Retribution Paladin PvP Guide (2024)

Last updated on May 31, 2024 at 00:00by Sellin

Welcome to our PvP Retribution Paladin guide for Cataclysm. Hereyou will learn all you need to know to properly play Retribution Paladin in PvPscenarios.

Retribution Paladin is the king of burst damageespecially in PvP thanks to massive DPS cooldowns like Avenging Wrath and Zealotry.Paladin also offers some of the strongest defensive cooldowns in the game in the form of abilitieslike Hand of Sacrifice and Divine Shield.

• Glyph of Templar's Verdict — Increases the damage dealt by our Templar's Verdictability which will act as our primary spender of Holy Power to deal damage.
• Glyph of Word of Glory — Increases the healing done by our Word of Gloryability which will act as our primary spender of Holy Power to heal ourselves and allies.
• Glyph of Seal of Truth — Grants a considerable amount of Expertise allowingus to focus on gearing towards other stats.

• Glyph of Cleansing — Reduces the mana cost of our Cleanse abilityallowing us to cast it more often without worrying about mana.
• Glyph of Turn Evil — Causes our Turn Evil ability to be an instantcast allowing us to crowd control targets much more effectively.
• Glyph of Hammer of Justice — Increases the range of Hammer of Justiceallowing you to use the rather short-ranged ability much more easily to close the gap or CC an offtarget.

• Glyph of Blessing of Kings — Greatly reduces the mana cost of your Blessing of Kings ability.
• Glyph of Truth — Greatly reduces the mana cost of your Seal of Truth ability.
• Glyph of Blessing of Might — Greatly reduces the mana cost of your Blessing of Might ability.

Make sure to check out ourSpells Summary Page first. Having a good understandingof not only what your abilities do but how to optimally use them can often timesbe the difference between winning or losing in PvP. PvP will require you to constantlychange your priorities from dealing damage, to surviving or having to peel to keep one ofyour teammates alive so knowing how to best use your spells will give you the bestchance at victory!

1. Crusader Strike — Deals damage and generates Holy Power allowing us to use Templar's Verdictand Word of Glory.
2. Templar's Verdict — Acts as our primary spender of Holy Power to deal damage, this abilityis ideally used with 3 Holy Power.
3. Word of Glory — Can be used to heal yourself or allies when taking heavy damage. Thisalso procs Selfless Healer which slightly turns this into an offensive ability as well.
4. Hammer of Justice — Instantly stuns your target, can also be used as a psuedo interruptin a situation where your Rebuke is on cooldown.
5. Inquisition — Greatly increases your Holy Damage dealt, this is ideallyused to prepare for using your DPS cooldowns like Avenging Wrath and Inquisition.
6. Repentance — Instantly incapcitates the target, stopping them from acting. This effectwill break on any damage taken.
7. Exorcism — Deals a considerable amount of Holy Damage but should only really beused with a The Art of War proc.
8. Judgement — Deals a considerable amount of Holy Damage and also procs Long Arm of the Lawwhich greatly helps with out mobility and sticking to targets in PvP.
9. Rebuke — Interrupts your targets spell casting, use this early and oftento mitigate incoming damage or stop your target from healing.
10. Hammer of Wrath — Deals a ton of Holy Damage but is only usable on targets below 20% or when Avenging Wrath is active.

Retribution Paladin deals a tonof damage but deals even more when cooldowns like Avenging Wrath and Zealotryare active.

• Zealotry — is a two-minute cooldown that causes your Crusader Strikeability to generate three Holy Power instead of one. This effect lasts for twenty seconds and should beused in on cooldown but in PvP it is especially important to pair with another DPS cooldown to increase itselfeffectiveness like Avenging Wrath. This can also be used when the other team is dealing a considerableamount of damage to be able to cast more Word of Glorys on your team.
• Avenging Wrath. — increases your healing and damage done by 20% for twenty seconds. Thisis a massive DPS increase that is made even stronger when paired with abilities like Zealotry.
• Divine Shield — is a five-minute cooldown that makes you immune to all incoming sourcesof damage for eight seconds while reducing the damage you deal by 50%. It is important to keep in mind that this abilitycan be dispelled by other players in PvP thanks to abilities like Mass Dispel and Shattering Throw.
• Guardian of Ancient Kings — summons a guardian of the light that attacks your target dealinga small amount of Holy Damage but giving you a stacking Strength buff up to 20% increased Strength. While it cantake a considerable amount of time to fully stack in PvP it is a great way to not only increase your own damagebut deal after the guardian expires it will explode dealing a considerable amount of Holy damage to all nearbyenemies.
• Hand of Sacrifice — is a two-minute cooldown that redirects 30% of the damage being dealt to thetarget to the Paladin who casted the Hand of Sacrifice. In PvP this can be used to both reduce an alliesdamage taken but also to avoid crowd control that breaks on damage taken allowing you more uptime.
• Hand of Protection — is a five-minute cooldown that instantly makes the target immune to incoming Physicaldamage for ten seconds. This ability is able to be dispeled by anyone able to purge Magic effects so keep this in mindespecially when against a Mage that may be able to Spellsteal it off of your ally.
• Hand of Freedom — is a twenty five-second cooldown that removes and makes the target immune to movementimpairing abilities for six seconds. This can be used on either yourself or allies to maximize your uptime on your target.

While trying to get the most out of your Retribution Paladin inCataclysm PvP, these are the professions we recommend:

1. Blacksmithing —Gives you access to two additional gem sockets in your Gloves and Writs allowing you to add Strength orResilience depending on if you feel like you need to become tankier or you need to deal more damage.
2. Engineering —allows you access to the Engineering Helmet Reinforced Bio-Optic Killshades which can be socketedwith Cogwheels increasing your Resilience and another secondary stat of your choosing by 208 as well as Synapse Springs which pairs incredibly with your Avenging Wrath and Guardian of Ancient Kingscooldowns.

The list linked below includes the best possible gear setup for anPaladin in PvP.

Retribution Paladin is an incrediblyversatile class that can synergize well with many other classes. Highlighted below are some of thestrongest arena comps in the game to help you decide what best to pair with your Paladin.

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