Patch 3.3 Retribution Paladin FAQ

**Ronark** · 2009-07-26, 10:08 AM

Introduction

The following is an FAQ that is updated to reflect any documented changes thus far to the PTR which will affect a Paladin’s DPS when patch 3.3 comes out. Because this is also a “beginner’s guide”, I will be going into detail on some items that an experienced player should already know.

Contents: (Copy the bracketed letters and hit Ctrl+F to skip to a specific part of the FAQ).
[1VRH]- Version History
[2ACS]- Acronyms
[3BSS]- Base Stats
[4SCS]- Stat Conversations
[5CTS]- Combat Statistics
[6SWS]- Stat Weightings **Re-Updated**
[7EMS]- Enchantments
[8GMS]- Gemming
[9CSB]- Consumables
[1SLS]- Seals
[2CBA]- Combat Abilities
[3UTL]- Utilities
[4ATG]- Armor Sets
[5DRS]- DPS Rotations
[6TBS]- Talent Builds
[7EGE]- Endgame Expectations
[8UFM]- Useful Macros
[9CCN]- Conclusion
[1PSS]- Bonus Material

[1VRH]- Version History:
v1.0- Initial Posting, minor format editing.
v1.0.1- Updated info on Armor Pen and SoC.
v2.0- Adjusted SoV changes, added in new information.
v2.1- Added Search function, reserved space for Gemming and Enchantments.
v2.2- Added Enchants, Gems, and Consumables section, and updated the Contents index appropriately.
v2.3- Update to 3.2.2. Fixed minor spelling and tooltip errors.
v3.0- Added changes on the PTR that are expected to go live. Bonus Material section added. Minors fixes made.
v3.1- Added a Macro section to the guide.
v3.2- Added Lay on Hands and Sacred Shield to the utilities section.
v3.3- Updated 3.3 Stat Weights. Thanks Killtorz for reminding me :P
v3.4- Reworked DPS Rotation sections to be accurate.
v3.4.1- Added Armor (tier) sets, updated Redcape's Stat Weights with T10 bonuses.
v3.4.2- Reworked the Stat Weights again- Final version of guide until Cataclysm hits.

[2ACS]- I’ll start by listing common Acronyms that are used commonly throughout this guide or elsewhere throughout these and other forums.

AE or AoE- Area of Effect. Generally spells, buffs, or effects that only affect targets in a given range.
AP- Attack Power.
ArP- Armor Penetration.
Bubble- A Paladin’s Divine Shield and Hand of Protection spells are referred to as being encased within a bubble through which nothing can enter.
CS- Crusader Strike
DI- Divine Intervention
DoT- Damage over Time. Any spell or ability that deals its damage gradually as time passes, rather than upfront.
DPS- Damage per Second. The higher your DPS, the more damage you do to a target as time passes.
DS- Divine Storm or Divine Shield.
DS/G- Divine Sacrifice/Guardian.
EBAE- Environment-base Area of Effect.
EXP- Shorthand for Expertise, or Experience, which is needed to level up.
FoL- Flash of Light.
FotM- Flavor of the Month. Typically players will make a new class, which is usually currently favored in a specific aspect of the game, over another class.
HoW- Hammer of Wrath.
HoF- Hand of Freedom.
HoJ- Hammer of Justice.
HoP- Hand of Protection.
HoR- Hand of Reckoning.
HoS- Hand of Sacrifice.
HW- Holy Wrath.
INT- Shorthand for a character’s Intellect.
MA- Main Assist. You target whatever this person targets to ensure it dies quickly.
MT- Main Tank. The main person that holds the Aggro of a mob.
n00b- An inexperience or new player. Can also be an insult to a player’s level of thinking.
NPC- Non-playable Character. A PC is referred to a Playable Character which you directly control.
OT- Off Tank. Generally either a back-up tank or an extra tank for an encounter.
PBAoE- Player-base Area of Effect.
PuG- Pick up Group. A random group of players that ban together to conquer greater challenges.
PvE- Player vs. Environment. Situations in which players fight against computer-controlled opponents.
PvP- Player vs. Player. Any situation in which players fight against each other in battle.
QFT- Quoted for Truth.
SP- Spell Power.
STR- Shorthand for a character’s Strength.
1337- Having the skillz to pay the billz.

Listed below are the typical Base Stat values that a Level 80 Paladin should have when they are not wearing any armor, are not affected by any buffs, and do not have any passive talents which increase stats- Note that this may slightly differ, depending on your chosen Race.

[3BSS]- Base Values at 80
Health = 6934
Mana = 4394
Strength = 175 = 350 Attack Power
Intellect = 97 = 1455 Mana
Agility = 86 = 1.65% Crit
Stamina = 196 = 1960 Health

All Mana-bound abilities are a percentage of Base mana, or mana with no additional Intellect: That is, as your Mana-pool increases, the cost of your spells does not.

[4SCS]- Stat Conversations, for Base stats
Each Base Stat can be broken down to reflect their impact on combat.

Each point of Strength is worth 2 Attack Power. With proper talents, like Divine Strength, this is increased to 2.3 AP. With Blessing of Kings, the amount gained is again increased, for a total of 2.53 effective AP per 1 Strength.
*Important Note*---> With the Sheath of Light talent, 1 Strength is also equal to = 0.759 effective Spell Power.

Each point of Agility is equal to 0.88 Critical Strike Rating, and for every 52.08 points of Agility, the Paladin gains 1% additional chance to Crit.

Intellect increases your total Mana by 15 points per point of Intellect: although not considered a DPS stat, we are still a Mana-bound class, so buffs like Arcane Intellect will help to increase your sustained damage.

[5CTS]- Combat Statistics , that affect attack rolls
Each of the follow affects how often (and how hard) you hit your enemy for.

Hit Cap = Hit rating increases your chance to successfully land attacks. Increasing your Hit rating is often the best way to increase your DPS until you reach the soft hit cap. The Hit Cap for all melee-bound abilities is 5%, plus an additional 1% for each level that your target is above you. For a raid boss, this is a total of 8% hit. For every 32.79 Hit Rating, you’ll gain 1% Hit. Some abilities, like Exorcism and Consecration, scale off of Spell hit, which has a considerably higher cap- however, you will gain a higher DPS by not stacking any additional Hit once past the Soft Cap.

Expertise Cap = Expertise increases your chance to successfully land attacks by ignoring an opponent’s chance to Dodge and Parry. Depending on your opponent, you may require additional Expertise rating to completely ignore an opponent’s Dodge and Parry chance. With every 8.2 Expertise rating equal to 1 Expertise, and each point of Expertise lowering your opponent’s chance to Dodge and Parry by 0.25%, you would need a total of 214 Expertise rating (or 26 Expertise) to hit the Hard Cap of 6.5% for a Raid Boss. Both Humans and Dwarves have Racial abilities which lower the amount of Expertise needed to hit a Raid Boss. Humans receive 3 Expertise when using either Swords or Maces, and Dwarves receive 5 Expertise when using Maces alone.

Critical Strike = Increases your chance to Critically Hit with attacks for 200% damage. While most of the Paladin’s abilities are Melee-oriented, some abilities (like Exorcism) are Spell-oriented; Thus, they only hit for 50% additional damage instead of 100%. For every 45.91 points of Critical Strike rating, you will gain an additional 1% chance to Crit. Although there is no Hard or Soft Cap for Crit, a minimum of 30% chance to Crit is usually recommended. Also, Critical Strike Rating gradually gets worse as you obtain more- That is, you will see a less of an effect if you went from 50% to 55% Crit than if you went from 15% to 20% Crit.

Armor Penetration = Armor Penetration increases the amount of Physical damage dealt to the target by reducing their armor. 1% of the target’s Armor is ignored for every 12.31 points of Armor Pen. Because a Paladin does a mix of both Physical and Spell damage by a ratio of 7:13, it is often not recommended to favor Armor Pen over other stats.
*Important Note*---> Only 3 scoures of a Pladin's attack are considered
Physical damage and are affected by Armor Pen: White hits, Crusader Strike, and
Divine Storm. All other abilities deal Holy magical damage.

Haste = Haste decreases the initial cast time of your spells, as well as the amount of time it takes to swing with your weapon. Every 25.21 points of Haste Rating will increase your Haste by 1%- Note that it is not directly proportional to the cast time or swing time of your spells or weapons- That is, if you cast a spell with a 3 second cast while having 33% Haste, the total cast time will NOT be equal to 2 seconds. As most of a Ret Paladin’s spells are Instant-cast, Haste only generally affects the swing time of your weapon (and ultimately, the number of hits from your Seal spells). Haste does, however, stack multiplicity. The formula for finding your weapon speed is given below:

Base speed / {(1+ Haste effect one)*(1+ Haste effect two)* … *( 1+ [Haste rating
one + Haste rating two + … + Haste rating N]/2521)}

For example, if a Paladin with a 3.6 second weapon swing timer is under the effect of both Icy Talons and Heroism, and has 14% Haste from their Haste rating, and uses a Potion of Speed, they would have the following:

Swing Timer / Icy Talons (20%) * Heroism (30%) * haste from Haste rating
3.6 seconds / {(1 + 20/100)*(1+ 30/100)*(1+ [352.94 + 500]/2521)} = 1.72 seconds

Resilience = Resilience is a PvP-oriented stat. For every 82 points of Resilience, you will:
--->Be 1% less likely to be Critically Hit
--->Take 2.2% less damage from a Critical Strike if it lands
--->Lose 1% less Mana if Mana Drained
--->Reduce all incoming damage dealt to you by 1%

A normal level of Resilience for fighting in an Arena battle for a Ret Paladin is in between 600 and 800. There is no Hard Cap on Resilience: However, a player can only reduce the damage they take from Critical Strikes by a maximum value of 33%, which is roughly 1230 Resilience Rating. Any additional Resilience will not reduce critical damage taken further, but will still continue to contribute to the other benefits.

[6SWS]- Stat Weightings
Stat Weightings are the approximate value of stats when compared to 1 Attack Power- The higher the value, the more the stat is worth. Stat weights are great for comparing multiple pieces of gear that have different stats between them.

Hit rating 264 (30)
Strength 204
Exp rating 170 (0)
Crit rating 134
Haste 137
Agility 130
Armor Pen 99
AP 81
SP 26

The values given in the parenthesis is the value of the stat once you reach the soft cap of the stat.

Based off the given Stat Weighting, one can determine which gems and enchantments are also most beneficial to your paladin- Note that the recommended Gems and Enchantments are assuming you have both your Hit rating and Expertise rating capped.

[7EMS]- Enchantments
Enchantments are the best way to improve upon your gear once you obtain them. The following are considered to yield the highest DPS per enchant:

Cloak: Either Major Agility or Haste
Chest: Powerful Stats
Bracers: Greater Assault
Gloves: Crusher
Boots: Greater Assault
Weapon: Berserking

*Important Note*---> If you are an Enchanter, you can give each of your rings Assault

In addition to Scrolls, you can also enhance other pieces of gear with crafted Armorkits or purchased Inscriptions (not to be confused with the Inscription profession):

Helm: Arcanum of Torment- Obtained through Revered status with the Ebonhold Knights.
Shoulders: Greater Inscription of the Axe- Obtained through Exalted status with the Sons of Hodir.
Belt: Eternal Belt Buckle- Obtained from a Blacksmith.
Leggings: Icescale Leg Armor- Obtained from a Leatherworker.

[8GMS]- Gemming
Gemming as a Paladin is quite simple. The Meta of choice to use is a Relentless Earthsiege Diamond- This is mainly due not only to the fact that it provides a hefty DPS boost, but as because it has the easiest requirements to fulfill by the use of a single Nightmare Tear. Once you reach your Meta requirements, you simply fill in every slot with Bold Cardinal Ruby, which give the most Strength.

Once you acquire the 2 set bonus for Tier 9 gear, it has been shown that socketing an Inscribed Ametrine into set bonuses that yield 4 or more Strength will provide more DPS than if you socketed pure +20 Strength gems.
*Important Note*---> Jewelcrafters will want to use 3 Bold Dragon’s Eye in their Red sockets.

[9CSB]- Consumables
Finally, a number of consumables are also available to again increase efficiency- These range from Elixirs to Flasks to Food buffs:

Flask of Choice: Flask of Endless Rage
Battle Elixir of Choice: Elixir of Major Strength
Guardian Elixir of Choice: Elixir of Mighty Thoughts
Food Buff of Choice: Dragonfin Filet
Secondary Food Buff Choice: Fish Feast
Potion of Choice (limited to 1 per use): Potion of Speed

*Important Note*---> You gain more of a DPS increase if you use your Potion of Speed during Heroism, due to Haste being multiplicative with itself.

[1SLS]- Seals
One of a Paladin’s main sources of DPS comes from his or her Seal choice. Seal spells augment your weapon to do different affects when you strike an enemy- they can be either offensive or utilitarian. Currently, there are 3 key choices for a Seal when choosing to DPS in a raid environment:

Seal of Vengeance-
What the Seal Hit does:
---> Applies a DoT effect on auto-swing only that deals [(1.3% SPH + 2.5% AP) * 5] * [X] Holy
damage over 15 seconds, stacking up to 5 times, with X being the number of stacks on the target.
---> Strikes for 7% Weapon damage, based on the number of stacks on your target (max of 33%
weapon damage when fully stacked); Unlike normal spells, when this crits it strikes for 200%
damage instead of 150%.
What the Judgement does: Deals [1 + (22% SPH) + (14% AP)] * [1 + (X/10)] Holy damage, with X being the number of stacks on the target.

Seal of Vengeance is the prime DPS spell for single-target competitive PvE DPS. The seal is optimal when you have targets that die slowly or that try and outlast you- This is mainly due to the fact that each weapon stikre deals an additional 7% weapon damage- once you reach the application limit on the Seal’s Damage over Time component, every weapon swing or melee ability will deal a total of 33% weapon damage. As the DoT ticks away for amounts near 1100-1200 every 3 seconds, you’ll also have a steady income of damage being dealt to your target. The damage done via Judgement when buffed with Seal of Vengeance will also increase by 10% for each application of the DoT you have on your target. Due to the DoT only being applied on White hits, it does take a decent amount of time to apply your stacks- somewhere between 12-15 seconds normally, depending on your Haste and weapon speed.

The initial damage done by the DoT, Seal Hit, and Judgement effect of the spell can all be increased by speccing into Seals of the Pure for 5 talent points in the first tier of the Holy tree.

Seal of Command-
What the Seal Hit does: Deals 36% Weapon Damage, but as Holy damage instead of Physical damage: Can chain to up to 2 additional targets when applied with a single target Melee ability, excluding Judgement.
What the Judgement does: Deals [19% Weapon Damage + 8% AP + 13% SP] Holy damage.

Seal of Command is learned by spending 10 points in the Retribution tree, and an additional 1 point in the spell itself- Thus, the earliest that this spell can be obtained is at level 20. The seal does a percentage of your weapon damage on every hit, but as Holy damage rather than Physical. In addition, the spell will also hit up to two additional targets (often refereed to as "cleaving") when proc'd off any single-target melee ability outside of Judgement- either White hits, Crusader Strike, or Hammer of the Righteous. The amount done by Command’s Judgement effect, however, is relatively low compared to other DPS Seals, critting for amounts around 2500 from a decently geared player before other factors such as Resilience or Avenging Wrath are taken into effect. Seal of Command is best suited for taking out small enemies that don’t last long under concentrated group fire or weaker ones that don’t last long enough to utilize Seal of Vengeance’s full benefits by utilizing the cleave effect of Command.

Seal of Righteousness-
What the Seal does: Deals [Base Weapon Speed * (2.2% AP + 4.4% SP)] additional Holy damage.
What the Judgement does: Deals [1 + 20% AP + 32% SP] Holy damage.

Seal of Righteousness is the basic DPS Seal for all Paladin specs at the earlier levels of their career. It scales the most with Spell Power, and deals a portion of Holy spell damage on each hit. Because of the scaling, it is often not used by a Ret Paladin once Seal of Command is obtainable. However, testing has shown that with points in Seals of the Pure, it can be viable to use in single target fights in which you cannot stack Seal of Vengeance, due to the increased Judgement damage.
*Important Note*---> Unlike other DPS Seals, Seal of Righteousness cannot crit.

[2CBA]- Combat Abilities
Outside of Seals, most of a Paladin’s Combat Abilities are either enhanced or obtained by spending points in the Retribution talent tree.

Crusader Strike: Crusader Strike is Ret’s 41 point talent. It instantly deals up to 75% Weapon damage every 4 seconds. The initial damage dealt can be increased by talents such as Sanctity of Battle and Art of War, and also by the PvP Gloves, which increases the damage dealt by 5%, for a total of 94-95% (PvE) or 99-100% (PvP) weapon damage. Combined with your Seal Proc, Crusader Strike is one of the strongest abilities for single-target DPS.

Divine Storm: Like Crusader Strike, Divine Storm is also learned through talents. The assault deals 110% weapon damage, and can hit up to 4 targets when used, or hit no enemies at all if they are far enough away. What is unique about Divine Storm when compared to other Whirlwind-type effects is that it will also heal your group or party based off of the damage caused. The more targets wounded by the storm, the more healing it provides. However, the amount healed is only equal to 25% of the total damage done. Like all other attacks, Divine Storm also procs your Seal spell on all targets. In a Multi-target situation, Divine Storm is second to none.

Judgement: Judgements are the core stable ability of a Retribution Paladin- a Judgement focuses the energy of the current Seal being used, and releases its lawful punishment upon your enemy. Judgement spells are broken down into three separate abilities, which all have a shared cooldown: Judgement of Wisdom, Judgement of Light, and Judgement of Justice. Depending on which Judgement is used, attackers can gain a benefit when striking your Judged target. Judgements are classified as a Melee spell that cannot be Blocked, Dodged, or Parried, meaning they either Hit or Miss- largely this is due to the Judgements of the Wise talent, which enables Ret paladins to DPS with high-cost spells and a low mana pool. They can, however, be used while Disarmed, but not while Silenced or Spell-locked out of the Holy school. Additionally, if the Paladin Judges a target, they will also affect 10 Raid or Party members with the Replenishment buff to further help with Mana regeneration. Note that if the Judgement deals 0 damage (through an Immune, Miss, or Absorb effect), the paladin gains no mana.

Righteous Vengeance: Righteous Vengeance is not an on-demand ability, but is rather procced when your Crusader Strike, Divine Storm, and Judgement abilities deal Critical Damage to a target. If one of these abilities Crits while you already have this DoT up, the DoT is refreshed with the extra damage added on- This tactic is known as “rolling”, in much a similar fashion to a way a Mage “rolls” ignites.

The Two-piece T9 bonus enables Righteous Vengeance the chance to crit, with it's crit chance equal to your current crit change plus 4%. Crit damage from Righteous Vengeance is classified as a Physical ability, and thus hits for 200% damage.

Consecration: Consecration is a ABAoE spell that damages enemies that enter and leave the area. The damage dealt by Consecration is dealt equally between all ticks, meaning that the initial tick, a middle tick, and the final tick of the spell should all deal the same portion of damage, as long as outside factors remain consistent. Despite Consecration’s large Mana cost, it is still invaluable to use for DPS, even against single targets. Finally, Consecration scales off your Spell Hit table, meaning any ticks of the spell can miss or be resisted with less than 17% Spell Hit.

Exorcism: One of three of the Paladin’s Ranged attacks, Exorcism deals Holy damage after a short cast. When used in combination with an Art of War proc, the cast time is negated and the spell becomes an Instant Cast. Due to the purifying potential of the spell, it will instantly strike for Critical damage when used on Demon- or Undead- type mobs. However, the long cooldown limits its practical use.

Hammer of Wrath: The Hammer of Wrath is the Paladin’s finishing skill; It is only useable on targets with less than 20% health remaining. However, the spell does deal instant Holy damage, and when used with points spent in Sanctified Wrath, it has a high chance to Crit for 200% damage. The hammer can also be fired from a longer range, and thus does not require the Paladin to be in melee range for execution.

Holy Wrath: Undead and Demon targets will sob beneath you once you unleash your Holy Wrath. Every 30 seconds, a Paladin can stun all Undead and Demon targets in range for a brief moment while dealing some moderate Holy damage. The spell can be used offensively to cut through weak groups with ease, or defensively, giving you ample time to heal yourself if wounded. The stun effect on Holy Wrath, like all stuns, is subject to diminishing returns.

Hand of Reckoning: The last of a Paladin’s ranged attacks, Hand of Reckoning is actually a taunt that deals damage if the target is not focused on you. This ability is only useful for tagging mobs in PvE, or for peeling a mob off one your weaker teammates. It has little use in PvP, unless used against Aggressive Pets and Minions or Guardians or to keep your opponent in combat (to prevent drinking and mounting out of combat).

[3UTL]- Utilities

Being a Hybrid, the paladin brings many utilities to a group, both Offensively and Defensively.

Blessings and Greater Blessings:

Blessing of Might: The main Blessing used by Ret paladins. Blessing of Might replaces Battle shout on the buff bar, and offers up to 687.5 Attack Power when fully talented into- Note this also gives us 206.25 SP as well. This is most optimal for physical classes, such as Warriors, Hunters, Deathknights, and Rogues, as well as Feral Druids.

Blessing of Kings: Often used as a back-up Blessing with multiple Paladins or a smaller group sizes, Blessing of Kings increases all of the target's base stats (Strength, Intellect, Agility, Spirit, and Stamina) by 10%. It is useful to use on Tanks for larger health pools, on Spell caster DPS for larger Mana pools and regen, and Physical DPS for more AP. Generally, all classes should have Kings on them.
*Important Note*---> Blessing of Kings is applied multiplicity with other effects that increase stats by a percentage. For example, a Paladin with Divine Strength (x15% STR) and Blessing of Kings (x10% STR) would gain a total of 26% increased Strength.

Blessing of Wisdom: Most of the time, you will have either a Shaman or a Holy Paladin use Blessing of Wisdom- However, in smaller 5man instances, you may not have both or either of these. Some classes may prefer Wisdom over Kings for mana regen as well. Note that in larger raids, a Restoration Shaman may drop their Mana Tide totem- this will more than likely override a Ret Paladin's Wisdom, due to the higher amount of Mana restored every 5 seconds.

Hand spells:

Hand of Freedom: Hand of Freedom prevents movement effects such as roots and snares from affecting the target. This works wonders in PvP battles because we have a limited amount of ways to catch up to a fleeing target. When talented, this spell also removes all stuns from the target, but does not prevent any additional stuns from being applied. Stronger stuns, such as Maexxna's Web Warp, may be immune to its effects.

Hand of Protection: When an ally is in suddenly threatened, Hand of Protection can be used to prevent any physical damage. Because the bubble blocks all physical damage, the target of the spell can also not physically attack: however, they can still freely cast spells. This ability also causes Forbearance on the target, so they cannot be affected by Divine shield or another Hand of Protection.

Hand of Sacrifice: Hand of Sacrifice redirects damage taken from the target, and instead depletes it from your own Health pool. While in some cases this may be unwanted, when combined with Divine Shield all the damage done to the player is negated.
*Important Note*---> Damage received through Hand of Sacrifice can also break Crowd Control effects which break on damage (Freeze Trap, Repentance, Polymorph, etc).

Hand of Salvation: The Ret Paladin's threat dump. If you severely outgear your tank, or do not wait for him or her to gain initial aggro, you may end up grabbing the mobs attention- In most cases, this ends up with the player's death. When Glyphed, it also reduces the amount of damage done to yourself. The best thing about this Hand is that it is usable on other people that pull aggro quickly, and a timed Salvation can help keep the mobs on the tank.

Other Utilities:

Vindication: Vindication is applied from other attacks and needs to be specced into after spending 10 points in the Retribution tree- The amount of Attack Power reduced scales with your level, and as such does not require any additional training for higher ranks. At level 80, the amount of AP reduced is equal to either 287 or 574, depending on how many points you invest in the talent.

Sacred Shield: Sacred Shield is our main active defense. It reduces incoming damage every 6 seconds by placing a shield on our target that reduces a total of 500 damage, plus 75% of our Spell power. With the Divine Guardian talent, the length and the amount absorbed by Sacred Shield is increased. Similar Sacred Shield effects do not stack.
*Important Note*---> The absorb effect from this ability will not "roll" with itself- meaning that if you had part of a damage shield remaining and are stuck again after 6 seconds, a new refreshed shield will be place on you or your target instead.

Divine Sacrifice: Divine Sacrifice is a talent in the Protection tree that is available after spending 10 points. Some Retribution Paladins will pick it up to negate a large portion of Party-oriented and Raid-wide damage. However, most Ret Paladins will have to sacrifice some DPS or other utility to obtain this as it is out of the way for the most part. Note that it is, however, the prerequisite for the Divine Guardian talent, which helps to improve survivability for Arena-bound Ret Paladins.

Cleanse: Cleanse removes one Poison, Magical, and Disease effect form the target. This is useful for assisting other teammates when a large amount of people are inflicted with ill status conditions.

Hammer of Justice: Mainly used in PvP, but also in PvE to help prevent spell casting, Hammer of Justice will stun it's target for 6 seconds. It's chance to hit targets is dependent upon your Spell Hit chance and not your Melee Hit chance.. However, all other spell statistics (Resist, Spell Reflect, etc.) still affect Hammer of Justice.
*Important Note*---> This ability will also interrupt spell casting of ONLY mobs when they are immune to the stun effect- Players immune to stun effects will NOT be interrupted.

Lay on Hands: A powerful heal on a 20 minute cooldown, Lay on Hands can be used in many situations to prevent a wipe or to prevent yourself from being killed. Its cooldown can be reduced to 15 minutes with a glyph, and further to 11 minutes with talents in the Holy tree.
*Important Note*---> This ability will also cause Forbearance when used on yourself- However, it can be used within 30 seconds and while under the effects of Avenging Wrath.

[4ATG]- Armor Sets
DISCLAIMER- Since the tier 7 and 8 gears are outdated, they have been chosen to be excluded from this guide.

Tier 9- Turalyon's Battlegear and Liadrin's Battlegear
Set bonuses:
[url=http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=67188]2 piece bonus[/url]: Righteous Vengeance has a chance to crit.
4 piece bonus: Judgement crit chance is increased by 5%.
Libram: Libram of Valiance

Comments: The 2 piece bonus adds tremendously to our DPS, making RV anywhere from our 5th most damaging ability to our 1st most damaging ability. The crit chance of RV is calculated by being equal to your current Melee crit chance plus an additional 4%. The 4 piece bonus is somewhat lackluster, adding crit chance to an ability with an already high crit chance. The stats on the gear are also less than optimized, as some of the itemization points are wasted on Armor Penetration and Expertise.

The libram adds up to 556.6 attack power when SoV or SoCorr does damage, and with a 70% proc time it will almost always be up when SoV or SoCorr is active: Thus, this should be your first Emblem of Triumph purchase.

Tier 10- Lightsworn Battlegear
Set Bonuses:
2 piece bonus: Melee Attacks have a 40% chance to reset the cooldown of Divine Storm
4 piece bonus: Seal and Judgement damage increased by 10%.
Libram: Libram of Three Truths

Comments: Tier 10 offers the most exciting and most damaging set bonuses. Not only is our Tier gear perfectly itemized, but it has been shown that combined the 2pc bonus and 4pc bonus can increase our DPS by up to 8%. The 2pc bonus really shines in AE situations, where when combined with Seal of Command can wreak havoc.

The libram offers a small upgrade from the previous tier, and has a ramp up time. However, it is usable on any seal and not limited to SoV and SoCorr. Taken from Arikah's 3.3 Ret Guide on EJ:

Libram comparison chart, thanks exemplar. The T10 libram requires 39 seconds to reach equivalence with the T9 libram, and is better after that point. Obviously, the T10 libram can be used with any seal making it useful on fights where you need to use SoC. The T10 libram also becomes more powerful than the pvp librams at a mere 2 stacks, 5 seconds into a fight. The chart assumes you use CS at time 0 - in real FCFS situations at the T10 level, equivalence time is slightly higher at about 45 seconds. The T10 libram will likely be one of your last badge purchases if you already have the T9 libram.

Time T9 T9 Avg T10 T10 Avg
0 sec 0 Str 0 Str 44 Str 44 Str
5 192 100 88 100
10 192 128 132 88
15 192 144 176 110
20 192 153.6 220 132
25 192 160 220 146.66
30 192 164.57 220 157.14
35 192 168 220 165
40 192 170.66 220 171.11

When should I drop 2pc T9?
This question comes up a lot on the forums. Basically, the 2pc bonus from Tier 9 is only worth breaking when you can acquire the 4pc Tier 10 bonus. Below I have included a refference guide for when you should break T9.

Depends on his current gear. Basically:

2pc T9 i232 + 2pc T10 i251 < 4pc T10 i251
2pc T9 i245 + 2pc T10 i251 < 4pc T10 i251
2pc T9 i258 + 2pc T10 i251 > 4pc T10 i251

2pc T9 i232 + 2pc T10 i264 < 4pc T10 i264
2pc T9 i245 + 2pc T10 i264 < 4pc T10 i264
2pc T9 i258 + 2pc T10 i264 > 4pc T10 i264

2pc T9 i232 + 2pc T10 i277 < 4pc T10 i277
2pc T9 i245 + 2pc T10 i277 < 4pc T10 i277
2pc T9 i258 + 2pc T10 i277 < 4pc T10 i277

[5DRS]- DPS Rotations
Unlike other DPS specs of other classes, a Ret Paladin has no true rotation- Instead, you must watch the cooldown of your abilities and use them once they are available, much like an Enhancement Shaman or Affliction Warlock. Depending on the situation, you may do more damage with one specific ability than you would with another.

Single-target DPS- For Slow dying mobs, or Raid Bosses with a large amount of health.
Without any Tier bonuses, the following gives the most DPS, based on the amount of damage each
ability does over the course of 1 minute, instead of how much burst damage it does
per cooldown:

Hammer of Wrath > Crusader Strike > Judgement > Divine Storm > Exorcism (when
undead or demon) > Consecration > Exorcism (non-undead or demon) > Holy Wrath

With the 2pc Tier 9 bonus, thus changes slightly due to
Judgement's naturally larger crit chance:

Judgement > Crusader Strike > Hammer of Wrath > Divine Storm > Exorcism (when
undead or demon) > Consecration > Exorcism (non-undead or demon) > Holy Wrath

The rotation changes a third time with the 2pc Tier 10 bonus:

Judgement > Divine Storm > Hammer of Wrath > Crusader Strike > Exorcism (when
undead or demon) > Consecration > Exorcism (non-undead or demon) > Holy Wrath

The rotation changes a final time when the 2 piece Tier 9 bonus is dropped for 2 piece Tier 10:

Judgement > Divine Storm > Crusader Strike > Hammer of Wrath > Exorcism (when
undead or demon) > Consecration > Exorcism (non-undead or demon) > Holy Wrath

Multi-target DPS- For weaker multiple mobs or groups with little health.
Crusader Strike > Consecration > Divine Storm > Judgement > Hammer of Wrath >
Holy Wrath (when available) > Exorcism

The rotation changes a once with the 2pc Tier 10 bonus:

Divine Storm > Judgement > Crusader Strike > Consecration > Hammer of Wrath >
Holy Wrath > Exorcism

[6TBS]- Talent Builds
Depending on which aspect of play a player wants to participate in will determine where he or she places their Talent Points. I’ll list some come builds for all aspects of play.

PvE Build: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#sVZVZ...uhdIfsu:oa00cm

A common build for a Paladin that plans to join a Raid group and focus on killing mobs. The Paladin will be using Seal of Vengeance most of the time, unless fighting against mobs that are very weak or have little health and die quickly, in which case Seal of Righteousness or Seal of Command will be utilized. Make note that the player has 7 remaining points left- This leaves for multiple branches of possibilities. By placing the points in the Holy tree, a Ret Paladin could pick Imp Lay on Hands to use on the tank, or Aura Mastery for group utility. By speccing further down the Prot tree, a player could also get Divine Sacrifice to reducing damage done to all players.

Recommended Glyphs:

Glyph of Judgement- Increases Judgement damage by 10%. Increased damage on one of our hardest hitting abilities is core to DPS.

Glyph of Seal of Vengeance- Adds 10 Expertise when Seal of Vengeance or Seal of Corruption is active. Note that this adds pure Expertise, and not just Expertise rating. This glyph allows for more freedom when choosing gear, as it reduces the Paladin's Expertise cap to 16 for boss fights. On fights that do not utilize SoV, however, this glyph will do nothing. It has been found that if you gain a benefit of at least 2 expertise, that this glyph will provide more DPS than another glyph (such as Exorcism)

Glyph of Consecration- Increases the length of Consecration by 2 seconds. This glyph does three things:
It makes Consecration more mana efficient by removing 1 Consecration per minute from your rotation, putting less of a stress on your mana pool.
Increases Consecration DPS. Since only the first tick of a mob moving in and out of Consecration can miss, this reduces the miss chance of Consecration by 1 per minute.
Frees up for GCD. With 1 more GCD saved per minute, you can use the free GCD on a more powerful ability.

Glyph of Exorcism- Increases damage done by Exorcism by 20%. This is the "filler glyph" for when Seal of Vengeance is not needed, due to being over the expertise cap. Even in ICC with all of the mobs being mostly undead, this glyph still provides the least amount of DPS.

PvP Build: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#sZVZVfMtbIuGdIbsz:a0j0zV
An outline for a PvP build, there are two ways to go from here:

---> Build A: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#sZVGz...uGdIbsk:a0j0zV
Build A focuses on primarily using Seal of Command as the main DPS Seal. There are
enough points in the build to reach down to grab both Imp Righteous Fury and Imp
Hammer of Justice, as well as DS/G. Overall, this build is more defensive when
compared to Build B.

---> Build B: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#sV0bZ...uGdIbsu:a0j0zV
Build B forgoes Seal of Command and favors both Seal of Vengeance and Seal of
Righteousness. This build plays more of an Offensive threat, by increase Seal and
Judgement damage, as well as resistance to fear effects, by sacrificing some defensive
utility.

Glyph choices for both builds are presented for the Arena-bound Paladin. Of course, other alternates could include the Glyph of Divine Storm for more healing, Glyph of Seal of Righteousness for higher burst damage, Glyph of Seal of Command for more mana, or even the Glyph of Hammer of Wrath.

[7EGE]- Endgame Expectations

PvE:
As a DPS spec, you are here to deal damage, as that is your primary role. With buffs such as your Blessings of Might and Kings, you increase your group’s damage potential. With both Judgement of Wisdom and Replenishment, you help ensure that Mana-bound classes are never short on resources. Your Cleanse spell can also save a person’s life (or the raids), and your Divine Intervention helps your Raid recover from an attempt gone bad. Although not the strongest of the DPS on some fights, the amount of utility you bring alongside your competitive DPS helps to ensure your position.

PvP:
In PvP, the Ret Paladin helps to protect his or her allies. Utilizing your Hand spells helps keep team members alive and unhindered. Your Cleansing aids in the removal of undesired effects applied from other players, and your instant heals and bubbles assist in recovering from any damage done to you or your team’s health. You are not without your Damage potential, however- A Ret Paladin can easily tear through an under-geared or under-skilled opponent in seconds. Working well and strategically choosing your correct teammates is key for success in the later brackets of any Arena, as a Ret Paladin relies on others for the offensive tools he or she lacks.

[8UFM]- Useful Macros
Below are some macros that I find useful to Ret Paladins in all aspects of the game. I'll post the code first, and then briefly describe how each one functions. You can copy and paste the code directly into the macro field.