Retribution Paladin DPS Guide — Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.1

1. Retribution Paladin Overview

In single-target DPS, the Retribution specialisation is currently performing well, compared to most other classes. The AoE performance is very good.

2. Patch 8.1.0 Changes for Retribution Paladins

• Divine Storm has been buffed by 20%, so we now can use it against 2 or more targets.
• Greater Blessing of Wisdom no longer restores Health, and can no longer stack.
• Greater Blessing of Kings's absorb shield has been buffed by 19%, and can no longer stack.
• Divine Purpose now can chain proc again. The Holy Power spender damage and healing has been reduced to 20%, down from 30%. Divine Purpose is slightly more powerful after those changes.
• Consecration has been buffed by 20%.
• Light's Decree replaces the Retribution specific Azerite trait Zealotry.
• Empyrean Power replaces the Retribution specific Azerite trait Divine Right.
• Empyreal Ward replaces the generic Azerite trait Azerite Fortification for all Paladins.
• Ultimate Retribution is a new PvP trait.

3. Patch 8.0.1 Changes for Retribution Paladins

• Mastery: Hand of Light increases all Holy damage done by our abilities. Note that this does not affect Racials and Trinket effects.
• Avenging Wrath and Shield of Vengeance are now affected by the global cooldown.
• Avenging Wrath now grants 20% increased damage, healing, and Critical Strike chance.
• Judgment now generates 1 Holy Power and causes the target to take 25% increased damage from your next Holy Power spender.
• Art of War is a new passive, giving us the Legion version of Blade of Wrath with half proc rate at 2 procs per minute.
• Shield of Vengeance's absorb shield now equals 30% of your maximum Health. It will burst when the shield is consumed, or after 15 seconds, and deal Holy damage equal to the absorbed amount divided to nearby enemies. The absorb shield and damage do not get increased by any damage modifiers.
• Retribution's duration has been halved to 10 seconds.
• Crusader Strike's cooldown has been increased to 6 seconds, up from 4.5.

4. Strengths of Retribution Paladin

• Good single-target sustained damage
• Great AoE burst & sustained damage
• Can switch targets without downsides
• Many utility spells such as Greater Blessing of Wisdom, Blessing of Protection, and Blessing of Freedom
• Strong defensives like Divine Shield, Eye for an Eye, and Shield of Vengeance

5. Weaknesses of Retribution Paladin

• Low mobility
• Uptime-reliant

6. Retribution Paladin Viability in the Current Patch

Retribution Paladin is doing well in Battle of Dazar'alor, but that is only as far as melee are concerned. When there is only a very small amount of melee slots available, other melee specs are preferred over Retribution for their raid-wide class buffs. Currently, Retribution is not filling a specific niche, so there is no hard requirement or situation where you have to bring one into the raid. Retribution still lacks an instantaneous gap closer mobility tool to deal with certain raid mechanics as efficiently as most of the other melee can. In dungeons, Retribution brings decent damage and can make use of its utility kit to support the healer. Overall, the spec is probably sitting in the middle of the pack so it could be better, but also worse.

7. Changelog