@Maergoth You don't mention (sorry If I am being blind) anything about Weapon Damage Bonus in your main post. Is it not important for Paladin? I would have thought WDB is almost good as DPS mod or even better? I have seen some people mention that WDB is is better than even Potency?
Yes, WDB is very effective. The issue is, you cannot reforge for WDB. In fact, you can't even obtain it without giving up two or more other stats. In that regard, for a rounded build, it is not worth the investment. You often lose HP% or mitigation%, or cast speed (which is hugely valuable in reforging). If you can get some on charms, play around with them. Like I said, with the huge variation in itemization this expansion, there is always some room for trial and error. The Draconic Effigy is a great item most will be able to obtain.. and it is great mostly because of the weapon damage bonus. My stat hierarchy is in terms of blue stats on gear. And even that is flexible. It's just a guideline to meet expectations.. and you have to be aware of what those expectations are. Nobody is expecting a paladin to come into the group and top the parse. They expect you to live and hold aggro, both are easier obtained by capping blue stats (cast, reuse, etc) and keeping your defensive stats up.
What would you say are the common pitfalls for someone making a Paladin/getting a Paladin ready for raiding?
I'd say gearing for the parse is a big one. For most people, your DPS is just a means of holding aggro. There's no need to grab WDB gear or a full set of potency gear. You'll be so far behind in mitigation and survivability and it is extremely difficult to correct. It's best to get your survivability up first and make sure you're not dying all the time, which will also help your DPS. With that said, there are a couple ways to get your DPS without gear. Using faith properly is one of them, and if you're offtanking, that requires communication in some way with the main tank. If you snap the mob, click Faith and take your shield off, it is important that the MT doesn't snap it right back, etc. Communication is very important. Finally, keep in mind that the quickness at which mobs are pulled/picked up, the position in which mobs are placed, and the consistency of all of it are the things that will make people appreciate you as a tank. But that goes for any tank, not just paladins.
Do you find you rez often and if so, do your Dirges, etc, complain as it's not a clean rez? I realise it's dependent on many factors, but if you were to add ten more points to your basic AA guide, what would be ideal? Again, I realise that greens are dependent on many other factors, but what greens would be a good place to start? Go the whole hog on Tranquil Spirit and/or Trakanon's Heart of Stone, or would you throw in a DPS one too?
Thank you Maergoth! Really appreciate the time you spent on this! It has been several years since I've played EQ2 and I'm very much looking forward to trying out your AA spec when I get home tonight. I noticed I already have almost the same exact points in my AA line as you just a few I didn't and will change to tonight and give it a try! And thank you for the heads up on Aggro and pulling mobs in the correct manner in that second post much obliged!
I would use green adorns to get the blue stats (dps, multi, haste) that you will inevitably be short on, even after you are as geared as I am. Since green adorns are a long term investment, you don't want them to be centered around stats (like mitigation) that are easily capped. As for rezzing, I rez very often. Our rez IS a clean rez, without any revive sickness whatsoever. I think one of our class traits allows this. It also has an extremely long cast range, relatively short cast time and provides ample comic relief when you rez someone into the mob, promptly killing them. Oh, and avoid rezzing people into the mob, promptly killing them. People will get a little upset. Go figure If I was to spend 10 more points (and I did), I would spend them in the dragon tree increasing the damage applied to taunts in the far right line. Since they are worth clicking now, i'd appreciate if they did something else also. The last point can go anywhere, I forget where exactly I put it. Alternatively, if you're doing heroic content mostly, you can yank 10 points out of something else and go for Soulclaim as a second heroic endline. It provides a pretty solid crit bonus boost, as well as power that can be useful in a lot of situations.
Thanks for keeping this post up to date Maergoth. I am chiming in with a couple of useful clicky tools (beyond relics and signets) that I keep in my bag of tricks. I'm sure you can think of some other things to add to this list: 1. Runed Guard of the Sel'Nok -- You swap this in for your bow, click it, and swap your bow back. Some of your proc chances should increase by 25% (this used to be more useful, but it still has uses). You buy this in Jarsath Wastes, and you need faction to do it. This works only for crusaders and not other fighter types. To make this work, I need two macros and three hotbar spaces (one macro to swap in and use, another to swap ranged back, and the third hotbar location shows me the item so I can see if it's running on cooldown. 2. Overclocked Manastone -- If you're drained of power, you have a good shot at getting 90% full with one click. My first choice for emergency power regen (of the non-ongoing kind). 3. Mis-calibrated Manastone -- If the overclocked manastone fails, this is my next option. 4. Honor of Pantrilla -- You swap this in for your bow, click it, and swap your bow back. A small burst of power if you get drained. This is my last clicky option for power regen. Works only for crusaders and not other fighter types. To make this work, I need two macros and three hotbar spaces (one macro to swap in and use, another to swap ranged back (used for both this and Runed Guard of the Selnok), and the third hotbar location shows me the item so I can see if it's running on cooldown. 5. "Reliable" Gnomish Pacemaker -- It's not that reliable, but a 25% chance at not dying is better than a 0% chance. And it can be TIME WARPED for two triggers -- two 25% chances of not dying is even better than one. 6. Totem of the Draconic Defender -- 20% DR. It sucks that the cooldown timer is the same one as the heroic version or I would double up. 7. Icy Dragon Essence -- health, power, crit bonus, potency, scales forever because they're percentage increases -- what's not to love? Again, same timer as the heroic version, or I would double up. Unfortunately, it's also the same timer as Totem of the Draconic Defender, but this is still my go-to short term DPS booster if I need more than Heretic's Destruction provides. Some of these work for all fighter types and others only work for crusaders. Aamarik
For those of us just starting out, what are you thoughts on the gear from the Fabled heroic instances?
I have this AA spec saved but honestly I didnt really like it....the way I am setup now is to dish out lots of damage. I will give this spec a try when I actually have to tank something instead of soloing but seems slow to me for some reason
I don't really think you're going to be dishing out that much more damage running solo with a different spec. Sure, you'll likely be able to dps a bit more, but juggling AA around isn't going to somehow turn you into a scout or mage.
well the spec I am in does give me an extra aoe that does a lot of damage depending on the justice points and then it gives me a single target that usually hits for 350k plus
I assume you're talking about the right side prestige line. That is a definite alternative to Maergoth's current spec and I think many go that route (including myself for the time being). The hits you get from Divine Justice and Harbinger are big, but they aren't irreplaceable.
Yep thats what they are....they are nice to have I still need to work on my gear so we will see how it goes when I get up in gear
In heroic zones, and solo, you're better off running dual conversion. Don't go down all the way to harbinger.
Just getting together my purple adornments and war runes. I'm noticing some variation between Paladins which is obviously down to gear, etc, but is there any you would recommend on particular slots? Also, why Astral Dominion on the shield and what's on your two hander?
I don't use a two-hander. Astral dominion is one of those universally awesome things. If you dont have an immunity proc, you should get one.
Maergoth, Do you have a suggested rotation for using specials (cooldowns if you prefer) that you have chosen in your specs?
Earlier I posted this: "Reliable" Gnomish Pacemaker -- It's not that reliable, but a 25% chance at not dying is better than a 0% chance. And it can be TIME WARPED for two triggers -- two 25% chances of not dying is even better than one. I was incorrect. The item can apparently be time warped for THREE triggers with a properly-specced illy in your group. Just ask for the time warp out of combat while the raid is forming up. Aamarik
