Guide: Retri Stat mechanics/Itemization

I've been reading a lot of questions regarding AP vs Spelldamage vs Crit vs Hit and so on, people wondering how to best equip their retri paladin, which stats to go for and what priorities to take. So I decided to write a guide about it.

This guide should explain what to aim for in gear and more importantly why for PvE as well as PvP, hopefully allowing you to make educated gear choices so you have the best tools to perform as a Retribution Paladin.

With a few pointed exceptions in the last section (Advanced Tips/Opinion) I've tried to limit the scope of this post to Retribution Stat mechanics and Itemization, to avoid repeating things like spec/gameplay and all out item lists which have already been adequately handled on this forum :)



===Explaining Stat Mechanics===


Str/AP vs. Spelldamage:

You need to consider while most of your relevant attacks as retri gain from both Str/AP as well as Spelldamage, the deciding factor is that your white hits (which are usually the largest part of your damage) gain only from Str/AP vs a much lesser relative improvement to your overall damage from JoC/Consecration which gain only from Spelldamage.

Conclusion: Though both benefit your damage, Str/AP benefits your overall damage more than Spelldamage and should be taken as a priority.


Melee Crit/Agility vs Spell Crit:

This is actually the more important factor, all your relevant attacks as retri (White/CS/SoC/JoC/Hammer of Wrath) gain from Melee Crit and NOT from Spell Crit. Spell Crit only works for attacks you won't really be using as retri like JoR, situational attacks like Exorcism and Holy Wrath (which are nice, but you can't base your retri gear around them) and of course your heals, but we're talking about damage here.

Conclusion: As a retri paladin go for Melee Crit. Spell Crit is worthless to your damage.


Melee Hit vs Spell Hit:

This one is the subject of a lot of complaining: While the vast majority of your relevant attacks as retri gain from Melee Hit (White/CS/SoC/Hammer of Wrath), one (and only one) of your major attacks (JoC) does not and requires Spell Hit instead.

This is one change that retri paladins are hoping for in the future, since it leads to a loss of a lot of damage due to resisted JoCs.


Conclusion: As a retri pala Melee Hit is the only way to go. Spell Hit while technically not worthless due to that 1 spell (JoC), it is almost impossible to fit into gear. See the next part about Itemization.