Retribution Paladin (PVE)

Gear & Stats

Retribution gearing in Phase 1 is all about consistency: getting to your Hit cap first (so you stop missing and keep Vengeance + seals stable), then stacking the best scaling stats (Expertise, Strength, and Haste). Ret damage is a hybrid of physical + holy, so you want strong melee stats while still respecting how much of your output comes from seals, judgements, and Holy damage.

Retribution Pre-BiS

Stat Priority

Hit (to cap) > Expertise > Strength > Attack Power > Haste > Armor Penetration > Crit / Agility Notes: • Boss hit cap is 9% (142 Hit Rating). With Precision (3%) you only need 95 Hit Rating from gear. • Expertise is extremely valuable but hard to cap early. Humans also get +5 expertise with Swords/Maces.

Stats Explained

Hit Your most important early stat. Missing attacks or key abilities means zero damage and hurts Vengeance + seal uptime. Against bosses you need 9% hit (142 rating). With Precision (3%), this drops to 95 rating needed from gear. Expertise Reduces the chance your attacks are dodged (and parried if you’re in front). Even from behind, bosses can still dodge, so Expertise is always a damage gain. It’s difficult to cap in early phases, so treat it as “take it when it’s on great items.” Strength Your best overall scaling stat. With Divine Strength, each point of Strength is worth more and translates into more Attack Power, improving nearly everything you do. Attack Power Directly increases the damage of your melee swings and physical abilities. Haste Very strong for Ret because faster swings mean more seal procs. It scales especially well with Seal of Blood, since the effect is tied to your melee hits. Armor Penetration Improves physical damage (white swings + Crusader Strike), but Ret has a large holy component, so it’s not a stat you typically itemize for early. Crit / Agility Both increase damage, but are generally secondary to Hit/Expertise/Strength/Haste. Crit becomes more attractive once your core caps are handled, and around ~30% crit makes Vengeance upkeep very comfortable.

Important Caps & External Buffs

Hit Cap (Bosses) • 9% hit = 142 Hit Rating • With Precision (3%) = 6% from gear ≈ 95 Hit Rating External sources that can reduce needed hit: • Heroic Presence (Draenei in your party): +1% hit (~15.8 rating) • Improved Faerie Fire: reduces hit needed by 3% (~47 rating) Because group buffs aren’t always guaranteed, it’s smart to keep a “hit swap” item or two so you can stay capped in any raid setup.