ICC Paladin Gear – Best in Slot
12/26/2009Just recently I came across this website, Best in Slot Holy Paladin Resource, and it got me to thinking that I should post up my own gearing philosophy.
– How I disagree with that list –
The first thing that really stands out is that I find it somewhat silly to put up a BiS list that is all harmode gear when you can’t even -attempt- any hardmodes for a good long while. Secondly, any healadin that is able to gear in fully hardmode gear knows enough about his/her play style to not require any sort of gearing help. BiS lists are tuned towards those who don’t want to have to theorycraft for themselves, which generally means people not doing hardmodes. Thirdly, there’s no real discussion about stat balance or throughput to regen ratios. It seems to really boil down to “haste is better than crit, so this item is better than this.” Fourthly, there tons of mail on that list and I’ll be passing on that gear to our many talented Resto. shaman, so I’m assuming that other healadins will be, too.
I absolutely disagree with their choices of trinkets as BiS. They list Solace of the Defeated below Sliver of Pure Ice based on the use effect being used exactly on cooldown. The problem lies on if you’re off even by a few seconds on the use. If you only use the Sliver every 65 seconds, it has -less- MP5 than Solace. Solace has no such stipulations; no thought is required to keep it at 100% uptime. This makes Solace the obvious choice, in my book.
Why Holiday’s Grace was chosen over Blood Queen’s Crimson Choker is beyond me, especially considering that going for a throughput/regen piece in this slot can free up a slot later for regen/regen if it’s needed.
– My own list for you –
Just in case you were wondering, I value MP5 far less than many other Holy Light casting healadins. I don’t actively avoid it, but I find that I don’t need nearly as much of it to stay above the OOM line as other people seem to take. I favor crit more as a combination stat. For gemming, trinkets and enchants I favor regen, while for gearing I favor throughput. I do -not- have anything from ICC hardmodes listed, because hardmodes won’t be available for quite a bit and things are subject to change before that. Look for that list in the future.
Back – Frostbinder’s Shredded Cape
Chest – Rot-Resistant Breastplate (Possibly Meteor Chaser’s Raiment if you don’t mind cloth.)
Feet – Protectors of Life (I favor these over the mail because I’m a smith.)
Finger – Rep ring and Ring of Rapid Ascent
Hands – Gauntlets of Overexposure
Head – Sanctified Lightsworn Headpiece (2-piece is worth it, 4-piece is not.)
Legs – Puresteel Legplates
Neck – Blood Queen’s Crimson Choker
Relic – Bloody ilevel 200 one is still the best. Le sigh.
Shield – Bulwark of Smouldering Steel
Shoulders – Sanctified Lightsworn Spaulders (Again, for the 2-piece.)
Trinkets – Solace of the Defeated and Meteorite Crystal
Waist – Lich Killer’s Lanyard
Wrists – Crypt Keeper’s Bracers
At 884 haste, I don’t feel the need to gear even more heavily towards it.
Moar HPS! 
I’m glad people don’t agree with my website fully. It’s largely a resource for myself that I’ve made public. The reasoning behind the HM listings is that I like to see what the most cutting edge is, even if it isn’t yet available. The individual item pages list all alternatives to gear so I know what to get during the normal mode boredom-farm.
Your list isn’t bad either. It’s too haste/crit heavy for my liking, but that’s why people play differently.
I saw that my comments on the trinkets changed your mind a bit, which is what I love about blogs! Interaction!
884 Haste? While Haste does not have a hard cap, once you have passed the soft cap (676), it really does decline in value compared to other stats, and it is probably better to improve your crit/mp5 instead.
It does decline in value, that’s very true, but as a Holy Light casting healadin, haste does still give me some throughput value past the soft cap. The problem with items with crit/MP5 is that it is regen/regen. With proper gemming and use of cooldowns, I rarely find myself needing any more regen than what I have. I may find this isn’t true when ICC hardmodes unlock finally, but for now the added throughput of faster Holy Lights yields me more than extra regen would.
Yes, it’s true what you say, and, I do not advocate looking specifically for crit/mp5 gear after soft cap, but at the same time, increasing haste up to say 1000 doesn’t really achieve a great deal, either.
I know some people will swear that the extra 0.1 of a second or whatever you might gain is going to make all the difference in hard modes, but perhaps upgrading your computer would be just as useful!
You have to look at it as that .1 second off of every Holy Light. I just looked up a WoL for a Twins-25-hardmode kill and I cast Holy Light 90 times. So that’s 90 times that extra haste came in handy, even the littlest bit, where as extra regen would have netted me nothing, as I did not run out of mana even with the amount of casting I was doing.
I gear towards crit/haste, and flip between HL and FL depending on fights. I’ve never had a problem with mana in 25ICC. I like this list. *thumbs up*
Im a healidin myself and I agree with this list. I havnt looked at any other lists and this is my want list for what my guild is clearing. I already have half the list and am just waiting for drops and my guild to kill some more bosses. As for the stat prioritation the other posts are talking about. I personally like to go for haste/crit/sp on gear. Mp5 isnt that great for paladins unlike shamans. My HPS and overall healing increases when i switch out my mp5 for more haste.
I have the chest, rep ring, pants, shoulders, head, and belt you listed. I would recommend any paladin to look at this list! Great Job
Pallysally
Alexstraza
Rampage
Horde
Fel Nation
I think that this could use a couple upgrades in your BIS is that you should be geared enough by now that you could have 2 SP trinkets and still have over 32k unbuffed mana which is where you should be when you are “finished” gearing your pally. such as the 264 off ship and the solace of the defeated
In a later post, I listed an updated BiS list. 🙂
I have been looking at this stuff and I’m curious if it is just me or is this list mostly for a HL “spammer” over a FoL “spammer”? for instance the relic if your a FoL pally surely the wrathful gladiator’s Libram of Justice (if you can’t get a team to 1700 there is always the Relentless version requiring only 700 rating) would be better than Libram of renewal. Since my guild already has a HL paladin they are gromming me to be their FoL paladin since well you don’t need 2 HL pallys in a raid.
This is for a HL paladin, yes. I don’t like FoL specs, so I don’t write for them. 🙂 Also, your guild is incorrect. We run two HL specced paladins just fine. It really is about skill and correct placement of large HLs. For hardmodes especially, two good HL specced healadins is almost required.