Longtime retribution paladin player here who has recently been playing many of the other melee classes trying to land on a main for this expansion.
Historically, I have always mained Ret. The overall theme of this spec/class, the armor sets, the lore and access to fun and powerful cooldowns to press have always been some of my leading factors for choosing ret.
For Dragonflight, it is clear that the overall direction and evolution of the ret paladin is seriously lacking. So much so that the traditional appeal is slowly vanishing in favor of other melee like warriors or demon hunters.
It’s of no surprise to many that the talent trees are simply put uninspired. Atleast they appear this way as a longtime ret main. Many other melee specs knocked it out of the park. The biggest issue I am having with the paladin/ret tree is lack of new/exciting options and of course divine steed.
To continue to beat this dead horse, divine steed is typically not enjoyed by a large amount of paladins. It simply feels lame and unrewarding for a mobility spell. As time has gone on, it’s my belief now that Paladins should have been the class that gained heroic leap, not warriors.
Im not sure what the solution is here now, but divine steed is not enjoyable to press. I would much rather have a leap, calling upon my mount to charge to a target or some holy teleport.
Over time I feel less like a warrior who is employing the holy light for retribution, which was always the biggest appeal of the fantasy. And this feeling is only continuing to fester in dragonflight. Looking back recently at divine storm animations, you used to do a slight spin with your character, now you just summon light that spins around you. Its hard to explain properly, but this feels worse and is pulling away from what this spec used to be. An actual crusader on the field of battle. Not just a shining knight.
I know some paladin players might enjoy divine steed and that is fine. Choices are almost always a good thing. I would enjoy options such as hand of hindrance being on a choice node with long arm of the law. I would also be okay with divine steed staying (even though I wish it was just eliminated) on a choice node with something more direct for a gap closer.
A long list of remaining spells, abilities and talents could use a serious creative second pass for retribution paladins. Things such as Retribution Aura, Crusader Strike, JV, Execution Sentence, are some common examples that have potential to be much better. Most importantly more fun.
I’m not giving up on Ret for Dragonflight just yet. The forums, wow youtubers, and what seems like the majority of paladin players are all voicing similar grievances. This was me doing my part and also speaking mine.
Cheers to the future fellow crusaders!