Spooncraft

Dear Spoon,

I have a problem. I am a level 70 Draenei Paladin who wants to raid. Problem is my main spec is retribution, and no one lets me in because “retribution sucks”. I’ve asked some guildmates, but they just keep saying switching to holy or protection. But I can’t stand being holy, I’ve been holy for 30 levels and I couldn’t stand it.

I don’t want to switch my spec at all, please help!

Been a while since I got a legit question sent my way. Most of the time it’s people asking if I have a private server or if I can give them access to the Beta or something. But this here, good question, pretty classic too.

First of all knowing your armory would be good but not exactly 100% necessary. The best thing to do right away is to identify what type of guild you’re in. If you’re mixed in with the hardcore crowd where people will min/max their entire raid and run spreadsheets every attempt, you may want to rethink your position. But let’s focus more on your spec and core problem.

You hate Holy and don’t feel comfortable with Protection as far as a Paladin. I have a Lv. 68 Paladin and if I can be 100% honest, I can’t stand him anymore. There have been time though first hand where I saw the sheer power than can come out as a group DPS. The catch 22 would be that Ret Paladins are VERY reliant on their itemization. You need to reach the hit cap and then start working on raw attack power and crit more than anything else. Also you need to think that as an Alliance Paladin you don’t have Seal of Blood and right now the biggest (and only) real DPS seal you have would be Seal of Command. On their own with solid gear and a good rotation and some sheer luck with command procs; Ret Paladins are pretty respectable DPS.

However.

If your guild or group is hurting for a tank or healer but has 5 rogues 7 hunters and god knows how many other damage dealers, then it’s not a question of what spec you are it’s a fact that DPS is just not needed. People who say “ret sucks” are just exercising their right to be complete fucking idiots, if you pardon my language. My best advice for you (without knowing your spec, raid progressions, goals, or gear) would be to stick it out and try to run content with friends. I had to start my own guild and lead every raid and 5-man as I leveled my Alliance Shaman because nobody would take an Enhancement shaman until the general mob of unthinking sheep (general forums) decided “oh, enhancement shaman is leading the DPS charts every single time… wow… maybe they don’t suck after all.”

Take comfort in knowing that when Wrath of the Lich King comes out Ret paladins are going to be as strong in utility as shadow priests are right now, able to deal the amount of damage (if not more) than warriors do currently, and can still heal when they need to for emergencies. You see A LOT of Ret. Paladins in the Beta right now for good reason.

Give me some followup information if you could like an armory link and what your goals are as well as where you sit raiding (T4, T5, T6, PVP?) and I’ll try to be more helpful.