Retribution Paladin DPS Easy Mode — Shadowlands 9.2.5
On this page, we explain how to easily play Retribution Paladin in World of Warcraft — Shadowlands 9.2.5, using the simplest rotation, talent tree, stat priority, gear setup, etc., without sacrificing performance.
Foreword
This page is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or simply want a more straight-forward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous subtleties and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.
The Basics of Retribution Paladins
Retribution is a melee DPS specialization that has a relatively easy to grasp playstyle. Retribution excels at single-target and AoE burst DPS, but the trade-off is that their DPS outside of cooldowns is weak in comparison.
If you just started out learning about your Retribution Paladin abilities, you can check out our Spell Summary page for more information.
Throughout the fight, you will need to manage your Holy Power generation and expenditure to maximise your damage output.
Talent Choice for Retribution Paladins
The following talent choices result in damage output that is close to that of the most optimal talent choices, although the recommendations here lead to considerable ease of use.
- Level 15:
Zeal
- Level 25:
Blade of Wrath
- Level 30:
Fist of Justice
- Level 35:
Cavalier
- Level 40:
Divine Purpose
- Level 45:
Healing Hands
- Level 50:
Sanctified Wrath
If you do not care about the ease of use and simply want to play with the best Retribution Paladin talents, you can check our full talents page below.
Stat Choices for Retribution Paladins
Currently, you will want to prioritise stats as follows:
- Strength;
- Haste.
- Mastery ~= Versatility ~= Critical Strike.
The general recommendation for the stat priority will not change in the full guide, but for the best results, you need to check the in-depth details about the stats themselves. You can check our full stats page below.
Basic Rotation for Retribution Paladins
The single-target rotation consists of Holy Power generators and Holy Power spenders.
- Cast
Avenging Wrath with 3 or more Holy Power.
- Generate Holy Power by using following priority:
- Cast
Wake of Ashes.
- Cast
Hammer of Wrath.
- Cast
Blade of Justice.
- Cast
Judgment.
- Cast
Crusader Strike.
- Cast
- Spend Holy Power by casting
Templar's Verdict once you are either at the 5 Holy Power cap, or when there are only Holy Power generators left that would over-cap your Holy Power.
- Cast
Consecration if nothing else is available.
When facing multiple enemies, you mostly use the same rotation
as above, except that you should replace Templar's Verdict with
Divine Storm against 2 or more enemies.
For more detailed information about the priority system and using all the other talents, you can check our full rotation page below.
Covenant Choice for Retribution Paladins
Kyrian clearly stands out the most for Retribution
Paladin, because of how well the Covenant ability Divine Toll
enhances our already strong burst for raid and mythic+ situations.
Recommended Kyrian Soulbind
For Kyrian Soulbinds, you should always use Forgelite Prime Mikanikos, but with two different Conduit combinations:
Forgelite Prime Mikanikos for Raid / Single-Target:
Forgelite Prime Mikanikos for Mythic+ / Cleave:
You can find more details about all of the Covenants on the Covenant page.
Recommended Kyrian Legendary Powers
Divine Resonance and
Final Verdict for single-target.
Divine Resonance and
Tempest of the Lightbringer for cleave /
mythic+.
Divine Resonance and
Vanguard's Momentum for variable target situations.
You can read more about Legendary Powers for Retribution Paladins on our Legendaries page.
Changelog
- 31 May 2022: Page reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 22 Mar. 2022: Updated for double Legendary Powers.
- 02 Mar. 2022: Updated for 9.2 Raid opening.
- 21 Feb. 2022: Reviewed and approved for Patch 9.2.
- 01 Nov. 2021: Reviewed and approved for Patch 9.1.5.
- 28 Jun. 2021: Updated for Patch 9.1.
- 09 Mar. 2021: Reviewed for Patch 9.0.5.
- 04 Mar. 2021: Increased Hammer of Wrath priority.
- 23 Nov. 2020: Updated for Shadowlands.
- 13 Oct. 2020: Page updated for the Shadowlands pre-patch.
More Paladin Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Urthearso, theorycrafter for Retribution Paladins. If you have any questions about the spec you can reach him on the official Paladin Discord, on Twitter, and during his streams on Twitch.
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