Retadin: Owning faces as a Retribution Paladin.

What Uther did't tell you.
A guide to Paladin PVE/DPS in The Burning Crusade

We as Paladins of the Silver Hand are always lead to believe our only role in a raid is to stand back and heal the other party members, since the dawning of WoW back in 2004 that was always the case. Recently as we all know an expansion called The Burning Crusade changed all of that, Blizzard adopted the extremist way of engineering the Paladin for the game. Now if you are a Holy Paladin if gear/spec the right way you will only be great if not superb at healing, at the same time if you go for the Protection tree you will be awesome for tanking since now we share the same gear as a warrior therefore the stamina/defense issue we had before is gone. I will make a tanking guide in the future, for now we will focus on PVE/DPS as a RET/PVE Paladin.

NOTE: This in no way is intended for PVP, PVP involves many other aspects of the game which we will not cover here.

First off, to understand how a MELEE based class can DPS we must understand the mechanics of this same concept. The melee DPS thrives each time it lands a hit, landing a hit enables for any other ability, proc, etc to kick in, this being said the primary “PIPELINE” of melee dps is +HIT, look at it as a pipe, the thicker the pipe the more flow goes trough.

Now, as we all know there is a cap in hit, its 5% vs mobs of the same level and increases 1% each level, pay attention: players across the forums state that the highest level mobs including raid bosses is 73, if this is true then you only need 8% to hit at most with a 2 hander, therefore you can get it all in gear and not spec 8 points into prot for precision or get 5% and spec 8 points into prot for precision, i have my own conjurings in boss levels so i tend to stack more +hit than necesary, but this is a personal thing… Once you have ur 8% covered you then stack up AP and crit WITHOUT sacrificing the + hit ok?

Understanding this enables us to see how melee dps works, the more hits you land, the more procs/crits/specials you get in, this all applies to the RET/PVE paladin as well as to fury warriors, rogues, melee shammys etc.
I will list out the PRIORITY of stats in wich you need to gear yourself:

1.- +hit (5% is the cap vs a lvl 70 mob, 8% vs a lvl 73 mob)
2.- Attack Power (STR – Each STR = 2 Attack Power)
3.- Critical Strike (AGI – Each AGI at lvl 70 = 0.7 Critical Strike Rating)
4.- +Spell Damage (It is not as important as Attack Power but helps a bit NOTE: Do not sacrifice any of the other stats above this one for more +spell damage)
5.- Mana (INT – Granted the spec I will give you in this guide will help you a lot to conserve mana, it is always good if you can get extra mana WITHOUT sacrificing any of the top stats)
6.- Stamina (STAM – Yeah we wear plate, but having hp in case we pull agro “I almost always do :S” is good)
7.- Mana Regen (SPI/MP5 – Last but not as important is mana regen, again the spec I will give you will enable you to effectively dps with minor mana)


Now that you know what stats too look for in gear comes the spec…
CLICK HERE


What is the best weapon choice?
Obviously the 2 hander is the best choice for a RET/PVE paladin, If you are a Human make sure it’s a Mace or a Sword (The + to weapon skill increases crit rate and no longer is affected by glancing blow as the old formula.)


What to look for in a 2 hander? Simple!:
1.- Top end and Speed – A slower weapon with higher top en has been proven to hit harder on the long run as well as max out the procs in SoC.
2.- STATS – As noted above, look for the stats in order as I presented before.
3.- Equip abilities – These fall under the stat priority as well BUT if a proc is involved procs are always good… They can be activated from your specials and your SoC procs so it will be added DPS

As far as enchant goes for your 2H that’s entirely up to you, if you are lacking in AP go for savagery, of you are lacking in crit go for agility, if you like burst dps go for Crusader (some speculate it waqs fixed to reflect the actuall AP increased since last patch).


How do I want to grp in a raid if given the option?
This one is simple… The best classes they can stick in there with you in your party in a raid would be Shadow Priest and Melee Shaman, why? Simple. The Shadow Priest will keep your mana up so you can go all out (yes consecration, exorcism if undead or demon, etc.), the melee shammy will give you heroism (bloodlust in horde) and WINDFURY!!!
Why is Windfury so great for RET/PVE pallys? We use 2 handers as preferred dps weapon, the damage from a 2 hander scales A LOT in a crit, the more swings the more crits etc, it is amazing how much more output you can get with this and heroism together, not only that… SOC DOES PROC OF WINDFURY!!!
Now if you cant get this excellent party arrangement you will STILL do fine in the raid dps…


Should I use CONSUMABLES? 
For the first raids that you will have to prove yourself as a DPSER don’t… Because ignorant players will say it was the consumables even though mages, locks, etc always use consumables for added dps. After you are accepted as a DPSER go ahead and get some extra goodies just to smoke your mages some more lol.

Now, here is a simple FACT of Paladins that most people (game ignorant people) tend to get mixed…
+spell damage IS NOT the main source of paladin RET/PVE dps, whoever said this is wrong (should be taken out the back and shot, j/k lol). +spell damage is for CASTERS… WE ARE NOT CASTERS… NEVER WHERE AND NEVER WILL BE, WE ARE A MELEE ORIENTED CLASS FOR DAMAGE, for healing yes we are casters, that’s another story… BUT FOR DPS WE ARE MELEE NOT CASTERS…
GET THIS IN YOUR HEADS PALADINS, WE ARE NOT CASTERS FOR DAMAGE, WE ARE MELEE PERIOD…

Sorry for stressing out this point a lot lol, its cause of ignorant paladins like the +spell damage ones that we look like a half assed dps class.

Follow my teachings and I am positive you will succeed in being great dps and give more utility than any other dps class in a raid, use this information to prove why having a paladin RET/PVE DPS is better than a straight DPS class that DOES NOT BRING ANY BENEFIT TO THE RAID (rogue/hunter LOL)
If they ask simply state:

1.- I can keep an extra 3% to crit on the target at all times for all types of dps, melee, ranged and caster.
2.- I have an aura that adds 10-12% to healing to any target in my group (scalable, its amazing how much it adds)
3.- I can keep all 3 essential seals on the target with crusader strike (wisdom, light and crusader improved)
4.- I wear plate and can off-tank if needed and don’t die as fast as a clothie if I pull agro
5.- I don’t have a casting time therefore I have a much more chance to cause damage.
6.- AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST! I CAN DO AS MUCH OR DECENT DAMAGE AS YOUR TOP DAMAGE CLASS/PLAYER

All these facts are TRUE and pretty simple to understand.

Have fun owning the “DPS Classes”


*By Hagrin of Nathrezim