So Much Gear, So Few Frost Emblems and Drops

There is so much leet gear out there I don’t know to start.  How do you decide what to get with your Frost Emblems (FE).  I guess there are two ways to approach this; quantitative and qualitative.  For a great quantitative analysis of what gear is best for Retribution Paladins check out Caer Morrighan’s blog.  She’s got a quantitative analysis of and rank ordering of the T10 gear, lvl 251, lvl 264 and lvl 245 gear that is currently available.

My analysis is going to be somewhat more qualitatively orientated.  First don’t be envious of other people’s gear because there will always be someone with better gear than you.  Just focus on improving your gear 1 piece at time.  I usually try to target my worst piece of gear.  Which I currently feel is my neckpiece so I’m focusing on the neck drop from 25 ICC Lady Death Whisper.  I’ve had several chances at it but have been out rolled each time.  So perhaps the next time I’ll be the high roller.  Also at level 251 and 264 there really isn’t anything I’d say is a bad piece of gear.  Some are just better than others!  lol

Ok back to the task at hand.  Of course any 251 or 264 gear you can get from a boss drop is a good thing and helps your FE situation.  The harder question is how do you spend those FEs.  Generally you have to choose between buying T10 251 or 264 from a vendor.

I think this is something of an art.  Also remember that Tier 10 251 gear can be upgraded to T10 264 gear with a 25 ICC token. But you should also consider your chances of getting a token, which I’ll address later.

I think the first thing that Ret Pallys should focus on is getting two pieces of T10 251 gear.  The two-piece bonus, 40% chance to reset Divine Storm, is awesome.  I have this happen 3 or 4 times in a row frequently.  When clearing the trash in ICC or any place there is a mob this is truly a giant DPS boast.

T10 251 Chest vs Vendor 264 Chest

The real hard decisions come once you have two T10 251 pieces.  The cost for T10 251 pieces are the same for vendor 264 pieces.  For example I recently had to choose between the T10 251 Lightsworn Battleplate chest and 264 Castle Breakers Battle Plate chest, each are 95 FEs.  (I took the 264 Castle Breakers Battle Plate over the T10 251 chest.)

So where is the bang for the buck?  You can shoot for the 4 pieces of T10 251 gear and get the 4-piece bonus; +10% damage to your judgements, that would be mighty sweet and plan on getting ICC tokens to upgrade to T10 264 gear.  But then again the increased stats on 264 gear vs 251 gear is also nice.

The question you have to ask is what do you think your chances are to win a token?  For example my guild downed Deathbringer and a Pally/Lock/Priest token dropped.  Twelve people rolled on it; fricking half the raid.  (All regular raiders on their mains.)  Unless your guild is driving deep into the plague works you won’t have many opportunities to roll on 25 ICC tokens.  The first three bosses of 25 ICC don’t drop tokens.  Which is why I took the 264 chest.  We are stuck on Festergut in 25 ICC at the moment.  If we down Fester there is no guarantee a Pally/Lock/Priest token will drop and if it does drop there is no guarantee you’ll win the roll.  But that’s not to say it won’t all happen for you because obviously it is for some people.  My gut guess is that their guilds are going deep into the plague works giving them more opportunities to win a 25 ICC token.  It’s like hockey shots on goal.  The more shots you have, the more likely it is that you’ll score.

There is some low hanging fruit you can get also for smaller amounts of FEs that can really help you to upgrade your toon.  The 264 Libram of Three Truths for a mere 15 FEs is a nice little upgrade.  It provides 44 strength to Crusader Strike lasting 15 seconds and stacking 5 times.  So this provides an extra 220 strength throughout most fights.  There are also several other nice 264 DPS pieces you can get from the vendors rather than buy T10 251 gear; Might of the Ocean Serpent cloak, plate Gatecrasher’s Gauntlets, plate Malevolent Girdle and the aforementioned Castle Breakers Battleplate. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.

Remember none of this gear is a bad choice.  It’s a matter of choice about how you want set your toon up to maximize your playing style and roll in your guild’s raids.  Go get some gear!

Don’t suffer the horde!