Welcome to our Gear guide for PvE Retribution Paladin! Below you will find your Pre-Raid BiS gear, along with the BiS gear for each phase.

The following BiS lists have been mathematically optimized using RetSim made by Pride & Sulis & Baranor’s TBC Spreadsheet.

Note that the lists simply list the most powerful item for each slot. You will still need to reach the hit cap (9%, or 6% if your raid has a Balance Druid).

Table of Contents

• Pre-Raid BiS
• Phase 1
• Phase 2
• Phase 3
• Phase 4
• Phase 5

Pre-Raid BiS Armor

• Head – Mask of the Deceiver
  • Alternative: Helm of the Claw

• Neck – Choker of Vile Intent

• Shoulders – Ragesteel Shoulders

• Back – Vengeance Wrap

• Chest – Wastewalker Tunic
  • Alternative: Ragesteel Breastplate

• Wrists – Black Felsteel Bracers

• Hands – Flesh Handler's Gauntlets

• Waist – Deathforge Girdle

• Legs – Shattrath Leggings
  • Alternative / Hit: Clefthoof Hide Leggings

• Feet – Sha'tari Wrought Greaves
  • Alternative / Hit: Fel Leather Boots

• Rings – Shapeshifter's Signet & A'dal's Command
  • This combination of rings will be your strongest option.
  • Pick up Shapeshifter's Signet ASAP — it will be your best ring until Phase 5.

• Trinkets – Bloodlust Brooch & Abacus of Violent Odds
  • This combination of trinkets will be your strongest option.
  • You will be using Bloodlust Brooch until Phase 4, so it’s highly recommended that you purchase it ASAP.

• Libram – Libram of Avengement
  • Alternative: Libram of Righteous Power
  • Libram of Avengement will be your best libram for all of TBC and is significantly better than Libram of Righteous Power.

Weapon

• Weapon – Lionheart Champion
  • Lionheart Champion will be your best weapon.

Phase 1 BiS Armor

• Head – Justicar Crown
  • Alternative: Mask of the Deceiver

• Neck – Mithril Chain of Heroism
  • Alternative / Hit: Choker of Vile Intent

• Shoulders – Justicar Shoulderplates

• Back – Vengeance Wrap

• Chest – Justicar Breastplate
  • Alternative: Justicar Breastplate

• Wrists – Bladespire Warbands

• Hands – Grips of Deftness

• Waist – Girdle of the Endless Pit

• Legs – Shattrath Leggings

• Feet – Ironstriders of Urgency

• Rings – Shapeshifter's Signet & Ring of a Thousand Marks
  • Alternative: Mithril Band of the Unscarred
  • If you don’t need the hit rating, you should use Mithril Band of the Unscarred over Ring of a Thousand Marks.

• Trinkets – Bloodlust Brooch & Dragonspine Trophy
  • This combination of trinkets will be your strongest option.
  • Dragonspine Trophy will be your best trinket for the entirety of TBC, so pick it up ASAP.

• Libram – Libram of Avengement

Weapon

• Weapon – Lionheart Champion
  • Lionheart Champion will be your best weapon.

Phase 2 BiS Armor

• Head – Furious Gizmatic Goggles
  • Alternative / Non-Engineer: Crystalforge War-Helm

• Neck – Pendant of the Perilous

• Shoulders – Shoulderpads of the Stranger

• Back – Razor-Scale Battlecloak

• Chest – Crystalforge Breastplate
  • Alternative: Krakken-Heart Breastplate

• Wrists – Bladespire Warbands
  • Alternative / Hit: Bracers of Eradication
  • You generally won’t need more hit rating in this phase, but if you do, Bracers of Eradication will be a great option.

• Hands – Gloves of the Searing Grip

• Waist – Belt of One-Hundred Deaths
  • Alternative: Red Belt of Battle
  • Belt of One-Hundred Deaths is an incredibly powerful item, offering a 40 DPS boost of the next best belt, Red Belt of Battle. However, it is exceedingly rare and in very high demand, so you may have to settle for Red Belt of Battle for a while.

• Legs – Shattrath Leggings
  • Alternative: Leggings of Murderous Intent – read below
  • Human Paladins with all of the other 4 expertise items (Shoulderpads of the Stranger, Gloves of the Searing Grip, Belt of One-Hundred Deaths & Shapeshifter's Signet) go above the expertise cap. Therefore they can finally switch out their Shattrath Leggings for Leggings of Murderous Intent
  • Every other race will unfortunately need to use Shattrath Leggings for this phase too.

• Feet – Cobra-Lash Boots
  • Alternative: Warboots of Obliteration

• Rings – Shapeshifter's Signet & Ancestral Ring of Conquest
  • Alternative / Hit: Band of the Ranger-General
  • Alternative / Hit (Weaker): Ring of a Thousand Marks

• Trinkets – Bloodlust Brooch & Dragonspine Trophy
  • This combination of trinkets will be your strongest option.

• Libram – Libram of Avengement

Weapon

• Weapon – Twinblade of the Phoenix
  • Alternative / Blacksmith: Lionheart Executioner
  • The Lionheart Executioner is roughly on par with Twinblade of the Phoenix – if you get one of them, you don’t really need the other.

Phase 3 BiS Armor

• Head – Cursed Vision of Sargeras
  • Alternative: Helm of the Illidari Shatterer
  • Cursed Vision of Sargeras is an incredibly powerful item, offering a 20 DPS boost of the next best helmet, Helm of the Illidari Shatterer. However, it is exceedingly rare and in very high demand, so you may have to settle for Helm of the Illidari Shatterer for a while.

• Neck – Pendant of the Perilous
  • Alternative / Hit: Choker of Endless Nightmares

• Shoulders – Shoulderpads of the Stranger

• Back – Razor-Scale Battlecloak
  • Alternative / Hit: Shadowmoon Destroyer's Drape

• Chest – Midnight Chestguard
  • Alternative: Lightbringer Breastplate
  • These two items are identical in strength, but Lightbringer Breastplate will typically be more contested, due to sharing tokens with Warlocks.

• Wrists – Bindings of Lightning Reflexes
  • Alternative / Hit: Bracers of Eradication

• Hands – Gloves of the Searing Grip

• Waist – Belt of One-Hundred Deaths

• Legs – Bow-stitched Leggings
  • Alternative: Leggings of Divine Retribution
  • Alternative (Tier 6 2-set): Lightbringer Greaves
  • Bow-stitched Leggings and Leggings of Divine Retribution are very close to each other in strength. However, Leggings of Divine Retribution will be very desirable by DPS warriors – let them have it first.
  • Alternatively, you can go for the tier 6 2-set bonus by using Lightbringer Greaves & Lightbringer Breastplate. Lightbringer Greaves are about 10 DPS weaker than Bow-stitched Leggings, but the mana regen effect is very potent.

• Feet – Shadowmaster's Boots
  • Alternative / Hit: Dreadboots of the Legion

• Rings – Shapeshifter's Signet & Band of Devastation
  • Alternative: Unstoppable Aggressor's Ring
  • Alternative: Band of the Eternal Champion
  • Alternative / Hit: Stormrage Signet Ring
  • Band of Devastation, Unstoppable Aggressor's Ring and Band of the Eternal Champion are all virtually identical in strength. Use whichever one you like the most, always along side Shapeshifter's Signet.

• Trinkets – Bloodlust Brooch & Dragonspine Trophy
  • This combination of trinkets will be your strongest option.

• Libram – Libram of Avengement

Weapon

• Weapon – Torch of the Damned
  • Alternative: Cataclysm's Edge
  • Torch of the Damned is about 30 DPS stronger than Cataclysm's Edge, but you can use Cataclysm's Edge until you get the Torch.

Phase 5 BiS Armor

• Head – Coif of Alleria
  • Alternative / Hit: Duplicitous Guise
  • Both of these items are exceptional. Coif of Alleria typically has more competition, so it will be easier to pick up Duplicitous Guise.
  • If you go for Coif of Alleria, it is recommended that you also use Leggings of the Immortal Night — known as the armor penetration combo. If you go for Duplicitous Guise, you should use Felfury Legplates instead — known as the haste combo. The armor penetration combo is a decent bit stronger than the haste combo, but the haste combo will be significantly easier to obtain, as it has very little competition.

• Neck – Hard Khorium Choker (Requires Jewelcrafting)
  • Alternative / Non-Jewelcrafter: Clutch of Demise
  • The Clutch of Demise is about 10 DPS weaker than Hard Khorium Choker, so overall not the biggest loss if you aren’t a Jewelcrafter.

• Shoulders – Demontooth Shoulderpads
  • Alternative / Haste: Pauldrons of Berserking
  • If you go with the armor penetration combo (Coif of Alleria & Leggings of the Immortal Night) it is recommended that you use Demontooth Shoulderpads. If you go with the haste combo (Duplicitous Guise & Felfury Legplates) it is recommended that you go with Pauldrons of Berserking instead. The armor penetration combo is a decent bit stronger than the haste combo, but the haste combo will be significantly easier to obtain, as it has very little competition.

• Back – Cloak of Unforgivable Sin
  • Alternative / Hit: Shadowmoon Destroyer's Drape
  • Only use Shadowmoon Destroyer's Drape for hit rating as a last option — it is a substantially weaker than Cloak of Unforgivable Sin.

• Chest – Bladed Chaos Tunic
  • Alternative / Blacksmith: Hard Khorium Battleplate
  • Alternative / Leatherworker: Carapace of Sun and Shadow
  • It is highly recommended that Blacksmiths go for Hard Khorium Battleplate, as it is only 7 DPS weaker than the extremely highly contested Bladed Chaos Tunic.
  • Similarly, Leatherworkers can avoid the competition by opting to use Carapace of Sun and Shadow. The hit rating on it additionally allows you to skip having to compete for the also extremely highly contested Leggings of the Immortal Night.

• Wrists – Lightbringer Bands

• Hands – Gloves of Immortal Dusk
  • Alternative: Thalassian Ranger Gauntlets
  • Gloves of Immortal Dusk and Thalassian Ranger Gauntlets are virtual identical in strength. Their main difference is that Gloves of Immortal Dusk are crafted, while Thalassian Ranger Gauntlets are a boss drop (thus more rare) and better for Hunters. Thus it is recommended that you go for Gloves of Immortal Dusk.

• Waist – Lightbringer Girdle

• Legs – Leggings of the Immortal Night
  • Alternative: Felfury Legplates
  • Both of these items are exceptional. Leggings of the Immortal Night are about 10 DPS stronger, but they are very highly contested, so it will be easier to pick up Felfury Legplates.
  • If you go for Leggings of the Immortal Night it is recommended that you also use Coif of Alleria — known as the armor penetration combo. If you go for Felfury Legplates, you should use Duplicitous Guise instead — known as the haste combo. The armor penetration combo is a decent bit stronger than the haste combo, but the haste combo will be significantly easier to obtain, as it has very little competition.

• Feet – Lightbringer Boots

• Rings – Band of Ruinous Delight & Hard Khorium Band
  • Alternative: Angelista's Revenge
  • Alternative: Signet of Primal Wrath
  • Alternative / Hit: Stormrage Signet Ring
  • Angelista's Revenge and Signet of Primal Wrath are only 4-5 DPS weaker than Hard Khorium Band, so you can safely use either for a while.
  • The Stormrage Signet Ring will be a good option if you’re short on hit, though typically fairly hard to obtain as it is rare and highly contested.

• Trinkets – Shard of Contempt & Dragonspine Trophy
  • This combination of trinkets will be your strongest option.

• Libram – Libram of Avengement

Weapon

• Weapon – Apolyon, the Soul-Render
  • Alternative: Shivering Felspine
  • Apolyon, the Soul-Render is about 20 DPS stronger than Shivering Felspine, but you can use Shivering Felspine until you get Apolyon.