See one thing that isn’t discussed here is that some of these issues are also at the core of the other paladin specs, just that they are not as much of a problem because their specialization trees are kinda ok.
Right here, this alone is because of the odd choice of talents in the class tree versus the class tree and how tall the Class tree is compared to other Hybrid specs such as Shaman.
Most paladin builds take 27 points and leave like 12 points not taken, so more than 70% of the class tree is always taken and the talents that are swapped are all very impactful, yet things that paladins already had in shadowlands that they now have to opt out of for more throughput power.
Shaman takes at max 50% of the talents and all three specs take very diverse choices, something that paladin doesnt do as much because the capstones are very lobsided to the content you are doing instead of the specialization you play.
Ret suffers the most because a Healer and Tank aren’t always forced into taking full throughput and can sacrifice like 10% dps for a ton of utility.
Then there are just the weird utility talents found in the specialization trees instead of the class tree, which are just baffling.
Consecrated Ground in both the Retri and Protection tree with the Retri choice node would make for a great talent to be moved into the Class Tree out of Retribution and Protection tree.
Hand of Hindrance, a very lackluster spell in general but having some niche utility that would be fun for the class tree for all 3 specs.
Then the healing utility of Selfless Healer/Healing Hands and talents for Protection such as Hand of the Protector would make more sense in the class tree if they were redesigned in some way to be less broken for Protection Paladins.
In the Holy Tree we find the Soulbind Finesse conduit of Echoing Blessings, that should also just be available for both Protection and Retribution. The speed increase on Blessing of Freedom alone would be so useful.
As mentioned before, the placement of some talents in the retribution tree such as Selfless Healer/Healing Hands and Justicar’s Vengeance and Eye for an Eye, make it so most retri’s dont take it because its so far down the tree that it can be a DPS loss to take it.
Add to that that every single Specialization tree has Divine Protection or the replacement spell in it instead of there being a unified talent in the Class tree to take a very basic defensive is just crazy.
Divine Protection should be near the top of the class tree as a node to pick up so that Paladins aren’t without a defensive if not talented into it. I don’t think there is any other class that has no Personal in the class tree. Giving it maybe 10% more absorb wouldn’t be bad either, Protection paladins basically use it just as a Cheat Death half the time.
Divine Steed or Blessing of Freedom Baseline? Crazy how Paladins can technically opt out of it.
Also, Seasoned Warhorse has to be the worst talent point to spend over every single class right now. 1 Second on divine steed making it go for 3 to 4 is crazy when at the end of Shadowlands Divine Steed basically lasted over 6 seconds because of the Conduit: Light’s Barding.
Seal of the Templar is a very interesting node and not sure why it was changed to share a choice node with Seasoned Warhorse.
And as mentioned before Echoing Blessing being in the Class tree would be a nice start for mobility as well.
Divine Steed being on the GCD is also just another insult to injury on top of that we are forced to take clunky pony which obscures vision, versus older paladin talents from the past such as long arm of the law or pursuit.
One thing you forgot to bring up is the lack of Raid Utility the Retribution brings compared to the other 2 specs from Paladin.
If Retribution is getting a raid spot it is always as a second Paladin, never the first because of the Loss of DPS from taking Retribution Aura versus Devotion aura.
On top of that, Holy’s Aura Mastery is so much fun to use but is only seen as a Healing Cooldown with how it interacts with Devotion Aura, I would love to see a rework of Aura Mastery to still have the element of the current aura based power up and just give Holy Paladins a DR 3 minute cooldown that is not tied to the Aura Mastery mechanic. This would then free up all 3 specs to get Aura Mastery and maybe it some fun extra raid utility.
Blessing of Sacrifice seems great, but bad idea when you are the squishy ret paladin already being the first to die and Blessing of Protection is clunky to use when you need it to protect yourself from aggroing the boss over the tank in your burst.
Bubble is not a defensive as it is often used to clear raid mechanics that require an immunity such as traps or the sorts as well.
=========
Apart from all of that, sort something out with Divine Toll being in every specialization tree instead of just being a capstone in the class tree.
How on earth it is even regarded as a choice when basically 99% of all paladin builds include it is beyond me. Please just add it in the Class tree and work with the current capstones that are just a bit dissapointing at times.
Another point here is Relentless Inquisitor that is found in every Spec tree that should just be moved into the Class tree
And then maybe work on Avenging Wrath in the class tree. On Evoker, Tip the Scales has no prerequisites and it allows for a more dynamic choice lower into the tree after taking all the basic spells one wants.
Tip the Scales, Wildcharge/Tiger Dash, Rush of Chaos (Meta redux) all have no prerequisites and are found in the same place, leading to these classes having far more choices to pick down below. Something to consider for Paladins as well.
Hope my suggestions help the desingers work a bit on the Paladin Class Tree and particularly the Retribution Spec tree and specialization in general.