Doing this in a list format because I have a lot of ideas but don’t want it to be a wall of paragraphs -
(1) Ret currently crushes it in solo shuffle, is strong in 3’s, and is awful in 2’s. That actually feels right that paladin utility shines in larger and more chaotic formats, but I wish something were done to ease our suffering in 2’s (ideally without homogenization).
(2) I appreciate the devs trying to make crit a more useful and interesting stat, but we won’t get to enjoy these changes in PvP since crit is nerfed by 50% there. Unfortunate
(3) Judgment of Justice should be a talent node: both talents do the exact same thing, except one snares the target by 30% while the other limits the target’s movement speed to 100%. I could say a lot about this idea, but to keep it brief, without something like this Ret will be in hell next xpac trying to dismount anyone in Battleground Blitz.
(4) I don’t have much to say about the hero talents without testing them out with my own hands. But thematically, I think the devs are missing a big opportunity to make a lightning paladin. Fire paladin is obviously the right side of the Ret tree and the Herald tree, but holystrike should be holy / nature rather than holy / physical, Divine Storm should have its original lightning animation added back, and Templar should reinforce all of this.
(5) Divine Steed is thematically wanting as well: isn’t it really just Sprint with a fancy graphic? Why doesn’t it do anything you’d expect a horse to do? Where is the impact? I think Cavalier should be part of a talent node, and the other talent should add some utility.
(6) Final Verdict / Justicar’s Vengeance is another missed opportunity. Why is JV so bad? Forget about all of the stun and Hammer of Wrath stuff; why isn’t the choice simply range or sustain?
(7) Templar Strikes will always feel like bloat no matter how it’s adjusted. Why not scrap it, but salvage the good part by moving the two-hit combo to Blade of Justice? Let Crusader Strike rest in peace
(8) Execution Sentence / Final Reckoning should be merged into one ability. Solves ST vs. AoE bs, etc
(9) Divine Toll shouldn’t target enemies affected by Blinding Light. Swirling hammers spawned by Hammer of Wrath should be tagged to not break Blinding Light.
(10) Repent should have a 1.5-sec cast like Evoker Sleep Walk (the standard for CC is 1.7 sec). Repent is a fun talent, but Blinding Light is generally the preferred choice. A small buff might go a long way.
(11) Ret is great in PvP right now, but at the same time its PvP talent design is atrocious. Aura of Reckoning, Blessing of Sanctuary, and Searing Gaze are all well-designed, but…
- Hallowed Ground could be replaced with a talent that reduces Freedom’s cooldown to 15 sec and its duration by half (good against mages)
- Judgments of the Pure is mindless. It could be replaced with an upgrade to Cleanse Toxins (removes bleeds with a longer CD?)
- Lawbringer is also mindless. Replace it with something new
- Luminescence can remain our one boring PvP talent, but seeing as how it’s already active 99.9% of the time, I’d remove the arbitrary healing requirement so that it’s simply “Allies within your aura gain 2% increased damage and healing”
- Spreading the Word is a great concept that just needs to be fleshed out. Spellwarding currently reduces physical damage when it should obviously reduce magic damage, while Sanctuary could be included in the talent so that it also dispels a second ally within your aura affected by the same CC (Psychic Scream, for example. The Holy talent Cleanse the Weak already works like this)
- Ultimate Retribution is a fun idea that doesn’t work in practice. Replace it with something new. PvP talents are a place where paladin 2v2 woes can be, if not remedied, at least mitigated
(12) Unbreakable Spirit should no longer reduce the cooldowns of DP and SoV (these can be balanced at the baseline). Rather, it should apply to BoP and Spellwarding, perhaps with Spellwarding starting as a 6 min CD. Unbreakable Spirit could then read: “Reduces the cooldown of your Forbearance abilities by 30%.” I prefer this design to Improved BoP, which I think should be removed or replaced.
(13) Word of Glory and Flash of Light, core abilities learned on the road to level 10, have almost been designed out of Ret PvP. I think the PvP modifiers of both WoG and Healing Hands should be toned down to -30%, Guided Prayer should trigger slightly sooner at 30%, and Light’s Celerity should make FoL instant once every 10 sec without adding a cooldown
(14) I’ve only played the last couple months of Dragonflight and so I missed the OP Ret patch. Maybe someone can explain to me why Avenging Wrath: Might was nerfed out of PvP? I enjoy Crusade and am glad it’s viable, but why must 1-min CD Wings be garbage? I suggest relaxing the PvP modifier to -25%, see where that takes us.
(15) Auras gotta go, at least as active abilities. When we run Ret Aura, we’re actually not allowed to switch auras! I understand it works this way so we don’t have to aura twist every 30 sec, but surely that proves that auras belong as talented passives. Dev and Ret Aura could share a talent node, with Holy and Prot getting the former for free and Ret the latter, while switching to the “non-spec aura” requires spending a point. Bake Crusader Aura into Ret Aura, and Conc into Dev; these secondary auras aren’t that powerful after all. That’s four keybinds redeemed. Totally passive auras can still be interesting, just take my earlier suggestion for Spreading the Word…
(16) And lastly, there are just a lot of dead talents in the class tree. It honestly needs something of an overhaul. Some are designed without any thought whatsoever to Ret, but even if they were any good, where would we find the points for utility talents after the final gate when Seals of Might, Alacrity, and the Crusader hog so many points? Just like the original Ret tree wasn’t, the paladin tree still isn’t designed well at all.
(17) Oh, and can we do something about Turn Evil? Make it instant with a 30-sec CD, or redesign it to Exorcism: Touch of Death for demons, undead, and aberrations.
