i'm not so sure what really happened to quaz in that arena, but 1 HoJ really kills.... of course you also need to count in the plate wearing warlock-like-heroic class with steroids death grip that closes the gap between you and the paladin, dots, pets, debuffs... of course burst damage for ret paladin slightly over scaled...

i think many posters referring to 1v1 situation, but in reality sometimes you don't have the privilege to use it: HoF/ LoH to flag carrier or yourself in bg? stopping twink healers from healing? forcing opponent to pop their trinket for that slight pvp advantage?

I like running around with DKs when comes to BG since they can spank and tank at the same time, what i do usually is spamming FoL onto the DK and spamming HoW macro to DK's target (stealing HK needs certain skills )

investment to lower HoJ CD (30 sec with talent and gears) and the use of SoB (rather than seals of 'roulette' ) for that ret paladin really pays off...

*gasp*

like, pally's HL, FoL, cleanse, HoS, HoF, BoP, exorsim, turn evil use bullets instead of mana?? the hand lifting, finger twitching action plus the flash of light/ coiling effect happened on bg members and pots, drinks wasted for mana just 15 minutes ago are all my illusions???

where have all my mana gone, long time passing~~
where have all the mana gone, Long time ago~~~
where have all the mana gone, warlock comes and suck them up~~~
when will they ever learn?
oh, when will they ever learn?

that's it... must be the warlocks...

oh, now the level 80 card is played... should i go QQ and called my mommy + guildies because someone with level 80 toon thinks retribution paladin should get epic gears that pumps intellect and mana regen... i play my lowbie retribution paladin the wrong way... i mean, i only got few blues ones from some lower dungeon/AH and others are green... they are mostly pumping stamina and strength, no wonder my mana doesn't regen fast even with replenishment effect...

then again, in a pvp server/ wintergrasp/ battle ground, hordes and alliances alike are ladies/gentlemen and will gladly do 1v1 with you even there are 12 of them and 5 of you... /OOM?? No problem... they'll just wait for you to kill the mob, cleanse, heal, cast DP/ drink and start a friendly duel... and don't worry, you are the only retribution paladin, others (including my lowbie pally) are coined as lolret because of the stupidity of going hostile to opponent and using mana for cleansing/ buffing/ healing other allies in such situation... THEY JUST WANNA BE FRIENDS EVEN IF YOU ARE FLAGGED FOR PVP!!!

what a *wonderful daydream* it is in this imaginary world of Azeroth... or maybe i should just tone down my sarcasm a bit...

GC mentioned about how arena can be a drag race on which healers go /oom, hence the burst damage is implemented to shorte arena time, and it got slightly out of control for certain class...

i'd still go for stamina as the 1st priority, the reason is simple: no matter how godly paladin pump their strength (over 9000??), they'll still can't really use it if their stamina can't withstand the burst damage that opponents is giving out...

like, when your main concern for pvp are stamina, strength, crit rating, agility...

just when i thought your paladin had reached end game level that can make your voice go louder than mine and requesting lowbie me to get to same level before i made any comments...

a 3rd last runner laughing at the last runner for being last in a marathon race... it really makes you feel great, yeah??

might be different play style, like how i place all 5 talent points in BoKings, bet you're using the 1st 5 talent points for the extra strength.

hey, i did met up with a tauren shaman whose at least 10 level higher and i got him down to 40% before he kills me and i was just lv 51 that time without bubble sand LoH...

"OGMAIGAWD PALLY ISH TEH OPEE!!!"
"but the truth is..."
"OWH SHATTAP!!! U JUST DEE-PEE-A-TAUREN'S-ASS!!! OP!!!! NERF THEM BACK TO FREE HK!!!"

well, nobody likes the truth about how i did it right, BECAUSE RETRIBUTION PALADINS ARE PLAIN OP!!!

on the other hand, i was talking to a friend...

noodles: you know the new movie, <place movie name here>...
friend 1: ya i saw it, but i left 20 minutes b4 it ends, the good guy wins and the bad guys dead
noodles: actually the synopsis said a plot twist in the end, and the good guy actually...
friend 1: (cut in) I BEEN TO THE MOVIE AND THAT'S THAT!!! END OF STORY!!!
noodles: ...

that hunter IS THA MAN!!!! cool rappin!!!

tbh... burst damage is still bit high thou...

other than getting kited and stun locked a lot, ret can still do considerable damage in pvp after few passive skill buffs and balancing HoW in lolwing mode (pre-4.3 is oh-pee when rets just pop wings)