World of Warcraft: Dragonflight patch 10.0.7 brought with it a much-needed rework to Retribution Paladins in order to improve their performance. However, Blizzard may have gone too far in the other direction, as what was once one of the MMORPG's lesser-played DPS specs has now skyrocketed to the top of the PvP and PvE charts, much to the frustration of non-Paladin players.

In many ways, a rework for a specialization in the middle of a content season is almost unheard of, and is something typically reserved for major milestone patches or new expansion launches. In an interview with GameSpot, game director Ion Hazzikostas said the Retribution rework that came with patch 10.0.7 was an "exceptional" circumstance and not something that players should expect to see happen with other specs over the course of Dragonflight.

The fact still remains, however, that the Retribution rework has brought a major shakeup to both PvE and PvP in the middle of season. The spec is now among the most played in the game in terms of its appearance in endgame content. A look at Mythic raid statistics from the week of March 28 shows Retribution Paladins at the top of high-level Mythic raid play when it comes to overall damage done, and is the third most-played spec for the week behind Beast Mastery Hunters and Havoc Demon Hunters. On the Mythic+ dungeon front, statistics reveal Retribution Paladins were found in nearly 14% of all Mythic+ dungeon runs for the week of March 28, an impressive number considering it is just one of 25 damage specializations currently in the game. For context, the week before patch 10.0.7 arrived, Ret Paladins were only found in 1.68% of Mythic+ dungeon runs.