Retribution Paladin DPS Guide — Shadowlands Pre-Patch 9.0.1

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.

We are maintaining a list of changes for Paladins for Shadowlands, the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, which you can access using the link below.

Retribution Paladin plays very similarly in Shadowlands overall. Some talents were removed or moved to make the new Level 40 Paladin-wide talent row, which consists of Divine Purpose, Holy Avenger, and Seraphim. Some talents that were used at all times in Battle for Azeroth, like Wake of Ashes and Hammer of Wrath, have become baseline in modified forms. Similarly, popular Azerite Traits became the new talents Empyrean Power and Sanctified Wrath, albeit in slightly modified forms.

The biggest change for your DPS rotation will be the addition of all those extra cooldowns, which includes a heavily modified Execution Sentence, and the brand new Final Reckoning talent, which replaced Inquisition.

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.