PVE Retribution Paladin DPS Guide (TBC 2.4.3)

Welcome to the Retribution Paladin guide for World of Warcraft the Burning Crusade 2.4.3. In this guide, you will learn about playing a Retribution Paladin in dungeons and raids. The guide includes Talents, Gems, Enchantments, Gameplay & Skill rotation tips.

Talents

Below is a standard Retribution build suitable for dungeons and raid. Though in high-end raids, you may want to tweak it a bit depending on your gear and/or raid members.

Two points in Pursuit of Justice lets you use a pure stat enchant Dexterity on your boots instead of Cat’s Swiftness.

Improved Judgement is only required 1/2, it is advisable for new players to spend 2 points to make the rotation easier.

Improved Blessing of Might is often taken by Holy Paladins, but it may be a viable option for smaller dungeon parties with you being the only Paladin. While Blessing of Kings isn’t a necessity from your side, it’s a very welcomed buff in any group. With Blessing of Kings, you can benefit everyone in your party, while Blessing of Might requires up to 5 talent points and is not useful for spellcasters.

Give the standard build a try and make adjustments according to your gameplay once you get more experienced playing Paladin.

Gems

• Meta: Relentless Earthstorm Diamond
• Red: Bold Crimson Spinel with a cheaper alternative Bold Living Ruby
• Yellow: these are used if the socket bonus is worth it or if you require Hit rating from your gear. Use Etched Fire Opal to increase Hit rating.
  Use Inscribed Pyrestone, Enscribed Fire Opal or Inscribed Noble Topaz if you wish to complete the socket bonus. Otherwise, fill with Red gems.
• Blue: we only need two of these to activate the Meta Gem. Use Sovereign Shadowsong Amethyst or Sovereign Nightseye on the best blue sockets you have, fill other with Red gems.

Enchants

• Head – Glyph of Ferocity
• Shoulder – Greater Inscription of the Blade or Greater Inscription of Vengeance
• Cloak – Greater Agility
• Chest – Exceptional Stats
• Bracers – Brawn
• Gloves – Major Strength
• Legs – Nethercobra Leg Armor
• Boots – Dexterity if you have Pursuit of Justice, otherwise go for Cat’s Swiftness
• Weapon – Mongoose or Executioner as an alternative

Enchanters can also benefit from Enchant Ring – Stats on both of the Rings.

BiS List

• Head – Coif of Alleria
• Shoulder – Demontooth Shoulderpads
• Cloak – Cloak of Unforgivable Sin
• Chest – Bladed Chaos Tunic
• Bracers – Lightbringer Bands
• Gloves – Thalassian Ranger Gauntlets
• Waist – Lightbringer Girdle
• Legs – Leggings of the Immortal Night
• Boots – Lightbringer Boots
• Weapon – Apolyon, the Soul-Render
• Libram – Libram of Avengement for Horde, Alliance should swap to Libram of Divine Judgement
• Neck – Hard Khorium Choker
• Ring – Band of Ruinous Delight
• Ring – Hard Khorium Band
• Trinket – Blackened Naaru Sliver
• Trinket – Shard of Contempt

Professions

Leatherworking is the true raiders choice due to the ability to create Drums of Battle which are very useful in raids. If you take into account the combined stat boost for the party – it gets clear why Leatherworking is first. Also, you can craft leg enchants like Nethercobra Leg Armor.

Jewelcrafting gives you access to craft two items from the BiS list: Hard Khorium Choker and Hard Khorium Band. You can also create epic gems, but they can be bought, so it’s not much of an exclusive thing. JC is second because the combined stat boost of Drums (LW) is better for the party.

Enchanting is beneficial to upgrade rings with Enchant Ring – Stats which is a unique boost available only to this profession. After enchanting your BiS rings, Enchanting may be removed to make space for other professions (it’s not required to maintain the profession to use this boost).

With Alchemy you can create Assassin’s Alchemist Stone, but it will be replaced soon enough with a better trinket. Also may be used to create consumables like Flask of Relentless Assault, Elixir of Demonslaying or Haste Potion

Blacksmithing may help you get new gear once you start doing dungeons & raids but this gear will get replaced fast enough with progressing to higher end content. But it can be used to provide gold for buying consumables or to create Adamantite Weightstone & Adamantite Sharpening Stone

Engineering also doesn’t have any BiS items. This profession if for fun & utility, as the created items quickly get replaced with gear from higher end content.

Gameplay & Rotations

Choosing a Race

Usually, if we’re not talking about minmaxing, choosing a race is a question of personal preference, but with Paladins there’s a noticeable difference. Players who choose to side with the Horde will only have Blood Elf as an option to play as a Paladin. Meanwhile, Alliance has 3 races: Humans, Dwarfs, and Draenei.

The Blood Elves, however, have Seal of Blood which is unavailable to Paladins of the Alliance. Nothing to get too crazy about, but Seal of Blood has an edge in DPS over Seal of Command (available to all Paladins) in situations where you have a healer behind and you can allow yourself to take some damage.

Stat Priority

Hit requirement: 9%. Keep in mind that you receive 3% from Precision talent.
Your weapon should be of 3.5 speed or higher due to damage procs being based on weapon damage.

For Alliance, due to Seal of Command mechanics, stat priority is the following:
Strength > Armor Penetration > Haste

For Horde, due to Seal of Blood mechanics, stat priority is the following:
Strength > Haste > Armor Penetration

Overall, Seal of Blood benefits more from Haste, than Seal of Command does. Keep in mind, that you won’t be able to use Seal of Blood on every boss (sometimes it will end with you dying). Seal of Command stays a safe & stable choice even for Blood Elf Paladins.

Rotation

Keep a 100% uptime of Seal of Blood / Seal of Command

Use Crusader Strike and Judgement on cooldown

If you have an excess of mana and space in the rotation, you can try to fit in Consecration, but the efficiency of this spell in a boss fight is really low. This spell is useful when clearing trash before the fight.

Use Sanctity Aura while in the fight. Sometimes, you may be required to change to Devotion Aura.