| 2.3, and some other musings...
So, after a week off from raiding, we are heading back in tonight. I’m hoping this week of heroics and questing didn’t hurt us at all, but the more I think about it the more I realize how hungry we’ve been this week to kill something big…
Vashj is big.
/shrug
I’ve been considering a few different builds for 2.3, and realizing as I sit staring disdainfully at our now supremely bloated Protection tree (worse than before, and who would have thought THAT was possible?) that I really haven’t the foggiest idea how it will be possible to arrange my points in order to get everything I’d like to have. In fact, I’m wondering if it is going to be possible to pick up all my desired talents before level 73 (gogo WotLK!!), and it’s frustrating the hell out of me.
First off, Imp Seal of the Crusader. I’ve had it in my build for quite some time now, and really like the threat boost… so I don’t really want to let it go. I also like one point in Imp Judgement, as it seems to make my spell rotation a bit smoother. I’m not even debating the need for Sacred Duty and Combat Expertise…
Perhaps a variation of the 0/49/12 with points taken out of Reckoning for CE, leave the point out of Kings and one point out of Imp Judge and put those two points into Imp SotC? (0/48/13, essentially)… Or maybe drop Imp Judgement entirely, drop Kings, and throw three points back into Imp SotC…?
My problem is that currently I am running only 3/5 WE, leaving me a bit of a problem with where to pull two points from to fill it out to 5/5, now a necessity due to the stamina issue. I think what may wind up happening is that I will have to drop the point out of Imp Judge, drop Kings (all my Holy paladins have it anyhow, but I have a feeling I will hear considerable QQ’ing on Heroic runs) and put both those points into CE, leaving the rest of my stuff just how it is. A number of paladins at my level of content and beyond have dropped Imp Judgement… and they seem to do fine without it… I’m just a stubborn brat who is quite firmly set in her ways, I guess.
This brings me to the aforementioned stamina issue.
I really am amazed that Blizzard did anything about it. As a (pre-1.9 Patch of Doom) pre-TBC paladin turned Blood Knight (who moonlighted for a bit as an undead warlock), I have sort of grown accustomed to being either nerfed or ignored when patch time comes around and to be honest, while I was *hoping* for a stamina boost and had heard a number of rumours regarding one incoming, I was trying desperately not to get my hopes up…
From what I have been reading, we will see the patch go live on November 13th. This means I am less than a week away from 15.5k HP unbuffed (and, unfortunately, 17 heroic badges short of my new chestplate, which means some serious grinding over the course of this week.) and that for a time I will be content with my class, as it was when the Prot tree was given Improved Holy Shield and 1h weapon spec was changed for the better.
The remaining major paladin tanking issues now?
- Lack of a decent OHSHIT button (LoH doesn’t count.)
- Ways to combat fear and silence.
- Holy Shield’s duration/cooldown causing a small gap in it’s effectiveness.
Something tells me we might see those trickled out over a time… since Blizz never could (and never has) given us all we have wanted at once.
I do love seeing my patience pay off. ^^
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