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Gear is what drives us.



Gear is what we seek; it’s what defines our characters
(except for the gnome name Shinhumper, then it’s a name that
defines the character). When a newly created Paladin heads out into the
world, they will start collecting gear from the first level. The
questions start forming early, “Is this good for
me?” For the gear magnet Paladin that can wear everything
(except plate until level 40 and then can wear it all), the decisions
become much more difficult. But they don’t need to be. There
aren’t that many key statistics players really need to
evaluate when making decisions on which gear to wear. Don’t
lose sleep over whether or not a piece of gear is an
“up” (as in upgrade), we’re here to help.
This is preliminary guide for new Paladins. If you have completed The
Obsidian Sanctum with three drakes up, then you already know what you
need. For those wanting a quick how-to manual for a new Paladin, then
read on. 



Two Types of Gear



There are definitely more than two types of gear, but during the course
of playing the game, you only need to worry about two. The first type
of gear is “Leveling Gear” and the second is
“Level Cap Gear” for the end game. Rolling through
old world Azeroth and the Outlands, you should spend almost zero time
evaluating leveling gear. With the speed of leveling and the abundance
of gear available, the focus should be on three stats per piece of
gear. Those three stats will determine if you should equip it or
vendor/disenchant the gear in question. Which three stats? Glad you
asked. For each of the three primary Paladin talent trees, highlighted
below are three (or four) key statistics for determining gear
advantages. 



Wait a minute before we get started!



Sub Level 80 Gear Stats



Before we get rolling, there is an important thing to keep in mind.
While leveling, do not, I repeat, do not chase gear or gear sets. The
level 60 Lightforge set was the defining gear for Paladins before The
Burning Crusade, but now it is an antique that should stay in the
garage. Gear below level 70 will be replaced so fast that any
additional work put into getting that gear will feel like a waste
(unless you are into the “immersion thing,” and
then have at it). The key to keeping gear decisions simple is to focus
on the important stats for the type of Paladin you decide to play. The
type of Paladin is based on how talent points are spent. For this
guide, it is assumed that a character is heavily weighted in one of the
three trees (i.e. a Protection Paladin means the character has gone
deeply if not all the way down the protection talent tree).



Another helpful hint
during leveling, “Use all weapons”



This is really two helpful hints. Always use the best weapon you can
get your hands on. Whether it’s a one handed axe, or two
handed mace, try them all out. It may help you better understand which
way you want to play your Paladin, and it will also keep your weapon
skills up. Using different weapons as as you level up, you will keep
your weapon skills at a respectable level. There is nothing more
frustrating than seeing a sweet weapon drop and not able to use it
immediately because a weapon skill is two out of three hundred.



Now on to the show.



Healers Heed These Words



The holy Paladin (sometimes called a Healadin) is gearing up for
casting spells, namely healing and cleansing spells. With that in mind,
the gear of choice can be any blend of cloth, leather, mail or plate.
Since Healadins tend to stand back away from the action, cloth is
acceptable. Holy Paladins typically carry one handed maces (maces tend
to be spell power heavy), and shields which provide some armor and more
importantly healing stats.



Try to stay in the heaviest armor available (stick with plate when
given a choice). Once the holy Paladin starts entering Northrend (Wrath
of the Lich King content), the gear choices start getting a little more
difficult as spell haste, critical strike ratings, spirit and mana/5
seconds become more important. Without getting into serious theory of
why each stat is better than another, following is a list of key stats
for holy Paladins in their level of priority (highest first):

• Intellect:
  Intellect provides a larger mana pool and critical strike rating, thus
  more spells and higher chance to crit with those spells. Intellect is
  the A-number-one stat desired by Healadins.
• Spell Power:
  Spell power is an additive stat that increases the amount healed (or
  damaged) through a somewhat complicated formula. Let’s just
  say that +50 to Spell Power is better than +30 to Spell power.
  Intellect trumps all else, spell power is second for the holy Paladin.
• Critical
  Strike Rating: The holy Paladin has a number of talents
  for adding to critical strike rating and spell criticals will provide
  bonuses (such as reducing the mana cost of the spell or subsequent
  spells). Critical Strike Rating is a good stat to stack and scales well
  up to level 80.
• Spirit and
  Mana per 5 seconds: These two are not the same, but in
  terms of gear evaluation for Paladins, they are low on the priority
  list so they are essentially equal. Spirit and Mana per 5 second (mp5
  as you will see it written) determines how quickly mana regenerates
  both in and out of combat. The higher the number, the faster mana
  regenerates. If all other stats are equal, go with the gear having more
  spirit or mp5.

Protection Preference

Protection Paladins are the tanking arm of the Paladin arsenal. The
tank’s job is to wade into the fray and draw the attention of
the foes by building threat (or agro). Paladin tanks generate threat
typically by using specific spells that amplify holy threat, thus
ensuring the bad guys won’t run at the healers with their
game faces on.



The protection Paladin will be garbed in plate, all lesser armor need
not apply. If the tankadin (as they are often referred) is going to
lead with his/her face, then it better be protected! The protection
Paladin carries a shield and one handed weapon. In contrast to the holy
Paladin, intellect takes a back seat for Tankadins and strength,
agility, stamina and defense come to the forefront. Here’s
why:

• Strength:
  Strength provides attack power which helps drive threat, but
  more importantly to the protection Paladin, strength adds to block
  value. Block value is the amount of damage absorbed before weapons hit
  armor.
• Agility:
  Even though block values are nice, it’s better not
  to get hit if it can be helped. Agility provides more of a chance to
  dodge an attack, a higher chance to crit with weapons, and armor. Each
  point of agility is worth 2 armor so agility helps to avoid hits as
  well as cushion the blow when the foes strike home.
• Stamina:
  Stamina is the spice of life or at least the provider of hit
  points. Each point of stamina is worth 10 hit points, so it is common
  to see stamina enchants and other bonuses specific for stamina on a
  protection Paladin. With protection talents, every ten points in
  stamina
  also increases spell power by 1 which aids in threat generation.
• Defense:
  We’ve already discussed block value and dodge chances with
  agility, but the key protection indicator is how much defense a tank is
  able to provide. When two tanks walk into the bathroom, they always
  sneak a peek to see what the other’s defense rating is,
  it’s a measure of tankhood/manhood. As characters level up,
  more points in defense are needed to achieve the same end result. If
  that is confusing, it should be. The calculus required to understand
  some of the number crunching is truly painful. It all boils down to the
  number 540. At level 80, end-game bosses can’t crit a
  protection Paladin with a 540 defense rating. That is nice because a
  crit of 15,000 to 20,000 damage could sting. This also means that
  players below level 70 should ignore defense rating and just focus on
  the stats above for leveling purposes. Once level 80 is achieved,
  defense is key. 
  

The Retribution Reference



The retribution Paladin has finally become a force with which to be
reckoned. The typical weapon of the retribution Paladin is a two handed
sword, axe or mace. The bigger and badder the weapon, the better! Armor
values and spell ratings are out the window, for the retribution
Paladin it’s all about bringing the pain.



Sharing some of the same stat bonus desires as the tankadin, the
retribution Paladin (Retadin) wants strength, agility and attack power.
Beyond the three key stats, Retadins will want to seek out hit rating,
expertise and crit chance. Even though Paladins want intellect due to
damage from spells, the damage components of the Retadin are centered
on strength as the key ingredient. The optimal stats include:

• Strength:
  As discussed above, strength provides attack power, and with talents
  each point in strength can yield 2.3 attach power as opposed to the
  standard 2. Always add strength as a Retadin, you can never have
  enough, end of discussion.
• Agility:
  Critical strikes are part of the bread and butter of the Retadins
  attacks. Agility adds to crit chance and scales well with buffs as
  opposed to plain old “bonus to crit.” Bonus to crit
  is easier to find and can be increased with enchants so if agility is
  difficult to come by, add “chance to crit” where
  applicable.
• Attack power:
  Of the basic stats to keep in mind for Retadins, attack power will be
  found early and often on all kinds of weapons. Strength provides attack
  power, but many weapons and armor pieces will have an added attack
  power stat. As a stat, it’s not as good as strength and does
  not benefit from buffs, but it still improves the amount of damage
  dealt.

 

What does it all mean?



This guide is a starting point, not an end-game min/max guide for
theory-crafters. The goal is to provide the primary stats new Paladins
should evaluate when leveling up and starting to assemble sets for
dungeon running. Opening up a character sheet will provide a myriad of
stats and some are very important, others not – all depending
on how the Paladin is built and played. By using the key stats
highlighted above, Paladins of every flavor can determine if a new
weapon or piece of gear is an upgrade. Above all else, have fun and
experiment with different combinations and see what works best for you.