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Paladin Guide Paladin Tips Paladin Spells Paladin Raids Paladin PvP Paladin Tankadin Guide
Offspec Paladins for Dummies - How to Land a DPS Position in Raids
I know what many Paladins are unhappy about. Blizzard told them through their manuals and website that they are upholders of the Light and Virtue, and that they are powerful warriors that can heal wounded allies and an overall tough melee fighter, yet when it comes to reality Paladins found themselves healing and buffing in many cases and forced to specialize into the Holy talent tree. Paladins are almost never allowed to deal damage in raids or tank. This is because Paladins have one thing that many classes don't have, and that one thing is highly sought after: a healing spell. Why let the Paladin tank or DPS when its healing capabilities would benefit the raid more, right? Even if the Paladin’s damage was buffed to rival the Fury Warrior or Combat Rogue, I’m willing to bet the raid leader still won’t let you melee or tank. Why is that? Paladins may have the damage dealing capability of a Warrior or Rogue, but Warriors and Rogues still don’t, and never will, have the healing capability of a Paladin. Does that mean Paladins are stuck forever as healers, buff-bots, and supporters? Fear not. There are ways to convince your raid commander to give you a position as a front line fighter. You only need to know what to say and how to say it. Attitude has a lot to do with it.
As Retribution Damage Dealer
Convince your raid commander that you can help the raid by being in the front lines. You should almost never use the reason “because I can do tons of damage” as your primary excuse. Everyone knows that a large amount of the Paladin’s damage is luck dependant, and you’re just full of it if you say that you can help the raid through l33t damage. Don’t get me wrong, a Paladin can inflict insane amounts of damage if luck is on his/her side, but that’s the key word: if. Unlike a Fury Warrior or Rogue, you have almost no control over your damage dealing skills.
One reason that I've found to be very effective is Judgment of Light or Wisdom. Tell your raid commander that while in the front lines, you can judge the target with Light to passively heal the raid or Wisdom so you can restore the mana of casters and that you can keep it up throughout the duration of the fight. Usually, using the reason of Wisdom works best, since it is fairly common for spells to restore life through heals but rarely does a spell let you recover mana. What’s more convincing is that when Priests, an invaluable part of the raid, are running low on mana, they can wand the Judged target to gain back unbelievable amounts of mana in short durations so they can continue their heals. Mages and Warlocks have limited options to restore their mana in combat, unlike Hunters that can Feign Death and then drink or melee classes that can back up and bandage, and therefore Judgment of Wisdom works excellent there too.
Usually, the raid leader will let you in, but you can always push it further and use the secondary reason of aiding in the damage count. You should never boast about your damage and always be humble about it. This is what I usually say, “...yeah, and besides, while keeping the Judgment, up I can also contribute some (never say a lot) damage and, hey, every single point of damage counts, right?” Once you’re in, the fun begins! All you have to do is hold up your end of the bargain and Judge accordingly. After that, feel free to unleash your damage to the max (of course, waiting until after 5 Sunder Armors and after the raid leader tells DPS to go). Rarely, will you grab aggro since our damage is luck dependant, but as long as you don't have Righteous Fury on you should be fine. As you have fun dealing damage for a change, be sure to keep note of your Judgment, because there will be cases where you miss or your attack is dodged/parried and your Judgment fades. Getting stunned, knocked down, or feared can also cause the Judgment to expire.
As Protection Tank
Again, never boast about your tanking capabilities. Everyone knows that Paladins have limited capabilities as main tank, but perhaps you can convince your raid leader to let you off-tank alongside that Warrior. Paladins, as of right now, can never main tank in raids. I’m sorry to break it to you, but it’s basically impractical and nearly impossible unless you have about a minute to build hate while the rest of the raid waits for you...which is not happening. Tell them that, in the unlikely case where the main tank croaks, you will be the person that the mob will shift its hate towards and that can save a wipe and prevent a loose mob. Also, tell your raid leader to inform the healers of the raid that in the event where the main tank dies, they should shift heals primarily to you.
Still, there’s the question of “Why not let another Warrior pick it up?” I usually answer that question with the reason that if I’m tanking, this will free another Warrior from the job and he/she can continue to do insane amounts of damage, whereas if the Warrior was allowed pick it up, my damage as a Paladin wouldn’t even be half that of the Warrior's. I’m not going to go into detail about how to tank effectively, because if you want to tank for the raid chances are you’re already dying to prove your master tanking skills to everyone. If you do not know how to tank effectively, then why are you asking for a chance to tank?
With the 2.0 patch released, Retribution Paladins get even more nice excuses to DPS with Sanctified Crusader, and Protection Paladins get Righteous Defense. You can think of reasons of your own for that coveted position, but just remember: never boast about your damage, tanking efficiency, or healing (yes, even healing; Priests can completely obliterate you in that field). You may know in your mind and heart that you have the skills to beat Rogues in damage, Warriors in tanking, or Priests in healing, but that’s not what your raid commander wants to hear or believe. Good luck!
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