This build hereis the typical 51 points spent for Holy Paladins.

Where do you put the remaining 20 talent points?
Theres two common builds for Holy Paladins these days and both have trade offs. Which build would be better for you? Let’s take a look.

HOLY(51) / PROTECTION (20)
The first build is the Holy/Protection build, which puts all 20 talent points into the Protection tree.

The main feature of this build is Divine Sacrifice, which absorbs incoming raid damage up to 150% of your Paladin’s health. When combined with Divine Shield, you are absorbing raid damage at no cost. This makes it easier for healing massive raid damage such as XT Deconstructor’s Tantrum, Kologarn’s Shockwave.

But of course there are disadvantages, Divine Shield can only be used once every 5 minutes, so you probably can use it once per fight. Also you trade 5% spell critical chance in the Retribution Tree for this spell. This brings us to the Holy/Retribution build.

HOLY(51) / PROTECTION (5) / RETRIBUTION (15)
The Retribution Build offers more utility than the Holy/Prot build with talents such as Heart of the Crusader and Conviction. Conviction offers additional 5% spell critical chance, which is substantial in healing.

SO? WHICH SPEC DO I USE?
Well, both specs honestly are equally effective, but it’s down to your preference. A heroic geared paladin prepped for raids shld have about 20% spell critical at the very least, but 25% spell critical chance is recommended for beginners who are raiding. If your raid can handle AoE damages, it’s better to use the Holy/Ret build. Or if you want a high critical holy healing build it’s obviously Holy/Ret.

Whereas some people would choose Holy/Prot because of Divine Sacrifice/ Divine Shield Bubble, which can be a raidsaver at times. It is a good emergency combo that would prevent a wipe. But they would have lower healing due to 5% loss in spell critical chance. Also, if you are highly geared and can hit 25% spell critical chance just from gear, going Holy/Prot build is a good choice.

Ultimately it comes down to your opinion which build would benefit your raid more. Some people would think having more CRIT would help raid healing more than Divine Sacrifice, whereas some find Divine Sacrifice more useful since their raid might be more subjectible to raid damage.

Try both builds and find one that fits your style and your raid composition.

Finally Patch 3.1 has finally been released. Changes have been made to the talent trees. Holy got a little nerfed, Protection got some new talents and Retribution gets somewhat balanced. Unforunately still no improvement on Seals.

With my exams coming within a month and busy preparing for it, I am sorry to say I can’t post a detailed informative document on the new talent specs. I will post core talent builds for each spec, so there will be leftover/spare talent points. These talent points are for you to decide on the kind of build you want.

The good thing (or bad depending the way you see it) about Patch 3.1 is that talent points are freed up, so you can have more variation with your build. Holy Paladins used to spec probably 51/0/20 to amp their critical chance, now with 3.1 you can spec into Protection for Divine Sacrifice and Divine Guardian. Retribution paladins can also opt to have that talent now that less talent points are needed for a proper Retribution build. This makes the paladin a more “hybrid” class.

HOLY (51/5/5)

In the Holy tree it is still the same old 51 points allocation, feel free to switch between Improved Lay on Hands and Blessed Hands.

Divinity is a exciting new talent, improving heals given and received by 5%.

Benediction is specifically for Holy Shock, so if you find the 5 points here not worthwhile simply pump them into Protection for Divine Sacrifce and Divine Guardian. Divine Guardian increases the duration of Sacred Shield by 100% and amount absorbed by 20%, which is a solid talent. Alternatively invest remaining points in Retribution tree for more critical chance.

PROTECTION (0/56/6)

While reading through sites for info on Protection build, the ironic thing is that the new talent Divine Sacrifice is deemed more a offtank/non-tank spell. This seems more usable in a situation when the whole raid is taking heavy damage, such as EoE Phase 2 ,instead of in a boss fight, so use it wisely. You are only bringing more hurt upon yourself if it is used in a boss fight, apart from boss damage you are taking damage from other party members. In my build you can see I left Divine Sacrifice out, but it is optional. Probably in 25 man raids where raid takes heavy damage it will be needed.

Remember to spend only 1 point in Improved Judgements, this is because of the 9 6 9 rotation. If you don’t already know, 9 6 9 rotation is a spell rotation for tankadins. You can read about it HERE and the SacredDuty blog has a post on it.

Divinity might seem to be a Holy talent, but it works for Protection as well. It increases healing received by 5%, that is enough reason to take it.

RETRIBUTION (0/5/52)

Retribution tree went through some tweaks, what used to require heavy points investment, now has talent points reduced considerably. Seal of Blood/Martyr had Judgement damage reduced but Seal damage increased, bringing a balance to it.

You can see I have no points in Improved Blessing of Might, this is due to Warrior’s Battle Shout. There are problems of Blessing of Might clashing with Battle Shout (Sorry but I will have to look into it in detail in later posts.) Seal of Command is optional.

From then on it’s pretty much the core talents for Retribution paladins. The remaining talent points can be invested in the Protection Tree for the new talents, it will help raid survivability. With instant Flash of Lights and Divine Sacrifice, you can provide additional support in situations where the raid is taking damage or you are unable to DPS the target.

Holy 3.0 Guide added.
Based on previous raids in Black Temple and Mount Hyjal, healing style has changed and will take some time to get used to.

Click this link to read the guide

New guide added for Protection paladins.
This looks at the changes in 3.0, new talent build and the new tanking cycle.

Click this link to read the guide.

Holy Talent Builds page updated to reflected Patch 3.0.2 changes. With the introduction of new talents and spell mechanics change, it seems the way of the shockadin is gone. I will respec and test if a Shockadin build is still viable. Look out for this space.

When 2.3 patch notes announced the absence of threat reduction, paladins all over Azeroth rioted on the forums. Blizzard responded by asking for Retribution data on the test realms to consider the issue. And Behold! Eyonix has announced Threat Reduction for Retribution paladins!

Click here for the Post by Eyonix

Embedded in Fanaticism, Retribution paladins will receive up to 30% threat reduction. Great news for all paladins out there as we move closer to raid viability.

After weeks of speculation and rumors, official patch 2.3 notes are out and IT HAS BEEN A DAMN DISAPPOINTMENT. Once again Blizzard has screwed us and the issue of threat reduction remains unsolved.

• Blessing of Light: Lower ranks of Flash of Light and Holy Light are now properly penalized when used with this Blessing.

• Cleanse and Purify range increased to 40 yards.

• Crusader Strike (Retribution) cooldown reduced from 10 to 6 seconds.

• Exorcism mana cost reduced.

• Hammer of Wrath mana cost reduced.

• Holy Wrath mana cost reduced.

• Improved Seal of the Crusader (Retribution) benefits folded into the base spell. This talent now gives the benefits of the Sanctified Crusader talent instead.

• Judgement of Light: The combat log will now show the mana gained from rank 5 of this ability as Judgement of Light instead of Seal of Light.

• Pursuit of Justice (Retribution) is now 3 ranks and increases movement speed by 5/10/15% and also reduces the chance you’ll be hit by spells by 1/2/3%.

• Sanctified Crusader (Retribution) renamed Sanctified Seals, which now increases your chance to critically hit with all spells and melee attacks by 1/2/3% and reduces the chance your Seals will be dispelled by 33/66/100%.

• Vengeance (Retribution) duration increased from 15 to 30 seconds.

• Vindication (Retribution) frequency and duration increased and now reduces all attributes by 5/10/15%, not just Strength and Agility.

• Weapon Expertise (Protection) renamed Combat Expertise, now increases expertise by 1/2/3/4/5 and total Stamina by 2/4/6/8/10%.

The following was apparently taken from a EU Forums Blue post which was soon deleted,

• The Tier 4, Tier 5, Tier 6 and all Gladiator Sets have had their Spell Damage removed and the points have been reinvested in other stats, such as Strength and Critical Strike Rating.
• Exorcism mana cost reduced.
• Holy Wrath mana cost reduced.
• Hammer of Wrath mana cost reduced.
• Pursuit of Justice (Retribution) is now 3 ranks and increases movement speed by 5/10/15% and also reduces the chance you’ll be hit by spells by 1/2/3%.
• The benefits of Improved Seal of the Crusader (Retribution) have now been implemented in the base spell. This talent now gives the benefits of the Sanctified Crusader talent instead.
• Sanctified Crusader (Retribution) is renamed to Sanctified Seals, and now increases your chance to critically hit with all spells and melee attacks by 1/2/3% and reduces the chance your Seals will be dispelled by 33/66/100%.
• Two-Handed Weapon Specialization (Retribution) now also reduces threat caused while wielding a Two-Handed Weapon by 8/16/25%.
• Vengeance (Retribution) duration increased from 15 to 30 seconds and now increases Healing done as well.
• Seal of Command (Retribution) now does 85% Weapon Damage, but is no longer affected by Spell damage.
• Judgement of Command (Retribution) now does holy damage equal to 25% of your Attack Power and 50% when the target is stunned or disoriented and is no longer affected by Spell Damage.
• Crusader Strike (Retribution) cooldown reduced from 10 to 6 seconds and does 110% weapon damage instead of weapon damage plus 40% of your Holy Spell damage.
• Vindication (Retribution) frequency and duration increased and now reduces all attributes by 5/10/15%.

Threat reduction issue is resolved here with Two-Handed Weapon Specialization. A little raid utility with Vengeance increasing Healing done. Raid viability is definitely improved here.

Note that this is just a rumor and not confirmed, so keep your fingers crossed. In the meantime, I’m going to get me some Retribution gear.

Since patch 2.2 went live, tons of information about patch 2.3 have been added in the forums by blues. Patch 2.3 is going to be BIG, arena season 3, new 10-man raid Zul’ Aman, engineering flying mounts and of course, class changes will be implemented. To see known changes for patch 2.3, click here.

Now let’s take a look at Paladin changes,

• Exorcism’s mana cost has been lowered.
• Holy Wrath’s mana cost has been lowered.
• Hammer of Wrath’s mana cost has been lowered.
• Vengeance has been increased to 30 seconds.
• Improved Seal of the Crusader effect added to base abilitiy.
• Improved Seal of the Crusader now gives the effects of Sanctified Crusader.
• New Talent - Sanctified Seals: Increases your chance to critically hit with all spells and melee by 1/2/3%, and reduces the chance your Seals can be dispelled by 33/66/100%.
• Crusader Strike cooldown is being reduced to 6 seconds

UPDATE

• Pursuit of Justice (Retribution) is now 3 ranks and increases movement speed by 5/10/15% and also reduces the chance you’ll be hit by spells by 1/2/3%.
• Vindication (Retribution) frequency and duration increased and now reduces all attributes by 5/10/15%, not just Strength and Agility.

Somehow this is as much information that can be mined, little compared to other class changes. Overall it looks good but it still does not solve the problems Retribution Paladins are facing. Paladins all over the forums are crying for Thread Reduction, which is a major issue, as well as Raid Utility. For PvP though, the improved Vindication looks more threatening, can’t say the same for Pursuit of Justice. More is needed to be done to push the Paladin to the frontline of the raid.

Hopefully upcoming updates on patch 2.3 we will see better changes to make the Retribution paladin a viable raider.

On a sidenote, hope to see changes to other talent tree such as Protection, or new itemizations.