Retribution Paladin Guide — Class Guides · WoW Wrath of the Lich King

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, Player versus player, Leveling
Top talent: Divine Storm
Popular builds: 3
Version: WoW Wrath of the Lich King

How to play

Retribution in Wrath is a top melee spec and brings Replenishment to the raid through Judgements of the Wise. Crusader Strike, Divine Storm, Judgement, Consecration and Exorcism (instant when The Art of War procs) make up the rotation, and Avenging Wrath adds burst.

Retribution uses a priority, often called 'first come, first served': whichever ability is ready goes next in a fixed order. Hammer of Wrath below 20% health, then Judgement, Crusader Strike, Divine Storm, Consecration, and Exorcism when The Art of War makes it instant.

Retribution also has Hand of Protection, Divine Shield and its own heals for emergencies, which makes it a forgiving 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 Wrath of the Lich King.

Rotation and priorities

1Seal of Vengeance (Alliance) or Seal of Corruption (Horde); Seal of Command on many targets.
2Hammer of Wrath on targets below 20% health.
3Judgement whenever it is ready.
4Crusader Strike, then Divine Storm, whenever they are ready.
5Consecration when it will hit for its full duration.
6Exorcism when The Art of War makes it instant; Avenging Wrath with trinkets and Heroism.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Replenishment for the raid.
Strong, forgiving damage.
Plate, heals and Hand of Protection.

Weaknesses

Few ways to close distance.
Moving targets waste Consecration.
Damage leans on procs in arenas.

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
Hitto 263 rating
2
Strength
3
Expertiseto 26
4
Critical strike
5
Haste
6
Armour penetration

What to look for

A two-handed weapon with high damage: Crusader Strike and Divine Storm scale with it.
Hit and expertise first, then Strength and crit.
Strength gems in red sockets.

Items worth chasing

ShadowmourneThe legendary two-handed axe.
Deathbringer's WillA trinket that procs Strength, Agility or haste.
Tiny Abomination in a JarA trinket that stores up a free extra attack.
Darkmoon Card: GreatnessA trinket that procs your best stat.

Builds

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

Holy
Protection
Retribution

Retribution Raider
DamagePvE
1155
11/5/55
Raid damage with 55 points in Retribution, down to Divine Storm, and 11 in Holy and 5 in Protection.
- Swift Retribution 3/3
- Crusader Strike 1/1
- Sheath of Light 3/3
- Righteous Vengeance 3/3
- Divine Storm 1/1
Glyphs: Glyph of Seal of Vengeance (major), Glyph of Judgement (major), Glyph of Reckoning (major), Glyph of Sense Undead (minor), Glyph of Lay on Hands (minor), Glyph of Blessing of Kings (minor)
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting
Retribution Gladiator
DamagePvP
1952
0/19/52
Arena and battleground damage with 52 points in Retribution, down to Divine Storm, and 19 in Protection.
- Repentance 1/1
- Crusader Strike 1/1
- Sheath of Light 3/3
- Righteous Vengeance 2/3
- Divine Storm 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting
Retribution Leveling
DamageLeveling
1655
0/16/55
Leveling with 55 points in Retribution, down to Divine Storm, and 16 in Protection.
- Swift Retribution 3/3
- Crusader Strike 1/1
- Sheath of Light 3/3
- Righteous Vengeance 3/3
- Divine Storm 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level

Key talents

Divine Storm · top talent, up to 1
An instant weapon attack that causes 110% of weapon damage to up to 4 enemies within 8 yards. The Divine Storm heals up to 3 party or raid members totaling 25% of the damage caused.
The Art of War · tier 7, up to 2
Increases the damage of your Judgement, Crusader Strike and Divine Storm abilities by 10% and when your melee attacks critically hit your next Flash of Light or Exorcism spell becomes instant cast.
Repentance · tier 7, up to 1
Puts the enemy target in a state of meditation, incapacitating them for up to 1 min, and removing the effect of Righteous Vengeance. Any damage caused will awaken the target. Usable against Demons, Dragonkin, Giants, Humanoids and Undead.
Judgements of the Wise · tier 7, up to 3
Your damaging Judgement spells have a 100% chance to grant the Replenishment effect to up to 10 party or raid members mana regeneration equal to 1% of their maximum mana per 5 sec for 15 sec, and to immediately grant you 25% of your base mana.
Fanaticism · tier 8, up to 3
Increases the critical strike chance of all Judgements capable of a critical hit by 18% and reduces threat caused by all actions by 30% except when under the effects of Righteous Fury.
Sanctified Wrath · tier 8, up to 2
Increases the critical strike chance of Hammer of Wrath by 50%, reduces the cooldown of Avenging Wrath by 60 secs and while affected by Avenging Wrath 50% of all damage caused bypasses damage reduction effects.
Swift Retribution · tier 9, up to 3
Your auras also increase casting, ranged and melee attack speeds by 3%.
Crusader Strike · tier 9, up to 1
An instant strike that causes 75% weapon damage.
Sheath of Light · tier 9, up to 3
Increases your spell power by an amount equal to 30% of your attack power and your critical healing spells heal the target for 60% of the healed amount over 12 seconds.
Righteous Vengeance · tier 10, up to 3
When your Judgement, Crusader Strike and Divine Storm spells deal a critical strike, your target will take 30% additional damage over 8 sec.

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.