Retribution Paladin leveling guide
Seals, Judgements and a two-handed weapon. How the Retribution talents play from level 10 to 60.
On this page8 sections
At a glanceOur pickOpinion, not confirmed by BlizzardOur reading of the Retribution talent text, not a tested rotation.
- Build at level 60
- 17/0/34 (17 Holy, 34 Retribution)
- 16-point milestone
- Sacred Arbiter, level 25
- Last Retribution talent
- Twist of Light, level 40
- In a group
- Damage
- Our first choice for leveling a Paladin
- This tree
How Retribution plays
- Retribution is a loop of three things: a Seal on your weapon, Judgement to unleash it, and Holy Strike.
- The early points make that loop affordable. Benediction makes Judgement and Seals 15% cheaper, Improved Judgement takes 2 sec off Judgement's cooldown, and Sanctified Judgement returns 60% of the Mana cost of the judged Seal.
- Seal of Command gives your swings a chance to deal additional Holy damage equal to 70% of normal weapon damage, and its Judgement hits about twice as hard on a stunned or incapacitated target.
- Critical strikes count twice: Conviction adds 5% to the chance with melee weapons, and Vengeance adds 9% Physical and Holy damage for 8 sec after one.
- Twist of Light, the last talent, rewards replacing one Seal with another: your next melee attack applies the replaced Seal's effects as well.
What to press first
Most important first. Not a rotation.
- 1
Keep Seal of Command on
Seal of Command lasts 30 sec, and every swing under it has a chance of additional Holy damage.
- 2
Judge whenever Judgement is ready
Sanctified Judgement returns 60% of the Mana cost of the judged Seal.
- 3
Use Holy Strike between Judgements
Sacred Arbiter adds 10% to its damage and makes it refresh all Judgement effects on the target.
- 4
Use Consecration, Exorcism, Holy Wrath and Hammer of Wrath more freely
Holy Conduit takes 40% off the Mana cost of all four at two points.
- 5
Put Repentance on a second Humanoid
Repentance incapacitates one for up to 6 sec, until any damage wakes it.
- 6
Swap Seals once you have Twist of Light
Twist of Light makes your next melee attack apply the Seal you replaced.
Talents that change how you play · 10
From Benediction at level 10 to Champion of the Light at 41.
The level is when our build first takes the talent.
- Levels 10–14
Seals and Judgement get cheaper, so you can use them every fight.
- Levels 15–19
More critical strikes.
- Level 20
Your swings start dealing Holy damage on top.
- Levels 21–22
You move 8% faster, on foot and mounted. It is the talent you notice between fights.
- Level 25
Sacred Arbiter16-point milestone
Holy Strike joins the loop: it now refreshes Judgement effects.
- Levels 26–28
Judgement pays Mana back.
- Levels 34–36
A critical strike now raises your damage for the next 8 sec.
- Level 39
A way to take a second Humanoid out of a fight for a few seconds.
- Level 40
Swapping Seals is rewarded.
- Levels 41–43
Intellect starts adding to your spell damage and healing.
Gear to look for
What the talents reward on items, and items that carry it.
- A two-handed weapon: Two-Handed Weapon Specialization adds 9% to its damage at three points.
- The weapon's own damage matters more than usual, because Seal of Command's extra hit is a share of normal weapon damage.
- Melee critical strike chance, for Vengeance. From level 41 Intellect counts too, through Champion of the Light.
Opinion, not confirmed by BlizzardItems that carry what these talents name.
Levels 10-20
Two-hand mace · 16 DPS, 4 Strength, 7 Stamina
Quest: Old Ironforge Incursion, choose 1 of 3 · The Hall of Thanes, levels 13-18 Alliance
Groups and dungeons
In a group: damage. New group talents before 3 dungeons.
In a group these talents support damage.
- A damage build. Instrument of Law, which this build does not take, reduces all threat you generate by 20% while Righteous Fury is not active: worth the two points if you keep pulling enemies off a tank.
- Repentance is the tree's crowd control, on Humanoids only.
- Crusade adds a little more damage against Demon and Undead targets.
New group talents by the time each dungeon opens
Strengths and trade-offs
2 strengths, 2 trade-offs.
Strengths
- Speed between fights: Pursuit of Justice adds 8% to movement and mounted movement.
- Cheap to run. Benediction and Sanctified Judgement both cut what the loop costs.
Trade-offs
- Seal of Command is a chance, not a certainty: some fights have more Holy damage in them than others.
- Twist of Light asks you to manage two Seals. The talent text gives no timing for it, and neither do we.
In the patch digest · 1
Vengeance triggering from periodic crits is a beta bug
Vengeance triggering from periodic crits is a beta bug
Retribution Paladins: in beta Vengeance can activate off periodic critical strikes, a bug fixed in the next beta build.
Compare this build
Keep reading
Sources and what isn't confirmed
Unconfirmed: reported, not confirmed by Blizzard
- The Hall of Thanes being open to the Alliance only
- The items under Gear to look for, and their stats, as public coverage reports them
Not announced
- Stat weights
- A leveling talent order from Blizzard
Sources
- Beta 1.60.1 talent data: every sentence about how the tree plays is read from the Retribution talent text. Nothing here is a published guide or a tested rotation
- Warcraft Tavern, 19 Sep 2026: the items under Gear to look for, and where each comes from
- Warcraft Tavern's Forever Paladin guide: which armor and weapons a Paladin can use, and from what level
Updated . Talent data: beta 1.60.1. Details can change in any later build or patch.