Peter's Blog

Dunno, i really don't have that many problems on my Pally. maybe because i'm a bit more patient.

Yes i'm slow as a Protection Spec if its only one mob. So if i see more i deliberately add adds i can handle. Usually no problem. Often i do it for a challenge also. See if something unpredictable happens to force me to ajust tactics.

Too bad your Paladin is not a Alch also, but then again your hunter is. Can make you soon Arcane Elixirs - Does +35 spell damage.

A good level of spellpower is 600, I'd need a +530 pot to match that

What is a good pot for a protection pally dps? Attack power? Spellpower? I seem to remember the ROIDS buff was noticably good, +25 strength I think it was but that was at a level in the high 40s.

I think I will just have to be patient. If I get bored with protection pally I can always go on a rampage with the Hunter and get it out of my system. There's another reason I'd like to stick with protection: you make it sound so attractive.

Peter

Hi Peter, I have to ask - you have a job (presumably), are married and have several little Peter's to feed and clothe, yet you still find time to play WoW every (or nearly every) night and sometimes in the mornings, AND write up your experiences on an (almost) daily basis in this blog - you're either a superhero or you can actually control time itself, which one is it?

From Alchemy Standpoint, Best i know spell damage pots helps to add more spell damage to Paladin holy spells for damage or yellow damage. I'm not sure about Rets, but from what i've heard its AP maybe that depend more on, as well as spell damage. From what i have heard and read from most tankadins +200 Spell dmg is all you need at 70 to do good dmg. More if you can get is always better i've heard.

Adept Elixirs - for +25 spell damage and critical strike if i remember. Arcane Elixirs - for +35 Spell damage. What i mostly use if i need to. Onslaught Elixir - +60 AP can check to be sure, can't remember exactly. But i never use it much.

Currently only 2 Elixirs i have that give +Spell dmg. If there is more i not have the recipe or discovered it yet. With new Alchemy changes you can only use 1 Battle Elixir & 1 Guardian Elixir at a time. :(

Rest of Spell Damage i think comes from your Armor & Weapon gear the better you get. They have + Spell Dmg Enchants one can use, but sure those are not cheap.

Mana Oil or Wizzard Oil can put on a Weapon for Mana regen gain or Increase Spell damage with the Wizzard Oil and add lots of it. Made by enchanters. All add to the damage you do. Other may know more about that than i do. But for Paladins anything that adds more spell damage to what you do makes lots of difference.

The new gear i have in Outland on quests been making lots of difference i can tell, and its still peanut gear. I only run out of mana every so often, not always. I just pop a mana pot. Even at that its not alot i use. Hell i'm a Alch Paladin, i can make pots i need. I just try to manage my mana alot. Holy Shield makes all the difference in the World, love it.

I have a job and I'm married, yes, and I have a little Victoria and a littler Elizabeth. I wake at 6am most mornings which gives me time to play and blog. I make time for the blog as it helps me think things through. It only takes me ten minutes to get to work.

I do my research at lunchtime so I have a new thing to rush home and try that evening.

After tea I may get in another two hours on the main pc before bedtime at 9. This is my precious serious time so no blogging, no distractions.

At weekends I may play 6-10am, maybe all afternoon, depending on whether I have to go out, mow the lawn or whatever. I don't always play so intensely at weekends, if I have some long project like the Linken's Boomerang quest I will do it then.

I play more consistantly in the mornings than the evenings which is why the wednesday maintenance is a bind for me: this morning I was still up at 6am with nothing to do so I started blogging early, pontificating about respeccing.

My wife tolerates it, just, so I focus play on times when she is busy with something else (e.g. sleeping at 6am). I spend time with my daughters before and after tea: although Elizabeth is only six months so can sit on my lap while I play

Something I don't do much at all: watch TV.

I've got it bad. I get most things done, but I have a long todo list.

Peter

We've all got it bad, if we're not playing we're either writing or reading WoW blogs and forums or thinking about quests, gear, builds, raids, gold, rare pets, addons, etc. I'm just amazed that you find time to play with all your commitments!

Anyways, having played WoW over the last three summers including this one, I've got a nice little team rotation going this time, consisting of a priest, druid, hunter, mage and a lock, spending two or three days on each before moving onto the next, thereby maximising my rest XP and getting much more (IMO) out of the game than slogging away with just the one char as I did the previous summers, and because I'm learning each class's abilities by hand I'm gaining a greater understanding of who'll does what and why when I finally hit the big 70 and we start hitting the new end game raids. Raiding was excellent last summer, doing the golden oldies like Ony, MC, AQ, ZG, etc., but I guess they're hardly worth doing now. Shame really. Anyway, my point is when you finally get bored of WoW and stop playing for a while (yes, it will happen) then pick it up again months later, I can recommend playing with a rotation as it keeps everything fresher for much longer.

WRT Arcanite Rods Every enchanter needs one of these to progress past ~270 enchanting. Since it requires the work of an Alchemist -and- a Blacksmith, most enchanters find them hard to come by.

You might also look into Silver Rods and Golden Rods. Enchanters need those for the levels before Arcanite (~210 enchanting for Silver and ~110 enchanting for gold). AH is the enchanter's only source for these rods.. unless they know a convenient Blacksmith.

Other potential money makers: Shadow Oil (recipe sold by vendor in Darkwood) is used by leather workers to make some nice ~lvl 30 armor. It's usually pretty hard to come by.. and most leather workers don't have an easy access to an alchemist.

In fact any recipe for tradeskill 1 that requires items from tradeskill 2 will be a potential money maker. Kaliope's Crafter's Tome (wow.crafterstome.com/home.html) has a nicely laid out list of recipes. It might be worthwhile to browse the list and see what the prices are like on your server.

Tatia, my protection pally, currently has this build: www wowhead.com/?talent=qVZV0tIx0dggqzc

I'm aiming for a 5/46/10 build at 70 (adding the 5% parry).

I find that I rarely self-heal. If I'm getting low on health in a fight I'll take a health pot, then bubble-bandage. If my mana is still high I'll switch to Concentration Aura and then self-heal. If mana is low then I'll Lay On Hands. Mostly I'm trying to preserve mana since I need it for keeping Holy Shield up.

Things die faster (and I take less damage) with holy shield up all the time.

Shield spikes + Holy Shield* + Retribution Aura* + Blessing of Sanctuary* + Judgment of the Crusader + Seal of Righteousness* is the absolutely most damage I can squeeze out of my pally and still come out of the fight with a decent mana pool. If I blow all the whistles (Avenger's Shield*, Consecrate*, Judge Righteousness*, (Exorcism*/Holy Wrath*)) I can get a lot more damage but it adds downtime between the fights to get my mana back.

*These things get more damage with the more spell damage you add to your gear.

I generate the most damage from blocking.. so anything that increases my block kills them faster. I take the least amount of damage when I parry, or dodge. So increasing Block, Parry and Dodge means less necessity to heal.

Increased block + parry + dodge means less hits.

Idaknow.. guess I'm braindumping at this point.

Thanks, this is all interesting stuff. I've never bother with the parry talents, the percentages seem too small to be useful but I guess with a group hitting you 5% means a lot.

Peter

The main reason I am into Arcanite Rods is because my paladin is doing a lot of Thorium Farming and has built up a nice stock of Arcane crystals. He used to farm the thorium to make Imperial Plate Leggings but now he doesn't bother. Since the rods seem to go for about 40g it is very profitable. I'm a bit too focused on levelling to spend time on the lower markup stuff but I can imagine that a lot of people feel that way and hence we could put the prices up

Peter

5% seems small.. but +def equipment and +block equipment only add ~.04% which is pitiful.

At level 63, Tatia is at 9.17% Dodge, 9.08% Parry, and 9.08% Block.

There a natural 5% chance to be missed.. so that's ~35% of the time that she's avoiding the hit.

If holy shield is up that adds 30% to block. If Redoubt is up that adds another 30% to block.

So if both have proc'd she's at ~90% chance to either not be hit by the mob or block most of the damage from the hit.

My goal is to get a specific set of equipment that puts this at 102.4% thus meaning that she can't be hit or critted or crushed (only important in big end-game dungeons). So the only damage she'll be taking will be mitigated through blocking and armor.

Even without the uber gear.. 90% chance to mitigate or not be hit.. is HUGE. 95% chance is even better.

I remember now how it works and what you're talking about is the concept of pushing 'crushing blows' off the list of possible outcomes of someone taking a swing at you. The more likely you are to dodge, parry, block etc the less likely you are to be hit.

Pookys dodge is 3.86, Parry and Block are 5.24 so pretty crap by comparison. I haven't given these stats any thought, too concerned with squeezing dps out. If Pooky is going to be protection, better to concentrate on defense.

Peter