LOLRET
Since I have been asked for advice countless times in-game and here on the forums as well (and other people's guides have been trounced upon), this will be my stab at putting together as much of a complete list/guide for those of you willing to brave the insults and put downs by having the audacity to spec Ret. You will be passed over for other dps in 5man dungeons, 20man raids and endgame raiding guilds by people who are uninformed and know little to nothing about the class or the spec in particular.
You better have a thick skin otherwise you are in for a rough go… but once you have summoned up enough moral courage to push through all the naysayers and LOLRET namecallers, here is a guide for you to use to your heart's content.
Given the fact that we are hybrids by nature, my gear list, spec and rotation can be followed or adapted to whatever playstyle you prefer - this is merely how I play my character, so feel free to use and abuse it as you will.
TLDR - FIND WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU!
ABBREVIATIONS
SotC - Seal of the Crusader
JotC - Judgement of the Crusader
SoR - Seal of Righteousness
JoR - Judgement of Righteousness
SoC - Seal of Command
JoC - Judgement of Command
HoW - Hammer of Wrath
Cons - Consecration
STATS
Stamina: 1 Stamina gives 10 health. Obviously this gives you more health. (Important).
Strength: Gives you attack power (scales at a rate of 1 STR = 2 AP) - Attack power increases the damage of your auto attacks and Seal of Command damage. (Very Important).
Critical Strike: With the Vengeance talent, each critical strike increases both your melee and holy damage by 15% for 8 seconds (Very Important).
Agility: Agility gives dodge and chance to crit - 20 AGI = 1% crit. (As important as straight Critical Strike).
Mana per 5: Obviously helps your mana regeneration. You don’t need this on your gear but some is better than none - on top of the fact that you should be spamming Major Mana Potions and Demonic Runes. (Not critical but helps).
Intellect: 1 Intellect gives 15 mana. If you have any gear with Intellect it’s a wasted gear slot. Get this only from buffs and consumables. (Not critical but helps).
Spell Damage: This boosts all of our abilities that do magical damage (SoR/JoR, SoC/JoC, Cons, Exorcism and Holy Wrath) - this stat isn't much of a factor on gear on Nost currently as the only items that have it are the blue/purple PvP sets so unless you want to grind PvP ranks to get them, I won't touch them here in this guide atm.
HEALING/SPELL POWER COEFFICIENTS IN PATCH 1.12.1
10% Seal of Righteousness with 1 handed weapon
12.5% Seal of Righteousness with 2 handed weapon
50% Judgement of Righteousness
20% Seal of Command
29% Seal of Command (only with +holy damage bonuses)
43% Judgement of Command
33% Consecration
43% Holy Shock
43% Hammer of Wrath
43% Exorcism
19% Holy Wrath
00% Blessing of Sanctuary
20% Holy Shield
00% Retribution Aura ;;
71% Holy Light
43% Flash of Light
CURRENT BUGS
There are still some nasty and quite annoying bugs affecting Ret spec and Paladins in general:
Main bug list on the Nost forums with currently open Paladin bugs highlighted
https://forum.nostalrius.org/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=25556
***Seal of Righteousness bugs***
Seal of Righteousness (SoR) should proc as a separate melee strike
https://report.nostalrius.org/plugins/tracker/?aid=3614
Seal of Righteousness not working properly
https://report.nostalrius.org/plugins/tracker/?aid=2762
One-Handed Weapon Specialization (talent)
https://report.nostalrius.org/plugins/tracker/?aid=3202
***Seal of Command bugs***
Seal/Judgement of Command and weapon/item procs
https://report.nostalrius.org/plugins/tracker/?aid=2839
Sanctity Aura
https://report.nostalrius.org/plugins/tracker/?aid=1344
Seal of Command (Delay)
https://report.nostalrius.org/plugins/tracker/?aid=1289
seal of Command Absorb Shield
https://report.nostalrius.org/plugins/tracker/?aid=1416
***Seal of the Crusader bugs***
Seal of Crusader
https://report.nostalrius.org/plugins/tracker/?aid=1241
***Misc. Paladin bugs***
[PALADIN] Vengeance not proccing on "spell" crits
https://report.nostalrius.org/plugins/tracker/?aid=2825
Holy Resistance is on trash and bosses in BWL
https://report.nostalrius.org/plugins/tracker/?aid=2871
Hammer of Wrath should not be resistible?
https://report.nostalrius.org/plugins/tracker/?aid=3302
Crowd Control Target Build Aggro on Healer
https://report.nostalrius.org/plugins/tracker/?aid=3585
Paladin Healing Threats
https://report.nostalrius.org/plugins/t ... oup_id=101
Paladins are not able to gain Reck Bomb charges from low level mobs or critters
https://report.nostalrius.org/plugins/tracker/?aid=3623
Basically, none of our talents/spells/abilities work properly.
- Update - Benediction is now fixed - Consecration can now be stacked (if the Paladins only use the exact same rank however) - plus Consecration doesn't take up a debuff slot either.
11 / 9 / 31 - RET PVE and PVP SPEC
Here is the link to the spec that I find works best for me in both PvE and PvP - given the fact that if we are low on healers in both aspects of the game, I can switch gear sets when OOC and pitch in to help when and where its needed:
Holy Tree
5/5 Divine Strength - 1 STR = 2 Attack Power so having +10% more STR is a no brainer
5/5 Spiritual Focus - being able to throw out uninterruptable heals is always nice to have
1/1 Consecration - one more button to press for aoe damage
Protection Tree
5/5 Redoubt - beats LOL Imp Devo Aura and also helps you when you go sword and board
3/3 Precision - No Brainer here +3% hit is a MUST HAVE
1/2 Guardian's Favor - nice to have more time on your Blessing of Sacrifice and -1min on Blessing of Protection cooldown
Retribution Tree
5/5 Imp Blessing of Might - more Attack Power so another no brainer
2/2 Imp Judgement - being able to use Judgement for direct damage every 8 seconds instead of every 10
3/3 Imp Seal of the Crusader - improves your SotC and JotC by +15% so another no brainer
1/5 Deflection - extra talent point you can use it here if you want - Vindication is currently bugged and proccing against raid bosses which takes up a meaningless debuff slot
5/5 Conviction - +5% critical strike chance is meni gud
1/1 Seal of Command - this is our DPS seal of choice - bugged as it may be, rank 1 SoC will be your best friend
2/2 Pursuit of Justice - not essential but saves you a boot enchant and being able to ride faster than everyone else is also nice
2/2 Eye for an Eye - also not crucial PvE wise, but very good to have in PvP against casters
3/3 Two Handed Specialization - +6% damage while using a two handed weapon - yes, please!
1/1 Sancity Aura - +10% to your holy damage
5/5 Vengeance - +15% to your physical and holy damage for 8 seconds after you crit your target with a melee swing, spell or ability
1/1 Repentance - not critical for PvE but I use it Naxxramas all the time when we do the packs of mobs before Grand Widow for an extra incapacitate - very good for PvP
WHAT DPS SEAL TO USE - CRUSADER OR COMMAND?
SotC and warrior/dps offset gear are a good substitute to use for the reasons below:
- guild refuses to allow the Ret Paladin to put up a single JotC (let alone allowing multiple Rets for JotC stacking)
- 2handed weapon swing speed is under 3.5 (all MC and most BWL 2handed weapons are 3.4 or faster)
- SotC's 40% melee haste provides great Vengeance uptime (i.e. Blade of Hanna 2.1 to 1.5 swing speed with SotC)
- SotC providing a significant attack power bonus that not only boosts white dmg but also Consecration
- SotC with JoW provides good mana regen allowing for max rank Consecration usage
The one thing you absolutely should take note of is the fact that Seal of Command is not a normalized attack as is the case with all instant yellow attacks performed by Warriors. Whereas their attacks were normalized to be based around a swing speed of 3.3 (ie: Mortal Strike, Bloodthirst etc), SoC is merely normalized around its statistical ability to proc 7 times per minute based on your weapon's swing speed.
This means that the slower the weapon the better - with an ideal swing speed at 3.8 - and for any 2handed weapon 3.4 or faster, you should use Seal of the Crusader instead.
In addition, Seal of Command itself will always do 70% weapon damage no matter what rank you cast - it is only the Judgement that is increased as you use higher ranks of the spell - there really isn't any point in using rank 5 unless you have Intellect or Spell Damage on your gear.
The only reason why you would want to judge SoC every 8 seconds would be to gain an extra chance to proc the Vengeance talent which increases your melee and holy damage by 15% for 8 seconds provided that you have 5/5 points in the talent.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ 7 / (60 / 3.2) ] = 37.3% proc chance
[ 7 / (60 / 3.3) ] = 38.5% proc chance
[ 7 / (60 / 3.4) ] = 39.6% proc chance
[ 7 / (60 / 3.5) ] = 40.8% proc chance
[ 7 / (60 / 3.6) ] = 41.9% proc chance
[ 7 / (60 / 3.7) ] = 43.1% proc chance
[ 7 / (60 / 3.8) ] = 44.3% proc chance
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SEAL OF COMMAND DAMAGE COMPENDIUM (TOP 25 2HANDED WEAPONS)
The calculations were made for a paladin with the following stats :
# 800 attack power
# 15% chance to crit
# 140 spellpower
# +stats (crit%, agi, str, attack, spellpower) on the weapons are included. (procs are not)
# * means the weapon has an uncalculated proc or effet that can potentially increase weapon total dps
# ** means the weapon has an uncalculated proc or effect that can potentially increases SoC dps
Rank, name SoC DPS White DPS White + SoC DPS
1. Dark Edge of Insanity** 52.6 129.4 181.9
2. Severance 53.2 127.3 180.5
3. Ashkandi, Greatsword 51.0 125.2 176.2
4. Grand Marshal's Claymore 53.0 120.3 173.3
5. Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros* 51.7 120.1 171.8
6. Barb of the Sand Reaver 50.4 116.9 167.3
7. Kalimdor's Revenge* 45.1 119.9 165.0
8. Herald of Woe 46.4 116.4 162.8
9. Spinal Reaper 46.1 115.8 162.0
10. Bonereaver's Edge** 46.1 115.7 161.9
11. Drake Talon Cleaver* 46.0 115.3 161.3
12. Hammer of Ji'zhi 46.7 112.1 158.8
13. Neretzek, The Blood Drinker* 47.9 110.7 158.6
14. Zin'rokh, Destroyer of Worlds 48.6 109.4 158.0
15. The Untamed Blade** 44.5 111.3 155.8
16. Draconic Maul 45.3 110.4 155.7
17. Obsidian Edged Blade** 44.1 110.3 154.4
18. Manslayer of the Qiraji 45.7 108.2 153.9
19. The Unstoppable Force 47.3 106.4 153.7
20. Draconic Avenger 41.8 110.6 152.4
21. Sulfuron Hammer* 45.2 104.1 149.4
22. Finkle's Lava Dredger 37.1 107.2 144.3
23. Nightfall 40.6 107.1 147.6
24. Fist of Cenarius 43.6 103.3 146.8
25. Doomulus Prime 45.0 100.9 145.9
http://leftoversraiding.org/index.php/t ... or%29.html
JUDGEMENT OF THE CRUSADER STACKING
Since I was able to prove that multiple ranks of the same Judgement are in fact blizzlike in Vanilla and not bug abuse, we are permitted to put up all 6 ranks of Judgement of the Crusader for a grand total of +631 holy damage (provided that the Rets have PvP gloves which add +20 to JotC).
JotC R1 +46 Holy Damage
JotC R2 +57 Holy Damage
JotC R3 +80 Holy Damage
JotC R4 +115 Holy Damage
JotC R5 +149 Holy Damage
JotC R6 +184 Holy Damage
If your guild allows multiple Ret Paladins, then I highly suggest that you stack JotC debuffs and use SoC for max +Holy Dmg to the target. In addition to this, I would recommend that you also recruit Discipline Priests who want to spam Holy Fire and Smite to melt some serious unmitigated and unresistable holy face - and don't forget, the Rets bring Sanctity Aura which add another +10% holy dmg to the Disc Priests' damage as well.
FYI for reference:
Re: Multiple Judgement of Crusade should not be Bannable
by Nano » Fri Nov 06, 2015 11:25 am
No one has been banned for this and they won't because it's working as intended. This whole thread has run its course.
https://forum.nostalrius.org/viewtopic. ... 30#p182280
ROTATION
2 choices for rotation:
-SotC rotation:Judge SotC> SotC (up at all times)>Spam max rank conse (only maintainable by Flask of Distilled Wisdom which you should be using with this rotation and can be used with any weapon speed but faster is better)
-SoC rotation: Judge SotC> R1 SoC (up at all times)> Max rank conse if vengence is up, if it is not then R1 (Supreme Power flask should be used with this rotation and only if you have a good 3.5 speed or slower weapon)
CONSUMABLES
Mix and match from the list below based on how much time you have to farm gold and/or mats for them seeing as not all are able to stack with one another:
Elixir of the Mongoose
Elixir of Giants
Mageblood Potion
Demonic/Dark Rune
Major Mana Potion
Winterfall Firewater
Juju Power
Juju Might
R.O.I.D.S
Ground Scorpok Assay
Elemental Sharpening Stone
Flask of Distilled Wisdom or Flask of Supreme Power (depending on which Seal you use, SotC or SoC)
MACROS
/cast Judgement
/cast Seal of Righteousness(Rank 8)
/cast Judgement
/cast Seal of Command(Rank 1)
/cast Judgement
/cast Seal of Command(Rank 5)
/sit
- if you go for Reckoning and want to 1shot hordes in PvP
ADDONS
The following addons below are a good selection of addons that I personally use and which you may also find useful in your Paladin playstyle and overall gameplay:
Attack Bar Timer
Big Wigs
Caster Stats
coolDown
CoolDownCount
CT_Mod
Decursive
EzDismount
Improved Error Frame
Informant
ItemRack
KLHThreatMeter
MobHealth3
PallyPower
ProcWatcher
ReckCounter
SpellAlert
SuperMacro
Sw_Stats
X-Perl
ITEMIZATION
The guide below is one of progression, assuming that you have at least a few pieces of Lightforge and/or Valor to begin with and will allow you to mix and match depending on what stats you would prefer to maximize STR > Crit > Agi
While Lightforge is a decent overall set for Paladins to start out with, it will not get you far as you progress up the food chain damage wise, especially with the bugs affecting the spec as described earlier. One other thing of note is that you should aspire to try to get AT LEAST 5% hit including the 3% from talents. Once you are raiding however, you want at least 8-9% so as to never miss against a raid boss, but you have to start somewhere.
That being said, I have provided you with some 1-3 samples of armour to aspire for and progress with as you and your gear improve. Ideally, you want the final item listed which is truly BiS pre-raid but if you're not quite there yet, not to worry.
BIS PRE-RAID
Helm: Crown of Tyranny | Helm of the Executioner | Lionheart Helm
Neck: Imperial Jewel | Mark of Fordring | Amulet of the Darkmoon
Shoulder: Bile-Etched Spaulders | Truestrike Shoulders | Abyssal Plate Epaulets
Back: Shroud of Domination | Cape of the Black Baron | Windshear Cape
Chest: Energized Chestplate | Ogre Forged Hauberk | Cadaverous Armor
Wrist: Battleborn Armbraces | Gordok Bracers of Power | Abyssal Plate Vambraces
Relic: Libram of Fervor | Libram of Hope (not in-game yet)
Hands: Death Grips | Gloves of the Dawn | Reiver Claws
Belt: Warpwood Binding | Elemental Plate Girdle | Handcrafted Mastersmith Girdle
Legs: Leggings of Destruction | Eldritch Reinforced Legplates | Abyssal Plate Legplates
Boots: Master Cannoneer Boots | Grimy Metal Boots | Ribsteel Footguards
Finger: Tarnished Elven Ring | Band of the Ogre King | Painweaver Band
Finger: Don Julio's Band
Trinket: Hand of Justice
Trinket: Blackhand's Breadth
Weapon (***SoC***): Blackhand Doomsaw | Arcanite Reaper | The Unstoppable Force
Weapon (***SotC***): Bonecrusher | Brain Hacker | Blade of Hanna | Blackfury | Nightfall
BIS FOREVER
Helm: Lionheart Helm | Avenger's Crown
Neck: Barbed Choker | Stormrage's Talisman of Seething
Shoulder: Avenger's Pauldrons | Spaulders of the Grand Crusader
Back: Cloak of Concentrated Hatred | Cloak of the Scourge | Shroud of Dominion
Chest: Avenger's Breastplate | Ghoul Skin Tunic | Plated Abomination Ribcage
Wrist: Wristguards of Vengeance
Relic: Libram of Fervor | Libram of Hope
Hands: Flameguard Gauntlets | Gauntlets of the Righteous Champion | Gauntlets of Annihilation
Belt: Belt of the Grand Crusader | Onslaught Girdle | Girdle of the Mentor
Legs: Avenger's Legguards | Leggings of the Grand Crusader | Legplates of Carnage
Boots: Chromatic Boots | Avenger's Greaves
Finger: Ring of the Qiraji Fury | Master Dragonslayer's Ring
Finger: Band of Unnatural Forces
Trinket: Drake Fang Talisman | Kiss of the Spider
Trinket: Slayer's Crest
Weapon: The Eye of Nerub | Corrupted Ashbringer | Might of Menethil
WEAPON ENCHANTS
While there are many different ways of playing your Ret Paladin, there is only one enchantment that stands above all others currently on Nost:
Enchant Weapon - Lifestealing
Permanently enchant a weapon to occasionally steal some of the health of the foe and give it to the wielder.
Why is Lifestealing so good for us? Cause it has a 50-60% proc rate and also scales with spell dmg and debuffs on the target so it's uber good for us here on Nostalrius
I DO NOT RECOMMEND CRUSADER FOR RETRIBUTION AS ITS PROC RATE IS MUCH LESS FOR US COMPARED TO ROGUES AND WARRIORS
INSPIRATION
We must honour those who have come before us so allow me to introduce you to Esotarious - the original Hero of the Retribution Paladin community back on retail Vanilla WoW - and as he says:
THE BULLSHIT STOPS HERE...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXNWvytYbyo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEs9coe5XRg
HAVE FUN
Remember to play the game for your enjoyment, not for others - if you enjoy healing, great go nuts - but don't let others dictate to you how to play a video game that came out nearly a decade ago.
Have fun, tinker around with your gear, talents and playstyle - find what works best for you!
#NeverForget
