howdy. former career paladin here. Just thought I would share what I've learned about the oft naysayed/used to be doomed to failure retribution tree.
Its no secret. It could use some work. It seems to have gotten 'some' things done since I left the world though. But my topic is not about that. It's about your gear.
Because you can have the most perfect ret tree in the world, but your gear makes you, well you. (same with prot really but up til 60+ a prot guy can tank with little to no defense gear, just high armor/stamina...i had to do it pre-bc)
Before I go on, I have to add that to be a good retribution paladin, it will take a lot of research and pre-planning your character, or meta/powergaming, unlike holy paladins who can just run through the game not really having to worry about "will this piece of gear improve me?" because chances are it will, by default.
For the most part your gear at first will resemble that of a warrior, this is pre-60 of course. There are very few articles of clothing that will resemble the gear you will need at 60+. This may confuse a lot of folks when they actually do encounter gear that looks like paladin. Cutting this short, you're gonna want str/sta/int/crit or agi gear while leveling up to 60. unfortunately the best and maybe only way to achieve this is through pvp, arathi basin armor and wsg jewelry, as folks will generally turn you away from instance groups unless you're willing to bear it down and heal or tank. (because theres no real specific healadin or tank gear either leveling up, so it should be doable even for ret, but keep your group aware of that) Skipping to 60, your pre-bc or even now ideal gear will be the lvl 60 epic pvp set(the one with str/sta/crit/int/damage&healing), or judgement items if you're lucky to get folks to run onyxia/bwl. It has high armor too in case you have to tank(or offtank most likely) hellfire ramparts or some other early bc dungeon, with some of the entry level bc quest items of course. At 60 with the pvp set, you may feel like a melee god, who can and should still support their team with your many many abilities, heals buffs stuns sleep shields.
Oh, keep a 1h and shield on you at all times too. If not for the fluff reason, you aren't always gonna be smiting evil with your big hammer, especially in groups. You are a paladin, not the retribution tree only. Keep yourself ready for anything.
so...60+, after seeing what real ret gear looks like with the pvp epic set, you're again going to be confused, because well, the quest rewards are warrior/tank/healer gear mainly. While leveling you might find yourself with dps warrior gear again which unfortunately will gimp your holiness side, so less casts of seals and heals for you. (i.e. your main form of damage/support, which is mana, of course by this point you should know that.) Try to keep a balance of that dps war gear and the occasional paladin plate that you will get. Ya need the int to dps along with the str. so you're leveling up probably respecced your talent trees a bunch by now trying to perfect it to your current situation and whatnot. So you hit 70. Woo, grats, what now? With your current gear, you are most likely in no way shape or form ready to do the high end 5-mans(see:tempest keep/shadow labyrinth/heroics/shattered halls) and you're gonna need a flying mount too. Guess what is looming over your head ilke a shadow again. Pvp or respec time. Unfortunately respeccing out of ret may be a fact of life while leveling and even at 70 if that's what you ultimately choose to be. You'll notice that the pvp gear is all blue. Thats ok. The stats are still solid and still has high str/sta/int/crit/damage/healing, though probably not in the same quantities or proportions that you may have been accustomed to with your 60 epic set. So after looking at that, you may notice the gladiator epic sets. THAT is what you want for ret dps at the end(unless you're in a guild who happens to not care what your spec is and still wants you to raid with them and get that T5-6 stuff) Unfortunately that(gladiator) is a metric ton of work to achieve and may warrant you going holy, the tree you probably so desparately tried to avoid, or prot, something you may have considered and maybe tried while leveling. Holy because people flock to you for arena teams because you will apparantly be the best healer/support around, and prot to surprise those who will specifically target you because of said heal/support potential, so it takes a half hour(exaggeration) for people to kill you while you're healing.)
Of course first you're gonna have to learn the ropes of all your talent trees if you want to be successful at 70+ retribution. meaning you'll most likely be respeccing, A LOT(ret/holy, ret/prot and variations of), and carrying 2 or 3 sets of gear for normal play(ret/healbot/(off)tankbot), along with your raid resists gear.
The glimmer of hope for regular instance drops is in fact armor that looks like Red Lawbringer(but is not an actual set). While not the best of the instance drops for you, it's a good solid base for a ret paladin, or someone who wants to dabble as a generalist. Also various trinkets and rings that are oddly enough, paladin'esque or emphasise melee dps for any class. another way to buff yourself up if you haven't already done so while leveling, is enchanting! Enchant your gear often and efficiently with stats. Whether it's yourself, or a friend who can. Also, MAKE FRIENDS! you will get nowhere in world of warcraft endgame, especially as retribution spec, if you just go through solo or silent instance hopping your entire life.
Retribution relies more on gear than any other spec in the game. Even fury warriors can go from dps to tank with minimal gear changes. Whereas ret has to change their entire appearance. Remember that. Also remember, again that you are not just the retribution tree. You are a paladin, so it is your duty, no matter your talent spec, in groups and pvp to support your allies along with smashing faces that you love to do. whether it be repentancing/stunning healers and casters, blessing everyone with...well blessigns, or keeping that mage alive so he can pom pyroblast that unsuspecting rogue to death so you can get honor points instead of that rogue getting 2 free kills, or the flag, and you can get the gear to smash faces the best that you can.
Edited, Dec 22nd 2007 1:10pm by Gukagim