Latest on this board4-piece Divine Arbiter: +150% on the main target, +75% on the rest · 25 Aug 2026Templar: Seal of the Templar adds 35% to Templar’s Verdict (was 25%) · 25 Aug 2026Templar: Hammer of Light +50% (PvE only), Empyrean Hammer +12% · 22 Sept 2026

Explain simply

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By GamGem ResearchLast updated 9 Oct 2026

World of Warcraft · damage specialisation

Retribution Paladin talents for Midnight S2 — Herald of the Sun or Templar, stat priority & rotation

Paladin · Patch 12.1 · Midnight Season 2 · Checked 2026-10-09

Boss

What changes for Raid?

Stats:: Item level › Strength › Mastery › Haste › Critical Strike › Versatility
Press first:: Generators before spenders unless Holy Power would cap
First cooldown:: add a damage event below
Build:: Herald of the Sun · guide linked below

Hero talent

Herald of the Sun

recommended by the guide

Key talents

Execution Sentence

+ Heart of the Crusader, Tempest of the Lightbringer

Stat emphasis

Mastery

then Haste › Critical Strike › Versatility

Single target

Heart of the Crusader, Execution Sentence in wings

what the boss damage leans on

Area damage

Tempest of the Lightbringer on every Divine Storm

what the pack damage leans on

Which talents change?

Raid vs Mythic+ · Herald of the Sun

Stronger single target, cleave and sustained AoE, with a longer burst window

Execution Sentencetake for Raid
Heart of the Crusadertake for Raid
Blessed Championthe Mythic+ build’s — drop here
Blade of Vengeancethe Mythic+ build’s — drop here

Import string

The string is not copied here — import the Herald of the Sun build from Method ›

Which stats? — item level, then Strength

Item levelalways first
Strengthprimary
Mastery#1
Haste#2
Critical Strike#3
Versatility#4

Gear changes it — sim your own character.

What do I press now?

Herald of the Sun

RULES

1Generators before spenders unless Holy Power would cap
2With Crusading Strikes every swing gives Holy Power — do not waste it
3Keep Expurgation and Judgment on the target

OPENER

1Blade of Justice, Avenging Wrath, trinkets and potion
2Execution Sentence, Wake of Ashes
3Final Verdict twice, then Divine Toll — Divine Storm instead on packs

SINGLE TARGET

1Avenging Wrath, then Execution Sentence
2Divine Storm with Divine Arbiter at 5 Holy Power
3Final Verdict at 5 — or 4 just before a Crusading Strikes swing
4Wake of Ashes, Divine Toll
5Blade of Justice with Art of War outside wings; Hammer of Wrath at 2 charges

AOE (2+)

1Final Verdict with Divine Arbiter
2Divine Storm at 5 Holy Power, or 4
3Hammer of Wrath at 2 charges before Blade of Justice
4Divine Storm at 3 as the last spender

WINGS

1Spend as much Holy Power as you can inside Avenging Wrath
2Crusade adds Haste with every Holy Power spent
3Execution Sentence’s final hit grows with what you deal meanwhile

Order and spell names from Method’s playstyle page for 12.1.

Hero talent for Raid

Herald of the Sun

Guide: Herald of the Sun, Templar for short bursts · Herald of the Sun recommended

Leans on Hammer of Wrath and Divine Storm through Walk Into Light, Sun Sear and Second Sunrise; Word of Glory becomes Eternal Flame.

Gleaming Rays over Morning Starboth of the guide’s Herald builds
Will of the Dawn over Illumineboth of the guide’s Herald builds
Blessing of An'she over Lingering Radianceboth of the guide’s Herald builds

Ready to pull?

Talents importedHerald of the Sun build — the guide is linked in “Which talents change?”
Stat targetMastery › Haste after item level and Strength
ConsumablesFlask of the Magisters · Potion of Recklessness — Light’s Potential if Haste is your top stat
Cooldowns assigned0 events on your timeline
InterruptRebuke — 15 s cooldown, 5 s lockout
First cooldownnone planned yet

Raid, M+ or Delves — what matters?

Job	Raid	Mythic+
Hero tree	Herald of the Sun (recommended)	Herald of the Sun (recommended)
Single target	Heart of the Crusader, Execution Sentence in wings	Execution Sentence as a funnel
Area damage	Tempest of the Lightbringer on every Divine Storm	Blessed Champion and Blade of Vengeance cleave
Spender	Final Verdict at 5 Holy Power	Divine Storm at 5 on 2+ targets

Delves, Prey and outdoor: no source gives Retribution Paladin guidance for them yet — no column is guessed.

What goes wrong for me?

Execution Sentence always inside Avenging Wrath, and spend everything there.

I keep capping Holy Power: Spend at 4 when a Crusading Strikes swing is about to land.
Packs die slowly: Swap to the cleave build; Sanctify for Jurisdiction on Templar.
I die to mechanics: Divine Protection with Shield of Vengeance; Freedom pre-cast against slows.

When do I spend cooldowns? · Nek’zali the Soulcoiler

Boss timers are not on this page — the events are yours (✎). Enter times from your boss mod; the warnings come from each cooldown’s length.

Avenging Wrath2 min · lasts 20 s
Execution Sentence1 min · lasts 10 s
Wake of Ashes30 s
Divine Toll1 min
Divine Protection1 min · lasts 8 s
Divine Shield5 min · lasts 8 s
Blessing of Protection5 min · lasts 10 s

No events yet — add the first big damage moment from your boss mod.

When do I swap a talent?

Talent	Type	Rule
Radiant Glory	Damage	Take when you play Templar on one target, in place of Execution Sentence
Sanctify	Damage	Take when Templar packs need more AoE — Jurisdiction makes room
Tempest of the Lightbringer	Damage	Keep it on single target too, because of the Season 2 tier set
Heart of the Crusader	Damage	Take when a raid fight is single target; the cleave build drops it
Blessed Champion / Blade of Vengeance	Damage	Take when a raid fight is cleave, and in every key
Faith's Armor	Defensive	Take when the extra armour keeps you alive on a fight
Righteous Protection	Utility	Take when poisons or diseases land on allies — your Sacrifice target becomes immune to them
Unbound Freedom	Utility	Take when slows carry damage — Freedom pre-cast covers you and one ally

What does this fight ask of me?

Nek’zali the Soulcoiler

Break Gravebound Advance with magic damage, then kill each Amani before the well.
The intermission rewards strong AoE, as adds and corpses pile up there.
Melee soak each Hungering Pyre; killing both Echoes of Jawae closes the intermission.
In Phase 2, use Hero/Lust and cooldowns and burn the boss.

Boss guide ›

Share my plan

Retribution Paladin · Raid · Nek’zali the Soulcoiler
Hero: Herald of the Sun · Stats: Item level › Strength › Mastery › Haste › Critical Strike › Versatility
Talents: Execution Sentence, Heart of the Crusader, Tempest of the Lightbringer
Code: (the guide’s, linked on the page)
Patch 12.1 · checked 2026-10-09

Good at · weak at

● Very easy to play, with offensive cooldowns up often.
● Strong AoE, and funnel damage when you take Execution Sentence.
● A big support kit — Lay on Hands, Blessings of Protection, Sacrifice and Freedom, and a battle res.
● Durable: Divine Shield and Shield of Vengeance on top of the class’s passive armour.
● Third most-seen damage dealer across all timed keys, 2.51× an even share (S); fifth at +16 and up (A).
● Sims rank it 4th of 26 at 3 targets and 6th at 5 (A).

● Limited mobility.
● Sims put it 20th of 26 on one target (C).
● Falls back to 14th at 8 targets (B).

Tier set · Radiance of the Consecrated Flame

● 2-piece: Divine Purpose procs 10% more often; spending it grants Divine Power, +10% Holy damage for 12 s.
● 4-piece: Spending Divine Purpose grants Divine Arbiter: your next spenders call an arbiter that hits the target and enemies nearby.

Gear:Items for Retribution Paladin ›· Full BiS lists:MethodWowhead

Apex talent · Light Within

● Rank 1: Art of War makes the next Blade of Justice hit 80% harder and can now stack twice.
● Ranks 2–3: during Avenging Wrath, Final Verdict and Divine Storm deal 10% then 20% more.
● Rank 4: an empowered Blade of Justice also sends a wave of Holy damage through every enemy in its path.

What top keys wear

Most worn by 346 Retribution Paladin in +19–22 keys, US+EU, week of Oct 6–14 (Blizzard API)

Median item level 328 · 346 characters’ gear and 350 characters’ talents · +19–22 keys · hero trees Herald of the Sun 98% · Templar 2%

Trinkets

Zul'jin's Guillotine Techniquetier set92%
Voracious Heart of Ula'tek86%
Vile Vial of Volatile Venom9%
Keeper's Seething Core6%
Gebbo's Bottomless Bag2%

Rings

Loa Worshiper's Bandcrafted · embellished89%
Sickening Signet of Atroxus53%
Vile Alchemist's Band22%
Masterwork Sin'dorei Bandcrafted9%

Neck

Back

Silken Voodoo Drape46%
Cloak of the Consecrated Flame24%
Bloodthorn Burnous11%

Main hand

Maze-roa, Warlord's Furytier set87%
Blood Knight's Warbladecrafted · embellished7%
Caustic Keeper-Crusher2%

Head

Warhelm of the Consecrated Flametier set91%
Spellbreaker's Covercrafted2%
Greathelm of Temptation2%

Shoulders

Pauldrons of the Consecrated Flametier set91%
Spellbreaker's Mantlecrafted4%

Chest

Bulwark of the Consecrated Flametier set94%
Reckless Spirit Breastplate4%

Wrists

Spellbreaker's Bracerscrafted · embellished79%
Shellbound Bracers8%
Embalmer's Steadying Bracers4%

Hands

Gauntlets of the Consecrated Flametier set82%
Spellbreaker's Resolvecrafted10%
Bonds of the Hash'ura3%

Waist

Girdle of Toxic Regret47%
Girdle of Pestilent Purification17%
Waistguard of the Consecrated Flame16%

Legs

Greaves of the Consecrated Flametier set79%
Chausses of Unbound Rancor17%

Feet

Scaled Fiend's Warboots35%
Spellbreaker's Marchcrafted · embellished30%
Greatboots of the Consecrated Flame13%

Embellishments

Loa Worshiper's Band89%
Stabilizing Gemstone Bandolier72%
Arcanoweave Lining20%
Hunt3%
Hunter's Ritual Stone3%

Talents — top keys against this guide’s Mythic+ build

This guide’s Mythic+ build plays Herald of the Sun; 98% of top keys do. Checked on its 3 named key talents and every choice node.

Top keys and this guide agree on every talent checked.

Open the most common top-key build in the talent planner ›

How we counted: the best timed run of each character on Blizzard’s Mythic+ leaderboards this week, then its profile — gear only if it is still in this spec, talents from its active loadout. A share is of this spec’s sample, per slot (both rings and both trinkets merged); a row needs 2% and 2 characters. Read 2026-10-09 from Blizzard’s Game Data and Profile APIs, no names kept. Top keys, not all players — what they wear, not a best-in-slot list.

Ask the guide

Where sources disagree

Herald of the Sun or Templar?: ◆ Guide’s build section: Herald of the Sun for raid and keys; ◆ The same page’s conclusion: Templar for both; ◆ Top 50 in keys: all 50 play Herald of the Sun
Which stat comes first?: ◆ Guide: Mastery, then Haste; ◆ Top 50 carry the most Crit (+1095), Mastery just behind
Is it a strong single-target spec?: ◆ Guide: funnel damage with Execution Sentence; ◆ Sims: 20th of 26 on one target

What changed this season

Show PvP-only changes

2026-08-06 · 12.1 — Light Within: Art of War and Righteous Cause can stack twice; its rank 3 damage −25%
2026-08-06 · 12.1 — Art of War buffs Blade of Justice 80% (was 150%) and no longer procs from Skyfury swings
2026-08-06 · 12.1 — All damage −6%; Blade of Justice +40%, Final Verdict +15%, Divine Storm +26%
2026-08-06 · 12.1 — Avenging Wrath gives 15% damage and crit (was 20%); Divine Toll’s Judgment +50% (was 100%)
2026-08-06 · 12.1 — Templar Strike, Templar Slash, Judgment and Hammer of Wrath +50%; Greater Judgment lasts 18 s
2026-08-06 · 12.1 — Crusading Strikes now speeds swings up 15% (was −20%); Execution Sentence radius 10 yards
2026-08-06 · 12.1 — Templar: Hammer of Light −30% and costs 3 Holy Power (was 5)
2026-08-18 · 12.1 — All ability damage +6% (PvE only)
2026-08-25 · 12.1 — 4-piece Divine Arbiter: +150% on the main target, +75% on the rest
2026-08-25 · 12.1 — Templar: Seal of the Templar adds 35% to Templar’s Verdict (was 25%)
2026-09-22 · 12.1 — Templar: Hammer of Light +50% (PvE only), Empyrean Hammer +12%

Where this comes from

How we checked: every talent named here is matched against Blizzard’s own tree (Game Data API, build 12.1.0.68914) by a test; builds, stats and cooldowns come from at least two dated sources, and where they disagree both sides are shown; loadout strings and BiS lists are linked, never copied.

Blizzard — 12.1 patch notesPaladin changes in 12.1 (published Aug 6) · read 2026-10-09
Blizzard — 12.1.5 notesChanges landing Oct 13 — none for Paladin · read 2026-10-09
Blizzard — class tuning, Aug 18Tuning posted Aug 15, live Aug 18 · read 2026-10-09
Blizzard — Midnight hotfixesHotfixes, Aug 19 – Oct 6 · read 2026-10-09
Blizzard — The Venomous AbyssThe Paladin set’s name · read 2026-10-09
Warcraft Wiki — Radiance of the Consecrated FlameSet bonuses per spec (tooltips), Aug 25 and Sep 15 fixes · read 2026-10-09
Mythistone — sim tier listSimulationCraft ranks at 1, 3, 5 and 8 targets, simmed Oct 8 · read 2026-10-09
GamGem — classes, Mythic+ seatsOur count of Blizzard’s Mythic Keystone leaderboards, US and EU, week of Sep 29 – Oct 6 · read 2026-10-09
Warcraft Wiki — Lay on Hands10 min · read 2026-10-09
Warcraft Wiki — Divine Shield5 min, 8 s · read 2026-10-09
Warcraft Wiki — Blessing of Protection5 min, 10 s · read 2026-10-09
Warcraft Wiki — Blessing of Sacrifice2 min, 12 s, 30% · read 2026-10-09
Method — Retribution Paladin guideStrengths and weaknesses, what 12.1 changed · read 2026-10-09
Method — Retribution Paladin talentsFour builds (strings read against the tree), hero trees, apex · read 2026-10-09
Method — Retribution Paladin stats and consumablesStat order and notes, consumables · read 2026-10-09
Method — Retribution Paladin playstyleOpeners and priorities per hero tree, cooldowns, defensives · read 2026-10-09
Method — Retribution Paladin gearingTier set bonuses · read 2026-10-09
Blizzard — Retribution Paladin talent tooltipsTalent names and effects, build 12.1.0.68914 · read 2026-10-08
Warcraft Wiki — Light WithinAll four apex ranks, 12.1 change · read 2026-10-09
Warcraft Wiki — Avenging Wrath2 min, 20 s, 15% for Retribution · read 2026-10-09
Warcraft Wiki — Execution Sentence1 min · read 2026-10-09
Warcraft Wiki — Wake of Ashes30 s · read 2026-10-09
Warcraft Wiki — Divine Toll1 min, up to 5 targets · read 2026-10-09
Warcraft Wiki — Divine Protection1 min, 8 s, 20% · read 2026-10-09
Warcraft Wiki — Rebuke15 s, 5 s lockout · read 2026-10-09
Murlok.io — top 50 Retribution Paladins in M+Hero tree, stats and talents on top players · read 2026-10-09
Mythistone — Retribution Paladin in high keysHero tree share, top 50 and top 1% · read 2026-10-09
GamGem — plate Strength itemsThe Season 2 items a Retribution Paladin can wear · read 2026-10-09

Retribution Paladin this season — quick answers

Herald of the Sun or Templar for Retribution Paladin in Midnight Season 2?

Both are viable — Herald of the Sun for long windows and cleave, Templar for short bursts; the guide recommends Herald of the Sun for raid and Mythic+. Top 50 M+ Retribution Paladins (rating 3865–4136): all 50 Herald of the Sun. High-key top 50: Herald of the Sun 100%; the wider top 1%: 92%. Top Mythic+ keys this week run Herald of the Sun 98% · Templar 2%.

What is the Retribution Paladin stat priority for raid and Mythic+?

Item level first, then Strength. Raid: Mastery › Haste › Critical Strike › Versatility. Mythic+: Mastery › Haste › Critical Strike › Versatility.

What does the Retribution Paladin Season 2 tier set do?

Radiance of the Consecrated Flame: 2-piece — Divine Purpose procs 10% more often; spending it grants Divine Power, +10% Holy damage for 12 s; 4-piece — Spending Divine Purpose grants Divine Arbiter: your next spenders call an arbiter that hits the target and enemies nearby.

What changes for Retribution Paladin in the next patch?

The next patch’s notes list no Retribution Paladin change yet.

How long are the Avenging Wrath and Execution Sentence cooldowns?

Avenging Wrath: 2 min, lasts 20 s. Execution Sentence: 1 min, lasts 10 s.

What gear do top Mythic+ Retribution Paladin players wear (BiS)?

Most worn by 346 Retribution Paladin in +19–22 keys, US+EU, week of Oct 6–14 (Blizzard API). Trinkets: Zul'jin's Guillotine Technique 92%, Voracious Heart of Ula'tek 86%, Vile Vial of Volatile Venom 9%. Rings: Loa Worshiper's Band 89%, Sickening Signet of Atroxus 53%. Embellishments: Loa Worshiper's Band 89%, Stabilizing Gemstone Bandolier 72%. Hero trees: Herald of the Sun 98% · Templar 2%. Median item level 328. What most top keys wear — measured, not a best-in-slot list.