PvE Retribution Paladin DPS Rotations & Cooldowns

In Mists of Pandaria, Retribution Paladins have a somewhat complex rotation, depending on the talents they choose. Due to their versatility and plethora of utility spells they must use for successful encounters, their playstyle can be contextual, with some scenarios requiring a focus on the utility side while others on the raw damage side.

Combining Utility & Offensive Rotations

As a Retribution Paladin, especially in raid environments, your job is to provide utility to the group, besides the raw damage that you deal to bosses and adds. Due to this, your awareness must be higher than other DPS specializations, specifically keeping track of what your tanks and healers are doing. Luckily, this is not as stressful in dungeon environments, while in raids a raid leader usually calls out or organizes the utility priority before the fights.

Holy Power Management

Due to the new Boundless Conviction passive, Retribution Paladins can now store up to 5 x Holy Power. This helps them manage the resource far better than before; however, they can still only use 3 x Holy Power per ability at once. Retribution Paladins must expend their Holy Power consistently and precisely, especially during their Holy Avenger burst sequences. Generally, you will never want to use anything less than 3 x Holy Power on your abilities! Using either 1 or 2 Holy Power charges results in sub-optimal performance. Templar’s Verdict now has a mandatory 3 x Holy Power cost which means that only Inquisition and Word of Glory/Eternal Flame can be used with 1 or 2 Holy Power.

The only exception in which it is optimal to use one charge is Inquisition. This is because you want to benefit from the damage increase from the very first moment and will replace the initial buff with a fully-fledged one quite fast, especially if you have enough Haste.

In addition, if you choose to play with Divine Purpose, it is advised to use a specific addon that notifies you whenever the effect procs to make sure you use the unspent Holy Power accordingly.

The following abilities generate Holy Power:

• Crusader Strike
• Hammer of the Righteous
• Exorcism
• Judgment
• Hammer of Wrath

The following abilities spend Holy Power:

• Templar’s Verdict
• Inquisition
• Divine Storm
• Word of Glory

Single-Target Rotation

1. Use the Seal of Truth at all times!
2. Cast Exorcism as you approach the target.
   • Cast Exorcism on cooldown & The Art of War procs.
   • Prioritize casting Exorcism after reaching Melee range if you play with the Glyph of Mass Exorcism.
3. Cast Inquisition with 1 x Holy Power to boost your initial damage.
   • Recast Inquisition with 3 x Holy Power in the 20 seconds before the initial buff expires.
4. Cast Execution Sentence on cooldown & before reaching the target after Inquisition is active.
   • Recast Execution Sentence on cooldown.
   • Never cast Execution Sentence while Inquisition is not active!
5. Cast Crusader Strike
6. Cast Judgment on cooldown
7. Cast Templar’s Verdict
   • Prioritize casting Templar’s Verdict whenever Inquisition doesn’t need to be refreshed.
   • Cast Templar’s Verdict on Divine Purpose procs.
8. Prioritize Avenging Wrath & Guardian of Ancient Kings for burst sequences.
9. Cast Hammer of Wrath on cooldown during Execution Phase.
   • Prioritize casting Hammer of Wrath before any other Holy Power generator if you play with Sanctified Wrath.
   • Cast Hammer of Wrath on cooldown while Avenging Wrath is active.

Holy Avenger Burst Sequence

1. Make sure Inquisition is active before the rotation
2. Cast Avenging Wrath.
3. Cast Holy Avenger.
4. Cast Guardian of Ancient Kings (If the cooldown is available).
5. Cast Hammer of Wrath (Best Holy Power generation tool during the sequence).
6. Cast Templar’s Verdict (Single-Target)/Divine Storm (AoE)
7. Cast Crusader Strike
8. Cast Templar’s Verdict (Single-Target)/Divine Storm (AoE)
9. Cast Judgment
10. Cast Templar’s Verdict (Single-Target)/Divine Storm (AoE)
11. Cast Exorcism
12. Cast Templar’s Verdict (Single-Target)/Divine Storm (AoE)
13. Repeat steps 4-11 while Holy Avenger remains active.
14. Use the normal Single-Target rotation after Holy Avenger expires, prioritizing casting Hammer of Wrath as Main Filler while Avenging Wrath is still active.

AoE Rotation

1. Use the Seal of Righteousness for any Cleave/AoE scenario.
2. Cast Crusader Strike on cooldown.
3. Cast Inquisition with 1 x Holy Power to boost your initial damage.
   • Recast Inquisition with 3 x Holy Power in the 20 seconds before the initial buff expires.
4. Cast Light’s Hammer on cooldown.
5. Cast Exorcism with the Glyph of Mass Exorcism.
   • Recast Exorcism on cooldown & whenever The Art of War triggers.
6. Cast Judgment on cooldown.
7. Cast Divine Storm.
8. Prioritize Avenging Wrath & Guardian of Ancient Kings for burst sequences.
9. Cast Hammer of Wrath on cooldown during Execution Phase & Avenging Wrath.
   • Prioritize Hammer of Wrath over Judgment whenever possible.

Utility & Defensive Cooldowns

• Crowd Control
  • Hammer of Justice – Stun effect that can be used every minute, lasting up to 6 seconds.
  • Fist of Justice (Talent) – A better version of Hammer of Justice, providing a reliable stun every 30 seconds.
  • Repentance (Talent) – Incapacitate effect that works on a variety of targets, lasting up to 1 minute. Damage other than Censure breaks the effect. Useful against dangerous mobs.
  • Blinding Light – AoE ability that disorients every mob in a 10-yard radius for up to 6 seconds. Damage breaks the effect.
  • Rebuke – Melee Range interrupt that prevents spellcasting from the same Magic School for 4 seconds.
  • Turn Evil – Fear that works on Undead, Abberations, and Demons, making them flee for up to 40 seconds. Can work on Humanoids & Beasts with the Evil is a Point of View talent.
• Major Defensives
  • Emancipate – Spell that removes one Movement-Impairing effect from you. No cooldown!
  • Divine Shield – Spell that makes you immune to any damage or negative effect, but reduces all your Damage Output by 50% while it is active. Lasts 8 seconds.
  • Divine Protection – Reduces all Magical Damage taken by up to 40% for 10 seconds.
• Utility
  • Absolve (Passive) – Allows your Hand of Sacrifice to dispel any harmful Magic Effect from the target!
  • Cleanse – Removes all Disease and Poison effects from a target.
  • Sacred Shield (Talent) – Talent choice that provides a strong absorption effect that can be placed on one target.
  • Devotion Aura – Grants Silence & Interrupt Effect immunity for 6 seconds and reduces all Magical Damage taken by up to 20% for up to 6 seconds to all party/raid members in a 40-yard radius.
  • Hand of Purity (Talent) – Short duration buff that reduces all damage taken by 10% and all DoT damage by an additional 80% for up to 6 seconds.
  • Hand of Freedom – Short duration buff that provides immunity to Movement-Impairing effects for up to 6 seconds.
  • Hand of Protection – Short duration buff that provides immunity to Physical Damage for 10 seconds, but prevents the target from attacking or using any Physical Ability. Players may still cast spells during the duration.
  • Hand of Sacrifice – Short duration buff that removes any Magic Debuff from the target and transfers 30% of all damage taken to the Paladin. Lasts for 12 seconds or until 100% of the Paladin’s maximum HP has been transferred.
  • Hand of Salvation – Short duration buff that removes any Threat generated by the target for up 10 seconds.
• Buff
  • Blessing of Kings – Major buff that increases Strength, Agility, and Intellect by 5% to all group members
  • Blessing of Might – Major buff that increases Mastery to all group members.
• Healing:
  • Word of Glory – Direct Heal that uses up to 3 x Holy Power to heal a target.
  • Lay on Hands – A very potent spell that heals a target for an amount equal to your maximum HP.
  • Flash of Light – Strong spell that provides Direct Healing. Can be massively empowered by Selfless Healer.
  • Seal of Insight – Seal that increases your overall Healing by 5% and provides 10% Casting Speed. A great option if you fast swap to it before healing an ally.