Ret Paladin Leveling Glyphs

Glyphs have become an integral part of Retribution Paladins Leveling.  Glyphs further enhance your current spec, which for the benefit of this site, should be Ret!  Paladins are lucky because our glyphs, especially the ones available early on, are very strong, and most can be used even at end game content!  Not a whole ton of glyph switching for us!

One of my guildies who visited this site pointed out that I didn’t have a leveling guide for Retribution Paladin glyphs.  Doh!  Can’t believe I left that out, and they are so important for our leveling process!  Thanks Tyrik!  Just for that, I will state this obviously known fact in regards to World of Warcraft: Hunter DPS is crucial for successful raiding.  Right after Ret DPS!

So, without further adieu, let’s get to the glyphs, and what best benefits Paladins while leveling as Ret!  Glyphs become available at certain levels, and they are as follows:

• Level 15 – 1 Major, 1 Minor
• Level 30 – 1 Major (total: 2 Major, 1 Minor)
• Level 50 – 1 Minor (total: 2 Major, 2 Minor)
• Level 70 – 1 Minor (total: 2 Major, 3 Minor)
• Level 80 – 1 Major (total: 3 Major, 3 Minor)

Ret Paladin Level 15 Glyphs

At level 15, we get our first two glyphs.  I’m not going to tell you these are the concrete best glyphs for Ret leveling, because everyone has their own personal playstyle, and should adjust their apsects of gameplay accordingly.  I will say, however, that I believe these are the best for fast, highly efficient Ret leveling.  We get one major, and one minor glyph, and these are the two I took first:

• Glyph of Judgement
• Glyph of Blessing of Might

The Judgement glyph gives us a 10% damage boost to all judgements, which is a significant DPS increase all the way up until 80 and beyond.  Glyph of Judgement is also one of our top 3 glyphs for end game content, so chances are this will never have to be changed in WotLK.

The Blessing of Might glyph is a pure benefit to the Paladin himself.  It increases the duration of Blessing of Might from 10 minutes to 30 minutes.  This rids us of the huge annoyance that is the 10 minute blessing.  Blessing of Might is going to be your blessing of choice all the way up until 80, so you will squeeze every bit of utility out of this glyph.  This also will remain in your arsenal for end game content.

Ret Paladin Level 30 Glyphs

Level 30 provides an interesting choice for glyphs.  You unlock one major glyph, and have two to choose from.  The one I would recommend is:

• Glyph of Seal of Command

Your other option is Glyph of Exorcism.  Because of the low usage of Exorcism, especially at these earlier levels, I would recommend against glyphing for the spell.  Because of the low usage (for me it was almost never until Art of War talent is available), Glyph of Exorcism provides a very minor, minor benefit. 

Now that said, Glyph of Exorcism does become your 4th best glyph for end game content, and can be bumped up to 3rd if you are expertise capped, which renders Glyph of Seal of Vengeance useless.

Glyph of Seal of Command, however, returns 8% of your base mana every time you judge a target.  This is a huge mana replenishment effect, particularly since the Judgements of the Wise ability doesn’t open up to us until level 40 or so.  In combination with JotW, Glyph of Seal of Command will keep your mana topped off consistently while leveling.  One thing to remember is that Glyph of Seal of Command is NOT a decent end game raiding glyph, so you will be dropping this once you hit 80, more than likely in favor of Glyph of Consecration or Glyph of Seqal of Vengeance.

Ret Paladin Level 50 & 70 Glyphs

Level 50 will unlock one more minor glyph for us, and you have two to choose from.  Whichever one you do not take at 50, you can take at 70.  Both will be solid options for end game content.

• Glyph of Sense Undead
• Glyph of Lay on Hands

Glyph of Lay on Hands provides more utility, therefore I would say go with this one first.  Knocking 5 minutes off your Lay on Hands can keep you grinding at a very fast pace, not to mention saving you the trouble of healing (not that you should be doing that too much).  Glyph of Sense Undead gives a 1% damage bonus to all undead targets, which isn’t mind blowing, but it’s better than nothing.  There aren’t many other options in terms of viable Ret Paladin minor glyphs, so we are stuck with these until they add new ones or change up the exisiting glyphs a bit.

Ret Paladin Level 80 Glyphs

Congratulations, no more leveling!  For now!  With Cataclysm on the horizon, who knows what will change in the post-80 game.  For now, level 80 means end game content and for that I will direct you to my Ret Paladin Glyphs page.

Hope this helps everyone!  One comforting fact is that most of the glyphs we use to level with will also be viable raiding glyph, so this particular buffing mechanism isn’t a gold sink.  Feel free to post your other leveling glyph ideas.  You never know what may help someone else!