Post by Kibethe@Stormcrow on Apr 25, 2008 22:16:23 GMT -5
Some of this pertains to "what should I stack on my gear", in a sense, although actual gear is separate because you do need int on your gear YES I WENT THERE, but you don't need to gem or enchant it.
1. AP or Strength?
It's inadvisable to pick AP unless there is no comparable Strength item. With Divine Strength (which everything but a pure PvP build will include) you effectively gain 2.2 AP per Strength, making Strength > AP. If you have Blessing of Kings on you, now you have 2.4 AP per Strength. So if you had 100 Str now you have 240 AP, but you had 200 AP you still just have 200 AP.
Divine Strength also counts for things like food buffs, Mark of the Wild, and procs like the Crusader enchant.
2. Agility or Melee Crit Rating?
Paladins have a 25 Agi to 1% crit conversion rate at L70. It will generally be easier and less expensive itemization wise to get melee crit rather than agility, especially on plate. Noteable exception: Mongoose, see below.
3. Mongoose, Exeuctioner, Savagery?
With no other things considered, Savagery is low-rent compared to Mongoose and Executioner. Don't put this on a weapon unless you can't afford the other two enchants, which are insanely expensive by comparison, but much better for your DPS. Savagery is a good "leveling" enchant, in the sense of, maybe you just got your Hammer of Destiny or an Oathkeeper.
Executioner is generally found to be higher for your DPS if you build an Armor Penetration Set to support it. Since ArP is a very new stat in the game and thus not found on very much gear (and most gear it is found on is epic badge, honor, or Arena rewards), this is a significant undertaking. A base of 200-300 ArP makes Executioner increase your DPS more than Mongoose, but not by a huge amount. Its real benefit is in PvP, where armor tends to run higher, and you want to get already soft targets like cloth- and leather-wearers down near to 0 armor for a nice phat Crusader Strike and 2H autoattack.
Mongoose is typically the best overall enchant; crit is never bad to have, dodge is never bad to have, and the haste is great for Belves and certainly not useless for Alliance paladins. Also, and here is the big thing, it's Agility you gain, and the proc's agility--that's right, stacks with Blessing of Kings. If you have Kings on, you'll actually gain closer to 5.4% crit, not just 5%.
No, don't enchant 35 Agi on your 2H. Just don't. Uther will spin in his grave and Arthas will shed a frozen tear.
4. Metas?
The Relentless Earthstorm Diamond (+Agi and +3% to crit damage) is the best DPS meta you can have. For PvP a lot of paladins consider the stun-resist or root/snare-resist metas to be superior, but that's going to have a lot more to do with your playstyle in PvP.
5. Spell Damage?
Spell damage is the most misunderstood aspect of Retribution DPS. The very very very very short abbreviated version is, the spell damage coefficient got removed from Crusader Strike, which is the 2nd highest source of your DPS, but it remains on Seal/Judgment of Command/Blood, and all other "spell" type DPS. Spell damage was also removed from all Retribution Paladin gear and replaced with strength and crit (or in the case of PvP gear, resilience and strength).
Although it's been indicated retribution paladins can expect to have their reliance on spell damage removed, how this will happen has not been said. The most likely scenario is a talent that converts some % of AP or Strength into Spell Damage and Int, but no one knows for sure, and Blizzard has been silent on the issue.
6. Int?
You are not a warrior. If you want to play an MS warrior, roll an MS warrior. Unless you can be sure a that a Shadow Priest or a Shaman are willing to be surgically grafted onto you at all times, neglecting int will reduce your mana pool to unusable levels. This is why it's often necessary to mix and match your gear until you can get actual Retribution Paladin gear--plate with str, crit/agi, and int--and that's sadly in very short supply (i.e., Tier 4 or Crusader's Scaled and better only).
If you wear all warrior gear, you will be making every potion-specced alchemist on your server REALLY HAPPY.
1. AP or Strength?
It's inadvisable to pick AP unless there is no comparable Strength item. With Divine Strength (which everything but a pure PvP build will include) you effectively gain 2.2 AP per Strength, making Strength > AP. If you have Blessing of Kings on you, now you have 2.4 AP per Strength. So if you had 100 Str now you have 240 AP, but you had 200 AP you still just have 200 AP.
Divine Strength also counts for things like food buffs, Mark of the Wild, and procs like the Crusader enchant.
2. Agility or Melee Crit Rating?
Paladins have a 25 Agi to 1% crit conversion rate at L70. It will generally be easier and less expensive itemization wise to get melee crit rather than agility, especially on plate. Noteable exception: Mongoose, see below.
3. Mongoose, Exeuctioner, Savagery?
With no other things considered, Savagery is low-rent compared to Mongoose and Executioner. Don't put this on a weapon unless you can't afford the other two enchants, which are insanely expensive by comparison, but much better for your DPS. Savagery is a good "leveling" enchant, in the sense of, maybe you just got your Hammer of Destiny or an Oathkeeper.
Executioner is generally found to be higher for your DPS if you build an Armor Penetration Set to support it. Since ArP is a very new stat in the game and thus not found on very much gear (and most gear it is found on is epic badge, honor, or Arena rewards), this is a significant undertaking. A base of 200-300 ArP makes Executioner increase your DPS more than Mongoose, but not by a huge amount. Its real benefit is in PvP, where armor tends to run higher, and you want to get already soft targets like cloth- and leather-wearers down near to 0 armor for a nice phat Crusader Strike and 2H autoattack.
Mongoose is typically the best overall enchant; crit is never bad to have, dodge is never bad to have, and the haste is great for Belves and certainly not useless for Alliance paladins. Also, and here is the big thing, it's Agility you gain, and the proc's agility--that's right, stacks with Blessing of Kings. If you have Kings on, you'll actually gain closer to 5.4% crit, not just 5%.
No, don't enchant 35 Agi on your 2H. Just don't. Uther will spin in his grave and Arthas will shed a frozen tear.
4. Metas?
The Relentless Earthstorm Diamond (+Agi and +3% to crit damage) is the best DPS meta you can have. For PvP a lot of paladins consider the stun-resist or root/snare-resist metas to be superior, but that's going to have a lot more to do with your playstyle in PvP.
5. Spell Damage?
Spell damage is the most misunderstood aspect of Retribution DPS. The very very very very short abbreviated version is, the spell damage coefficient got removed from Crusader Strike, which is the 2nd highest source of your DPS, but it remains on Seal/Judgment of Command/Blood, and all other "spell" type DPS. Spell damage was also removed from all Retribution Paladin gear and replaced with strength and crit (or in the case of PvP gear, resilience and strength).
Although it's been indicated retribution paladins can expect to have their reliance on spell damage removed, how this will happen has not been said. The most likely scenario is a talent that converts some % of AP or Strength into Spell Damage and Int, but no one knows for sure, and Blizzard has been silent on the issue.
6. Int?
You are not a warrior. If you want to play an MS warrior, roll an MS warrior. Unless you can be sure a that a Shadow Priest or a Shaman are willing to be surgically grafted onto you at all times, neglecting int will reduce your mana pool to unusable levels. This is why it's often necessary to mix and match your gear until you can get actual Retribution Paladin gear--plate with str, crit/agi, and int--and that's sadly in very short supply (i.e., Tier 4 or Crusader's Scaled and better only).
If you wear all warrior gear, you will be making every potion-specced alchemist on your server REALLY HAPPY.