Ret PvP with Holyway

More Ret PvP info from one of your fellow Ret Paladin PvPers! Holyway posted this on my Ret Forum a little while back, and I was a bad Admin and forgot the post was there! Sorry Holyway!

To redeem myself, I am posting this information from the forums in regards to some additional Ret Paladin PvP strats.  This is word for word Holyway’s post in the forums.  Thanks again, for your contribution!

Holyway

What Ret build/spec are you currently using?

I use the 7/13/51 spec (http://www.wowhead.com/talent#sV0bZVG0hZVdbxbIuGdIbsu), with improved righteous fury. I dont have Divine Sacrifice, as im going with a mage, who can defend himself, and i can also heal, but the 6% dmg reduction is very important, especially, as it also works against spell dmg.

What gems do you use?

I use the +20 strenght gems in red sockets, +str and +crit in yellow ones, and +str +stamina on the blue ones.
My meta gem is the chaotic skyflare, for the +crit dmg, and rating.
I have the required hit rating from the 245 trinket (which is macroed to Avenging Wrath to do xtreme burst), WG shoulders, and a ring.

Enchants

Im using the enchants that provide the most dps, +ap, +crit and the +ap +resilience enchants on the head, and shoulder pieces. I have + resilience on the chest piece.
I use Massacre on my weapon, as berserking is not realible enough.

Glyphs

Im only going for the xtra dps, Exorcism, Seal of Righteousness, and Judgement.

Recommended rotation

Rotation really varies on the situation U are in. If u are fighting with an enemy using absorbing shields (mage, pally), use CS, DS, and when the shields are down, use the judgement. Exo is only useful when its instant, so dont try to cast it, U can easily be counterspelled that way. The problem is that if your enemy has massive amount of resilience, U have much less chance to crit.

If U are fighting a discipline priest, U are in a bigger problem though. In this case, use Avenging Wrath as soon as U can, so your Judgements will dmg through the priest shields, and U still gain mana.

In any other cases, Judgement, CS, DS, exorcism, if instant, use consecration, and ccs if necessary. (only use ccs, if you wanna stop your enemy’s burst dmg, heal or flee, try to save them as long as you can tho)

PVE/PVP items you use.

I don’t use any pve items, as i don’t do any pve content 🙂

Resilience

In BGs, u don’t need that much resilience, U can perform well in PVE sets too, but keep in mind, that U can be smased in a second, so try to keep yourself in the background, just run in, burst someone down, and then back to safety.

In arena, i don’t recommend to start it seriously unless you have at least 800-1000 resilience, as you will be smashed be4 you could even bubble. For the 10 matches, and points, ok, go, but don’t expect high ratings.

What 2v2 classes go best with Ret?

I’ve been playing with resto druid, and Frost mage yet. The problem with the healer-ret setup is that u wont have enough dps, nor ccs to deal with another healer-dps teams. To simplify: a warrior, rogue, or mage gonna get your healer faster than you could get their healer. And the biggest problem is the lenght of the fights. Sometimes you cannot do more than to try to hit the enemy healer till they go out of mana, and that could take forever.

The better for 2v2 is a dps next to the pally, warrior, rogue, or mage, someone who can cc, defend himself/herself, and still do some burst dmg.

What 3v3 classes go best with Ret?

A DPS, U, and a healer, better if the healer is not a holy paladin, as U cannot defend him/her with your HoP.

What 5v5 classes go best with Ret?

There are two options: A full dps 5v5 team, or a 3 dps/2 healers one. The setup is not that important, just focus on one target at a time, and especially with a full dps setup, syncronise CC well.

Suggested add-ons?

Im only using DBM, but Gladius is useful too.

General PvP Ret strategies?

Always keep Sacred Shield on! If U had a crit, use instant FoL, no matter if u still have 75% hp, cuz things can get worse in any moment. Save Exorcism till u have a chance to kill your enemy. If the fight takes a bit longer, use it, ofc, but while its on cd, never forget to FoL.

Keep in mind that the paladins biggest strenght is that they can outlast any enemies. Keep your bubble, Avenging Wrath, don’t use them until U are in real problem, or have a chance to finish your enemy under it.

Always choose the best aura for the situation (retri v melee, frost v mage, shadow v priests, warlocks)

Always choose the proper blessing! (kings v burst dmg dealers, wisdom against disco priests, when your wrath is on cd, and might in any other situation)

If you have a PVE geared, or very hard-to-kill enemy, use Seal of Light, keep SS, and BoK on, turn on devotion aura, and change to defensive mode (heal when you can, stuns, keep yourself out of LoS, or out of melee range from melees, and only attack with full force when you are on full hp, and AW is useable).

Against ranged enemies:

• Try to keep yourself in melee range, use HoF, cleanse, and repentance as a gap-closer. Remember, that shamans, mages, and priests can dispell your HoF, so be careful.
• Try to interrupt enemy casting by getting behind them, any way you can!
• Use the environment against your enemy, especially if you are in an arena: if your hp is around 30% or less, try to repentance or stun your foe, and go out of LoS. Use Holy light (it can heal you for up to 17-18k, if it crits).
• When your opponent is a mage, use Seal of Justice to force them to blink. Then, use a quick HoF to get closer, stun them (as they won’t be able to blink out of it), and burst them down. Anyways, when u put HoF on, toss a blessing, sacred shield, rightous fury on after it, too, so the mage won’t be able to steal the HoF that quickly!

Versus melee:

• Use the runin-runout tactic. Run towards your enemy, when u are in melee range, hit them with a judgement CS or divine storm, then run along, and instant FoL if U can. Then, turn back on your foe, and repeat. When the enemy is around 30%-40%, stun them, and use Avenging Wrath. U can still disrupt them with Repentance if needed.
• Against warrior Bladestorm, or other bursts, use Divine Protection. It keeps you safe from the xtreme dmg, and u can still keep fighting with all your dmg.
  Don’t forget to keep SS on, and to FoL yourself any time you can.
• When fighting rogues, use your trinket, HoF, or DS for a second, to free yourself from stuns, snares. If you can interrupt their rotation on ccs, they won’t know what to do, and u can take them down quickly. If they vanish, cleanse the poisons, and heal yourself up. If you can get out of ccs, and the rogue keeps attacking, start attacking them with all you can, but don’t use Wrath, cuz U’ll most likely need defensive abilities more.

Against healers:

• If you are in a 2v2, always attack the dps first, and check defensive buffs on the healer. When its free of shields, and hots, switch to them with Wrath on. U will most likely get them down to 50-60%, be4 they could even hit a heal, stun them, and keep attacking. When the stun has ended, use repentance, !!DONT FORGET TO STOP ATTACKING WHILE THEY ARE UNDER REPENTANCE!! and wait till your cds end. Then, if your spells are ready, finish them.
• If you could not kill him, cuz the dps interrupted you, or the ccs break, repeat it, as many times as needed. If you are really pointless, you can try to interrupt their heals with Seal of Justice too.

Finally, some general tips to keep your arena partner alive:

• Heal your arena partner, if needed.
• Make a macro for HoP, that targets your arena partner, so you can cast it without having to target him/her. Add /targetlasttarget to the end, so you will end up targeting your last enemy.
• Use HoF, if he/she is under attack by a rogue/warrior/DK, and the burst is too heavy.
• Don’t forget, that you have cleanse. U can get rid of fears, polymorphs, dots, silences with it.
• Always keep food/drink in your bag! As you are a hard-to-kill target, most likely your partner will be under attack constantly. Healing, and defensive abilities eat mana up quickly, especially, if your foes have a priest, and your judgements are not filling your mana. Go to a hidden place, out of LoS, and eat.

Sorry for the improper english at some parts, I’m hungarian 🙂 Thanks for reading, hope i helped ya out in some questions that were not clear. Have a nice day, the Holy Light be with you!

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You can view my previous post from other Ret Paladin PvPers.