Retribution Paladin DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — Dragonflight 10.2
On this page, you will learn how to optimize the rotation of your Retribution Paladin in both single-target and multiple-target situations. We also have advanced sections about cooldowns, procs, etc. in order to minmax your DPS. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.2.
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Retribution Paladin rotation.
Retribution Paladin Rotation in Dragonflight
This page includes all information you will need to play Retribution. If you are not familiar with all of the abilities, we recommend checking the Spell Summary page first, as some of the rotational nuances will become clear with a full understanding of how the abilities function.
Retribution Paladin Quick Guide
This page includes all the details about every aspect of your rotation. Check the Quick Guide linked below if you want to see a more abbreviated version.
Retribution Paladin PvP Rotation
This page only covers rotation information for PvE scenarios. For PvP, see the PvP guide linked below.
Retribution Paladin Talents
A number of talent choices will significantly affect how you should play. The priority lists below will automatically change based on the talent selections. You can select full recommended builds with the buttons below as well.
Generators | Spenders | Cooldowns/Other |
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Tier 30 4pc Set Bonus |
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Tier 31 Set Bonus |
Single-Target Opener for Retribution Paladin
For your opener, you will want to cast the abilities in the order listed here before moving on to the regular rotation priority.
- Cast
Blade of Justice to generate Holy Power.
- Cast
Judgment to generate Holy Power.
- Cast
Execution Sentence.
- Cast
Avenging Wrath.
- Cast
Hammer of Wrath.
- Cast
Final Verdict.
- Cast
Wake of Ashes.
- Cast
Hammer of Wrath if you have less than 5 Holy Power.
- Cast
Final Verdict.
- Cast
Divine Toll.
- Continue with the regular priority listed below.
Your goal in your opener should be to start generating Holy Power before your cooldowns and then begin your burst window.
You can use Execution Sentence before
Avenging Wrath to save an extra GCD since
Execution Sentence does not get buffed by it.
Inside
Avenging Wrath, you will want to put
Hammer of Wrath on cooldown as fast as possible before beginning to spend Holy Power and using your other cooldowns like
Wake of Ashes and
Divine Toll.
Single-Target Rotation for Retribution Paladin
Retribution follows a priority for its rotation, as listed below. Start from the top and work your way down the list until you reach an ability with all criteria met, and that will be the best one to cast for the situation.
- Cast
Avenging Wrath.
- Cast
Execution Sentence.
- Cast
Final Verdict if you have 5 Holy Power .
- Cast
Wake of Ashes if you have 2 or less Holy Power.
- Cast
Blade of Justice if
Expurgation is not active on your target.
- Cast
Divine Toll if you have 3 or less Holy Power.
- Cast
Judgment.
- Cast
Hammer of Wrath if your target is above 20% health, or if you have 3 or less Holy Power.
- Cast
Blade of Justice .
- Cast
Final Verdict with 4 Holy Power.
You need to manage two resources when playing Retribution, Holy Power and time. Most of your damage comes by generating and spending Holy Power, and increasing the efficiency of this loop will increase your damage, too.
To optimize Holy Power generation, you need to consider both the cooldowns of generators and periodic effects that provide it, like Crusading Strikes and
Divine Toll.
Minimizing wasting Holy Power should be kept in mind at all times. You do not want to continue to generate Holy Power when you already have 5 just to put an ability on cooldown, and you need to consider whether
you will gain Holy Power within a GCD before you use a generator to reach 5. In general, though, you want to prioritize generating Holy Power before spending it in order to put the abilities that generate Holy Power on cooldown earlier.
With the Tier 31 set bonuses, casting Judgment on cooldown becomes important enough that it is acceptable to waste 1 Holy Power by casting it at 4. You should still aim to limit waste as much as possible, but it is better to keep the ability
on cooldown than to reduce the amount of Holy Power wasted.
Although you will want to use major cooldowns on cooldown as much as possible, you will occasionally need to hold them for a few seconds. Seal of Order reduces the cooldowns of
Wake of Ashes and
Divine Toll, as well as
Execution Sentence
and
Final Reckoning because they are treated as Holy Power generators due to
Divine Auxiliary existing. Because of this,
Execution Sentence and
Wake of Ashes will need to be held by around 4 or 5 seconds for
Avenging Wrath every other use.
AoE Rotation for Retribution Paladin
Retribution follows a priority for its rotation, as listed below. Start from the top and work your way down the list until you reach an ability with all criteria met, and that will be the best one to cast for the situation.
- Cast
Avenging Wrath.
- Cast
Execution Sentence.
- Cast
Divine Storm if you have 5 Holy Power .
- Cast
Wake of Ashes if you have 2 or less Holy Power.
- Cast
Blade of Justice if
Expurgation is not active on your target.
- Cast
Divine Toll if you have 1 or less Holy Power.
- Cast
Judgment.
- Cast
Blade of Justice if you have 4 or more targets.
- Cast
Hammer of Wrath if your target is above 20% health, or if you have 3 or less Holy Power.
- Cast
Blade of Justice .
- Cast
Divine Storm with 4 Holy Power.
The philosophy behind the rotation for AoE is essentially the same as it is for single-target. See the section above for details. With AoE-focused talents, you will want to swap to the AoE rotation at 2 or more targets, but with a single-target build, it is better to keep using the single-target priority unless there are 3 or more targets.
With Empyrean Legacy or
Divine Arbiter, you will occasionally want to cast
Final Verdict to proc the free
Divine Storm or AoE effect. You should track these buffs so that you
know when to use them appropriately.
Retribution Paladin Trinket Usage
There are two types of on-use trinkets that you will use, trinkets that just deal damage and trinkets that provide a stat bonus. For trinkets that provide a stat bonus, usage is straightforward; you should use them with Avenging Wrath unless
the encounter will end before
Avenging Wrath will come off cooldown if their cooldowns do not naturally line up.
For on-use damage trinkets, usage can depend on the trinket. Avenging Wrath does not buff trinket damage, but it does increase the critical strike chance of the damage. For instant on-use damage from trinkets like
Zaqali Chaos Grapnel you will want to wait for a few seconds for the first use to use it inside
Avenging Wrath, but for subsequent uses it is not worth holding it 30 seconds so that they line up.
Some other trinkets have a channel time required. For
Elementium Pocket Anvil, the channel length is short enough that you can simply use it between regular abilities, as the channel can be used off the GCD.
You can macro it with other abilities if you want to, but you should not macro it together with
Avenging Wrath since it is also off the GCD and will waste valuable cooldown duration.
For
Beacon to the Beyond, it is best to use it pre-pull and then on cooldown outside of
Avenging Wrath. Although its critical hit chance will be increased, it is not worth the time it takes to channel it
inside your major cooldown compared to other abilities you could use instead.
Changelog
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7.
- 10 Aug. 2023: Updated priority lists, added trinket explanation.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 06 May 2023: Divine Toll no longer pulls out of combat or neutral enemies.
- 06 May 2023: Simplified page and changed wording to assume key talents.
- 02 May 2023: Updated Hammer of Wrath to T30 priority for cleave.
- 01 May 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.
- 05 Apr. 2023: Updated Shield of Vengeance duration.
- 21 Mar. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated Rotation and Notes.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 24 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Paladin Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Bolas, a long time Retribution Paladin enthusiast, theorycrafter, and sometimes high-end raider. You can find him in the Paladin Discord as bolas.ret.
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