Skip to content
Wowcalc

Retribution Paladin Guide — Class Guides · WoW Forever

Two-handed melee damage from seals and judgements, with crits and utility for the group. The usual leveling tree.

A plate-wearing holy warrior who heals with the Light, protects with blessings, auras and seals, and fights in melee. Paladins heal, tank or deal damage with a two-handed weapon. More about the paladin

Class
Paladin
Roles
Damage
Used for
Raids and dungeons, Leveling
Top talent
Twist of Light
Popular builds
2
Version
WoW Forever

How to play

Retribution in WoW Forever is a two-handed melee spec built around Holy Strike, Seal of Command and Vengeance. Sacred Arbiter makes Holy Strike stronger and refreshes your Judgements, Champion of the Light turns Intellect into spell damage, and Instrument of Law makes Hammer of Wrath faster.

Twist of Light is the spec's signature: when you replace one Seal with another, your next swing also applies the old Seal. Swapping Seals at the right time adds damage, and Twist of Light also makes Seals cheaper.

Sanctified Judgement refunds mana from every Judgement and Holy Conduit makes your spells cheaper, so Retribution is a strong, steady leveling spec.

At a glance

Single-target damage
Damage to groups
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Forever.

Rotation and priorities

  1. 1Seal of Command up and swing.
  2. 2Holy Strike whenever it is ready.
  3. 3Judgement when ready, then a new Seal: Twist of Light echoes the old one.
  4. 4Exorcism on undead and demons; Hammer of Wrath on targets below 20% health.
  5. 5Consecration on packs.
  6. 6Hammer of Justice to interrupt or stop a runner.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

  • Twist of Light rewards skilled Seal swapping.
  • Champion of the Light lets Intellect add damage.
  • Mana-efficient leveling.

Weaknesses

  • Getting the most from Twist of Light takes practice.
  • Damage swings with Seal of Command procs.
  • Few ways to catch a runner.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

  1. 1

    Weapon damageslow two-handers for Seal of Command

  2. 2

    Strength2 attack power each

  3. 3

    Critical strikeVengeance

  4. 4

    Hit

  5. 5

    IntellectChampion of the Light turns it into spell damage

  6. 6

    Spell damage

What to look for

  • The slowest two-hander you can get: Seal of Command procs harder with slow weapons.
  • Strength and crit, with more Intellect than in Classic thanks to Champion of the Light.
  • Crusader on the weapon.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

  • Holy
  • Protection
  • Retribution

  • Champion of the Light

    DamagePvE
    8/8/35

    Two-handed Retribution: Seal of Command and Vengeance build on crits, Champion of the Light adds spell damage, and Twist of Light rewards swapping seals.

    • Sacred Arbiter 1/1
    • Repentance 1/1
    • Champion of the Light 3/3
    • Instrument of Law 2/2
    • Twist of Light 1/1

    Open in the talent calculatorTheorycrafting

  • Sanctified Wanderer

    DamageLeveling
    15/0/36

    Retribution leveling: Sanctified Judgement refunds mana from every Judgement, Pursuit of Justice speeds travel, and Seal of Command with Vengeance ends fights fast.

    • Sacred Arbiter 1/1
    • Repentance 1/1
    • Champion of the Light 3/3
    • Instrument of Law 1/2
    • Twist of Light 1/1

    Open in the talent calculatorTheorycrafting

Key talents

  • Twist of Light · top talent, up to 1

    Reduces the Mana cost of your Seal spells by 20%, and when you replace your Seal of Command, Seal of Righteousness, Seal of Fury, or Seal of Justice with a different Seal, you gain an Echo of that Seal. Your next melee attack applies the replaced Seal's effects, consuming the Echo.

  • Vindication · tier 3, up to 3

    Gives your damaging melee attacks a chance to reduce the target's Attack Power by 200, and increase your Attack Power by 3% for 30 sec.

  • Sanctified Judgement · tier 3, up to 3

    Gives your Judgement ability a 100% chance to return 60% of the Mana cost of the judged seal.

  • Seal of Command · tier 3, up to 1

    Gives the Paladin a chance to deal additional Holy damage equal to 70% of normal weapon damage. Only one Seal can be active on the Paladin at any one time. Lasts 30 sec. Unleashing this Seal's energy will judge an enemy, instantly causing 70.5 Holy damage, 137 to 145 if the target is stunned or incapacitated.

  • Sacred Arbiter · tier 4, up to 1

    Increases the damage of your Holy Strike ability by 20% and causes it to refresh all Judgement effects on the target.

  • Two-Handed Weapon Specialization · tier 5, up to 3

    Increases the damage you deal with two-handed melee weapons by 6%.

  • Vengeance · tier 5, up to 3

    Increases your Physical and Holy damage dealt by 3% for 30 sec after landing a non-periodic critical strike. Stacks up to 3 times.

  • Repentance · tier 5, up to 1

    Puts the enemy target in a state of meditation, incapacitating them for up to 6 sec. Any damage caused will awaken the target. Only works against Humanoids.

  • Champion of the Light · tier 6, up to 3

    Increases your spell damage by up to 30% of your Intellect.

  • Instrument of Law · tier 6, up to 2

    Reduces the cast time of your Hammer of Wrath by 1.0 sec, and reduces all threat you generate by 20% while Righteous Fury is not active.

Retribution abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.

What WoW Forever changed

New talents in this tree

  • Holy ConduitReduces the mana cost of your Consecration, Holy Wrath, Exorcism, and Hammer of Wrath spells by 40%.
  • Sanctified JudgementGives your Judgement ability a 100% chance to return 60% of the Mana cost of the judged seal.
  • Sacred ArbiterIncreases the damage of your Holy Strike ability by 20% and causes it to refresh all Judgement effects on the target.
  • Champion of the LightIncreases your spell damage by up to 30% of your Intellect.
  • Instrument of LawReduces the cast time of your Hammer of Wrath by 1.0 sec, and reduces all threat you generate by 20% while Righteous Fury is not active.
  • Twist of LightReduces the Mana cost of your Seal spells by 20%, and when you replace your Seal of Command, Seal of Righteousness, Seal of Fury, or Seal of Justice with a different Seal, you gain an Echo of that Seal. Your next melee attack applies the replaced Seal's effects, consuming the Echo.

Classic Era talents the class no longer has

  • Improved Blessing of Might
  • Improved Seal of the Crusader
  • Improved Retribution Aura
  • Sanctity Aura

Spells

New: Holy Strike. Changed: Blessing of Might, Seal of the Crusader, Seal of Command, Repentance, Greater Blessing of Might.

Related

Other paladin specs: Holy, Protection