Preparing Your Tankadin for Patch 3.0: Part 7 Inscription/Glyphs
10/6 - Part 1: General Tanking
10/7 - Part 2: The New Seal and Judgement System
10/8 - Part 3: Changes to Existing Talents and Spells
10/9 - Part 4: New Talents, and suggested Trees
10/10 - Part 5: The New Threat Rotation or 96969
10/11 - Part 6: Threat Stats for Protection Paladins and Tank Gear Reitemization
10/12 - Part 7: Inscription and Glyphs
10/13 - Part 8: Comparing the 4 Tanks10/14 - PATCH DAY!
With the release of Patch 3.0, Blizzard is opening up the new Profession of Inscription, and one of the items produced by Inscription are Glyphs.
Glyphs are added to your spell book and change certain aspects of your spells.
You can have 3 Major and 3 Minor Glyphs.
I want to examine the currently available Glyphs for Paladins and give some tentative recommendations. Blizzard has recently announced they are going to reevaluate Glyphs so we could see some changes, but I think it's safe to assume that what we have no is what we will get in Patch 3.0.
Glyphs seem incredibly situational. I could see wanting to change Glyphs often depending on my role and the particular encounter I'm fighting.
Right now, I'd say my Glyphs would be
Major:Glyph of Seal of Vengeance, Glyph of Avenger's Shield, Glyph of Judgement
Minor: Glyph of Sense Undead, Glyph of Lay On Hands. Glyph of Blessing of Kings
I'd actually love to get Glyph of Righteous Defense as well. What I might do is get Righteous Defense, then once I'm hit capped change it to Seal of Vengeance.
Major Glyphs
Glyph of Avenger's Shield
Use: Your Avenger's Shield hits 2 fewer targets, but for 100% more damage.
This looks like a Main Tank Glyph for someone who is doing more single target tanking rather than multi-target. However, it should be noted that with Hammer of the Righteous, Paladins don't need a 3 target range pull. You can pull with a single target Avenger's Shield and use Hammer of the Righteous to help build threat on the other mobs. It might make for cleaner pulls with an offtank or CC.
Glyph of Avenging Wrath
Use: Reduces the cooldown of your Hammer of Wrath spell by 50% while Avenging Wrath is active.
This looks like it's meant for Ret Paladins who are trying to burst someone down in PVP or trying finish off that last couple of percent of a Boss.
Glyph of Cleansing
Use: Reduces the mana cost of your Cleanse and Purify spells by 20%.
I'm going to call this one a Holy Glyph since your main Cleanser is usually going to be a Holy Paladin.
Glyph of Consecration Use: Increases the duration and cooldown of Consecration by 2 sec.
It does not increase the damage. It does the same damage but over more time. This will mess up your nice 96969 rotation. I could see this having appeal to Ret Paladins assuming they have enough mana for it.
Glyph of Crusader Strike Use: Your Crusader strike deals 20% more damage when your target is incapacitated or stunned.
This is for our Retribution brothers, and has a distinct PVP flavor to it.
Glyph of Divinity Use: Your Lay on Hands also grants you as much mana as it grants your target.
I don't know about you, but generally I'm using Lay On Hands on myself so I am the target. But for a Holy Paladin this could be a nice bump to the mana pool.
Glyph of Exorcism Use: Your Exorcism also interrupts spellcasting for 2 sec.
This has possibilities. If I had this now on the Banshee waves in Hyjal, I'd be a happy dwarf. Some people have suggested it works on mobs/players that you can use Exorcism on. That is not true. It only works on Undead/Daemon.
Glyph of Flash of Light Use: Your Flash of Light heals for 50% less initially, but also heals for 140% of its initial effect over 12 sec.
This seems more aimed at Holy, and I'm not sure if the HoT is worth the lesser heal up front. Siha of Banashoulders says "The HoT component needs to be bigger and much faster."
Glyph of Hammer of Justice
Use: Increases your Hammer of Justice duration by 1 sec.
This looks like a PVP Glyph for Ret. They do extra damage agaisnt stuned targets so 1 second might be long enough for one more attack.
Glyph of Hammer of Wrath
Use: Increases the range on Hammer of Wrath by 5 yards.
Got to get them runners. I want a mob to bring me back some friends. I'm a Protection Paladin. The more the merrier, right? I could see this being useful for PVP as you are trying to kill a low health healer before he can line of sight of or stop a flag runner who is just out of range.
Glyph of Holy Light
Use: Your Holy Light grants 10% of its heal amount to up to 5 friendly targets within 10 yds of the initial target.
Wow, just Wow. This is probably the best Holy Paladin Glyph out so far. I'm really happy for them. This makes Holy Light almost as effective as Chain Heal. (Typo on the tooltip says 100 yards, it's 10).
Glyph of Judgement
Use: Your Judgements deal 10% more damage.
10% more damage is 10% more threat. Very strong Glyph, and it appeals to multiple specs. Prot and Ret want it obviously, but some of the changes made to Holy were to encourage them to Judge more often so they can add a little DPS as well.
Glyph of Righteous Defense
Use: Increases the chance for your Righteous Defense ability to work successfully by 8% on each target.
This Glyph is made for a Nalorakk type boss where a Taunt resist can cause major trouble for the encounter. I could see using this until you are Hit capped in your gear and then replacing it.
Glyph of Seal of Blood
Use: Your Seal of Blood or Seal of the Martyr increases the mana received from Spiritual Attunement by 10% while active.
I want mana and I want it now! Blood is considered more of PVE DPS Seal, so it's most often used by Ret, but it's also a strong offtank Seal. In that situation, I could see the Glyph really helping out.
Glyph of Seal of Command
Use: Increases the chance of dealing Seal of Command damage by 20%.
This makes my inner Ret Paladin smile.
Glyph of Seal of Light
Use: While Seal of Light is active, the effect of your healing spells is increased by 5%.
This makes Holy want to have a Seal active while they are healing.
Glyph of Seal of Righteousness
Use: Reduces the cost of your Judgement spells by 10% while Seal of Righteousness is active.
Will mana be a major issue? Will we be using Righteousness over Vengeance for tanking? Many questions, but the initial answers point to this Glyph being more to help a Holy Paladin in solo content.
Glyph of Seal of Vengeance
Use: Your Seal of Vengeance or Seal of Corruption also grants 10 expertise while active.
You got your Vengeance stack rocking. You are hit capped by the Boss can still Dodge, and Parry you. The Expertise, especially if it's true Expertise and not Expertise rating would be quite tasty.
Glyph of Seal of Wisdom
Use: While Seal of Wisdom is active, the cost of your healing spells is reduced by 5%.
I could see a Holy Paladin with both Seal of Wisdom and Seal of Light Glyph. You start off the fight with Seal of Light then when you low on mana, switch to Seal of Wisdom.
Glyph of Spiritual Attunement
Use: Increases the amount of mana gained from your Spiritual Attunement spell by an additional 2%.
12% mana back from Spiritual Attunement. That is very nice, but the question remains of how much an issue mana will be to a tanking Paladin.
Glyph of Turn Evil
Use: Reduces the casting time of your Turn Evil spell by 100%.
This could allow Ret some additional Crowd Control, and give Warlocks fits in PVP.
Minor Glyphs
Glyph of Blessing of Kings
Use: Reduces the mana cost of your Blessing of Kings and Greater Blessing of Kings spells by 50%. Meh. I drink Mage water after I buff. I really don't care what it costs.
Glyph of Blessing of Might
Use: Increases the duration of your Blessing of Might spell by 20 min when cast on yourself.
This seems like it would apply to leveling or it's Blizzard's way of making the Greater Blessing not cost a reagent but only when used on yourself.
Glyph of Blessing of Wisdom
Use: Increases the duration of your Blessing of Wisdom spell by 20 min when cast on yourself.
See Glyph of Blessing of Might.
Glyph of Lay on Hands
Use: Increases the mana restored by your Lay on Hands spell by 20%.
This could be interesting. Again, I think Holy would really like the extra mana.
Glyph of the Wise
Use: Reduces the mana cost of your Seal of Wisdom spell by 50%.
Combined with the Seal of Wisdom Major Glyph, that could really help out Holy in a mana intensive fight. Keep Seal of Wisdom active so your heals cost less and this Glyph makes resealing cost less.
Glyph of Sense Undead
Use: Damage against Undead increased by 1% while your Sense Undead ability is active.
There are a ton of undead in Northrend, and that 1% more threat. Actually, it's probably even more than 1% with Righteous Fury. This is a very useful Minor Glyph.
10/7 - Part 2: The New Seal and Judgement System
10/8 - Part 3: Changes to Existing Talents and Spells
10/9 - Part 4: New Talents, and suggested Trees
10/10 - Part 5: The New Threat Rotation or 96969
10/11 - Part 6: Threat Stats for Protection Paladins and Tank Gear Reitemization
10/12 - Part 7: Inscription and Glyphs
10/13 - Part 8: Comparing the 4 Tanks10/14 - PATCH DAY!
With the release of Patch 3.0, Blizzard is opening up the new Profession of Inscription, and one of the items produced by Inscription are Glyphs.
Glyphs are added to your spell book and change certain aspects of your spells.
You can have 3 Major and 3 Minor Glyphs.
I want to examine the currently available Glyphs for Paladins and give some tentative recommendations. Blizzard has recently announced they are going to reevaluate Glyphs so we could see some changes, but I think it's safe to assume that what we have no is what we will get in Patch 3.0.
Glyphs seem incredibly situational. I could see wanting to change Glyphs often depending on my role and the particular encounter I'm fighting.
Right now, I'd say my Glyphs would be
Major:Glyph of Seal of Vengeance, Glyph of Avenger's Shield, Glyph of Judgement
Minor: Glyph of Sense Undead, Glyph of Lay On Hands. Glyph of Blessing of Kings
I'd actually love to get Glyph of Righteous Defense as well. What I might do is get Righteous Defense, then once I'm hit capped change it to Seal of Vengeance.
Major Glyphs
Glyph of Avenger's Shield
Use: Your Avenger's Shield hits 2 fewer targets, but for 100% more damage.
This looks like a Main Tank Glyph for someone who is doing more single target tanking rather than multi-target. However, it should be noted that with Hammer of the Righteous, Paladins don't need a 3 target range pull. You can pull with a single target Avenger's Shield and use Hammer of the Righteous to help build threat on the other mobs. It might make for cleaner pulls with an offtank or CC.
Glyph of Avenging Wrath
Use: Reduces the cooldown of your Hammer of Wrath spell by 50% while Avenging Wrath is active.
This looks like it's meant for Ret Paladins who are trying to burst someone down in PVP or trying finish off that last couple of percent of a Boss.
Glyph of Cleansing
Use: Reduces the mana cost of your Cleanse and Purify spells by 20%.
I'm going to call this one a Holy Glyph since your main Cleanser is usually going to be a Holy Paladin.
Glyph of Consecration Use: Increases the duration and cooldown of Consecration by 2 sec.
It does not increase the damage. It does the same damage but over more time. This will mess up your nice 96969 rotation. I could see this having appeal to Ret Paladins assuming they have enough mana for it.
Glyph of Crusader Strike Use: Your Crusader strike deals 20% more damage when your target is incapacitated or stunned.
This is for our Retribution brothers, and has a distinct PVP flavor to it.
Glyph of Divinity Use: Your Lay on Hands also grants you as much mana as it grants your target.
I don't know about you, but generally I'm using Lay On Hands on myself so I am the target. But for a Holy Paladin this could be a nice bump to the mana pool.
Glyph of Exorcism Use: Your Exorcism also interrupts spellcasting for 2 sec.
This has possibilities. If I had this now on the Banshee waves in Hyjal, I'd be a happy dwarf. Some people have suggested it works on mobs/players that you can use Exorcism on. That is not true. It only works on Undead/Daemon.
Glyph of Flash of Light Use: Your Flash of Light heals for 50% less initially, but also heals for 140% of its initial effect over 12 sec.
This seems more aimed at Holy, and I'm not sure if the HoT is worth the lesser heal up front. Siha of Banashoulders says "The HoT component needs to be bigger and much faster."
Glyph of Hammer of Justice
Use: Increases your Hammer of Justice duration by 1 sec.
This looks like a PVP Glyph for Ret. They do extra damage agaisnt stuned targets so 1 second might be long enough for one more attack.
Glyph of Hammer of Wrath
Use: Increases the range on Hammer of Wrath by 5 yards.
Got to get them runners. I want a mob to bring me back some friends. I'm a Protection Paladin. The more the merrier, right? I could see this being useful for PVP as you are trying to kill a low health healer before he can line of sight of or stop a flag runner who is just out of range.
Glyph of Holy Light
Use: Your Holy Light grants 10% of its heal amount to up to 5 friendly targets within 10 yds of the initial target.
Wow, just Wow. This is probably the best Holy Paladin Glyph out so far. I'm really happy for them. This makes Holy Light almost as effective as Chain Heal. (Typo on the tooltip says 100 yards, it's 10).
Glyph of Judgement
Use: Your Judgements deal 10% more damage.
10% more damage is 10% more threat. Very strong Glyph, and it appeals to multiple specs. Prot and Ret want it obviously, but some of the changes made to Holy were to encourage them to Judge more often so they can add a little DPS as well.
Glyph of Righteous Defense
Use: Increases the chance for your Righteous Defense ability to work successfully by 8% on each target.
This Glyph is made for a Nalorakk type boss where a Taunt resist can cause major trouble for the encounter. I could see using this until you are Hit capped in your gear and then replacing it.
Glyph of Seal of Blood
Use: Your Seal of Blood or Seal of the Martyr increases the mana received from Spiritual Attunement by 10% while active.
I want mana and I want it now! Blood is considered more of PVE DPS Seal, so it's most often used by Ret, but it's also a strong offtank Seal. In that situation, I could see the Glyph really helping out.
Glyph of Seal of Command
Use: Increases the chance of dealing Seal of Command damage by 20%.
This makes my inner Ret Paladin smile.
Glyph of Seal of Light
Use: While Seal of Light is active, the effect of your healing spells is increased by 5%.
This makes Holy want to have a Seal active while they are healing.
Glyph of Seal of Righteousness
Use: Reduces the cost of your Judgement spells by 10% while Seal of Righteousness is active.
Will mana be a major issue? Will we be using Righteousness over Vengeance for tanking? Many questions, but the initial answers point to this Glyph being more to help a Holy Paladin in solo content.
Glyph of Seal of Vengeance
Use: Your Seal of Vengeance or Seal of Corruption also grants 10 expertise while active.
You got your Vengeance stack rocking. You are hit capped by the Boss can still Dodge, and Parry you. The Expertise, especially if it's true Expertise and not Expertise rating would be quite tasty.
Glyph of Seal of Wisdom
Use: While Seal of Wisdom is active, the cost of your healing spells is reduced by 5%.
I could see a Holy Paladin with both Seal of Wisdom and Seal of Light Glyph. You start off the fight with Seal of Light then when you low on mana, switch to Seal of Wisdom.
Glyph of Spiritual Attunement
Use: Increases the amount of mana gained from your Spiritual Attunement spell by an additional 2%.
12% mana back from Spiritual Attunement. That is very nice, but the question remains of how much an issue mana will be to a tanking Paladin.
Glyph of Turn Evil
Use: Reduces the casting time of your Turn Evil spell by 100%.
This could allow Ret some additional Crowd Control, and give Warlocks fits in PVP.
Minor Glyphs
Glyph of Blessing of Kings
Use: Reduces the mana cost of your Blessing of Kings and Greater Blessing of Kings spells by 50%. Meh. I drink Mage water after I buff. I really don't care what it costs.
Glyph of Blessing of Might
Use: Increases the duration of your Blessing of Might spell by 20 min when cast on yourself.
This seems like it would apply to leveling or it's Blizzard's way of making the Greater Blessing not cost a reagent but only when used on yourself.
Glyph of Blessing of Wisdom
Use: Increases the duration of your Blessing of Wisdom spell by 20 min when cast on yourself.
See Glyph of Blessing of Might.
Glyph of Lay on Hands
Use: Increases the mana restored by your Lay on Hands spell by 20%.
This could be interesting. Again, I think Holy would really like the extra mana.
Glyph of the Wise
Use: Reduces the mana cost of your Seal of Wisdom spell by 50%.
Combined with the Seal of Wisdom Major Glyph, that could really help out Holy in a mana intensive fight. Keep Seal of Wisdom active so your heals cost less and this Glyph makes resealing cost less.
Glyph of Sense Undead
Use: Damage against Undead increased by 1% while your Sense Undead ability is active.
There are a ton of undead in Northrend, and that 1% more threat. Actually, it's probably even more than 1% with Righteous Fury. This is a very useful Minor Glyph.
Comments
Yet so far we really don't have that many great Glyphs overall but I know our Glyphs are due fir a second pass or overhaul before Xpac is live.
In Beta I know most of my slots are filled. So far it's mostly with Major: Glyph of Vengeance, Glyph of Judgement, Glyph of Exorcism (lots of northrend undead). I've kept Glyph of Righteous Defence, Glyph of Seal of Blood one, Glyph of Spiritual Attn stored for situational use as well because that's just how I see those others being used situationally. I personally don't see my self using Glyph of Avengers Shield really but that's really my flavor in my style in how I like to do things or pull. I figure Glyphs like that to be expensive as well with players switching them allot.
For Minor Glyph the choices are not as great, but do have some fun element to them. I like the Glyph of the Wise as it has usefulness. Glyph of Sense undead one as that is a DPS boost and love it. Plus beyond 3.0 in northrend you can keep sense undead up all the time anyway even if you have a tracking profession. Glyph of Lay of Hand one because they weren't any other real good choice.
I know most of the list is aimed at patch 3.0 though but in Beta since I only PvE as well haven't really had any great need to keep change mine much unless a special situation for the special ones and haven't really had to either. But right now overall Paladins really don't have that many great Glyphs and Glyphs or as yet. So can only hope for better ones.
Banana Shoulders has been doing some nice work on Inscription guides.
One thing she mentions in her guide may change your plan for your major glyphs: you don't get to use three major glyphs until you are level 80.
At level 70, you get two major and one minor glyph.