retribution Paladin's FAQ

[iktankniet]

Since there seems to be alot of retribution paladin's asking for help, i've decided to make a FAQ for them to make it easier for them to see how they can improve.

A known site where you can look is from elitist jerks. They do the number crunching of talents.
http://elitistjerks.com/f76/t37843-r...d_wrath_3_0_a/

Some points every ret paladin should know.
How much Hit rating do i need to be hit capped?
This is said on EJ site, which is 8% or 265 hit rating instead of the 9% it was in TBC. This is calculated against bosses. the only race that can improve hit rating is draenai. they increase hit rating with 1%. besides them, no one else can increase MELEE hit rating.

From my personal experiences being at 8% hit is nice, but not needed. It will decrease your dps to much because you will have to take gear that has hit or gem for hit.
Horde retribution paladins should aim for 6% or 200 hit. i have played with this for a long time and have nice dps without missing to much.
Alliance Retribution paladins can go even lower. IF they have a draenai in there Group to improve hit rating with 1%.

How much expertise do i need to be capped?
This is 26 expertise or 6.50%. there have been discussions if this should be 6.25%, but those are wrong. these calculations are when you stand behind the target.
Expertise is about the same as Hit. With more expertise, mobs will less likely to dodge your attacks. Being capped is not a target for ret paladins. But having as much as possible by gathering BiS gear is the best option.

Which rotation should i use to do the most dps?
the best rotation that retribution paladins use is FCFS (First Come First Serve). This means the attack which has no cooldown should be used. Ofcourse sometimes cooldown clashes. Thats why you have to prioritise certain attacks.

Against bosses the priority is:
Judgement->CS->DS->concecration->excorsism(against undead)->holy wrath(against undead)

Against trash the priority is:
DS->concecration->Holy wrath(if undead)->judgement->CS->excorcism

if you have the +crit libram, then it might be a good idea to switch priority of CS and DS at boss fights to get that bit of extra crit on the next attacks.

What is the best gear to get?
Ideally, the T7.5 4set bonus is a great thing to have. With it, you get an extra judgement about every 8 seconds(if it's prioritised)
There is a ongoing discussion about the Mirror of Truth and FotFF trinkets. To have fully potential use of the FotFF trinket, you have to hit a mob 2 times. After that, there have to be at least 1 hit every 10 secondes to keep it up. That’s why the trinket is situational in boss fights. In fights where you have to walk away alot. grobbulus if you have injection, sapphiron air-phase, anub’rekan(if you cant kill him before the phase change) and sartarion might not be the best fights to use FotFF. In those fights it might be a better option to use MoT.

Which gems and enchants should i use?
http://www.warcrafter.net/sandbox/126033 can be used again. most of the time ret paladins dont match the socket bonus to get it. +16 strength<a href=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=39996>(bold scarlet ruby)</a> is more valuable then a socket bonus.

boots enchant can be attack power or Icewalker. depends if you have enough hit. with the ideal gear setup you wont have enough hit, so icewalker is recommended.

Weapon enchant is <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=59621>Beserker</a>. This is THE best enchant for retribution paladins. The enchant gives you 400 Attack power at the cost of 5% of your total armor. There is no internal cooldown on it so it can procc all the time.

The 2nd best is <a href=http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=60691>Massacre</a> if the Beserker enchant is to expensive.

best shoulder enchant is <a href=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44133>Greater inscription of the axe</a> or if you are a scribe, its <a href=http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=61117>Master's inscription of the axe</a>.

the best option for leg enchant is <a href=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=38374>Icescale leg armor</a>/

The best and only retribution paladin option is <a href=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44149>Arcanum of Torrent</a>.

Which Glyphs should i use?
The Glyphs paladins can use dont increase dmg, but saves mana mostly.

The Major glyphs viable options are:
<a href=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41099>Glyph of concecration</a>
<a href=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41107>Glyph of avenging wrath</a>
<a href=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41092>Glyph of judgement</a> (This is a MUST)
<a href=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41097>Glyph of Hammer of wrath</a>
<a href=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41098>Glyph of Crusader Strike</a>

glyph of judgement is a must for retribution paladins. No discussion possible.

personally for 2nd and 3rd glyphs i would go for HoW and AW glyph. but then you have to time Avenging Wrath. if you have AW and the boss is under 20%, it wil do insane amount of dmg in a short period of time you can use it. if i have it, i prioritise HoW above CS, DS and concecration. not judgement. that dmg is still higher. so it would be judgement->HoW->CS/DS->HoW->CS/DS->HoW->concecration->etc etc. This can be done without the HoW glyph, but will cost ALOT of mana and might cause you getting OOM.

Remember that these glyphs are situational.

Most of the Minor glyphs are optional. none really is needed. Though Glyph of Sense undead is good for naxx to maximise dps. the rest is open for personal idea's


Any tips regarding things i missed or arent clearly, feel free to post.

[iktankniet]

edit: changed some of the tekst + typo's

[sonofschmee]

best pve rotations go go go

[Ektoplasme]

Don't bother, it's already done here : http://elitistjerks.com/f76/t37843-r...d_wrath_3_0_a/

I'll just copy/paste the table of contents to give you an idea of what's inside :
Contents:
Intro
FAQ
Shortforms
Upcoming changes (3.1)
Observations
Rotation
Stats
Mechanics and their quirks
Quick Talent Specs
Glyphs, Enchants, Gems, Consumables, Professions
Our Tier Sets
Add-ons and macros
Known Bugs
Changelog

I just saved you a few hours. No, non, don't thank me.


EDIT : ok, i'll copy/paste the rotation section of the guide I linked just to make you want to go there.

The Basic Rotation
During the beta it was agreed upon that because of vastly changed mechanics, our rotations should be thrown out and thus came to be known as FCFS (First Come First Serve). Not much to explain about it, just use whatever is off cooldown, whenever you can (watch your mana bar). Your only priority (should multiple skills come off cooldown at the same time) is Judgement, as it provides both our best DPS and our main source of mana. On a target under 20%, Hammer of Wrath also comes into play, right behind Judgement in priority due to its' very high crit rate. Be sure to use AW and Divine Plea as much as you can, as both provide a nice boost in damage/mana. In a situation with AoE, say trash for example, Consecration and DS should be prioritized.

The reasoning behind FCFS courtesy Avitus:

There are two elements to our "rotation": FCFS and clash resolution

FCFS: Was chosen very simply due to the fact that due to the cooldowns our abilities have, you can't repeat any reliable short term pattern (for example: "1" "1" "1" "3", repeat) that would maximize DPS. The only patterns that repeat are several minutes long (containing several dozen of casts) and therefore not realistic to offer as a "rotation". Therefore FCFS is the only way to go.

Clash resolution: It was argued back and forth what the optimum way to resolve a clash of two abilities coming out of cooldown at the same time, the result was "highest DPS first": Judgement > CS > Consecration > DS > Exorcism > Holy Wrath

[iktankniet]

or that

[eodem]

To be quite honest, I use MMO-champ for discussions on the class, answers and answering to those in need (be it me or the other) and EJ for number crunching. Works fine this way. No need for yet another Retri FAQ.

[iktankniet]

there is always some retribution paladin that need to confirm something about hit, there gear, gems or what not.

that's why i wanted to make a FAQ topic. to avoid the same topics of beginning ret's what hit they need, why we dont use armor penetration etc etc.

it much easier if a short FAQ is made to see what they need or dont need instead of posting another topic about hit.

[Dragonfiregum1]

GEMS: strength. End of story.

[iktankniet]

bump and vote for sticky pls

[Deleted]

Don't bother, it's already done here : http://elitistjerks.com/f76/t37843-r...d_wrath_3_0_a/

ElitistJerks FAQs etc are more aimed towards experienced players and include a whole load of stuff that newcomers don't understand or need yet. A generic newcomer-friendly FAQ is quite welcome in my opinion.

[Verteidiger]

GEMS: strength. End of story.

Strength and haste, dont forget the yellows...

[greatrichie]

Ick... Haste? You High?!

[iktankniet]

Added glyphs + the links to wowhead.

Strength and haste, dont forget the yellows...

dude, dont use haste... its about the same lvl as holy using spirit

[PalliesThrowStuff]

Personally, I would take crit, hit, or expertise over haste for when I need a yellow socket filled.

Haste is not as useless for Ret as Spirit is for Holy, as some would wrongly imply. However, it is marginally less useful than crit, hit, and expertise.

Blizzard has stated over and over that they want to buff haste for melee, though, so expect that in the future, it will be brought up to equal value with Crit and Hit in terms of sum output, as after all, it is the same cost per rating point.

[iktankniet]

Personally, I would take crit, hit, or expertise over haste for when I need a yellow socket filled.

Haste is not as useless for Ret as Spirit is for Holy, as some would wrongly imply. However, it is marginally less useful than crit, hit, and expertise.

Blizzard has stated over and over that they want to buff haste for melee, though, so expect that in the future, it will be brought up to equal value with Crit and Hit in terms of sum output, as after all, it is the same cost per rating point.

ok i kinda exatarated to make a point. the problem with haste is that you need alot of it before you see any effect on your dps. Bloodlust is a example. in this period you dps will increase, but not by much because it only affects our auto attack.

[Yqcooli]

Against bosses this normally is:
Judgement->CS->DS->concecration->excorsism(against undead)->holy wrath(against undead)

Against trash it usually is:
DS->concecration->Holy wrath(if undead)->judgement->CS->excorcism

Your suggested rotations are not the best.

Also i know we don't need to be hit cap, but hit on the gears you are suggesting is too low. The are a few high level hit items that can be used instead. In places like neck, waist and boots.

[iktankniet]

Your suggested rotations are not the best.

Also i know we don't need to be hit cap, but hit on the gears you are suggesting is too low. The are a few high level hit items that can be used instead. In places like neck, waist and boots.

the rotation i suggest is FCFS with a prioritylist when the skill is off CD.

hit is kinda low i agree on that. 2 good options are badge boots and belt of chivalry to increase hit with over 1%. or even both.

[Orpheous]

I have one query. I don't disagree with the ideal gear for a Ret paladin as it is all the best items. But I was wondering, would it not be best to use the pvp gauntlets for the 5% crusader strike benefit, if you already have 4 other pieces of the set. That way you will get the 4 set judgement bonus, plus an extra 5% damage to your crusader strike.

[iktankniet]

I have one query. I don't disagree with the ideal gear for a Ret paladin as it is all the best items. But I was wondering, would it not be best to use the pvp gauntlets for the 5% crusader strike benefit, if you already have 4 other pieces of the set. That way you will get the 4 set judgement bonus, plus an extra 5% damage to your crusader strike.

if you use pvp gloves,you wont have the 4set bonus anymore. or you have to change obsidian helmet for the t7.5 helmet. but then you would lose alot of expertise.

and they have less strength on it afaik. so less dmg from other attacks.

[Elementium]

i'd say it would be good to mention you don't need to match the gem color with the socket color. sometimes the bonus can be stamina which may not be worth sacrificing strength (red gem) for.