Retribution Paladin DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — The War Within (11.0.5)
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 — The War Within (11.0.5).
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Retribution Paladin rotation.
Retribution Paladin Rotation Guide for The War Within
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.
Hero Talents | |
---|---|
Templar | Herald of the Sun |
Generators | Spenders | Cooldowns |
---|---|---|
Crusading Strikes | Judge, Jury and Executioner | Avenging Wrath: Might |
Templar Strikes | Empyrean Power | Crusade |
Holy Blade | Empyrean Legacy | Radiant Glory |
Divine Hammer | Divine Arbiter | Execution Sentence |
Divine Storm Build | Final Reckoning |
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 apply Expurgation.
- Cast Divine Toll to generate Holy Power.
- Cast Execution Sentence.
- Cast Wake of Ashes.
- Cast Final Verdict.
- Cast Final Verdict.
- 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. When not using Radiant Glory, you can use Execution Sentence before Avenging Wrath to save an extra GCD since Execution Sentence is buffed by it when it lands, not when it is cast.
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 Execution Sentence.
- Cast Hammer of Light.
- Cast Final Verdict if you have 5 Holy Power.
- Cast Blade of Justice if Expurgation is not active.
- Cast Wake of Ashes.
- Cast Divine Toll if you have 3 or less Holy Power.
- Cast Hammer of Wrath if you have a Blessing of An'she proc or if the target is below 35% health.
- Cast Judgment if you have 3 or less Holy Power.
- Cast Blade of Justice .
- Cast Hammer of Wrath with 4 Holy Power or less. Cast with 3 Holy Power or less against 20% or lower Health targets while using Vanguard's Momentum.
- Cast Final Verdict with 3-4 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 in turn. 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 Resonance. 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 regular builds you will spend Holy Power on Final Verdict on single-target. With the specific Divine Storm build mentioned in this guide, you will instead spend Holy Power on Divine Storm in all situations, even single-target.
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 Execution Sentence.
- Cast Hammer of Light.
- Cast Final Verdict if you have 25 stacks of Divine Arbiter and 5 Holy Power.
- Cast Divine Storm if you have 5 Holy Power.
- Cast Wake of Ashes.
- Cast Divine Toll if you have 1 or less Holy Power.
- Cast Blade of Justice .
- Cast Judgment if you have 3 or less Holy Power.
- Cast Final Verdict if you have 25 stacks of Divine Arbiter and 3-4 Holy Power.
- Cast Divine Storm with 3-4 Holy Power.
- Cast Hammer of Wrath.
The philosophy behind the rotation for AoE is essentially the same as it is for single-target. See the section above for details. You will want to swap to the AoE rotation at 2 or more targets.
With Judge, Jury and Executioner, Empyrean Legacy, or Divine Arbiter, you will occasionally want to cast Final Verdict to proc the free 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. When using Radiant Glory, you can use multiple on-use stat trinkets by simply using them with alternating cooldown sets.
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 Spare Meat Hook you will want to make sure you use it inside Avenging Wrath. Crusade does not buff trinket damage.
Changelog
- 21 Oct. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.5.
- 25 Sep. 2024: Added extra details for niche builds.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Updated for hotfixes.
- 28 Aug. 2024: Adjusted opener rotation.
- 21 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
- 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within pre-patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Updated for Dragonflight Season 4.
- 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 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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