Well, first and foremost I’d like to thank Blizzard for reviving a long-forgotten specc from TBC: the Shockadins.
I am very excited to see that we’re getting plate gear with spell damage on it, runes such as Infusion of Light, Purifying Power and Sheath of Light, etc.
But it’s always good to make sure then when you enable a particular specc to function, you commit to it and give us everything that we need in order to ensure its viability.
With all this being said, I feel like the only thing the Shockadin needs right now to be a complete, viable specc is WINGS. Yes, give us that spell and we will be a complete class.
Right now we have a huge Achilles heel that just doesn’t do us any favour: not enough burst.
As a Shockadin in SoD, besides gear (which is great, you guys did a great job with the spell damage gear for palas!), the runes are a bit too average. Let me explain. In TBC, your main damage as a Shockadin comes from WINGS. The rotation is as follows:
TBC: Crusader Judgment > Trinket > Wings > Righteousness Judgment + Holy Shock
That’s your main damage, and 60% of the enemy HP or more is gone.
However in SoD, the two best runes that enable Shockadins to be as powerful as they are in TBC share the same slot. Infusion of Light increases damage done by Holy Shock by 20% and it resets CD on a critical strike. Sheath of Light increases damage done by ALL PALADIN SPELLS by X amount depending on your spell power (which is based on your attack power). Also, Sheath of Light is more of a Retribution Paladin rune since you need to stack a lot of AP in order to benefit from it. This means you’d have to give up on Spell Power gear, which isn’t the Shockadin way.
So, really the only Shockadin rune we’ve got so far is Infusion of Light. Therefore, the SoD combo would be:
SoD: Crusader Judgment > Trinket > Righteousness + Holy Shock > Holy Shock
The benefit you get from WINGS versus casting x2 Holy Socks in a row is greater. Could we please do something about this?
Thank you Blizzard! I’ve had tons of fun in SoD Phase 1 and I’m looking forward to playing Phase 2.
Edit: Also, it is possible that Sheath of Light will give RETRIBUTION PALADINS more spell power than all the gear combined for Shockadins. If this is the case, this is flawed game design and needs to be addressed.