What gear/abilities should i try getting, and what should i do next? I'm a new casual player and my friend told me i'm underpowered. (Classic Anniversary)

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I just started playing about 4 days ago, i’m a huge noob. I played some retail a couple months ago but never got into it, hence my usertitle. Anyways I made a Human Paladin on the Classic Anniversary PvP server, and I’m level 10 now. I’ve been enjoying questing, mostly solo through Elwynn Forest and I’ve almost finished all the quests there.

My friend who introduced me to the game told me I’m underpowered, so I’m trying to figure out what I should be doing gear-wise, spec-wise, whatever. I want to make sure I’m not falling behind. I can only play around 3–4 hours a day max since I’m a bit busy IRL, by the way

Here’s my current gear:

  • Veteran Cloak
  • Light Mail Armor (chest)
  • Brass-studded Bracers
  • Lion-stamped Gloves
  • Light Mail Belt
  • Light Mail Leggings
  • Light Mail Boots
  • Weapon: Giant Mace

And here are my abilities right now:

Main bar:

  • Seal of the Crusader
  • Judgement
  • Seal of Righteousness
  • Hammer of Justice
  • Holy Light
  • Lay on Hands

Second bar:

  • Purify
  • Blessing of Might

So, what should I focus on now? Is my gear holding me back? Are my abilities fine? Should I head to Westfall next, or somewhere else? And if anyone has advice for how to spec as I level, I’d really appreciate it.

If there’s anything I missed just let me know, thanks!

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Hi and Welcome!

I’m not exactly sure how best to advise you. There are soooo many versions of WoW around now, and each has its own quirks, and I play Retail (well, not at the moment, but mostly) and we can’t look up characters in versions other than Retail, so there’s a bit of leeway.

As I understand it, Classic Anniversary PvP is basically the same as Classic, for our purposes, so I’ll work from that, and I’ll give some general principles.

You are on a Laval 10 Human Paladin.

In gear terms, you should aim to have items of your character’s level or greater, with the main stat of your character’s class and spec.

If you look at your map, you will see that each zone has a Level range. You are generally well advised to move to the next zone as soon as your level is high enough. You would move from Elwynn to Westfall at Level 10. The quests and mobs there will reward you better gear.

I have to say that Retribution Paladin is not well thought of in Classic at end game, Level 60. People say that if you want to be a Paladin in Classic, it is easier to pick Holy talents and and be a healer. However, Ret is a suitable spec for levelling, and may be better in PvP than in PvE. Ret Pally can certainly be done, but it takes knowledge and skill to excel with it.

If you have heard this before, and want to Paladin anyway, or you have a plan for what you intend to do at max level, good luck to you, and I hope you love it! But if you picked Paladin because it looked good on the screen, you might want to look again before you commit too much time into it.

YouTube is FULL of videos explaining how well the various classes do in Classic,and hor to play them. It might be worth a look. You should also bookmark Wowhead Classic https://www.wowhead.com/classic for guides and data about items, maps, NPCs, and abilities.

Since I’m not a Classic player myself, I asked for an AI opinion on the latest state of Paladins in Classic, and this is what I got:

Retribution Paladins (Ret Paladins) in Classic WoW are widely regarded as a challenging and niche DPS choice, especially in raid environments. Their overall performance can be summarized as follows:

Ret Paladins generally do not compete with top DPS classes like Warriors, Rogues, or Mages in raid settings. Their damage output is noticeably lower, making them a less attractive choice for raid spots focused purely on maximizing DPS. Even with optimal gear and play, they typically rank near the bottom of DPS meters.

What Ret Paladins lack in raw damage, they make up for with exceptional utility. They bring powerful buffs, passive healing, and unique cooldowns such as Divine Sacrifice and Hand of Sacrifice, which can provide raid-wide damage reduction and threat management. This utility can justify bringing one Ret Paladin to a raid, but rarely more than that .

In dungeons, Ret Paladins perform adequately and can contribute meaningfully. In PvP, they can be quite impactful—especially in certain builds or situations—though they are often considered easy to kite and reliant on cooldowns for peak performance.

Ret is considered the best Paladin spec for leveling due to its efficiency and survivability.

There is significant debate within the community about the best gearing approach (attack power vs. spell power), but regardless of choice, Ret Paladins require careful gearing and optimization to perform respectably . Advanced techniques like seal twisting are not fully available in Classic, limiting some of their potential.

Ret Paladins have a reputation for being “meme specs” or underperformers in Classic, and many guilds prefer them to respec Holy for raids. However, skilled players can still clear all content as Ret, especially in more casual or flexible guilds

Summary Table: Ret Paladin Performance in Classic WoW

Content Type Performance Notes
Raids Low DPS, High Utility Rarely more than 1 per raid; valued for buffs and cooldowns
Dungeons Decent Can contribute meaningfully
PvP Situationally strong Good burst, but kitable and reliant on cooldowns

Leveling Excellent Best Paladin spec for solo play

In Summary: Ret Paladins in Classic WoW are not top-tier DPS and face stigma for their raid performance, but they offer strong utility and can be fun or effective in the right hands and situations. They shine more in PvP and leveling, and their raid value comes from their support abilities rather than their damage output.

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Do please ask anything else that might help you!

4

Thank you. I’m planning to spec a hybrid holy protection, i accidentally spent my first point on retribution though. What gear would you recommend for such a build?

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OK, your gear is going to be a mess until at least Level 30, and it will only start taking shape around Level 40.

Until then, you take what you can get, and what is most useful for questing, and maybe the occasional dungeon.

For that you want to follow Retribution standards, with a side-eye towards Int, for healing.

Your basic guidelines until level 30-40:

  1. You always use a Two-Handed mace, sword, or axe as a weapon. You can also use Polearms after level 20. One-handed weapons are useless for you. Staves, or One-Hander + Shield, may be useful when you attain Your Final Form as a Holy Hybrid, but they don’t help you now.
  2. When you get a new piece of gear, whatever has the most Strength is best. If no Strength is available on either your old or your new piece, look for Spirit, Agility, Stamina, Intellect, Critical Strike, Haste in that order. Follow Strength if you can, unless the Strength is tiny, and the alternative stats are much larger.
  3. The material of your armor will eventually be all Plate, but until you can wear Plate, Mail is better than Leather is better than Cloth.
  4. In terms of Quality of gear, Purple is better than Blue is better than Green is better than White. You are probably all in Whites now, with no stats on it - no Strength, no anything. That’s why your friend said your gear is weak. That will change soon after you start Westfall, and start getting Greens from quests.

Do you see “Item Level” in yellow on your pieces of gear when you mouse-hover over them? Try to keep your Item Level up to your actual Level. Questing constantly should do that, with Green-quality gear pieces, and occasional Blues. You will also get some Blue-quality pieces if you do Dungeons.

For now, follow this guide

Please ask again for anything else that might help!