It seems Blizzard agrees with the part of the playerbase that declares Retribution Paladin DPS needs a boost. Now, I’m of the opinion that to generate a decent amount of DPS, and when I say decent, I mean in the top 2 to 4 positions of your raid, a Ret Paladin really has to refine their gameplay to optimize rotations, positioning, and taking advantage of our RNG abilities. Doing this can create competitive DPS, but doesn’t allow for faceroll OP DPS like we were used to in Wrath.
That said, I do admit that DPS is low compared to other classes in Firelands, so this Censure hotfix is a welcome one. Is it the cureall? Probably not. It doesn’t address the random procs and RNG abilities that frustrate a number of Ret Paladins, but it’s a start. Let’s take a look at what Blizzard has posted:
Source: Blizzard Patch 4.2 Censure Hotfix Post
After monitoring thousands of Firelands kills, we’ve concluded that Retribution’s damage was not where we wanted it to be, so we’re going to increase Censure damage by roughly 40%. We’ll also be keeping an eye on paladin damage as we move towards patch 4.3. We expect that this hotfix should be applied sometime later today.
We’re also considering shifting some of the damage from Hammer of Wrath into other attacks. While that may not necessarily cure some of the current concerns about proc reliance, it should help smooth out damage a bit.
The first part of this post addresses the 40% buff to Censure. Forgotten what Censure is? Censure is what generates from Seal of Truth, and is the damage over time that ticks on your target to a maximum stack of 5 applications. Obviously, we’re looking at the most benefit from this change happening during boss fights.
The second part of the post is also a slight tease for what we may see in some Patch 4.3 changes, in that the damage from Hammer of Wrath may be directed to other spells. I’m not against this entirely, but I do feel HoW damage is okay on it’s own. What I’d like to see is a boost to the DPS generated from Judgement. It’s still a consistent part of our rotation (minus when Avenging Wrath is active), and I feel the nerf to it’s damage from WotLK to Cataclysm was a bit harsh. We’ll see what more this brings.
Anyways, curious to see how the Censure change affects overall DPS. Should be implemented now.
Quote “What I’d like to see is a boost to the DPS generated from Judgement. It’s still a consistent part of our rotation (minus when Avenging Wrath is active),”
Whooah!! didn’t know that!
I’ve been looking to increase my dps for a while, and it’s exactly this sort of “wrinkle” that I need. I am happy with my rotation generally, but have noted that other ret pallys with similar gear often do better. Any more like that?