Mists of Pandaria Classic Retribution Paladin Guide

Retribution Paladin remains one of the strongest melee DPS in Mists of Pandaria. Retribution offers a unique, constantly changing rotation thanks to our Sanctity of Battle ability which reduces the cool down of your Holy Power generating abilities based on how much Haste your character has. Retribution Paladin operates primarily on a priority system based around generating as much Holy Power as possible with Holy Power generating abilities like Crusader Strike and Judgment and spending Holy Power without going over the cap on abilities like Templar's Verdict and Inquisition

Yes! Retribution Paladin remains one of the most highly sought-after melee DPS in Mists of Pandaria. Retribution Paladin not only offers a considerable amount of DPS in both single target and AOE, but it also provides incredibly powerful buffs like Blessing of Might and Blessing of Kings to bolster your group. Retribution Paladin brings some unique utility in the form of 'Hands'. Hands are powerful short buffs that can do a number of things from stopping incoming damage with Blessing of Protection to reducing a targets threat with Hand of Salvation. Properly utilizing these hands will greatly increase your contribution to your group as a Retribution Paladin in any type of content, Dungeon, Raid, Or PvP.

Strengths

• Scales well with gear thanks to Sanctity of Battle.
• Powerful group buffs in the form of hands and blessings like Hand of Sacrifice and Blessing of Might.
• Incredibly durable thanks to abilities like Word of Glory, Sacred Shield, Divine Shield.
• High single-target damage.

Weaknesses

• Struggles to compete with other dps in large AoE.
• Very reliant on constant up time on the target.
• Gear dependent.

As Horde, you will have two choices for your Paladin; Blood Elf and Tauren. Blood Elf is the default choice as a Retribution Paladin due to Arcane Torrent which can act as an impromptu interrupt. The difference between these two races is quite small so choose whichever of the two you think you would enjoy playing more.

As Alliance, you will have three races to choose for your Paladin; Draenei, Human, and Dwarf. The DPS difference between these races is relatively small but Human will perform the best of the three options thanks largely to Will to Survive. Will to Survive acts as a way to get out of many crowd controlling abilities you may otherwise be unable to, granting you more up time on your target. Human also comes with Sword Specialization/ Mace Specialization which will reduce the amount of Expertise needed from your gear if you are using either of these weapons.

1. Engineering — Engineering is our default choice as a Retribution Paladin for a number of reasons. Synapse Springs are a considerable increase to our Strength but being able to pair them with Avenging Wrath offers a considerable benefit compared to other profession stat bonuses that are more difficult to control. Nitro Boosts are also a great tool to close the gap on your target or avoid what could be otherwise deadly abilities on a boss fight, while you do have Speed of Light there is no such thing as too much mobility, especially as a Melee dps.
2. Tailoring — provides us with Swordguard Embroidery which offers a considerable increase to our Attack Power throughout the duration of a fight. This proc synergizes incredibly with our other cool downs and allows us to snapshot our Execution Sentence for even more damage.

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