Retribution Paladin DPS Guide — Shadowlands 9.0.5

Retribution Paladin is a very cooldown reliant melee-DPS spec. Their greatest strength is the high versatility in available burst types, be it single-target, close-range cleave, or AoE. The defensive utility is very good as well, as it offers a damage reduction aura, a strong single-target damage reduction cooldown for others, massive off-heals, and the best immunity in the game.

Strengths

• Very strong single-target burst.
• Strong cleave and AoE burst.
• Strong defensives like Divine Shield, Shield of Vengeance, and Eye for an Eye.
• Many utility spells, such as Blessing of Protection, Blessing of Sacrifice, and Blessing of Freedom.
• Strongest single-target off-heal with Lay on Hands.
• Source of the raid wide 3% damage reduction aura with Devotion Aura.

Weaknesses

• Low mobility.
• Uptime-reliant.

We are maintaining a list of changes for Paladins, so you can see what changes with every patch of Shadowlands.

Ringing Clarity no longer releases all the extra Judgment procs immediately, but instead releases them one after another after casting Divine Toll. There is about a 0.7-second delay between releases. This new release process allows you to cast Divine Toll with more Holy Power than previously without wasting any and you can consume multiple Judgment debuffs (since each release applies it anew) as long as you are spending Holy Power on your primary target in between the Judgment releases.

This GIF shows how the new release for Ringing Clarity procs.

This GIF, on the other hand, shows how Ringing Claritys Judgment debuffs get applied again after consuming it during the release of the procs.

Final Verdict now does 15% more damage than Templar's Verdict, whereas previously it did the exact same damage.

Of Dusk and Dawn's damage buff now lasts 12 seconds, up from 8 seconds. The defensive buff now grants 4% damage reduction, up from 3%.

Vanguard's Momentum now increases Holy damage done by 4%, up from 3%. The duration was increased to 10 seconds, up from 8 seconds.

The Magistrate's Judgment has been indirectly buffed for Kyrian Paladins. Ringing Clarity's new delayed Judgment can each trigger this Legendary Power, which makes it more consistent.

If you want to play a Retribution Paladin, but currently do not have one at max level, you can check out our leveling guide for tips on your crusade.

Once you reach max level, it can be somewhat overwhelming to completely change the way you play by suddenly implementing a large number of addons in a short space of time, especially if they have a heavy visual impact on your UI. We recommend using some of the more basic addons recommended on our Addons page below while leveling, so that you have more time to get used to them during the easier phases of playing your class.

Retribution Paladin is a spec about buffing yourself, managing cooldowns, and handling resource management all at the same time. The fundamental idea of the rotation is simple, you are building and spending Holy Power, while mixing in cooldowns to maximize the effectiveness of your Holy Power abilities.

At all times, you will be figuring out which Holy Power generator you should prioritize over your others while not overcapping Holy Power, and then figure out the best Holy Power spender to use in your current situation. You will also regularly be using your main cooldown, Avenging Wrath.

If you are an absolute beginner to the spec, but would like to learn the basic fundamentals of the class, we recommend looking through the Spell Summary first, as well as the Easy Mode page linked below.

If you are already somewhat familiar with Retribution Paladin, you can head straight to the Talents and Rotation pages to jump right into the more complex, detailed information.

Despite the fact that gearing has become more challenging, due to the huge number of variables that depend on your character, you can find information on how best to gear as Retribution on our dedicated gearing page.

Once you have started to gear up, you will need to make sure that you have the appropriate consumables, gems, enchants, and more. We have a dedicated page for exactly this, as shown below, as well as the stats page, where you can find more information on the possibility of a changing stat priority and the necessary changes you may need to make for consumables.

Starting off as Retribution Paladin can look very different from the absolute end-game raiding and progression as one. Our Mythic+, Raiding, and PvP guides can guide you to performing as well as possible, regardless of your focus in end-game content.

If you are finding your performance lacklustre, but are not sure where you are going wrong, you can check out the pages below for potential tips, or answers to questions you may have.