Thursday, August 12, 2010

The Current Retribution Tree (Cataclysm Build 12694)

Don't expect to see anything regarding the Holy tree, I don't give a toot about it and I blame the Holy tree for holding us back all these years. So, let's get down to brass tacks, shall we?

Zealotry - Located at the bottom of the Ret tree, it seems like a good talent, considering our incessant need for a constant source of Zeal* for our damage. But using it on the Beta, it seems a tad short for something that could be so necessary for increased damage.

Also, it reveals a flaw in the armor of the new resource system, since it's through Crusader Strike that we get our Zeal charges from. And if we want to be competitive, regardless of whether it's pvp or pve, we're going to need a steady source of it and fast.

Inquiry of Faith - Righteous Vengeance renamed. Nothing to see here, folks.

Acts of Sacrifice - Ret's version of Guardian's Favor. It seems weaker, however, than GF, since even mana cost and reduction just don't seem to even out... though, it's a miracle if Freedom actually gets to run out it's entire duration without getting spell stolen or dispelled. Needs work.

Selfless Healer - Bad. Bad. Bad! Greg Street, did you not say that a defensive DPS archetype does not work? This has all the earmarks of it. Put it in holy or get rid of it. Why not put our badly needed charge or snare there instead?

Repentance - Same as before. Needs buffing. Too weak for a talent point that deep.

Sancitifed Wrath - Improved by the fact you can use Hammer of Wrath whenever it's up. Good, but it kinda chokes our newly complicated DPS rotations and won't last long enough in pvp to matter. Needs work.

Rebuke - FINALLY! A silence that we've needed forever. Granted, it's kinda clunky to use since we need to be in melee range, but that's understandable. However, depending on how long we're going to be able to be on our targets in PvP will determine if we need it ranged instead. Good. Very good.

Seals of Command - Puts the Seal of Command cleave upon Seal of Righteousness in addition to an additional 15% damage. Kinda good, kinda meh. Still breaks CC. Needs work.

Divine Purpose - With full points, it puts 40% change to generate holy power with the other mentioned abilities. Good, but it needs more than forty percent. I'd make it a full guarantee from all those abilities so we'd have more holy power than we can use. Good, but needs work.

Communion - Old Judgments of the Wise raid effect. Nothing to see here, folks.

Art of War - More damage and crit chance. No more instant FoLs. Not as good. Needs buffs, since now our only instant heal is Word of Glory, and requires Zeal, and our survivability takes a hit. Needs work and currently inoperative on the beta.

Divine Storm - Nerfed. Now requires three charges of Zeal to hit infinite targets for 90% damage. Clunky. Needs work.

Improved Crusader Strike - Full points bring the cooldown down a whole seconds, giving us a whole 9 seconds before we can unleash a full powered Templar's Verdict. PvP's gonna be a nightmare. Needs work.

Improved Judgment - More damage. BORING! The crab has noted that we're going to like the new one when the internal builds, but what he and the paladin community considers fun are up for debate.

Conviction - Renamed Vengeance. Nothing to see here, folks.

Pursuit of Justice - Still lame. Doesn't get us to our target faster and official forum trolls, in their infinite stupidity, call this a gap closer. Lost the disarm reduction. Needs lots of work.

Eye for an Eye - Lame. Reactive damage takes too many hits to appease the whiny piss-ant Rogues. Thorns and Retribution aura were hurt because of their crying. Needs lots of work.

Rule of Law - Crossover talent for Holy paladins. Whatever.

Crusade - Crossover talent for Holy and Prot Paladins, as well as Damage increase for Ret. Mediocre. Needs work.

So, there you have it. At the present time, there's still much to be done. Here's hoping another beta build will improve things.

* = I refuse to call it Holy Power, Zeal is far better.

Monday, August 9, 2010

An epiphany.

Retribution paladins hate Armor Penetration items. Why? Because it doesn't scale well for them and it's seemingly a stat that only Feral, DKs, warriors, rogues, and hunters like.

It's why I despise items like Deathbringer's Will and more recently Zarithrian's Offering.

And here's what I realized. It is for us, as spell power plate, is to them.

Wankers.