Long Live the King

I've been looking for the pillars of the Paladin blogosphere, you know, the BRKs, Phaelias, and BBBs... In doing so, I found Palordin. So far, I like what I have been reading. However, she recently posted about Blessing of Kings. In her post (here) she says that Kings should be required for Tanks. In her comments, she also says that Ret paladins should also have it, and agrees that Holy probably should too.

I guess I just dont agree. But this is for me personally, and before I go into my specs, I wonder, in what situations, should a paladin not pick up Kings? In order to frame that question, we have to understand the history. Kings has been with us since sometime before I started playing, at that point, Blessing of Kings was the protection 11 point talent. It was with the release of Wrath of the Lich King that it was moved to tier one, but as a 5 point talent. (Split, as is required by the technology, into one one pointer, and another four pointer.)

But the interesting bit about the history of Kings is its efficacy over time. No one argues that a flat 10% increase to all stats is one of the best buffs in the game, the argument is whether it is the best buff. If it is truly the best buff, then Palordin is right, all paladins should have it. I am no longer convinced it is best. For some specs and classes, it absolutely is (warlocks, looking at you here.) But that fact tells us a lot. When BC came out, stats other than attributes became far more common, because of the new rating system. In other words, a much higher percentage of your crit chance came from your Critical Strike Rating than it did from Agility. In addition, as was always the case with Spell Damage and Healing (now Spell Power,) Attack Power has become a key stat, instead of being constructed almost entirely from Strength and/or Agility. Kings only helps those classes and specs that stack attributes, for the other classes, Kings is more of a questionable prospect.

I am not suggesting that Kings is not hugely beneficial, or even, in many situations, the best blessing out there. All I am saying, is that Blessing of Kings should be much more thoroughly inspected than it is.

But, all that discussion, however academic and intriguing, is entirely moot for most players. Most players need to be aware of the needs of their guilds or raids, not taking a rule of thumb as the gospel. Only one Paladin should be required to take Kings if there is more than one per raid. And for me personally, I do not take Kings in my Protection build.

I take Pursuit of Justice. That's because I am a freak. (Which, therefore, should make you wonder if you should have even listened to me about Kings in the first place.) This is my protection build. I love it, because for me, the build has to have a certain amount of me in it. I cannot stand cookie cutter builds.

For me, Pursuit of Justice more than makes up for the loss of some of the other talents I have to give up, and I have never had a problem doing my job. (Incedentially, the threat game is over, folks, why are we so focused on Seals of the Pure?) In addition, Pursuit of Justice helps me tank better in many situations where I am required to reposition myself or the boss. And the disarm reduction is a nice bonus, even if its largely meaningless.

There are required talents, so be sure, but Kings doesn't make you a lesser Tank, DPS/Battery, or Healer. Its incidental. We have never been stacked in a raid for it (that was for Salvation.) The buff itself is often not used when raids have no paladins. It is not required. But if you want it, take it, it has immense value. I value the player who makes the decision (one way or the other,) over the player who lets anyone tell them what to do, me included.

(Think about it... Get it?)