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ABILITY GUIDE
This guide will cover the different abilities available to the ret paladins, as well as how to properly
use them in combat.
We are going to break this down into sections covering attacks, buffs, utility spells, and heals. After
that we will take a look at what to do in combat.
Covering every paladin spell and ability would be kinda pointless. With that in mind, we will only look at the things
that apply to ret paladins.
Attacks
-Judgement of Light, Wisdom, Justice - Direct Damage, Single Target. This will be your "nuke" spell. It does a lot of damage, comes around pretty fast
and its a HUGE hammer! Whats not to like? Picking the flavor is up to you, but I would stick with Light or Wisdom.
-Crusader Strike - Direct Damage, Single Target. This will be your main damage attack. It barely does more damage then a regular attack, but it is the most
efficient attack you have. It also has the shortest cooldown, so you will be using this a lot.
-Divine Storm - Direct Damage, Area of Effect. This and AOE spell that does damage between Judgement and Crusader Strike. It also has the longest cooldown of the three at
a whooping 10 seconds. A side benefit is that it heals you and your party. Careful though, this will hit multiple targets, and you
can't exactly aim it.
-Consecrate - Damage Over Time, Area of Effect. Another AOE spell, but this one is a stationary DOT. Drop it only if the fight will not involve much movement and
preferrably with multiple mobs around you. It is good to drop on bosses too, but its a mana hog, so use good judgement.
-Exorcism - Direct Damage, Single Target. Currently this is usable only against undead and demons. Use it when you can though
as it is almost as efficient as Crusader Strike and does more damage, but it has a lengthy 15 second cooldown.
-Holy Wrath - Direct Damage, Area of Effect. Another spell that is only usable against undead and demons. Again, use it if you
can. It is more efficient then Consecrate, but this spell has the longest cooldown at 30 seconds.
Self-Buffs
-Blessing of Might - 30 min AP Buff. This is great for upping your Attack Power and should always be on.
-Retribution Aura - Unlimited Reflective Damage Buff. This gives you and your party the ability to reflect back some of the
physical damage that they recieve. It also increases your parties damage output and grants haste to anyone within range with
the proper talents.
-Seal of Blood/Martyr - 30 min Damage Effect Buff. These are the same buff, but for different factions. It is really the
only one that you need to use since it does considerably more damage then Seal of Command. Any healer should be able to keep
you topped off from the reflective damage.
Utility Spells
-Repentance - This is now a great crowd control spell. It last for one minute and has a one minute cooldown. Coincidence?
-Cleanse - You might be on Cleanse duty for some fights. Just keep it on your toolbar just in case. Keep in mind, this will
reset your swing timer, so use it wisely
-Divine Protection - The paladin emergency button. If you think your gonna die, hit it. Just make sure that the healer is not
next on the aggro list, else you will cause a wipe. This is also good for dropping your own aggro if you are getting a bit to
high on the list.
-Avenging Wrath - AKA Wings. This is nice temporary damage buff. Use it often.
-Scared Shield - Handy if you are taking damage since it should reduce your incoming damage a little. I say should because
it seems to be buggy. Hopefully it gets fixed in the patch.
Heals
-Flash of Light - This is a quick, cheap, weak healing spell. I the middle of battle, it should almost always be instant cast
. However, it would be best to use this to top up after a fight. You really should need to heal your teammates, that is what
holy paladins are for!
-Holy Light - This is a slow, expensive, strong healing spell. It is also highly efficient. You should never need to use this
spell.
-Lay on Hands - This will heal your full life bar. It will also heal party member for an amount equal to your hit points. This
is and excellent emergency button, but it has a 20 minute cooldown. Use wisely.
Now that you know what everything does, lets see how you would actually use some of these in combat.
One thing to keep in mind about combat with a paladin is that you utilize a ‘priority’ system rather than
a rotation like other classes.
With that in mind, there are essentially two attack priority systems that will be used:
Single Target: Judgement > Crusader Strike > Exorcism > Divine Storm > Consecrate > Holy Wrath
Multiple Targets: Consecrate > Judgement > Divine Storm > Holy Wrath > Crusader Strike > Exorcism
Essentially, you are working to keep all of your damage abilities on cooldown. You want to prioritize whatever
ability is higher on the list before any of the others. For example: if Judgement and Crusader Strike were
both available at the same time, you would want to prioritize Judgement, since it’s a more powerful spell and
will deal more damage.
Also keep in mind that currently, Holy Wrath and Exorcism are only usable on undead and demon mob types.
If you are fighting neither, then you can take both of those spells out.
When you start a fight, it is usually a good idea to drop a Judgement as your are running in since you have
a 10 yard range on it. You will start the fight with a lot of front loaded damage and a +3% chance to crit that way.
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