- Author: Nevermore
- Date: May 25, 2021
- Expansion: WotLK Classic
BiS Gear
Armor
- Head: Sanctified Lightsworn Helmet
- Neck:Penumbra Pendant
- Shoulders:Sanctified Lightsworn Shoulderplates
- Cloak: Shadowvault Slayer’s Cloak
- Chest: Sanctified Lightsworn Battleplate
- Bracers:Scourge hunter’s Vambraces or Umbrage Armbands
- Hands: Fleshrending gauntlets
- Waist: Coldwraith Links
- Legs:Sanctified Lightsworn Legplates
- Boots: Treads of the wasteland
- Rings: Seal of Many Mouths
- Rings:Ashen band of Endless Vengeance
- Trinket: Tiny abomination In a Jar
- Trinket: Sharpened Twilight Scale or Death’s Choice (STS only if you have shadowmourne)
Weapons
- Shadowmourne is the best weapon you can acquire if you grind long enough but its something that not many people achieve
- Oathbinder, Charge of the Ranger-General – on heroic is actually an extremely good choice for Retribution Paladin
- Glorenzelg, High-blade of the Silver hand– Another spectacular choice you can get your hands on
- Bloodfall– On normal this weapon is weaker than shadow’s edge but on heroic is a lot better, still it gets suited into a semi pre-bis category because it is weaker than Oathbinder on heroic
- Libram: Libram of Three Truths
Pre-Bis Gear (+ Other options)
Armor
- Head: Liadrin’s Helm of Conquest
- Neck:Barbed Ymirheim Choker
- Shoulders:Liadrin’s Shoulderplates of Conquest
- Cloak: Tapestry of the Frozen Throne
- Chest: Liadrin’s Battleplate of Conquest
- Bracers:Malykriss Vambraces
- Hands:Liadrin’s Gauntlets of Conquest
- Waist: Belt of Rotted Fingernails/Flame-Bathed Steel Girdle
- Legs:Liadrin’s Legplates of Conquest
- Boots: Grinning Skull Boots
- Rings: Band of Stained Souls
- Rings: The Lady’s Promise
- Trinket:Needle-Encrusted Scorpion
- Trinket:Mirror of Truth
Weapons
About the Author
Nevermore
Hey there folks, I am Nevermore and have been deeply passionate about WoW for more than a decade. Whether we talk about the hidden mysteries of Azeroth or the otherworldly Outland, my journey brought me here to share the things that I have experienced with you all.
Why would you pick the agility rep ring over the strength one?
The Retribution Paladin requires a substantial amount of Agility for Critical Strike Chance, one easy way to achieve this is by choosing the Agility reputation ring.
how much Critical Strike Chance is needed
Needle-encrusted scorpion??? Why man? That trinket is terrible
Thank you for the comment!
There has always been a debate whether or not the Retribution Paladin needs any armor penetration, just like in the case of STS. Needle-Encrusted Scorpion is one of the early good choices for the Retribution Paladin because, in addition to the Holy damage that we deal, our class deals physical damage. While you might not think that the Armor Penetration will help you, the huge amount of Armor Penetration received by that trinket will make a better difference than 1000 Attack Power.
early? its the 3rd tier in the xpac what are you smoking
It’s the 4th tier and it drops from a dungeon making it faster to get *early in the tier*
Today i had problem in icc 25 hc with pugs that they gave Scourge Hunter’s Vambraces to hunter and not to ret pala..
I won the roll but they said its not for me i dont need armor pen..
I told them as ret pala 6.2 with 300 Agility is Really big upgrade for me becouse i had some trash Wrist i can link it Armguards of the Nether lord
has also armor pen but still from all items i neded only that wrist
Very sorry to hear that Kaguja! There are two ways to go about Armor Penetration when it comes to retribution paladin, the first one is to achieve as much as possible after you acquire STS heroic, and the second one is to avoid it up until the point that you acquire the trinket, the bracers would have been a huge upgrade for you nonetheless. Generally, you will want to prioritize armor penetration when you acquire both STS and Shadowmourne, as it really amps up your damage, most people would argue that without those two items, it is better to stack raw stats from trinkets and critical strike chance. Both ways are extremely good, as they can both offer high amounts of damage, but the armor penetration build is much more item-dependent to be entirely viable. Umbrage Armbands is the way to go if you are not ready to switch to the armor penetration build.
I had this exact argument 12 years ago.
Hello there! Thank you very much for the guide!
I’m a little confused though, regarding some gear choices for pre-bis gearing
Regarding belts:
Wouldn’t the https://wotlkdb.com?item=49808 be a better contender (perhaps better than the https://wotlkdb.com/?item=50270?)
As for the chest, wouldn’t something like https://wotlkdb.com?item=50272 be better than the https://wotlkdb.com/?item=48630. The latter does have two gem slots which could give a lot of bonus strength, but the former has quite a lot of haste (which as far as my knowledge goes, is better for ret paladins than arpen. Doing this change won’t compromise on the T9 4-piece set bonus either
Edit: It’s the https://wotlkdb.com?item=48631, not the https://wotlkdb.com/?item=48630
It is certainly a good mention Ashbringer! Frost Wyrm Ribcage could offer you a significant boost to your haste rating which is entirely needed. However, you may lose some stats from the lack of sockets. Armor Penetration in general on Retribution Paladins is quite sketchy, as you will only benefit from it early in the gearing phase and at the very end of your bis list. You will want to prioritize haste rating over armor penetration when you reach T10 for sure, however, when you reach your BIS, armor penetration will help.
What armor set is good for levels around 70? Right now I am using/collecting the marshwalker set.
Relic ?
The frost vendor one is best of youre fighting bosses cause you have time to stack. Sometimes the triumph one is good because you might not have time to use the stacks
THIS LIST IS SUCH A SHIT…. There is RS items much better options like bracer from RS25 leather bis item…
Hey there Alex! The Umbrage Armbands HC bracers were already a part of the list.
Cant find holy paladin Pre-Bis Gear
Hello Sarah, this is the Retribution Paladin guide. I will soon release the guide for the Holy Paladin specialization where you will find everything you will need.
Retri Paladins don’t need armor pen and any armor pen item should be avoided. Any item with armor pen are useless as the source of our DPS is from holy dmg not physical dmg. The only physical dmg we do is the filler dmg from auto attack between our rotations which doesn’t add anything to our overall DPS.
Stacking armor pen gear is never a good idea as in most cases you’ll be missing out on other more important stats.
Divine Storm, Crusader Strike (which are our strongest spells) deal physical damage, so arpen is appreciated for ret, just not as much as strength or crit