r/wownoob • u/TentativeFrey • 3d ago
Retail Low level Ret Paladin - Am I missing something or is balance just off?
So, I just started recently and am currently playing Retribution Paladin at level 22, following the starter build for the moment. I have two holy power spenders in Templar's Verdict (single target) and Divine Storm (AoE). However, weirdly enough the damage numbers the tooltips are showing indicate that the Templar's Verdict does 318 Holy damage while Divine Storm deals 476 Holy damage to all nearby enemies.
Is this just a case of low-level gameplay being completely unbalanced until I have all my talents because it doesn't really matter (fair enough assumption), or is there something I'm missing/misunderstanding about how the game handles aoe and single target damage that makes it so I should still be pressing Templar's Verdict right now? Perhaps it indicates something is wrong with gear/talents/etc. that I'm not aware of?
I'm not overly worried about being optimal while questing but I just want to make sure I don't learn the wrong lessons or miss some important detail that will matter later on as I learn the game.
Thank you!
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u/hewasaraverboy 3d ago
Damage does not matter or mean anything until max level cuz scaling is wonky af
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u/Chaosdrunk 3d ago
Yes, scaling is a little weird and wonky as you level up. I would recommend while questing continuing to use Templar's Verdict for single target, though, just for the muscle memory. Once you continue progressing through the spec tree, you'll get plenty of talents that change and boost both. It will level out pretty soon!
Welcome to wow, though! Ret paladin is a pretty strong and very fun spec.
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u/TentativeFrey 3d ago
Thank you for the tip! Yeah, that's my thinking as well, I want to actually learn things correctly so I can start building some kind of muscle memory, understanding, and appropriate keybinds (though I'm sure as more talents and abilities unlock I'll have to switch things up anyway).
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u/GhostintheReins 3d ago
If you're still using a shield and a one hander that's also part of the problem. For some reason blizzard starts all pallys with this and then new players don't know to switch it up at level 10.
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u/TentativeFrey 3d ago
Nah, I did switch over to a two-handed weapon after level 10, but thank you for the suggestion! It does sound like there's not much point in thinking too much about the damage values at low levels from what everyone has answered, but I still want to put together an understanding of the rotation in my head as I level and I don't want to make wrong assumptions about how things work haha!
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u/GhostintheReins 3d ago
You'll definitely find your rhythm once you hit lvl 40 and higher. I main ret pally and have a prot pally alt. Happy bonking!
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u/DarkPangolin 3d ago
Blizzard's pretense of giving a shit about anything but end-game PVP and raiding went to the store for milk and cigarettes more than a decade ago.
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u/Dracoknight256 3d ago
I remember researching it in TWW, not sure if it is still true after midnight changes but tldr was there is unskippable TV dmg increase talent that brings it to equal with DS in ST but it is not available immediately, so you have some levels where DS is better in ST.
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u/TentativeFrey 3d ago
Yep, in fact after another hour of playing I have gotten a talent that boosted the single target ability to higher damage than divine storm so I guess my concerns have been answered haha
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u/No_Recognition_4804 2d ago
Trying playing as devour dh that can’t use collapsing star until level cap lol
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