Leverage says you ....

I think I feel a change in the winds says I.

Everybody else has blogged about it. Everybody has forumed about it. Everybody who's played past the noob area knows there be a big patch-a-comin and it could mean good and yummy things for those of us crazy enough to climb the limbs of the Retribution Tree.

Let's break these babies down and start the arguing early, shall we? :)

• Vindication (Retribution) frequency and duration increased and now reduces all attributes by 5/10/15%, not just Strength and Agility.

This is the one I've been waiting for. I've kept points in Vindication since I've heard about the possibility of this happening. Having this lower ALL stats on your target - well I give it a 5 outta 5 on the Critometer of Happiness.

• Pursuit of Justice (Retribution) is now 3 ranks and increases movement speed by 5/10/15% and also reduces the chance you'll be hit by spells by 1/2/3%.

I know people will disagree on this. But I hate this talent. It seems as this is a Blizz Bone that they threw at us pallies to try and get us to spend points here. I don't see the benefit though. Seems like the smarter Ret points can be spent elsewhere. The Critometer of Happiness rates this a 1 out of 5. Prove me wrong. (If you do though, most likely I won't approve your comment, lol)

Let's take the next ones as a group.

• Exorcism's mana cost has been lowered (Source)
• Holy Wrath's mana cost has been lowered (Source)
• Hammer of Wrath's mana cost has been lowered (Source)

Slap me silly and call me sally. This is awesome! Lowering mana cost always makes the Critometer rocket to new heights but it has to stop at 5 out of 5.

• Vengeance has been increased to 30 seconds (Source).

Longer lasting, more filling. The stacks get longer to build and this will only help with stabilizing the damage output for Rets. Plus I love having glowy hands :) Critometer of Happiness rating? 3 out of 5 - because they didn't mention making Vengeance proc "more" :)

• New Talent - Sanctified Seals (replacing Sanctified Crusader): Increases your chance to critically hit with all spells and melee by 1/2/3%, and reduces the chance your Seals can be dispelled by 33/66/100% (Source)

Nothing to hate here at all. Combined with other stuff later in this post, this is a very nice addition and a new place to spend some points that are freeing up from other things. Critometer of Happiness rating: 4 out of 5.

• Crusader Strike cooldown is being lowered to 6 seconds. (Source)

Aw couldn't we get the mana lowered too? lol Love the fact that we get a shorter cooldown time though. Critometer of Happiness likes it too. 4 out of 5.

• Improved Seal of the Crusader effect added to base abilitiy (Source)
• Improved Seal of the Crusader now gives the effects of Sanctified Crusader (Source)

These should probably be rated as a 6 out of 5 on the Critometer of Happiness! How awesome is this? Pallies will get 3 talent points back (that were spent on Sanct Crusader) which we can now spend someplace else, like deeper in the Holy or Prot trees. Suh-weet!

All in all I think this will be a good-news day for Rets and pallies in general. Bring on the patch! I can't wait to get this stuff! :)

Retribution > Fury

Well at least it was last night. I got jumped by a Fury specced Orc Warrior last night in Tanaris. I'll spare you the epic struggle since there really wasn't one to speak of.

Suffice it to say he charge/stunned me while I was sitting. We fought, I bubbled and healed, drank a mana pot and he couldn't keep up after that. In checking my combat log, I did do way more damage than him, critting him for nearly 1k of damage in two attacks of mine near the end. Ah those random crits you gotta love em!

So Ret > Fury ... probably not ... I just got some lucky rolls last night. But I do have to say, of all the classes I do face in WoW a warrior fills me with the least fear in PVP with Oak.

For me it goes, Hunters > Locks > Druids > Pallies > Priests > Mages > Rogues > Warriors ... hope I got em all. But Hunters ... man I hate to be kited and we pallies are probably the most kiteable class in the game.

No more blogging from me for few days. I'm off to Iowa to visit the in-laws and shall return to game and fame come Monday evening. I should hit 46 Monday night darn it :)

The Retribution Revolution

I'll explain that title momentarily. Right now though ... DING 40!!! WHOOO HOOO! YESSS! Thankyouthankyouthankyou! /bow /cheer /freemount lol

Okay, I'm a tad bit excited at hitting 40 with Oakensledge. Man I love that little pally. It's been hard work getting here, and I've tried to get pretty decent gear along the way too. Much more so than I ever did with Talon. And it feels great.

Things to be happy about at 40

My dps is looking respectable.

I can take quite a bit of damage in a fight (3 or more mobs my level, sometimes elite).

Now I can wear plate. Just so awesome!

I'm getting better (and at a faster pace) in PVP than I did with Talon.

You know, on a side note, sometimes you just seem to find a class that fits your thinking. I think I can finally crystalize my thoughts on a Ret Pally's role in a group and my approach to the class and spec. Jump in and disagree, jump in and correct me, just don't hate me cause you're wrong (just kidding).

Anyway, here goes:

First off, I view the Ret Pally as another supporting role.

You can stand back and off-heal if you need to (maybe even main heal a 5-man).

You can keep people free of a lot of debuffs, keep them outta traps, etc.

You can do some crowd-control as needed in a group. In solo play, I just love this.

My favorite thing though ... When the chips are down and you're friends are in trouble, and this is the part that excites me, you can step up shoulder to shoulder with them behind the tank, unload everything you got, and maybe, just maybe .... make a difference in the beating a boss and help save the day.

My Sappy View
I see a Ret Pally as the gentle giants of the game (or in Oak's case, a smaller giant, lol). But they are the kind of class/spec that you'd sit down with, have an icy-cold beverage at the local watering hole; maybe they'd heal you up after a hard day in the dungeon. But then when that jerk in the bar starts making trouble, when he starts tossing chairs and saying foul things to fair maidens ... your Ret Pally buddy can change in an instant and be that guy (or gal) that you want there by your side healing you, and helping deal out damage, while you take the jerk outside and give him an attitude adjustment.

So a very tough, supporting class with an attitude, who can make their presence known when things "get real". I realize other classes meet this same standard too, like druids, but I feel a connection with the Pally class, always have.

Okay probably too much RPG in there for some of you but that's how I approach this class. It's how I like to think of myself in real life with my real life friends (although admittedly in real life, I'm not much of a healer).

And after saying all that, I think that's why this class works for me. I just love it. I want to know more about it, become a student of it; like so many of my good guild-mates have become with their classes. Only then will I consider myself a decent and upstanding contributor to Heroes Inc.

Here's to the players in our guild. All are Heroes.

I can feel it. We're very, very close - Ghostbusters

STV is very, very huge for a person of such short stature. Oak got about 30% into lvl 39 last night. RW ran me around through quest after quest and I appreciate that so much. However, we just ran outta time.

So maybe tonight the fabled 40 will appear.

On Plate in general:
I've picked a good plate item (feet) from the hunter's camp in STV. Additionally, the armory says there is a quest giver in the Badlands which seems to give me a good plate chest piece, and I found that guy with Lightheaded and TomTom (if you don't have those mods, go get them NOW, I'll wait .... Done? Good man!)
So I've got some plate items in the queue and I'm slavering to research more about em.

On finances:
Can't wait to ding 40 and stroll into IF for my mount. I've done well on gold, so training up shouldn't be a problem.

On gear for a Ret Pally:
I started official research on becoming a good Critadin this weekend. What I found was a whole lot of nothing. So I'll keep looking but I may be the first to blaze this trail seriously. Standing against the nay-sayers and ner-do-wells sounds like a good time to me :)

Seems as though, from what I read on the internet, is that "the only believe people who believe in Ret Pallys are ... well, Ret Pallys". Just the kind of challenge I like :) Never EVER tell me that I CAN'T do something when it appears obvious to me that the tools are right there in front of me to accomplish the very thing that YOU say I can't do.

Ret Pallys have gotten a bad rap. I'd sure like to have a hand in changing all that.