Daddy's got a new... 45

Actually its a 51. a 51 point talent called... Divine Storm. It should really be called Hammer Storm, or Storm of Hammers because that's basically what i see when i use it, a bunch of yellow hammers swirling around me (supposedly hitting things within range).

And i've used it ever since hitting 60 and am loving it in groups. Its pretty much an attack for groups, but like seal of command, it still attacks single mobs as well. Althought i will not use divine storm until i've exhausted all other options when fighting one on one, i will use it as it does cause damage. Some say its a waste of mana. but who cares. i get mana back all the time. this shouldnt be a problem.

So with this new ability, i went into instances and, throughout several instances, got the hang of this ability really quick. with multiple mobs, this spell comes out right after my judgement of wisdom. sometimes i put consecrate down but for the "snap" effect on me, especially when im running after mobs who are after the healer, divine storm grabs them pretty quick. this annoys the tanks tho, since they were planning on pulling mobs off the healer, yet i figured its much better that i get hit instead of the healers anyway.

Some tanks just cant hold aggro and i have to wait a few seconds before i begin my onslaught. but still, seeing that the tank grab a group or two only invites constant AoE damage everywhere. the mage knows it, the warlock knows it. the other dk knows it as well as the hunter. they all know to use blizzard, rain of fire, dnd or volley when the tank stops. that's all i see. and i add to the madness with divine storm, seal of command and consecrate. its crazy awesome dps really.

divine storm works with my seals. so i tried seal of righteousness. it was ok. my dps dropped significantly so i will go back to seal of command even though divine storm does not work with seal of command. i mean it works. it just doesnt "work" as in, i dont get seal of command procs from three mobs at once, just one. this works fine, and my dps is pretty good. low on mana? go to seal of wisdom, hit divine storm and my mana bar will increase about 40%. then switch back to seal of command to recommence the ass-kicking.

I can see why some tanks get upset at me when i dps. its really really fun and yet it takes a bit of patience to start the mayhem. however, there are tanks who are really good and are able to keep the mobs on them better than others. i love running with these tanks because i am able to just run amuck and have a blast. they make running dungeons really fun. whenever i do grab a mob, if i find that i can handle/kill them before they kill me, i will usually stay on the mob and attack it. I know this is bad come northrend instances but for now, its fun so lets keep it that way. i still keep judgement of wisdom on cooldown along with divine storm*. crusader strike is in there but it is not so bad if i prioritize it after everything else. yes, its dead last on my priority list.

Here's a list of my priorities now:
1. Judgement of Wisdom
2. Divine Storm/Consecrate
3. AoW-Exo
4. Hammer of Wrath
5. Crusader Strike

Since my consecrate is glyphed, i will use DS/Consecrate in tandem, one after the other.
If the mobs have ample health and i can do an instant Exorcism, i will. if they are nearing death, i will use Hammer of Wrath and save the insta-exo for the next mob.
I will then use crusader strike if everything else is not available, which is still quite often. For example: After running into a group and hitting judgement of Wis on a mob, DS/Consecrate, i watch for AoW. if its not there and the mob's not at 20% health yet, i will hit CS. nothing else to hit really. so CS it is!

Im still running with retribution aura, but with fire resist at the last boss of BF and ramps.
Having DS is so much fun now. and with the ret resource management system ingrained in me since level 1, i am able to best use this ability with my other seals. i must admit tho, if i did get this spell at lower levels, like level 10, or 20 or 40, i would be misusing it as a dps only spell. but its much more than that. plus if i glyph it, which i might, it will heal me. i wont be using this yet tho, since the only reason i would get this glyph is to counter seal of corruption's drain on my health. i dont have that seal yet, so no point using it.

Final thought before i end the post today, it appears that some paladins use other seals with divine storm constantly instead of seal of command. i do not find these seals usefully on all the time. they should be situational. but i do see some paladins with seal of wisdom on always, or seal of justice for the stun, or seal of light for the heals. but really, i'd rather just use seal of command for the damage and will consider another seal+DS for its bonus effect when i need it (and i really only ever use it for mana regen using seal of wisdom).

Though i am thinking the only competitive seal to use instead of command would be seal of corruption, as it will add a DoT/bleed on the target. and this stacks. but a 10-second cooldown on DS will mean the debuff must tick for more than 10 seconds (which i believe it does) and the mobs must stay up for more than 30 seconds for the SoCor to even be marginally more useful than SoCom. 30 seconds is three applications of Corruption/Vengence. dont forget that 30 seconds does not include the time the tank started the fight to the time i actually hit my first mob with DS. So with groups dying so fast, SoCor may not be at all that high of DPS. at 40 seconds, i should have my 5th application of DS, which will push all mobs to 5 stacks of Corruption, which will do more dps than SoCom. but that's 40 seconds.

At zero seconds, i will have 1 stack of SoCorruption.
At 10 seconds, i will have 2 stacks of SoCor.
At 20 seconds, i will have 3 stacks of SoCor.
At 30 seconds, i will have 4 stacks of SoCor (I believe this is when SoCor>SoCom, however, not cumulatively, but starting at this point).
At 40 seconds, i will have 5 stacks of SoCor, which is max.

(Just to clarify, the above scenario shows stacks of Corruption on my peripheral targets. They do not show stacks on my main target, since most of my attacks will be on my main target, the stacks of Corruption will add up much faster. If i have SoCor on, the only multi-target attack i have that can apply Corruption will be Divine Storm, and that attack is on a 10 second cooldown. My main target will be at 5 stacks of Corruption in a few seconds. Judgement, Autoattack, DS, CS, Autoattack (about 4 seconds) will put my main target at 5 stacks Corruption.)

So SoCor will work well in heroics and raids where the groups consist of 3 or more mobs, all lasting longer than 40 seconds to kill. all. That means, ideally, they die at the same time. if one dies with two left, SoCor becomes a little less effective, and switching to SoCom may be a good choice midfight.

So i've actually tried some experiments with SoCor and it only procs/applies from physical hits, so no divine storm. This makes the choice very easy now. SoCor on bosses, and SoCom on everything else.

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Talent conundrums: Now that i have basically what i need from the Ret tree, i need to go to the other trees to round out my paladin. currently at 5/5 divine streath from the prot tree. so where to now? I can complete Judgements of the Wise, but 2/3 is all i really need. i've gone so many levels with it at 2/3 and have zero problems. im not saying i dont stop to drink every now and then. i do. but with it at 2/3, i really dont have to stop constantly to drink. and by just switching to Seal of Wisdom and hitting DS, i can get back a crapton of mana.

What i dont like is Seals of the pure, which increases damage from my seals. This looks like a boss fight talent, as it does not include seal of command, but instead, includes seal of righteousness and corruption. this sucks for me as i dont really need to maximize corruption. with what i've stated earlier about SoCor, i dont think i will be using it too much. and i will experiment with it when i do get it later on, but until i see actual hard numbers on my recount stating that SoCor>SoCom, i will not be using it. So no Seals of the Pure just yet.

I also do not like Divinity, that ret talent that increases my heals and my healing received. sure, AoW-FoL, or Art of War procced Flash of Light, will indeed heal me for a little more, but i am not really in danger of dying often. and when i do, the extra healing probably wont cut it. Besides, that's a GCD i could be using to finish off a mob.

There's three talent points in the Ret tree that i need to fill in, but are basically useless to me. One adds 1% to my haste. wow. one whole percent. i think its called swift retribution. i have 2/3 talented, so 1 left and i dont really need it atm, will finish it out later. anyway... and the other increases my hammer of wrath crit chance by 50%, PLUS does something special to my avenging wrath, which i dont get for another 5 levels. the hammer of wrath buff is good if i were fighting raid bosses, where the boss' health will be below 20% for quite a long time. but for outland instances, even northrend instances, even heroics, bosses that drop down to 20% stay alive long enough for me to toss out 1 or maybe 2 hammer of wraths at the most. so two talent points in that is not worth it.

What i do want to get is another tanking talent then. Anticipation. yes, for soloing. less healing; more killing. that's the motto. lets do that. 5/5 deflection, 5/5 anticipation. then i can finish out my ret tree until level 74. this is where i will have to decide once again, where to spend my talent points (Divine Sacrifice/Guardian maybe?). There's not a lot more going on. once i hit 80, i'll definitely respec and take out deflection as well as anticipation (dodge/parry) and put it somewhere else. i'll have to analyze where the talents all go at 80, but it will remain pretty much the same. just remember im leveling and some survivability is preferred over mana-savings, which is quickly countered by my seals/judgements/procs.

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* When i mentioned having Judgement of Wisdom and Divine Storm "on cooldown". this is what i mean. When i use an ability that has a cooldown of say, 10 seconds. that 10 seconds is the time it's "on cooldown". For my friends, many of you are DK's, so one ability with a long cooldown is Army of the Dead. once used, the ability is "on cooldown" for 10 minutes or so. i think its less now. but that's still a long time. for Rogues, Vanish has a cooldown, and when you use it, for the 2 minutes following where you cant use it anymore, that spell is considered to be "on cooldown".

so when i say i try to keep Divine Storm on cooldown, i mean i will use it as quickly as i can, then use it immediately when it becomes available, thus putting it into its cooldown state. this keeps the spell "on cooldown" whenever i glance at it. if you take snapshots of my screen every second, 10 out of every 12 seconds, ideally, you should see Divine Storm "on cooldown". i think everyone understands me now. basically use the spell immediately as it becomes available- this will keep the spell "on cooldown".