5 Paladin Instant Attacks to Obliterate Your Opponent

When World of Warcraft first started out, the Paladin was not thought to be a formidable player in the battleground. Many players who choose to play a paladin did so by habit of rolling a paladin in previous mmorpgs like dark age of camelot. Paladins were great at defence, with the ability to wear plate, and perform heals. Also their holy shield, also known as bubble, helped them get out of sticky situations, and could even use the hearth stone with bubble up while in combat. So their greatest advantage in PvP, was at escaping a bad situation,

Age of the Retribution Paladin

All this changed in later patches when the retribution line got a significant boost, and the dps of paladins significantly increased. So what makes a retribution paladin so powerful.

Well, the Paladin has a certain sequence of attacks that can offload an immense amount of damage in the first few seconds of a PvP encounter, since many of these attacks are instantaneous. As any experienced PvP players know, the first few seconds often decide the outcome.

There are 5 instants that the Paladin can call upon to use against an opponent. 5 instant attacks in addition to the white damage, and damage giving buffs that the paladin is already plastering on the enemy. Significant damage, in a short period.

Prerequisites Required

Before we list the instants, there are two prerequisites that are needed.

First you must find the slowest 2-hander you can get your hands on. The slower the weapon, the harder they hit. Since many of the attacks are based on the base damage of your weapon, it does not matter how slow they are, since all your attacks will be instant anyway. That's why retribution Paladins love big slow weapons.

Second you will need to put 2 points into the Art of War talent. This makes the Exorcism spell into an instant, and seems to proc very often. So a great 2-point spend.

With these prerequisites, the following instant attacks are available. Note the order is optimised, such that Crusader Strike is available again towards the end of the fight, as it only has a four second cool down.

Instant attack 1: Judgement of Light

Start by using a Judgement. This will not only cause damage from the judgement but also start the autoattack, which is good damage due the big 2-hander you have equipped. Judgement of Light is good for damage, but on rogues, Judgement of Justice stops them running away. Keep that in mind.

Instant attack 2: Crusade Strike

The Crusader Strike causes the next significant major hit. It is on a four second cool down, which is short enough to be used again.

Instant attack 3 : Divine Storm

Another instant attack, that can also damage two nearby enemies as well. Also the two-hander will do another hit causing even more damage.

Instant attack 4: Exorcism

By now, the Art of War talent buff should be up. So the Exorcism attack is now instant. Look for it icon in the buffs bar. If it is not up yet, another Crusader Strike, or Judgement should trigger it.

Instant attack 5: Hammer of Wrath

By now your poor opponent should be close to less than 20% of their health, lining them up for Hammer of Wrath. With a 2 points in Sanctified Wrath, this cast will nearly always crit, causing enough damage to finish them off.

So there you have it, how the Paladin obliterates an opponent in sequence of instant attacks.

If you want to learn more Paladin tactics and strategies, we recommends The Paladin Guide