Retribution Tree in Latest Build

#0 - Aug. 5, 2010, 10:08 a.m.

<3 You guys. It feels like you listened almost exactly to my reasoned suggestions. This is why Iove Blizzard, people don't give them enough credit.

The Art of War change is exactly what I would have done :).

This tree feels like I have choice, and is a lot more fun for it! I can even take Improved Hammer of Justice if I wanted, without losing DPS.

I do have two feedback points though (if I'm not being greedy, I really am happy with this tree :D) :
-Improved Judgement: Still feels crap. 3 points is a lot and 5% damage to a single ability per talent point is definitely not an impact you are going to feel, yet as damage it'd be silly not to take it. I'd like to see it be 2 points to fit the flow of the tree better, and I'd like to see it do something to the Judgement debuff in addition to the damage, if only a minor healing boost or something.
-Swift Retribution: Gone or not? I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I was quite looking forward to this one. I'm hoping it's just a data error and we'll see it return.

Keep up the good work!

#20 - Aug. 5, 2010, 9:04 p.m.

Q u o t e:
-Improved Judgement: Still feels crap. 3 points is a lot and 5% damage to a single ability per talent point is definitely not an impact you are going to feel, yet as damage it'd be silly not to take it. I'd like to see it be 2 points to fit the flow of the tree better, and I'd like to see it do something to the Judgement debuff in addition to the damage, if only a minor healing boost or something.

You'll like the new Improved Judgement. :)

Q u o t e:
Holy Wrath, I like that this now generates holy power. I'm just hoping the devs will implement a mechanic through either a talent, baseline or glyphs that will make sure this doesn't end up being a frustrating filler attack. I'm concerned that the dps will be wasted on fights like Ignis (where any dps on the adds that doesn't exceed 5K when they are brittle is a waste) or times where we don't have an AoW proc and have to let the a GCD go unused to prevent breaking CC.

We changed Divine Purpose yet again (and probably not for the last time) so that it gives Holy Power on almost all specials. This is one of the major sources of unpredictability in the rotation, so we need to get the numbers right where getting extra Holy Power is fun and that the more skilled players can utilize it better.

We actually want Holy Wrath to feel like a filler. The reason is that we think it's bad gameplay when players have absolutely no gaps in their rotation. Our encounters get increasingly complex to the point where we often ask you to worry about extra things beyond your core rotation. We also don't want things that break up your rotation (like say a knockback or fear) to be horribly punitive (it can be punitive, but shouldn't destroy your dps relative to someone else's).

To use the specific example, Ret isn't going to want to skip over a Crusader's Strike or Templar's Verdict opportunity except under extreme duress. But missing a Holy Wrath once in awhile won't be devastating. It might be a dps loss, but it won't crater your dps. We want all of the classes to have the occasional GCD with nothing going on, so long as it is truly occasional and not constant. This is less important with casters because they do have short periods while casting to look around and notice the state of the encounter. With the live DKs for example, there is absolutely no time to do anything but mash buttons, or the whole rotation collapses.