Retribution Stats

With the addition of reforging added with Cataclysm, a players stats and cap(s) become a lot easier to customize and move around in order to make the gear you have work with its self. Below are the stat priorities. Please remember that this list will indeed vary depending on the gear available to you, not to mention your level.





1. Strength - The ultimate stat. Strength is the hand that rocks the cradle of all Paladin Dps. Strength leads to attack power, which leads to hitting harder, and then higher Dps. One point of strength converts into 2 points of attack power, making this easily our biggest booster. Remember though that it is a primary stat and therefore isn't part of the reforging conversations that will occur with the stats below. If you have a piece of armor that doesn't have strength on it, get rid of it.

2. Hit (cap) - The current hit cap for two-hand melee dps is currently 8% (Excluding our space-goat friends). You should make it a priority to reforge your crit/haste to hit until you get that cap, while being sure not to sacrifice expertise(see below). Having hit at 8% reduces your chances of missing a mob or, more importantly, a boss, to 0. I don't think that I need to tell you this, but popping wings during a dps burn and having your pretty hammer fly straight by the boss and wack the wall is bad.

3. Expertise (cap) - Expertise reduces your chances to be dodged or parried by a boss. The current cap for 2H melee classes is 26 but we only need 16 due to the wonderful Glyph of Seal of Truth. Keep in mind that various racials (dwarf and human to name a few) grant expertise when using certain weapons so remember to take that into consideration when picking your race.

4.  Mastery - Number 1 since 4.0.6. Hand of Light does additional % of Dmg after you Crusader Strike,  Templar's Verdict, or Divine Storm based on your mastery level. Keep in mind that this additional damage is, in fact, Holy, and so therefore is effected by Inquisition. Pound for pound mastery is our best secondary stat after caps.

5. Critical Strike - Crit increases your chances to.....crit. To hit hard. With the release of Firelands, both crit and haste draw much closer together in terms of secondary stats. I continue to prefer crit (mostly due to the fact that my trinket benefits more from it than haste) but there is quite a debate raging on the Ret thread at EJ. You should continue to keep an eye on what Exemplar and the other frequent posters say regarding the issue.

6. Haste - Haste effects your cast and, more importantly, your melee speed. The cooldown on both Crusader Strike and Divine Storm are effected by haste, making it theoretically possible to reduce their cooldown to 3seconds, cutting out the need for any filler between 1 CS and the next. Haste is currently tied(?) with crit behind mastery and at the moment, due to an almost invisible difference in the two stats, can be switched out with crit at your leisure, depending on your own preference. Whichever you choose, you should still continue to reforge both stats to Mastery as often as possible.