The sweat and blood is spent. The days of played time are over and you are now level 80! So what’s the first thing on people’s mind as they stand at the plateau of 80-hood? Gear. How can I gear up as quickly as possible?
I have created my list of options, with my preferences
Well, first, be warned this list might not be for those with empty pockets. It costs gold to grab those coveted BoE items, and on certain items, lots of it. However, if you can obtain a few of these pieces, you are all set to jump right into raiding, or whatever conent you wish to tackle.
*Costs are estimated from my server up to July 2009.
Head
[Spiked Titansteel Helm] – One of the best values in the game. Crafted by blacksmithing, this helm doesn’t meet it’s upgraded match until Ulduar.
Cost: 500-600g
[Iron Riveted War Helm] – Only slightly better than the Spiked Titansteel Helm by a teeny, tiny few DPS. Plus it costs about 4500g more.
Cost: 4500-5000g
[Skullcage of Eternal Terror] – The thrifty options now. This helm isn’t helf bad, but the Spiked Titansteel Helm is what you should be aiming for.
Cost: 50-100g
[Helm of Command] – Not unless you have no other options.
Cost: 25-75g
Neck
[Titanium Impact Choker] – Not having an option with strength at this slot hurts, but this is still your best BoE neck.
Cost: 500-600g
[Draconic Choker of Ferocity] – Only if you have no gold. Stats are not all that bad,though.
Cost: 25-50g
Shoulders
[Savage Saronite Pauldrons] – Not many choices for shoulders. This is your only option. It looks pretty, but target this for an upgrade soon. Sons of Hodir shoulders are a nice option. Plus, it’s a PvP piece.
Cost: 50-75g
Cloak
[Cloak of Bloodied Waters] – A knockout for a BoE cloak. The strength pushes this past almost all Heroic dungeon cloaks, only to be upgraded far into Naxx. My best choice by far.
Cost: 150-300g
[Shawl of the Shattered Giant] – From Ulduar, nice stats except for the attack power, which we value highest on this piece. Not worth the gold spent in my opinion, but it’s still second best on my list.
Cost: 2500-3000g
[Ice Striker’s Cloak] – Not a bad deal for a smidge of crit and AP, but Cloak of Bloodied Waters is more DPS hands down, and it’s cheaper too.
Cost: 300-500g
Chest
[Savage Saronite Hauberk] – Another PvP piece due to lack of options. This piece should be a priority to upgrade.
Cost: 35-75g
Wrist
[Wristbands of the Sentinel Huntress] – Great deal that sits on the AH for around 1500-2000g. Ignore these and scan the trade channel for people selling Emblem of Valor Bracers for 1000g-1200g. There’s your ticket. Well worth the investment.
Cost: 1000-1200g
[Cast Iron Shackles] – Not a bad piece of gear, especially since it has hit. One of the more expensive rare pieces, however.
Cost: 125-175g
Hands
[Zeliek’s Gauntlets] – Another outstanding bargain on the auction house. It should be awhile before you find an upgrade here. Ulduar and up most likely.
Cost: 1000-1500g
[Savage Saronite Gauntlets] – Your cheap PvP option.
Cost: 25-50g
Belt
[Belt of the Titans] – Slam dunk winner of a belt that is second BiS for Paladins on many lists. It’s pricey, but worth it if you can’t find the upgrades (like myself) while raiding. Purchasing the materials yourself might end up being the cheapest route.
Cost: 5000-7000g / Purchasing Mats: 4000-6000g
[Savage Saronite Waistguard] – Another PvP blah-blah item. If you can’t drop 5000-7000g on the Titans belt, you might be stuck with this.
Cost: 25-50g
Legs
[Savage Saronite Legplates] – Why or why can we not get away from the resilience gear. Buy these, spit on em, then move along. Your only true BoE option. Don’t waste the money on leather legs.
Cost: 35-75g
Feet
[Footpads of Silence] – Best in Slot for non-hard mode gear. But it’s pricey.
Cost: 5000-7000g / Mats cost: 4000-6000g
[Battlelord’s Plate Boots] – Pretty much the same as above. A little bit less DPS, but costly nonetheless.
Cost: 5000-7000g / Mats cost: 4000-6000g
[Iron-Spring Jumpers] – A solid option with hit. A little pricey, but not too bad. This would be my first choice.
Cost: 1000-1500g
[Spiked Titansteel Treads] – Your cheapest epic option. Nothing wrong at all here, just not the best DPS-wise.
Cost: 400-500g
[Beserker’s Sabatons] – Not unless you’re broke. Aim for the Spiked Titansteel Treads if you cannot get the 3 others.
Cost: 75-100g
Ring
[Inscribed Ring of the Kirin Tor] – Not BoE, but can be vendor-bought. 7000g for the first ring, then 1000g more to upgrade to this baby. Not too shabby since it includes a hearth to Dalaran as well.
Cost: 8000g total
[Surge Needle Ring] – Great ring, hard to find. Pricey too, but it’s one fothe best you can get until Ulduar.
Cost: 4500-5000g
[Ring of the Kirin Tor] – Not BoE, must be vendor purchased for gold. A solid ring that is your only epic option with strength.
Cost: 7000g
[Titansteel Assault Band] – A solid ring that can last you a long time. Should definitely be one of your two rings if the above 3 are out of your price range.
Cost: 400-600g
[Ring of Scarlet Shadows] – The only rare option I am throwing in here. Good stats, even though the gem socket is empty. Personally I’d throw a sovereign twilight gem in there, but that’s just me.
Cost: 50-100g
Trinket
[Darkmoon Card: Greatness] – Only BoE trinket we can get through the Darkmoon Fair. Make sure it’s the one with strength.
Cost: 4000-5000g for the deck / 5000-6000g for the card itself
Weapon
[Titansteel Destroyer] – I’m not giving any other options here. This is your best choice, and should be your first upgrade. Period.
Cost: 800-1200g
So, all that said…make decisions wisely. Upgrades can come fast and furious at times, so don’t drop a thousand gold or two if you know your reputation upgrades are around the corner, or if you’re due for a heavy raiding week with many potential upgrades.
Most of all, have fun…after all, 1-80 is a long haul…time to enjoy all that hard work!
Khor
Hi, I have just hit 80 as a ret pally and mostly have greens and blues from quests and some dungeon drops. I was wondering what I should focus on now to get better gear? Are there any good faction rewards I should go for? Grind to get gold? Dungeon runs? This is my first character so I feel a bit lost now that experience isn’t the main thing.
http://eu.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Anachronos&cn=Kirilenko
And thanks for a great site btw! I’ve followed your talent build and it has been smooth sailing!
Hey Calle! Glad you are finding the site helpful! I checked your armory page, and it looks like you are off to a great start! The first thing we must look at before making suggestions is what your goal is now that you are in end game content.
Do you want to raid? Just do dungeons? PvP? Solo content? Grind dailies? Whatever your desire for end game is, that will have an effect on what suggestions we can make.
For now, I’ll just assume end game dungeons and raiding. First, your glyph set-up is nearly solid. I would replace Glyph of Seal of Command with Glyph of Seal of Vengeance, for the expertise boost. I would also replace the Blessing of Kings Glyph with the Blessing of Might Glyph.
Hit Rating will be the first thing to give you your biggest DPS boost, and that will come with gear. Hit cap is at 8%, and it looks like your gear has you at around 5.8% or so. Gemming for it is okay at first, but once you start dipping into epic quality gear, Bold red gems start taking priority.
For dungeons and heroics, use Seal of Command for all trash, and Seal of Vengeance on bosses.
Concentrate on DPS plate gear with +hit, +crit, and +haste, in that order. Take +armor pen as your lowest priority.
For easy gear upgrades, the rep vendors do have some ncie rewards, and by all means use them if you can. Titansteel Destroyer is a solid epic quality weapon until you can pick up an upgrade from 5-man Heroic ToC or normal ICC dungeons.
If gearing up is your goal, try concentrating on doing as many heroic dailies as you can. This is actually the fastest and easiest way to get gear. The emblems of Triumph will net you your shoulders and gloves within a day each more than likely…with other pieces following shortly afterwards. When your gear upgrades enough, ToC 5-man heroic will open up for you, as will the ICC dungeons.
Try hitting ToC 5man normal for quick loots as well.
Finally, as you gear up, start colelcting a healing or tanking set as well (I’d go with tanking first). This off-set, when eventually completed, can help you jump into heroic daileis faster, allowing for quicker emblem gathering…thus speeding up your gearing process.
Hope this helps! If you are looking for specific gear pieces from ICC dungeons, try this post of mine! 5-Man ICC Loot List for Ret Paladins
Thanks a lot Khor! Hard to find good minor glyphs, took the blessing of kings one because it’s what most people want me to cast on them, the blessing of might one seemed a little bit pointless since I use greater blessing of might anyway.
I don’t really know what I want to do, just picked up the game and started questing. I’ll guess I will start with leveling up JC and make some gold so I can finally buy a epic flying mount.
Big thanks again for the advise!
Calle
I love all your guides! they really helped me with my ret pally :). But I have a question regarding this one..i’ll be hitting lvl 80 soon..(I’m 78) but I’m really broke..I was wondering if you had 30-60g alternative for those things that doesnt have one..like a weapon..thanks 🙂 I mean..something for the time i gather the cash lol
Hey Neo, unfortunately people price 2-handers really high, so your best bet is probably going to be running 5-man heroics for a drop until you can get enough gear to run ToC 5-man and the ICC 5-man dungeons. You could also go for the
Here are some options:
1) Colossal Skull-Clad Cleaver – Heroic Halls of Lightning
2) Claymore of the Prophet – 25 Champion’s Seals from the Argent Tournament Dailies
Thanks a lot 🙂 I’ll go start doing Argent Daily regligiously now 😛 (also for the good cash you told about 😛 )
Anytime man, good luck on that weapon!
Really great information here. I just hit 80 and was lucky enough to get into a group that was willing to help me learn dungeons and help me earn badges\gear up. Retribution pally seems really hard to keep up with other DPS classes, but I’m trying!
A list of AH-able equipment is extremely helpful for those of us just starting out.
Thanks for making such a great website. Tons of knowledge here.
Thanks terrain! I need to update this when I can, there’s much more BoE items out there now! (Although quite pricey, too!)
Hey Khor,
I was wondering what libram you use? I am on my first character, which is a ret pally, and I have looked at other libram guides which arent very clear. Your guides are very clear and easy to understand. I will be using this guide all the way through, however I didnt see librams on here.
Thanks,
Mastar
Mastar that’s a great idea! I’ll try and get a post up soon on librams. I’m at work and have al ittle trouble with wohead at times, but ill link up the librams as soon as I can!
UPDATE:
shoulder – Raging Behemoth’s Shoulderplates (6-10k g)
chest – Titanium Razorplate (~1,5k g)
legs – Legplates of Painful Death (5-6k g)
burning legion
Just wanted to add another option that is better than the savage saronite hauberk
Polished breastplate of valor with the +100hp has better stats overall. should still be #1 priority to upgrade to T9 asap.