Holy or Protection or Retribution Paladin?

[Original]

Hello. I'm currently leveling up a paladin at the moment and am just wanting to see the advantages and disadvantages of each spec in the f2p bracket against other classes and 24s. I know all specs are completely viable but I am just looking to see if any spec edges out a little more above the others overall I guess? I wanted to ask this as well so I could start focusing on which pieces of gear I should pick up (such as Shield Against Evil Presence or Thaelrid's Greaves). Opinions and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Klinda]

All 3 specs are pretty good at this level. Were pretty much like druids, jack of all trades, masters of none(except healing) and our roles vary during every bg. We can be good tanks(fc) and good dps at the same time. Most pallys out there are prot and there are very few good pallys in general. Ret has a higher skill cap than prot but generally does more burst and sometimes sustained damage. Holy is our healing tree and we are the most viable healers in this bracket hands down and plus exorcism is a good tool for us as well. All in all I encourage you to try all 3 and see which is bettter to you.

 

[Pwnadin]

Ever since the vengeance nerf prot hasn't been as much for me personally. My opinions:

Retribution - Most offensive spec. Big Templar's Verdict Crits. Least amount of defense compared to other specs.
Protection - Since the vengeance nerf, not as offensive as it once was (less damage output compared to ret). Limited mana in heavy damage situations.
Holy - IMO one of, if not the biggest competitor in this bracket. Larger mana pool and bigger heals. Great FC's. Most defensive spec/class

This is Paladin as I see it. I intend to gear towards holy in the future or just level another paladin -- prot gearing choices from quest rewards will prevent my current toon from becoming BiS. Hope this helps. Good luck with your decision

 

[Bengalosch]

i currently play a lonely ret on another server (DUAL-AGM!!! ). it feels pretty glassy to play, cause you get targeted a lot and go down fast. prot are pretty op in 1 vs 1 situations because of their shorter HoJ plus Avengers SHield (silence) - but its possible to out-burst them as a ret with a lucky crit here and there. if my TV crits i see numbers around the 900 mark - and i have no BoA yet. and its fun to maw down underequipped enemys in half dozens with your big axe!

 

[babouchka]

i would say palaheal if you solo, and ret if you play with a friend who can assist you as heal

 

[Antithesis]

Note that, as far as quest reward choices go, you can pretty easily get the best items for both Retribution and Holy without any conflict. The only place I know of where you'll have to decide between the two is when choosing between the Signet of Argas and the Band of Argas.

 

[Bengalosch]

Note that, as far as quest reward choices go, you can pretty easily get the best items for both Retribution and Holy without any conflict. The only place I know of where you'll have to decide between the two is when choosing between the Signet of Argas and the Band of Argas.

as an ally you have to chose between the skillpatch and the shield of stockades, which makes some difference - or not?

 

[Trialaccountx]

well, do you want to tank, heal or dps? lols

 

[Arknoodle]

It matters?

 

[Bengalosch]

well, do you want to tank, heal or dps? lols

read what i quoted plz

 

[Warshark73]

Honestly, you can do just as well taking the eyepatch as holy. I did a comparison between using LFH + Shield of the Stockades + Lavishly Jeweled Ring + Drakewing Bands vs. Eyepatch + Seedcloud Buckler + Gloaming Band + Sparkmetal Bracers. The results were very close, actually; the first setup has 4 more stamina & 1 more spirit, but loses 1 intel & 1 hit rating. Also, take into account that the first setup involves a lot of RNG (LFH & chest farming for Drakewing Bands) and could possibly take quite a while to acquire whereas setup 2 is all quest rewards and dungeon boss drops and makes it a lot quicker to gear up.

About hit rating: I am an offensive minded player and play my holy paladin pretty offensively. If I would've had any idea how many misses I was going to see without any hit rating, I might've taken the eyepatch over the shield. But the choices have already been made and I'm very pleased with how my holy paladin turned out.

 

[Vanguard]

I'm trying to make the same decision as Original. Although i usually prefer off-healing and utility (as in enh shammy). Would you consider Ret/Prot viable for off-healing or does the required Str-gearing prevent this?

 

[Frog'Tink]

vanguard due to the fact that prots get SP from str their heals are pretty op (my prot hits like 300ss while having 50% dmg reduc and 1439hp unbuffed and can heal himself for 1k no problem) and i took eyepatch because i was originally going ret but changed my mind :S

 

[Antithesis]

With BiS Horde ret gear, Krenistus is rocking 792 mana--so no, a ret can't really function as a dedicated healer. But you can (and should) be throwing occasional heals around to your allies, so you'll still get some of the healer flavour.

 

[Warshark73]

I'm trying to make the same decision as Original. Although i usually prefer off-healing and utility (as in enh shammy). Would you consider Ret/Prot viable for off-healing or does the required Str-gearing prevent this?

Yes, you can off-heal pretty well as ret. I have 747 mana on my ret paladin and the only time I run OOM is when I need to attempt to be main healer and keep everyone up against a large enemy force. Healing as ret is all about knowing when to use Holy Light instead of Flash of Light (hint: it's not only when Crusade is activated). When you figure that out, your mana pool will stay fuller for much longer. Crusade and Judgements of the Bold are amazing tools. With the Crusade talent activated, I hit 1k+ Holy Lights, non-crit, after a killing blow. With Judgements of the Bold, you can get a quick mana recharge in the middle of a fight and with Improved Judgement, you can tag someone far away to start your mana recharge. Word of Glory can also be used for a decent emergency heal, but I must admit that I don't use it all that much.

Is strength gearing as ret very much different from agi gearing as enhancement? If you're already used to off-healing as an enhancement shaman, I would imagine that off-healing as a ret paladin would be pretty similar. (Don't quote me on that, tho)