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Beta, level cap 30 · data read 13 Oct

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Retribution Paladin guide

Melee DPS · our guide of 13 Oct 2026 Recommendation

Talent trees, every tier list's rating and the sim: the Retribution tab.

In short

  • A melee damage dealer with a two-handed weapon, whose seals add Holy damage to its swings.
  • Number 4 of 20 damage specs in our newest sim run, at 790 DPS. Sourced: Sim · 11 Oct run
  • Control for PvP: Repentance incapacitates an enemy Humanoid for up to 6 sec, and any damage wakes it up. Sourced: Talent database
  • Weak spot: no interrupt and no snare of your own.

How it plays

Up to level 30. Keep a seal up and refresh it when it runs out: Seal of Righteousness, or Seal of Command once you have it. Judgement and Holy Strike on cooldown, Exorcism on Undead and Demons, Hammer of Justice on a dangerous target, and Consecration only on three or more enemies, for its mana. Benediction comes first, so your instant spells cost less mana, then Improved Judgement for a shorter Judgement cooldown and Conviction for melee crit chance. Seal of Command follows: a seal whose melee hits can deal extra Holy damage. Then Sacred Arbiter, which makes Holy Strike deal 20% more damage and renew every Judgement effect on the target. Your 21st point buys Repentance.

Sourced: Guide · 2 Oct, Talent database Source pending

At level 60. Theory Twist of Light is the capstone: seals cost 20% less mana, and when you swap Seal of Command, Seal of Righteousness, Seal of Fury or Seal of Justice for another seal, you keep an Echo of the old one, and your next melee hit applies its effects. Swap seals just before a swing, keep Judgement and Holy Strike on cooldown, use Hammer of Wrath when the target is low, and Exorcism on Undead and Demons. Vengeance, which needs Sanctified Judgement 3 of 3, gives you +3% Physical and Holy damage for 30 sec for each direct crit, up to 3 stacks. In PvP, Repentance and Hammer of Justice are your kill window, and Improved Hammer of Justice from the Protection tree makes Hammer of Justice's cooldown 15 sec shorter.

Sourced: Talent database Source pending

Talents at a glance

  • Level 20: Benediction 5, Improved Judgement 2, Conviction 3, Holy Conduit 1

    Benediction for cheap seals, Improved Judgement for a faster Judgement, Conviction crit. Holy Strike (L6) and Judgement are your damage at 20.

    Recommendation · See the trees · Open in the calculator

  • Level 30: Benediction 5, Improved Judgement 2, Conviction 5, Seal of Command 1, Pursuit of Justice 2, Sacred Arbiter 1, Vindication 3, Sanctified Judgement 1, Repentance 1

    Seal of Command at row 3, Sacred Arbiter (row 4 at 15) for Holy Strike damage, then Vindication + Sanctified Judgement to reach 20 for Repentance — a 6 sec incapacitate is the best PvP tool the tree has before Twist of Light.

    Recommendation · See the trees · Open in the calculator

  • Level 60: Benediction 5, Deflection 3, Improved Judgement 2, Conviction 5, Seal of Command 1, Pursuit of Justice 2, Sanctified Judgement 3, Sacred Arbiter 1, Eye for an Eye 2, Two-Handed Weapon Specialization 3, Vengeance 3, Repentance 1, Twist of Light 1, Toughness 5, Guardian's Favor 2, Precision 3, Anticipation 4, Sacred Duty 2, Improved Hammer of Justice 3

    Twist of Light (seal-twisting) needs 30 Retribution points; Vengeance requires Sanctified Judgement 3/3 — satisfied. Repentance + Hammer of Justice (Improved HoJ from Protection) is the kill window; Guardian's Favor keeps BoF up on the run. 2H spec was nerfed to 6% on 24 Sep but still worth 3 points.

    Theory · See the trees · Open in the calculator

Rotation at level 30

Recommendation

Single target

Open with Blessing of Might, Retribution Aura, Seal of Command.

  1. Seal of Command with a slow 2H
  2. Judgement on cooldown
  3. Holy Strike on cooldown (Sacred Arbiter: +20%, refreshes Judgements)
  4. Exorcism on Undead/Demons
  5. Consecration on packs

Groups

  • Consecration
  • Holy Strike
  • Judgement

Tips

PvP at 30: Repentance (6 sec incapacitate), then Hammer of Justice, is your kill window.

Pursuit of Justice for run speed.

Stats

Each guide's stat order as it gives it, the sim's stat weights, then ours. Guides dated before the last big tuning are shown but not counted.

Guides differWeapon damage first on every guide; the order after it differs.

WhereStat order
Guide · 7 Oct PvE, level 30 · read 12 OctWeapon damage › Hit and Expertise › Crit › Spell power › Strength › Intellect › Agility › Stamina › Spirit
Guide · 1 Oct PvE, level 20 · read 12 OctWeapon damage › Hit and Expertise › Crit › Strength › Spell power › Intellect › Agility
Guide · 9 Oct leveling, level 30 · read 12 OctNot ranked
Sim · stat weights level 60 · run 12 Oct, 5,000 iterations

Per 1%: Expertise 6.5 › Crit 5.54 › Attack speed 2.59

Per point: Main-hand weapon DPS 1.73 › Spell damage 0.491 › Intellect 0.421 › Strength 0.322 › Agility 0.306 › Attack power 0.134 › Armour penetration 0.0381

No DPS change in this run: Hit, Off-hand weapon DPS, Mana.

The DPS each stat adds, for a level-60 character on the engine's preset gear in a 2-minute fight on a beta engine: a direction, not a verdict. = marks a tie: stats within each other's margin. Not counted toward "Guides agree".

Where they differ: ours puts Strength or attack power before Spell power, which the sim weighs higher per point; the sim measured no DPS change from Hit.

Ours RecommendationWeapon damage (slow two-hander) › Hit › Crit › Strength or attack power › Spell power › Stamina

Our order matches the guides' wherever they all agree.

Race

Each guide's race picks for Retribution, then our pick for the Paladin.

Alliance

One guideHuman on 1 guide.

Horde

One guideUndead on 1 guide.

Professions

Guides agreeThe same professions on 2 guides.

  • Guide · 7 Oct PvE, level 30 · read 12 OctMining, Blacksmithing, Herbalism, Alchemy
  • Guide · 1 Oct PvE, level 20 · read 12 OctMining, Blacksmithing, Herbalism, Alchemy
  • Guide · 9 Oct leveling, level 30 · read 12 OctNot given
  • Ours, for the Paladin RecommendationMining + Engineering; or Mining + Blacksmithing

What changed for Retribution

  • 8 Oct: Retribution Aura base damage back to Vanilla values (about 33% lower), spell power ratio 6% (was 13.3%); it now uses the Paladin's own spell power.

    Sourced: Dev notes · 8 Oct

  • 1 Oct: Redoubt block chance 4/8/12/16/20% (was 6–30%); Holy Shield block 30% (was 20%); Retribution's Champion of the Light 20/40/60% (was 33/66/100%). 3 Oct sim run: Prot Paladin tank DPS from 318 to 464, level with Prot Warrior.

    Sourced: Dev notes · 1 Oct

  • Holy Strike's weapon damage per rank now goes from 25% to 50% (was 25% to 40%); cooldown 10 sec baseline; Improved Holy Strike removed from the Holy tree.

    Sourced: Dev notes · 24 Sep

  • Consecration bugs fixed; Echo of Justice proc rate fixed; Retribution Aura scales with spell power.

    Sourced: Dev notes · 24 Sep

  • Retribution: Vengeance procs off non-periodic crits, max 3 stacks (was 5); Two-Handed Weapon Spec 2/4/6% (was 3/6/9%); Sacred Arbiter +20% Holy Strike (was 10%); Twist of Light also −20% seal mana cost.

    Sourced: Dev notes · 24 Sep

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