Retribution Paladin PvP Guide (Dragonflight 10.0.5)
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to play in a PvP environment. The guide will cover everything from talent choices, PvP talents, gameplay and rotation, and useful racial bonuses. It is most applicable to Arena content, but most talents and racial bonuses will work in Rated Battlegrounds and skirmishes.
If you were looking for TBC Classic content, please refer to our TBC Paladin PvP guide.
Retribution Paladins in the Current Meta
Despite its low mobility as a melee class, Retribution is a very strong specialization. Strong burst in combination with its powerful utility make it difficult to play and master. Matched with classes with strong consistent damage, like Hunters, it can be a struggle for most classes to play against.
Strengths of Retribution Paladins
- Strong burst damage
- Great consistent and cleave damage
- Multiple ways to remove crowd control for teammates and themselves
Weaknesses of Retribution Paladins
- Limited mobility
- Target of choice for most teams
- Very few defensive cooldowns
Notable 10.0 Changes
- New Regular Talent revamp
- Legendary and Covenant abilities disabled outside of Shadowlands content
Content of the Guide
This guide ended up being very long, so we decided to split it in different pages.
- On the Retribution Paladin PvP Talents page, you will find an analysis of each PvE talent row to help you decide which talent to pick on each row, as well as an overview of the PvP talents, which advice on which ones to take and under which conditions.
- On the Retribution Paladin PvP Rotation and Playstyle page, you will learn how to use your spells, depending on the situation (dealing damage, surviving, controlling enemy players, etc.), and what is generally expected of your class and spec in PvP.
- On the Retribution Paladin PvP Covenants and Legendary Powers page, you will find advice on choosing the best Covenant, Soulbind, and Conduits as well as the best PvP Legendary Powers.
- On the Retribution Paladin PvP Stat Priority and Gear page, you will find the stat priority to follow in PvP, as well as advice for choosing your gear, particularly trinkets.
- On the Retribution Paladin PvP Best Races page, you will find lists of the Alliance and Horde races, ranked by how good they are for Retribution Paladins in PvP, as well as explanations regarding why and how their racials benefit you.
- On the Retribution Paladin PvP Useful Macros page, you will find a collection of useful macros for PvP for Retribution Paladins.
- On the Retribution Paladin Arena Composition page, you will find the list of the most powerful Arena compositions featuring Retribution Paladins, in both 2v2 and 3v3 modes.
Changelog
- 30 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 22 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight Pre-patch.
- 01 Aug. 2022: Reviewed for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 31 May 2022: Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 28 Feb. 2022: Updated for Patch 9.2.
- Added Notable Changes section.
- 10 Nov. 2021: Updated for Patch 9.1.5.
- 02 Jul. 2021: Updated for Patch 9.1.
- 08 Mar. 2021: Reviewed for Patch 9.0.5.
- 30 Nov. 2020: Added Covenant page, removed old Azerite mentions, and updated gear section.
- 14 Oct. 2020: Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
Other PvP Guides
This guide has been written by Mysticall, a seasoned PvP player who has repeatedly achieved 3000 rating. You can watch his stream on Twitch, and you can also check out his YouTube channel.
- Dragonflight Patch 10.0.7 Hotfixes: March 24th
- Dragonflight 10.0.7 Class Tuning: March 28th + Retribution Nerfs March 24th
- New Aberrus Unique Drops Added in Patch 10.1 Build 48661
- Aberrus the Shadowed Crucible Loading Screen in Patch 10.1
- New Potential Evoker Spells Added in Patch 10.1 Build 48661
- Dragonflight Patch 10.0.7 Hotfixes: March 23rd
- Primordial Stone Hotfix Changes: March 23rd
- Dragonflight Patch 10.0.7 DPS Log Rankings for Vault of the Incarnates: Day 1