World of Warcraft: Dragonflight developers highlight upcoming Retribution Paladin changes for 10.0.7

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight has made several major changes to the game, and that trend is all set to continue. In a post on the official Blizzard forum, the developers have revealed that one class in particular will be redesigned and updated in the Spring update, 10.0.7. Their target is the Retribution Paladins class, with the team's goal involving some serious reworking on how this class functions and plays.

According to the developers, Retribution Paladins has one of the highest rates in all content in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight. This, among other things, is going to be addressed. As a Retribution Paladin player in World of Warcraft, I’m very excited about these changes. But what exactly can Paladins look forward to this Spring?

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Major changes are coming for Retribution Paladins in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight's 10.0.7 Patch

The World of Warcraft: Dragonflight developers recently highlighted another major change arriving alongside 10.0.7, and that’s a rework to Retribution Paladins. Although several changes were noted and exact specifics weren’t brought up, it seems like it'll be a very positive redesign for Paladins.

As far as the update goes, the first thing that was noted was that the talent tree will be completely rebuilt from the ground up. The initial testing of the class, according to Blizzard, will be missing plenty of context though, as the tree won’t be in the first PTR for 10.0.7 in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight.

Button Bloat is a very serious problem for Retribution Paladins. There are too many abilities to use and a fair number of them are useless, to say the very least. Paladins are likely to have their attacks and cooldowns paired down in the future, making it far more manageable.

In addition to this, the developers want to make sure that the class' core abilities feel good and are worth using in multiple situations. Right now, there are certain ways to stack abilities to deal massive amounts of damage, which can be fun.

The downside is that the rest of your kit just feels useless when you aren’t dealing burst damage. Keeping that in mind, stacking modifiers for this particular class are being looked at. The plan isn’t to remove the class’ powerful burst options, but to make the entire kit feel useful.

The idea, according to the developers, is to make the burst damage of Paladins “purposeful and deliberate,” while ensuring that they can sustain solid DPS. Another problem World of Warcraft: Dragonflight’s Paladins face is Survivability. According to the developers, Retribution Paladins also have one of the highest death rates in the game.

It seems ridiculous that a plate-wearing class capable of healing itself feels weak and useless in prolonged fights. This will likely change through a series of passive bonuses and updates to abilities and cooldowns. However, the class won’t be made invincible, as the developers still want it to be challenging to play.

While there will be some Manuverability changes, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight’s team clarified that they won’t be moving around like Rogues. However, the information that they've offered is fairly vague.

The final major change is to Utility. In the past, World of Warcraft has given Paladins the choice to either buff themselves or buff others. If the Paladin aids their party, they suffer as a result and vice versa. Changes are in the works to offer Paladin players a way to feel useful while also improving their own damage. More information will hopefully be revealed during 10.0.7.

Unfortunately, the details regarding these changes are vague at the moment, and the developers are interested in community feedback to see what they can do to help improve gameplay for Retribution Paladins. Paladin players can finally get their hopes up and patiently wait for the upcoming changes that are set to arrive this Spring.