Question came into mind some weeks ago when I decided to give ret/pve a chance.
The first conclussions from the dummy results were awful ( just "normal" 355 ilvl) but there were no reasons to worry since....I am noob,so i decided to do my homework and learn rotations,stat priorities,build,glyphs,addons,etc... from EJ.
Then I came back to the dummy: results werent much better (most of EJ hints were so obvious I was actually doing it that way).
Well!!! No need to worry yet...You are still a noob ret so I downloaded Clcret for an optimal(or suboptimal) rotations and againg....
numbers werent shining.
No matter what I do my hunter(MM) or my warrior (Fury) with identical ilvl got 4-5k dps more without a sweat so I say to myself:
A) Maybe group buffs escales ret dps better than other specs.
B) Maybe this controlled scenario(dummy) with no pushback,moving,etc... its not the best performance test(i got to cast with the hunter,etc..)
So I got my ass on heroics and after some of them the conclusion is the same:I cant reach my hunter/warr dps by 4-5k dps.
And the question is why? To simplify some options:
A) Youre a noob ret (very likely lol).Youre not getting 100% performance so keep learning and practicing.
B) Youre a good hunter/warr (very unlikely)
C) This is how it works.Abandon every hope of getting that dps with ret on the same ilvl.
D) None of the above.Get your head out of your ass and realize that ....<Insert paragraph>
E) Dont worry.We paladins make so much light from skills that we are still needed in raids/groups for ambiental ilumination.
Salutes!