Retribution Guide Part 2  

Continued from Part 1...

Credits

This guide is designed for PVE. For PVP you'll want to talk to some of the other more skilled PVP Rets. Much of this guide will discuss preparing for heroics and starting Kara, but I will include some info for even the beginning Ret Pally.

First off I'd like to say thank you to several people who encouraged me to do this and helped to make it as useful as it is: Capjack of the Seven Seas, tommyguns (much of the formation of my opinions came from his posts), The RuenBahamut of Doom, Vaeliorin, Jornam

Table of Contents

• 4.1 Holy
• 4.1.1 Divine Strength
• 4.1.2 Divine Intellect
• 4.1.3 Other
• 4.2 Protection
• 4.2.1 Improved Devotion Aura
• 4.2.2 Redoubt
• 4.2.3 Precision
• 4.2.4 Other
• 4.3 Retribution
• 4.3.1 Improved Blessing of Might
• 4.3.2 Benediction
• 4.3.3 Improved Judgement
• 4.3.4 Improved Seal of the Crusader
• 4.3.5 Deflection
• 4.3.6 Vindication
• 4.3.7 Conviction
• 4.3.8 Seal of Command
• 4.3.9 Pursuit of Justice
• 4.3.10 Eye for an Eye
• 4.3.11 Improved Retribution Aura
• 4.3.12 Crusade
• 4.3.13 Two-Handed Weapon Specialization
• 4.3.14 Sanctity Aura
• 4.3.15 Improved Sanctity Aura
• 4.3.16 Vengeance
• 4.3.17 Sanctified Judgements
• 4.3.18 Sanctified Seals
• 4.3.19 Repentance
• 4.3.20 Divine Purpose
• 4.3.21 Fanaticism
• 4.3.22 Crusader Strike

4.0 Talents:

While I won't tell you 100% how to spec your char I will go through my recommendations for PVE. For a PVP spec there are others much more knowledgeable than myself.

4.1 Holy:

4.1.1 Divine Strength Since a Ret pally gets most benefit from abilities that increase weapon damage, this ability will make every point of strength you get worth more. With the right gear (i.e. strength rather than AP gear) this ability will boost your DPS quite a bit.

4.1.2 Divine Intellect While it's true that most of our DPS comes from abilities that use mana, this is usually a waste of talent points. Our Int is typically too low for 10% to make much difference. These are 5 points better used elsewhere.

4.1.3 Other Anything else in Holy is a waste of talent points for a DPS Ret. Additional points can be spent in Holy to create an off-heal build. This may be useful in PVP and possibly some instance groups, but a Ret OH will not be very good at healing or DPS and won't be wanted in most PVE groups. In PVP the flexibility this offers can make the difference between winning and losing.

4.2 Protection:

4.2.1 Improved Devotion Aura This ability by itself is rather useless since you will almost never be using this aura. However, it's more useful than extra blocking, so I recommend taking this to get you to the second tier in Prot.

4.2.2 Redoubt If you find yourself using a 1h and shield often, this talent is possibly more useful than Improved Devotion Aura. For most Ret pallys who always use a 2hander, this will be less useful.

4.2.3 Precision This allows you to spend your gear budget on DPS stats a little more, and worry a little less about +hit stats. 3% to +hit puts you 1/3 of the way to the 9% you need to not miss the level 73 raid bosses. If you happen to get enough +hit from your gear then feel free to use the 8 talent points from Prot elsewhere.

4.2.4 Other While there are other abilities in Prot that might be useful the talents are most likely better spent in the Ret tree. Additional points can be spent in Prot to get Blessing of Kings for additional raid buff flexibility and Improved Hammer of Justice for more double strength JoC's especially for PVP.

4.3 Retribution

4.3.1 Improved Blessing of Might This is a useful talent as you will want BoM as often as you can as long as you have someone else to give you BoSalv. The added DPS is minimal (44 AP at max BoM = apx 6 dps taking auto attack, SoC and CS into account), however and should be taken only if you have extra talents to spend.

4.3.2 Benediction This is definitely the talent to take to allow for more sustainable DPS with your Judgements when you use them.

4.3.3 Improved Judgement I highly recommend getting this talent. It will be more useful than 2 points in Deflection to get you to the 3rd tier, and if you time your Judgements correctly with your swing timer, this can allow you to boost your DPS by a small amount, especially for PVP.

4.3.4 Improved Seal of the Crusader While any other pally can spend 8 points in the Ret tree to get this, if you get this you allow your Holy or Prot pallies to spend the points in abilities more useful to them. This is a great Utility ability giving everyone in your raid 3% more crit chance.

4.3.5 Deflection This can be handy if you have extra talent points, but assuming you're playing your Ret well, you won't get hit enough for this to be worthwhile except for solo play.

4.3.6 Vindication There has been some debate over this one, but most Rets seem to agree that since Raid bosses are immune to this, it really should only be taken for PVP.

4.3.7 Conviction This is an absolute must for any Ret pally. Take it.

4.3.8 Seal of Command For Alliance Rets this is mandatory. For BE Rets Seal of Blood deals more damage more consistently, and this is probably not necessary once you get that.

4.3.9 Pursuit of Justice This is a fun talent, and makes it easier to catch runners (if for some reason you are on runner duty rather than a ranged DPS'er). For the most part though, this ability is primarily useful in PVP and somewhat useless in raids.

4.3.10 Eye for an Eye This is another ability that is a must for PVP, but useless in raids if you're playing your Ret well.

4.3.11 Improved Retribution Aura Useless... Ignore it.

4.3.12 Crusade Definitely take this. 3% more DPS is always good.

4.3.13 Two-Handed Weapon Specialization Again, this is a must. 6% more damage is even better than 3...

4.3.14 Sanctity Aura I highly recommend this since it will increase your damage from SoC, JoC, consecration, and other abilities.

4.3.15 Improved Sanctity Aura 2% more damage for everyone in your group including you.... Take it.

4.3.16 Vengeance Not only is 15% more damage an great boost to your DPS, but your hands glow too. With a high Crit rate this will 3 stack quickly, so you will almost always have the full 15% more damage.

4.3.17 Sanctified Judgement This will help a lot with managing your mana, and should definitely be taken. This allows you to use JoC when its ready and your swing timer allows you to judge and re-seal before the next swing with reasonable mana effciency.

4.3.18 Sanctified Seals This is a must. 3% more crit rate is a great boost. One of the better changes in 2.3.

4.3.19 Repentance Definitely take this. While this won't make you a CC'er, this will allow you a little more utility if used right. For instance using it on a mob that is attacking your healer to give the tank a little more time to get aggro back. Also Repentance can allow you to close the distance with opponents in PVP, benefits JoC for double damage and will stop spell casts.

4.3.20 Divine Purpose If you are getting hit enough for this to apply to you, feel free to take this. However, you shouldn't be getting hit enough in PVE instances or raids for this to be useful. This should be taken for PVP though to increase your survivability especially since Ret Palys don't get good amounts of Resiliance till Season 3 gear.

4.3.21 Fanaticism 15% more crits on judgments and 30% threat reduction make this probably the best spent 5 talent points for raiding.

4.3.22 Crusader Strike Definitely take this. A free 110% weapon damage hit every 6 seconds is nice.

Notes

The following are continued in Part 3...

5.0 Gear List

• 5.1 Basic Gear List
• 5.1.1 Weapon
• 5.1.2 Libram
• 5.1.3 Head
• 5.1.4 Neck
• 5.1.5 Shoulder
• 5.1.6 Back
• 5.1.7 Chest
• 5.1.8 Wrist
• 5.1.9 Hands
• 5.1.10 Legs
• 5.1.11 Waist
• 5.1.12 Feet
• 5.1.13 Ring
• 5.1.14 Trinkets
• 5.2 Gems
• 5.2.1 Red
• 5.2.2 Blue
• 5.2.3 Yellow
• 5.2.4 Purple
• 5.2.5 Orange
• 5.2.6 Green
• 5.2.7 Meta
• 5.3 Enchants
• 5.3.1 Weapon
• 5.3.2 Head
• 5.3.3 Shoulder
• 5.3.4 Cloak
• 5.3.5 Chest
• 5.3.6 Wrist
• 5.3.7 Leg
• 5.3.8 Feet
• 5.3.9 Ring

• 6.1 Food
• 6.2 Weapon Enhancements
• 6.3 Potions and Elixirs

World of Warcraft Wikibase™