Some Pally QuestionsFollow

OK ive been playing a warrior for a little bit and i miss the ability to heal (I was a whm in FFXI) but i really dont like the way priest is made in WoW atm so ive been looking into hybrid classes.

I didnt like how druid had to shapeshift to be an effective hybrid i think i may get confused trying to flip forms if sh*t hits the fan. So then i looked at shammy and it seemed ok but not really what i was looking for because elemental spec is like leveling a mage without being a mage and i really am not a DPSer.

So this left paladin. I really like to tank and i want to main heal so it seems like a great class for me so i had a few questions before i begin.

Race: I really like how Draeni (i spelled it wrong didnt I) look because im not big on any of the other races on alliance and i dont like blood elves. Also since im planning on being a main healer pally their racials work very well for a supporting pally. Any real reason not to go Draeni?

I know im planning on going retribution till mid 30s when im planning on respecing to Prot to AoE grind. I also love to main heal so when will having a main healing set of gear not be enough?
Like when will i have to choose Prot to tank instances or Holy to heal instances?

Also can someone maybe show me where i should be before i respec for AoE grinding? so i know where to spend my points while i level up ret.

If anythings unclear please let me know so i can clarify.

Thank you

I'm still only 35, and not looking to respec at all right now -- although things change relatively quickly. I have played around with alot of talents so far and I really like my Ret stuff! It's great for tanking in Groups still too -- GREAT. Agro is not a problem at all. Only main concern is mana from Judges.

Here is what I've figured to work well -- it works in PVP some, but is also great for grinding. In ABs I was usually ranked 5-8th in Damage, 4-5th in Kills, and 1-2nd in Deaths (or lack there of.) Very VERY resilient in 29 and 39 bracket and able to do Rogue/Mage-ish burst damage, which is great for killing blows as well as confusing the hell out of people as to why you are Ret. For grinding, monsters usually die in the equivilent of 4 swings -- thats with SoCom and Judges and a slow axe, but its as fast as Druid/Rogue, and as sustainable as a Warlock (at that level, lol.)

If you got some cash try this.

10-19 :: Imp Dev Aura 5/5 -> Imp Blessing of Might 5/5
Use Dev Aura, BoMight, Sword'n'Board, Seal of Crusader... Don't need to Judge unless you're bored. If so Switch back and forth Judging SoCr then SoR, then next monster Judge SoR and SoCr -- conserves mana.


20 :: Benediction 5/5 -> Improved Judgement 2/2 -> Improved SoCr 3/3 -> SoCom
Vindication 3/3 -> Conviction 5/5 -> Crusade 3/3 -> 2H Weap Specialization 3/3
Use Dev Aura, BoWisdom, 2Hander (slowest is better), Regular Monsters just SoCom and Judge and re-seal, Hard monsters Judge SoCr and then switch to SoCom

Gets you to 34 (same level you can have 5/5 Reckoning)

Respec to Prot? :: Ask someone else...
Keep going Ret? :: Vengeance 5/5, Repentance 1/1, Sanct Judgement 3/3, Sanct Aura 1/1
**Start using Sanct Aura except when in Groups**
Fanatascism 5/5, Crusader Strike 1/1, Improved Sanct Aura 2/2
**Start using Sanct Aura except when otherwise asked by group**
Get some Holy Stuff now.

If you keep your gear up to date you may be able to, as Ramera said, heal in BC instances, but the transition from Old World to BC content is generally where spec is going to start making the biggest difference.



If you're gonna respec it doesn't matter where your (at the time) current points are spent. The general idea is to respec at 35 to Prot which would mean you'd have Sanctity Aura. In the FAQ I believe there is a spot that talks about this.

Pallys are great.

I've played a warrior to the mid 20's and found that the hack and slash was just not for me. Later in the game everyone is looking for a warrior to tank (rightfully so) and I understand they make great tanks. Maybe even the best tanks. But...



In the begining of this game there was the great tiro. Tank, Dps, and Heals. They have changed that a lot since then (as we are on patch 2.3) but there still seems to be that lingering theme built in. You can tank OR you can heal. It may not seem that forthright at the start but when you get post 60 you may find you can't do both effictively.

Priest are clothies so for you I would recomend pally as they can take a bigger beating and keep going. It is said that you lvl to 30-40 as Ret, then go Prot till 60. If you are going to switch to Holy that is a good time to do it. I would go that route so that you can try all sides of a pally and get a taste.

I personally think Pallys make better tanks than Warriors. I understand that Ret pallys can tanks through dps on single mobs extreamlly well (making you a great boss tank). I'm a prot pally and have done nothing but. It truly rocks, and though rare I do find myself as a back up healer. And I've had a holy pally in my group before. He was awsome at keeping me alive.

Point though is, I think you'll be hard up to find a Main Tank/Healer in any class. From what you have posted... I would stick with the pally. Read the FAQ's posted by Capt Jack. He's been an awsome source for my pally and knows his stuff and go from there.

Good Luck

hmm, to a certain degree this depends on how smooth you want to go. on my main healadin i never need to stop except after bosses to drink up. on my ret i keep a healing set of gear and have successfully healed ramparts and blood furnace. haven't needed to heal for anything higher level than that yet. those two went ok, but i was oom a lot more at the end of a fight than i'm used to when healing. on the other hand i tried tanking blood furnace... that was a disaster. my tanking set was apparently not good enough to make up for the lack of spec :( also my prot friend has healed some instances at 70 also, although i wasn't there so i don't know how effective that was.

um, i still reccomend playing outside your spec only when absolutely necessary in TBC. healing specc'd holy is easy. healing specc'd ret.... not nearly so easy.

Well, how far you're able to progress doing a job with an off-spec is often proportionate to the quality of the rest of your group. If you're running with guildies, friends, leveling partners, or are lucky enough to get PUG's where everyone (especially the tank and/or healer) is proficient at their job, you can push off-speccing a lot further then if you're usually running with crappy, run-of-the-mill PUG's like my Shaman frequently has to now. ¬_¬

Again, it doesn't end there no, but it does take some added effort. I healed in SV with my 9 Kara healing epics and a couple other misc. epics, but the group wasn't that greatly geared and we couldn't get the first boss down. Also got asked to fill in once to heal the last boss in SV cause the group's healer DCd. Tank wound up dieing at about 15% or so cause they got him to enrage, then all the DPS died, but I managed to finish off the boss myself.

I really wouldn't recommend playing something other than your spec in BC content unless you absolutely have to, but still carrying a secondary set for those rare occasions is recommended.

EDIT: typo.

Edited, Nov 25th 2007 8:53pm by Maulgak