4.2 Talent Spec & Glyph Guide

Prettysweet wrote:ok just a question does Reckoning proc on boss fights? I thought it never really used to, if it does i will need to relook at my talent set up for 4.0

Yes, it does. It's been that way since BC at least. I can't vouch for classic.

theckhd wrote:

Prettysweet wrote:ok just a question does Reckoning proc on boss fights? I thought it never really used to, if it does i will need to relook at my talent set up for 4.0

Yes, it does. It's been that way since BC at least. I can't vouch for classic.

Didn't it proc from crits in classic. Not recommended to get crit on bosses

Gamingdevil wrote:

theckhd wrote:

Prettysweet wrote:ok just a question does Reckoning proc on boss fights? I thought it never really used to, if it does i will need to relook at my talent set up for 4.0

Yes, it does. It's been that way since BC at least. I can't vouch for classic.

Didn't it proc from crits in classic. Not recommended to get crit on bosses

Yes used to proc from crits. You could build up a stack of reckoning charges and unleash them all at once. 1816 charges if you like.

WoWWiki - Reckoning Bomb

Anyone got practical experience from the beta or PTR that would be useful here?

For example, anyone tried to tank Marrowgar trash or Halls of Reflection without Hallowed ground? And/or with Avenger Shield glyphed? I am a little nervous that the loss of seal of command may make getting aggro on trash difficult - although I guess we still have HW and HotR.

Also, how useful was Word of Glory at level 80? Did healer's risk running out of mana? Is it a survival ability - a self-heal that can be a lifesaver? Or is it eminently dispensible?

Given what theckhd has computed about threat and his points about mandatory survival talents, the above questions are the ones that still come to mind. My gut feeling is that, for a casual level 80 spec (farming 5 mans and running ICC normal), I can probably forgo the Word of Glory talents but should keep Hallowed Ground (and AS unglyphed). We will still be overgeared and still playing with the gogogo brigade.

So with the patch hitting today I'm looking at different builds... I'm specifically looking for a general purpose dungeon/raid build as I want to avoid having to respec constantly (although it's really tempting to spec into Imp. HoJ for LK). I would think that Hallowed Ground is a must-have since it appears the intent is for Consecration to be used like a DK's Death and Decay - at the start of the pull to establish multi-target threat and periodically dropped to ensure threat stays.

I'm thinking a build like this for jack-of-all-trades tanking: http://wowtal.com/#k=-wxCEl8.a5o.paladin. Improving the range of Judgements seems like a must-have as well to ensure threat is maintained on casters who are out of range (at least until we can toss Shield to bring them closer) and Grand Crusader's refreshing of AS seems to be really good for AOE tanking as its an extra multi-mob attack.

What are all your thoughts on this?

Guide is updated for 4.0.1. I still need to know exactly how the HoSalv glyph works and whether they fixed the PotI bug.

Feedback/corrections/suggestions appreciated.

Thanks Theck, great guide as always. The mandatory/optional breakdowns are invaluable and the DPS graph is the terrific; really puts into perspective how little gain we gain from HG and AotL in their current forms. I hope use of WoG is kept as a viable option in cat boss fights, giving some solid value to those talents.

I'm still not 100% sold on how useful or necessary 30 yard judgements will be, especially with AS having a shorter CD now. I'll usually be putting one point in it to bring it to 20, but if I'm not intending to go further down ret I very much doubt I'll be putting that second point in there. Likewise, PoJ was a great place to drop points on the way to Crusade in wrath, but I doubt I'll be running speccing into it by default, only if an encounter really promotes an extra 8% run speed.

I know looking at Wrath encounters isn't particularly helpful to evaluate a Cata talent build, but just trying to think of a situation in Wrath where a 20 yard judge wouldn't have been sufficient, I'm struggling to find one. Valithria/Lady D seem to be the main ones in ICC, but AS would be up almost each time with the 15 second CD, and in the next GCD you'd be in judgement range, so not really compelling. Getting the shadow orbs while tanking Keleseth would be a reasonable example I suppose.

Rule of Law, while marginally behind SotP in pure TPS terms, does provide the same amount of crit to your WoG, so might be worth mentioning it as an option for a balanced type spec, where you're buffing your WoG to some extent but without sacrificing too much threat.

Rhiannon wrote:Rule of Law, while marginally behind SotP in pure TPS terms, does provide the same amount of crit to your WoG, so might be worth mentioning it as an option for a balanced type spec, where you're buffing your WoG to some extent but without sacrificing too much threat.

It will be... when I update the guide for level 85. At level 80 you can't get Rule of Law.

Sure, but in your talent breakdown you don't mention that it buffs WoG, just the damaging abilities. Ofc someone could just mouseover the link and see it for themselves.

How important is it going to be to be blocked capped... I just reforged all my dodge/parry whatever stat was highest to Block and was making sure this was the right thing to do. Now sitting at 102.85% Avoidance while lowering my dodge by about 3% and parry by about 2%.

From my experience on the ptr, the reason you wanted to specc consecration wasnt for the added bonusdmg, but for the manareduce. Consecration in its current form is more expencive than pre 4.0, and since Spiritual attunement is gone, you have no other way to get your mana back than with judgement/block (and 2% per block/dodge/parry isnt a whole lot with a manapool of 5k)
Maybe its gonna be like SA was before, one point is nessecary, the second point wont really do much since one might be enough to keep your mana up.

Satat wrote:Now sitting at 102.85% Avoidance while lowering my dodge by about 3% and parry by about 2%.

Block is still NOT avoidance...

Thanks for this guide, Theckhd - it answers a lot of questions, especially about single target threat issues.

However, everytime I contemplate a L80 build, I seem to change my previous plans. I guess this means that Blizzard did a good job with the talent tree - of giving me, at least, a real choice.

I'm very reluctant to give up Hallowed Ground and Grand Crusader, as they beef up two of our "signature" abilities and because I think they will be more useful in AOE situations than might be thought from the graph of single target dps. Assessing AS and Consecration from a single target point of view seems rather like measuring the running speed of a sea lion. I'd be interested to see what the graph looks like when considering three targets rather than one. And maybe considering a "with consecration" simulation for Hallowed Ground against a "without consecration" one for without those talents. As I can't see anyone being able to gogogo through a Wotlk 5 man using consecration often without the Hallowed Ground talents. I fear Hallowed Ground may still be weak, but would like to see the numbers.

My current thinking is to forgo the WoG talents to make room for the above and 5 points in ret. I think WoG will come into play more in Cataclysm when mobs hit harder, than when outgearing 5-mans and ICC normal (I don't do heroic raids).

I was more concerned with the ability to at least always block 30% of incoming damage. Also I am still getting full blocks I was under the assumption this wouldnt happen with this patch. Any idea what is going on?

I mentioned it in the tanking rotation thread, but it belongs here a bit more:

It's struck me that you only need 2 points in SotT to get AS's CD down to a level (18s) where you ought to be able to mix it in to every other 3-HP chain reliably. Is there any optional talent in the prot tree that proves better TPS than the 2:20 -> 2:00 CD on AW change? The thought has crossed my mind that, given most fight lengths are in the 5/6 minute range, you'd be looking at three wings periods in each fight whether or not you had that third point.

I'm speaking strictly from a levelling point of view, I appreciate that GAnK CD reduction at 85 will be a huge boost.