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Gearing Up the RET Way
Gearing up for Retribution has become quite the hassle these days, on top of Warriors fighting loot with us, we have those damn Death Knights rolling on them as well.
Besides that, various plate gear have different stats such as Haste, Armor Penetration and of course, Critical Rating. Unfortunately some of these stats don’t benefit us that much and most Retribution paladins I encountered have no idea about it. Among the many plate gear in the game it is best to select those that benefit you the most and maximize your DPS. Thus you need to know which stat is more valuable and which gear provides better DPS. Oh and it saves ur DKP or EPGP.
Let’s start with the basics.
On top of dealing great damage, a melee DPS firstly MUST NOT MISS and reduce the chance the raid boss dodges his attacks. Therefore you need 8% HIT (263 Hit Rating) and 26 EXPERTISE (214 Expertise Rating).
DO NOT MISS = 263 HIT RATING
REDUCE DODGES = 214 EXPERTISE RATING
Remember that! This is the foremost gear requirement you should reach. Well actually just make sure you get 8% HIT (263 HIT RATING), Expertise can be slowly accumulated as you gear up.
Now that I made myself clear about Hit Rating and Expertise. Let’s look at other Retribution stats:
STRENGTH (STR)
Once you reach the HITCAP (8% Hit), the next stat to stock up on is Strength. Strength is the primary stat that increases our damage. 1 Strength (STR) = 2 Attack Power (AP) baseline. Talented with Divine Strength, 1 STR converts into 2.3 AP. The conversion further increases with Blessing of Kings. So 1 STR can actually give you about 2.6 AP.
Attack Power (AP)
After reading the above about Strength, some might think since STR converts into AP? Might as well stock up on AP straightaway, right?
Wrong. Firstly you will hardly find any plate gear with AP on them, AP is mostly found in leather or mail. But they are also included in cloaks and rings. The point is this, AP does not scale as well as STR for paladins, let’s do a little math.
Compare Cloak of Bloodied Waters to Ice Striker’s Cloak. Most would just conclude Ice Striker’s Cloak would be the better choice since it’s epic, but take a closer look.
Cloak of Bloodied Waters gives 60STR. Converting to AP where 1 STR equals to 2.3AP, 60STR gives 138AP, 38 more AP compared to Ice Striker’s Cloak. With talent Strength can grant way more AP from gear, so next time do a little math when comparing items.
CRITICAL RATING (CRIT) VS AGILITY (AGI)
I combine these two stats because both Agility and Critical Rating increases Critical Chance. But Critical Rating is more valuable as it increases Critical Chance more than Agility for us.
45.9 CRITICAL RATING = 1% MELEE CRITICAL CHANCE
52 AGILITY = 1% MELEE CRITICAL CHANCE
As you can see Critical Rating is a better stat for obtaining higher critical chance.
HASTE & ARMOR PENETRATION (ArP)
These two are combined because, well, they are the least benefit to Retribution paladins. Haste gives you more melee damage and Seal damage as you make more swings at the boss, but that’s about it. Armor Penetration (ArP) on the other only increases melee damage, Crusader Strike and Divine Storm damage, but NOT damage done by Seals and Judgements. Thus the benefit from Haste and Armor Penetration loses out to pure Strength.
I think I wrote a rather long post and you might not digest it well, So I’ll summarise it.
Gearing Up the RET Way
1. Get Hit-Capped which is 8% HIT (263 Hit Rating)
2. Stock up on STRENGTH (STR) and CRIT RATING
3. Slowly obtain 26 EXPERTISE (214 Expertise Rating) as you upgrade gear
4. Haste & Armor Penetration are lowest priorities.
5. Gemming go for STRENGTH primarily and followed by CRIT RATING.
Hope this article help you guys make better gear selection.
