New Raider's Guide

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Three rules apply in every mode:

1. Stay alive. A dead paladin does zero damage. Any damage you lose moving out of fire is tiny next to dying.
2. Stay in melee range and keep swinging. Retribution is a melee spec and your auto attacks generate Holy Power. Every second you are out of range or standing still with a button ready is lost damage.
3. Never sit at 5 Holy Power. It is your currency. A full bar means the next Blade of Justice, Judgment or auto attack throws its Holy Power away.

What to check in your logs

Open your character on Warcraft Logs after a raid night and look at these five things, in this order. They tell you more than the big DPS number does.

Fix these in order. Deaths first, then active time, then cooldown count, then wasted Holy Power, then spender count. Parse percentile climbs on its own once those are right.

Retribution 101: the five ideas behind every button

Retribution is a resource loop. You build Holy Power with short-cooldown strikes and your own auto attacks, spend it on big hits, and press cooldowns to make the whole loop hit harder. Learn these five ideas and every priority list below will make sense.

1. Holy Power is your currency. You hold up to 5. Blade of Justice, Judgment and Hammer of Wrath each generate 1. Wake of Ashes and Divine Toll give you a lot at once. Final Verdict and Divine Storm each cost 3. Sitting at 5 means new Holy Power is thrown away, so never cap.
2. Your auto attacks build too. With Crusading Strikes, your weapon swings generate Holy Power on their own. That means Holy Power arrives even when you are not pressing anything, so you spend at 4 if a swing is about to land.
3. Final Verdict or Divine Storm is the payoff. Final Verdict hits one target hard. Divine Storm hits everything around you. One target means Final Verdict. Two or more means Divine Storm.
4. Two debuffs make everything hit harder. Judgment leaves a debuff that makes your next spender hit harder. Blade of Justice leaves Expurgation. Method says to keep both on the target, which happens on its own if you press both on cooldown.
5. Three cooldowns, three timers. Avenging Wrath (2 minutes) makes everything hit harder. Execution Sentence (1 minute) marks the target to take a big hit later. Divine Toll (1 minute) fires Judgment at everything nearby and fills your bar. Press them together when they line up.

Easy Mode: six buttons, one order Mode 1

This is the whole rotation. Read the list top to bottom every time a global cooldown finishes and press the first thing that is true. It uses the Herald of the Sun single-target build from the setup section. If you took Templar instead, press Hammer of Light whenever it lights up, before anything else on this list.

1. Avenging Wrath if it is off cooldown. Press it the moment the fight starts and every time it lights up again.
2. Wake of Ashes if it is off cooldown and you have 2 or fewer Holy Power. It gives you a lot of Holy Power at once, so pressing it at 4 wastes most of it.
3. Final Verdict if you have 4 or more Holy Power. Spending at 4 keeps you from capping at 5 when an auto attack lands.
4. Hammer of Wrath if it is lit up. It works when the boss is below 20% health or while Avenging Wrath is active.
5. Blade of Justice if it is off cooldown. Your main builder.
6. Judgment. When nothing above is true, press this. It builds Holy Power and makes your next Final Verdict hit harder.

That is it. Ignore Execution Sentence, Divine Toll and Divine Storm for now. They are a bonus, not the foundation. If you have 3 Holy Power and nothing else is ready, Final Verdict is fine.

The opener

When the raid leader's pull timer hits 1 second, run in so your first auto attack lands as it ends. Then Blade of Justice, Avenging Wrath, Wake of Ashes, Final Verdict, Final Verdict, Judgment, and fall into the list above.

When you have to move

Judgment and Hammer of Wrath have range, so press them while you run. Divine Steed gets you back into melee fast. Do not stand in something that will kill you to land one more Final Verdict.

Aura

Keep Retribution Aura on in raids unless your raid leader asks for Devotion Aura. Check it after every death and every wipe.

Intermediate Mode: three bonus buttons and a second target Mode 2

Same skeleton as Easy Mode, with Execution Sentence, Divine Toll and Art of War procs slotted in. Each one is worth a few percent of your damage, and together they are the gap between a passable paladin and a solid one.

1. Avenging Wrath on cooldown.
2. Execution Sentence on cooldown. Walk into it with 3 Holy Power ready so the first thing after it is a spender.
3. Final Verdict if you have 5 Holy Power, or 4 if an auto attack is about to land.
4. Wake of Ashes on cooldown, with 2 or fewer Holy Power.
5. Divine Toll on cooldown. It fires Judgment at up to five enemies and gives Holy Power for each one.
6. Blade of Justice when Art of War lights it up and Avenging Wrath is not active.
7. Hammer of Wrath if it has 2 charges.
8. Final Verdict at 4 Holy Power.
9. Hammer of Wrath, then Blade of Justice, then Judgment.
10. Final Verdict at 3 Holy Power when nothing else is ready.

The opener

This is Method's Herald of the Sun opener. Run in at 1 second. Blade of Justice, Avenging Wrath, on-use trinket and potion, Execution Sentence, Wake of Ashes, Final Verdict, Final Verdict, Divine Toll. From there, use the list.

Divine Storm: your second target

Whenever two or more enemies are close together, swap Final Verdict for Divine Storm and the list above stays the same. The rule of thumb:

• Two targets that will live more than 10 seconds, such as a boss plus a big add, is already Divine Storm.
• Divine Toll hits every target, so hold it a few seconds if adds are about to spawn.
• Wake of Ashes hits everything in front of you. Face the pack before you press it.
• Hammer of Wrath on any add below 20% health; it generates Holy Power you then spend on the pack.

Planning movement

Before the pull, ask the raid leader or read the boss guide for the two or three moments when everyone has to move. Walk into those moments with Judgment and Hammer of Wrath ready and 3 or more Holy Power, so you can keep pressing ranged buttons while you run. Save Divine Steed for getting back into melee, not for running out.

Full Send Mode: the complete priority Mode 3

This is the Herald of the Sun single-target list as Method writes it, plus the habits that separate a 70th-percentile parse from a 95th. Nothing here is new. It is the Intermediate list with tighter timing.

Single target

1. Avenging Wrath. Skip this if you took Radiant Glory, which procs it for you.
2. Execution Sentence on cooldown.
3. Divine Storm with a Divine Arbiter proc at 5 Holy Power.
4. Final Verdict at 5 Holy Power, or 4 if an auto attack is about to land with Crusading Strikes.
5. Wake of Ashes.
6. Divine Toll.
7. Blade of Justice with Art of War and Avenging Wrath inactive.
8. Hammer of Wrath at 2 charges.
9. Divine Storm with a Divine Arbiter proc.
10. Final Verdict at 4 Holy Power.
11. Hammer of Wrath.
12. Blade of Justice.
13. Judgment.
14. Final Verdict at 3 Holy Power.
15. Templar Strike and Templar Slash if talented.

Pooling for Execution Sentence

About 5 seconds before Execution Sentence comes back, stop spending at 3 and ride at 3 to 4. When you press it, you then have a Final Verdict ready instantly, and the goal is to spend as much Holy Power as possible while Execution Sentence and Avenging Wrath are both running. Never cap for more than a swing while pooling. A wasted Holy Power costs more than the pooling gains.

Auto-attack discipline

Crusading Strikes turns your swing timer into a resource timer. Method recommends turning on Crusading Strikes in the Cooldown Manager so you can see when the next swing lands. If you are at 4 and the swing is a second away, spend now. If you are at 4 and the swing just landed, you have time for a Judgment first.

Lining up the burst window

On-use trinket, Potion of Recklessness and racial all go into the first Avenging Wrath with Execution Sentence. The 1-minute and 2-minute timers realign every 2 minutes, so a 6-minute fight gives you two such windows plus the opener. Ask the raid leader when Bloodlust is coming and, if it is within 20 seconds of your realignment, hold the cooldowns for it. Method says Avenging Wrath should always be paired with Execution Sentence if you took it.

AoE (2 or more targets)

1. Avenging Wrath (skip with Radiant Glory) and Execution Sentence on cooldown if the pack lives 15 seconds or more.
2. Final Verdict with a Divine Arbiter proc.
3. Divine Storm at 5 Holy Power, or 4 if an auto attack is about to land.
4. Wake of Ashes, then Divine Toll.
5. Hammer of Wrath at 2 charges, then Blade of Justice with Art of War outside Avenging Wrath.
6. Divine Storm at 4 Holy Power, then Hammer of Wrath, Blade of Justice, Judgment, and Divine Storm at 3.

Two targets already counts as AoE for this spec. Method's AoE list starts at 2 targets, so the moment a second enemy is in range of Divine Storm, you are on this list.

Fight-specific habits

Before a progression night, open the boss guide and write down three things: when adds spawn (plan Divine Toll and Divine Storm), when the raid has to move (hold Judgment and Hammer of Wrath), and when Bloodlust is called (hold or drift cooldowns). Those three notes are worth more than any sim.

Talents, consumables and setup

Import one of these talent strings and the guide above matches your bars. Open the talent window, click Import, paste, and save as a loadout. Both are from Method's talents page, updated 13 Oct 2026 for patch 12.1.5. The same page has Templar versions of both if you prefer that tree.

Method says Tempest of the Lightbringer is worth taking on single target because of the Season 2 tier set, and that Light Within is the apex talent. Class talents such as Cleanse Toxins, Punishment, Sacrifice of the Just and Consecrated Ground are interchangeable; swap them for what the boss or dungeon needs.

Stat priority

Strength first, then Mastery, then Haste, then Critical Strike, Versatility last. Method says your own gear may call for a different order and Maxroll gives no order at all, so once you are comfortable, run a Raidbots Top Gear sim with your own gear. Until then, take the higher item level piece.

Consumables checklist

Bring these to every raid. Half of them are provided by the raid, but a new raider should carry their own.

• Flask: Flask of the Magisters (Method), or Flask of the Blood Knights or Flask of the Shattered Sun (Maxroll lists all three)
• Food: Royal Roast, or eat the raid feast (Harandar Celebration or Silvermoon Parade)
• Combat potion: Potion of Recklessness, one per pull. Light's Potential instead if Haste is your highest secondary stat
• Health potion: Concentrated Silvermoon Health Potion
• Weapon oil: Thalassian Phoenix Oil
• Augment rune: Void-Touched Augment Rune
• Aura: Retribution Aura on before the ready check, or Devotion Aura if asked
• Enchants: Mark of the Worldsoul (chest), Forest Hunter's Armor Kit (legs), Eyes of the Eagle (rings), Rite of the Hash'ey (weapon; Maxroll prefers Acuity of the Ren'dorei), Empowered Rune of Avoidance (head), Amirdrassil's Grace (shoulders), Lynx's Dexterity (boots)

Addons that matter

BigWigs for boss timers, Method Raid Tools for raid notes, BetterCooldownManager to track Holy Power and your cooldowns, and Plater nameplates. Turn on Crusading Strikes in the Cooldown Manager so you can see your swing timer. Nothing else is required to start.

Macros

Put these on your bars. The first heals whatever your mouse is over, or your target, or you. The second does the same for Blessing of Freedom. The third interrupts whatever you have set as focus, or your target if you have no focus.

#showtooltip
/cast [target=mouseover,help,nodead][help,nodead][target=player] Word of Glory

#showtooltip
/cast [target=mouseover,help,nodead][help,nodead][target=player] Blessing of Freedom

#showtooltip Rebuke
/cast [@focus,exists,harm] Rebuke; Rebuke

Your utility kit

Damage is only half the job. Raid leaders remember the paladin who interrupts, saves a healer with Blessing of Protection and uses Lay on Hands on the tank, not the one who parses 5% higher. Cooldowns below are the base values. Talents shorten some of them, so trust your tooltip over this table.

Two habits to build now:

1. Set a focus target. Before the pull, target the add you are assigned to interrupt and press your focus keybind. The Rebuke macro then works without ever leaving the boss.
2. Press a defensive on every raid-wide hit. Divine Protection is on a 1-minute cooldown and off the global cooldown. There is no reason to take a big hit without it.

Reading your logs and what to practice next

After each raid night, open your character on Warcraft Logs and spend five minutes on one boss. Pick the longest single-target fight. Check the five items from the logs section, then do the one drill below that matches your mode.

Three things to compare against a top log of the same boss (Warcraft Logs, Rankings tab, filter to Retribution):

1. Count their Final Verdicts and yours. If theirs is 50% higher on a fight of the same length, you are capping or out of melee range.
2. Count their Avenging Wrath and Execution Sentence casts and yours. The gap is almost always one missed cast at the start or end.
3. Look at their Deaths and yours. If they have zero and you do not, that is the whole gap.

The Venomous Abyss is the current Midnight Season 2 raid, with eight bosses from Nek'zali the Soulcoiler through Ula'tek. Read the Icy Veins page for each boss before the night you first see it, and write down the three notes from Full Send Mode: when adds come, when you move, when Lust is called.