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The Light and How to Swing It: Keybinding to streamline your tanking
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Protection specialist Matt Walsh spends most of his time receiving concussions for the benefit of 24 other people, obsessing over his hair (a Blood Elf racial!), and maintaining the tankadin-focused blog Righteous Defense. Last week, I touched on how to evaluate your tanking performance via logs. One of the major points of that column was to check out your efficiency with Crusader Strike, also known as the heartbeat of the protection paladin rotation. One of the best ways to improve yourself in that aspect of tanking (along with a host of other aspects) is through the generous use of keybinding. It's an age-old debate -- clickers vs. keybinders -- but in the end, keybinding is probably the most momentous step you can take to bring your A-game to a boss fight. Adopting this tecnique will pay major dividends to your rotational efficiency, survivability, and response times.
The Light and How to Swing It: Retribution in the Firelands, part 3
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Seasoned retribution paladin Dan Desmond is here to answer your questions and provide you with your biweekly dose of retribution medicine. Contact him at dand@wowinsider.com with any questions, concerns, or compliments! We're on the home stretch, ladies and gents. We have slain Shannox and Lord Rhyolith. We have squashed Beth'tilac and Alysrazor. Now only three bosses stand between you and that pretty orange mace that has "The Retribution Dream" etched on the hilt. However, before you start making vacation plans with your beloved future acquisition, we need to get through those roadblocks.
The Light and How to Swing It: The AOE heal we deserve
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Every Sunday, Chase Christian invites you to discuss the finer side of the paladin class: the holy specialization. Feel free to email me with any questions you want answered, like why paladins are so awesome. From launch until Cataclysm, holy paladins survived on just a handful of heals. We traded healing complexity for unique utility, gaining Aura Mastery instead of Wild Growth or using Hand of Freedom instead of Prayer of Mending. Holy paladin healing was so simple for so many years, as we tended to gravitate toward a single spell like Flash of Light or Holy Light in each expansion. While any other healing class could have complained that their class had become stagnant, holy paladins had literally been playing the same game of whack-a-mole for years. Cataclysm's massive retooling of paladins and introduction of the three-heal model helped breathe new life into playing holy. Holy power gave us a unique mechanic to manage and gave us additional choices to make when healing. The three-heal model ensures that we're forced to choose between throughput and efficiency, and now we're challenged with managing our mana as well as our healing. Even though these changes drastically shifted the way we play our paladins, we were still relying on the same single-target heals we had always been. Healing Hands, now known as Holy Radiance, was the spell designed to upset the status quo.
The Light and How to Swing It: How to evaluate your tanking with World of Logs
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Protection specialist Matt Walsh spends most of his time receiving concussions for the benefit of 24 other people, obsessing over his hair (a blood elf racial!), and maintaining the tankadin-focused blog Righteous Defense. While checking logs may seem to be the province of DPS and healers more than tanks, there's still value to be gained by diving into the numbers and checking out the numerical ins and outs of your tanking performances. There's much to learn and review when it comes to checking over the fine points of your threat rotation and survivability responses. In this column, I'll go over three specific ways you can use a World of Logs parse to evaluate your efficiency casting Crusader Strike and how you handled damage spikes, determine what killed you, and discover how you could have prevented that premature demise.
The Light and How to Swing It: Retribution paladin feedback
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Seasoned retribution paladin Dan Desmond is here to answer your questions and provide you with your biweekly dose of retribution medicine. Contact him at dand@wowinsider.com with any questions, concerns, or compliments! Before we begin, let's have a quick overview of our snazzy new tier 13 armor, complete with set bonuses! Aesthetically speaking, I really like the look of it. Sure, the helm is a bit gaudy, but I think the color scheme and overall design really fit the concept of paladin well. Blizzard stated that it based the design off of Guardian of Ancient Kings, but it obviously went beyond that just a tad. Also, for those of you not keen on plate dresses, this set should be right up your alley!
The Light and How to Swing It: Radical changes to holy paladins on the 4.3 PTR
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Every Sunday, Chase Christian invites you to discuss the finer side of the paladin class: the holy specialization. Feel free to email me with any questions you want answered, like why paladins are so awesome. When I first checked out the official PTR change list for the upcoming patch 4.3, I wasn't expecting many holy paladin changes. We've been performing admirably in Cataclysm, comfortably straddling the line between obsolescence and ubiquity. Upon the reading the changes, I was shocked to see such radical changes to our talents, spells, and playstyle. Patch notes like these are always scary, as we don't know if we're being gutted or reinforced. I immediately downloaded the latest PTR client and got to work. Holy Radiance was completely retooled into a cast spell that we use on a friendly group member, with talents changed to reflect the new design. We gained two new holy power sources, and Light of Dawn had its target count shifted. Our bread-and-butter mana regeneration mechanic, the Seal of Insight and Judgement system, was also scrapped in favor of a flat regeneration buff that scales with our spirit.
The Light and How to Swing It: Patch 4.3 news and paladin T13 bonuses
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Protection specialist Matt Walsh spends most of his time receiving concussions for the benefit of 24 other people, obsessing over his hair (a blood elf racial!), and maintaining the tankadin-focused blog Righteous Defense. The ball has begun rolling on patch 4.3, with the player test realm officially going up Tuesday night for public consumption. There isn't terribly much of interest just yet -- only the first iteration of the patch, so obviously much more is in store for us. Still, there are some interesting changes (and some glaringly absent ones) that demand discussion. Let's dig in.
The Light and How to Swing It: Healing by the numbers
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Every Sunday, Chase Christian invites you to discuss the finer side of the paladin class: the holy specialization. Feel free to email me with any questions you want answered, like why paladins are so awesome. Every raid encounter is designed to challenge the players attempting it. Tanks can be faced with controlling several mobs at once, while DPSers often have enrage timers to race against. Blizzard's developers have a few different tricks for putting healers to the test. The first and most obvious danger that healers face is the rate of incoming damage, which we have to counter with spells that are appropriately powerful. We are also often tasked with reacting quickly to stimuli, like instantly dispelling or bringing a raid group's life back to full before another incoming attack lands. With the release of Cataclysm, the developers specifically focused on a mechanic that had been sidelined for quite some time -- mana management. Our spells' mana costs have been tweaked and mana regeneration capabilities have been altered to ensure that we focus on choosing the right spells. We used to be able to spam Holy Light carelessly in Wrath, but now we can't sustain nonstop Divine Lights for more than a minute or two without emptying our mana bar completely. Learning to live with a limited mana supply is paramount to being a successful holy paladin in Cataclysm.
The Light and How to Swing It: Overthrowing the Fire Lord
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Protection specialist Matt Walsh spends most of his time receiving concussions for the benefit of 24 other people, obsessing over his hair (a blood elf racial!), and maintaining the tankadin-focused blog Righteous Defense. Ragnaros, the Fire Lord, returns from vanilla WoW with a flaming vengeance as the last boss of the Firelands. Thanks to the recent hotfix nerfs or the culmination of weeks of hard work chipping away at the raid, many groups will be running up against Ragnaros for the first time and throwing their bodies at his waves upon waves of fiery doom. As a whole, the fight isn't particularly intensive to tank -- there's no real equivalent to Nefarian's add phase here for tanks -- but it's still going to be a challenge. This encounter is the ultimate "don't stand in bad" and will require your utmost attention to avoid being burnt to a crisp in an unfortunate moment of tunnel-visioning. Strap on those attention goggles, zip up that flame-retardant suit, and glyph that Divine Protection. We've got an elemental lord to cast down.
Paladin tier 13 armor set revealed
Paladins, all of your griping about how paladin armor "doesn't look like paladin armor" appears to have made a distinct impression with Blizzard artists, who designed patch 4.3's Battleplate of Radiant Glory just for you. This is the latest in Blizzard's tier 13 set previews and definitely one of the best (no cloth to be seen here). Here's what the artist in charge of the set had to say about its inspirations: Design requested a set to 'key off the Guardian of Ancient Kings summon,' and I thought the concept of 'feathered' plate mail, rendered in silver and gold, would create an aggressive, yet sweeping and powerful silhouette. The previous paladin raid set had a good deal of cloth, but we wanted this set to be entirely platemail. The key to a strong paladin tier is hitting a balance between martial prowess and elegant grace -- tapping into that classic Arthurian knight archetype. Check out the full preview, along with the requisite transmogrification retrospective, over at Blizzard's community site. Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Look at what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
The Light and How to Swing It: Synergizing with druids and shaman
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Every Sunday, Chase Christian invites you to discuss the finer side of the paladin class: the holy specialization. Feel free to email me with any questions you want answered, like why paladins are so awesome. When I asked my favorite restoration shaman (David the shaman) what the resto spec's weaknesses were, he had listed off several areas he'd like to see improved. I posed the same question to a restoration druid, and he replied back with an emphatic "There isn't one!" Restoration druids are currently the most powerful healers in the game, and by a large margin. Every other healing class might pale in comparison to a druid's massive HPS capabilities, but resto druids aren't the indomitable healers that they might think themselves to be. Holy paladins have a diverse and robust toolkit of spells that allows us to complement restoration druids and shaman. We can focus on each class' strengths and weaknesses to choose our healing spells and strategies effectively. We learned how the two priest healing specs vary and how to work with each, and now we'll cover the two restoration healers.
The Light and How to Swing It: How to roll a new paladin tank
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Protection specialist Matt Walsh spends most of his time receiving concussions for the benefit of 24 other people, obsessing over his hair (a blood elf racial!), and maintaining the tankadin-focused blog Righteous Defense. Perhaps you're a player new to WoW, attracted by the new free-to-play-ish 20 levels of the game, or just someone bored with your main and stable of alts looking to take the One True Tank (I kid, I kid -- I swear, I kid) out for a spin. Either way, you're going to be getting on at the ground floor of a very fun class and a very fun role. The game needs more tanks, so I'll do my best in this column to get you off to a proper start. I'll go over the benefits of leveling as a tank, what race you should choose, what heirlooms you can arm yourself with if you have a main bankrolling the whole enterprise, what stats will be important for your new tank when gear drops, and the talenting and glyphing choices you should make on your way to the top.
The Light and How to Swing It: Retribution in the Firelands, part 2
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. This week, Dan Desmond walks you through the Firelands. Before we delve into some strategies for dealing with another two bosses within the Firelord's domain, let's have some quick words about the most recent Censure hotfix. Yes, it's a marginal DPS increase, made even more marginal if you need to switch targets often and drop your stacks -- but the important thing is that Blizzard's working on it. Trust me, more buffs are coming. Last time, we covered some tips for dealing with Shannox and Lord Rhyolith. This week, we continue the two-for-one deal and bring you two very add-centric fights, Beth'tilac and Alysrazor.
The Light and How to Swing It: Synergizing with priests
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Every Sunday, Chase Christian invites you to discuss the finer side of the paladin class: the holy specialization. Feel free to email me with any questions you want answered, like why paladins are so awesome. Holy paladins can't do it all. While we might be the best-dressed spec in the game, we occasionally need for other healers to give us a hand. The developers have done a great job giving each healer a niche for them to fill. A holy paladin must know the strengths and weaknesses of the other healing classes in order to be able to work alongside them. While all healers are somewhat normalized by Cataclysm's introduction of the three heal model, it's each class's unique spells that give them flavor. We all start with the same base, and then our signature heals and cooldowns allow us to differentiate ourselves. Holy paladins can adjust their healing style and strategy to complement their partner healers instead of competing with them.
The Light and How to Swing It: So you hit the block cap -- now what?
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Protection specialist Matt Walsh spends most of his time receiving concussions for the benefit of 24 other people, obsessing over his hair (a blood elf racial!), and maintaining the tankadin-focused blog Righteous Defense. Here we are, finally at the block cap. It's been a rough few months, but the dream first conceived when the paladin mastery was announced has finally been realized. All that Firelands gear has left us fat with mastery and finally reducing all melee hits taken by 30%. And it feels so good. Some of you might now be asking yourselves -- where do I go from here? (Ditto the folks who are within striking distance of this lofty perch.) Once you've hit the block cap and are overflowing with combat table coverage, you'll need to get proactive when it comes to managing your stats. Every point of mastery rating that carries you past 102.4% CTC is a point wasted, just cast right out into the Twisting Nether. We'll need to prevent all this horrible waste with efficient reforging and regemming and with an unhealthy amount of gear juggling.
The Light and How to Swing It: Leveling your holy paladin in Cataclysm
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Every Sunday, Chase Christian invites you to discuss the finer side of the paladin class: the holy specialization. Feel free to email me with any questions you want answered, like why paladins are so awesome. Of the three roles in WoW, healers are the odd man out. While mages might call it damage and a warrior might call it threat, the fact is that DPSers and tanks both excel at hurting their opponents. One of my guildmates often refers to tanking as "just DPSing from the front." Healers, on the other hand, have nearly no offensive capabilities. The developers were nice enough to give every healer a cheap spell or two to spam to make us feel like we're contributing, but our DPS is abysmal. Healers, more than any other role, are pointless without a group to support. Throughout the years, we've heard the legends of the shockadin -- the holy paladin build that doled out merciful healing and wrathful judgement in equal doses. While offensive builds for the holy tree have always been around, they've never been truly viable in any serious situation. I love the thought of Holy Shocking some hunter right off his high horse, but the numbers just don't add up.
The Light and How to Swing It: Holy Shield and the future of active mitigation
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Protection specialist Matt Walsh spends most of his time receiving concussions for the benefit of 24 other people, obsessing over his hair (a blood elf racial!), and maintaining the tankadin-focused blog Righteous Defense. It's been a little more than two months now since patch 4.2 brought us the redesigned Holy Shield. Since then, we've had ample time to see its true power, to see what an amazing addition to our toolbox it is. And that's only the beginning. Blizzard is gearing up in either patch 4.3 (or, more likely, 5.0) to introduce a new facet of tanking for all classes -- what it's deemed "active mitigation". Coupled with the (in my opinion, misguided) neutering of threat, the profession of tanking is going to change dramatically. In this column, I'm going to talk about the ramifications of the Holy Shield change in regards to active mitigation -- specifically, what it's meant for paladin tanking in the Firelands and how it points the way to a future of more control over our survivability.
The Light and How to Swing It: Retribution in the Firelands, part 1
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. This week, Dan Desmond walks you through the Firelands. Firelands has been out for a couple of months now. Many have gotten their hands dirty fighting against the minions of Ragnaros; a few have even beaten the elemental lord himself. But many more are just rolling up their sleeves, waiting for their friends and guildmates to get bored of playing in the sun (seriously, it's going to be there for another 5 billion years -- I think you can play a little Warcraft here and there and it won't mind). Well then, what better place to start than at the beginning?
The Light and How to Swing It: Healing is a zero-sum game
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Every Sunday, Chase Christian invites you to discuss the finer side of the paladin class: the holy specialization. Feel free to email me with any questions you want answered, like why paladins are so awesome. Have you ever cut a cake at a party? Dividing a cake into portions is an example of what economists call a zero-sum game. The total amount of cake is fixed, and you can slice it how you see fit. There's only so much cake to go around, so giving someone a bigger portion means that there's less for everyone else. You can't take half of the cake for yourself without reducing the size of the other pieces. In a zero-sum game, you're sharing a limited resource with your fellow players, and one person's gain is another's loss. Healing is a zero-sum game. Over the course of any given encounter, your raiders are only going to take so much damage. If one healer is handling 75% of the incoming damage, then there's only 25% of the incoming damage for the other healers to handle. The more HPS a healer does, the less their teammates are capable of. DPS classes work in the opposite way, where the more DPS one class does, the more DPS everyone does. Because of this unique zero-sum game that healers compete in, judging a healer's performance can be difficult.
The Light and How to Swing It: Tips for tanking Majordomo Staghelm
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Protection specialist Matt Walsh spends most of his time receiving concussions for the benefit of 24 other people, obsessing over his hair (a blood elf racial!), and maintaining the tankadin-focused blog Righteous Defense. Here we are at Majordomo Staghelm, the last boss before Ragnaros himself. The final obstacle. As a member of the Horde, I don't really know much of Fandral Staghelm and can't enjoy the animosity he inspires in our leonine rivals. However, I imagine they're feeling the same satisfaction with this kill that I'll likely be feeling in the imminent future when Garrosh finally "goes crazy" and becomes a raid boss. That said, Majordomo Staghelm is not a particularly difficult fight to tank. At certain points, the damage is going to be coming hard and fast for the entire raid, and your healers are going to need any breathing room you can offer them. Like previous fights in the Firelands, the key is to break out your toolbox, dump all those cooldowns on the table, and toss them out at the proper times. You'll also be able to engage in some gratuitous strutting, thanks to the raid cooldown you bring to the table.
