For The Paladin

Holy

Seals of the Pure – While Seal of Command doesn’t benefit from this, Seal of Vengence/Corruption does get a good boost in DPS, so you should definitely go for the points in this.

Protection

Divine Strength – More strength? Yes please! Strength is a Retribution Paladin’s main stat, so power up on it while you can get it from talents.

Retribution

Benediciton – Considering that ALL of your combat spells are instant cast, you are now reducing how much you’re using by 10%. Essential to have (unless you enjoy running out of mana, in which case, just alt-F4 your way out of the game, because no one will want to group with you).

Improved Judgements – Reducing your judgement spell by 2 seconds = 20% more of you casting judgement. Yeah, you’ll want this.

Heart of the Crusader – You were going to be using your Judgement spell in your rotation anyway, so why not add the ability to increase everyone’s critical strike rating by 3% while you’re at it? Not only are you doing damage, but you’re helping yourself (and your group) do more damage.

Improved Blessing of Might – 25% more attack power = more damage with each swing. If you’re the only Retribution Paladin in the group, it’s key to have it, however, if you’re in a guild/party/raid that has another Ret Pally, get him to get this talent and you can spend your points somewhere else.

Vindication – Reducing your enemy’s attack power by just hitting him? Take it up. Once again, if you take it upon yourself to normally have a warrior or a feral druid in your group, don’t bother with this talent because the spells Demoralizing Shout and Roar do not stack with this talent, and do the same thing.

Conviction – 5% to crit. Not “a chance to get an extra 5%”, not “by using judgement you’ll get 5% to crit”. Baseline: 5. Percent. To. Crit. If you don’t take this talent then you need to rethink what you’re trying to do in the game.

Seal of Command – At level 80, you will most likely not be using this spell in your rotation, but it is great to use as a leveling spell, and it’s fun to have in your arsenal.

Pursuit of Justice – We’ve all been in those situations where we’ve had to move out of the way of an incoming spell/cleave/attack. You would think that 15% isn’t much, but when everyone is running away from an attack, and you’re at the head of the pack, you’ll be saying to yourself, “I’m so glad I put my points into this talent”. Plus, 50% less time being disarmed gives you more time to attack while others aren’t.

Eye for an Eye – This is more of a PvP talent than a PvE talent, considering that if you’re in a group you shouldn’t be taking damage AND most damage you’ll be taking wont be crits, but you’ll never know when you get hit with a big crit, so 10% of that damage going back to the enemy isn’t bad.

Sanctity of Battle – Another flat crit increase. Plus, exorcism and crusader strike damage is increased by 15%. Saying no to this talent point is basically saying “No, thanks, I don’t want to do a lot of damage”.

Crusade – MORE DAMAGE. Seriously, take it. It wont bite…hard.

Two-Handed Weapon Specialization – Unless you’ve taken it upon yourself to be the world’s first sword-and-shield Retribution Paladin, you’re going to be using a two-handed weapon. This talent takes that weapon damage and increases it by 6%. You want this talent. You need this talent.

Sanctified Retribution – If you’re using an aura, any party members will get an automatic 3% increase to damage as long as they’re in your aura. Oh, and your Retribution Aura damage is increased by 50%, but that really doesn’t matter that much. It’s more important to know that if you’re fighting a giant Ice Elemental, you can put on Frost Resistance Aura and your group will still be getting the extra 3% to their damage.

Vengeance – 3% increase to Physical and Holy damage for 30 seconds after a critical strike. It also stacks 3 times, so it’s a 9% increase in damage. Knowing you’ve taken it upon yourself to have enough crit in your gear to have 1 in 4 attacks be a crit (that’s 25% for all you math majors out there), AND considering that the buff lasts for 30 seconds and it refreshes after every crit, you should have this talent up and running within the first 10-15 seconds of any fight. Just make sure that you’re constantly hitting mobs (and by mobs it could be cows, squirrels, small children, etc.) so that you’re not losing your increase.

Divine Purpose – This is more of a utility spell, however the 4% decrease in spells is pretty handy.

The Art of War – Another flat increase in damage. Plus, your crits make your exorcism and flash of light spells become instant cast, which is especially handy when you’re low on health and need a quick heal and your healer(s) are busy with other people.

Repentance – Takes a mob out of commission for 60 seconds. But really, it opens up the talent point Fanaticism.

Judgements of the Wise – We’re not holy paladins. We don’t have 20,000 mana at our disposal. But that’s ok, because we don’t need it. We have this talent. Use your judgement and you instantly get back 25% of your base mana.

Fanaticism – We want to do damage, we just don’t want to take any hits. This is the talent that makes sure that happens. Oh, and your damage-dealing judgements will crit 18% more (the percentages of having a critical judgement are getting a little out of hand at this point, don’t ya think?)

Sanctified Wrath – Let’s face it, Avenging Wrath is an awesome spell. We need this spell to keep our damage at it’s peak. So, reducing the cooldown by a full minute will allow you to not worry about using it later, and instead focusing on using it now.

Swift Retribution – 3% haste for anyone under your auras. Yeah, no brainer.

Crusader Strike – Finally, we get a spell that we’re going to use in our rotation. Get it. Make sure you use it. Or you’ll regret it.

Sheath of Light – 30% of your attack power is going to be converted into spell power. Considering that your attacks are holy-based, this allows your to scale up some serious damage using only one stat.

Righteous Vengeance – Ret Pallies have a DoT now? Yep. Hit a mob with a crit from your main spells and you’ll do 30% of your damage as a DoT.

Divine Storm – Another spell you’ll be using in your rotation, this spell hits up to four mobs at once for 110% weapon damage and also heals you and your mates for 25% of the damage caused. The heal isn’t much, but it’s nice to have.

Well there you have it. You should now be ready to go and experience Retribution for all it’s worth!*

*Let it be known, your spec will only get you so far. Having a good rotation and gear is also essential, and will be covered in later posts.

Happy Playing!

~Baros