New Ret Pally, gearing questions.

[Daetur]

Sorry, I know there's 22 1/2 of these threads, but the sreach feature says that it's currently disabled.

I just hit 80 on my paladin Saturday night, and am doing the whole heroic-farming deal. I've been over the Elitist Jerks' Ret Paladin thread several times, but there is something not mentioned on there that I was wondering.

I've heard that the agility Ashen Verdict ring is better than the strength one for paladins. Is this true? Is it gear dependent?

Also, in relation, does this apply to necks/other rings/backs, like warriors tend to take, or should a pally, more like a DK, stick with strength all the way? I assume this is true, since crit from agility doesn't affect spell crit, but I wanted to be sure by asking more more experienced pallies.

[Crazysyco]

Yes the agi ashen verdict ring gives you more DPS and this is at all gear levels.

This doesn't necesarrily apply to ALL agi off set pieces. But if you have checked out EJ you'll see many agi pieces, including leather are currently BiS. In general agi items tend to have more stats and less stamina which gives more room for dps stats so they tend to beat out str pieces of the same item level.

Even though agi doesn't improve spell crit, I believe (could be wrong but I'm 99% sure), only Exorcism and Holy Wrath are based off spell crit, the rest of our abilities are based off melee crit. Since Exorcism is an auto-crit for all of ICC and Holy Wrath you'll hardly ever use as it is last in our priority and DS will often reset enough that you never end up getting to the end of the priority.

In general, all the agi stuff is 10-20 dps better then it's str counterpart. So while yes, it is better, it's not "OMG WTF" better. Also, in the 4.0 patch I heard there is something with the mastery system that gives benefits for wearing all plate or something. Someone can elaborate on that last part better.

[Daetur]

Ah, I didn't check the BiS list, since it tends to be somewhat dependant on the other gear in the list, none of which I'll ever be close to on my pally.

Guess I'm gonna have to break out the simulator before I start buying Frost gear.

4.0 is, of course, likely quite a ways off.

[UFTimmy]

Agi pieces are better depending on how they are itemized. Sometimes there are no good strength pieces, that have stats we like.

[Brael]

A lot of why agi items are BiS now has been mentioned in they are better itemized, but I was under the impression this was also down to the ridiculous amounts of ArPen on plate gear that isn't a great stat for us?

[Ronark]

Sometimes that's the case, but take for example Winding Sheet vs. Shadowvault Slayer's Cloak. Neither of these has armor pen, but the agility one (Shadowvault) is higher dps.

BiS is only BiS with all the gear :P

[Ronark]

I don't recall saying the word BiS at all. I'm not talking about the BiS list, but from personal experience -- when I had normal Shadowvault Slayer's Cloak it was at least 10 dps higher than normal Winding Sheet for me. Likewise, heroic Shadowvault Slayer's Cloak is a straight upgrade from heroic Winding Sheet for me now. I'm sure there are certain gear setups where this isn't true, but its remained true for me since ICC released.

Lemme re-phrase- Depending on your gear set-up, one cloak will be worth more DPS than another. Im not sure if the SSC is better than WS with a Plate-Priority set up or not.

[Zandarth]

I like to stay at ~6000ap unbuffed and 40%+ crit at my paladin..
I have only 2 agi pieces, SSC and Ashen ring. Tho i have heard that BLoodfall normal is like 200dps+ worth increase for ret compared to Bryntroll.. Is this true..?!

[Brael]

I like to stay at ~6000ap unbuffed and 40%+ crit at my paladin..
I have only 2 agi pieces, SSC and Ashen ring. Tho i have heard that BLoodfall normal is like 200dps+ worth increase for ret compared to Bryntroll.. Is this true..?!

Probably, however Rawr is your friend. Check it there for yourself.