 as it is our hardest hitting ability.
After that you'll have some choices to make between Crusader Strike vs Censure vs Word of Glory vs Judgement.
Word of Glory is recommended for most general cases unless you're going for some kind of high burst comp (kill the opponent in under 1minute or lose), as big burst heals is one of ret's best friend atm.
Censure provides the highest "dps" from a PvE perspective. Use this if you're in a comp that trains a lot and has minimal stuns. I wouldn't recommend this if you're playing with a rogue as the person you're hitting will be stun locked most of the time.
Crusader Strike and Judgement are just the "okay some damage here" glyphs if you don't like the other 2.

Prime Glyphs:
Templar's Verdict (Necessary)
Word of Glory (Recommended)
Censure vs Crusader Strike vs Judgement (Your Choice)


Major Glyphs:
Major glyphs I've seen a lot of variance. I'll explain the most useful and commonly used ones here.
Crusader Strike (Biggest Mana Saver)
Turn Evil (Instant fear can save lives against those deadly pets out there)
Hammer of Wrath (Saves a LOT of mana during Avenging Wrath)
Hammer of Justice (Longer range stun, what else to be said?)
Cleansing (Could be as Valuable or more Valuable than Crusader Strike glyph depending on how much you are cleansing yourself out of slows)
Divine Protection (Wizard Protection!)
You can pick any variance of these and it would still be considered good choices. Use the mana ones if you have huge mana problems in arena, turn evil for defensive reasons, HOJ for overall convenience, Divine Protection if you're getting wizard trained.

Minor Glyphs: (Doesn't really matter, I'll post what I plan to use)
Might Glyph (Recommended)
Truth Seal Glyph
Justice Seal Glyph

The only one here that is going to matter is glyph of Might as the buff is going to cost a lot of mana. The other seals just use the glyphs for your favorite seals that you dance with.

This week- EVE!!!


That might be a little small, but that is just a select few games that I played on  her. My best game is 37-6-19. Keep in mind this is against level 30s not level 1s.

No one ever believes me, but Eve is an amazing mid. The best thing about a stealth mid, is you can stealth- open stealth-open and harass very well. You can deny great xp when you stealth and you can gank without them knowing you are gone.

You want to get Exhaust and Ignite.

I always start out with a mana pot and a Amplifying tomb. I have all AP runes and at level 3 i start stealth/harassing. I go e-q-e-w-e 1st. Every stealth, open with an e then run back. You can get 3 opens before you are oom. I never waste a summoner spell until I know I will get a kill. When ever your enemy lane backs, go to gank. If you keep up the pattern of stealth/dps he wont say if you are Mia or not.

I get oracles to counter there wards and teemos muchrooms. It helps a LOT to know if they can see you. In team fights, always open after your team does. This will almost always ensure a kill.

I start out with Mejas, then boots, lichbane, Rabadons Deathcap, then you have your choices between survial and more dps. I usually get Banshees Veil. Always try to get blue at around level 7. This will help ganks because you will not have to back to get mana. Make sure your team knows that you are ganking and to put out pressure but be safe about it.

Hope you try this and let me know how it goes!

A step in the right direction

Hello again!

  If you have read the new ret pally changes, (its a small one) then you may notice they are doing kind of what I had in mind. They are making selfless healer reduce the cooldown of WoG by 5/10 seconds. Plus the buff can no longer be dispelled or spell stolen. I was happy to see this, but then i got to thinking. Why not GIVE us Divine storm, and make that a decent heal. Kind of like deathstrike, but on a Cd. Divine storm used to be great in arena and pve,and I have yet to spec into it for either.

Another suggestion would be to take take away that Crusader Strike and Divine Storm share Cd, and let it give a HP. That may be a little stronger then intended, but why design a spell that no one uses???

 Next time I will be going over some other games. I have been playing League of Legends a lot, and i want to share with you my tip and tricks for the character Evelyn!!

Friday, April 29, 2011

3v3 Arena Triple Dps Strategy

Hello Everyone who is cool enough to find this blog!!
  So last night my dk friend ( Shout out to Clysm) and rogue (Ducivo is a bamf) decided that triple dps 3s would be fun. I figured we could try, not being serious at all. We ended up 31-10 with 2216 and a 2300 mmr.


  I can see why they are nerfing WoG spam. I healed our dk through some crazy stuff, including a 2400 KFC team that we farmed for a good 300 points. It took about 4 hours, and there was a BIG learning curve. We lost 10 games with a win here and there, then won 15 straight at about a 2200 mmr. The comp was crazy fun to play. We had some O SHIT moments, but it was a blast. I had no intention of hitting 2200 but hey, what ever works. I just wanted to share some tips for anyone who wants to have some fun.




We only really have problems with Paladin/preist teams. Good shadow priests sit me and just mass dispell when i bubble. We save all of our silences for a healer, so its gogo pew pew. We do try to switch if there is a warrior that pops cds so we can make him go defensive or blow him up. You have to keep an eye out for Recklesness so that you can make an amazing switch. With this triple dps team, 1 person can stay healer for interupts and the other 2 can kill the warrior.  You have to use all defensive cds pretty much every game. Never hesitate on killing a warrior or mage.You have to watch for Recklessnes, when ever a warrior pops it, the ret should wings and switch. It puts out a lot of pressure and makes him go defensive. If you get a great cc chain, locks go down also.One thing that works amazing, is smoke bombing defensively. If there is any ranged, use smoke bomb so your ret can heal . Our rogue ( ducivo) is pro at calling and throwing a smoke bomb. We beat a 2400 RMP 2 times , and we have beat a few ex glads and 2700 Wld teams.

Pre-nerf i was healing a lot. Post nerf, we have to focus solely on good switches and blowing something up. Smart healers will sit back and wait until we have to hit a dps. We will usually start hard, grip/freeze and if he does not trinket we will kill something. Once he does, quick switch, and garrote/kidney/silence/hoj. Plus we will throw down that smoke bomb to prevent a lot of damage. Our dk will always freeze early then we get  a blind on a dps. Blinding a mage is great so you can get a full wings with out it being stolen.


 I posted on arena forums looking for a healer a while ago, and that was a mistake. Nothing but trolls. Should have figured, but post nerf, we are at 2400 right now winning our last 14 games. I want to see other people try it. The nerf has really hurt any chance of a ret pally/healer/dps team. Rets get trained and after cds, just flop. I do not know how blizz will fix it, but they better next patch. They went way over with the nerfs.

Good luck all!!!!!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Ret Paladin nerfs, 1st POST!!!

Hello everyone,
  My name is Spencer Storey, and i have been playing a ret pally for 4 years. I have played arena for 7 seasons ( i played a resto druid from season 2 on, Storizzle if you want to look) , and last season i hit 2400 in 2s with a pro pro hunter and 2200 in 3s. I lost my account ( it got hacked, i got my druid back , but since the person SOLD my other 2 toons, i could not get them back) So i  play a Ret pally on Scilla named Storey. He is undergeared, but i am a beast :)

  We are getting nerfed for survivability, which is not our problem. Vanguards, being an a$$ hole amazing player, has AMAZING healers for his teams. This makes it looks it look like we can survive everything. Almost every ret with gear, can faceroll his comp to 2k. I have used wings on mages that are under 2k, and they just try to run, not spellsteal. You can throw a 20 k hammer, every 6 seconds, for 20 seconds. This gets off 4 hammers, assuming you get the 1st one off when you pop wings. Plus 20 % increased damage. Now of course you are going to blow something up, that is 80 k damage in 18 seconds, with just hammer. The problem is, once you hit 2k, mages spell steal INSTANTLY. I can get 1 hammer off, and unless he is silenced, its gone. Another problem is priests dispelling. There really needs to be a consequence for dispelling it. You Dispell a locks UA, an ability usable ALL THE TIME and there is a 4 second silence and damage done. Yet, a 2 minute ability, that is our MAIN dps ability. Zealotry is always used for healing yourself of team mates, its our peel.


 I am not saying that when i get a full 20 second wings, i kill something. But, when i play TSG or KFC with a pally healer, we usually win. In fact, we have a huge win percent over them versus PMR or anything with a priest or mage.... weird?  I have no problems with rogues, a pro rogue is pro. The fact that Reckful can peel 3 people to keep is healer alive, within 3 gcds, and be 3050 on the hardest bg in the world with 3 losses. He. is. good. A mage hitting  40 k  with  ice lance and frostbolt, in 1 gcd, with no cool down, may be a joke. I can hit that much with wings, not without. Plus they can spell steal.... Sure rock beats scissors beats paper beats rock, but preists and shamans can take wings away . RAWR that is stupid. A fix that i think would help, would be something like buffing judgments damage, or making judgment add a holy power every time used( Put it in place of selfless healer as a talent) . Although it is a low chance, crusader strike being dodged can be game changing if you have zealotry up and you are trying to kill something. 

 I hate the 4.1 changes coming up. For Ret, it is game changing. The Sacred Shield nerf going to 60 seconds is a little extreme. 45 seconds i would say is fair. I have played Rets, and 35k plus absorbs every 30 seconds is in fact annoying, but you can train a Ret dead pretty easy. WoG Nerf is kind of a kick in the nuts, but, needed. I liked that they made a change for the selfless healer buff from 12 seconds to 30, but that was taken away pretty fast. I do not see many Rets above 2200. In fact, I am the 1st Ret on my server above 2200 that played Ret and not holy. Look it up its true. I see plenty of dks, mages, rogues, etc. Ele shamans do need some love though. For now this is just venting, I am sure next patch they will over buff Ret yet agiain. 
 Here is my pally, Storey , He is pretty amazing. I know. I will post Vids at later dates, please leave any feedback as to how you hit 2200, what comp you played, any crazy globaling stories.I enjoy feedback from people even if you say " Durr da durrr you are teh bad pally cuz you play triple dps ROFL newb" . If you troll, i feel bad that you have nothing better to do but be a douche.

 - Storey