World of Warcraft → [Classes] Anyone have a Ret Pally Write-up

I am looking for a non-websensed write up for Ret Paladins. I have been leveling mine as Prot right now and still getting reacquainted with Holy so I figured I would try to level some as Ret to help speed things along. The only thing I remember of Ret is the initial switch over to Holy Power and the feeling that it was so clunky that I could not stand it.

All credit goes to Icyveins.com and the write-up they have there.

1. Basics

The stat priority for Retribution Paladins is:
1.Hit Rating (until the 7.5% hit cap);
2.Strength;
3.Expertise Rating (until the 7.5% hit cap);
4.Haste Rating;
5.Mastery Rating;
6.Critical Strike Rating.

2. Getting a Better Understanding
2.1. Statistics Priority

Hit Rating decreases the chance that your melee attacks will miss their target (7.5% against a raid boss). Therefore, your goal is to reach the 7.5% hit cap (see section below), which will ensure that your attacks never miss.

Strength is your primary statistic. You should look for it in all of your upgrades. It provides you with Attack Power, which determines the damage your abilities do.

Expertise Rating decreases the chance that your melee attacks will be dodged (7.5% against a raid boss). Therefore, your goal is to reach the 7.5% expertise cap (see section below), which will ensure that your attacks are never dodged. Note that you should always be attacking bosses from behind, which prevents them from parrying your attacks. Therefore, it is usually unnecessary (unless the boss cannot be attacked from behind) to decrease the chance that your attacks will be parried (something that you can do by stacking Expertise Rating after reaching the 7.5% cap).

Haste Rating increases your attack speed and lower the cooldown and global cooldown of Crusader Strike, Judgment, Hammer of Wrath, and Hammer of the Righteous (thanks to your Sanctity of Battle passive ability). This leads to a higher Holy Power generation.

Mastery Rating, thanks to Mastery: Hand of Light, causes three of your important abilities to deal extra damage, as Holy damage.
Critical Strike Rating increases your chance to critically hit with all spells and abilities.

2.2. Hit Cap
At level 90, most races require 2,550 Hit Rating to reach the melee hit cap. Draenei, thanks to Heroic Presence, only need 2,210 Hit Rating.

2.3. Expertise Cap
At level 90, most races require 2,550 Expertise Rating to reach the expertise cap. Some races, in some cases, only need 2,210 Expertise Rating, thanks to passive racial skills:
Dwarves when using a Mace ( Mace Specialization);
Humans when using a Mace/Sword ( Mace Specialization and Sword Specialization).

1. Single Target Rotation

The single target rotation for Retribution Paladins follows a priority system.

1.Keep up Inquisition (ideally with 3 Holy Power).
2.Cast Templar's Verdict (when you have 5 Holy Power).
3.Cast Hammer of Wrath on cooldown. It is only available when the target is below 20% health or when Avenging Wrath is active.
4.Cast Exorcism on cooldown (it generates Holy Power).
5.Cast Crusader Strike on cooldown (it generates Holy Power).
6.Cast Judgment on cooldown (it generates Holy Power).
7.Cast Templar's Verdict (when you have 3 Holy Power).

In order to better understand this rotation, you must understand the subtleties related to Holy Power. Please read our section that deals with Holy Power.

1.1. Seal

You should use Seal of Truth, unless your mana is very low. If you are below 20% mana or so, you can consider switching to Seal of Insight briefly, which will give your melee attacks a chance to restore mana.

2. Multiple Target Rotation

The multiple target (AoE) rotation is based on the same priority system as the single target one. As the number of targets you are facing increases, certain changes occur, as follows:
•Against 2 targets, replace Templar's Verdict with Divine Storm.
•Against 4 targets, replace Crusader Strike with Hammer of the Righteous.
•Against 8 targets, replace Seal of Truth with Seal of Righteousness.
Regarding the seal, it is only beneficial to continue using Seal of Truth until you are facing 8 targets if you tab through the enemies in order to keep up the Censure debuff on as many enemies as possible.

3. Cooldown Usage

As a Retribution Paladin, you only have 2 DPS cooldowns by default. For best results, you should use them as we describe below:
• Avenging Wrath should be used as many times as possible during the encounter. You can delay using this ability slightly in order to stack with Heroism/ Bloodlust/ Time Warp or a phase of the fight where the boss takes increased damage. It is also highly beneficial to stack it with Guardian of Ancient Kings whenever possible (see below).
• Guardian of Ancient Kings should be used as many times as possible during an encounter. For the best results, you should first activate Guardian of Ancient Kings, and then, 10 seconds later, cast Avenging Wrath.

You also have a very powerful raid cooldown in your arsenal, namely Devotion Aura. You should consult with your raid leader as to when the best time to use this spell is.

Your talents can provide you with a few other important abilities. We cover them in a subsequent section.

4. Optional Read: Mastering Your Retribution Paladin

In this section, we will give you more details about how to execute your rotation based on the priorities mentioned above.

4.1. Refreshing Inquisition
Inquisition is a self buff that increases your Holy damage by 30%. It costs Holy Power to cast, and it lasts 10 seconds for each charge of Holy Power used.
Maintaining 100% Inquisition uptime is crucial for your DPS, and for this reason it is your top priority.
In general, you will want to apply Inquisition with 3 charges of Holy Power , as this makes your rotation easier (it does not require you to constantly track the Inquisition duration) and uses up fewer global cooldowns refreshing the buff.
The only exception to this, when you should use one or two charges of Holy Power, is when the boss is about to die and will not live for 30 (or even 20) seconds.
You should begin saving Holy Power to refresh Inquisition when the buff has around 5 seconds remaining.

4.2. Holy Power Subtleties

4.2.1. Pooling Holy Power
Thanks to Boundless Conviction, a passive ability, you can have up to a maximum of 5 Holy Power at one time. However, no ability that consumes Holy Power can consume more than 3. This means two things:
•You do not need to dump your Holy Power as soon as it reaches 3 charges, and you can continue to use Holy Power-generating abilities at 3 charges (this is explained in greater detail in the sections below).
•You can now pool Holy Power to deliver a greater burst of damage (two Templar's Verdicts in quick succession).
4.2.2. Generating Holy Power

The following abilities generate Holy Power:
• Crusader Strike;
• Exorcism;
• Judgment;
• Hammer of Wrath;
• Hammer of the Righteous.

The abilities that cost Holy Power are:
• Templar's Verdict;
• Inquisition;
• Divine Storm;
• Word of Glory.

Remember that no ability can consume more than 3 Holy Power, and that you have a maximum capacity of 5 Holy Power. In order to maximise your Holy Power gains, you should always prioritise a Holy Power-generating ability over one that consumes Holy Power, unless you have 5 Holy Power. This general rule can be detailed further.

4.2.3. At 5 Holy Power
When you are at 5 Holy Power, you should never use a Holy Power-generating ability. Instead, you should do one of the following things:
•Cast Templar's Verdict.
•Refresh Inquisition (only if it will expire very soon).
•Cast Word of Glory (if you wish to save a dying raid member; this is a DPS loss).

4.2.4. At 3 Holy Power
In order to maximise your Holy Power gains, you should use your Holy Power-generating abilities on cooldown. If all of them are on cooldown, then you should use an ability that consumes Holy Power.

4.2.5. Below 3 Holy Power
When you are below 3 Holy Power, you should not use Templar's Verdict or refresh Inquisition (unless it is about to expire right away, or it has already expired). Instead, you should use Holy Power-generating abilities. If all Holy Power-generating abilities are on cooldown, then simply wait for them to become available.

4.3. Exorcism and The Art of War
The Art of War, a passive ability, gives your autoattacks a chance to reset the cooldown of Exorcism.

4.4. Abilities and Cooldowns from Talents

4.4.1. Tier 5 Talents Sanctified Wrath has two implications on your rotation:
•The cooldown of Hammer of Wrath is lower during Avenging Wrath, so you must become accustomed to using it more often.
•Avenging Wrath lasting 30 seconds, it is no longer necessary to wait 10 seconds after using Guardian of Ancient Kings before activating Avenging Wrath. You can now simply stack the two cooldowns right away.
Holy Avenger should be used as a DPS cooldown, and stacked with Avenging Wrath and Guardian of Ancient Kings whenever possible. While Holy Avenger is active, your DPS rotation will probably be:
•Holy Power-generator ( Crusader Strike, Judgment, etc.);
• Templar's Verdict;
•Holy Power-generator;
• Templar's Verdict;
•Holy Power-generator;
•Etc.
Finally, Divine Purpose will produce its effects passively. However, you must watch out for its procs, and be prepared for abilities not to consume Holy Power. If you are not careful, you can end up capping your Holy Power. Having a means of tracking this buff, and instantly using its procs on either Templar's Verdict or Inquisition will be sufficient.

4.4.2. Tier 6 Talents

Execution Sentence should be used on cooldown, against your main target.
If you chose Holy Prism, then you will cast it on a raid member who is near to the adds you want to damage.
If you chose Light's Hammer, simply place the hammer down at a location where the adds you want to damage are.

Buffs
Blessing of Kings
Increases the Strength, Agility, and Intellect of all party and raid members by 5% — does not stack with Mark of the Wild, Embrace of the Shale Spider, and Legacy of the Emperor

Blessing of Might
Increases the Mastering Rating of all party and raid members by 3000 — does not stack with Roar of Courage, Spirit Beast Blessing, and Grace of Air

Devotion Aura
Reduces all magic damage taken by raid members by 20% for 6 seconds. Also grants immunity to silence and interrupt effects for its duration

Debuffs
Hammer of the Righteous -10% Physical Damage dealt — does not stack with Scarlet Fever, Thrash/ Thrash, Demoralizing Roar, Demoralizing Screech, Keg Smash, Earth Shock, Curse of Enfeeblement, and Thunder Clap

Judgments of the Bold +4% Physical Damage taken — does not stack with Brittle Bones, Ebon Plaguebringer, Acid Spit, Gore, Ravage, Stampede, and Colossus Smash

Hand Spells
Hand of Freedom Grants immunity to any movement impairing effects

Hand of Protection Single-target immunity against physical damage for 10 seconds. Targeted player cannot attack or use any physical abilities, but can continue to move, heal and cast damaging spells. Removes physical debuffs.

Hand of Sacrifice Transfers 30% of the damage taken by the target to the paladin

Utility
Rebuke Single target interrupt

Hammer of Justice Single target 6-second stun

Reckoning Single target taunt

Righteous Fury Generates very large amounts of threat, enable you to help in specific add-kiting strategies

Cleanse Removes all Poison and Disease effects from a friendly target (8-second cooldown)

Survival
Divine Shield Complete invulnerability for 8 seconds

Divine Protection Reduces all magic damage taken by 40% for 10 seconds

nothing major to add to this except for an observation. I leveled a monk from 1 to 90 when MOP came out, now working on my pally that was at 85. So far leveling as Ret seems a hell of a lot easier than leveling as windwalker using just quests (ok..minimal dungeon use as well just to get the 410 gear). Maybe its because all the quests were still fresh in my mind and I knew what the mobs would do? It just seems like less key strokes than my Monk windwalker.