Ret Paladin Cataclysm Beta Build 12803

There are only 4 changes that affect Ret Paladins directly in this most recent Beta build.  What is more interesting to me is the current Talent Calculator set-up for us.  I have my thoughts, and I will share them after we go over the recent Beta changes.

It would appear Blizz has already started to move things back up, if somewhat slowly.  All the details on Beta builds I list are pulled from MMO Champion.  The analysis, is of course mine, but if you wish to view the entire Beta Build, visit MMO Champion!

• Inquisition – no longer exclusive with Holy Shield.
• Divine Purpose – now has a 40% chance to generate Holy Power, up from 20%.
• Long Arm of the Law – now increases movement speed by 45%, up from 30%.
• Eternal Glory – now has a 20% chance not to consume Holy Power, down from 40%.

Long Arm of the Law  up to 45% run speed is the most interesting, I’d say.  I still feel this will get adjusted further, and I am not sure if that means more buffed or more nerfed.  Eternal Glory might have been a bit high at 40%.  Let’s see if 20% is better.  20% seems a bit low, so maybe 25% or 30% could be an upward tweak in a later build. 

Divine Purpose probably got the biggest buff.  This reverts back to what it was originally at 40%, with 6 attacks now instead of the original 3.  So, this has now been a complete boost for us.  I’d love to be able to test this out!

Now, onto the talent calculator.  I use Wowhead’s talent calc because it is a bit smoother than the one over at MMO CHampion, but they both get the job done. 

Here is the current build I chose:  Ret Paladin Cataclysm Beta Talent Build  as of Build 12803.

Extra Talent Points?

That’s right, I wound up trying to fit 3 or 4 points in to talents that really had no affect on my DPS.  I’d love to see what builds you guys think are optimal, because placing them was really neither here nor there for me.

I ended up placing these extra points in 2 talents, which I feel could have been better used were there more DPS-tartgeted talents available:

• 2/2 Acts of Sacrifice – I took this over others because it would reduce Hand of Salvation.  That’s about all it’s good for in raiding.  PvPers will like it for Hand of Freedom.
• 1/1 Divinity – To help heal me.  Can’t really say much more.

I still am not thrilled about being forced to take Rebuke or Repentance.  I think both are outstanding and have loads of utility, but that’s 2 utility spells not meant for DPS.  I’d like to think of this not as a complaint, but as a means to encourage other alternatives.  When I have these and the 3 points I mentioned above, that’s 5 points used for non-DPS related abilities.  Pretty good number of talent points allotted for misc. talents.

My only other concern is the prominence of Word of Glory in our Ret tree.  At Tiers 2 and 5, we have Eternal Glory and Selfless Healer, respectively.  I’m curious if Blizzard is counting on us throwing around heals in PvE, or if this is more of a PvP related healing scenario.  You can easily bypass these for PvE, but I wonder what the design is for this to take up 2 talent slots in the Ret tree…