A while back I did an article on Hunter PvE armor sets on THM proper which coincided with the release of Tier 8 content. The article was really a lot of fun to do and got a lot of great responses. It was a lot of fun to reminisce about old content while simultaneously looking forward to upcoming content, and so today I thought I would do the same for Paladins.

The Originals

Long time players will all remember these sets, no doubt, and what a pain in the butt it was to farm instances to finally build up set bonuses. For those who want to collect these sets “for old time’s sake”, all but one of these original sets is still in the game and waiting for you.

The Lightforge Set

The Lightforge Armor set, also known as the D1 or Tier 0.25 set, was the first armor set Paladins collected before preparing to enter the original 20 and 40-man raid content. Players could start collecting pieces of this set as early as Level 52 and the final piece could be obtained by Level 58.

Like all of the original armor sets, the Lightforge set consisted of eight pieces, three of which (bracers, belt and gloves) were Bind on Equip and could be purchased from the Auction House allowing you to get the first set bonus before diving into more difficult content to pick up the rest of the set.

If you were strapped for cash (trust me, it was possible back then), you could wait a few levels and pick up the first three items of the set later on yourself. The Lightforge Bracers, the first item in the set–equippable at Level 52–drops in Scholomance from Lord Alexei Barov, Risen Protectors or Risen Warriors. (Alexei has the best drop rate of the three.) The next item in the set, the Lightforge Belt, could be obtained in Stratholme from a number of different mobs within the instance: Rockwing Screechers, Rockwing Gargoyles, Crimson Gallants and Crimson Guardsmen. The last BoE item in the set, the Lightforge Gauntlets, also drop in Stratholme: from Timmy the Cruel.

The rest of the items in the set are all Bind on Pick-Up, so you had no other choice but to farm the instances yourself. The Lightforge Boots drop off Balnazzar in Stratholme, the Lightforge Spaulders (also known as “Banana Shoulders”) drop off The Beast in Upper Blackrock Spire, the Lightforge Legplates drop from Baron Rivendare in Stratholme, the Lightforge Helm drops from Darkmaster Gandling in Scholomance and the Lightforge Breastplate drops from General Drakkisath in Upper Blackrock Spire.

For every two pieces of the set you acquired, you received a new set bonus:

• (2): +200 Armor.
• (4): Increases attack power by 40.
• (6): Chance on melee attack to increase your spell power by 95 for 10 seconds.
• (8): +8 All Resistances.

The Soulforge Set

Also known as D2 or Tier 0.5, the Soulforge Armor set was the second armor set available, and the first to have any epic pieces. In order to obtain the Soulforge set, you first had to acquire some (and eventually all) of the Lightforge set.

In order to transition from the Lightforge to the Soulforge set, players had to complete a series of quests taking them all over the (old) world and bribe NPCs with rather large sums (at the time) of gold to help make the conversion.

To begin the process of converting Lightforge pieces into Soulforge pieces, players would begin with the quest “An Earnest Proposition” (from Deliana in Ironforge for Alliance players and Mokvar in Orgrimmar for Horde players). Alliance players were asked to bring Deliana 15 Winterspring Blood Samples, 20 gold and their Lightforge Bracers in order to complete the quest, while Horde players were tasked with bringing Mokvar 15 Silithus Venom Samples, 20 gold and their Lightforge Bracers. Completion of this quest would award the Soulforge Bracers.

The next step in the conversion required players to complete a rather lengthy quest chain starting with the quest “A Supernatural Device” (also picked up from Deliana and Mokvar) and ending with the quest “Just Compensation”. The quest chain requires to you bring NPCs a variety of items as well as another 40 gold to make the conversions for your Soulforge Belt and Soulforge Gauntlets, the first epic piece in the set.

The next step in the upgrade process is another rather lengthy quest chain which begins with the quest “In Search of Anthion” (once again from Deliana and Mokvar) and ends with the quest “Anthion’s Parting Words”. Once again, players will need to bring NPCs a variety of items in exchange for upgrades to their Soulforge Boots, Soulforge Legplates and Soulforge Spaulders.

Finally, players would need to complete one last quest chain, starting with the quest “Bodley’s Unfortunate Fate” (again, from Deliana and Mokvar) and ending with the quest “Saving the Best for Last” which awards players with the Soulforge Helm and Soulforge Breastplate.

For a more detailed account of the upgrade process, check out the article on WoWWiki.

The Soulforge set’s bonuses are identical to those of the Lightforge set, the order is simply reversed:

• (2): +8 All Resistances.
• (4): Chance on melee attack to increase your spell power by 95 for 10 seconds.
• (6): Increases attack power by 40.
• (8): +200 Armor.

The Lawbringer Set

Also known as Tier 1, the Lawbringer Armor set is the first raid set and the first armor set comprised entirely of epic pieces. While the Lawbringer set marked a player’s graduation from 5 and 10-man instances into the world of 40-man raiding, there are still two pieces of the set that could be easily obtained straight from the Auction House for those with adequate funding: the Lawbringer Belt and Lawbringer Bracers, both of which drop from various mobs found within Molten Core.

In “vanilla” WoW, different variations of item sets for classes capable of filling multiple roles were not available, and so hybrid classes found themselves pigeon-holed into certain roles based solely on the stats and bonuses provided by their raid armor sets. After all, the tier armor sets were considered the best gear in the game at the time and it was thought to be foolish not to use them simply because they weren’t appropriate for your spec. Just change your spec, and the gear would be just fine!

That being the case, Paladins were regulated to the world of heal-botting. The Lawbringer set offers a total of 74 Strength, 153 Stamina, 134 Intellect, 92 Spirit, 13 MP5, 72 Spell Power, 34 Fire Resist, 24 Shadow Resist and 4916 Armor.

All pieces of the Lawbringer set drop within Molten Core. The Lawbringer Boots drop from Lucifron, the Lawbringer Gauntlets drop from Gehennas, the Lawbringer Legplates drop from Magmadar, the Lawbringer Spaulders drop from Baron Geddon, the Lawbringer Helm drops from Garr and the Lawbringer Chestguard drops from Golemagg the Incinerator. The Tier 1 set is the only raid set in the game that doesn’t require you to defeat the final boss in the raid to acquire the last piece of the set.

The Lawbringer set had three set bonuses:

• (3): Increases the chance of triggering a Judgement of Light heal by 10%.
• (5): Increases your critical strike rating by 14.
• (8): Gives the Paladin a chance on every melee hit to heal your party for 189 to 211.

The Judgement Set

Arguably the most visually appealing Paladin armor set in the game to date, the Judgement Armor set, also known as Tier 2, was the first armor set comprised entirely of Bind on Pick-Up items. This set was also the first raid set to have items drop in multiple instances and was also the first to require the defeat of the final boss in an instance to acquire pieces of the set. Furthermore, the Judgement set required the defeat of not just one final raid boss, but three: Nefarian in Blackwing Lair, Onyxia in Onyxia’s Lair and Ragnaros in Molten Core.

The Judgement Belt drops from Vaelastrasz the Corrupt (fun fact about Vaelastrasz: he’s Alexstrasza’s son) in Blackwing Lair, the Judgement Bindings drop from Razorgore the Untamed in Blackwing Lair, the Judgement Gauntlets drop from Flamegor, Firemaw and Ebonroc in Blackwing Lair, the Judgement Sabatons drop from Broodlord Lashlayer in Blackwing Lair, the Judgement Spaulders drop from Chromaggus in Blackwing Lair, the Judgement Legplates drom from Ragnaros in Molten Core, the Judgement Crown drops from Onyxia in Onyxia’s Lair and the Judgement Breastplate drops from Nefarian in Blackwing Lair.

The Judgement set had a total of 92 Strength, 155 Stamina, 148 Intellect, 50 Spirit, 20 MP5, 153 Spell Power, 10 Arcane Resist, 40 Fire Resist, 10 Frost Resist, 10 Nature Resist, 30 Shadow Resist and 5623 Armor. Once again, because there were no variations of the set available for different roles, Paladins wanting to make use of this set were destined to heal-bot.

The Judgement set, like the Lawbringer set before it, had three set bonuses:

• (3): Increases the radius of a Paladin’s auras to 40 yards.
• (5): Increases Spell Power by 47.
• (8): Inflicts 60 to 66 additional Holy damage on the target of a Paladin’s Judgement.

The Redemption Set

The Redemption Armor set, also known as Tier 3, has a lot of unique qualities about it. First, this is the only armor set that is no longer available in the game, so if you were one of the lucky few to acquire this set, hopefully you kept it! Additionally, Tier 3 was the only set in the game to have nine pieces (the usual eight pieces plus a ring), and was the only raid set to have four set bonuses.

All pieces of the Redemption set dropped in the original version of Naxxramas: the final 40-man raid introduced in Patch 1.12 for Level 60 players prior to the release of the game’s first expansion The Burning Crusade. The original Naxxramas remained intact, and players that had missed the raid at Level 60 could (and often did) return at 70 to try their luck until the instance was shut down and retuned for Level 80 players with the release of the second expansion as an introductory raid instance for 10 or 25 players.

Another game first for the Redemption set: it was the first item set to be acquired through the turn-in of tokens, rather than simply looting the set pieces directly off bosses. This practice was carried into The Burning Crusade expansion and continues to this day.

The original Redemption set had four bonuses:

• (2): Increases the amount healed by your Judgement of Light by 20.
• (4): Reduces the cooldown on your Lay on Hands by 4 minutes.
• (6): Your Flash of Light and Holy Light spells have a chance to imbue your target with Holy Power.
• (8): Your Cleanse spell also heals the target for 200.

The Burning Crusade

Unlike the original armor sets, The Burning Crusade set a new trend: sets were made up of no more than five pieces instead of the original eight. Additionally, with the release of The Burning Crusade two more races joined the ranks of Paladins: Draenei and Blood Elves, the first (and only) Horde race to be able to play Paladins. Additionally, with the release of the first expansion, Paladins were finally able to play whatever spec they most enjoyed without having to cow-tow to set bonuses: multiple sets were available and varied by spec.

The Righteous Set

Picking up where the Lightforge and Soulforge sets left off, the Righteous set, also known as D3a, was the dungeon set for Level 70 players gearing up to start raiding.

The unique thing about all the D3 sets in The Burning Crusade is that, unlike their predecessors, they were not considered “class specific”, which is to say that other classes who could equip that type of armor could also wear the set. It’s worth noting, however, that the set bonuses on these sets were mostly class-specific, so other classes equipping these sets did so only for the raw stats on the pieces.

In addition to the Righteous set, Paladins also had access to the Doomplate Battlegear, or D3b, set which had more Hit Rating, Stamina, Strength and Critical Strike Rating on it making it more appropriate for Retribution Paladins. The Doomplate set also lacked class-specific set bonuses (the two-piece bonus increased Hit Rating by 35 and the four-piece bonus gave attacks a chance to increase Attack Power by 160 for 15 seconds), so any DPS plate-wearer could make good use of it.

The Gauntlets of the Righteous drop from Warchief Kargath Bladefist in The Shattered Halls, the Spaulders of the Righteous drop from Laj in The Botanica, the Legplates of the Righteous drop from Aeonus in The Black Morass, the Helm of the Righteous drops from Pathaleon the Calculator in The Mechanar and the Breastplate of the Righteous drops from Warlord Kalithresh in The Steamvault.

The Righteous set boasts two set bonuses:

• (2): Your Consecration ability costs 15% less mana.
• (4): Reduces the cooldown on your Righteous Defense ability by 2 seconds.

The Justicar Set

The Justicar set, also known as Tier 4, came in three different versions: Justicar Armor, Justicar Battlegear and Justicar Raiment which players chose from depending on their talent spec. The Justicar Armor set was intended for Protection Paladins, the Justicar Battlegear for Retribution Paladins and the Justicar Raiment for Holy Paladins.

Like Tier 3 before it, Tier 4 items were obtained by turning in tokens for the set piece you wanted. The tokens for Tier 4 were obtained from three different raids: Karazhan, Gruul’s Lair and Magtheridon’s Lair. The Tier 4 set spanned the gap between 10 man raiding and 25 man raiding in TBC.

The glove token drops off The Curator in Karazhan, the helm token drops off Prince Malchezaar in Karazhan, the shoulder token drops off High King Maulgar in Gruul’s Lair, the leg token drops off Gruul the Dragonkiller in Gruul’s Lair and the breastplate token drops off Magtheridon in Magtheridon’s Lair.

The Justicar Armor set has a total of 187 Strength, 208 Stamina, 62 Block Value, 121 Defense Rating, 24 Dodge Rating, 31 Parry Rating, 40 Block Rating and 6136 Armor. Additionally, the set has 1 Meta Socket, 1 Red Socket, 3 Yellow Sockets and 2 Blue Sockets.

The Justicar Battlegear set has a total of 212 Strength, 59 Agility, 144 Stamina, 127 Intellect, 46 Critical Strike Rating, 39 Hit Rating and 6136 Armor. Additionally, the set has 1 Meta Socket, 4 Red Sockets, 1 Yellow Socket and 1 Blue Socket.

The Justicar Raiment set has a total of 163 Stamina, 164 Intellect, 22 MP5, 67 Critical Strike Rating, 211 Spell Power and 6136 Armor. Additionally, the set has 1 Meta Socket, 1 Red Socket, 2 Yellow Sockets and 3 Blue Sockets.

Each of the three sets has two set bonuses.

Justicar Armor:

• (2): Increases the damage dealth by your Seal of Righteousness, Seal of Vengeance, or Seal of Blood by 10%.
• (4): Increases the damage dealt by your Holy Shield by 15%.

Justicar Battlegear:

• (2): Increases the damage of your Judgemetns by 33.
• (4): Increases the damage dealt by your Judgement of Command by 10%.

Justicar Raiment:

• (2): Increases the amount healed by your Judgement of Light by 20.
• (4): Reduces the cooldown on your Divine Favor ability by 15 seconds.

The Crystalforge Set

The Crystalforge set, also known as Tier 5, also had three different versions like the Tier 4 set before it: Crystalforge Armor, Crystalforge Battlegear and Crystalforge Raiment. This five piece set could be obtained through tokens looted in Serpentshrine Cavern and Tempest Keep.

The glove tokens drop from Leotheras the Blind in Serpentshrine Cavern, the shoulder token drops from Void Reaver in The Eye, the leg token drops from Fathom-Lord Karathress in Serpentshrine Cavern, the helm token drops from Lady Vashj in Serpentshrine Cavern and the chest token drops from Kael’thas Sunstrider in The Eye.

The Crystalforge Armor set has a total of 187 Strength, 235 Stamina, 156 Block Value, 144 Defense Rating, 19 Parry Rating, 88 Block Rating and 6775 Armor. Additionally, this set has 1 Meta Socket, 4 Red Sockets and 3 Yellow Sockets.

The Crystalforge Battlegear set has a total of 260 Strength, 76 Agility, 197 Stamina, 104 Intellect, 37 Critical Strike Rating, 44 Hit Rating and 6775 Armor. Additionally, this set has 1 Meta Socket, 2 Red Sockets and 5 Yellow Sockets.

The Crystalforge Raiment set has a total of 169 Stamina, 151 Intellect, 29 MP5, 127 Critical Strike Rating, 246 Spell Power and 6775 Armor. Additionally, this set has 1 Meta Socket, 5 Yellow Sockets and 2 Blue Sockets.

Crystalforge Armor:

• (2): Increases the damage from your Retribution Aura by 15.
• (4): Each time you use your Holy Shield ability, you gain 100 block value against a single attack in the next 6 seconds.

Crystalforge Battlegear:

• (2): Reduces the cost of your Judgements by 35.
• (4): Each time you cast a Judgement, there is a chance it will heal all nearby party members for 244 to 256.

Crystalforge Raiment:

• (2): Each time you cast a Judgement, your party members gain 50 mana.
• (4): Your critical heals from Flash of Light and Holy Light reduce the cast time of your next Holy Light spell by 0.5 seconds for 10 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once per minute.

The Lightbringer Set

The final raid set of the first expansion, also known as Tier 6, is a rather unique set. Originally, the set consisted of only five pieces like the other armor sets in TBC; however, three more pieces were added in Patch 2.4 with the addition of the Sunwell raid instance that brought this set up to eight pieces, like the armor sets in “vanilla”. The Lightbringer set has been the only set in the game since original release to have additional items added to the set after it’s initial addition to the game, and is the only set since the original armor sets from “vanilla” to have a full eight pieces.

As has become the norm, there are three different versions of the Lightbringer set: Lightbringer Armor, Lightbringer Battlegear and Lightbringer Raiment. Each set piece is obtained through token turn-ins from three different raid instances: the Battle for Mount Hyjal, the Black Temple and the Sunwell Plateau.

The glove token drops from Azgalor in Mount Hyjal, the leg token drops from the Illidari Council in Black Temple, the shoulder token drops from Mother Shahraz in Black Temple, the helm token drops from Archimonde in Mount Hyjal, the chest token drops from Illidan Stormrage in Black Temple, the bracer token drops from the Eredar Twins or Sathrovarr the Corrupter in Sunwell, the belt token drops from the Eredar Twins or Brutallus in Sunwell and the boot token drops from the Eredar Twins or Felmyst in Sunwell.

Despite the fact that the set has eight pieces, there are still only two set bonuses for each set.

Lightbringer Armor:

• (2): Increases the mana gained from your Spiritual Attunement ability by 10%.
• (4): Increases the damage dealt by your Consecration ability by 10%.

Lightbringer Battlegear:

• (2): Your melee attacks have a chance to grant you 50 mana.
• (4): Increases the damage dealt by your Hammer of Wrath ability by 10%.

Lightbringer Raiment:

• (2): Increases the Spell Power of your Flash of Light ability by 5%.
• (4): Increases the critical strike chance of your Holy Light ability by 5%.

Wrath of the Lich King

The second expansion to the game has seen both a continuation of past precedent and a departure from others. Wrath of the Lich King features more items purchased through the turn-in of armor tokens found in raid instances, features different armor sets for various class specs and continues with the five piece set model. However, the second expansion completely lacks the traditional dungeon armor sets and jumps straight into raid armor sets. Also, different sub-tiers of sets were introduced to differentiate between 10-man and 25-man versions of available raid instances.

The Redemption Set, Part Deux

The introduction to raiding in Wrath of the Lich King also provides an introduction to the new and improved Redemption armor set from the original Naxxramas. The original Redemption set has been retuned for Level 80 players, and now comes in six, yes six, different flavors!

There are two tiers of the new Redemption set: Tier 7 (also called Tier 7.1) and Tier 7.5 (also referred to as Tier 7.25).

The Tier 7 version of the Redemption set can be obtained by completing 10-man Naxxramas and has three different versions: Heroes’ Redemption Plate for Protection Paladins, Heroes’ Redemption Battlegear for Retribution Paladins and Heroes’ Redemption Regalia for Holy Paladins.

The Tier 7.5 version of the Redemption set can be obtained by completing 25-man Naxxramas and also has three different versions: Valorous Redemption Plate for Protection Paladins, Valorous Redemption Battlegear for Retribution Paladins and Valorous Redemption Regalia for Holy Paladins.

The glove token drops from Sartharion in the Obsidian Sanctum, the leg token drops from Gluth and Thaddius in Naxxramas, the shoulder token drops from Gluth and Loatheb in Naxxramas, the chest token drops from Gluth and The Four Horsemen in Naxxramas and the helm token drops from Kel’Thuzad in Naxxramas. It’s interesting to note: the Eye of Eternity is the only raid instance in the game that doesn’t drop any Tier armor.

The set bonuses from the 10 to 25 man versions of each set are identical, only the raw stats on each item changes from one tier to the next.

Redemption Plate:

• (2): Increases the damage dealt by your Hammer of the Righteous by 10%.
• (4): Increases the duration of your Divine Shield and Divine Protection by 3 seconds.

Redemption Battlegear:

• (2): Increases the damage dealt by your Divine Storm by 10%.
• (4): Reduces the cooldown of your Judgement of Light, Judgement of Wisdom and Judgement of Justice by 1 second.

Redemption Regalia:

• (2): Your Holy Shock gains an additional 10% chance to critically strike.
• (4): The cost of your Holy Light is reduced by 5%.

The Aegis Set

The second raid set to be introduced in Wrath of the Lich King, the Aegis set is obtained by defeating the bosses of Ulduar. Like the new Redemption set before it, the Aegis set also has six different variations total and two different tiers.

Also known as Tier 8 (or Tier 8.1), the Valorous Aegis set comes in three different variations: Valorous Aegis Plate for Protection Paladins, Valorous Aegis Battlegear for Retribution Paladins and Valorous Aegis Regalia for Holy Paladins.

Tier 8.5 (or Tier 8.25), the Conqueror’s Aegis set also comes in three different variations: Conqueror’s Aegis Plate for Protection Paladins, Conqueror’s Aegis Battlegear for Retribution Paladins and Conqueror’s Aegis Regalia for Holy Paladins.

All tokens for the Tier 8 sets drop in Ulduar. This is the first set since the original Tier 1 armor set to have all it’s pieces drop in the same raid instance. The glove token drops from Freya, the leg token drops from Hodir, the shoulder token drops from Thorim, the helm token drops from Mimiron and the chest token drops from Yogg-Saron.

Also like Tier 7, the Tier 8 set bonuses are identical regardless of which tier you’re sporting. The only differences are the raw stats for each set.

Aegis Plate:

• (2): Increases the damage done by your Seals of Vengeance, Corruption and Righteousness by 10%.
• (4): Shield of Righteousness now increases your shield block value by 225 for that attack and for 3 seconds afterward.

Aegis Battlegear:

• (2): Increases the damage done by your Exorcism and Hammer of Wrath abilities by 10%.
• (4): Increases the critical strike chance of your Divine Storm and Crusader Strike abilities by 10%.

Aegis Regalia:

• (2): Your Holy Shock critical heals now also place a periodic healing effect on the target, healing for 15% of the Holy Shock’s heal amount over 9 seconds.
• (4): Your Sacred Shield can now trigger its effect every 4 seconds instead of every 6.

Tier 9

Following with the “three tiers per expansion” precedent, the Tier 9 sets coming up in Patch 3.2 are likely to be the last in Wrath of the Lich King. Much about these sets is still unknown and new information is filtering in about them every day. Currently, we know the following:

• There will be 3 different 10-man sets
• There will be 3 different 25-man sets
• There will be 3 different 25-man heroic sets
• Horde and Alliance may have differently named sets

The sets will (likely) be named thusly:

• Turalyon’s Plate of Conquest – Alliance Protection Paladins, 10-man version
• Turalyon’s Battlegear of Conquest – Alliance Retribution Paladins, 10-man version
• Turalyon’s Regalia of Conquest – Alliance Holy Paladins, 10-man version
• Turalyon’s Plate of Triumph – Alliance Protection Paladins, 25-man version
• Turalyon’s Battlegear of Triumph – Alliance Retribution Paladins, 25-man version
• Turalyon’s Regalia of Triumph – Alliance Holy Paladins, 25-man version
• (Heroic) Turalyon’s Plate of Triumph – Alliance Protection Paladins, 25-man heroic version
• (Heroic) Turalyon’s Battlegear of Triumph – Alliance Retribution Paladins, 25-man heroic version
• (Heroic) Turalyon’s Regalia of Triumph – Alliance Holy Paladins, 25-man heroic version

The Horde set is named after Lady Liadrin instead of Turalyon.

Are you looking forward to the new tier set coming in the next patch? What’s been your favorite set so far?

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