I've come to rely on Siha's best-in-slot guide for Tier 7.5 content and I absolutely loved it, and loved being able to refer others to it if not just myself. I've looked around and I haven't seen anything else remotely like it, nor have I seen any "best-in-slot" type of guides for Ulduar, so I wanted to try and fill that void. I put up a post on my blog but I'll "re-post" it here for easy reference. (/end shameless self-promotion)

The caveat to this guide is that not all loot tables off bosses are completely revealed, nor am I 100% certain that I've seen everything that has been revealed. This is all of the loot to the best extent of my knowledge and if I'm missing anything or I've mistaken anything, PLEASE let me know.

I've included cloaks/rings with spirit and hit despite the wasted itemization points for reference purposes. That said, I've effectively ignored spirit and hit for ranking purposes. Additionally, there are two general approaches for gearing a Holy Paladin (I've covered this in previous posts). I personally subscribe to a haste-oriented approach over an MP5 approach (I let my higher intellect/crit do my regen work for me) and as a result, I weigh MP5 fairly low, relative to most other stats.

3.1 Holy Paladin Gear

Head:
1) Conqueror's Aegis Headpiece (SP, Crit, Haste) - 25-Man Thorim, Tier 8.5 (ilvl 226)
2) Ancient Iron Heaume (SP, Crit, Haste) - 25-Man Iron Council (ilvl 226)
3a) Helm of Veiled Energies (SP, Crit, Haste) - 10-Man Flame Leviathan (ilvl 219) [Mail]
3b) Valorous Aegis Headpiece (SP, Crit, Haste) - 10-Man Mimiron, Tier 8.0 (ilvl 219)
5) Steamworker's Goggles (SP, Crit, MP5) - 25-Man Flame Leviathan (ilvl 226) [Mail]
6) Faceguard of the Eyeless Horror (SP, Crit, MP5) - 10-Man Yogg-Saron (ilvl 219)

The #1 and #2 slots are pretty clear cut. The Helm of Veiled Energies is close to the Valorous Aegis Headpiece. Obviously, if you need the set bonus, take the T8.0 helm. The Tier 7 best-in-slot helm was the Faceguard of the Succumbed. If that were ranked in the Ulduar gear, it'd fall between the #3's and #5.

Neck:
1) Pendant of the Shallow Grave (SP, Crit, Haste) - 10-Man Thorim, Hard (ilvl 226)
2) Charm of Meticulous Timing (SP, Haste, MP5) 25-Man XT-002, Hard (ilvl 239)
3) Unblinking Eye (SP, Crit, Spirit) 25-Man Iron Council (ilvl 226)
4) Frozen Tear of Elune (SP, Crit, MP5) - 19 x Emblems of Conquest (ilvl 226)
5) Freya's Choker of Warding (SP, Haste, MP5) - 25-Man Flame Leviathan (ilvl 226)
6) Sapphire Amulet of Renewal (SP, Haste, Spirit) - 25-Man Iron Council, Hard (ilvl 239)
7) Evoker's Charm (SP, Haste, Spirit) – 19 x Emblems of Conquest (ilvl 226)
8) Pendant of Endless Despair (SP, Crit, MP5) - 10-Man Vezax (ilvl 219)
9) Watchful Eye (SP, Haste, Spirit) 10-Man Iron Council, Hard (ilvl 226)

The Tier 7 best-in-slot neckpiece was the Life-Binder's Locket. If that were ranked in the Ulduar gear, it'd fall between #5 and #6.

Have to add when available on wowhead:
Pendant of the Somber Witness (SP, Crit, MP5) - 10-Man Algalon (ilvl 226)

Shoulders:
1) Conqueror's Aegis Spaulders (SP, Crit, Haste) - 25-Man Yogg-Saron, Tier 8.5 (ilvl 226)
2) Valorous Aegis Spaulders (SP, Crit, Haste) - 10-Man Thorim, Tier 8.0 (ilvl 219)
3) Pauldrons of the Combatant (SP, Haste, MP5) - 25-Man Thorim, Hard (ilvl 239) [Mail]
4) Pauldrons of Tempered Will (SP, Crit, Haste) - 10-Man Ignis (ilvl 219)
5) Razorscale Shoulderguards (SP, Haste, MP5) - 25-Man Razorscale (ilvl 226)
6) Amice of the Stoic Watch (SP, Crit, MP5) - 25-Man Auriaya (ilvl 226) [Mail]

The Tier 8 itemization on the shoulders is absolutely fantastic! All the stats we want, and none of the ones we don't (ugh, MP5). The Tier 7 best-in-slot shoulders was the Valorous Redemption Spaulders. It's really inferior to all of the shoulders available in Ulduar, save for maybe Amice of the Stoic Watch.

Back:
1) Drape of the Sullen Goddess (SP, Crit, MP5) - 25-Man Freya, Hard (ilvl 239)
2) Drape of Mortal Downfall (SP, Hit, Crit) - 25-Man Iron Council, Hard (ilvl 239)
3) Drape of the Spellweaver (SP, Crit, Haste) - 10-Man Trash (ilvl 219)
4) Asimov's Drape (SP, Crit, Spirit) - 25-Man Mimiron (ilvl 226)
5) Shroud of Alteration (SP, Haste, MP5) - 25-Man Trash (ilvl 226)
6) Shawl of Haunted Memories (SP, Crit, Spirit) - 25-Man Yogg-Saron (ilvl 226)
7) Shawl of the Caretaker (SP, Haste, MP5) - 10-Man Unknown (ilvl 219)
8) Cloak of the Dormant Blaze (SP, Crit, MP5) - 10-Man Trash (ilvl 219)

The cloaks in Ulduar aren't impressive, to say the least. If the Tier 7 best-in-slot cloak, the Pennant Cloak, were to be ranked on this list, it'd be right up top with Drape of the Sullen Goddess in the best-in-slot position, probably as a 1a. Sadly enough, a *hit* cloak is our #2 best-in-slot piece from Ulduar. Not everyone had access to the Pennant Cloak, so for argument's sake, the 2nd best-in-slot cloak from Tier 7 was the Shroud of Luminosity. I'd slot that in just below Drape of Mortal Downfall. Even the 10-man Tier 7 best-in-slot of Cloak of the Dying beats out some of these cloaks (probably around #5-6). Since this is an Ulduar gear list, we'll have to take what we can get.

Have to add when available on wowhead:
Sunglimmer Cloak (SP, Haste, Spirit) - 25-Man Algalon Quest Reward (ilvl 239)
Sunglimmer Drape (SP, Haste, Spirit) - 10-Man Algalon Quest Reward (ilvl 226)

Chest:
1) Breastplate of the Devoted (SP, Crit, Haste) - 25-Man XT-002, Hard (ilvl 226)
2) Chestguard of the Fallen God (SP, Crit, Haste) - 25-Man Yogg-Saron (ilvl 226) [Mail]
3) Breastplate of the Stoneshaper (SP, Crit, Haste) - 10-Man XT-002, Hard (ilvl 226) [Mail]
4) Firestrider Chestguard (SP, Crit, Haste) - 10-Man Flame Leviathan (ilvl 219) [Mail]
5) Quartz-studded Harness (SP, Haste, MP5) - 25-Man XT-002 (ilvl 226) [Mail]
6) Conqueror's Aegis Tunic (SP, Crit, MP5) - 25-Man Hodir, Tier 8.5 (ilvl 226)
7) Lifeforge Breastplate (SP, Crit, MP5) - 25-Man Ignis (ilvl 226)
8) Breastplate of the Afterlife (SP, MP5) - 10-Man Razorscale (ilvl 219)
9) Valorous Aegis Tunic (SP, Crit, MP5) - 10-Man Yogg-Saron, Tier 8.0 (ilvl 219)

Breastplate of the Devoted is by FAR the best-in-slot chest piece. I haven't done an analysis on which of the five Tier 8 pieces to exclude for the 4-piece bonus, but I have a sneaking suspicion it's going to be the chest piece. In fact, the itemization for the Tier 8 pieces are so poor that all of the available mail gear is superior. The Tier 7 best-in-slot chest piece was the Chestplate of the Great Aspects. If that were ranked in the Ulduar gear, it'd fall between #3 and #4.

Bracers:
1) Bindings of the Winter Gale (SP, Crit, Haste) 25-Man Hodir, Hard (ilvl 239) [mail]
2) Wristguards of the Firetender (SP, Crit, MP5) 25-Man Ignis (ilvl 226) [mail]
3) Armbraces of the Vibrant Flame (SP, Crit, MP5) 10-Man Ignis (ilvl 219) [mail]
4) Horologist's Wristguards (SP, Crit, MP5) 25-Man XT-002 (ilvl 226)
5) Armbands of the Construct (SP, Crit, MP5) - 10-Man XT-002 (ilvl 219)
6) Unfaltering Armguards (SP, Haste, MP5) - 25-Man Kologarn (ilvl 226)
7) Bracers of Righteous Reformation (SP, Haste, MP5) - 10-Man Ignis (ilvl 219)

Sadly, all of the plate Ulduar bracers have been itemized with MP5. Only one piece of mail spell power gear is NOT itemized with MP5, and guess what? Yep, it's our best-in-slot bracers. While we're on the subject of mail bracers, all 3 mail bracers that drop in Ulduar are superior to the plate bracers that drop in Ulduar. The Bracers of Liberation (our best-in-slot from Tier 7) come out at around #3 or #4.

Gloves:
1) Gauntlets of the Thunder God (SP, Crit, Haste) - 10-Man Thorim, Hard (ilvl 226)
2) Gloves of Whispering Winds (SP, Crit, Haste) - 10-Man Freya, Hard (ilvl 226) [mail]
3) Runeshaper's Gloves (SP, Crit, Haste) - 25-Man Iron Council (ilvl 226) [mail]
4) Gloves of the Pythonic Guardian (SP, Crit, MP5) - 25-Man Kologarn (ilvl 226)
5) Gauntlets of Serene Blessing (SP, Haste, MP5) - 28 x Emblems of Conquest (ilvl 226)
6) Conqueror's Aegis Gloves (SP, Haste, MP5) - 25-Man Mimiron, Tier 8.5 (ilvl 226)
7) Gloves of Augury (SP, Crit, MP5) - 28 x Emblems of Conquest (ilvl 226) [mail]
8) Valorous Aegis Gloves (SP, Haste, MP5) - 10-Man Freya, Tier 8.0 (ilvl 219)

The Gauntlets of the Thunder God are the clear #1 best-in-slot *plate* piece by a mile. They are however somewhat comparable to Gloves of Whispering Winds, though still inferior, but not by much. The Tier 7 best-in-slot gloves was the Valorous Redemption Gloves. If that were ranked in the Ulduar gear, you could make an argument that it should fall between #6 and #8, but I think that in actuality, it's inferior to all of the Ulduar gloves that are available (which is a nice change over some other slots).

Waist:
1) Belt of the Fallen Wyrm (SP, Crit, Haste) - 25-Man Razorscale (ilvl 226) [mail]
2a) Belt of Clinging Hope (SP, Haste, MP5) - 25-Man Ignis (ilvl 226)
2b) Windchill Binding (SP, Haste, MP5) - 28 x Emblems of Conquest (ilvl 226) [mail]
2c) Girdle of Unyielding Trust (SP, Crit, MP5) - 28 x Emblems of Conquest (ilvl 226)
5) Plate Girdle of Righteousness (SP, Haste, MP5) - BoE Blacksmithing Pattern (ilvl 226)
6) Cable of the Metrognome (SP, Haste, MP5) - 10-Man Mimiron (ilvl 219)
7) Belt of the Iron Servant (SP, Haste, MP5) - 10-Man Iron Council (ilvl 219) [mail]
8) Blue Belt of Chaos - BoE Leatherworking Pattern (ilvl 226) [mail]

The Belt of the Fallen Wyrm is EASILY our best-in-slot. The Tier 7 best-in-slot belt was the Waistguard of Divine Grace, and it falls short of the Belt of the Fallen Wyrm but still comes out ahead of the rest of the Ulduar waists (though not by far).

Legs:
1) Conqueror's Aegis Greaves (SP, Haste, MP5) - 25-Man Freya, Tier 8.5 (ilvl 226)
2) Frostplate Greaves (SP, Crit, MP5) - 25-Man Hodir (ilvl 226)
3) Legs of the Tortured Earth (SP, Haste, MP5) - 25-Man Trash (ilvl 226) [mail]
4) Valorous Aegis Greaves (SP, Haste, MP5) - 10-Man Hodir, Tier 8.0 (ilvl 219)
5) Legplates of Flourishing Resolve (SP, Crit, MP5) - 10-Man Freya (ilvl 219)
6) Legguards of the Peaceful Covenant (SP, Haste, MP5) - 39 x Emblems of Conquest (ilvl 226)
7) Leggings of the Stoneweaver (SP, Crit, MP5) - 25-Man Kologarn (ilvl 226) [mail]
8) Leggings of the Weary Mystic (SP, Haste, MP5) - 39 x Emblems of Conquest (ilvl 226) [mail]
9) Ironscale Leggings (SP, Haste, MP5) - 10-Man Razorscale (ilvl 219) [mail]

The legs have been by far the most difficult to "rank". The first thing that I've noticed is that every single piece is itemized with MP5 . There's a lot of tradeoffs of haste for crit, not to mention socket (too many ugly blue ones at that). You could reasonably make a case for several pieces for the #1 slot, and even within the middle of the pack, there's quite a bit of leeway. Given the small discrepancy between the Conqueror's Aegis Greaves and the non-tier legs, I'd probably take the Conqueror's Aegis Greaves over the rest. The Tier 7 best-in-slot legs was the Valorous Redemption Greaves. If that were ranked in the Ulduar gear, it'd *still* compete for best-in-slot given its superior itemization.

Feet:
1) Greaves of the Rockmender (SP, Crit, MP5) - 25-Man Auriaya (ilvl 226)
2) Treads of Destiny (SP, Haste, MP5) - BoE Blacksmithing Pattern (ilvl 226)
3) Lightning Grounded Boots (SP, Crit, MP5) - BoE Leatherworking Pattern (ilvl 226) [mail]
4) Boots of the Forgotten Depths (SP, Haste, MP5) - 25-Man General Vezax (ilvl 226) [mail]
5) Greaves of the Earthbinder (SP, Crit, MP5) - 10-Man Kologarn (ilvl 219) [mail]
6) Sabatons of the Iron Watcher (SP, Crit, MP5) - 10-Man Kologarn (ilvl 219)

Yet another slot where MP5 reigns over all. There's a lot of tradeoffs here as far as crit and haste so go with what suits your playstyle/needs. The Poignant Sabatons (best-in-slot T7) are easily competitive with the top Ulduar options, and they're BoE which means you can probably *still* get them off the AH.

Rings:
1) Pyrelight Circle (SP, Haste, Crit) - 25-Man Ignis (ilvl 226)
2) Inscribed Signet of the Kirin Tor (SP, Crit, Haste) - Lower Ring + 1000g (ilvl 213)
3) Fire Orchid Signet (SP, Haste, MP5) - 10-Man Freya, Hard (ilvl 226)
4a) Radiant Seal (SP, Haste, MP5) - 25-Man Iron Council (ilvl 226)
4b) Ring of the Faithful Servant (SP, Crit, MP5) - 25-Man Auriaya (ilvl 226)
6) Glowing Ring of Reclamation (SP, Crit, Spirit) - 25-Man Flame Leviathan (ilvl 226)
7) Sanity's Bond (SP, Haste, MP5) - 25-Man Yogg-Saron (ilvl 226)
8) Lady Maye's Sapphire Ring (SP, Haste, Spirit) - 10-Man Iron Council (ilvl 219)
9) Inscribed Loop of the Kirin Tor (SP, MP5, Spirit) - Lower Ring + 1000g (ilvl 213)

To be honest, I think that the comparisons between the rings are fairly straightforward and I doubt there will be much debate over this. That said, the best-in-slot ring from Tier 7 was the Signet of Manifested Pain, and that remains best-in-slot, just ahead of the best Ulduar #1. Just as a point of reference, the #2 in slot from Tier 7 (Seized Beauty) is pretty comparable to #6 above and I'd rank it right about there. Just as a note, all the hit rings are inferior to the above, save maybe the Inscribed Loop of the Kirin Tor.

Have to add when available on wowhead:
Starshine Circle (SP, Haste, MP5) - 25-Man Algalon Quest Reward (ilvl 239)
Starshine Signet (SP, Haste, MP5) - 10-Man Algalon Quest Reward (ilvl 226)

Trinkets:
1) Pandora's Plea (Int/SP) - 25-Man Mimiron (ilvl 226)
2) Eye of the Broodmother (Crit/SP) 10-Man Razorscale (ilvl 219)
3) Scale of Fates (SP/Haste) - 25-Man Thorim (ilvl 226)
4) Sif's Remembrance (SP/MP5) - 10-Man Thorim, Hard (ilvl 226)
5) Spark of Hope (Spirit/SP Reduct) - 10-Man Unknown (ilvl 219)
6) Energy Siphon (MP5/SP) - 10-Man Flame Leviathan (ilvl 219)

It's relatively safe to label Pandora's Plea as a clear cut winner but beyond that: TBD. Trinkets by their very nature are quite difficult to weigh (ie. do I need more spell power for throughput? Regen for longevity? Something in between? etc.).

Weapons:
1) Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings (Legendary 1H Mace - SP, Crit, Haste) - 25-Man Quest (ilvl 239)
2) Constellus (1H Mace - SP, Crit, MP5) - 25-Man Hodir, Hard (ilvl 239)
3) Aesuga, Hand of the Ardent Champion (1H Mace - SP, Crit, Haste) - 10-Man Vezax, Hard (ilvl 226)
4a) Guiding Star (1H Mace - SP, Haste, MP5) - 25-Man Razorscale (ilvl 232)
4b) Runescribed Blade (1H Sword - SP, Crit, Spirit) - 25-Man Auriaya (ilvl 232)
6) Pulse Baton (1H Mace - SP, Crit, MP5) - 10-Man Mimiron (ilvl 219)

Weapons are probably the biggest disappointment of mine for all the gear that drops in Ulduar. It's a matter of taking the stats that you need/want over those that you dont. The Turning Tide still appears to be one of our top options and if you have it, I wouldn't hesitate to hold it for the duration of Ulduar raiding. With the changes in 3.1.2, I'd put it on par with Aesuga, Hand of the Ardent Champion, depending on how you'd weigh the 30 spell power difference.

Shields:
1) Wisdom's Hold (SP, Crit, Haste) - 25-Man Thorim, Hard (ilvl 239)
2) Pulsing Spellshield (SP, Crit, Haste) - 10-Man XT-002 (ilvl 219)
3) Ice Layered Barrier (SP, Haste, MP5) - 10-Man Hodir, Hard (ilvl 226)

Wisdom's Hold comes ahead of all the other shields available in Ulduar, by far. The Tier 7 best-in-slot shield was the Voice of Reason. If it were ranked in this list it'd fall just short of Wisdom's Hold, but a LONG shot ahead of the other two. (Edit: With the changes to Pulsing Spellshield in 3.1.2, I bumped it up ahead of the Ice Layered Barrier (1 sp, 10 haste, 15 mp5, 8 int for 46 crit). It's closer than it looks - take the one with the itemization you like.

Librams:
1) Libram of the Resolute (SP) - 25-Man Auriaya (ilvl 226)

The one and only libram available from Ulduar. Too bad it's inferior compared to the Libram of Renewal that we have come to love.

Nice list.

About the only the only point of disagreement would be Unfaltering Armguards, But perhaps I placing too much importance on the ability to stack Int in that slot. But long term I woud be looking at mail for that slot regardless,

Why would you not use the spark of hope?

If you're chain casting FOL at 1.1s per cast it's the equivalent of 190 mp5 in savings. If you're chain casting holy light at say 1.4s per cast, it's the equivalent of 149 mp5.

As a comparison, 4 pc t7 works out to about 63 less mana per holy light, so it's about 2/3rds as good as 4 pc t7 and stacks with 4 pc t7 (as far as we know.)

None of the other trinkets touch that from a sustainability standpoint.

If you're including mail in the list would [Bindings of Winter Gale] not be an option for the bracers slot?

Very nice list ;D I'm looking forward to what drops from Algalon. Maybe there'll be some nice stuff for us from him ;p

Thank you for including the comparisons for BIS gear from T7 content, that's quite useful.

Does the BIS gear from T8 content outweigh the 4pc set bonus of T7/7.5?

I wouldn't touch Spark of Hope for two simple reasons:

1) I don't have mana problems. Most other Paladins in Ulduar should be in a similar situation.
2) Spirit

The more I think about it, the worse this trinket gets for Paladins. It essentially has the two worst stats a Paladin could ask for (spirit, mp5), so I'm not sure why any Paladin would want it. You'd get much better value from several others.

@op...solid list. Like someone mentioned, there are a couple places I'd disagree with, but nothing completely out of line.

Ignore the spirit, and don't even think about this as mp5. It's the exact same type of effect you get out of wearing 4 piece T7 or the libram of renewal or glyph of seal of wisdom. All of these can be stated as an MP5 equivalent. Why wouldn't you wear a trinket that's 2/3rds as good as 4 piece T7 and should stack with it?

Reducing the cost of spells is an amazingly powerful ability, and I'm pretty sure you'll get more out of -42 mana per spell than you will out of the 108 int on pandora's plea, unless you're actually wearing that for the random spell power effect, but I assume you're not.

edit: i'll start another thread for discussion of spark of hope...

Better remove Spark of Hope from the list imho, or some newbie healadins will start pointing their guilds to here when ninjaing this trinket from priests and druids and say "Look, the professionals also recommend this trinket for healadins!"

I agree with Wakeman on that one. And the spark of hope is only active wile casting so any displacement/downtime will get you no mana at all. I agree that trinket like Pandora's Plea will give you less mana return than Spark of Hope but sins mana is not an issue yet i would got for Pandora's Plea or any other that give INT/SP/Crit/Haste .

Yeah, I'll likely be turning to mail on this one as well. In the mean time, the Bracers of Liberation still stand VERY strong relative to the Ulduar ones.



I *really* haven't done the math on this just yet.

Re: Spark of Hope - I'm not 100% with you guys on this, but there's a new thread that was created as a tangent to this so I'll drop this topic here. I certainly recognize that there's a strong argument for using Spark of Hope, if nothing else. That said, I'll edit the OP.

I *really* haven't done the math on this just yet.

Can Someone Post The 4 Set Bonuses for both t7.5 and 8.5? I cant see them from my work computer.

t8 Your sacred sheild now triggers every 4 seconds, note they improved it from the initial bonus which was something like ss absorbs 10% more.
Its actually a reasonable bonus, Think of it this way , in BIS you have perhaps 2 more 2500 absorbs every 12 seconds. But absorbs are not recorded properly so its bonus nobody will every notice.

t7 the cost of Holy light is reduced by 5%

As to the question. is T8 worth wearing over t7?. Generally yes once you have the 4pce. The pants are the weakest slot. But worth wearing if you have the hard mode chest.

Is a mix of hard mode mail and Plate>t8? No idea. I suspect so.

To be honest, given the sheer amount of loot that a Holy Paladin would *gladly* take whether it's Plate or Mail (I *hate* wearing cloth/leather), as well as the mix of hard mode versus normal mode best-in-slot pieces, I'll probably be quickly evaluating every piece that drops as it drops in raids. A "best-in-slot list" of this type I think is more useful in knowing what's out there and how they range in stats, and how they compare with Naxx/OS bis pieces, rather than a list of pieces that I refuse to spend DKP on unless it's #1 or #2 bis.

Honestly I will not go for t8.5 set. I'll go for best in slot being that the set bonuses dont equate to almost nothing.

I'm pretty sure I'll be taking 4pc T8.5 (chest as the offset) simply because it looks sick.

Uh, if by almost nothing you mean it doesn't affect your healing meters very much, then yeah, you're right.

If by almost nothing you mean that the 4-pc set bonus is crap, then I'm gonna have to disagree with you - especially if you're MT healing.

Great list, thx
On the trinkets i would preffer Soul of the Dead + Pandora´s Plea combo

I see alot of pallies wearing these

Boots of Healing Energies

But you got Poignant Sabatons Ranked over them. I also have em and in the program Rawr they also have them ranked over Poignant Sabatons

-less haste
-less int

I don't see the confusion.

I haven't seen any pallies wearing them, and that's because there is no need as Poignant Sabatons are a free best in slot (pre 3.1, can still use them now but I would rather rockmender, and make up the haste elsewhere) slot because they are BOE.

One thing to note, all addons, and meters are to be used with the required know how.
Rawr ranks according to the expected encounter style, and is highly configurable to match as close as possible to real time situations. By default, it uses a long fight model, in which mana regen is being valued much higher than crit/haste as they belong to burst heal situations.

Yes crit returns mana too, but cant be compared to actual mana pool stats(int) and mana regen stats(mp5).

Go to the third tab and move the slider to match the encounter. In most encounters, you will see mp5's value dropping quickly. Look at the blue and red bars on the right side where you do gear comparison, while configuring the fight. Be sure to check out all configurations (HL/FoL%, HS usage, Sacred Shield uptime etc) and you will see why the BoE remains BiS.