The Light and How to Swing It: The Retribution solution III
by Zach Yonzon 
May 21st 2009 at 4:00PM
A note on auras
The funny thing about recent changes is that auras are more generic than ever. Aura-related talents in each tree now work through whatever aura the Paladin is using, such as Sanctified Retribution, Improved Concentration Aura, or Improved Devotion Aura. In a way, that's cool. Paladins aren't restricted in their use of auras, allowing their spec's particular benefit to extend to whatever aura might be most useful at the time.
This extends Paladin utility at the minor cost of homogeneity. No one aura is characteristic of a particular spec anymore, increased effects notwithstanding. This indicates that Blizzard wants Paladins to change it up, using whatever aura is best for a particular situation, without losing out on talented benefits. I'm all for it. I've always thought aura management to be an underrated, albeit minor, part of being a good Paladin. Needless to say, Paladins who need to be reminded to remove Crusader Aura inside a dungeon or raid aren't being good.
I just have one thing to say: take auras off the Global Cooldown.
No, really. Take them off the GCD. This should encourage aura swapping for all specs, allowing auras to be used in clutch situations without eating up precious GCD. Since talents work across all auras now, swapping to a specific aura doesn't create a huge change as most aura effects are minor. Sure, players will create macros to swap auras with spells -- such as Concentration Aura with Holy Light -- but I don't suppose that can be abused too much, can it?
Players should be encouraged to swap auras often. As it stands, players generally have one aura active and never change throughout the entire course of a raid. Considering auras don't persist through death (no idea why Blizzard changed their mind on this, but they did), some bad Paladins even forget to put an aura up after the first wipe. Removing auras off the GCD should open up doors for versatility.
Action and reaction
In their exploration of ideas, Ghostcrawler mentioned something along the lines of having one of a Retribution Paladin's abilities have no cooldown but have a condition to take effect. It's a long thread where Ghostcrawler explains and defends the Exorcism nerf (it was warranted, trust me). What he talked about resonated, though -- I'd like to see an ability like a Death Knight's Rime or Killing Machine which, when it procs, opens up delicious possibilities.
Crusader's Retribution
Requires 45 points in Retribution
Whenever your Retribution Aura deals damage, there is a 5/10% chance to reset the cooldown of your Crusader Strike.
Or something along those lines. Playing a Frost DPS Death Knight, it was a completely different experience, and having procs go off and having to time abilities to take advantage of such things as Frost vulnerability was challenging and fun. Retribution has none of that to the point of being mind-numbingly simple. Make Retribution Aura attractive to use to a Retribution Paladin. Have a proc based off Retribution Aura. Despite the move towards homogeneity, Paladins still need an incentive to use one aura over the other.
Overall, there isn't much that needs changing in Retribution. It deals respectable, if somewhat inconsistent DPS right now. The mobility in Ulduar (and even in Emalon) can create a few problems considering we are at our best continually whacking away with our Seal-enhanced auto-attacks. I'll talk about that another time (after we've downed Yogg-Saron, hopefully). For now, I've indulged in the exercise of exploring what still feels lacking in the spec. That said, Blizzard is cooking up something for the spec that should shake things up a bit. The next major content patch should be pretty exciting.
The Light and How to Swing It tries to help Paladins cope with dark times. Read Zach talk about raiding as Retribution, Tanking for Dummies, or Tanking for Dummies Again. Elizabeth also teaches us to use our better Judgement.
The funny thing about recent changes is that auras are more generic than ever. Aura-related talents in each tree now work through whatever aura the Paladin is using, such as Sanctified Retribution, Improved Concentration Aura, or Improved Devotion Aura. In a way, that's cool. Paladins aren't restricted in their use of auras, allowing their spec's particular benefit to extend to whatever aura might be most useful at the time.
This extends Paladin utility at the minor cost of homogeneity. No one aura is characteristic of a particular spec anymore, increased effects notwithstanding. This indicates that Blizzard wants Paladins to change it up, using whatever aura is best for a particular situation, without losing out on talented benefits. I'm all for it. I've always thought aura management to be an underrated, albeit minor, part of being a good Paladin. Needless to say, Paladins who need to be reminded to remove Crusader Aura inside a dungeon or raid aren't being good.
I just have one thing to say: take auras off the Global Cooldown.
No, really. Take them off the GCD. This should encourage aura swapping for all specs, allowing auras to be used in clutch situations without eating up precious GCD. Since talents work across all auras now, swapping to a specific aura doesn't create a huge change as most aura effects are minor. Sure, players will create macros to swap auras with spells -- such as Concentration Aura with Holy Light -- but I don't suppose that can be abused too much, can it?
Players should be encouraged to swap auras often. As it stands, players generally have one aura active and never change throughout the entire course of a raid. Considering auras don't persist through death (no idea why Blizzard changed their mind on this, but they did), some bad Paladins even forget to put an aura up after the first wipe. Removing auras off the GCD should open up doors for versatility.
Action and reaction
In their exploration of ideas, Ghostcrawler mentioned something along the lines of having one of a Retribution Paladin's abilities have no cooldown but have a condition to take effect. It's a long thread where Ghostcrawler explains and defends the Exorcism nerf (it was warranted, trust me). What he talked about resonated, though -- I'd like to see an ability like a Death Knight's Rime or Killing Machine which, when it procs, opens up delicious possibilities.
Crusader's Retribution
Requires 45 points in Retribution
Whenever your Retribution Aura deals damage, there is a 5/10% chance to reset the cooldown of your Crusader Strike.
Or something along those lines. Playing a Frost DPS Death Knight, it was a completely different experience, and having procs go off and having to time abilities to take advantage of such things as Frost vulnerability was challenging and fun. Retribution has none of that to the point of being mind-numbingly simple. Make Retribution Aura attractive to use to a Retribution Paladin. Have a proc based off Retribution Aura. Despite the move towards homogeneity, Paladins still need an incentive to use one aura over the other.
Overall, there isn't much that needs changing in Retribution. It deals respectable, if somewhat inconsistent DPS right now. The mobility in Ulduar (and even in Emalon) can create a few problems considering we are at our best continually whacking away with our Seal-enhanced auto-attacks. I'll talk about that another time (after we've downed Yogg-Saron, hopefully). For now, I've indulged in the exercise of exploring what still feels lacking in the spec. That said, Blizzard is cooking up something for the spec that should shake things up a bit. The next major content patch should be pretty exciting.
The Light and How to Swing It tries to help Paladins cope with dark times. Read Zach talk about raiding as Retribution, Tanking for Dummies, or Tanking for Dummies Again. Elizabeth also teaches us to use our better Judgement.
