Cataclysm’s Rotation and YOU! (Updated for Cataclysm / Patch 4.0)

With the release of patch 4.0 and Cataclysm, Retribution has seen so many changes to it’s PvE rotation that it might be a little staggering to some. Luckily, all of our awesome viewers here at Retpaladin.com get a video as well as text to help hammer out their skills!

Cataclysm comes with a new resource system for Paladins, called Holy Power. Holy Power acts similarly to Combo Points for a Rogue / Cat Druid. We gain one Holy Power ever time our Crusader Strike hits a target, and have a 40% chance to gain one Holy Power when we use Judgement, Exorcism, Templar’s Verdict, Divine Storm, Inquisition, and Holy Wrath. We have a few new abilities that require Holy Power, and are rarely an exception to the “only use when at 3/3 Holy Power” rule. These abilities are :

Templar’s Verdict – Hits for Weapon Damage
Inquisition – Increases Holy Damage
Word of Glory – Instant Heal

.. and some others for other specs.

Inquisition (Need to build up to 3 Holy Power to use)
Hammer of Wrath
Exorcism
Templar’s Verdict (Need to build up to 3 Holy Power to use)
Crusader Strike
Judgement
Holy Wrath
Consecrate

The priority stays relatively the same, however, Divine Storm takes the place of Crusader Strike. At 3 targets and above, Consecrate overtakes Holy Wrath in damage. It is also very important that the majority of players agree that you should not use Divine Storm over Crusader Strike unless there is over 5 enemies around you.

In a recent patch, our Divine Storm turned from useless (Required Holy Power for use, did minimal damage) to useful (Same cooldown as Crusader Strike but shares cooldown with it, does about the same damage as Whirlwind).

Needless to say, if there are more than 5 mobs to damage at the same time, Divine Storm will most likely replace Crusader Strike.