Strategies

Unholy Death Knight/Resto Shaman

Author

Ricé
Mal'Ganis
US-Stormstrike

Unholy Death Knight/Resto Shaman

VS.

Retribution Paladin/Healer

The type of healer doesn't really matter with this comp, the strategy is largely the same. Strip the healer of as many buffs as you can at the start (unless it's a priest), so that you can purge the important hand buffs later on. Try to grounding totem if you think the paladin is going to throw a repentance or HoJ on you - telltale signs usually include avenging wrath, bloodlust, or trinket usage. Do not trinket an HoJ unless avenging wrath is up or their partner is assisting with DPS, because it will come up 40 seconds later. Since vindication no longer reduces stamina, there is now more leeway in recovering from a ret's burst. Living ice crystals/riptide is amazing for recovering from ret burst.

Do not bother purging the ret paladin unless it's at the very start of the game, as it is simply a complete waste of mana. No, don't even think about it.

As for actually trying to land a kill, you should be going for the healer until the ret paladin drops midway, then make a swap to the ret paladin to try to make him bubble. If he gets too careless after that, then swap to him and finish him off.

Drinking is not as high of a priority since you can for the most part water shield tank a ret paladin provided your gear is passable. That is not to say that you should ignore your mana - ret paladin games are often long and won through attrition if played right. That is not to say that you should expect long games, however, since there is always the chance that the stars align and you die before you could blink.

Expect to win more often than not (barring ridiculous ret RNG of course).

Comments:

MoxMar 3, 2009 - 6:14 AM (HideShow)
Ret paladins can also produce a lot of buffs that are rapidly reapplied, such as vengeance, art of war and replenishment all with dispel resist so purging is usually a waste of mana.

yeah das really sucks... do you try to dispell earthshield if you play vs other shamans?
JigorinaMar 12, 2009 - 1:46 PM (HideShow)
I die vs other shamans, only chance is for DK to Death grip when I get stunned. Their sick nuke with shaman is Wings, Hero, Stun and then hope for crit. Got killed in 5 seconds with 950 resi and 20k health with ES on myself (may have got dispelled didn't notice really)
GgnubJun 15, 2009 - 1:26 AM (HideShow)
This match up is only hard if the paladin is playing with a druid imo. If the healer is a priest, you should be hexing the ret on cooldown while your dk goes to town on the priest. Drink during this time also if you're low mana. If you're playing against Shaman/Ret, I'd just hex the shaman on CD because your DK should almost kill the ret every time the shaman is hexed if you both DPS. I knows it a pain to hex a competent shaman, but all you have to do is call for a pet stun on the shaman. Start casting hex right when the shaman gets stunned and he can't do anything about it.
RicéJun 15, 2009 - 3:31 AM (HideShow)
Well, since we're usually hitting the shaman healer, he has to put ES on himself, which is when I try to dispel it. If ES is on the ret, we usually just ignore him.

This matchup is also quite hard if they're adamant about killing the ghoul over and over, because it's so easy for them to take it out.
GordonbombayJun 16, 2009 - 1:29 AM (HideShow)
Have the dk tunnel the priest in frost presence, while the ret pally hits him.. you win

Or if the ret pally is on the shaman, just go blood presence and shit on the preist's face... easy comp is easy.
GordonbombayJun 16, 2009 - 1:33 AM (HideShow)
My reply was for priest / ret pally, obviously. Other comps are just as easy.
KolzOct 27, 2009 - 3:51 AM (HideShow)
Been running this on my alt - how do you deal with ret/resto druid? It seems like sitting on the druid (even while spreading diseases) just results in my shaman eventually running oom. We've only fought them on rov/lordaeron but my shaman seems completely unable to drink thanks to insect swarm.

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