Paladin Hero Talents — The War Within (11.2)

This page is specifically about Hero Talents in The War Within. If you want to learn more about the best regular talents for Retribution Paladin, check out our Talents page:

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

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

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

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.

2.

Best Hero Talent Builds for Retribution Paladin

Templar Universal Build Herald of the Sun Universal Build

3.

Best Templar Universal Build for Retribution Paladin

Zealous Vindication is a more generally versatile talent than For Whom the Bell Tolls, as it works well regardless of target count, so it is a better pick overall.

3.

Best Herald of the Sun Universal Build for Retribution Paladin

Herald of the Sun's talents do not change with different content types for PvE, as there is a clear best option for each damage choice node. Illumine can be used instead of Will of the Dawn if you prefer its effect on movement speed.

Templar requires you to use Hammer of Light during your cooldowns when it becomes available after using Wake of Ashes. You will also periodically get to use it for free too. Other than this, there are no other specific considerations you need to make to play Templar.

Herald of the Sun is an almost entirely passive tree. You will occasionally gain buffs that give you extra casts of some abilities which will require you to prioritize spending the procs, like Blessing of An'she.

The War Within Season 3 introduces tier sets with different effects for each Hero Talent. None of the bonuses are impactful enough to affect the choice of Hero Talent taken at any point before or after acquiring the set, but the gap between them is much smaller before you acquire it.

• Paladin Templar 11.2 Class Set 2pc — Your Empyrean Hammer deals 20% increased critical strike damage and its critical strikes have 50% chance to grant an additional stack of Light's Deliverance.
• Paladin Templar 11.2 Class Set 4pc — Hammer of Light deals 35% increased damage to its primary target, strikes 3 additional secondary targets, and can now be cast 1 more time after Wake of Ashes.

These bonuses are a little stronger than prior set effects. It has a small impact on your rotation, where you will now cast Hammer of Light twice in your cooldown window, but is otherwise passive.

• Paladin Herald of the Sun 11.2 Class Set 2pc — Dawnlight's healing and damage is increased by 30% and you gain Solar Wrath after Crusade fades causing Sun's Avatar's effect to linger for an additional 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 you 1 Dawnlight.

These bonuses are similar in strength to prior set effects. They have no effect on your rotation.