22 through 24, experiences thus far, and abilities!

(Sorry for the lack of screenshots in this one. I'll get some for the next, I promise!)

Heyo! Sorry for the delay in our broadcast folk, one woman team and real life can really throw a spanner in the works. Anywho, lets get down to business shall we?

At this point, I'm begining to have a few mana troubles. Mana just isnt regenning as quick as it used to, and I'm spending it at an enormous rate in comparison to just 6 or 7 levels ago. New abilities such as Hand of Reckoning, Consecration and Exorcism are a real tug on mana, on top of the occasional need to heal.

Luckily there's a lot I can do about it! Ever heard of AoE grinding? Paladins can do it too, and its a really efficient way to get stuff done.

Slap on my shield, and my weapon, go round up a bunch of mobs (ones that dont cast spells, poison you, or shoot you with a gun/bow are preferable), and consecrate their asses into the ground. I can kill one mob in 7~ seconds, or I can kill 5-7 mobs in 20 seconds! This is mana intensive but it is efficient also.

Something else I can do about my mana consumption is get more intellect. Intellect is something you're going to love at higher levels. For now, all it does is give us 15 mana for every point as well as giving us a little extra spell crit.

It isnt easy (read: impossible outside of random BoEs) to find intellect on mail or even leather at this level, so I'll be trying to get it on my weapon, cloaks, rings.. that type of stuff. I'm not going to be afraid of it if it has spirit on it either, spirit scales okay at this level and serves to regen my mana a little whilst soloing. At the worst, if I must use cloth, I'll try to get cloth bracers, belts, boots or a helm with a decent amount of intellect on it. Armor is important though, so I'll be trying to avoid that.

Something else I can do to sort out my mana, while I'm in a healing role in a group, is get up close and personal and melee for Judgement of Wisdom procs. Each successful roll of the random number generator 3000 sees me restoring a percentage of my mana. Very important not to forget about healing though, which I've embarrasingly almost forgot to do once or twice.

Its important to remember that Paladins are NOT Priests. Despite being technically "defensive", there are many reasons for a Holy Paladin to play offensively in a PvE environment, especially at end game. Some of the best holy paladins I know (including myself, hurr) regen most of their mana through offensive purposes, rather than wasting cooldowns or mana pots.

Oh dear I've completely derailed off of the topic. Anyway, where was I?

Right. Something else I've been experiencing is that mobs are begining to hit a lot harder, which is resulting in me needing to toss the occasional heal now and then, especially whilst AoE grinding or even just attacking 2 or 3 mobs. Luckily, not skimping out on the armor or shield is keeping the damage low and managable, to a degree no one else could manage at this level save for a warrior, and.. they can't heal themselves.

And, outside of gameplay, something else I've come to understand is the following equation:


X = Any level below 70
Y = IQ of the average player
Z = 2 if the player is a DPS, 1 if they're a healer or tank.

(X=Y)/Z

People are -IDIOTS- at this level. Absolute BLITHERING IDIOTS. Practically everyone is a ninja, loot whore, jealous, butt hurt asshole. I was in a Deadmines group piecing together the parts required for my Verigan's Fist (I'll be making a post on that quest chain when I get to the end of it but so far its been rather unpleasant due to the playerbase), where I'd gotten lucky on a number of green BoE drops, for healing and tanking. I made sure no one else wanted the item in question before rolling. Anyway, we get to Van Cleef, kill him, and Cape of the Brotherhood drops! Ensuring the DPS warrior in our group didnt need the cape in question, I quite happy rolled need. A new tanking cloak, yay!

Or not.

Bubblebum rolls 54 on Cape of the Brotherhood
Butthurtpriesthealer rolls 76 on Cape of the Brotherhood.
Butthurtpriesthealer wins Cape of the Brotherhood.

Naturally, I remained calm. I'd assumed it may have been an error, I mean.. why would a PRIEST want agility? The 2 stamina.. meh? But no. "Ooh, it looks pretty. But.." The bitch disenchanted it -on the spot- because she claimed I won "75% of the instance drops". Thats just pot luck, and I made absolutely certain NO ONE else required the items I won.

So, a quick slash-ignore followed by a Hearth, followed by a good luck salute in party chat wishing them well on the last boss, and I was back in the Wetlands. I'm told their DPS warrior left the group, leaving the priest, a warlock and a rogue without a tank. I'm hoping they wiped though that isnt likely.

I've yet to find a Shadowfang Keep run for my Blacksmith Hammer though I've got the Kor Gem thing, so almost there.

Anyway, some of the items I've obtained, both within that DM run and without include...

Defender Cloak of the Bear (World BoE drop, from Deadmines) Using for DPS/Tanking
Defender Bracers of the Bear (World BoE drop, from AH) Using for DPS/Tanking
Impaling Harpoon (From Captain Greenskin, of Deadmines. Using for DPS
Fortified Boots of the Eagle (World BoE drop, from AH) Using for Tanking/Healing
Ring of Silver Might (Crafted by Jewelcrafters, Bought on the AH) Using for Tanking/DPS
Ring of Twilight Shadows (Crafted by Jewelcrafters, Bought on the AH) Using for Tanking/Healing
Polar Gauntlets (from Quest: Underground Assault) Using for DPS
Thief's Blade (from Mr. Smite of Deadmines) Using for Tanking
Rhahk'Zor's Hammer (From Rhak'Zor of Deadmines) Using for Tanking-if-the-healer-is-bored.

See Bubblebum's armory for what she's currently equipped in (Most likely the gear she uses for soloing).

ABILITIES!

Yes, its ability time. The following are abilities learned from the Paladin trainer at levels 22 and 24. And without further delay..

Concentration Aura - This aura is used mostly for PvP purposes, though sometimes used while you're tanking an add in a PvE encounter. It reduces the delay in casting recieved every time a mob whacks you whilst your casting abilities. Situationally awesome.. useless most of the time. Very important PvP ability though.

Seal of Justice - Not to be seen as an alternative to Seal of Righteousness, this is more a situational little tool for when you want to interrupt a caster, or even stop them in their tracks if their kiting you and you're still in melee range. Switch to this when you're up against a caster or healer, player or otherwise, and it'll stun them sporadically for a brief period of time. Unreliable but its all you've got to stop casts unless you're a Blood Elf other than Hammer of Justice. Also useful against melee if they hit particularly hard and you'd rather reduce that damage a bit without attempting to outright kill them.

And finally

Turn Evil - This is a handy little ability in PvP, as well as situationally being useful whilst soloing. Up against a warlock? Rather they'd not have the use of their demon for a bit? Fear it. Useful against Death Knights too, Death Knights which we'll cover much later.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave criticism, comments, and views in a comment. Twitter feed still down I'm afraid, its behaving oddly.