Retribution Paladin DPS Guide - Midnight (12.0.1)

As one of the oldest classes in Azeroth, the Retribution Paladin remains a popular melee DPS specialization in World of Warcraft thanks to its strength and versatility. In this WoW The War Within Retribution Paladin Guide, we’ll cover the key principles of playing this spec, including skills, talents, gear, enhancement tips, and more.

Retribution Paladin Overview

Retribution is the melee DPS spec of Paladin. It can use the wide array of utility options that Paladin is known for, including its sought-after Auras, along with some incredibly strong defensive and healing abilities. Retribution is one of the most popular specs in the game due to its strong class fantasy and good all-round utility toolkit.

Retribution Paladin Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• Brings a raid-wide Aura buff with Devotion Aura.
• Wide variety of utility options, including Blessing of Protection, Blessing of Sacrifice, and Blessing of Freedom.
• Strong defensive cooldowns, including Divine Shield, Divine Protection, and Shield of Vengeance.

Weaknesses

• Utility spells can be very niche or unnecessary in some high-end content.
• Mobility options are limited, and are poor at dealing with knockback effects.
• Has a relatively low skill ceiling, where making the effort to improve beyond the basics is not rewarded as much as other DPS.

Retribution Paladin Basic Gameplay

Retribution gameplay revolves around managing your Holy Power and maximizing the cooldowns and GCDs of your abilities. It can sometimes be reactive, but it is usually very helpful to plan your casts several spells ahead in order to not accidentally waste Holy Power, especially during cooldowns.

There are two main builds with different methods of Holy Power generation. Crusading Strikes is the most popular by far, and it includes a lot more passive Holy Power generation but has a significant amount of downtime in its rotation. Templar Strikes is the alternative, which will require a bit more focus on maximizing individual GCDs and generally has more control over its Holy Power generation.

Retribution Paladin Changes in Patch 11.2

Retribution received several nerfs to Divine Hammer along with buffs to many other abilities:

• Divine Hammer: Cooldown increased to 2 minutes, duration increased to 10 seconds, buff extension per Holy Power spent reduced to 0.3 seconds, damage increased by 12%.
• Final Verdict: Damage increased by 10%.
• Divine Arbiter: Damage increased by 25%.
• Judgment: Damage increased by 30%.
• Blade of Justice: Damage increased by 15%.
• Crusading Strikes: Damage increased by 30%.
• Highlord's Judgment: Damage increased by 30%.
• Wrathful Descent: Damage reduced by 20%.
• Empyrean Hammer: Damage increased by 10%.
• Hammer of Light: Primary target damage increased by 5%.
• Divine Storm: Damage increased by 10%.
• Wake of Ashes: Damage increased by 10%, Seething Flames by 20%, and Truth's Wake by 20%.

These adjustments make it nearly impossible to maintain Divine Hammer beyond 30 seconds. While still strong for Templar, talents that relied on its permanent uptime, like Empyrean Legacy, are now far less effective.

Seasonal Updates

Patch 11.2 introduces new tier sets with Hero Talent-specific bonuses. These cause no rotational changes for Herald of the Sun and only minor adjustments for Templar.

A new Legendary cloak, Reshii Wraps, has also been added, offering powerful passive effects.

Retribution Paladin Leveling Guide for The War Within

Retribution Paladin Leveling Playstyle

Retribution Paladin is a spec with a lot of burst AoE cooldowns available. It is best for fighting large groups of enemies while solo questing or dealing great AoE damage in dungeons. You will want to tag as many enemies as possible with ranged abilities like Judgment to group them up, then use your cooldowns like Avenging Wrath and Wake of Ashes to quickly take them down.

Leveling Gear for Retribution Paladin

In general, you will want to equip the highest item level gear you find as you level. Retribution Paladin values Strength more than any specific combination of secondary stats, and you'll generally replace gear quickly as you continue to level.

Retribution Paladin PvP Talents for Leveling

1. Lawbringer causes Judgment to apply an additional debuff to targets hit for 1 minute. Casting Judgment again causes all enemies with your Lawbringer effect to suffer up to 4% of their maximum Health in Holy damage.
2. Aura of Reckoning  will occasionally proc a few seconds of Avenging Wrath and buff your next auto-attack.
3. Luminescence buffs your damage and healing by a small amount when you heal yourself.

Retribution Paladin Healing Spec, Builds, and Talents

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Copy the Retribution Paladin talents, paste them into the game.

Templar Single-Target

Templar Mythic+

PvP Talents (War Mode)

"War Mode" is an opt-in feature that enables cross-faction PvP combat in the open world. Enabling War Mode provides the following benefits:

• PvP talents enabled in the outdoor world.
• 10% increase in World Quest rewards at maximum level.
• 10% more experience gained while leveling.
• Earn Conquest Points, which can reward gear every week.

With the benefits of enabling War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is recommended enabling the feature to maximize your leveling and rewards at maximum level. However, you will make yourself available for open-world PvP, and the possibility of being "ganked" while leveling or doing World Quests exists.

Retribution Paladin War Mode Talents

These recommendations are made based on usefulness in open-world PvE content. For PvP talents, see the guide above.

• Lawbringer provides a small bonus to Judgment  damage when cast again.
• Luminescence buffs your damage and healing by a small amount when you heal.
• Aura of Reckoning will occasionally proc a few seconds of Avenging Wrath and buff your next auto-attack.

Other War Mode talents are more focused on CC effects, which are generally not as useful for open-world content as flat damage increases.

Best Hero Talents for Retribution Paladin in The War Within

Raiding Hero Talents for Retribution Paladin

Templar

Templar is significantly stronger Herald of the Sun on overall damage. It is the best choice by a wide margin in all situations.

Herald of the Sun

Herald of the Sun currently performs poorly compared to Templar in all situations. If you choose to play it you will do drastically less damage.

Mythic+ Hero Talents for Retribution Paladin

Templar

Templar has strong options for both single-target and AoE damage, and is the best overall tree for both situations.

Herald of the Sun

Herald of the Sun currently performs poorly compared to Templar in all situations. If you choose to play it you will do drastically less damage.

Retribution Paladin DPS Stat Priority

The Basics of Stats for Retribution Paladin

Unlike most other seasons, Retribution now has a strong preference for one specific secondary stat - Mastery. You should aim to get as much of it as possible without sacrificing a significant amount of item level or other stats. That said, in general, the best gearing strategy will be to use Raidbots to compare different gearsets.

Your general stat priority will be:

1. Strength
2. Mastery/Critical Strike
3. Haste
4. Versatility.

Although Critical Strike is not an especially strong stat on single-target, it becomes a lot stronger on AoE for Templar due to Wrathful Descent.

There are no stat breakpoints that you should aim for specifically for any stat or any build. Mastery technically has a breakpoint at 88.89% where it will always proc, but this is not currently realistic to achieve.

As mentioned above, these priorities should only be considered a general guide. There could be many gearing situations where stats ranked lower here end up being more valuable than ones ranked highly. Using simulations to help determine your gear will always be a better method since the relative value of stats can change significantly as you change your gear.

For the best gems, enchants, and consumables to use, see the dedicated guide for them:

Retribution Paladin Stats Explained

Strength increases the damage of all your abilities and will generally be a higher priority stat than any secondary stat. As a result, item level will usually trump any other stat-specific comparisons since Strength increases significantly with item level on all non-jewelry slots.

Haste is valuable due to the resource generation it provides via Crusading Strikes, as well as reducing the cooldowns of all your major Holy Power generators. However, with Templar Strikes, it loses some value, as Templar Strikes itself has a flat 1-second GCD that is not reduced by Haste.

Versatility increases all damage done and reduces damage taken. It does not have any innate synergies with any talents or abilities but ends up becoming more valuable as you gain more of other secondary stats. Notably, Versatility also increases the damage done of trinkets and other damage effects from items, which can make it more valuable when these effects make up a larger portion of your total damage.

Critical Strike does gain some value from talents like Adjudication and Heart of the Crusader, which increase the amount of damage that critical hits deal. Art of War also has a higher chance to trigger from melees that critically hit, which can make Crit more valuable than simply the damage increase itself.

Mastery increases the damage of all of your abilities that deal Holy damage. This includes abilities that deal Holystrike or Radiant damage, as they also count as Holy for the purposes of Highlord's Judgment. It also gives Judgment a chance to deal extra Holy damage when cast, and this chance can be increased with a number of talents.

Retribution Paladin DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities

Single-Target Rotation for Retribution Paladin

Retribution follows a priority for its rotation, as listed below. Start from the top and work your way down the list until you reach an ability with all criteria met, and that will be the best one to cast for the situation.

1. Cast Divine Hammer.
2. Cast Execution Sentence.
3. Cast Hammer of Light.
4. Cast Final Verdict if you have 5 Holy Power.
5. Cast Blade of Justice if Expurgation is not active.
6. Cast Wake of Ashes.
7. Cast Divine Toll if you have 3 or less Holy Power.
8. Cast Final Verdict with 3–4 Holy Power.
9. Cast Judgment if you have 3 or less Holy Power.
10. Cast Blade of Justice.
11. Cast Hammer of Wrath with 4 Holy Power or less. Cast with 3 Holy Power or less against targets below 20% Health while using Vanguard's Momentum.

You need to manage two resources when playing Retribution: Holy Power and time. Most of your damage comes from generating and spending Holy Power, and increasing the efficiency of this loop will directly improve your damage output.

To optimize Holy Power generation, you need to consider both cooldown-based generators and periodic effects that provide Holy Power, such as Crusading Strikes and Divine Resonance. Always be mindful of minimizing Holy Power waste. You don’t want to keep generating Holy Power when you’re already at the cap of 5, just to put an ability on cooldown.

You should also think ahead — for example, whether you’ll gain Holy Power within the next GCD — before using a generator that would push you to the cap. Although Retribution Paladins have traditionally prioritized using generators as soon as possible, the current design favors spending Holy Power immediately once you have enough for a spender.

Single-Target Opener for Retribution Paladin

For your opener, you will want to cast the abilities in the order listed here before moving on to the regular rotation priority.

1. Cast Blade of Justice to apply Expurgation.
2. Cast Divine Toll to generate Holy Power.
3. Cast Judgment to generate Holy Power.
4. Cast Divine Hammer.
5. Cast Execution Sentence.
6. Cast Wake of Ashes.
7. Cast Hammer of Light.
8. Continue with the regular priority listed below.

Your goal in your opener should be to start generating Holy Power before activating your cooldowns, setting up for a strong burst window. When not using Radiant Glory, you can cast Execution Sentence before Avenging Wrath to save an extra GCD. This works because Execution Sentence is buffed by Avenging Wrath when it lands, not when it is cast.

AoE Rotation for Retribution Paladin

Retribution follows a priority for its rotation, as listed below. Start from the top and work your way down the list until you reach an ability with all criteria met, and that will be the best one to cast for the situation.

1. Cast Divine Hammer.
2. Cast Execution Sentence.
3. Cast Hammer of Light.
4. Cast Final Verdict if you have 25 stacks of Divine Arbiter or Empyrean Legacy active and 5 Holy Power.
5. Cast Divine Storm if you have 5 Holy Power.
6. Cast Wake of Ashes.
7. Cast Divine Toll if you have 1 or less Holy Power.
8. Cast Final Verdict if you have 25 stacks of Divine Arbiter or Empyrean Legacy active and 3–4 Holy Power.
9. Cast Divine Storm with 3–4 Holy Power.
10. Cast Blade of Justice.
11. Cast Judgment if you have 3 or less Holy Power.
12. Cast Hammer of Wrath.

The philosophy behind the AoE rotation is essentially the same as the single-target rotation. Refer to the section above for more details. You should switch to the AoE rotation when facing two or more targets.

With Judge, Jury and Executioner, Empyrean Legacy, or Divine Arbiter, you'll occasionally want to cast Final Verdict to trigger its free AoE effect. Be sure to track these buffs so you can use them effectively when they appear.

Retribution Paladin Cooldown & Trinket Notes

There are two types of on-use trinkets you will typically use: trinkets that deal direct damage and trinkets that provide a stat bonus.

For stat bonus trinkets, usage is straightforward. You should pair them with Avenging Wrath or Crusade, unless the encounter will end before their cooldowns align again. When using Radiant Glory, you can rotate multiple on-use stat trinkets by syncing them with alternating cooldowns. When using both 1.5-minute and 2-minute cooldown trinkets, it's best to activate the 1.5-minute trinket first to reduce cooldown conflicts.

For on-use damage trinkets, usage varies depending on the trinket. Avenging Wrath doesn't increase trinket damage directly, but it does boost critical strike chance. Instant damage trinkets like Spare Meat Hook should be used during Avenging Wrath to benefit from the crit bonus. Note that Crusade does not enhance trinket damage.

Divine Hammer is a cooldown extended by using Holy Power spenders. These extensions have a 1-second internal cooldown, which becomes important during Crusade or Bloodlust. To optimize the duration of Divine Hammer, avoid casting two Holy Power spenders back-to-back during these periods. Instead, alternate between spenders and generators each GCD.

Retribution Paladin DPS Gems and Consumables

Best Gems for Retribution Paladin

You will generally want to use Culminating Blasphemite in your first socket and Quick Onyx in your other sockets. You can also use gems of other colors with Mastery as a secondary stat to increase the effect of Culminating Blasphemite; however, the difference is not significant.

Best Flask for Retribution Paladin

In general, Flask of Alchemical Chaos is the best flask to use, as it provides the most secondary stats. Flask of Tempered Mastery is a viable alternative that can also perform well if you have very little Mastery.

Best Combat Potion for Retribution Paladin

The best potion to use is Tempered Potion. It increases your secondary stats significantly for its duration.

Best Health Potion for Retribution Paladin

Invigorating Healing Potion is the best option you have for a health potion.

Best Food for Retribution Paladin

Jester's Board and other similar food that buffs your highest secondary stat, which should be Mastery, are the best food to use.

Best Weapon Runes for Retribution Paladin

Algari Mana Oil is the best weapon rune to use. Ironclaw Whetstone is an alternative option.

Augment Runes for Retribution Paladin

If you want to use them, Crystallized Augment Rune is the best choice.

Best Enchants for Retribution Paladin in The War Within

Slot	Enchantment
Necklace	Magnificent Jeweler's Setting (adds up to 2 sockets to a Ring or Neck)
Weapon	Enchant Weapon - Authority of the Depths
Chest	Enchant Chest - Crystalline Radiance
Bracers	Enchant Bracer - Chant of Armored Avoidance
Legs	Stormbound Armor Kit
Boots	Enchant Boots - Scout's March
Rings	Enchant Ring - Radiant Mastery
Cloak	Enchant Cloak - Chant of Winged Grace

Retribution Paladin DPS Gear and Best in Slot

This section will cover everything you need to know about equipping your character correctly.

BiS Gear for Retribution Paladins

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Lightmane of the Lucent Battalion	Matrix Catalyst
Neck	Salhadaar's Folly	Nexus-King Salhadaar in Manaforge Omega
Shoulder	Chargers of the Lucent Battalion	Matrix Catalyst
Cloak	Reshii Wraps	Reshii Wraps
Chest	Cuirass of the Lucent Battalion	Matrix Catalyst
Bracers	Everforged Vambraces	Crafted
Gloves	Protectors of the Lucent Battalion	Matrix Catalyst
Belt	Everforged Greatbelt	Crafted
Legs	Cuisses of the Lucent Battalion	Matrix Catalyst
Boots	Interloper's Plated Sabatons	The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega
Ring #1	Logic Gate: Omega	Forgeweaver Araz in Manaforge Omega
Ring #2	Logic Gate: Alpha	Plexus Sentinel in Manaforge Omega
Trinket #1	Screams of a Forgotten Sky	Dimensius in Manaforge Omega
Trinket #2	Astral Antenna	Loom'ithar in Manaforge Omega
Weapon	Photon Sabre Prime	Forgeweaver Araz in Manaforge Omega

Best Trinkets for Retribution Paladin in The War Within Season 3

Retribution has several decent options for trinkets from both Mythic+ and Manaforge Omega:

• Astral Antenna - Passive Crit proc effect. This will require you to run into the orbs it spawns to gain its effect, but it is stronger than other passive trinkets.
• Screams of a Forgotten Sky - Passive damage proc that does increasing damage for subsequent procs. This is strong on single-target and is also decent on AoE when enemies are dying at different rates, but is less powerful on sustained AoE.
• Araz's Ritual Forge - On-use trinket that provides a large amount of Strength. It can be used with your regular cooldowns as it lines up with all of them.
• Improvised Seaforium Pacemaker - Passive Crit proc effect. The internal cooldown lets it line up perfectly with cooldowns.
• Ara-Kara Sacbrood - Passive effect that applies a small DoT and increases your Strength.

Other options are not as strong, but include:

• Eradicating Arcanocore - Passive damage proc effect. It occurs slightly more often when you are only fighting one target.
• Signet of the Priory - On-use trinket that provides a secondary stat buff. This can also just be used along with regular cooldowns.

The War Within Season 3 Tier Set for Retribution Paladin

The Tier Set bonuses for The War Within Season 3 for Retribution Paladin are as follows:

Templar

• Paladin Templar 11.2 Class Set 2pc: Empyrean Hammer deals 20% increased critical strike damage, and its critical strikes have a 50% chance to grant an extra stack of Light's Deliverance.
• Paladin Templar 11.2 Class Set 4pc: Hammer of Light deals 35% more damage to its primary target, hits 3 additional secondary targets, and can be cast once more after Wake of Ashes.

Herald of the Sun

• Paladin Herald of the Sun 11.2 Class Set 2pc: Dawnlight healing and damage increased by 30%, and you gain Solar Wrath after Crusade ends, extending Sun's Avatar by 5 seconds.
• Paladin Herald of the Sun 11.2 Class Set 4pc: Solar Wrath increases the effectiveness of your Holy Power spenders by 15% and grants 1 Dawnlight.

These set bonuses strengthen the effects of Hero Talents. You should aim to acquire them quickly and keep them equipped at all times.

Addons for Retribution Paladin

Generic Addons

• ElvUI
• Boss Mods
  • Deadly Boss Mods
  • BigWigs
• GTFO
• Parrot or Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
• Recount / Skada / Details!
• Weak Auras
• TellMeWhen
• Omen Threat Meter
• Hekili

WeakAuras for Retribution Paladin

WeakAuras is an essential tool for Retribution Paladin and DPS players, offering unparalleled customization to enhance your gameplay. Rather than focusing on specific examples, we recommend exploring Wago.io, where you’ll find an extensive library of WeakAuras to suit your needs.

If you are unfamiliar with WeakAuras, it is an incredibly powerful and widely-used AddOn that allows you to create custom displays for nearly everything in the game. This includes tracking buffs, debuffs, cooldowns, Focus, resources, and much more.

To import a WeakAura, visit Wago.io and select one that fits your preferences. Click the "Copy WeakAura Import String" button to copy it to your clipboard. Next, log into the game and type /wa in the chat box to open the WeakAuras interface. Navigate to the "Import" section, press Ctrl+V to paste the copied string, and click "Import". You’re ready to go!

Mastering WeakAuras and customizing it to your playstyle is highly recommended for any serious raider. With countless options available on Wago.io, you can tailor your interface to optimize your performance and focus on what truly matters in combat.

Retribution Paladin Frequently Asked Questions

Are There Any Relevant Stat Breakpoints?

No, there aren’t any significant stat breakpoints for Retribution Paladins. While there are minor Haste thresholds that could theoretically grant an extra global cooldown (GCD) within a cooldown window, these are inconsistent due to abilities like Rush of Light, which can randomly provide Haste.

The best way to determine your optimal stats and gear is to simulate your character using tools like Raidbots, which evaluate thousands of iterations to find the best average outcome for your build.

Should I Use the Crusading Strikes or Templar Strikes Build?

Both Crusading Strikes and Templar Strikes are viable options, with only a small performance difference of a few percent. The Crusading Strikes build is more popular, but if you prefer the playstyle of Templar Strikes, you can use it without putting yourself at a significant disadvantage.

If you opt for Crusading Strikes, tracking your auto-attacks will help you predict your Holy Power generation and optimize your rotation.

Which Race is Best for Retribution?

The difference between races for Retribution Paladins is minimal, so you can comfortably choose whichever race you enjoy the most. However, for those seeking the best throughput:

• Horde: Tauren offers the highest performance due to their racial abilities.
• Alliance: Human is the top choice, with Dwarf being a close second.

Ultimately, the racial difference is small enough that aesthetics and personal preference should take priority.