As of 2026-11-06, first draft. Forever build 1.60.1.70790. Nothing below was checked in game.
Paladin hotkeys by spec: Holy, Protection, Retribution
The idea
- Movement: WASD, with A and D strafing and the mouse turning. WERD and QWES versions of every chart are further down.
- Main bar: what you press every pull: Judgement, Holy Strike, Consecration, the two heals, your seal, the stun, Exorcism and Hammer of Wrath.
- Seals are on the number row: 3 to 6, with Seal of Light and Seal of Justice on Shift-5 and Shift-6. Paladins have no form pages, so Action Bar 1 never swaps.
- Layers:
- Shift: tanking and talent spells.
- Ctrl: rare tools, resistance auras and the level-52+ Greater Blessings.
- Alt: emergencies, then blessings on Alt-1 to Alt-3 and auras on Alt-4 to Alt-6.
- Racials: Alt-Q is your race's combat racial and Ctrl-Z its utility racial (table below).
- Pictures:
paladin-keys-holy.png,paladin-keys-protection.pngandpaladin-keys-retribution.png: the keyboard per spec at level 60.paladin-wiring.png: each key, its binding command, the action slot, and what each spec gets there.
Setting it up by hand
- Turn on the bars: Settings > Gameplay > Action Bars: turn on Action Bars 2, 3, 4 and 5. A hidden bar's buttons don't respond to keys, and its bindings don't show in Key Bindings.
- Movement: Key Bindings > Movement:
- Bind your scheme's four keys (Movement schemes, below).
- Unbind Turn Left and Turn Right; the mouse turns.
- Bind each key to the button the wiring diagram names:
- ACTIONBUTTON is Action Bar 1.
- MULTIACTIONBAR1BUTTON is Action Bar 2, MULTIACTIONBAR2BUTTON is Action Bar 3, MULTIACTIONBAR3BUTTON is Action Bar 4 and MULTIACTIONBAR4BUTTON is Action Bar 5.
- Fill the bars:
- Drag each spell onto its button.
- In Forever, new spells and ranks no longer go onto your bars by themselves. Drag each one on when you learn it.
- Default keys you lose: binding a key replaces its default job. C no longer opens the Character pane; open it from the menu bar, or bind Toggle Character Pane to Shift-C.
Main bar
| Key | Spell | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Q | Judgement | Unleashes your active seal |
| E | Holy Strike | Baseline in Forever, 10 s cooldown |
| R | Consecration | |
| F | Holy Light | |
| T | Flash of Light | |
| G | Holy Shock | Holy talent |
| Z | Seal of Righteousness | The leveling seal |
| X | Hammer of Justice | Stun |
| C | Exorcism | Undead and Demons |
| V | Hammer of Wrath | Execute |
| 1 | Cleanse / Purify | The first one you have |
| 2 | Lay on Hands |
Other bars
| Layer | Keys |
|---|---|
| Seals (Action Bar 5) | 3 Seal of Command (Retribution talent), 4 Seal of Fury, 5 Seal of the Crusader, 6 Seal of Wisdom, Shift-5 Seal of Light, Shift-6 Seal of Justice |
| Shift (Action Bar 2) | Q Righteous Fury, E Holy Shield, R Holy Wrath, F Light's Vigil, T Oath of Light, G Divine Favor, Z Turn Undead, X Repentance, C Templar's Bulwark, V Redemption, B Swift Judgement |
| Ctrl (Action Bar 3) | Q Blessing of Freedom, E Blessing of Sacrifice, R Divine Intervention, F Sense Undead, X Fire Resistance Aura, C Frost Resistance Aura, V Shadow Resistance Aura, 1-3 Greater Blessing of Might, Wisdom and Kings, Z utility racial |
| Alt (Action Bar 4) | Q combat racial, E Divine Protection, R Divine Shield, F Blessing of Protection, 1 Blessing of Might, 2 Blessing of Wisdom, 3 Blessing of Kings, 4 Devotion Aura, 5 Retribution Aura, 6 Concentration Aura |
Racials by race
Paladins in Forever can be Human, Dwarf or Undead (Undead is new in Forever).
| Race | Alt-Q (combat) | Ctrl-Z (utility) |
|---|---|---|
| Human | Will to Survive: removes stuns | Perception: detect stealth for 20 s |
| Dwarf | Stoneform: immune to Bleed, Poison and Disease, less Physical damage taken, 8 s | Find Treasure |
| Undead | Will of the Forsaken: removes Charm, Fear and Sleep | Cannibalize |
What changes by spec
| Key | Holy | Protection | Retribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| G | Holy Shock | (empty) | (empty) |
| 3 | (empty) | (empty) | Seal of Command |
| Shift-E | (empty) | Holy Shield | (empty) |
| Shift-F | Light's Vigil | (empty) | (empty) |
| Shift-T | Oath of Light | (empty) | (empty) |
| Shift-G | Divine Favor | (empty) | (empty) |
| Shift-X | (empty) | (empty) | Repentance |
| Shift-C | (empty) | Templar's Bulwark | (empty) |
| Shift-B | (empty) | Swift Judgement | (empty) |
Seals by spec:
- Retribution: swaps between Righteousness (Z) and Command (3). Unsealed Wrath, the 31-point talent, stores a copy of your seal on each melee hit (up to 3) and pays them out when you hit under a different seal.
- Protection: Seal of Fury (4) with Righteous Fury (Shift-Q). The removed Improved Seal of Fury talent sat in Protection, so Seal of Fury reads as the tank seal.
- Holy: Righteousness or Wisdom while soloing.
Forever changes that shaped this
From Blizzard's beta development notes (the October updates and the Nov 2 update):
- All specs:
- Righteous Fury is trained at level 10 (was 16): +33% threat, and +90% more from Holy damage.
- Holy Strike is baseline with a 10 s cooldown.
- Removed: Salvation, Mass Salvation, Revoke and Blessing of Light.
- Seal of Fury is new, and Judgement of Fury lasts 3 s.
- Holy:
- Oath of Light (row 4): a 5-minute oath on one ally that boosts your Holy Light, Flash of Light and Holy Shock on them.
- Divine Favor moved to row 3.
- Light's Vigil now heals friendly targets only.
- Protection:
- Holy Shield moved to row 5.
- Templar's Bulwark (row 3) is now a dispellable Magic effect.
- Swift Judgement unleashes your seal without using the Judgement cooldown.
- Shieldsworn (row 7) takes 4 s off Holy Strike and makes it strike with your shield.
- Retribution:
- Seal of Command is a talent: Vengeance now requires it.
- Unsealed Wrath needs Repentance.
- Turn Evil lets Turn Undead affect Demons.
- Blessing of Kings is baseline, per foreverdb's recap of the Deep Dive panel. That source predates the Nov 2 notes; nothing newer contradicts it.
Sources
- Blizzard "Beta Development Notes - Updated November 2", captured 2026-11-04. Its paladin sections run from the first post to the Nov 2 post, and the newest wins.
- ForeverAuras 1.2.2
SecretAuraRanks.lua(beta data from before Nov 2, read 2026-11-05) gives the spell names. - Racials: the racial pass in the same Blizzard thread, and foreverdb "Races, classes and reworked racials" (Sep 29, updated later) for the race list and the actives.
- Bindings: Warcraft Wiki "BindingID" (fetched 2026-11-06), and a Blizzard Classic forum thread (Aug 2023) for hidden bars' bindings.
Unverified
- Tree placement of Holy Shock and Light's Vigil follows Classic, where Holy Shock was Holy's 31-point talent.
- Seal of Fury as the tank seal is inferred.
- Auras: whether casting one swaps Action Bar 1. The notes mention an aura flyout only for gamepad.
- Exorcism on Demons in Forever.
- Racials: the race list and the actives come from sources older than the Nov 2 notes (foreverdb, Sep 29, and the October racial pass). Of the actives here, the Nov 2 post mentions only Cannibalize.
- Spell levels aren't shown. A key stays empty until you learn its spell.
- Pictures assume the spec's full talent set at 60.
