With up coming changes In Shadowlands for Frost DK being able to either duel wielding 1handers or one 2hander and with Fury Warriors being able go either Single Minded Fury(dual wielding one handers) or Titans Grip(dual wielding 2handers).
I believe it would be a good time(with addition of Shield of the Righteous)to give Ret the option of either going 2hander or Sword and Shield for dps.(Or at least the option for Prot to sword n board dps)
Shield of the Righteous could then be changed for ret to be a single target offensive ability. Or another shield base attack added to replace Templar’s Verdict when going Sword n board.
They could also go as far as to change Blade of Justice to a shield throw(same range though and single target using the Avenger’s shield animation) when using a single hander and shield.
Also having something like this would also make it easier to collect gear for all three specs. As your Sword and Shield could then be used for all three.
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While I like having more options, I’m not sure we can make it work.
Also, have Retribution Paladins ever had shield & one-hand/dual wielding throughout history of WoW?
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If they can make it work for Frost DK and Fury Warriors, I don’t see this being anymore difficult.
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It simply just scaling, most attacks aren’t based off weapon damage anymore. The melee difference between 2hander and 1hander would the only real scaling issue
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1h/shield void spec paladin dps “void sworn”
they use a shield for their own defense, not to defend others like a protection paladin does, hence them being a dps.
I can always dream.
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You also have to factor in the defense and PvP complications. Having the defensive value of the shield + competitive DPS numbers I imagine would make for an OP build.
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Imagine how angry would all the Wariors who want Gladiator Stance be if this was instead given to Paladins 
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Hardly, the armor value and block value on the shield aren’t that significant to make that much of a difference. And very few classes do that much physical damage anyway.
I advocated for years for paladins to have a sword n board dps spec. Only for blizzard to give it to warriors instead(if only for a short time)
Warriors already have a unique dps style in the form of Titans Grip(dual wielding 2handers). I don’t see why paladins shouldn’t be allowed to have something unique too.
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Sure, but try using reason on a raging forum poster.
*Not saying you are wrong, but doesn’t change the fact that there would definitely be many raging angry Gladiator Warrior supporters.
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Well rage literally is what Warriors do, so let them rage lol.
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I would love to have a sword and board dps spec for Ret. If not that then at least remove the two-hand requirement for some retribution attacks so I can have the option to equip a one-hand and shield. If they do make a separate spec for it, they may as well make one for warriors too, or give them back Glad stance since they were doing sword and board dps first.
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I’d actually like to get 2h/shield spec for warriors over 1h/shield personally.
plenty of people keep bringing up how guards are able to use spears and shields but not players, a 2h/shield spec would allow polearms and shields to finally be used together. Animations might need to be tweaked somewhat to not look funky.
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Not too much. Just make spears being used one handed use dagger animations for all the stabbing goodness.
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This is an amazing idea and I love it.
…which is exactly why blizzard will not implement it. Sorry to bring that bad news, but an idea this fun and cool is never going to happen because the soulless losers at this company that have only taken over rather than created it do NOT care about making the game good. They care about money and literally nothing else.
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Blizzard does listen, its just depends on how they act upon it.
The downside would be having to play the one that does more damage even if you prefer the other one.
Yeah that’s true, but I guess it depends on how much of a difference there is. It would also depend on what kind of drops one would also get too, with obtaining a 2hander being the easiest route.
But usually those people who care about min maxing, don’t tend to concern themselves with things like aesthetics.
I am all for this line of thought as previously mentioned. And I think as far as the block value, it could be “greyed out” the same way intellect is on weapons and such. that way, if you go Prot, the block value will be added, but if dps, then it will be greyed out.
Along with that, you could have a dps boost on the shield that only applies to dps that would obviously be greyed out if you go Prot. That might be a way to help mitigate the potential defense increase to a dps class that isn’t supposed to be there.
Side note: I think it would be really cool if Blizzard started having Flails show up as a weapon. Also known as a mace with a ball and chain.
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so I don’t play holy at all, but how do they handle using a shield? they can still block with it and stuff right? (when not casting of course)
I don’t particularly see why it should be any different for a theoretical shield dps spec. They should have nowhere near the block chance of tanks, so the occasional block shouldn’t really effect balance much.
some of the artifact skins proved that they could do flails if they really wanted to.
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