Retribution Paladin PvP Talents and Builds (Dragonflight 10.2.7) (2024)

Last updated on May 07, 2024 at 11:20by Lvladen26 comments

Below is the standard talent build you will be using in arena.

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While the above table provides a generally accurate overview of theviability of talents, some finer points are discussed in the sections thatfollow, and we recommend you read those for a deeper understanding.

Some important spells to note in the Paladin talent tree:

• Vengeful Wrath is one of the final talents you can take.This makes it so Hammer of Wrath is always a critical strike.This talent had great synergy with Ret Paladin 10.1's tier set bonus.However, in 10.2, the importance of this talent remains to be seen, and it is moreoptional between picking it up vs. choosing Divine Purpose.
• Blessing of Protection can be taken against physical damage dealerssuch as Arms Warrior however, you can opt out of this talentagainst Spell Casters and use it as a flex point into a talent of your choiceas it is not required to pick up when selecting the PvP talent Blessing of Spellwarding
• Divine Purpose is in the middle of the talent tree andmakes your Holy Power spells have a chance to make your next HolyPower spell free and deal increased damage/healing. Currently, in order toreliably take Vengeful Wrath, you need to choose between Divine Purpose or Divine Resonance.The main difference betweenthe two boils down to preference. Currently Divine Purpose offersmore RNG burst damage or healing while Divine Resonance is more reliablein terms of predictability. Going into patch 10.2, this may change as Divine Resonance procs the Paladin Retribution 10.2 Class Set 2pc and Paladin Retribution 10.2 Class Set 4pc so as we proceed into the patch andacquire tier, there may be less of a choice when picking up Divine Resonance

Some important spells to note in the Retribution Paladin Talent tree:

• Final Verdict vs. Justicar's Vengeance is a commonquestion some newer Ret Paladins may ask. Final Verdict doesslightly more base damage than Justicar's Vengeance and has achance to proc a free use of Hammer of Wrath. This currently hasstrong synergy with the 10.1 Ret Paladin tier bonuses from the Heartfire Sentinel's Forgehelm gear. Justicar's Vengeance hasvery niche uses in double DPS 2v2 arena. However, its healing and bonusdamage into stuns are both nerfed in PvP, making it less useful than it mayseem.
• Crusading Strikes is another new talent that transformsRet Paladin's auto attacks into Crusader Strike. This makes itso your auto attacks generate one Holy Power every other attack. Thistalent frees up globals in PvP so we can use our utility spells, such as Flash of Light and Blessing of Sanctuary. It alsosynergizes with Blessed Champion, Seal of the Crusader, Crusader's Reprieve and Zealot's Fervor to increase our Crusading Strikes damage, frequency, range, and even adding atiny bit of passive healing.
• Boundless Judgment vs. Improved Judgment is anotherpoint of contention in the Ret PvP community. As you acquire your 10.22 and 4-piece tier sets Improved Judgment will likely edge out Boundless Judgment due to the ability to proc more Paladin Retribution 10.2 Class Set 2pc
• Wake of Ashes as a capstone talent is fairlystraightforward. Both of its secondary talents Seething Flamesand Truth's Wake. Seething Flames is mandatory, while youcan opt for a different talent of your choice if you do not want Truth's Wake as it does less damage than seething. However mostRet's, as of late, select both.
• Avenging Wrath: Might vs. Crusade is another preferencechoice. Since the Ret Paladin rework in 10.1 Avenging Wrath: Might has had its effectiveness reduced in half. Crusade is only nerfed by one-third, so although it has alonger cooldown, it is more potent. Currently, both are strong and viabletalents. As we progress into the season and more Ret's acquire fulltierset, be sure to check back for more updates regarding these talents!
• Final Reckoning was slightly reworked in the 10.0.7Ret Paladin update. Its damage remains the same in PvP; however, itsbonus damage effect is reduced to 15% in PvP combat. Both of thesecondary talent's Executioner's Will and Divine Auxiliary are recommended but not mandatory. Divine Auxiliary has a small synergy with Seal of Orderthat ever so slightly decreases its cooldown. However, you aregenerally lining up Avenging Wrath and Final Reckoningso that interaction is not as important.
• Execution Sentence is now commonly chosen in PvP. The mainadvantage it currently has over Final Reckoning is that it providesfrequent access to an additional 3 Holy Power when running Divine Auxiliary. Ultimately, the choice between the two is up to you.
• As of 10.2, if running the Retribution 10.2 2 and 4 piece tier set from Zealous Pyreknight's Barbute you will need to pick up the talent Expurgation. Blade of Vengeance can also be chosen formore cleave with the set bonus.

You can choose 3 of the following PvP talents. Each ofthem has their uses, but some are better for certain strategies than others.The top three choices are the most useful but can be replaced with other PvPtalents, depending on your team's goal.

Blessing of Sanctuary removes all stun, silence, fear, and horroreffects from your target. It also reduces the duration of these effects for 5seconds. This gives you extra utility when playing against teams with severalof these effects. This should be used versus teams that rely on stun setups onyour healer to get crowd control.

Aura of Reckoning is another option if you want to increase yourdamage. You will gain 1 stack after you or an ally is hit with a criticalstrike.At 100 stacks, your next weapon swing will deal more damage and proc your Avenging Wrath.

Blessing of Spellwarding is a strong talent versus comps withmultiple spellcasters. This talent shares a cooldown with Blessing of Protection, which means you can opt out of choosing it inthe Paladin talent tree when taking this spell. Spellwarding functions muchlike Blessing of Protection except for spell damage. However, it doesnot remove magical crowd control abilities when used on yourself, unlike Blessing of Protection's ability to remove stuns like Cheap Shot

Luminescence is a situational small 2% damage increase forRetribution Paladins and their teammates. Although heavily nerfed from priorpatches, it is very easy to maintain due to Crusader's Reprieve and Crusading Strikes giving near full uptime on the buff.

Lawbringer makes Judgment also apply theLawbringerdebuff to its initial target. Enemies hit by Lawbringer will lose up to 2% oftheir health. This talent is significantly nerfed from where it was inthe past and is only semi-useful in Rated Battlegrounds where there is alarge number of enemies to spread the debuff to.

Vengeance Aura has been removed from Retribution in 10.1. The patchnotes state it was only intended to be removed from Holy Paladin, so if it makesa comeback in a hotfix, this will likely be a good PvP talent.

Judgments of the Pure is an interesting PvP talent that dispelsa Poison, Disease, and Magic effect off yourself. Since the loss of the AoEportion in 10.0.7 and the increase in dispel protection passives on casters,this talent will see far less use. It is still okay into Shadow Priests andSurvival Hunters to remove damage over time effects like Devouring Plague and Serpent Sting.