1. (Feel free to use this image for yourselves.)

    Hello, and welcome to the Cataclysm Retribution thread! All the information you need can be found within. If you know of anything that may be helpful for the guide, please feel free to leave a comment below!

    About myself;
    I am Lynea. Obvious? I have many years of retail and private server experience with Retribution Paladins. It has been my main spec/class combination for the entire time I have played this game. If you have questions about my prior experience, please feel free to send me a private message. Alternatively, you can seek the other older guides in this section that I have written for Wrath of the Lich King.



    Disclaimer;
    Please note that Wowhead links are not always accurate. Please use open-wow instead.
    Also, regarding bugs, please see this for a list of known ones, and this for the fixes changelog.


    Table of Contents; (by post)

    1. PvE Talents and Rotation
    2. General Information
    3. Change-log


    PvE Talents


    Spoiler: Show










    So, what should my spec look like?




    PvE Glyphs
    Spoiler: Show
    PvE
    Prime
    Glyph of Seal of Truth - Highly recommended.
    Glyph of Templar's Verdict - Highly recommended.
    Glyph of Crusader Strike - Optional 3rd glyph.
    Glyph of Exorcism - Optional 3rd glyph.

    Major
    Glyph of Divine Protection - Excellent for a defensive cooldown for raiding. This is recommended, because most of the damage you will be taking in PvE as a DPSer will be magical.
    Glyph of the Ascetic Crusader - Excellent for helping to maintain your mana in a PvE environment. (Only use if you are having mana efficiency problems. Yes, it is worth it.)

    All other glyphs are completely situation and optional. Choose what you like, and what you decide may or may not be effective for the environment that you will be participating in.




    Rotations and Combinations
    PvE
    What's the usual rotation?
    This varies greatly depending on the situation you are in, and what sort of procs you get, but here's a general outline.
    Single-target Boss DPS
    Spoiler: Show
    - Use Judgement to proc Long Arm of the Law (if you have the talent) to get up to the boss or mobs quickly, so that you can start DPSing.
    - When you get in melee range, you always Crusader Strike first. This ability is generally top priority, because it is your major source of Holy Power.
    - Use Judgement and Holy Wrath whenever you can. They don't do much damage, but they can proc Divine Purpose, which is important.
    - As soon as you get your first Divine Purpose proc, use Inquisition. Inquisition should be active for as much of the fight as possible. Please see the spell details for Inquisition outlined in the "Spells" and "New Cataclysm Spells!" sections above.
    - Only use Exorcism when you have an Art of War proc, and when Inquisition is up. If Inquisition is not up, and you get an Art of War proc, try to get Inquisition up as quickly as possible. If it is not possible to get Inquisition up before the Art of War proc timer runs out, use it anyway on the last moment.
    - If your Inquisition timer is fine, always use Templar's Verdict when you get a Divine Purpose proc, or when you reach 3 Holy Power via Crusader Strike.
    - Use Hammer of Wrath whenever possible when your target is at or below 20% health.


    So, when/how do I burst?
    There isn't really any set method to do this, but using all of your burst cooldowns at the same time can be overwhelming, and some of your cooldowns you won't be able to use more than once per fight, so they must be used carefully.
    It it is always an excellent idea to start a fight with burst damage, since your longer cooldowns may have a chance at being available again before the end of the fight. Just make sure your tanks can keep aggro. Hand of Salvation can be useful here.

    All cooldowns at once!
    Spoiler: Show
    You start the fight by activating your Guardian of Ancient Kings. Do not use your other cooldowns until the Guardian has been out for 10 seconds! This will allow the +% strength buff you get from it to ramp up a bit, and your other cooldowns will match the remaining 20 second duration of your Guardian. This allows for maximum damage output.

    Aim to get 3 Holy Power before your Guardian has been out for 10 seconds. You can delay starting your burst phase for a few seconds if you need Holy Power ramp-up time. When you reach 3 Holy Power, save it to activate Zealotry at the same time as Avenging Wrath when your Guardian has been out for 10 seconds (i.e. there should be 20 seconds left on the buff Guardian gives you). Upon reaching this mark, use Zealotry, Avenging Wrath and then Inquisition.

    This is when you start the actual rotation, now that your cooldowns are setup.
    Crusader Strike (or Judgement if you have 2pc t13 set bonus) to instantly generate 3 Holy Power and then use Templar's Verdict. Repeat this as much as you can. Use Hammer of Wrath first, whenever it is off cooldown. If it is on cooldown, then use Judgement (if you don't have the 2pc t13 set bonus) or Holy Wrath next.


    Staggered cooldown rotation (for those that find all cd's at once overwhelming).
    Spoiler: Show
    Use Avenging Wrath, and use Hammer of Wrath to fill gcd's that would otherwise be empty while you're still ramping up your damage.

    Judgement (Long Arm of the Law) -> run in toward the boss -> Avenging Wrath/Hammer of Wrath while still at range -> Crusader Strike -> Holy Wrath -> Hammer of Wrath -> Crusader Strike -> Judgement

    Hammer of Wrath filling the gcd's that would otherwise be empty, and also increase your chances of getting an early Divine Purpose proc. This would allow you to get Inquisition up, and if you're lucky with procs, start with Templar's Verdict relatively quickly. Once Inquisition is up, use Hammer of Wrath as soon as it is off cooldown.

    Whenever Avenging Wrath runs out, and the next time I get 3 Holy Power or a Divine Purpose proc, I use Zealotry. This is an excellent time to use your burst trinkets, if you have any.

    Zealotry/use trinket -> Crusader Strike -> Inquisition (only if needed) -> filler damage cd (Exorcism, Judgement, and Holy Wrath) -> Crusader Strike -> Templar's Verdict -> filler damage cd -> Crusader Strike -> etc.

    Whenever Zealotry finishes, I then use Guardian of Ancient Kings and continue my regular DPS rotation. After the Guardian finishes, I should then have Avenging Wrath ready again soon.


    Changes to your rotation with the t13 2pc set bonus. (PvP and PvE!)
    Judgement becomes much more useful when you get the t13 2pc set bonus. Why? Because it is another source of holy power, and from range! This simply causes Judgement to share priority with Crusader Strike. In PvP, it makes it easier to build up for damage or self-healing while kiting. Yes, this set bonus is highly recommended for PvP!

  2. Spells

    Seals
    Spoiler: Show
    Seal of Insight - This seal is only useful to a Retribution Paladin when they really need the extra mana and health regeneration when striking a target. This is only recommended when you are near death, are being pressured by an enemy player (arena/bg), or staying alive while mass AoEing mobs on your own.

    Seal of Justice - This seal is only useful when you are chasing a mounted player, or are dealing with a Druid or Rogue that may attempt to run away.

    Seal of Righteousness - When talented into Seals of Command, this seal becomes very effective at AoE DPS. This seal is also superior to the others for up-front flat damage.

    Seal of Truth - This functions very similarly to how Seal of Vengeance/Corruption did in the last two expansions. The differences are that the debuff applied is physical, not magical, so it cannot be dispelled, and its "ramp-up time" is far higher than the older counterparts. This seal has a stack of Censure applied with each single target attack.- This will serve as your primary damage-dealing seal.


    Auras
    Spoiler: Show
    Devotion Aura - This is a flat increase in armor to anyone affected by it. Useful in raids and PvP to mitigate physical damage. The aura is worth more the harder the physical hits are. This aura is worth the most to those who have lower armor values, particularly clothies.

    Retribution Aura - In PvP, you'll want to use this whenever you will be attacked in melee very quickly, particularly against dual-wielders. In PvE, the uselessness of this seal is second only to Crusader Aura. It can help tanks generate AoE threat a little bit, but outside of that, its only use is applying the mechanics of Communion to the raid.

    Concentration Aura - This aura is very useful to any casters that you may be partied with. It should help decrease pushback on their spells to almost nothing.

    Resistance Aura - This aura is particularly effective when you expect to be taking elemental damage. Shadow, Fire, and Frost damages in particular. It is just as useful in PvE as it is in PvP. It offers the maximum resistance benefit against those damage types mentioned.

    Crusader Aura - The good ol' mounted movement increase speed aura. Please disable in PvE and PvP, unless all other auras are already covered, or mounted. Thank you.


    Other
    Spoiler: Show
    Blessing of Kings - This raid/party buff is priority. You get much more out of it than you do Blessing of Might. However, Druids' buff, Mark of the Wild, is the same thing and doesn't stack.

    Blessing of Might - This is a nice buff, too, but only use it if the raid/party already has access to another Blessing of Kings, or a Mark of the Wild. If there is a Druid in the group with you, it is your responsibility to make sure that everyone in the group has this buff at all times.

    Cleanse - With at least 1 point in the Acts of Sacrifice talent, you can remove 1 snare or root effect from yourself when you cast it on yourself. It is also useful for removing diseases and poisons from yourself or others that may cause problems. Death Knight diseases, and a Priest's Devouring Plague are good examples.

    Flash of Light - This should only be used as an emergency heal. It heals for a decent amount, but it will burn your mana very quickly. Use this very carefully and sparingly.

    Holy Light - Generally useless, except when you gain a proc from your Crusade talent. With this proc, you can heal for a massive amount, for very little mana. You will gain a proc after killing a player or mob near your own level. Watch for it and use it carefully.

    Consecration - This is only good for AoE DPS in PvE. Since it costs half of your maximum mana to use, you should never use this in PvP, unless you are confident you will be able to manage your mana.

    Holy Wrath - This is used generally as soon as it comes off cooldown, because it can be used as another damage output ability, and can proc Divine Purpose. This is particularly effective in AoE DPS, and it also has the ability to stun undead and demons, and even elementals and dragonkin when glyphed.

    Divine Plea - Never use this when you are in a situation where you will need to heal yourself or someone else. This should only be used when you are having trouble with your mana, and are not in a situation that I just mentioned.

    Exorcism - Best used when you get an Art of War proc. It can be useful when hard casted at lower levels, but this is not the case at level 85 for Retribution.

    Turn Evil - Same deal as its Wrath of the Lich King counterpart. Use this to control Death Knight and Warlock pets.

    Hand of Freedom - This is best suited for using on raid/party members, rather than yourself, since you can remove such effects with Cleanse when you have 1 point invested in the Acts of Sacrifice talent.

    Hand of Protection - Best for saving your caster raid/party members from physical damage or aggro, while still allowing them to cast freely. Please note that this does not grant immunity towards magic damage type attacks.

    Divine Protection - This ability no longer causes Forbearance, and now has a relatively short cooldown. Use it freely to reduce damage done to yourself in times of need. I personally like to use this and Holy Radiance at the same time.

    Hand of Reckoning and Righteous Defense - You can use Hand of Reckoning to try and keep someone in combat, and both of these spells are useful in PvE to taunt mobs off of clothies who gain aggro, as you have a much higher probability of surviving the attacks than the clothie would.

    Divine Shield - Lasts 8 seconds. Yes, it was nerfed. You can no longer get a full hearthstone cast inside the duration of Divine Shield. However, the utility it was used for in previous expansions remains the same. It drops all of your threat to 0 for its duration, and wipes any and all debuffs on you. This can be useful when you steal aggro from a tank in a dungeon or raid, and can be useful in PvP for wiping DoTs off of yourself, or giving you the time you need to survive/heal. Please note that now, with the nerfed effects of heals, your heals are now almost completely gimped.

    Hand of Sacrifice - This is a defensive cooldown that is primarily used to assist a raid or party member. It reduces the damage done to them by 30%, and redirects that damage to you. Recommended that you do not use it on a tank, as it may very well get you killed. In PvP, if you use this on a group member, the damage received through it will break certain kinds of crowd control effects. These include Polymorph, Sap, Blind, Scatter Shot, and sometimes even Fear, and other similar effects.

    Hand of Salvation - This ability decreases the amount of threat you are generating on all targets you are in combat with. It can also be used as a "junk buff" in PvP to help buffer your burst abilities from being dispelled or spellstolen.

    Hammer of Justice - Yep. Still the same ol' stun. Can be useful for keeping a mob in PvE under control, and preventing it from casting harmful abilities. It is recommended to be used in a similar way in PvP. Only use it on targets that your team is "chain CC'ing", or on a target that is about to cast things that are going to give you trouble. Particularly things like burst damage and heals.

    Righteous Fury - No longer has a talent that decreases the damage done to you, and is no longer considered a "magic" type of buff, which means it cannot be dispelled or spellstolen. These changes render it particularly useless, unless you want to increase your threat generation in PvE for some reason.

    Avenging Wrath - Same 20% damage and healing increase that it was in Wrath of the Lich King. This is still our staple burst ability, but it does now have a new twist. When you have at least one talent point invested in Sanctified Wrath, you can use Hammer of Wrath at any time on any target while under the effects of Avenging Wrath. This basically means you now have been given an incredible amount of ranged burst damage. Yes, it can be used at range, and is often effective when you are attempting to kite. It can also be effective when the target you need to burst is a decent distance away from you, including those who are trying to run away. However, in PvE, Hammer of Wrath is generally not used while under the effects of Avenging Wrath, as Templar's Verdict and Exorcism are worth more damage. It can still be useful when your target is at range in PvE.

    Judgement - Why is the damage of this ability such crap? Because that is the way Blizzard wanted it for Cataclysm. This ability is no longer used for purely DPS purposes. Instead, it is used to proc a wide range of things. Judgement procs Judgements of the Bold (our main form of mana regeneration), Judgements of the Pure (a baseline increase in our haste that lasts for 1 minute), and can proc Divine Purpose, which is a very important talent.

    Crusader Strike - Same as always. Try to use it on cooldown. Each use grants 1 Holy Power, and grants 3 Holy Power while under the effects of Zealotry.

    Divine Storm - Why does the damage of this ability suck now? Because Blizzard really wanted to cut down on AoE DPS overall. Very useful for AoE DPS and another AoE with which you can unstealth Rogues and other stealthers.

    Hammer of Wrath - This ability is worth a lot of damage on targets that are at low hit points (20% or below). Particularly effective at last-hitting opponents that are trying to run away. In PvE, generally it only is used when a boss is below 20% health. However, it can be used at other times while under the effects of Avenging Wrath when talented into Sanctified Wrath. For more information, please see the notes for Avenging Wrath.


    New Cataclysm spells!
    Spoiler: Show
    Templar's Verdict - Whoah! What's this thing?! This is similar to Crusader Strike. It is another melee strike, but it should only be used when you have 3 Holy Power or a Divine Purpose proc. The damage it does should far exceed any other damage ability you have, which makes it priority #1.

    Word of Glory - This is a staple heal. Use it only when you do not need to use other abilities that require Holy Power, or when you need to heal a friendly target in PvP. When talented into Eternal Glory, you may be able to cast it once, sometimes even two or three times, without it costing any Holy Power at all. When talented into Selfless Healer, Word of Glory will heal friendly targets for a much larger amount than what it would if you used it on yourself. It would also grant you a bit of bonus damage for a short duration.

    Zealotry - Burst cooldown, right? Yes, generally that is how it is used. While under its effects, Crusader Strike will generate 3 Holy Power per use, instead of 1. This allows you to use Templar's Verdict, Inquisition, and Word of Glory as much as you want. However, because of Word of Glory, this cooldown isn't used just to deal damage. You can use this cooldown to do massive amounts of healing on your group members with Word of Glory. Use Crusader Strike on an enemy target, then use Word of Glory on a friendly target to heal them. Rinse and repeat.
    When doing damage with this ability, you use Crusader Strike on an enemy target first. You then check the time left on your Inquisition. If it is 15 seconds or lower, refresh it first. You then use Crusader Strike again, then use Templar's Verdict. Rinse and repeat the use of Templar's Verdict until the duration of Zealotry has ended.

    Rebuke - Yes, the interrupt Paladins have needed for a long time! It has a 10sec cooldown, and does not use a gcd (global cooldown) like all other tank class' interrupts. This ability will lock your target out of the school of magic that you interrupt. For example, a Priest's heal is of the Holy school, while Mind Blast is of the Shadow school. Generally, you'll want to save this to interrupt healers on whatever their healing school is (Priests and Paladins are Holy. Druids and Shaman are Nature). When not using it in that case in PvP, you can use it to interrupt spells that will hurt a lot, such as Lava Burst or Chaos Bolt.
    In PvE, generally raids and parties do not expect their Paladins to interrupt bosses and mobs, because you should be busy casting your Hand abilities and heals on other members already. However, if there is nobody else in the group to assist the tank with interrupts, then you will likely have to do so.

    Holy Radiance - This is mostly useless for a Retribution Paladin.

    Guardian of Ancient Kings - This is the best of our burst abilities. Why do I say it is the best? It certainly isn't worth the most damage out of all our burst cooldowns, but it looks the coolest, and it is passive. It being passive means you can push the button and enjoy 30 seconds of increased output on recount, while not having to do anything to interact with it. In PvP, the Guardian is known to follow stealthers (Rogues and Druids), and it should always attack your target.

    Inquisition - Oh my! 30% increased Holy damage?! This is a burst ability, right? No. No, it is not. Generally, in PvP, you will not be using this, unless you are DPS'ing and have Zealotry up. Otherwise, this is mainly used in PvE.
    You should treat this ability in PvE like a Combat Rogue would treat Slice and Dice. You want to try and keep it up at all times. If you have a Divine Purpose proc, and it has 7-12 seconds remaining, go ahead and refresh it. Otherwise, try and refresh it with straight Holy Power when it has 1-6 seconds remaining.




    Gear

    There aren't any strict BiS lists in Cataclysm like there were for Wrath of the Lich King. This is primarily due to Reforging. However, you should be able to make decisions on what gear is good for you if you have enough knowledge about the stats you use, and how well they benefit you.

    Also, please note, that your armor type is Plate, and you need a full set of Plate only armor to activate Plate Specialization, which grants you an additional 5% strength.

    Sometimes you will see plate strength armor with dodge or parry on them. These are intended specifically for tanks. However, if it is an upgrade for you, and no tanks need the item, you can take the item and reforge the undesirable stats.

    Do not ever use any items that have intellect on them. Agility items are almost as equally poor, but if you haven't any strength items for that slot, then it is understandable.




    Stats
    Spoiler: Show
    Both of these stats are important, and you should cap them as soon as you can.
    - Hit - You will need 8% hit rating for PvE. 5% hit rating for PvP.
    - Expertise - You will need 26 expertise in PvE. Expertise is not so in PvP, but you can decide to cap your expertise in PvP if you sit and burst heavily CC'ed targets (meaning they are stationary) that have a lot of base avoidance stats (Ferals, Rogues, DK's).


    - Strength is your most important stat. This much should be obvious. However, you cannot reforge it, so you must rely on gems, enchants, and item's base stats.
    - Mastery is slightly superior to critical and haste for PvE DPS. It is secondary only to strength. If you wish to reforge for a DPS stat, it should be this first, then haste.
    - Haste is slightly inferior to Mastery for PvE DPS, however, it is somewhat lackluster in PvP. It is recommended that you reforge haste on PvP gear to Mastery, or Critical Strike if you cannot reforge to Mastery.
    - Critical Strike is only wanted for PvP DPS. Any critical strike rating you have on your PvE gear should be reforged to Mastery or Haste. With new heights of gear available, crit is more viable in Dragon Soul, and it is definitely worth reforging if you choose to use the stat. Keep in mind that you should only reforge to haste or to critical, not both. Choose one.

    Additonal note concerning reforging haste.
    "Crit > Haste"
    Only when you cannot clear haste plateaus. For example, let's say you need 800 haste for a 4 second cooldown on Crusader Strike, and you need 1600 for a 3 second cooldown on Crusader Strike. (The numbers aren't accurate, just using them as an example. Bear with me.)
    Ex.: You have 1400 haste. All of your items have mastery already on them without reforging. In this case, you should reforge your haste down as close to the haste plateau that you have already obtained (to critical strike) because it is a DPS loss due to the nature of the global cooldown.
    However, if the next haste plateau can be obtained, then haste > crit.
    It is 'okay' to reforge to crit if you cannot obtain enough haste for your next haste plateau.
    - "Haste Plateau" - The specific number of haste required to reduce the cooldown of your Crusader Strike by 1 second.


    "BiS" items for Retribution are generally items that have both Mastery and Haste secondary stats on them. However, this does not always apply, as you will need Hit and Expertise ratings, too.


    - Resilience - This is a highly situational PvP stat. If you find yourself dying very quickly, and you are often being focused, then it is likely a good idea to aim for more resilience. However, if staying alive isn't a problem for you, then you may drop your amount of resilience for perhaps more strength gems, PvE gear, or whatever you may want to experiment with. How much is a "lot" or a "little bit" of resilience depends on the gear available. For the Cataclysmic season, "a lot" would be considered roughly 5000 resilience, and "a little" would be considered somewhere around 2800-3000.





    Reforging
    Spoiler: Show
    Reforging allows you to exchange 40% of a combat rating already on an item and converts it into a combat rating not already on an item.

    Since we cannot reforge any stat into Str, then we focus on our most important stats.

    These are your goals, in order.
    Hit cap. Under hit cap, reforge the worst* stat into hit.
    Expertise cap. If hit capped and under expertise cap, reforge your worst* stat into expertise.
    Mastery. If you are now hit and expertise capped, and you have gear that has not been reforged, aim to reforge any crit on it into or mastery.
    Haste. If you are now hit and expertise capped, and you have gear that has not been reforged but already has Mastery on it, reforge it into haste.

    PvP exceptions;
    Reforge Haste into Mastery or Crit instead.

    Note: Generally reforging to Hit or Expertise is a good thing, but you can go further in-depth with reforging. For maximum DPS gain, either carefully perform math on your gear to most closely reach Hit and Expertise caps (inverse "Price is Right" rules - closest over the cap wins), or use a program (such as Rawr) which will offer reforging advice. Reforging Item A from Hit to something else and Item B from something else to Hit may permit values closer to Hit/Exp cap, thus permitting a few additional Rating to Crit, Mastery, and Haste - an overall minor DPS gain.
    Thank you, Drugsbunny, for providing the article template on reforging.

    There is an addon that gives you easy to find and calculated numbers for reforging for any class and spec. It is called Reforgenator. You can download it from Curse by this link;
    http://wow.curseforge.com/addons/ref...s/170-v1-3-19/
    (Reforgenator for 4.3.4)





    Enchants
    Spoiler: Show
    1 - Indicates the best enchant, but can sometimes be difficult to get.
    2 - Secondary enchant. Useful when you don't want to use a bunch of hard to get mats on an expensive primary enchant.

    Weapon
    - Landslide - 1
    - Avalanche - 2
    - Hurricane - 2

    Helm
    - Arcanum of the Dragonmaw/Wildhammer (Dragonmaw/Wildhammer reputation)(60 strength, 35 mastery) - 1

    Shoulders
    - Greater Inscription of Jagged Stone (Therazane reputation)(50 strength, 25 crit) - 1
    - Lesser Inscription of Jagged Stone (Therazane reputation)(30 strength, 20 crit) - 2

    Cloak
    - Greater Critical Strike (65 crit) - 1
    - Critical Strike (50 crit) - 2

    Chest
    - Peerless Stats (20 all stats) - 1
    - Mighty Stats (15 all stats) - 2

    Wrist
    - Major Strength (50 strength) - 1
    - Greater Speed (65 haste) - 2
    - Greater Expertise (50 expertise rating) - 2
    - Precision (50 hit rating) - 2

    Hands
    - Mighty Strength (50 strength) - 1
    - Exceptional Strength (35 strength) - 2
    - Greater Mastery (65 mastery) - 2

    Belt
    - Ebonsteel Belt Buckle (1 prismatic socket) - 1

    Legs
    - Dragonscale Leg Armor (190 ap, 55 crit) - 1
    - Scorched Leg Armor (110 ap, 45 crit) - 2

    Boots
    - Mastery (50 mastery) - 1
    - Precision (50 hit rating) - 2





    Gems
    Spoiler: Show
    Strength, Mastery, and Hit rating gems are top priority. Hit rating gems are no longer necessary after you get the 8% cap. (Please keep in mind that reforging for hit rating is always better than gemming for it.) Socket bonuses are not a must, unless the socket bonus is +15 strength or mastery or higher (almost half the worth of a gem) when filling 1 blue socket. If there are two blue sockets, then do not bother with the socket bonus unless you are using (and need) hit rating gems.
    (Hit rating gems should only be used if you cannot get more hit rating from reforging and are still not capped.)
    Also please note that it is never a DPS gain if you lose strength by trying to gain a socket bonus.

    Meta Gem
    Reverberating Shadowspirit Diamond (+54 Strength and 3% Increased Critical Effect)

    Red Sockets
    Bold Inferno Ruby (40 strength)

    Yellow Sockets
    Fractured Amberjewel (40 mastery)
    Fierce Ember Topaz (20 strength, 20 haste)
    Skillful Ember Topaz (20 strength, 20 mastery)

    Blue Sockets
    Rigid Ocean Sapphire (40 hit rating)
    Lightning Dream Emerald (20 haste, 20 hit rating)
    Sensei's Dream Emerald (20 mastery, 20 hit rating)
    Etched Demon's Eye (20 strength, 20 hit rating)

    PvP exception
    It is okay to pick up socket bonuses for items that have yellow sockets, or even blue sockets. Especially if the socket bonus is for resilience.




    Professions
    Spoiler: Show
    Alchemy - 80 strength through Flask of Titanic Strength and Mixology.

    Blacksmithing - 80 to 100 strength through extra wrist and glove sockets, and Bold Inferno Ruby and Bold Queen's Garnet. (Note: To get 100 strength from your Blacksmithing sockets, you must have epic gems from Dragon Soul socketed. These are VERY hard to get.)

    Enchanting - 80 strength through ring enchants.

    Engineering - Multiple gadgets and items, most of which are situational and sometimes not even necessary.

    Herbalism - A minor heal and 480 haste for 20 seconds on use.

    Inscription - 80 strength from a powerful shoulder enchant.

    Jewelcrafting - 81 strength from powerful gems. (The boost is only 51 strength if you have all epic gems from Dragon Soul. Those epic gems are VERY hard to get.)

    Leatherworking - 80 strength from a powerful wrist enchant.

    Mining - 120 stamina from a passive ability.

    Skinning - 80 critical strike rating from a passive ability.

    Tailoring - 1,000 attack power for 15 seconds on proc.

    Short term best stats? Jewelcrafting.
    Long term best stats? Blacksmithing.
    Engineering can be very good too, depending on the situation.




    Consumables
    Spoiler: Show
    Alchemy
    Flask of Titanic Strength (300 strength for 1 hour)
    Golemblood Potion (1200 strength for 25 seconds)

    Cooking
    Hearty Seafood Soup (60 strength and stamina for 1 hour)
    Beer-Basted Crocolisk (90 strength and stamina for 1 hour)

  3. Change-log
    Spoiler: Show
    March 5th, 2013
    • Updated talents images.
    • Changed glyph links from Wowhead to open-wow.
    • Added open-wow links to highlighted spell names.
    • Added spoilers to various areas in the guide.
    • Updated information on Divine Storm and added a tip to it.
    • Updated information for Holy Radiance.
    • Mentioned the Glyph of Exorcism bug and advice on it.
    • Changes made to AoE DPS rotation due to the changes to Seal of Righteousness, Seals of Command and Divine Storm.
    • Changes made to burst damage rotation.
    • Changed the link for Reforgenator to its 4.3.4 version.
    • Added a bunch of information to the professions section.


    March 19th, 2013
    • Updated talent specs and added more specific explanation of the talent spec's roles.


    March 22nd, 2013
    • Reorganized the talent build list and added an extra note on the end to assist specialization choice in 4.3.4 and later tiers of gear.
    • Reorganized the Glyphs list, added more glyphs, and distinguised PvP and PvE glyphs from each other.
    • Added some information to the burst damage section for PvP.
    • Added an exception note for gemming in PvP at the bottom of the gemming section.
    • Removed the "Arena/Rated Battleground Compositions" section since it isn't needed any longer. Added a bit of info explaining this in its place. It can be found under "Techniques and Strategies" section.
    • Added information for resilience under the stats section.
    • Added macros under the "Techniques and Strategies" section.
    • Added a changelog section at the bottom of the guide.


    November 24th, 2013
    • Massive overhaul on my parts of the guide.
    • Added in an in-depth PvP part of the guide, courtesy of Flowz.
    • Let the community project begin!


    April 17th, 2014
    • Flowz' section has since been removed to allow Flowz to create his own thread and gain more personal recognition for his contributions to the paladin community. You can see his PvP guide here! :)
    • Fixed a typo in the cooldown/burst section in the first post. It should now make more sense!



    Reserved information for later use.
    Spoiler: Show
    Improved Judgement - Tier 1 talents
    This talent is particularly useful in many ways. In PvE, you can still hit targets at a distance when you otherwise wouldn't be able to, or when you are switching targets and moving to the next. In PvP, this can help keep opponents who are at range in combat, and can help you keep damage on those who are trying to kite you. For more utility regarding this talent, please see Long Arm of the Law.

    Guardian's Favor - Tier 2 talents - (PvP)
    The cooldown reduction of Hand of Protection, and the duration increase of Hand of Freedom, varies greatly on your play and team composition. It has very limited use in PvE, but the decreased cooldown of Hand of Protection can be useful with a caster teammate. The extended duration of Hand of Freedom can be useful against enemies who have AoE type snares, such as Shamans, Unholy Death Knights, Mages, and Hunters.

    Long Arm of the Law - Tier 3 talents
    This is almost exclusively a PvP talent. It is very useful for kiting, or catching up to kiters. It can be useful in PvE, though. In those moments that you are a decent distance away from the boss, and you want an extra speed boost to get out of fire, or get back up to the boss and start DPSing again, you can use this talent to help you out.

    Sanctified Wrath - Tier 4 talents
    The cooldown reduction of Avenging Wrath in itself is an excellent DPS boost, but this can also be used with Hammer of Wrath to give you a decent amount of ranged burst. Very useful when kiting, or when being kited. Spamming Hammer of Wrath during Avenging Wrath in PvE is not required, however.

    Selfless Healer - Tier 5 talents - PvP
    Almost exclusively a PvP talent. This talent increases the healing of your Word of Glory on targets other than yourself by an incredible amount, and offers a bit of bonus buff to help mitigate the loss of your Holy Power. This isn't generally picked up for PvE, as healing others isn't your job.


    Other useful talents that are not within the Retribution talent tree;
    Arbiter of the Light - Tier 1 Holy talents
    More crit on one of your hardest hitting abilities, Templar's Verdict? Yes, please!


    Judgements of the Pure
    - Tier 1 Holy talents
    The main point behind this ability is to work with Sanctity of Battle, to grant you the needed haste to drop your Crusader Strike cooldown to a much lower, and reasonable number.

    Blazing Light - Tier 2 Holy talents
    Even more Exorcism damage! What's not to like?

    Seals of the Pure - Tier 1 Protection talents
    An overall increase in damage caused by your seals. Very appealing, especially to Seal of Truth single-target DPS.

    Eternal Glory - Tier 1 Protection talents - (PvP)
    Use this in conjunction with Selfless Healer to grant yourself the ability to heal your allies for massive amounts.


    Improved Hammer of Justice
    - Tier 2 Protection talents - (PvP)
    Recommended for PvP only. Cooldown reduction on your main crowd control ability.

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