PvP Protadin - what would YOU do? I'm so SLOW!

Post by livlivliv

So, I've recently dipped my toe into Protadin PvP as a break from grinding for gear (late arrival to Cata :) ) , normally a PvE tank and have been Prot/Prot (experimenting with builds :) ) since.... ohhhh... really quite a long time now. I've recently got myself a ret spec too, but find I am more successful PvP-ing in Prot.

So, wealth of wowhead knowledge, what protips do you have for the noob PvProtadin?

I'm generally using AvSh all the time... like ALL the time... CS on single targets, eg in Arena, HoR on multiple, HW, Consc, judging like it's going out of fashion, stunning when it's off CD and HoW when it's up, and using SoT and Ret/Dev aura. I'm getting better at using my CDs and trinks, and at HoP/HoS-ing my cohorts :)

I'm working towards a combo of the BG Gladiator's Scaled thingo and the Arena one - do the set bonuses work if you have a mixture? What trinks would you use? Macros? Cunning ploys?

EDIT: Oooh and should I be messing with my PvE talents/glyphs? Are there changes I can make without too much impact on my PvE that will improve my PvP?

Sorry for the non-specific nature of the post, I'm just on the hunt for knowledge and there seems to be a lot of it here! :)

Post by DJC75

I PVP as prot, you'll get a lot of people saying it's not a viable spec, and for high level arena I'm sure they're right (still better than Ret though), but for casual Arena and BGs it's a lot of fun and you're very hard to kill. But if you want to be the most effective PVP-er you can be, Holy is the way to go.

It's not a hugely complex spec to play, but here are a couple of things that're working for me.

- It's worth glyphing your AS to daze targets, anything that helps you catch people is good. Personally I don't glyph it for the extra dmg on a single target as most of the time I have two or more on me and the other glyphs are too tasty, but you may want to do that for some extra single target burst.

- I macro Avenging Wrath and the +1520 STR trinket together, which increases our much needed burst although people do tend to leg it when they see the wings, whereas the trinket alone would prob be more subtle. It's a judgement call but with both up at once you can put out a surprising amount of hurt.

- I only use CS on single cloth wearing targets (maybe leather) anything harder than that and HotR's Holy component tends to give you more bang.

- More than most classes, hoard your cooldowns for that 'burst-'em-to-death' moment - we don't have a lot of burst and need to use it wisely, combine what you have with stuns and silences to keep 'em tied up while you whittle them down and hope for a Grand Crusader proc at an opportune moment.

- Resistance aura is usually a better choice than Dev or Ret - between resilience and the plate we're already well protected against physical damage. Add the Resistance Aura to your resilience and you have pretty good protection against spell damage too (I also glyph Divine Protection to drop the physical component in favour of more magic protection for this reason).

- Consecration I wouldn't bother with for the most part, no-one who might notice the damage will stay in it long. Never underestimate Turn Evil though, can sometimes be very handy.

- I'm pretty certain the stat bonuses from Arena and BG Gladiator will combine, but haven't tried it myself as yet.

- Build your burst as much as you can (I enchant for crit, for example, although I wouldn't drop resilience gems for it) but most of the time you're just gonna be grinding the buggers down.

I'm sure there's more...

Post by livlivliv

Wow, great tips! Thanks so much!

I have not yet used 'Turn Evil' despite repeatedly muttering to myself that I must remember to do so! Does it work on players? Presumably Horde only? And pets?

And yes, those damn wings are a dead giveaway. :)

Good call on the HotR - I had forgotten about the Holy damage component on top of that, and yeah, good point about the CDs. I need to get myself some trinks that focus on dealing damage rather than just migating it!

I had no idea you could glyph Divine Protection to protect against magic! Great idea! I will do that immediately, will probably be very helpful for PvE tanking too!

The biggest thing I'm struggling with is getting close enough to targets to actually hit them. Paladins run soooooo sllloooooooowwwwwwwllllyyyyyyy! Any ideas?

I seem to outlive most things, so you're right, I need to get my damage up :)

Thanks again! :D

EDIT: I haven't played Holy since L40! I could give it a go I guess...

Post by 341987

This post was from a user who has deleted their account.

Post by DJC75

Movement-wise, I assume you've got the 2pt Pursuit of Justice talent from the Ret tree? If not that's a compulsory PVP talent as it gives you +15% movement speed, plus a charge of HP each time you get stunned, rooted or feared.

Other than that all you've got for mobility is your trinket, hand of freedom and divine shield to protect from snares, fears, etc., Use them wisely.

Also don't underestimate AvSh as a gap-closing tool; having your target silenced and dazed for 3 seconds can help a lot when it comes to getting within thumping distance.

And if you're not already, glyph and talent your stun hammer for reduced cooldown and increased range. Well worth it for catching pesky kiters.

Post by livlivliv

/blush

No, I hadn't got that talent... I'll need to pull something out of my prot talents and get that, because frankly it's no bad thing for PvE either. I'm sure something can be sacrificed from prot for it.

Told you I was a noob!

Also, chatting to a protadin friend, he mentioned the Gnomish Rocket Boots, as well as a Gnomish Cloaking Device. I might level engineering and get them! Stealthed Pally? Hilarious. What do you reckon to them?

I'm pleased (relieved) to say that I had talented the stun. I don't think, however, that it's glyphed, so I will look into that! :D

And thanks xcrunner for the info on Turn Evil! I sense I may be changing glyphs a lot...

PvP Protadin - what would YOU do? I'm so SLOW!

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