Retribution Paladin Leveling Guide from 1 to 90 — 12.0.5

Retribution Paladin is a spec with a lot of burst AoE cooldowns available. It is best either fighting large groups of enemies at once while solo questing, or doing great AoE damage in dungeons in a group. You will want to tag as many enemies as possible with ranged abilities like Judgment to group them up, then use your cooldowns like Avenging Wrath and Wake of Ashes to kill them all quickly.

Leveling Information

Beginner Leveling Guides

If this is your first character, or want to know more about the leveling process in Midnight, we've got you covered with these two guides!

Basic LevelingMidnight Leveling

In general, you will want to equip the highest item level gear you happen to pick up as you level. Retribution cares a lot more about Strength than any specific combination of secondary stats, and you will generally replace any gear very quickly as you continue to level.

Heirloom items can help your leveling experience, as they boost experience gains and automatically scale with your level.

Itemization

Leveling Heirlooms

Learn how to use Heirloom gear to level your characters as fast as possible!

Heirlooms Guide

Regular Flasks and Potions like Flask of Alchemical Chaos and Tempered Potion can make combat a little bit easier if you are willing to spend the gold. Otherwise, items like Gunshoes and Goblin Glider Kit can improve your movement speed, allowing you to move faster and fly without mounting up, which can be useful when travelling indoors or across large gaps.

If you are just starting your journey into Midnight, we have a Level 80 import string for you. You can follow the point-by-point allocation of the below tree once you start gaining levels in Midnight.

None of the options for War Mode talents have any impact on your leveling speed for Retribution. Feel free to take any that you want.

To help with understanding what changes for your spec as you level up and progress through the talent tree, use the slider below to select your current level. Each time you level up, move it along, and the section will level up with you!

Move the slider below to make the guide update to your level!

When creating your Paladin, you only have one ability: Crusader Strike. It is your first Holy Power generator. At level 2, you will unlock Shield of the Righteous, your first Holy Power spender. At level 3, you gain Judgment. Consecration is unlocked at level 6. At Level 9, you learn the class ability Hand of Reckoning, a 30-yard range taunt on an 8-second cooldown. Use this long-range taunt to pull more mobs when you no longer have long-range damage abilities. At level 10 you can officially spec into Retribution and gain access to Templar's Verdict. From now you need to switch to a Two-Handed weapon. Otherwise, you will not be able to use your new abilities. Say goodbye to Shield of the Righteous, because you will never waste Holy Power on it again.

1. Cast Crusader Strike on cooldown as long as you have 4 or less Holy Power.
2. Cast Shield of the Righteous once you have 3 or more Holy Power generated.
3. Cast Judgment on cooldown.
4. Cast Consecration.

Starting at Level 10, you can queue for dungeons with the in-game group finder. Always queue as DPS, so you have the proper training environment to practice your Retribution kit at your given level in a dungeon situation. To understand in-depth how to use this Retribution kit, especially when reaching higher levels, check out our rotation page, but we have added a short version below:

1. Cast Avenging Wrath.
2. Cast Execution Sentence.
3. Follow the priority list below until you have at least 3 Holy Power.
   • Cast Wake of Ashes if you have 2 or less Holy Power.
   • Cast Divine Toll.
   • Cast Hammer of Wrath.
   • Cast Blade of Justice.
   • Cast Judgment.
   • Cast Crusader Strike.
   • Cast Templar Slash / Templar Strikes.
4. Once you reach 3 or more Holy Power, you want to switch to the second priority list below, which is used to spend Holy Power.
   • Cast Hammer of Light when available.
   • Cast Divine Storm against 2 or more targets.
   • Cast Templar's Verdict against a single target.
   • Cast Final Verdict against a single target.

Class Guides

Paladin Class Guides

Finished leveling your character? Check out our max level guides!

All Paladin Guides

Bolas

Guide Author

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This guide has been written by Bolas, a long time Retribution Paladin enthusiast, theorycrafter, and high-end raider in the #1 Oceanic guild Honestly. You can find him in the Paladin Discord as bolas.ret.