I've always played a Ret Paladin. So far this expansion my rotation is slow and clunky, often lots of downtime with nothing to press.
Depends how good you are and how geared you are. My rotation right now is almost always gcd locked minus charge weaving. Currently sitting at 25% haste in Uldir.
I run into dead spots still. My haste is about half of Penguinjim's. I have to be very aware of my rage or I'll easily rage starve. The only time the rotation feels bad is when I'm rage starved and I could be pressing buttons but can't because I don't have the rage. It makes me angry, but that doesn't fill my bar, which makes me angrier. It's an awful feedback loop of anger and annoyance until Skullsplitter comes off CD or I finally auto-attack, and then all is right with the world for the next GCD.
10/16/2018 09:08 AMPosted by PenguinjimDepends how good you are and how geared you are. My rotation right now is almost always gcd locked minus charge weaving. Currently sitting at 25% haste in Uldir.
Quick question Jim what azrite talents do you use in uldir right now I have 2 EP and one archives but i can switch it around to 1 EP one lord of war 1 Archie's or 2 archives one EP
Arms has to be very careful with resources. If you have less than 60 rage, or even if you have 60 rage but your next auto is 3 seconds away, don’t press Slam, you will starve. You just have to sit out a global and wait. Use Skullsplitter well if you take that talent and get a swing timer so you can see when your next auto will hit (giving rage).
Arms is not a spammy, GCD locked spec. Sometimes you can go ham for a bit and sometimes you can’t. It’s more about capitalizing on your burst windows and getting as much as you can into every warbreaker window and then biding your time and waiting for the next one. Always make sure you can press MS when it’s up (pool rage).
Ret paladin is a faceroll spec, resource is simple, mash your buttons, prance around like a sparkle fairy.
Arms is serious. :)
Arms is not a spammy, GCD locked spec. Sometimes you can go ham for a bit and sometimes you can’t. It’s more about capitalizing on your burst windows and getting as much as you can into every warbreaker window and then biding your time and waiting for the next one. Always make sure you can press MS when it’s up (pool rage).
Ret paladin is a faceroll spec, resource is simple, mash your buttons, prance around like a sparkle fairy.
Arms is serious. :)
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Slow as hell
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10/16/2018 09:49 PMPosted by Phattius10/16/2018 09:08 AMPosted by PenguinjimDepends how good you are and how geared you are. My rotation right now is almost always gcd locked minus charge weaving. Currently sitting at 25% haste in Uldir.
Quick question Jim what azrite talents do you use in uldir right now I have 2 EP and one archives but i can switch it around to 1 EP one lord of war 1 Archie's or 2 archives one EP
I am currently using 1 archive, 1 LoW, and 1 ToM. I desperately want to drop the ToM, but all my azerite pieces are 385, and dropping them for a slightly better trait isn't worth the strength loss. Just sim each setup on a boss by boss basis.
1 archive is about as good as LoW minus reorigination array on single target, but LoW is obviously great on AoE. EP is best for single target, but trash on AoE. Just swap on a fight by fight basis.
10/16/2018 09:08 AMPosted by PenguinjimDepends how good you are and how geared you are. My rotation right now is almost always gcd locked minus charge weaving. Currently sitting at 25% haste in Uldir.
This, im always pressing buttons in uldir, there are a few moments where im not hitting something for a second, but thats because im dealing with a swing timer for backing out and charging back in for more rage.
Running with a DH in M+ keys he always asks me, "God, how is Arms warrior fun? I never see you doing a lot." But I absolutely murder his dps on big aoe pulls and I do quite well in single target, albeit, behind him a bit. Arms is chunky. At 20% haste I'm around 28% haste in Uldir and I never have a down moment. Last night it all came together in timing windows and I was able to pull off my best night, logging 17-19k on cleave bosses like Vectis and Zek'vozz.
Arms is not spammy but it isn't as dull as my DH pal makes it seem. I get to avoid mechanics like eye beam really quick with heroic leap and I maneuver well enough that my guild loves seeing me in action. After sitting behind our Frost DK and Ele Shaman for 3 weeks I'm finally on top of our meters.
Comes down to how well you cleave during your burst moments and how well you utilize skullsplitter. I ran x2 LoW instead of x2 Archive as well last night. Made those warbreakers hit for 70k at times.
Arms is not spammy but it isn't as dull as my DH pal makes it seem. I get to avoid mechanics like eye beam really quick with heroic leap and I maneuver well enough that my guild loves seeing me in action. After sitting behind our Frost DK and Ele Shaman for 3 weeks I'm finally on top of our meters.
Comes down to how well you cleave during your burst moments and how well you utilize skullsplitter. I ran x2 LoW instead of x2 Archive as well last night. Made those warbreakers hit for 70k at times.
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10/16/2018 09:08 AMPosted by PenguinjimDepends how good you are and how geared you are. My rotation right now is almost always gcd locked minus charge weaving. Currently sitting at 25% haste in Uldir.
Jim, Can you give a run down of your rotations pls? Or a link of any guide that you follow.
11/14/2018 08:30 AMPosted by TigahhJim, Can you give a run down of your rotations pls? Or a link of any guide that you follow
Icyveins/wowhead.
11/14/2018 08:30 AMPosted by Tigahh10/16/2018 09:08 AMPosted by PenguinjimDepends how good you are and how geared you are. My rotation right now is almost always gcd locked minus charge weaving. Currently sitting at 25% haste in Uldir.
Jim, Can you give a run down of your rotations pls? Or a link of any guide that you follow.
The guides on Icyveins and Wowhead are a good place to get a foundation, but I wouldn't exactly say I "follow them." There are certain liberties that I take and additional things that I do that the guide doesn't mention, so I'll give you a rundown of what I do with respect to those things. I can't really give an overall rotation guide because there's so many variables with things like azerite traits, so I really can't cover everything in one novel of a post.
Some things I do differently from the guide, or things the guide doesn't mention (I don't think):
Charge Weaving - Get a swing timer addon (I use Quartz, but I think you can get a Weak Aura or TellmeWhen for this). When you are low on rage or pooling rage, walk out of melee range after an auto attack and charge back in for more rage. If done correctly, you should get back to the target just in time to swing again. This is tricky with haste buffs, especially bloodlust, because your auto attack will typically be too fast, and you'll actually lose out on damage in the long run.
Overpower in Execute Phase - The guide says to use Overpower whenever it procs in the execute phase, but in practice, that isn't what you should be doing. You should only use Overpower to keep yourself above 40 rage. If I'm at 100 rage, and I press Execute, I'm still going to have like 80 rage. Why would I want to Overpower again when I have a stupid amount of rage? The execute phase is about getting as many executes as possible in that limited window before the fight is over. More executes also means more Warbreakers and Bladestorms due to AM.
Skullsplitter - The guide says to use Skullsplitter at 60 rage, but what you should actually do is use it whenever it isn't going to rage cap you. I assume the reason it says use when below 60 rage is because if someone uses it as soon as they are about to auto attack, they are going to go over 100 rage - so basically, it's just a simpler way of telling people how to do it. If you just auto attacked and you're at like 70 rage, you'll be able to get a Skullsplitter and then another GCD in to dump your rage before you hit 100.
Also, just some general helpful tips: The biggest things you can do to improve your dps is abusing the strengths we have, namely burst AoE and cleave. Always make sure you have your CDs up for add spawns, and use SS to cleave executes onto multiple targets. Also, if a bunch of adds are in execute range, tab target execute all of them to give them deep wounds.
Sometimes you have to ignore Test of Might (if you have it) for adds that are only going to last like 10 seconds, so you just Warbreaker and Bladestorm instead of following the ToM rotation. You also might have to drop Overpower from your rotation for a bit to spend rage faster to get your cooldowns up for a pack of adds.
For anything I didn't mention, check out the guides on Wowhead or Icy veins, or just ask.
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11/14/2018 09:32 AMPosted by PenguinjimThe guides on Icyveins and Wowhead are a good place to get a foundation, but I wouldn't exactly say I "follow them." There are certain liberties that I take and additional things that I do that the guide doesn't mention, so I'll give you a rundown of what I do with respect to those things. I can't really give an overall rotation guide because there's so many variables with things like azerite traits, so I really can't cover everything in one novel of a post.
Thank you Jim for such detailed notes. Much appreciated !!
Jim,
Let’s assume all my talent, my gear Azerite Traits are correct.
Please comment on my rotation for Uldir boss fight.
I start out with warbreaker and Bladestorm.
Then I use MS when it become available and use skullsplitter when low on rage.
whenever MS is on cool down. i use overpower. or slam. (I think i may use too much slam during this phase. how do you use this spell? )
During execute phase, I use execute as much as possible and then MS or overpower. I am always running low on rage during execute phase.
I will try to include charge weaving into my rotation.
Am i missing anything here?
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How is arms rotation? Umm slow and clunky! Shelved my warrior b.c of it.
How much have you played ret recently? Not attacking you in the slightest, friend, but I’m genuinely curious.
Ret paladin is a gcd locked slogfest that is only offset by the slow simple rotation in that it hits like a fully loaded 18 wheeler hauling a full cargo of Ford minivans.
Well, yeah. But better than being eternally resource starved as a rogue for me personally!
I don’t feel half as starved as a rogue vs arms warrior.
10/10 post, spot on!
Open with charge->Warbreaker->Mortal Strike->Bladestorm->Mortal strike
From then on, MS on cooldown, which is every fourth GCD. The cooldown is exactly 3 GCDs, so you can use it every fourth. OP whenever it procs, Slam anytime you’re ~50 rage or more. Skullsplitter when below 60 rage. This is all covered in the guides he and I mentioned.
In execute, without EP traits, you never ever MS. With EP traits, you MS at 2 EP stacks, regardless of your OP stacks.
With or without EP, you always use OP whenever it procs in execute, unless doing so will rage cap you. Bladestorm in execute when below 30 rage, WB on cooldown, SkS same as normal.