Ret pally dps

After some extended dancing with the login server, the authentication server and the world server, we were finally able to log in and stay logged in for more than a few minutes at a time. We all spent some time marveling at the changes to existing gear due to the big changes about spell power/crit/haste and also the shift in stat emphasis in redone classes like Paladin.

Then I went ahead and got my Ret gear out of the bank and specced 0/5/56. The spec is:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/paladin/talents2.html?tal=000000000000000000000000000050000000000000000000000052322510033310302135231051

In the Ret tree, I skipped all the talents that looked pvp oriented -- eye for an eye, pursuit of justice, divine purpose. I also left out imp Ret aura (which might actually be better than Vindication, which I took but will only help on trash) and couldn't fit Sheath of Light, the +heal buff deep in the Ret tree.

Dethno respecced to enable good AoE tanking, so we decided to run something to test things out and relearn to play our new specs. We went to Heroic Shattered Halls first and rolled through. I was fightin UI issues for much of the run, but for the most part, Sherider, Ragonbadger and I held a steady 1150 dps. I had issues not pulling aggro, but managed to not die mostly. We decided to go run Heroic Blood Furnace afterwards for the Achievement and I had more issues. I was pulling aggro and dying constantly. The mobs seemed to hit a lot harder in Blood Furnace for some reason. So I had to scale back the dps, even though I wasn't near optimal in the first place.

Then we ran into UBRS to get the Jenkins title and destroyed everything so fast, we bugged the first boss event and had to port out. But we got the title first at least.

I've got some learning to do to optimize my dps. The basic sequence is simple, but I'm still not solid on it yet. Keep Ret Aura, BoM and Seal of Command up. Then it's 3 keys:
1. Judgment (8s cooldown)
2. Crusader Strike (6s cooldown)
3. Divine Storm (10s cooldown)

I found I was barely able to keep up with the 3 cooldowns, track the target Dethno was dpsing and make sure SoC stayed up all the time. Need practice

Next things I need to work on:
1. Using HoJ to stun the trash mobs and Judge them to get the auto-crit and bonus dmg. It's only once/min, but stuff procs off crits, so I bet that adds up.
2. Reliably casting Avenging Wrath for +30% dmg every 3m
3. Working Hammer of Wrath into the skill sequence as soon as it's eligible
4. Macroing my 2 'use' trinkets into my main spells
5. Working Consecration into the rotation (depends on mana, but JoW returns so much mana, it's probably doable regularly)
6. Remembering Exorcism when it's available (demons, undead)

After that, I need to start using the 3 Judgment spells more strategically. There's a 'no run' judgment that probably doesn't come up that much in raiding. But I should be choosing the Mana or Healing judgment depending on the circumstance. Currently, I just try to remember to Judge at all and stick almost entirely to the Wisdom. But I bet I'd have died less if I had Judged Light occasionally when I was down to 100 hp.

I also expect I'll want to experiment with Seal of the Martyr. My hunch is that it's better on boss fights when I can't get the Stun/Judge dmg spike and crit (most bosses are immune to HoJ). But since I was taking so much damage to aggro pulling, I didn't want to take any extra damage and risk distracting Kilborne any more from the tank.

And the big thing is learning to work more in sync with the tank. It was clear in BF, Sherider and Filebrothers both got right into the flow of Dethno's tanking and I fell behind in dps. I think he shifted abilities to be more single-target, but I kept running up and opening with Divine Storm, grabbing the other 2-3 mobs and dying. Managing aggro and being quick with bubble and Repentance will also take some practice.

Another minor thing I need to do are fix back up my UI. Currently my frame with my hp/mana is upper left, the mobs are central, the cooldowns are at the bottom and Omen is way off bottom right. Back when the mods worked, I kept my frame down between the mobs and cooldowns. I'd like to get that again and also move Omen in closer to the center. Or get better about using Blizz's threat UI.

And then there's consumeables. I should go figure out the easiest strength food and weapon buff. For elixirs, I assume I'll want Major Agility (? or is there a good +str elixir?). I'll need to look into it.