I leveled an alt this week to try the “Revigorated” version of this Spec and Class. I have not touched a ret pala since 2008-2009, so it took me a bit to get used to the gameplay, but having played a lot of meeles recently, I felt confident enough to join some shuffles, to get some fast conquest.
I accidentaly hit 1800 in less then 7 games played. Mind you, I do not know what each button does in what situation, and I played without Lay on hands, because IIRC you couldnt use it in arena back in the day.
I also played without sacrifice, blessing of samctuary, because I didnt have time to bind the “use on teammates” stuff.
Still felt like the easiest games in my life, just because of the PURE massive burst damage that never stops, most games ended with 45-50k dps all night long.
Then I decided to actually learn the class for real, and I got even more shocked. You have 1 min cds on solid defensives, 2 different immunities, BIG self heals, all main attacks are either 20yd range (templar+blade) or 30yd(divine toll, judgement,hammer,sentence,reckoning), all burst is syncronised to either 30sec or 1min, good mobility with very low 25sec cd freedom, aoe CC, low CD Stun that always forces some CDs, and the best part: Huge team utility, I feel like I can actually carry people.
Think I found a new main. Looking back on DK or even War, I hate myself for not playing the class earlier.
I was legit mad at first, but the pure fun of smashing people with those massive 120k hammers ( literal Final Verdict animation is a HUGE hammer) makes up for it completely.
Dont think I will push too much rating on it because I already got the enchant on this char, dont really care about the tabard, but got the elite Paladin set at least, and had a bit of fun. They should probably nerf it a bit more, all being said and done.
The saddest part about this statement is that, while true in this case due to the absurd abundance of ret paladin abusers… The game actively tries to avoid matching you into lobbies with copies of the same spec. This is why you see arms warriors go “uhhh no we´re not meta, i barely ever see another arms warrior” etc. Mirror matchups are quite dull admittedly but then again, the current system just makes playing something not overtoned even more miserable n puts people into a further victim role just by sheer design. This is also the fundamental issue to why casters gets placed in tripple melee lobbies because usually theres only a handful of viable caster specs at a time n since the game avoids duplicate specs it resaults in putting that poor destro lock into 3 melees n so on.
Havent met a single other Ret yet in any game. I think the game can’t match 2 of the same spec in a lobby, but like I said I have like 10 games played. Will post feedback if I meet a mirror.
I have reached 2110 rating as of right now, after 12 Shuffles, without feeling any difficulty increase in climbing ( last 3 games were 4-2 4-2 5-1 at around 2100-2200 mmr now). I have a 69% win ratio, which is NICE.
I started getting double ret lobbies, as some people mentioned earlier. One of them was really bad, backpeddling at around 2k mmr, he lost 2-4 but somehow gained rating because very low cr, the other was decent, and we both went 4-2 in that game.
You CAN die real quick on Ret, contrary to popular opinion. Bubble being on GCD is something you must be careful at, especially if like me, you like holding to your CDs a lot, even in dangerous situations ( under 40% lets say). Flash of light and WoG won’t do much especially after 1 min mark and forward. YOU ARE NOT UNKILLABLE.
Have started to get Demo locks in pretty much every lobby, and I try to time Wake of ashes into as many pets / Tyrant as I can. But they are legit tanks. Probably the second spec after Ret right now in the food chain, skill dependant of course.
Queue times have started going into the 40 min range, so my motivation is going slightly down, but I am curious to find out what a fresh Ret player can reach right now in shuffle, so might pump more games tomorrow before the weekly reset.
Last update Here. It’s me Ogrish, and this is my “alt” Paladin.
Hit level 70 on 30/03/2023, and now exactly 5 days later I sit at 2400 Rating (2407 to be specific), having not played Ret in pvp since OG Wotlk back in the day.
This is not a bragging post or anything like it, just wanted to point out a few key areas where I think they should work on to bring it back in line to other specs:
Range of judgement and Execution sentence is 30 yd, Blade of justice and Templar verdict is 20yd. This is way to much for what mobility this class has now. Reduce them to 20yd/10yd, OR make it a choice node between Hand of Freedom/Double charger and extra range on abilities. As it stands now, you pretty much are unkitable unless it’s a VERY large map. It defeats the purpose of being a meele class.
Very low cd on pretty BIG burst abilites. Wake of Ashes and Execution sentence on 30 seconds, wings on 1 minute. Can either keep the damage, and bump the cds to 45, and 1:30 sec, or give them another -25% effectiveness at the current CD. Either works.
Judgement of the pure is massive right now, but will get rightfully changed tomorrow.
Defensive side, I do not think Rets are mega OP, after the first patch of nerfs. You can die if focused, you can get melted by spellcleaves, maybe a slight cd bump to 1:30 for Divine protection, to bring it more in line with other similar defensives, given that ret also has the self healing, vengeance shield, Immune bubble + the other 2 “immune” bubbles.
Utility, I think it’s perfect the way it is. Yes, sacrifice is on the lower side, so is Blessing of sanctuary, but they do fit the role of a “support” brawler, while also having some kind of skill involvement and multi tasking. Maybe reduce sacrifice to -25% damage, and put sanctuary on a 1 min cd.
Overall, the class feels very solid, but overperforms, and is very very forgiving to mistakes. I think those changes I mentioned are ENOUGH to make it solid, maybe S tier still, but not back in the gutter like it was these past seasons, while still keeping it’s trademark of BIG BURST but slower juggernaught.
I agree 100% with you, this post was just a way to showcase how busted this class is right now, and also some sugestions on what I feel should be toned down.
Keep in mind this climb was done AFTER the heavy nerfs from last week. Can’t even imagine what it was back then.
