Deva steps in to handle the encroaching gnolls

It’s worth spending time on interests that you can share with your loved ones. Something you can bond over. Lathere had been asking me (nagging me gently) for some time to play with her and I always seemed to have something else to do. We haven’t quite nutted out which night works best for us both. And we have no ambitions or significant goals to achieve.

But spending a few hours together sharing a fun experience can’t be bad. Otherwise we might just end up having nothing to talk about except Lathere’s little girl, Caitlin!

Of course, once I’d agreed to return to Azeroth together for a once-a-week play session our levels of interest and commitment in the game changed completely. By the end of an evening I’d out-leveled Lathere’s baby Paladin by 5 levels. And it was very hard to stop.

I logged in first. I had a young, confused Paladin going by the unfortunate name Dêva waiting for me on my loading screen. Yes, that’s Dêva with a funky character “e”. I’m not even sure how you type that onto your screen. I know, on my Mac, that I can recreate the name by typing “d” “e” “alt+i” (that’s the bit that throws up a special character on the previous letter) and then “v” “a”. I had to figure that out straight up in order to send, by mail, a Bind to Account cloak to her from the Stormwind Visitor Center courtesy of my bank manager.

What a mistake. I’m so embarrassed walking around under such a silly bunch of characters. I might as well have called myself “Xxxlegolaosxxx”. /shudder. (Where’s that point scoring system that uncovers noobs simply based on name and hairstyle?)

I may have related the circumstances behind the name in a previous post. I’m pretty sure I talked up my baby Paladin quite a bit when I created her. That is, when I birthed her, virtually, full grown and empty headed into an Abbey just north west of Goldshire. Poor race choice you say? I really like being a Human in RL and in game. Sorry.

At the time of her creation a long time WoW player and guild mate, Ultraviolet, persuaded me to believe that if you do a WoW Armory search for a character name that you like, and it cannot present any characters of that name on your server, you can raise a ticket and petition Blizzard to release the name from some strange person’s inactive account and they will… well… just give it to you.

I believed this. And Ultraviolet had just created an alt going by the name “Dan” to prove his point. Unbelievable! A three letter name, a common place, recognizable and easily pronounced name on one of the older Oceanic realms!

I also knew, and this might still be correct, that nonsense characters do not belong in World of Warcraft character names and naming your character with one goes against the Terms of Service. Or something like that.

Thinking to kill two birds with one stone and to strengthen my case to Blizzard, I discovered the name I wanted for my Paladin, checked to see if I could find a character on Barthilas going by that same name, and then created an illegally named character from which to launch my ticket.

As you might have guessed Blizzard were not in the least bit interested in freeing up the name “Deva” and the ticket was closed and I was stuck with my stupid version of the name. At level 10 I was too stubborn to re-roll, or pay, for a name change. It’s my mistake and I’ll live with it.

The loading screen ran for a very long time. A disturbingly long time. I had to force quit the game and try again – this time with all Add Ons disabled – to see Westfall, and Deva, again.

I woke up in a graveyard. I’m not sure what it says about my experiences as a World of Warcraft player that loading in at a graveyard immediately makes me think that in the previous play session I was corpse camped until I gave up and logged out. I started running towards Sentinel Hill, mentally debating if it is even possible to be corpse camped in Westfall (I’m fairly sure it isn’t). and accidentally stepped between a ramshackle army and some ugly gnolls fighting it out on the outskirts of the hill.

In true Paladin style I charged in swung my mace about. Or my sword. I’m pretty sure I had a mace equipped at the time.

After all I may be a driving a lowly level 16 Paladin around Westfall but my brain is full of adventures in the most dangerous dungeons in Outlands and Northrend. Surely these footmen – these Westfall hicks – needed my help! After smacking a few gnolls into the ground I eventually realised that those hicks were coping well enough with the attacking gnolls. You might even say that they had been designed for that purpose. Indeed just as one gnoll hit the ground a new one would run in and attack.

The battle could go on forever, seeming to favour the Alliance but actually completely unchanged. World of Warcraft programming at its best?

It was about that time that I realised that I was in Sentinel Hill. This was Westfall. And I hadn’t loaded in at the graveyard because I’d been corpse camped or run down by one murloc too many. I had loaded in at the graveyard because while Cassandri was spending her last days before the Cataclysm drinking champagne in The Park, Deva had missed it altogether. Slept through it entirely.

And Sentinel Hill isn’t the same place I remember.

For one thing, there’s a Paladin Trainer living in the Inn. I found out about Sister Darnhald the hard way, or the “old school” way. I just typed in [General] chat “Is there a Paladin trainer in Westfall?” and got a fast reply back “Inn”. Whoops. She’s not even tucked away in a cellar. She’s right there next to the Inn Keeper.

Westfall isn’t the same either. And once I learned some talents and some skills with Sister Darnhald’s help I ventured out and discovered just how much it’s changed…

But more on that another day!

Plate is shiny

I’m currently in the process of putting together a list of Bind on Account, aka Heirloom, gear list for a baby Paladin. I’m thinking of leveling a Paladin, not because I have any intention of playing a Paladin at max level but purely for leveling fun.

I’ve been enjoying leveling the Mage using the Dungeon Finder but I’m getting just a bit tired of the lengthy dungeon queues. Time to roll a hybrid.

I’ve been doing some research. I want to make sure I buy the very best BoA items around for my Paladin. Eventually – around level 40 – I expect I’ll need a tanking and healing set. I won’t be queuing dungeons as Damage, so I don’t really intend to put together a high DPS Retribution set. If I go out in the world to complete a few quest, well, I’ll have to just wear my tanking/shield gear. I somehow doubt that there’s much difference between DPS and tanking items at lower levels.

In doing my research I was quite surprised to find a lot of conflicting opinions about the best weapon and best enchants. I think this is mostly because some of the newer weapons (the Maces in particular) were released sometime after Wrath of the Lich King. Anyway, here’s what I consider to be the most suitable items. I’d really love to hear what some more experienced Paladins think.

Both of the weapons are 1 hand weapons which frees up my Offhand item slot for an appropriate Shield. Is it worth purchasing a 2 handed weapon to equip if I need to complete a couple quests on my own?

Tanking set

I was surprised at how poor the trinket choice was for melee DPS and tanking characters. There is no Attack Power trinket. The Inherited Insignia would be somewhat handy to get out of nets and other movement impairing effects (although I think I’m going to be playing a Human, so there’s no need). The Swift Hand of Justice haste trinket is useful for all classes to some degree.

Would I be better off equipping the spell power trinket? Do Paladins benefit from equipping spell power for dps or tanking?

The enchanting options are quite interesting and I imagine the choice comes down to personal taste. Fiery Blaze Enchantment is a great option, I believe, but you need to complete a quest around level 40 to earn it. Until then you can either choose to remain enchant-less or you can choose one of the other options that I’ve listed. Most comments that I’ve found seem to favor Lifestealing over Crusader and then recommend choosing the flat stat gain from Agility or Strength after level 60 (the point at which Lifestealing and Crusader being to diminish in power).

I think I’m going to aim for the Fiery Blaze Enchant just because it’s something that I would never have thought of using. Furthermore, it won’t cost you any gold.

Healing Set

Fortunately for me I have both the Mail spell power shoulders and the spell power mace from when I leveled my Shaman. It may seem like a lot of effort to purchase gear for 2 sets but, to be honest, I have nearly all the items for my healing set already.

Also, if you’re an excellent fisherman the Dread Pirate Ring awarded to the winner of the weekly Kalu’ak Fishing Derby would complement either set. But somehow I doubt I’m going to win this event!

Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker agrees with me too

So it turns out that I may have offended the one person from our guild that reads this blog.

I’m sorry Papa. I’m sorry that so many Paladin tanks that I’ve come across in my PuGs have been bad. I’m sorry that they are lowering the standard. I’m sorry that I’ve judged them and have somehow implied that you, too, are bad.

I’m sorry that I said you weren’t as bad as your average Death Knight tank.

Here are 20 reasons why I, Cassandri, am deserving of Divine Intervention.

1. I can dance (the macarena)
2. I always look good (yes, even when wearing the Hellfire Peninsula quest rewards)
3. I will heal you (when all the other healers die)
4. I will give you tons more stamina (consider me your 3rd trinket, On Use: 4k DPS)
5. I will resurrect you (and not just because someone else might teabag you if I don’t act quickly)
6. I will laugh when you make fun of Lathere (even if the joke is really bad)
7. I will make fun of our other tanks when they cannot tank a boss due to “fight mechanics”
8. I will buy flasks listed by your alt on AH (even if they are totally overpriced)
9. I will never complain about threat (I’ll let the Mages do that)
10. I will never give you grief for wearing a dress or a skirt
11. I will never roll on your gear
12. I will never roll on your offspec gear (even the glowing Spellpower bits)
13. I will not (verbally) encourage other players to raise the DKP cost when you are bidding
14. I will not get upset if you hit the wrong key and get the second person on the threat table killed (especially if they are a Mage)
15. I will eat your cooking (without complaint)
16. I will help summon you back to the raid if you go MIA
17. I have attempted tanking as a Paladin and totally sucked at it (but I do know now what Divine Plea is)
18. I think Mages and Death Knights are infinitely worse than any Paladin could ever be (and I can say that because our guild Mages and DKs won’t ever read this)
19. I am a Priest (and everyone knows that Paladins are part Priest, in fact, you could argue that Priests must have existed first before melee-rs even thought about studying holy “magic” so when you think about it you owe all your holy spells, which I’m sure have saved your life many many times, to the Priests who spent centuries praying in the Cathedral of Light before the first Paladin took to the battlefield)
20. The Divine Intervention shield fits around me and it doesn’t really fit around Lathere in her weird druid forms *cough* moonkin *cough*

A moment for all the Prot Warriors out there to /flex

In the Burning Crusade, Lath, and other healers I’m sure, would occasionally confess that they preferred healing one tank over another. In Wrath of the Lich King, when I join a group, I like to be healing Protection Warriors over pretty much every other type of tank. Why? Let me explain.

Every unfamiliar tank/group you run with is a risk. And the truth is, in a 5 man dungeon, a good tank makes the biggest difference between a successful, fun filled hour and a horrible, keyboard-bashing series of spirit runs. I’ve played with Prot Warriors, Feral Druids, Prot Paladins and Death Knight tanks. And I like to PuG them in that order.

Protection Warriors are just the safest bet because 99% do a great job. Protection Paladins and Feral Druids can be hit or miss and Death Knights, well, don’t even get me started! I actually get a bit anxious the minute I realise a Death Knight is tanking.

There’s a lot of Warriors in Azeroth

This post was inspired by an argument on the forums about class population and how it relates to buffs/nerfs. The original poster:

[Protection Warriors] have been around and been capable of tanking effectively for longer than any other class… A warrior of four years won’t be as willing to reroll because another class is more effective at tanking and guilds won’t can their long time tank… most of the time.

Warriors as a class fascinate me because I think, more than any other class, it attracts both the brand new player and the very experienced player – and nothing in between.

Take a look at the level 1 Warrior on the character creation screen with fresh eyes for a moment. Lots of armor, lots of health, a guy who can take a beating. He’s blunt, straightforward, simple. He won’t do complex, fancy combinations. This is the type of character that makes sense to the guy who just picked this game off the shelf.

One poster on the thread explains his reasoning for rolling a Warrior:

I rolled a warrior because I like the idea of being the master of melee combat. I love the idea of being the big heavy brawler in the center of the battle, bloody and raging.

One forum poster summed up the class options as:

A sneaky guy, a strong guy, a magic guy, or a bear?

Warrior Tank

But once you’re in game, it’s a different story. You are a tank, you are a leader. You are expected to take on these roles.

How many people do you know who chose a Warrior as their first class? I can think of 5 people. 3 of them still play World of Warcraft and none play their Warriors anymore.

In the Burning Crusade, “the great tank shortage of 07/08″, many freshly minted level 70 Warriors were forced to tank because that’s what Warriors did best. And often the results were not pretty.

We make Caco tank General Vezax too, but I couldn't figure out how to get that screen capture

Over the last few years I have watched several of my friends re-roll a Warrior because they wanted to tank, and they chose the original tanking class to do it. These were very experienced players who knew not only what the community expected, but already knew how to play. Two of them turned their Protection Warrior into their main character with Wrath. /wave Cacophany & Expatriate

The leading guild on my server chooses a Warrior as their main tank but they are raiding with the same Warrior tank that they’ve always raided with. You’re looking at 4+ years experience there. Something tells me they’re pretty good at what they do by now.

Most Protection Warriors out there have not been tanking for 4 years. But it takes dedication to say “I’m going to tank, and level a character to 80 for that purpose”. It’s that kind of dedication that makes for a great tank.

Represent!

Class populations and representation mean very little to me. I hope Blizzard don’t put too heavy an emphasis on “statistics” like these when considering the abilities of a class versus their counterparts.

You could argue that because Priests are in pretty much every 3v3 Arena team, Shadow Priests can PvP just fine. Seems silly when I put it like that, huh?

But if Blizzard want more people to roll Druid and Paladin tanks, to spread out the tanking population across all four classes, they’ll need to convince the new wave of players who wish to tank. If you have a high level Warrior then chances are high that you are already attached to that character.

It’s also somewhat of a problem that you can choose to start a Death Knight and tank at max level a hell of a lot faster than as a Druid or Paladin.

Tanking on Multiple Characters

In conversation a talented Prot Warrior on Caelestreaz, who had been playing for less than a year, once told me that he had leveled several of the melee classes to 80 but was still learning how to play them. I asked him if he enjoyed tanking on each character and he said he had tried it but liked the Warrior the most and “hated tanking on the DK”.

On the flip side my brother can’t not tank and leveled a Warrior and Death Knight to compare them to his first love, his Protection Paladin. Yet he’s never been interested in Druids or Feral Druids. I don’t think he’s ever aspired to be a bear. Ever.

Coming to a Summoning Stone Near You

They’re everywhere you go. Blood Elf Paladins with spiffy long blonde hair and matching golden spell animations, hammer and judgements raining down while they hack at mobs with a sword. Often leveling in pairs (dare I say, couples?) with names like Holyswordboy and Holyswordgirl. They’re all Ret. And they’re everywhere you turn.

If the population of Blood Elf Paladins has not overtaken the population of Human Paladins I’ll be amazed.

So let’s check it out. Here are some statistics for you:

At level 80, across all realms, there are just shy of 350 thousand Paladins. 43% are Blood Elfs and 38% are Human. On my server, Barthilas, 45% are Blood Elfs.

At level 80, across all realms, 40% of Paladins are Retribution, 33% are Holy and 27% are Protection. At least that seems a little more balanced.

What would my friend Maria (a Holy Paladin who leveled as Holy, raided as Holy and did daily quests as Holy) say if she returned to WoW and saw this mass of Ret Paladins?

Born Again Ret

If you’ve never seen it, I recommend watching Born Again Ret about a Holy Paladin that goes Ret, and doesn’t want to go back. Great for a laugh.

Food for Thought

Remember, Arthas was a (Ret) Paladin at first. And look how that turned out.

Data Sources
http://www.warcraftrealms.com/census.php?serverid=-1&factionid=-1&minlevel=80&maxlevel=80&servertypeid=-1
http://armorydatamine.wordpress.com/paladintalents/

Note: I’ve ignored characters still leveling because talents chosen while leveling most likely do not indicate a player’s preference when they reach max level.

** Update **
If you’ve come across this article because you are a Mage and genuinely want to know the value of Mp5 to your class the answer is zero. Mages receive no true benefit – you will not see an increase in damage done and if you are running out of mana this problem is not best solved by choosing gear with Mp5. Mp5 is not Spirit (which does have value for Mages because it converts to Critical Strike, therefore increasing damage).

Zaldinar, a respected theorycrafter in the Mage community, values armor statistics for Mages like so (Fire Mages, PVE, not hit capped):

1. Hit: 29
2. Spell Power: 27
3. Haste: 23
4. Critical Strike: 18
5. Intellect: 6
6. Spirit: ?*

For example, compare [Cassandri's Cap of Intelligence] +20 Intellect to [Lathere's Mask of Striking Blows]  +10 Critical Strike. According to Zaldinar, each point of Intellect is worth 6 and each point of Critical Strike is worth 18:

Cassandri’s Cap of Intelligence = 20 Intellect x 6 = 120
Lathere’s Mask of Striking Blows = 10 Critical Strike x 18 = 180

A Mage would benefit more by equipping [Lathere's Mask of Striking Blows].

No other stat on your armor will increase your damage. Armor, Mp5, Attack Power, you can ignore these stats because you gain nothing by increasing them.

* Zaldinar does not include a weighting for Spirit on his Loot Rank template most likely because the Template was created prior to Patch 3.1 and Spirit had no value to Mages at the time. Spirit is quite important for Mages now, but I’ll need to do some further research to find out how it compares to the other stats.

*** End Update ***

Since reaching level 80 on my Shaman I have pugged Naxx 25 each week and lost more than (yes, I’m counting) eight MP5 items to Mages and other DPSers.

This weekend I lost Chains of Adoration and Seized Beauty to the same Mage in the run.

Upon inspection the Mage’s gear really isn’t that bad. A mix of item level 200 and 213 epics, all with suitable stats – hit, spell power, crit etc and sensible gemming.

So I’m convinced the mage in question does know what gear benefits their class otherwise I’d be seeing blue gem sockets filled with Spell Power + Mp5 or something right?

Honestly when an Mp5 item drops I really don’t expect anyone except the Holy Paladins and Restoration Shamans to roll for it.

And just the other day I was reading a thread (I think via blue.mmo-champion) when Blizzard voiced their concern that Paladins could ignore the need for Mp5 significantly, whilst Shamans cannot ignore Mp5 just as healing Priests and Druids cannot afford to ignore Spirit.

Yet in my pugs an Mp5 item drops and all the healers roll as do many of the dps. Pure greed? A misunderstanding in the Mage community regarding the benefit of Mp5 versus other stats? People desperate to achieve the [Epic] achievement?

I’m seeing this trend each week on Caelstraez. Is it happening on all servers and in all pugs? What are your experiences on other realms?