Thursday, January 10, 2008

Retribution weapon rundown (Part 1: Azeroth)

A Retribution Paladin's damage is only as good as their weapon. We need killer weapons with awesome damage or we, quite simply, suck.

THE IDEAL RETRIBUTION WEAPON:
If you are a Retribution Paladin, you are using Crusader Strike and either Seal of Command or Seal of Blood procs to kill things (because Seal of Vengeance sucks). Two of these abilities deal a percentage of your weapon's normal damage as holy damage; Seals of Blood and Command. Crusader Strike is purely physical damage now, it's not holy, despite what color the damage numbers are that flash across your screen when you hit things. But that's okay, because Crusader Strike still deals 110% of weapon damage.
How this works out is that the harder your weapons hit, the harder your holy damage will hit, resulting in some huge spikes of damage. If you are a Blood Elf and using Seal of Blood, you are lucky because your holy damage will accompany every single weapon swing of yours, there's nothing random about its dependability. If you are any Alliance race however, you will be using Seal of Command and relying on luck (and a slow weapon) for your holy damage to be inflicted. The reason you want a slower weapon is because slower weapons usually mean higher max damage numbers. Higher max damage numbers, in turn, mean that a percentage of that damage will be a larger number (inflicted as holy damage).

Too complex?
How about this simplified explanation?

The holy damage inflicted by Seal of Command will be higher with a high max-damage weapon. It will also activate more often if that weapon has a slow attack speed.

It is that typicality (is that a word?) of slow speed and high max damage that I have based my entire opinion of "good" Retribution weapons on. Thus I have compiled this list of weapons that I feel make fine weapon choices for my fellow Ret Paladins.

Begrudgingly, I will admit that these are also great weapons for Mortal Strike Warriors. And MS Warriors do a FINE job at killing things. But I want any MS Warriors or Raid leaders reading this to know that every time you try to c*ckblock a Ret Paladin for rolling on 2-hand DPS weapons, God kills a kitten. Please, save the kittens.

Ideally, this list will eventually go as far as Gruul's Lair loot (as that is the furthest I've gotten drops from with my highest level Ret Paladin, Runic on Shandris), and then further still if Arcten ever raids anything more than Karazhan.

The following stats and locations are current as of Patch 2.3.2.


Copper Battle Axe
Binds when equipped
Two-Hand Axe
23 - 35 Damage
Speed 3.20
(9.1 damage per second)
+3 Stamina
Durability 50 / 50
Requires Level 8
Item Level 13
Source: Recipe
A Copper Battle Axe, quite simply, will be your MOST IMPORTANT WEAPON EVER! As you can see, it's got an item level of 13. Purely scaled with general game difficulty, this Axe should last you 5 levels in terms of play balance. Go to Ironforge or Orgrimmar ASAP and train 2h Axe! Even if it means that you don't have the money to learn a single new spell! Get a Blacksmith to make you this or buy it off the AH as soon as you hit level 7! Have it on you when you ding to level 8. Equip it immediately. Arcten is on Draenor, Runic is on Shandris. They can both craft these. PLEASE, young Paladins, whisper ME if you're on my server and need one made. This weapon is the only "leg-up" you will need at the lowest levels. This weapon will suit you just fine until you get a green quest reward or random drop with more damage. Give your young Paladin a the best head start in life that you can give him, BUY A COPPER BATTLE AXE!


Sin'dorei Warblade (Horde-only)
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Sword
49 - 75 Damage
Speed 3.40
(18.2 damage per second)
+10 Strength
+4 Stamina
Durability 75 / 75
Item Level 21
Source: Quest -
The Traitor's Destruction
This is also a close contender for most important Paladin weapon ever. But it's Horde-only, so good for you Blood Elves, but your level 20 Paladin weapon sucks, whereas The Alliance's is awesome.

Smite's Mighty Hammer
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Mace
55 - 83 Damage
Speed 3.50
(19.7 damage per second)
+11 Strength
+4 Agility
Durability 80 / 80
Requires Level 18
Item Level 23
Source: Drop - Deadmines [Mister Smite]
This is the best item for a Ret Paladin in the whole Deadmines instance.

Blood-Tempered Ranseur (Horde-only)
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Polearm
45 - 69 Damage
Speed 2.90
(19.7 damage per second)
+6 Strength
+9 Stamina
+6 Intellect
Durability 80 / 80
Item Level 23
Disenchant value: 34 Silver 69 Copper
Vendor value: 33 Silver 1 Copper
Source: Quest -
The Blood Tempered Ranseur (there are prerequisites, so do your homework).
So the Horde Paladins got shafted on their level 20 Paladin weapon. It sucks. For pure damage dealing potential, I'd just go with the Sin'dorei Warblade. But meh, I think class-specific quests are a cool idea, so with Runic, I did this quest anyway, and still used it just because it was a cool-looking polearm until my next upgrade.

Verigan's Fist (Alliance - only)
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Mace
65 - 99 Damage
Speed 3.20
(25.6 damage per second)
+7 Stamina
+6 Intellect
+12 Spirit
Durability 100 / 100
Classes: Paladin
Item Level 31
Source: Quest -
Test of Righteousness (there are prerequisites for this quest too, so again, do your homework).
Verigan's Fist is a far better weapon for killing things than the Blood Tempered Ranseur or the Sin'dorei Warblade. The quest is long, and you can start it at level 20. But as you can see by its item level, this weapon could very well last you for 10 levels.

Strike of the Hydra
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Sword
67 - 102 Damage
Speed 3.30
(25.6 damage per second)
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 26
Chance on hit: Corrosive acid that deals 7 Nature damage every 3 sec and lowers target's armor by 50 for 30 sec.
Item Level 31
Source: Drop - Blackfathom Deeps [Aku'mai]
This weapon was the very pinnacle of irony for me. When Arcten was at this level, I toiled and toiled and toiled... got OFF the toilet and then finished my Verigan's Fist quest. Then, I was already level 23 by the time I was finished with it all. So I was all excited, running around pwning things with my awesome Paladin mace. Then I got a whisper "You wanna go to BFD?". Well sure I wanted to go! There's some quality mail to be had there! So I show up, we have a great run, kill Aku'mai and this thing drops, this is about 2 hours after I had just finished the quest. So, I sit there, scratching my head, no other 2h sword users want it. I shrug, hit the NEED button and get a higher damage weapon less than 2 hours after I had just finished my painstaking quest. So Verigan's Fist and I have a lovely little 3-level tryst with eachother and then I pawn her off on a vendor like a cheap hobag and start diddling her older, slightly hotter sister.

Corpsemaker
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Axe
88 - 132 Damage
Speed 3.80
(28.9 damage per second)
+15 Strength
+8 Stamina
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 29
Item Level 34
Source: Drop - Razorfen Kraul [Overlord Ramtusk]
With Runic, I remember this thing feeling like my first "real" Retribution weapon. It was big, slow, hit like a truck, and the big *shunk* noise it made whenever it hit a foe was oh-so-satisfying.

X'caliboar
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Sword
98 - 148 Damage
Speed 3.30
(37.3 damage per second)
+20 Strength
+8 Stamina
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 35
Item Level 42
Source: Drop - Razorfen Downs [Ragglesnout (Rare)]
You can't depend on this drop at all. It's not on a standard boss template. But, if you are lucky enough to have Ragglesnout spawn on your Razorfen Downs run, and luckier still for him to drop this low-drop rate weapon, it will indeed make a suitable successor to your Corpsemaker.

Ravager
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Axe
104 - 157 Damage
Speed 3.50
(37.3 damage per second)
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 37
Chance on hit: You attack all nearby enemies for 9 sec causing weapon damage plus an additional 5 every 3 sec.
Item Level 42
Source: Drop - Scarlet Monastery Armory [Herod]
Ravager is in every way as beastly and satisfying a weapon as Corpsemaker, even more so. For added hilarity (or annoyance) create a /say macro that says, "BLADES OF LIGHT!" and click it each time you get the chance on hit proc to go off.

Mograine's Might
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Mace
87 - 131 Damage
Speed 2.80
(38.9 damage per second)
+17 Stamina
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 39
Item Level 44
Source: Drop - Scarlet Monastery Cathedral [Scarlet Commander Mograine]
I've seen a lot of Retribution Paladins running around with this one. It makes me /sigh. But this weapon is popular enough that it is worth noting here. Look, if this is the only weapon you can get to drop, then go ahead and use it. But both Corpsemaker and Ravager are far, FAR better choices despite that Mograine's Might has higher required and item levels on it.

Stoneslayer
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Sword
133 - 200 Damage
Speed 3.90
(42.7 damage per second)
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 40
Chance on hit: Increases damage by 10 for 8 sec.
Item Level 49
Source: Drop - Uldaman [Archaedas]
This is quite possibly one of the slowest swords in the game (and you will feel it). But as you can see, it also hits like a truck for its level. Archaedas actually drops two great Retribution items. But their difference might actually call for several trips through as you will see below.

The Rockpounder
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Mace
126 - 190 Damage
Speed 3.70
(42.7 damage per second)
+5 Strength
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 40

Item Level 49
Source: Drop - Uldaman [Archaedas]
Of the two items that Archaedas drops, I have to say that I definitely prefer this one due to its .20 faster speed and it's 28 crit strike rating, hands down. 3.70 speed isn't really fast enough to adversely affect Seal of Command proc rates.

Gatorbite Axe
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Axe
117 - 176 Damage
Speed 3.20
(45.8 damage per second)
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 48
Chance on hit: Wounds the target causing them to bleed for 230 damage over 30 sec.
Item Level 53
Source: Drop - Maraudon [Rotgrip]
When you get tired of swinging your sluggish Uldaman 2hander (and you likely will, despite the SoCo procs) you have this nasty bugger here. Normally, higher max damage and slow speed are ideal for the Retribution Paladin, and you will be seeing lower holy damage from your Seal of Command procs than from one of the Uldaman weapons. But the damage you will put out will certainly be a helluva lot faster. And really, you are only sacrificing 20-or points of damage per hit, but you will still likely put out a lot more damage over time, due to the .70 speed difference. I would suggest to chase down this weapon, but not to vendor your Uldaman weapon right away. Hang onto it. Try out the Gatorbite Axe for a while, try out your Uldaman weapon some more, see which one you like better, and stick with that.

Hammer of the Grand Crusader
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Mace
116 - 175 Damage
Speed 2.70
(53.9 damage per second)
+10 Stamina
+26 Intellect
+9 Spirit
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 58
Equip: Increases healing done by up to 22 and damage done by up to 8 for all magical spells and effects.
Item Level 63
Source: Drop - Stratholme [Balnazzar, live side]
This is a fast-swinging, decent-hitting 2h Mace. This is FAR too fast to be used effectively with Seal of Command. Yes, Seal of Command will still work, and you will still kill things. But you're looking at a pretty low proc rate (considering how fast this thing actually swings over the course of a minute). If you happen to go to Stratholme and it's an upgrade from whatever you were using (which will be Gatorbite if you follow this guide) then yes, I can't fault you for rolling and equipping it. There is another option however, and another weapon that is far superior, depending on what drops for you or how many times you feel like running Stratholme.

Demonshear
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Sword
163 - 246 Damage
Speed 3.80
(53.8 damage per second)
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 58
Chance on hit: Sends a shadowy bolt at the enemy causing 150 Shadow damage and dealing 40 damage every 2 sec for 6 sec.
Item Level 63
Disenchant value: 9 Gold 23 Silver
Vendor value: 6 Gold 54 Silver 97 Copper
Source: Drop - Stratholme [Balnazzar, live side]

This is the other option from Stratholme that I was referring to on the last item. As you can see, the max damage is significantly higher than the Hammer of the Grand Crusader, and it's slower. Now THIS is an ideal Retribution Paladin Weapon (or Human MS Warrior). The proc (while not the most frequent or dependable in the world) does augment the damage from your critical strikes, and Seal of Command in a huge way (when it does go off). HOORAY for burst damage! This sucker will be all the DPS you need to get through your first forays into Outland.

Blackhand Doomsaw
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Polearm
151 - 227 Damage
Speed 3.50
(54.0 damage per second)
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 58
Chance on hit: Wounds the target for 324 to 540 damage.
Item Level 63

Source: Drop - Blackrock Spire [Warchief Rend Blackhand, upper]

If you are unlucky enough or don't have the patience to run Stratholme multiple times (if needed) to get Demonshear, this weapon here might not be such a bad choice at all. If I remember correctly (I had them both), the proc on this guy happened a lot more often than Demonshear's did. But it's max damage is a bit lower than Demonshear's and it's speed is faster.

Ice Barbed Spear
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Polearm
155 - 233 Damage
Speed 3.60
(53.9 damage per second)
+13 Strength
+21 Agility
+20 Stamina
Durability 100 / 100
Item Level 63

Source: Quest - Hero of the Stormpike (Alliance), or Hero of the Frostwolf (Horde)

Fantastic item right here. Look at those stats! The quests are pretty easy to solo too. This should be the very last weapon you need before heading through the Dark Portal (or again, Demonshear, if PvE is more your thing).

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