Retribution Paladin WotLK Guide
Retribution Paladin DPS guide for WotLK 3.3.5a: rotation, cooldowns, the 11/5/55 talent build, glyphs, stat priority and BiS gear for ICC and Ruby Sanctum.
Retribution is the two-handed melee DPS spec of the Paladin, and it is the spec people ask about most when they say they want "a Paladin that hits things". It is not the top of the damage meters in the best PvE groups, and it is honest to say so. What it gives a raid is a lot of damage plus a lot of support: an aura that adds damage and haste to everyone, Hand of Protection, Hand of Sacrifice, Divine Sacrifice and Aura Mastery for the bosses that ask for them, and Lay on Hands when a tank is about to die.
This guide is the practical version: what you press and in which order, which cooldowns matter, how to spend your talent points, which stats to reach, and the mistakes that cost the most damage. It is written for Icecrown Citadel 25 and Ruby Sanctum on 3.3.5a. The short class overview is in the Which Class Should You Play? guide.
1.How the Retribution Paladin plays
Retribution is a cooldown-based melee rotation. You do not have a rotation that repeats forever. You have four buttons on cooldown, one proc, and a seal that stays up, and your job is to press the right one every time the global cooldown ends. That is why Retribution plays best with a few keybinds you know by heart and a rotation helper addon until the order becomes automatic.
The other half of the spec is raid duty. Retribution Paladins are the ones a raid leader calls out by name: the Frost Resistance Aura for Bone Storm, Aura Mastery for the Festergut aftermath, Hand of Protection on the right player at the right second. If you play Retribution seriously, you will use more keybinds than a Death Knight, and half of them are not damage buttons. Learn them early.
2.Rotation and priorities
- Seal of VengeanceYour main seal (Horde: Seal of Corruption). Keep it up at all times, because every attack applies its damage over time.
- JudgementOn cooldown. It keeps the debuff on the boss that gives the raid mana and it feeds the rest of your talents.
- Divine StormOn cooldown. It hits up to four targets and it also heals a few of your group.
- Crusader StrikeOn cooldown, and it is your shortest cooldown, so it is what you press between the bigger buttons.
- ExorcismOnly when The Art of War makes it instant. Press it at once, it is free damage.
- ConsecrationWhen nothing else is ready, especially in AoE and when you have to stand still for a moment.
- Hammer of WrathIn the execute phase, when the boss is under 20% health.
The most common damage loss in this spec is idle global cooldowns: a Divine Storm that sits for two seconds, a Crusader Strike you forget. If a proc is lit (Exorcism), press it. If nothing is ready, Consecration fills the gap. Do not save damage buttons "for later".
When your Divine Storm is reset and comes back early, do not panic and do not skip it: press it, and go back to the order above. The rotation is a priority, not a script.
3.Cooldowns and raid utility
Your own damage cooldowns are few, and most of the buttons below are for the raid. Learn which one the raid leader is asking for.
Your big damage cooldown. Use it together with Heroism or Bloodlust and your on-use trinkets, and it also pairs well with your Engineering gloves if you have them.
A mana button, not a damage button: it gives back mana over time and reduces the healing you receive while it is active. Use it when your mana is falling, not when it is full.
The most-called button of the class. It makes a player immune to physical damage, and in Icecrown it breaks half of the mechanics. Read the Icecrown guide and know which boss asks for it.
Takes a part of the damage of a tank or a raid member onto you. Ask your tank which hit is the dangerous one, and use it there.
Doubles the effect of your active aura for a short time. On Lord Marrowgar and on Sindragosa you use it with the Frost Resistance Aura.
Heals for your maximum health, and with Improved Lay on Hands the target also gets extra armor for a short time. Your emergency button.
A six-second stun. Most bosses are immune to it, so it is a tool for adds and trash, not for the boss.
4.Talents and glyphs
Our recommended Retribution build is the 11/5/55 in the calculator. The 55 points in the Retribution tree carry the spec, and the 11 points in the Holy tree buy the utility you need in a raid. The important choice is who brings which buff: with more than one Retribution Paladin in the group, only one of you needs each raid-buff talent, and the others put those points into damage or into Improved Lay on Hands, which is a real tank cooldown.
A guild that has four Retribution Paladins does not need every one of them to take the same aura talents. Talk to your raid leader before you respec, and use the variants in the calculator: one keeps the aura talents, one goes for Aura Mastery, one for Divine Guardian.
Increases the damage caused by Retribution Aura by 50% and all damage caused by friendly targets affected by any of your Auras is increased by 3%.
Your Retribution Aura also increases casting, ranged and melee attack speeds by 3%.
Increases the critical strike damage of your Judgement, Crusader Strike and Divine Storm abilities by 10% and when melee attacks critically hit the cast time of your next Flash of Light or Exorcism becomes instant cast.
Requires Melee Weapon. An instant strike that causes 75% weapon damage.
Gives you a 3% bonus to Physical and Holy damage you deal for 30 sec after dealing a critical strike from a weapon swing, spell or ability. This effect stacks up to 3 times.
Causes your Concentration Aura to make all affected targets immune to Silence and Interrupt effects and improve the effect of all other auras by 100%. Lasts 6 sec.
Your Judgements deal 10% more damage.
Your Seal of Vengeance or Seal of Corruption also grants 10 expertise while active.
Increases the duration and cooldown of Consecration by 2 sec.
Swap options if the fight asks for them: Glyph of Avenging Wrath, Glyph of Exorcism.
5.Stats, gems and gear
Retribution is a strength-and-hit spec. Do not wear intellect and spell power on a Retribution Paladin, even if the item level is higher: the stats do nothing for you. Your job in gear is to reach the hit cap, then the expertise cap, and then to stack strength and armor penetration.
Two professions stand out. Jewelcrafting lets you close a gap in expertise with a single gem, and Engineering gives you a haste glove enchant that lines up with Avenging Wrath, and boots that get you out of trouble. Both are worth it if you have no reason to take something else.
For trinkets, a good early combination is a hit and attack power proc trinket from Ulduar, and then a Trial of the Crusader trinket. Your best-in-slot list for the raid tier is on the BiS page below.
- Hit
- Expertise
- Strength
8% (263 rating), 230 with Draenei
Ret does not chase the 17% spell-hit cap in PvE despite having spell-based abilities.
26 expertise (214 rating base)
Combat Expertise talent + Glyph of Seal of Vengeance (~10 expertise) both reduce the actual gear requirement well below 214.
1400 rating (theoretical cap)
Not a primary Ret stat — prioritize Hit → Expertise → Strength rather than stacking ArP.
The only Horde option. Arcane Torrent returns mana for Holy and doubles as an AoE silence / interrupt for Retribution and Protection.
Retribution wants the Sword / Mace expertise; Holy and Protection lean on The Human Spirit and Every Man for Himself. Draenei (Gift of the Naaru, party +1% hit) and Dwarf (Stoneform clears bleeds, poisons and disease — a strong Prot cooldown) are both viable.
Shadowmourne
Libram of Valiance
Sharpened Twilight Scale
Tiny Abomination in a Jar
Sanctified Lightsworn Helmet
Sanctified Lightsworn Battleplate
6.Common mistakes
• Letting Divine Storm or Crusader Strike sit on cooldown while you press something less important.
• Wearing intellect and spell power gear because the item level looks good.
• Fighting from the front, where the boss can parry and block you. Stand behind, and only move when the fight asks you to.
• Forgetting the raid buttons: the Frost Resistance Aura on Marrowgar, Hand of Protection on the right player, Hand of Freedom when someone is slowed. They matter more than a few points of damage.
• Using Avenging Wrath on a fight that lasts twelve seconds more, and not on the burst phase where it would pay.
7.On the bosses
Retribution Paladins carry a lot of the Icecrown raid plan. These are the fights where the spec matters most. The full list of duties is the Paladin cheat sheet in the Icecrown Citadel guide.
During Bone Storm the raid takes a lot of frost damage. Switch to the Frost Resistance Aura and use Aura Mastery together with it, and Divine Sacrifice when the storm starts.
Hand of Protection on the player who gets the Mark stops the Mark's damage for a while. Retribution Paladins also have a role in the Seal of Command seal dancing that the ICC guide explains.
Divine Sacrifice for the explosion, and the Shadow Resistance Aura with Aura Mastery for the damage that follows.
Hand of Protection on the healers before the Shock Vortex, so nobody is thrown out of the stack.
The Frost Resistance Aura with Aura Mastery during the breaths, and Hand of Protection on the healer before Blistering Cold.
Keep the damage on the boss you are assigned to, and use your Hands for the tanks and healers in the Twilight Realm. See the Ruby Sanctum guide.
8.Questions people ask
Yes. It does not top the meters against Rogues, Warriors and Mages, but it brings damage plus a lot of raid support, and a group with a good Retribution Paladin loses less on the bosses that ask for Hands and auras.
Seal of Vengeance (Seal of Corruption on the Horde side) is the standard single-target seal. Seal of Command has a place in the seal dancing on Deathbringer Saurfang, which the Icecrown guide explains.
Jewelcrafting and Engineering. The first helps you reach the expertise cap with one gem, and the second gives you the haste gloves and the boots.
It is a small talent with a large effect: it gives the healed target extra armor for a short time and shortens the cooldown, which makes it a real tank cooldown, especially on Lady Deathwhisper.