The Retribution Paladin is a versatile and powerful melee DPS class in Season of Discovery, excelling in both single-target and AoE damage. Their hybrid nature allows them to contribute to raids through consistent damage output, strong survivability, and utility. With a rotation centered around Judgement, Crusader Strike, and Vengeance, Ret Paladins offer a dynamic playstyle that balances mobility and burst damage. Their ability to adapt to various raid encounters makes them a valuable asset to any team, while their Divine Protection and aura mastery enhance group survivability. This guide will help you maximize your Ret Paladin’s potential in PvE content.
1.1. Overview of the Retribution Paladin Role
Retribution Paladins are a hybrid melee DPS class, blending holy and martial prowess to deliver powerful attacks. Specializing in single-target and AoE damage, they rely on a rotation of Judgement, Crusader Strike, and Vengeance. Their role emphasizes consistent damage output while providing utility through auras and limited off-healing. Ret Paladins are versatile, scaling well with gear and excelling in both raids and dungeons.
1.2. Importance of Retribution Paladins in Raids and PvE
Retribution Paladins bring significant value to raids and PvE content through their consistent damage output and versatile utility. Their ability to handle both single-target and AoE damage makes them adaptable to various encounters. Additionally, their auras and survivability tools enhance the raid team’s overall performance, making them a reliable and valuable asset in any group setting.
Talent Builds for Retribution Paladins
Retribution Paladins focus on maximizing DPS through talents like Divine Strength and Stoicism, while incorporating utility options like Aura Mastery for enhanced raid performance and survivability.
2.1. Standard Talent Build for Maximum DPS
The standard Retribution Paladin build emphasizes Divine Strength, Stoicism, and Guardians Favor to maximize damage output. Key talents include Anticipation for increased dodge and Toughness for improved survivability. Improved Righteous Fury enhances Holy damage, while Divine Sacrifice and Blessed Resilience add defensive utility. This build balances burst potential with sustained DPS, making it ideal for raid environments.
2.2. Key Talents: Divine Strength, Stoicism, and Guardians Favor
Divine Strength boosts spell damage, enhancing overall DPS. Stoicism increases resistance to stun and movement impairing effects, improving survivability. Guardians Favor reduces the cooldown of Hammer of Justice, enabling better crowd control. Together, these talents optimize damage output while providing defensive utility, making them essential for a Retribution Paladin’s effectiveness in PvE encounters.
2.3. Utility Talents: Aura Mastery and Divine Guardian
Aura Mastery enhances defensive capabilities by reducing damage taken and increasing healing received. Divine Guardian provides a powerful raid-wide damage reduction effect. Together, these talents significantly improve survivability, making Ret Paladins valuable assets in high-stress PvE encounters. Their utility shines in raids, offering protection to the group while maintaining consistent DPS output.
Glyphs for Retribution Paladins
Glyphs enhance key abilities, boosting damage and utility. Major glyphs like Judgement, Reckoning, and Seal of Vengeance improve core attacks, while minor glyphs add convenience and versatility to spells.
3.1. Major Glyphs: Judgement, Reckoning, and Seal of Vengeance
The major glyphs for Retribution Paladins are crucial for enhancing damage output. Judgement increases the range of Judgement by 20 yards, improving mobility. Reckoning reduces the cooldown of Reckoning by 2 seconds, allowing more frequent use. Seal of Vengeance boosts the damage of Seal of Vengeance by 30%, making it a core glyph for maximizing single-target damage. Together, these glyphs optimize your offensive capabilities and are essential for any Ret Paladin.
3.2. Minor Glyphs: Sense Undead, Lay on Hands, and Blessing of Kings
Minor glyphs provide utility and convenience for Retribution Paladins. Sense Undead highlights undead targets, aiding in dungeons and raids. Lay on Hands reduces its cooldown, offering more frequent healing. Blessing of Kings boosts the paladin’s and party members’ stats, enhancing overall group performance. These glyphs are not critical for damage but add versatility and quality-of-life improvements to your playstyle.
Rotation and Playstyle
The Retribution Paladin’s rotation centers around Judgement, Crusader Strike, and Vengeance, requiring precise timing and priority management to maximize damage output while maintaining a fluid playstyle.
4.1; Basic Rotation: Judgement, Crusader Strike, and Vengeance
The core rotation revolves around Judgement, Crusader Strike, and Vengeance. Begin with Judgement to apply the debuff and generate Holy Power. Follow up with Crusader Strike to maintain damage and proc Divine Strength. Use Vengeance to burst during high damage phases. This sequence ensures consistent damage while leveraging key talents effectively in PvE encounters.
4.2. Advanced Techniques: Managing Aura Mastery and Divine Guardian
Advanced play involves mastering Aura Mastery and Divine Guardian. Use Aura Mastery during high raid damage phases to prevent unnecessary harm, ensuring your aura provides maximum benefit. Coordinate with healers for optimal timing. Divine Guardian should be pre-emptively activated before large AoE bursts to mitigate damage. These techniques enhance survivability and utility, making you a vital asset to your raid team.
Professions for Retribution Paladins
Jewelcrafting and Engineering are ideal professions for Retribution Paladins, offering significant strength and haste boosts. These professions complement the class’s damage output and utility, enhancing overall performance in raids.
5.1. Best Professions: Jewelcrafting and Engineering
Jewelcrafting and Engineering are the top professions for Retribution Paladins, providing exceptional benefits. Jewelcrafting grants powerful gems like Dragon’s Eye, boosting strength and critical strike. Engineering offers Springy Arachnid Legs, enhancing movement speed and combat reflexes. Together, these professions enhance damage output, mobility, and survivability, making them indispensable for optimizing your Paladin’s performance in raids and PvE content.
5.2. Benefits of Professions: Strength, Haste, and Utility
Professions like Jewelcrafting and Engineering provide significant benefits for Retribution Paladins. Jewelcrafting enhances strength through powerful gems, while Engineering boosts haste and utility with unique items like Springy Arachnid Legs. These professions also improve mobility and survivability, making them essential for optimizing your Paladin’s performance in raids and challenging PvE encounters.
Gear and Best-in-Slot Items
Acquiring pre-raid best-in-slot gear is crucial for maximizing your Retribution Paladin’s potential. Focus on items with high strength, hit, and haste to enhance your damage output effectively.
6.1. Pre-Raid Best-in-Slot Gear for Retribution Paladins
Pre-raid best-in-slot gear for Retribution Paladins focuses on maximizing strength, hit, and haste. Key items include the Chestplate of the Stoic Guardian, Gauntlets of the Titans, and the Bloodsword. These pieces provide optimal stats for enhancing your damage output. Aim to acquire these items through Heroic dungeons, crafting, or reputations to ensure readiness for raid content.
6.2. Key Stats: Strength, Hit, and Haste
Strength is the primary stat for Retribution Paladins, directly increasing attack power and damage output. Hit rating ensures attacks land consistently, while haste enhances attack speed and ability usage frequency. Prioritizing these stats optimizes your damage potential and maintains a smooth rotation. Balancing strength with hit and haste ensures maximum efficiency in both single-target and AoE scenarios during raids.
Auras and Aura Mastery
Auras are vital for group support, providing buffs like increased resistance or damage. Aura Mastery enhances these effects, making them crucial during intense raid encounters for optimal team performance.
7.1. Importance of Auras in Raids
Auras are crucial for enhancing raid performance, providing essential buffs like increased resistance, damage output, or survivability. Retribution Paladins can use Concentration Aura to reduce spell pushback, Devotion Aura for added armor, or Crusader Aura to boost movement speed. These auras not only benefit the Paladin but also the entire raid, making them indispensable in challenging encounters. Proper aura management, combined with Aura Mastery, significantly enhances group survivability and effectiveness in high-stakes raid environments, ensuring optimal support and damage output.
7.2. Using Aura Mastery Effectively
Aura Mastery is a powerful defensive cooldown that enhances the effects of your current aura for 6 seconds. Use it strategically during heavy raid-wide damage or when your group needs increased resistance or survivability. Coordinate with your team to maximize its impact, especially when combined with Devotion or Concentration Aura. This ability is crucial for mitigating damage in high-stress encounters, ensuring raid survivability and stability.
Enchants and Consumables
Optimizing your Retribution Paladin with the right enchants and consumables significantly enhances performance. Enchants like Crusader on weapons and strength or haste on armor boost damage output; Consumables such as Flask of Relentless Assault, Elixirs, and food buffs provide sustained power. Always use the best available options to maximize your effectiveness in raids and PvE content.
8.1. Best Enchants for Retribution Paladins
The best enchants for Retribution Paladins include Crusader or Blood Draining on weapons for increased damage output. Armor enchants like Greater Strength or Haste enhance your attack power and speed. Enchanting boots with Tuskarr’s Vitality improves mobility, while bracers benefit from Greater Assault. These enchants collectively boost your DPS and survivability, ensuring optimal performance in raids and PvE encounters.
8.2. Consumables: Flasks, Elixirs, and Food Buffs
For maximum DPS, use Flask of Endless Rage or Flask of the North for sustained damage. Elixirs like Elixir of Deadly Precision or Elixir of Lightning Speed enhance crit or haste. Food buffs such as Spiced Mammoth Treats provide additional haste, while others like Roasted Clefthoof offer strength boosts. These consumables significantly improve your performance in raids and dungeons.
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Blood
Elf
and
Draenei
are
the
best
races
for
Retribution
Paladins
in
Season
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Discovery
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Elves
have
Arcane
Torrent
for
mana
management
and
increased
haste
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damage
output
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the
Naaru
for
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Resistance
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damage
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Blood
Elf
and
Draenei
are
the
best
races
for
Retribution
Paladins
in
Season
of
Discovery
Blood
Elves
have
Arcane
Torrent
for
mana
management
and
increased
haste
boosting
damage
output
Draenei
offer
Gift
of
the
Naaru
for
healing
and
Shadow
Resistance
reducing
magic
damage
in
raids
These
traits
enhance
their
viability
in
PvE
content
significantly
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Counting:
Blood
Elf
and
Draenei
are
the
best
races
for
Retribution
Paladins
in
Season
of
Discovery
Blood
Elves
have
Arcane
Torrent
for
mana
management
and
increased
haste
boosting
damage
output
Draenei
offer
Gift
of
the
Naaru
for
healing
and
Shadow
Resistance
reducing
magic
damage
in
raids
These
traits
enhance
their
viability
in
PvE
content
significantly
making
them
top
choices
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Counting again:
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Elf
and
Draenei
are
the
best
races
for
Retribution
Paladins
in
Season
of
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Elves
have
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