T5/T6 Ret Gear You Probably Overlooked

Conventional Retribution wisdom sets us on a pretty clear path on how we ought to gear ourselves: go for hit rating until you reach 95, then stack strength, crit rating, and enough stamina not to die. Attack power and agility will do in sufficient quantities, too. Intellect, mana regeneration, and spell damage are usually distractions.

As a result of this conventional wisdom, we often overlook some amazing items that don't fit neatly into our little stat equivalency chart. Most of them are ridiculously easy to get, and all of them can find a home in your Retribution kit well into the Black Temple. Even if you've got Illidan dead, I'd strongly encourage you to examine these three items with Bellator's calculator or Rawr.Ret and see if you can get some mileage out of them. I've been in Black Temple since last October and I still use two of them.

1. [Shapeshifter's Signet]

This ring breaks all the rules of Paladin DPS gear: it's got no strength or attack power, no hit rating, and it's got agility instead of crit rating. However, it does give you exactly 5 Expertise (or -1.25% to your target's Dodge), which oddly enough makes it one of the top five melee DPS rings available to us after we hit cap. I don't know if that means this ring is freakishly awesome, or if our other ring choices are incredibly awful. All it costs you is some boring nights in the Shadow Labyrinth and 16 gold.


2. [Brooch of Deftness]

This neck follows the same principle of the Shapeshifter's Signet: no attack power, but plenty of accuracy improvements from both hit rating and expertise rating. If you aren't hit capped this neck ranks second only to a [Choker of Endless Nightmares], which is currently our best in slot neck until 2.4 opens up Sunwell Plateau.

It's also interesting to note that this neck, plus the Shapeshifter's Signet, and the [Shard of Contempt] from Heroic Magister's Terrace in 2.4 will allow Human Paladins to expertise cap without ever having set foot in a raid. Never missing certainly sounds delicious.

3. [Cloak of Darkness]

This cloak is the embodiment of Retribution Paladin itemization, and has a socket to boot. And yet oddly enough, very few people that I talk to know it exists. Of all the flashy looking epics I wear – and I sit AFK under A'dal on an [Amani War Bear] as a point of reference – I get the most questions about where I got my cloak. How bizarre is that? Talk to your local leatherworker, and be prepared to fork over some big bucks for the four Primal Nethers. And tell your Arms and Fury Warrior buddies, too; they might get some good use out of one. You can easily wear this cloak until you replace it with the only existing clear upgrade: a [Shadowmoon Destroyer's Drape] off Teron Gorefiend. Just make sure you ignore the socket bonus and put in a [Bold Living Ruby], or [Bold Crimson Spinel]; a [Sovereign Nightseye] or [Jagged Talasite] makes it undesirable compared to other cloaks like [Dory's Embrace].