• Added Phase 2 BiS Equipment
• Added Phase 3 BiS Equipment
• Reviewed Talent Builds, Consumables, and Rotations

1. Hit Chance -  Increases your chance to Hit a Target. At level 60, with a Weapon Skill of 300, you have a 5% chance to miss with an ability attack against a Target of an equal level. Against level 63 Boss, who has 315 Defense skill, you need 9% Hit Rating to never miss an ability attack. This means that getting 9% Hit Rating is paramount for a Raiding Retribution Paladin and should be your first goal when gearing up (6% if you go with the Precision Build).

2. Strength -  Increases Damage you deal to your enemies. Paladin gains 2 Attack Power for every point of Strength. This is your main primary statistic.

3. Agility - Increases your Critical Strike chance. 20 points of Agility increase your Critical Chance by 1% (0.05% Crit per 1 Agility). This statistic heavily synergizes with Vengeance which makes it very valuable for Rets.

4. Critical Strike -  Gives you a chance to deal additional (critical) Damage with all your attacks. Like Agility, this stat synergizes with Vengeance which makes it as valuable.

5. Attack Power -  Increases Damage you deal to your enemies. Stacking AP is less efficient than stacking Strength, which lowers Attack Power's priority.

Statistic Priority for a Raiding Retribution Paladin:

Hit Cap ⇒ Strength ⇒ Agility = Critical Chance ⇒ Attack Power

Note1: Spell Power increases Damage of your Judgement and Consecration which makes it quite useful; it should not be valued over the above-mentioned stats, however.

Note2: Paladins use Mana, which makes Intellect somewhat useful, especially if you like off-Healing; don't stack it over offensive stats, however, as it will lower your DPS potential.

Basic Retribution Paladin PvE DPS Build

Holy Tree:

• 5/5 Divine Strength - Strength is Ret's primary statistic and this gives you 10% extra (and it's in the Holy Tree for some reason).
• 5/5 Divine Intellect - 10% extra Int = more mana = better sustain. This can be exchanged for Spiritual Focus.
• 1/1 Consecration - Paladin's signature ability. It gives you some much-needed AoE Damage potential.

Protection Tree:

• 5/5 Improved Devotion Aura - This, unlike Redoubt, can be useful and you have to spend 5 Talent points on either of these to make your way towards Precision.
• 3/3 Precision - Provides you with 3% extra Hit Chance, which makes achieving Cap much easier.

Retribution Tree:

• 5/5 Improved Blessing of Might - This makes BoM, Ret's signature ability, 20% better. It is also the reason why you might find a Raid group.
• 4/5 Benediction - Makes your Seals and Judgements 12% more mana-efficient, which is huge for your sustain.
• 2/2 Improved Judgement - Makes your Rotation more fluid by lowering Judgement's Cooldown by 2 seconds.
• 3/3 Improved Seal of the Crusader - These 3 points are up for debate as you will not be using Seal of the Crusader in Raids due to limited debuff slots on Bosses.
• 5/5 Conviction.
• 1/1 Seal of Command - Very powerful Seal and a part of your Rotation. A must-have.
• 2/2 Pursuit of Justice - Increases your movement speed by 8%. This is mandatory as Paladins don't have any movement-related Cooldowns.
• 3/3 Two-Handed Weapon Specialization - You will be exclusively using Two-Handers, so this is another must-have Talent.
• 1/1 Sanctity Aura - Although there aren't many Holy Damage Dealers in Classic, this is still nice to have because it boosts your own DPS as well.
• 5/5 Vengeance - Gives you very strong Critical Strike synergy.
• 1/1 Repentance - Crowd Control ability that works exclusively on Humanoids. Great for PvP and solid for encounters that feature Humanoid adds.

Geared Retribution Paladin PvE DPS Build

Holy Tree:

• 5/5 Divine Strength. 
• 5/5 Divine Intellect. 
• 5/5 Spiritual Focus - Makes your Holy Light and Flash of Light 70% resistant to pushbacks. Handy when you want to off-Heal during phases that feature Raid-wide AoE Damage.
• 1/1 Consecration. 
• 2/2 Improved Lay on Hands - Your very awkward life-saver now also increases Target's Armor value from items by 30% for 2 minutes which makes it one of the stronger and more long-lasting defensive Cooldowns. Despite a 20-minute shorter Cooldown, that this Talent also provides, LoH still has a 40-minute CD which greatly limits its uses, sadly.

Retribution Tree:

• 5/5 Improved Blessing of Might. 
• 5/5 Benediction - You'll have 1 point left after cutting Protection Talents, putting it here makes the most sense.
• 2/2 Improved Judgement. 
• 3/3 Improved Seal of the Crusader. 
• 5/5 Conviction.
• 1/1 Seal of Command. 
• 2/2 Pursuit of Justice. 
• 3/3 Two-Handed Weapon Specialization. 
• 1/1 Sanctity Aura. 
• 5/5 Vengeance. 
• 1/1 Repentance. 

• Pre-Raid - Arcanite Reaper (Created by Blacksmithing) / Blackbone of Shahram (Drop from General Drakkisath, Upper Blackrock Spire)
• Phase 1 - Bonereaver's Edge (Drop from Ragnaros, Upper Molten Core) / Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros (Legendary Quest Chain in Molten Core + lots of expensive crafting materials and legendary item drops, Molten Core)
• Phase 2 - Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros 
• Phase 3 - Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros / The Untamed Blade (Drop from Razorgore the Untamed, Blackwing Lair) 
• Phase 4 - TBA
• Phase 5 - TBA
• Phase 6 - TBA

• Pre-Raid - Hand of Justice (Drop from Emperor Dagran Thaurissan, Blackrock Depths)
• Phase 1 - Hand of Justice
• Phase 2 - Hand of Justice 
• Phase 3 - Hand of Justice 
• Phase 4 - TBA
• Phase 5 - TBA
• Phase 6 - TBA

• Pre-Raid - Blackhand's Breadth (Quest Reward from "For the Horde!" / "General Drakkisath's Demise", Upper Blackrock Spire)
• Phase 1 - Blackhand's Breadth
• Phase 2 - Blackhand's Breadth 
• Phase 3 - Blackhand's Breadth 
• Phase 4 - TBA
• Phase 5 - TBA
• Phase 6 - TBA

• Pre-Raid - Mark of Fordring (Quest Reward from "In Dreams", Western Plaguelands)
• Phase 1 - Onyxia Tooth Pendant (Quest Reward from "For All To See" / "Celebrating Good Times", Onyxia's Lair)
• Phase 2 - Onyxia Tooth Pendant 
• Phase 3 - Onyxia Tooth Pendant 
• Phase 4 - TBA
• Phase 5 - TBA
• Phase 6 - TBA

• Pre-Raid - Magni's Will (Quest Reward from "The Princess's Surprise", Blackrock Depths) / Blackstone Ring (Drop from Princess Theradras, Maraudon)
• Phase 1 - Quick Strine Ring (Drop from Multiple Bosses, Molten Core)
• Phase 2 - Quick Strine Ring 
• Phase 3 -  Master Dragonslayer's Ring (Quest reward from "The Lord of Blackrock" / "The Lord of Blackrock", Blackwing Lair) 
• Phase 4 - TBA
• Phase 5 - TBA
• Phase 6 - TBA

• Pre-Raid - Painweaver Band (Drop from General Drakkisath, Upper Blackrock Spire)
• Phase 1 - Painweaver Band
• Phase 2 - Painweaver Band 
• Phase 3 - Circle of Applied Force (Drop from Flamegor, Blackwing Lair) 
• Phase 4 - TBA
• Phase 5 - TBA
• Phase 6 - TBA

• Pre-Raid - Lionheart Helm (Created by Blacksmithing)
• Phase 1 - Lionheart Helm
• Phase 2 - Lionheart Helm 
• Phase 3 - Lionheart Helm 
• Phase 4 - TBA
• Phase 5 - TBA
• Phase 6 - TBA

• Pre-Raid -  Savage Gladiator Chain (Drop from Gorosh the Dervish, Blackrock Depths)
• Phase 1 - Savage Gladiator Chain
• Phase 2 - Savage Gladiator Chain 
• Phase 3 - Savage Gladiator Chain 
• Phase 4 - TBA
• Phase 5 - TBA
• Phase 6 - TBA

• Pre-Raid - Cloudkeeper Legplates (BoE World Drop, can be bought on AH) / Devilsaur Leggings (Created by Leatherworking)
• Phase 1 - Cloudkeeper Legplates
• Phase 2 - Cloudkeeper Legplates 
• Phase 3 - Legguards of the Fallen Crusader (Drop from Firemaw, Blackwing Lair) 
• Phase 4 - TBA
• Phase 5 - TBA
• Phase 6 - TBA

• Pre-Raid - Gargoyle Slashers (Drop from Kirtonos the Herald, Scholomance) / Devilsaur Gauntlets (Created by Leatherworking)
• Phase 1 - Flameguard Gauntlets (Drop from Magmadar, Gaar, Golemagg the Incinerator, and Baron Geddon, Molten Core) 
• Phase 2 - Flameguard Gauntlets 
• Phase 3 - Flameguard Gauntlets 
• Phase 4 - TBA
• Phase 5 - TBA
• Phase 6 - TBA

• Pre-Raid - Bloodmail Boots (Side Bosses, Scholomance)
• Phase 1 - Bloodmail Boots
• Phase 2 - Bloodmail Boots 
• Phase 3 - Chromatic Boots 9Drop from Chromaggus, Blackwing Lair) 
• Phase 4 - TBA
• Phase 5 - TBA
• Phase 6 - TBA

• Pre-Raid - Truestrike Shoulders (Drop from Pyroguard Emberseer, Upper Blackrock Spire)
• Phase 1 - Truestrike Shoulders
• Phase 2 - Truestrike Shoulders 
• Phase 3 - Drake Talon Pauldrons (Drop from Ebonroc, Flamegor, and Firemaw, Blackwing Lair) 
• Phase 4 - TBA
• Phase 5 - TBA
• Phase 6 - TBA

• Pre-Raid - Battleborn Armbraces (Drop from Warchief Rend Blackhand, Upper Blackrock Spire)
• Phase 1 - Wristguards of Stability (Drop from Flamewalker Bosses, Molten Core)
• Phase 2 - Wristguards of Stability / Berserker Bracers (Warsong Gulch Reputation Reward - Exalted) 
• Phase 3 - Wristguards of Stability / Berserker Bracers 
• Phase 4 - TBA
• Phase 5 - TBA
• Phase 6 - TBA

• Pre-Raid - Omokk's Girth Restrainer (Quest Reward from "Maxwell's Mission", Upper Blackrock Spire) / Brigam Girdle (Drop from General Drakkisath, Upper Blackrock Spire)
• Phase 1 - Onslaught Girdle (Drop from Ragnaros, Molten Core)
• Phase 2 - Onslaught Girdle 
• Phase 3 - Onslaught Girdle 
• Phase 4 - TBA
• Phase 5 - TBA
• Phase 6 - TBA

• Pre-Raid - Cape of the Black Baron (Drop from Baron Rivendare, Stratholme)
• Phase 1 - Cape of the Black Baron
• Phase 2 - Cape of the Black Baron 
• Phase 3 - Cloak of Draconic Might (Drop from Ebonroc, Flamegor, and Firemaw, Blackwing Lair) 
• Phase 4 - TBA
• Phase 5 - TBA
• Phase 6 - TBA

1. Maintain Seal of Command at all times 

2. Cast Judgement on Cooldown

3. Cast Consecration when Vengeance is up

4. Cast Hammer of Wrath on Cooldown if Target is below 20% Health

1. If you want to deal more Damage and stand out from your Raid competition, Stack Consumables. Spending some additional Gold or a few extra hours grinding might secure you a spot in a Raid, as Raid leaders prefer dedicated and well-prepared players.

2. Coordinate Blessings with other Paladins. This is a basic thing, but Raid leaders often leave this to Paladins present in Raids. Taking care of Blessings' distribution will definitely improve your position in a group.

3. Observe and react. If you spot that Healers can't keep up with incoming Damage, start off-Healing. By doing this, you will prevent a wipe or at least save someone from dying.

4. Divine intervention can be very useful. Use it on a Healer after a Wipe call so that the Healer can start resurrecting people. This will allow your group to save a lot of time.

5. Always try to improve. Get an addon that tracks your performance and try to optimize your equipment and rotation.

END NOTE

This Guide should help you to prepare yourself for that legendary Vanilla  Raiding Experience and allow you to progress through Raid Tiers efficiently and with a good amount of fun.

We hope that you have found this guide useful and informative.  If we have missed a piece of information that is important to you, please let us know! 

Please do note that this is an early version of our guide, and we will be happy to receive constructive criticism, that will help us improve it, so leave your suggestions in the comments section below.