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?)

Prot Pally 11-pointer?

I'm going to touch on a concern I have had since beta. Protection Paladins are the only class not to have an "11-pointer." Which is defined as a talent with a single point investment, that is usually a "clicky," or activated power (but not always.) We used to have one, Blessing of Kings. But that talent got a new treatment to make it more readily available.

We were left with a hole in that spot, a hole that has still not been filled. Occasionally, this concern has resurfaced on the forums, most recently, Ghostcrawler has replied to these concerns with this...

You imply however that these talents are all active abilities you click. This is not the case. There are several exceptions to the basic design where there is a new ability at 11, 21, 31, 41 and 51. We will give Protection and Holy new abilities in those slots if we think you need them or we have some hole to fill. (source)

Respectfully, I disagree.... The problem isn't that he descent address the concern, almost every time people ask for a "11 pointer," they are asking for an "11 point clicky." I am sure plenty of people are assuming it has to be a clicky, but there is a bigger problem with having no 11 pointer... It reduces the power of our spec. Every spec in the game, except ours, has a one point talent on that tier that provides a sizable bonus for its cost. Some of these talents are immensely popular, some are not, popularity does not enter into it. The point is, for a single point, you get a talent that would usually be costed at multiple points.

A clicky is fine, but to say that "Well, we don't see a real fit for a new clicky, therefore, you don't need a 11 pointer," Is to assume that people don't understand the basic structure of talent trees; which, a lot of people don't. In case people are curious, here are all the 11 pointers in the game. Death Knight

Rune Tap - Lichborne - Corpse Explosion

Druid

Nature's Splendor (passive) - Survival Instincts - Omen of Clarity (passive)

Hunter

Aspect Mastery (passive) - Aimed Shot - Scatter Shot

Mage

Focus Magic - Pyroblast - Icy Veins

Paladin

Aura Mastery (passive) - Ohnoez! - Seal of Command

Priest

Inner Focus - Desperate Prayer - Mind Flay

Rogue

Vigor (passive) - Riposte - Ghostly Strike

Shaman

Elemental Focus (passive) - Shamanistic Focus (passive) - Tidal Force

Warlock

Amplify Curse (passive) - Soul Link - Shadowburn

Warrior

Anger Management (passive) - Piercing Howl - Last Stand

That is 29 11-pointers, of those a total of 9 are passive. Every class that has had their former 11-pointer moved or removed were reimbursed with another. Of the classes, it seems to me that the druids changed the most, with only one of their 11-pointers remaining the same, but I could be wrong. Point is, its not only clear that there is a precedence, its also clear that this precedence was upheld almost religiously, except for the prot pally. I am not a believer in just bitching, however, so here are some non-clicky suggestions. Make Improved Righteous Fury a one pointer, with its current 3 point bonus, even without adding something to it, this would be a totally legitimate way to go. Obviously, I would like to see more, like; "When Righteous Fury is active, the Paladin may use Exorcism on any target, and that target is forced to focus attacks on you for 6 sec." Okay, I admit, a little weird, a single pointer that effects two spells? How about an all new one-pointer, "Glory - When struck, the paladin has a XX% chance to gain the "Glory" buff, which reduces the damage taken by the paladin and the party by XX%, lasts 5 seconds." This doesn't fit well with Ardent Defender or Divine Guardian, speaking of... Make Divine Guardian a single pointer. I could come up with more, and I am not an expert, Blizzard has tons of experts, and they cant do anything? If we really as a spec don't need anything new, half of my suggestions are making existing talents into one-pointers. Cmon Blizzard...