Help a new ret pally out? :)

[Eri]

Hi guys,

I'm not new to the Pally class by any means, but I've spent the last few years as Holy or Prot. I'm just now gearing up my DPS set, which is working out for me perfectly right now. (I'm working on achievements like Loremaster and doing heroics in between - so waiting the 10 min queues is perfect). Anyway, I just need a little bit of guidance, to make sure I'm doing things "right".

I'm sitting on 6,301 AP (2,077 strength), 41.80% crit, 28.62% haste. I'm hit capped (actually probably a little bit over).

So, my DPS set isn't the greatest, but I'm working on it. I just had a few questions...

- What's the best seal to use? Does it change depending on situation? Eg best for 5 mans? Best for raids? And so on...

- What's the best crafted gear to get? I've been reading up on some debate about the boots, Hellfrozen Bonegrinders. My boots are terrible and I'm not going to be doing ICC anytime soon, so are they worth getting? Are there other pieces I should get first?

- I currently have 4/5 Tier 9 (missing the chest). I have a trophy of the crusade, so I can get the better version of a Tier 9 piece. What would you recommend? My current chest is the "Steelbreaker's Embrace". What's tripping me up here is I know I need to get 2 piece Tier 10, but again, I'm not sure what to get first. Should I go for the T10 chest?

- And, finally, what do you recommend spending Frost emblems on? Did you guys have a priority list you stuck to?

[Kereba]

Seal of Command for trash mobs etc.
Seal of Vengeance? The DoT one.
Hellfrozen Bonegrinders are friggin' awesome, get 'em
The helmet 245, imo. The ArP one you get from badges is scrap, if memory serves, it has Haste instead for the Paladin tier, so get that.

Yes, go for the T10 Chestpiece, definately.

[Xeraluin]

armory, please. then you can get help

[Prentice]

I'm sitting on 6,301 AP (2,077 strength), 41.80% crit, 28.62% haste. I'm hit capped (actually probably a little bit over).

Alright. There is definitely something wrong with this picture. With almost every one of my non-tier items being 277, you have more AP than me (450 more), a little less crit than me (5.4%), and more haste than me (8.4%). I am finding it very had to believe that your stats are so much higher than mine while your gear is an entire tier behind mine. Are the values that you gave above raid-buffed?

[Aonix]

Probably with might..

but hmm.. should be more then 2077 str then, or could just be ap trinket i guess..

Just give armory?

[Borigrad]

armory would be nice and don't give up your raid buffed stats... cause i dont know if that AP power is possible without BiS gear unbuffed. Even then i dont know if it is.

[Prentice]

In full 277 BiS strength plate, you get up to ~6600AP unbuffed. I have noticed a recent bug with the armory showing my AP that includes BoM.

[Malleus]

- What's the best seal to use? Does it change depending on situation? Eg best for 5 mans? Best for raids? And so on...

If you're on a single mob and it lives for more than 18 seconds, use Vengeance. Otherwise, use Command. Notable exceptions are any boss with adds that you don't switch off for more than 10 seconds (e.g. Putricide).

- What's the best crafted gear to get? I've been reading up on some debate about the boots, Hellfrozen Bonegrinders. My boots are terrible and I'm not going to be doing ICC anytime soon, so are they worth getting? Are there other pieces I should get first?

If you're not doing ICC - though I don't see why you shouldn't if you're in ilvl245 - then get all the crafted and badge gear that doesn't fill a tier slot.

- I currently have 4/5 Tier 9 (missing the chest). I have a trophy of the crusade, so I can get the better version of a Tier 9 piece. What would you recommend? My current chest is the "Steelbreaker's Embrace". What's tripping me up here is I know I need to get 2 piece Tier 10, but again, I'm not sure what to get first. Should I go for the T10 chest?

Absolutely. Never break a tier bonus except to make a tier bonus, and always make the biggest jump in ilvl first unless it drops you below hit cap or expertise cap. And make sure you've got 16 expertise before glyph bonus.

Your priority for Frost Emblems is 4pc T10-251, leather or plate belt, libram.

[Borigrad]

In full 277 BiS strength plate, you get up to ~6600AP unbuffed. I have noticed a recent bug with the armory showing my AP that includes BoM.

assuming thats with shadowmourne?

[Eri]

Alright. There is definitely something wrong with this picture. With almost every one of my non-tier items being 277, you have more AP than me (450 more), a little less crit than me (5.4%), and more haste than me (8.4%). I am finding it very had to believe that your stats are so much higher than mine while your gear is an entire tier behind mine. Are the values that you gave above raid-buffed?

Sorry, I'm a noob >_<. I had a copy of my dps set in Rawr and thought I'd check the raid buffs off but hadn't. Now I have, it's 3,930 AP. My bad!

I'll have to log in and switch sets, my Armory won't be any use to anyone as it's currently my Holy set. I could make a Wowhead profile or some such, though.

---------- Post added 06-22-2010 at 09:47 AM ----------

If you're not doing ICC - though I don't see why you shouldn't if you're in ilvl245 - then get all the crafted and badge gear that doesn't fill a tier slot.
Absolutely. Never break a tier bonus except to make a tier bonus, and always make the biggest jump in ilvl first unless it drops you below hit cap or expertise cap. And make sure you've got 16 expertise before glyph bonus.

Your priority for Frost Emblems is 4pc T10-251, leather or plate belt, libram.

Getting into an ICC on my realm requires 5.6k GS, minimum, which I'm still a bit off. I'm only in a casual guild that doesn't raid and I just don't have the time to commit to a raiding schedule of 3 nights per week etc.
I could get into ICCs as Holy, but I'm not sure how much luck I'd have obtaining any DPS gear, it's quite sought after.