09-25-2009, 04:20 PM
A couple of my fellow Lurker Paladins were interested in this, so I figured I would just post it here for all to see, and get some more feedback on.
This contains tidbits of my conversations in the Offspec forums on Maintankadin, and includes help from MTadin Posters Joanadark, Baelor, Corpsicle, and Medvih2
Paladins have been given a lot of options on how to heal, and it is really making paladin healing less of the 'SPAM FLASH OF LIGHT' (TBC) or 'SPAM HOLY LIGHT' (early Wotlk).
First, the builds
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Crit Focused: This build is good for beginning or undergeared off spec paladins who need the extra crit to maintain mana through Illumination. Once you get to a point where you are no longer in danger of going OOM on longer fights (which anymore is in solid 'ready for ulduar' healing gear), this build starts to lose some of its luster.
Throughput Focused: This spec will give you another cooldown to use (Divine Shield + Divine Sacrifice) which is easier for healers to pull off, and more throughput. You don't lose as much crit as you would think, because you have talents in the holy tree that up your specific spells, and overall holy crit. This spec offers you two choices in how you want to gem, cast, and glyph.
The two philosophies of healing with a 51/20/0 (Throughput based build)
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The one that I linked still centers around being an int stacking healer. You will still Bacon a target, Hot your SS target, and heal the way you would with a 51/0/20 or 51/5/15 build. The change here is that you will weave in more Flash of Lights, refresh Sacred Shield less, and rely on managing your cooldowns, making more conscious decisions on what heal to use when. Choosing between downranking from Holy Light to Flash of Light
By changing the Seal of Wisdom Glyph to the Seal of Light glyph, and gemming your gear for Spellpower instead of int, you start to work with a higher % of Flash of Light casts, and your Holy Light is less commonly used. This is because from changing the glyph, and speccing prot, you are picking up 16% throughput, making your Flash of Light, and Holy Shock noticeably 'bigger' heals. This spec also relies on Cooldown Management and choosing what heal to use when, but it is in reverse of the previous style. You will be choosing to Holy Light for larger heals over using Flash or Shock.
The reason a lot of Holy paladins are picking this spec for either style of healing is the throughput (and not having to babysit Sacred Shield). Even if you are INT stacking, you pick 11% throughput through talents, and there is no reason to bank on crit heals for extra throughput when you can talent it. When your tank needs a massive heal, you can pop Divine Favor. Don't pray for a crit.
The prot spec has better survivability in Hard modes (Yes, you turn on Righteous Fury sometimes), 2 cooldowns to use, higher baseline heals, less mana consumption on Sacred Shield
During a fight like Hodir Hard Mode, XT, and the like, you can turn on Righteous Fury which will reduce the damage you take from the AoE effects by 6%. Because these fights don't have adds of consequence, you are safe to run it as you will NEVER pull aggro from the tank.
On the Hodir Hard Mode that I healed, I was able to make effective use of both of my 'big' cooldowns. Frost Resist Aura + Aura Mastery will increase the Frost Rest Aura you grant to 260 for 10 seconds. Divine Shield + Divine Sacrifice also helped to mitigate the AoE damage + Tank Damage.
Make sure that you are running the minor Glyph Lay on Hands as well. Cutting 5 minutes of the Cooldown means that you will be running with a CD of 11 minutes. With the talent, you can then Proactively use Lay on Hands to reduce Physical Damage taken by the tank by 20%. This is a nice little addition as well, and I'm sure something that a lot of people have been doing for a while, but it becomes even easier with the new spec, because you aren't running into situations where your tank is staying upright and safe more often.
Why do I advocate the use of the 51/20/0 spec?
It gives you options. With this build, there are 2 completely distinct ways to heal, gem, and enchant your gear. It gives you greater flexibility and greater throughput in either spec.
The pros of each 'way' to heal.
By stacking Spellpower, you will have a more robust Sacred Shield, your FoL Hot will be ticking for more, and you will be more of a 'raid healer' than just a main tank healer.
By stacking INT, focusing on haste, you will be slinging HUGE heals all over the place, and FAST. You will have a nice Sacred Shield still with the longer timer, and you will be able to keep most tanks (in a 10 man setting) up by yourself.
This contains tidbits of my conversations in the Offspec forums on Maintankadin, and includes help from MTadin Posters Joanadark, Baelor, Corpsicle, and Medvih2
Paladins have been given a lot of options on how to heal, and it is really making paladin healing less of the 'SPAM FLASH OF LIGHT' (TBC) or 'SPAM HOLY LIGHT' (early Wotlk).
First, the builds
-------------------------
Crit Focused: This build is good for beginning or undergeared off spec paladins who need the extra crit to maintain mana through Illumination. Once you get to a point where you are no longer in danger of going OOM on longer fights (which anymore is in solid 'ready for ulduar' healing gear), this build starts to lose some of its luster.
Throughput Focused: This spec will give you another cooldown to use (Divine Shield + Divine Sacrifice) which is easier for healers to pull off, and more throughput. You don't lose as much crit as you would think, because you have talents in the holy tree that up your specific spells, and overall holy crit. This spec offers you two choices in how you want to gem, cast, and glyph.
The two philosophies of healing with a 51/20/0 (Throughput based build)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The one that I linked still centers around being an int stacking healer. You will still Bacon a target, Hot your SS target, and heal the way you would with a 51/0/20 or 51/5/15 build. The change here is that you will weave in more Flash of Lights, refresh Sacred Shield less, and rely on managing your cooldowns, making more conscious decisions on what heal to use when. Choosing between downranking from Holy Light to Flash of Light
By changing the Seal of Wisdom Glyph to the Seal of Light glyph, and gemming your gear for Spellpower instead of int, you start to work with a higher % of Flash of Light casts, and your Holy Light is less commonly used. This is because from changing the glyph, and speccing prot, you are picking up 16% throughput, making your Flash of Light, and Holy Shock noticeably 'bigger' heals. This spec also relies on Cooldown Management and choosing what heal to use when, but it is in reverse of the previous style. You will be choosing to Holy Light for larger heals over using Flash or Shock.
The reason a lot of Holy paladins are picking this spec for either style of healing is the throughput (and not having to babysit Sacred Shield). Even if you are INT stacking, you pick 11% throughput through talents, and there is no reason to bank on crit heals for extra throughput when you can talent it. When your tank needs a massive heal, you can pop Divine Favor. Don't pray for a crit.
The prot spec has better survivability in Hard modes (Yes, you turn on Righteous Fury sometimes), 2 cooldowns to use, higher baseline heals, less mana consumption on Sacred Shield
During a fight like Hodir Hard Mode, XT, and the like, you can turn on Righteous Fury which will reduce the damage you take from the AoE effects by 6%. Because these fights don't have adds of consequence, you are safe to run it as you will NEVER pull aggro from the tank.
On the Hodir Hard Mode that I healed, I was able to make effective use of both of my 'big' cooldowns. Frost Resist Aura + Aura Mastery will increase the Frost Rest Aura you grant to 260 for 10 seconds. Divine Shield + Divine Sacrifice also helped to mitigate the AoE damage + Tank Damage.
Make sure that you are running the minor Glyph Lay on Hands as well. Cutting 5 minutes of the Cooldown means that you will be running with a CD of 11 minutes. With the talent, you can then Proactively use Lay on Hands to reduce Physical Damage taken by the tank by 20%. This is a nice little addition as well, and I'm sure something that a lot of people have been doing for a while, but it becomes even easier with the new spec, because you aren't running into situations where your tank is staying upright and safe more often.
Why do I advocate the use of the 51/20/0 spec?
It gives you options. With this build, there are 2 completely distinct ways to heal, gem, and enchant your gear. It gives you greater flexibility and greater throughput in either spec.
The pros of each 'way' to heal.
By stacking Spellpower, you will have a more robust Sacred Shield, your FoL Hot will be ticking for more, and you will be more of a 'raid healer' than just a main tank healer.
By stacking INT, focusing on haste, you will be slinging HUGE heals all over the place, and FAST. You will have a nice Sacred Shield still with the longer timer, and you will be able to keep most tanks (in a 10 man setting) up by yourself.
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