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Retribution Paladin DPS Starter Guide - Shadowlands 9.2
By Bolas
Last updated
2022/02/22 at 2:15 AM
View Changelog
Table of Contents
Quick Facts
Table of Contents
Guide Navigation
Welcome to our Retribution Paladin starter guide, which covers everything you need to start playing a new character in Shadowlands. While our other guide pages go into more individual detail, this simple starter guide covers all the basics in one place, whether you're a new Retribution Paladin, a returning player to Shadowlands, hardcore, or casual alike, it's the best place to get a beginners overview on the class. Included are basic talent builds, simplified rotations, stats, legendary recommendations, and more to get you started as quickly as possible.
Please keep in mind that this page is meant to get players started quickly as an introduction, and does not contain much in the way of detailed explanations, mechanics, competitive options, gearing, simulation comparisons, or nuance. For more in-depth information, including all those optimizations and more, check out the complete Retribution Paladin Guide pages linked in the navigation on the left-hand side of the page, and if you're leveling up in Shadowlands, you can take a look at our
leveling tips
.
Playing WoW Classic?
Click here for the Classic Version of the Retribution Paladin Guide!
Overview
NEW
NEW Patch 9.2 Changes
Best Covenant
NEW Tier Set Bonus
Gear
Talent Builds
Legendaries
Conduits
Kyrian
Necrolord
Night Fae
Venthyr
Pre-Patch
Starter Guide
Rotation, Priority, and Abilities
Advanced Concepts
Stats
Consumables
Macros & Addons
WeakAuras
Common Terms
NEW Castle Nathria Tips
NEW Sepulcher Tips
Mythic+
Common Questions
Mage Tower
Twisting Corridors
NEW Simulations
About the Author
Hi, I'm Bolas, I've played Ret since WotLK and am a former top 10 raider. You can find me on
Twitter
or in the
Hammer of Wrath
discord if you have any questions or are interested in more information about Retribution.
Best Retribution Paladin Covenant
Kyrian is the best covenant in most situations as far as damage is concerned. Necrolord will do competitive single target damage and is the best covenant at two-target cleave, but falls off significantly with more targets. Night Fae can do good damage but requires another strong spec to buff.
Best Retribution Paladin Covenants and Soulbinds for Raid
Single Legendary
Double Legendary
Kyrian
Mikanikos
Kyrian
Mikanikos
Necrolord
Marileth
Necrolord
Marileth
Night Fae
Dreamweaver
Night Fae
Dreamweaver
Best Retribution Paladin Covenants and Soulbinds for Mythic+
Single Legendary
Double Legendary
Kyrian
Mikanikos
Kyrian
Mikanikos
None of the covenant abilities will fundamentally change your gameplay. At the core they're all simply extra damage cooldowns that you'll use as often as possible. However, there are some talents that can synergize with one covenant more than the others, such as
Execution Sentence
with Kyrian, so if there's a particular talent build you do or don't want to use then that's worth some consideration.
Best Retribution Paladin Covenant
Kyrian Retribution Paladin Guide
Necrolord Retribution Paladin Guide
Night Fae Retribution Paladin Guide
Venthyr Retribution Paladin Guide
Best Retribution Paladin Legendaries
Best Single Legendaries
Raid Legendary
:
Kyrian:
Divine Resonance
Necrolord:
Duty-Bound Gavel
Night Fae:
Seasons of Plenty
Mythic+ Legendary
:
Divine Resonance
Best Double Legendaries
Raid Legendaries
:
Kyrian:
Divine Resonance
and
Final Verdict
or
Tempest of the Lightbringer
or
Vanguard's Momentum
Necrolord:
Duty-Bound Gavel
and
Final Verdict
or
Tempest of the Lightbringer
Night Fae:
Seasons of Plenty
and
Final Verdict
or
Tempest of the Lightbringer
or
Vanguard's Momentum
Mythic+ Legendaries
:
Divine Resonance
and
Tempest of the Lightbringer
Retribution Paladin Legendaries Guide
Best Retribution Paladin Talents
This is a general, versatile build that will perform well with any covenant. For a more detailed look at talents check out the guide linked below.
Retribution Paladin Talents Guide
Retribution Paladin Stat Priority
There isn't an exact, one-size-fits-all stat priority for Ret Paladins. Ideally you should use Raidbots to find upgrades, and if you're not sure how to use it the Raidbots Guide can help you. However, if you just need a generic priority to keep in mind then this is a fine approximation to use:
Strength > Haste > Critical Strike ~= Versatility ~= Mastery
You can find more information on how each stat interacts with Retribution in the Stats Guide.
Retribution Paladin Stats Guide
Retribution Paladin Enchants
Cloak
:
Enchant Cloak - Fortified Avoidance
,
Enchant Cloak - Fortified Leech
,
Enchant Cloak - Fortified Speed
, or
Enchant Cloak - Soul Vitality
depending on which tertiary stat you like most.
Chest
:
Enchant Chest - Eternal Stats
Gloves
:
Enchant Gloves - Eternal Strength
Rings
:
Enchant Ring - Tenet of Haste
or one of the other secondary stat enchants, if they perform better for you.
Weapon
:
Enchant Weapon - Sinful Revelation
in Single Target or
Enchant Weapon - Lightless Force
in AoE.
Retribution Paladin Enchants & Consumables Guide
Best Retribution Paladin Rotation
This is a general Retribution Paladin damage priority, using the talents recommended above. Further explanation including how to best use your covenant ability can be found in the Retribution Paladin Rotation Guide.
Seraphim
(if
Final Reckoning
is off cooldown, or is about to be)
Avenging Wrath
(with 3+ Holy Power)
Final Reckoning
(with 3+ Holy Power)
Templar's Verdict
/
Divine Storm
(5 Holy Power or
Final Reckoning
active)
Wake of Ashes
Judgment
Hammer of Wrath
Blade of Justice
Crusader Strike
(2 Charges)
Templar's Verdict
/
Divine Storm
(3-4 Holy Power)
Crusader Strike
(1 Charge)
Consecration
Don't use Holy Power generating abilities if it will waste some of the Holy Power, for example using
Blade of Justice
at 4 Holy Power.
Don't wait for a builder to come off of cooldown just to spend Holy Power. You shouldn't be waiting unless you have less than 3 Holy Power and all of your builders are on cooldown.
Swap from
Templar's Verdict
to
Divine Storm
at 2 or more targets.
Retribution Paladin Rotation Guide
Our Ret Paladin guides are always updated with the latest information from in-game experience, simulations, and logs; make sure to check our changelog to this page, by clicking on
View Changelog
at the top of the page. If you are interested in more in-depth Ret Paladin guides for , make sure to browse the
Navigation Bar
below, and our list of
Related Guides
just beneath the
Table of Contents
.
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