Retribution Paladin Best Gear

March 14, 2011 By 49 Comments

Best gear for Retribution Paladins.  While a best-in-slot gear list is still in the works, I am now creating a best gear list for Ret Paladins in terms of end-game raiding.  I already have lists for pre-raiding, but now we venture to creating a gear list that focuses primarily on raid-earned gear.

Also, this list assumes zero hit rating and zero expertise, to give these two stats their max benefit.  Obviously, if you are capped at either stat, then that changes the gear priority, so jump down the list to the appropriate stat priority combinations.

I will be updating this again very soon with the ZG and ZA loot!

Helm

  1. [Reinforced Sapphirium Helmet]
  2. [Reinforced Bio-Optic Killshades] – (With +hit and +exp Cogwheel sockets, value decreased without)
  3. [Dragon Bone Warhelm] – (H)
  4. [Helm of Maddening Whispers] – (H)
  5. [Reinforced Sapphirium Helmet]
  6. [Daybreaker Helm] – (H)
  7. [Dragon Bone Warhelm]
  8. [Helm of Maddening Whispers]
  9. [Daybreaker Helm]

Shoulders

  1. [Reinforced Sapphirium Pauldrons] – (H)
  2. [Pauldrons of the Great Ettin] – (H)
  3. [Reinforced Sapphirium Pauldrons]
  4. [Pauldrons of the High Requiem]
  5. [Raz’s Pauldrons]?

Neck

  1. [Rage of Ages] – (H)
  2. [Caelestrasz’s Will] – (H)
  3. [Rage of Ages]
  4. [Gift of Nadun]
  5. [Buc-Zakai Choker]

Cloak

  1. [Glittering Epidermis] – (H)
  2. [Floating Web]
  3. [Glittering Epidermis]
  4. [Drape of Inimitable Fate]

Chest

  1. [Battleplate of Ancient Kings] – (H)
  2. [Reinforced Sapphirium Battleplate] – (H)
  3. [Battleplate of Ancient Kings]
  4. [Reinforced Sapphirium Battleplate]
  5. [Elementium Deathplate]
  6. [Breastplate of Raging Fury]

Bracers

  1. [Bracers of the Mat’redor] – (H)
  2. [Electron Inductor Coils] – (H)
  3. [Electron Inductor Coils]

Gloves

  1. [Reinforced Sapphirium Gauntlets] – (H)
  2. [Plated Fists of Provocation] – (H)
  3. [Gravitational Pull] – (H)
  4. [Reinforced Sapphirium Gauntlets]
  5. [Plated Fists of Provocation]
  6. [Gravitational Pull]?

Belt

  1. [Belt of Absolute Zero] – (H)
  2. [Belt of Absolute Zero]
  3. [Elementium Girdle of Pain]
  4. [Belt of the Ferocious Wolf]

Legs

  1. [Reinforced Sapphirium Legplates] – (H)
  2. [Terrastra’s Legguards] – (H)
  3. [Corefire Legplates]
  4. [Terrastra’s Legguards]
  5. [Alpheus Legguards]

Boots

  1. [Massacre Treads] – (H)
  2. [Massacre Treads]
  3. [War-Torn Crushers] – (H) (Yep, throw two +40 str gems on these babies)
  4. [Molten Tantrum Boots] – (H)
  5. [Treads of Savage Beatings]
  6. [Woe Breeder’s Boots]
  7. [Greaves of Wu the Elder]

Rings

  1. [Dargonax’s Signet] – (H)
  2. [Ring of Rivalry] – (H)
  3. [Ring of Rivalry]
  4. [Blauvelt’s Family Crest]
  5. [Band of Bees]
  6. [Nova Band] – (H)
  7. [Circle of Bone] – (H)
  8. [Skyshard Ring] – (H)

Trinkets

  1. [Heart of Rage] – (H)
  2. [Fury of Angerforge]
  3. [License to Slay]
  4. [Heart of Rage]
  5. [Darkmoon Card: Hurricane]
  6. [Crushing Weight]

Weapon

  1. [Reclaimed Ashkandi, Greatsword of the Brotherhood] – (H)
  2. [Akirus the Worm-Breaker] – (H)
  3. [Shalug’doom, the Axe of Unmaking] – (H)
  4. PvP Weapons (ilvl 372)
  5. [Reclaimed Ashkandi, Greatsword of the Brotherhood]
  6. [Zin’rokh, Destroyer of Worlds]
  7. [Akirus the Worm-Breaker]
  8. [Shalug’doom, the Axe of Unmaking]
  9. PvP Weapons (ilvl 359)

Relics

  1. [Relic of Aggramar]
  2. [Notched Jawbone]
  3. [Conch of Thundering Waves]
Filed Under: Gear, Ret Paladin General

Comments

  1. arevebion says:
    March 14, 2011 at 3:47 am

    Is truely Shalug’doom, the Axe of Unmaking > Akirus the Worm-Breaker ? it isnt in concordance with this site’s Retribution paladin mastery info.
    And Fury of Angerforge > License to Slay?

  2. Elured says:
    March 14, 2011 at 3:56 am

    I heard zin rokhs twin will be dropped in one of the new Zuls, Jin Rokh 😀 i am farmin Zin rokh but after like 250 troll solves you wasting your time

  3. Biggjr says:
    March 14, 2011 at 6:41 am

    Great Summary Khor,

    A few thoughts:

    I agree with Arevebion, I think Akirus should be above Shalug, especially for humans and dwarves that get a boost to expertise from their respective racials.

    For Necks shouldn’t Buc-Zakai > Gift of Nadun…as Mastery > Crit

    You’re missing the T11 non-Heroic pants, I suspect that they’re number 3 on the list

    PVP gloves, lots of Hit, Strength and a +5% to CS bonus, do the epic ones still fail to make the list?

    Anyway great compilation Khor, as always thanks for the work

  4. DunmerNL says:
    March 14, 2011 at 7:21 am

    Hi Khor,

    Great list. I was looking on the web this morning about my ret gear. I’ve got Zin’rokh last night at 2.00h. Had to work this morning but the weapon popped up in my Archeology, so I really wanted it last night.

    For today I am gonna fix my hit/expertise cap again.

    Pity I farmed the Elementium deathplate, while the Tier chest is better.

    Just 1 thing that I think is stupid about the Tier set, is that almost every piece has haste. I dont wanna stack haste, damn blizzard ^_^

    Bye!
    Dunmernl

  5. Dalanthas says:
    March 14, 2011 at 8:06 am

    Hi Khor,

    I got two questions:

    1) is the tier pieces evaluated as part of the set? For example, the t11 chest would lose some value if you haven’t the t11 4pc set-bonus?

    2) can we have a extended trinket list? I really would like to know where is the alchemy trinket and the non-hc version of Crushing Weight.

    Thank you, and keep up the really good work 🙂

    Dalanthas

  6. Salovard says:
    March 14, 2011 at 8:37 am

    Where would Impatience of Youth fall for trinkets? I know it doesn’t give as much strength as Fury of Angerforge, but the approx. 5% bonus damage from Mastery paired with the Strength use would be as good/maybe even better than the Crit bonus/Strength use. Plus, you are dependent on Fury generating charges.

  7. Ffont says:
    March 14, 2011 at 11:47 am

    @Khor: Thanks for the list. I wonder why you say that one needs the +exp cogwheel on the killshades? I use the +Mastery one. The +hit is a no-brainer, but I usually don’t find myself
    in need of expertise.

  8. Khor says:
    March 14, 2011 at 11:48 am

    @ arev and big – You guys are right, it was in the wrong order. I’d like to blame the wee hours of the morning messing me up when I posted this, but that would be a lie. Just a dumb oversight on my part! Mastery indeed outweighs crit! Thanks for the catch!

  9. Ffont says:
    March 14, 2011 at 11:53 am

    @Salovard: There is a discussion on Elitist Jerks about iLvl 359 trinkets. It is the end of the
    retribution concordance forum thread. There is follow-on discussion about whether the test is valid or not, but it does give some numerical weight to different trinket combinations. You should definitely read the following comments. The post is by AceRider.

  10. Whig says:
    March 14, 2011 at 1:57 pm

    Trinkets are really tough to value, for a lot of reasons.

    Is a constant stat buff better than an on-use buff? Depends if the on-use will conflict with or share a cooldown with another on-use effect.

    How about a stacking buff? Depends on the encounter. If you don’t have time to get full stacks up before a burn phase, it might not be a great buff at all.

    Is a proc effect better than a constant stat buff? Well, how often does it proc? Can some opponents resist the damage?

    Are there secondary effects? For instance, if you have the Volatile Alchemist Stone, you’re an Alchemist, probably an Elixir master, so you also get another 80 strength from your flask. Should that factor in?

    So BiS for trinkets is always going to be subjective and situational.

    Whig

  11. Bruceleroi says:
    March 14, 2011 at 3:06 pm

    May i suggest, for bracers, you should consider the 346 Alpha Bracers as part of the list. I know this list assumes 0 hit & exp, but if you are hit capped, then the gem slot on these makes it look a lot better. With a +40 str gem in the slot, you lose 2 strength overall but gain 112 mastery over haste which I think outweighs the -2 str. Also, with reforging the excess hit into crit, these bracers become better than the Electron Inductor Coils imo.

  12. Zero says:
    March 14, 2011 at 8:03 pm

    I only need 3 more epics to get the achievement and that Dragon Bone Helmet is driving me nuts because Maloriak NEVER drops it! I just need to keep plucking away at getting Valor points to get my relic and back piece.

    As a suggestion, I recommend adding the following items to your best item list:

    1) Impatience of Youth – Hellscream’s Reach rep
    2) Pauldrons of the Great Ettin – Halfus in BoT(you have heroic one listed, but not regular)

    I say this because it has EXCELLENT mastery stacking and the use of the trinket for strength can be macro’ed into Avenging Wrath for maximum burst dmg. This is assuming you already have enough expertise and hit reforging/gemming to make the most of the mastery this trinket provides.

  13. Yells says:
    March 16, 2011 at 7:49 am

    Yea, I was wondering about the Hell Screams reach trink too. I have fury of angerforge and I do like 1k more dps with that than I do with angerforge.

  14. Geddyn says:
    March 16, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    I got very lucky today. Akirus, Electron Inductor Coils and Heart of Rage dropped. For the first time I’ll be able to reforge away expertise. 🙂

  15. DeanO says:
    March 17, 2011 at 11:44 am

    How come you have the 2 tanking heads as BiS for ret dps… both the normal epic and heroic versions… doesnt make sense…

  16. GeoDude says:
    March 17, 2011 at 3:22 pm

    which stat is more important crit or haste and is the a certian crit% i sould aim for

  17. GeoDude says:
    March 17, 2011 at 3:23 pm

    My last post was wrong i was meaning which is more important Crit or mastry and is there a certain % of crit i should be going for

  18. Geddyn says:
    March 17, 2011 at 5:20 pm

    Mastery is more important than crit. I don’t think there is a set % of crit you should be aiming for.

  19. GeoDude says:
    March 17, 2011 at 5:21 pm

    THANKS!

  20. Lenudan says:
    March 17, 2011 at 8:58 pm

    I’m totally perplexed! Finally got Akirus the Worm Slayer (359) last eve which replaced my Blade of fearless (346). On a 60 sec run with the raid training dummy I am doing significantly LESS damage with Akirus now! like 2-3k less! My self buffed stats below:

    Self buffed: (Avalanche on both)

    Stats with Akirus:
    Dmg: 5933-7066
    DPS: 1880.7
    STR: 4909
    EXP: 26
    HIT: +7.96%
    Mast: 16.58

    Blade of the Fearless:
    Dmg: 5960-7019
    DPS: 1778
    STR: 4868
    EXP: 28
    Hit: +8.63%
    Mast: 15.31

    What gives? yea, hit is a smidge off max – but Mastery, DPS are WAY higher – what am I missing here??

  21. anon says:
    March 17, 2011 at 11:45 pm

    @Lenudan

    first of all 60sec is no where near long enough to get an accurate measurement of dps.
    second of all get that hit up. One miss of a 60second test could be a massive damage loss.

  22. Unknown says:
    March 18, 2011 at 2:43 am

    Hey, i wonder, this is the list only for Catalysm right? Since is lvl 85 i guess… Someone help please.

  23. Geddyn says:
    March 18, 2011 at 8:09 am

    Lenudan, Anon is right. 60 seconds isn’t even close to being enough time for an accurate representation of DPS. It’s not just misses that could affect your DPS in such as small time period; the number of Divine Purpose procs you obtain would cause vast discrepancies in your DPS because it could allow you to get several more Templar’s Verdicts off in a short period.

    Divine Purpose is actually why I really dislike testing my damage on target dummies. Paladin DPS can be extremely random at times, meaning that you can occasionally get inaccurate readings. This is why I use World of Logs. I change my setup, raid with it and then check WoL for in-depth reports on DPS changes.

    Unknown, all the gear listed is level 85 gear, so, yes, this list is only for Cataclysm.

  24. BIG_seXXXy says:
    March 18, 2011 at 10:26 am

    I think PvP gloves deserve a special mention. +5% dmg to CS is no small matter.

    Also, can somebody please look into the DPS value for the Wildhammer/Dragonmaw tanking boots: (A) Gryphon Rider’s Boots/ (H) Boots of Sullen Rock. They are tank boots (str+sta+mast+parry), but all the other DPS 359 boots have 233 str while Gryphon Rider’s boots have 253 str.

  25. Michael says:
    March 19, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    The combination of your trinkets also plays an important role along with the type of encounter you are facing. Two on use trinkets are not ideal because they will never stack. Being an engineer also makes a difference because you cannot stack SS gloves with any use trinkets either. FoA also is problematic because it takes a bit before you can first use it, meaning u might get one less use than say IoY.

  26. Rolanor says:
    March 20, 2011 at 6:39 pm

    Secondly, Lenudan, self buffed only crit is better, but in a full raid buffed environment, mastery pulls ahead. This could explain your decreased DPS

  27. jaden says:
    March 21, 2011 at 1:56 pm

    how can i get the pre raid list again on you new page??

  28. Ffont says:
    March 21, 2011 at 4:05 pm

    @BIG_SeXXXy: Ok let me take a shot at your question. I will use Greaves of Wu the Elder as my
    comparison, even though they are iLvl346 and the Gryphon Boots are 359.

    Redcape@ElitistJerks has modeled stat weights for retribution paladins. The weights we care about
    are Str:232, Hit:175, Crit:94, Mast:99. I am assuming that for both these boots you will reforge to Mastery. I have rounded down reforging numbers. As per Khor’s dictum each boot will get +40 STR bonus from a Bold Inferno Ruby and no

    score formula= STR*232+HIT*175+CRIT*94+MAST*99

    Gryphon Boots: 293*232+0*175+55*94+159*99 = 88887
    Greaves of Wu: 245*232+131*175+84*94+56*99 = 93205

    So the Greaves win. What is happening of course is that the Parry on the Gryphon Boots doesn’t do anything for you DPS wise and Hit is our second best stat.

    Most BiS lists look at the gear in isolation, ignoring the rest of your set, caps etc. If I ignore reforging
    then the difference in score shrinks to 1592. Your current gear set may determine which piece of
    equipment is best for you. Future stat weight changes are unlikely to change the ranking since 60% of the parry will always be worthless from a DPS standpoint.

  29. Nytengale says:
    March 21, 2011 at 4:32 pm

    Hey Khor – nice post thank you – Have you heard of http://www.askmrrobot.com? it is a gear optimizer site – you can click on World of Worcraft gear Optimizer and you load your character and it pull from the armory then you click optimize and it shows you what you can add to your gear – Gems, enchants and reforge. Please let me know what you think.

    Thanks,

    Nyte

  30. Geddyn says:
    March 21, 2011 at 7:15 pm

    Nyte, I’ve found AskMrRobot to be quite inaccurate, at least as far as the optimizer option goes. I tried it a few times and it gave me enchant/gem/reforge suggestions that put me well below both the hit and expertise caps.

    I use wowreforge.com for Reforging math and I just stick with common sense when selecting gear pieces and gems.

  31. Whig says:
    March 21, 2011 at 11:13 pm

    As far as the Boots discussion goes, I’m preferring the Gryphon Rider boots to the VP boots ( and certainly to any 346 boots) because I’m easily hit-capped by reforging out of haste elsewhere. So the extra strength and mastery are better that the alternative (haste and unneeded hit.)

    The various formulas and web tools rightly value hit and expertise. But since Ret has a pure waste stat (haste) they are less valuable because that are easy to get via reforging out of haste. So take the formulas with a grain on salt and choose gear based on your own situation.

  32. Michael says:
    March 21, 2011 at 11:16 pm

    @Whig
    Haste is not a pure waste stat. Its not as valuable as the others, but it is still a DPS gain.

    Id also take the Wrap of the Great Turtle cloak over any 346 cloak as well…

  33. Gurlof says:
    March 22, 2011 at 11:39 am

    Nice list and all. But I am not 100% sure about your chest choises. Ancient kings better than tier chest? I mean tier chest gives crit and haste and ancient expertise and haste. By socket bonuses tier is better imo you get extra stamina (dps wise doesn’t matter) if ye socket to get the bonus +20 str and you dont lose any str while doing so.

    Personally atm I am myself swarmed up with extra expertise and I have forget all expertise what I can to other stats. If you wanna check my gear out its Gurlof (Argent Dawn, EU). Tho if course I am using tier chest too cause of 4 part set bonus before I get tier helmet (Tho then I will lose some expertise.)

    But story short, I just dont see reason why it would be better specially how much expertise people will get from the gear. Cause still crit -> haste no?

    Oh and rock on retries!

    -Gurlof

  34. Khor says:
    March 22, 2011 at 11:47 am

    @ Gurlof – From your point of view, you are correct. The hard thing about best gear lists is that everyone’s set-up is different. This list is based on zero hit and zero expertise. Therefore, expertise weighs far heavier than either crit or haste, thus why it is on top. If you were already expertise capped, then this would fall heavily in priority, making way for the tier chest by far.

    The trick to these lists is to eliminate pieces if you are already hit or expertise capped, because that is how they are ranked.

  35. Gurlof says:
    March 22, 2011 at 12:17 pm

    Ah now I understand. Then I hit with another question about trinkets. I do have Crushing Weight, Heart of Rage and License to slay.

    Before I was reading the list I was using Crushing Weight and License to slay. But that list made me thinking is that Heart of Rage proc just way better so it out comes static +str from Crushing weight (haste proc is kinda meh). Other hand I have now forged expertise form the trinket to mastery and got nice bunch of it like that and then get better proc.
    Personally myself I haven’t tested with heart of rage yet in raids, but Iäm going to.

    But I always have understood that STR is the number one stat and Crushing Weight gives it. But does the haste proc make it just so bad compared to heart of rage?

    ps. sorry about my english.

    -Gurlof

  36. Gurlof says:
    March 23, 2011 at 1:31 am

    To continue post above about the trinkets.

    Or is there the same ruling what you explained to me earlier. When exp cap is allready there then Crushing Weight overcomes the heart of rage?

  37. Gurlof says:
    March 23, 2011 at 8:48 am

    Sorry about spamming. Been reading and searching about trinkets, cause I have bunch of them and I am totally confused wich ones to use. As I said before I been rolling with License to Slay and Crushing Weight. I have Heart of Rage and Fury of Angerforge too if needed.

    ok License to Slay up to use simple, get easier hit cap and some str from it too. But second trinket? With your list it would be Angerforge. But more I read about retries STR is the number one stat. Is the useage of Angerforge and proc of Heart of Rage so much better that it overcomes Crushing Weight? Cause other way I dont see any logic why it would be better.

  38. BIG_seXXXy says:
    March 24, 2011 at 3:16 am

    @Ffont

    Thx.

  39. Fyste says:
    March 24, 2011 at 7:33 am

    Hej Khor,

    About the belts: is Elementium Girdle of Pain (169 hit and 149 haste) truly better than Belt of the Ferocious Wolf (169 mastery and 149 critical strike)?

    I understand hit is an important stat, and that you assume all is needed, but I still found this remarkable.

    Anyway: awesome info on the website, mate. Keep up te good work! Not really sure about the new design though…

  40. Joe says:
    April 7, 2011 at 6:29 pm

    You have rated the skyshare ring higher then the signet of transformation ring . I was thinking that the signet ring gives you a higher score to mastery, would be better.. what are you thoughts? I am capped at hit rating and expertise. and have 7.62 into crit and 6.97 into haste. mastery is 18.64 with the signet ring on..

  41. Captoats says:
    April 7, 2011 at 8:41 pm

    This is not very accurate at all

  42. Retman says:
    April 9, 2011 at 10:28 am

    i agree this list is horrid to say the least and isnt very accurate at all

  43. Uriel says:
    April 12, 2011 at 12:13 pm

    Sorry Khor, but when you Refresh your BiS list?

    Thanks for your cool work on Pala-Retry 😉

  44. Retpals111 says:
    April 13, 2011 at 2:17 am

    Are you forgetting the exp glyph is better then crusader strike one. Because that is a tonne of exp on those pieces.

  45. HolyShoteR-Warsong says:
    April 14, 2011 at 12:13 pm

    I Think that Fury of angerforge loses to Impatience of the youth due to the mastery bonus that Impatience Gives .

  46. jaden says:
    April 22, 2011 at 11:53 pm

    im confused about the leg list …..the Reinforced Sapphirium Legplates reg is not in the list why not?? and if it should where is it on the list.

  47. Michael says:
    April 23, 2011 at 4:17 am

    Heart of Rage (heroic) ——– 1454 dps
    Heart of Rage —————– 1286 dps
    Crushing Weight (heroic) —– 1261 dps
    License to Slay —————- 1249 dps
    Impatience of Youth ———- 1196 dps
    Fury of Angerforge ———— 1187 dps
    Darkmoon Card: Hurricane —- 1153 dps
    Crushing Weight ————– 1115 dps
    Heart of Solace (heroic) ——- 1108 dps
    Volatile Alchemist Stone ——- 1067 dps
    Figurine – King of Boars ——– 1062 dps
    Mark of Khardros (heroic) —— 983 dps
    Right Eye of Rajh (heroic) —— 956 dps
    Might of the Ocean (heroic) —- 950 dps

  48. Scott says:
    April 26, 2011 at 12:48 am

    I dont mean to be pushy, but will you have this updated by the end of this week?

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