Paladin abilities

Classes
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Useful macros	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	-	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Class Halls	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	-	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior

Nearly all of the Paladin's abilities are mana-based, and are split into three disciplines.
Holy

Includes all healing spells, supportive seals and spells.

Protection

Includes spells that protect yourself and others.

Retribution

Includes most damage-related skills.

Abilities Table

These abilities are available to all Paladins at the appropriate level, regardless of Talents.

Icon	Ability	Min Level	Description
	[Seal of Righteousness]	1	Fills the Paladin with holy spirit for 30 sec, granting each melee attack additional Holy damage. Slower weapons cause more Holy damage per swing. Only one Seal can be active on the Paladin at any one time. Unleashing this Seal's energy will cause Holy damage to an enemy.
	[Devotion Aura]	1	Gives X additional armor to party members within 30 yards.
	Holy Light	1	Heals a friendly target for X to X.
	[Blessing of Might]	4	Places a Blessing on the friendly target, increasing attack power by X for 5 min. Players may only have one Blessing on them per Paladin at any one time.
	Judgement	4	Unleashes the energy of a Seal spell upon an enemy.
	[Divine Protection]	6	You are protected from all physical attacks and spells for X sec, but during that time you cannot attack or use physical abilities yourself. Once protected, the target cannot be made invulnerable by Divine Shield, Divine Protection or Blessing of Protection again for 1 min.
	[Seal of the Crusader]	6	Fills the Paladin with the spirit of a crusader for 30 sec, granting X attack power. The Paladin also attacks 40% faster, but deals less damage with each attack. Only one Seal can be active on the Paladin at any one time. Unleashing this Seal's energy will judge an enemy for 10 sec, increasing Holy damage taken by up to X. Your melee strikes will refresh the spell's duration. Only one Judgement per Paladin can be active at any one time.
	[Hammer of Justice]	8	Stuns the target for X sec.
	[Purify]	8	Purifies the friendly target, removing 1 disease effect and 1 poison effect.
	[Blessing of Protection]	10	A targeted party member is protected from all physical attacks for X sec, but during that time they cannot attack or use physical abilities. Players may only have one Blessing on them per Paladin at any one time. Once protected, the target cannot be made invulnerable by Divine Shield, Divine Protection or Blessing of Protection again for 1 min.
	Lay On Hands	10	Heals a friendly target for an amount equal to the Paladin's maximum health and restores X of their mana. Drains all of the Paladin's remaining mana when used.
	[Redemption]	12	Brings a dead player back to life with X health and X mana. Cannot be cast when in combat.
	[Blessing of Wisdom]	14	Places a Blessing on the friendly target, restoring X mana every 5 seconds for 5 min. Players may only have one Blessing on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Righteous Defense]	14	Come to the defense of a friendly target, commanding up to 3 enemies attacking the target to attack the Paladin instead.
	[Retribution Aura]	16	Causes X Holy damage to any creature that strikes a party member within 30 yards. Players may only have one Aura on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Righteous Fury]	16	Increases the threat generated by your Holy attacks by 60%. Lasts 30 min.
	[Blessing of Freedom]	18	Places a Blessing on the friendly target, granting immunity to movement impairing effects for 10 sec. Players may only have one Blessing on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Spiritual Attunement]	18/66	Gives the Paladin mana when healed by other friendly targets. The amount of mana gained is equal to 8%/10% of the amount healed.
	[Exorcism]	20	Causes X to X Holy damage to an Undead or Demon target.
	[Flash of Light]	20	Heals a friendly target for X to X.
	[Sense Undead]	20	Shows the location of all nearby undead on the minimap until cancelled. Only one type of tracking can be used at a time.
	[Consecration]	20	Consecrates the land beneath Paladin, doing X Holy damage over 8 sec to enemies who enter the area.
	[Concentration Aura]	22	Gives a 35% chance of ignoring spell interruption when damaged to all party members within 30 yards. Players may only have one Aura on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Seal of Justice]	22	Fills the Paladin with the spirit of justice for 30 sec, giving each melee attack a chance to stun for 2 sec. Only one Seal can be active on the Paladin at any one time. Unleashing this Seal's energy will judge an enemy for 10 sec, preventing them from fleeing. Your melee strikes will refresh the spell's duration. Only one Judgement per Paladin can be active at any one time.
	[Turn Undead]	24	The targeted undead enemy will be compelled to flee for up to X sec. Damage caused may interrupt the effect. Only one target can be turned at a time.
	[Blessing of Salvation]	26	Places a Blessing on the party member, reducing the amount of all threat generated by 30% for 5 min. Players may only have one Blessing on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Shadow Resistance Aura]	28	Gives X additional Shadow resistance to all party members within 30 yards. Players may only have one Aura on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Divine Intervention]	30	The paladin sacrifices himself to remove the targeted party member from harms way. Enemies will stop attacking the protected party member, who will be immune to all harmful attacks but cannot take any action for 3 min.
	[Seal of Light]	30	Fills the Paladin with divine light for 30 sec, giving each melee attack a chance to heal the Paladin for X. Only one Seal can be active on the Paladin at any one time. Unleashing this Seal's energy will judge an enemy for 10 sec, granting melee attacks made against the judged enemy a chance of healing the attacker for X. Your melee strikes will refresh the spell's duration. Only one Judgement per Paladin can be active at any one time.
	[Frost Resistance Aura]	32	Gives X additional Frost resistance to all party members within 30 yards. Players may only have one Aura on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Divine Shield]	34	Protects the paladin from all damage and spells for X sec, but reduces attack speed by 50%. Once protected, the target cannot be made invulnerable by Divine Shield, Divine Protection or Blessing of Protection again for 1 min.
	[Fire Resistance Aura]	36	Gives X additional Fire resistance to all party members within 30 yards. Players may only have one Aura on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Seal of Wisdom]	38	Fills the Paladin with divine wisdom for 30 sec, giving each melee attack a chance to restore X of the Paladin's mana. Only one Seal can be active on the Paladin at any one time. Unleashing this Seal's energy will judge an enemy for 10 sec, granting attacks and spells used against the judged enemy a chance to restore X mana to the attacker. Your melee strikes will refresh the spell's duration. Only one Judgement per Paladin can be active at any one time.
	[Blessing of Light]	40	Places a Blessing on the friendly target, increasing the effects of Holy Light spells used on the target by up to X and the effect Flash of Light spells used on the target by up to X. Lasts 5 min. Players may only have one Blessing on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Summon Warhorse]	40	Summons a warhorse, which serves as a mount. Speed is increased by 60%.
	[Cleanse]	42	Cleanses a friendly target, removing 1 poison effect, 1 disease effect, and 1 magic effect.
	[Hammer of Wrath]	44	Hurls a hammer that strikes an enemy for X to X Holy damage. Only usable on enemies that have 20% or less health.
	[Blessing of Sacrifice]	46	Places a Blessing on the party member, transferring X damage taken per hit to the caster. Lasts 30 sec. Players may only have one Blessing on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Holy Wrath]	50	Sends bolts of holy power in all directions, causing X to X Holy damage to all Undead and Demon targets within 20 yds.
	[Greater Blessing of Might]	52	Gives all members of the raid or group that share the same class with the target the Greater Blessing of Might, increasing attack power by X for 15 min. Players may only have one Blessing on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Greater Blessing of Wisdom]	54	Gives all members of the raid or group that share the same class with the target the Greater Blessing of Wisdom, restoring X mana every 5 seconds for 15 min. Players may only have one Blessing on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Greater Blessing of Light]	60	Gives all members of the raid or group that share the same class with the target the Greater Blessing of Light, increasing the effects of Holy Light spells used on the target by up to X and the effect Flash of Light spells used on the target by up to X. Lasts 15 min. Players may only have one Blessing on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Greater Blessing of Salvation]	60	Gives all members of the raid or group that share the same class with the target the Greater Blessing of Salvation, reducing the amount of all threat generated by 30% for 15 min. Players may only have one Blessing on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Crusader Aura]	62	Increases the mounted speed by 20% for all party members within 30 yards. Players may only have one Aura on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Seal of Blood]	64	Horde Only All melee attacks deal additional Holy damage equal to 30% normal weapon damage, but the Paladin loses health equal to 10% of the total damage inflicted.
	[Seal of Vengeance]	64	Alliance Only Fills the Paladin with holy power, granting each melee attack a chance to cause 80 Holy damage over 12 sec. This effect can stack up to 5 times. Only one Seal can be active on the Paladin at any one time. Lasts 30 sec.
	[Avenging Wrath]	70	Increases all damage caused by 30% for 20 sec. Causes Forbearance.

Talent Granted Abilities

Rank 1 in these abilities is only unlocked by purchasing them from the appropriate Talent tree. Ranks 2 and beyond can then be purchased from the Paladin Trainer as normal.

Holy

Icon	Ability	Reqs	Description
	[Divine Favor]	Holy 20 Illumination 5	When activated, gives your next Flash of Light, Holy Light or Holy Shock spell a 100% critical effect chance.
	[Holy Shock]	Holy 30 Divine Favor 1	Blasts the target with Holy energy, causing X to X Holy damage to an enemy, or X to X healing to an ally.
	[Divine Illumination]	Holy 40	Reduces the mana cost of all spells by 50% for 15 sec.

Protection

Icon	Ability	Reqs	Description
	[Blessing of Kings]	Protection 10	Places a Blessing on the friendly target, increasing total stats by 10% for 5 min. Players may only have one Blessing on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Greater Blessing of Kings]	60	Gives all members of the raid or group that share the same class with the target the Greater Blessing of Kings, increasing total stats by 10% for 15 min. Players may only have one Blessing on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Blessing of Sanctuary]	Protection 20	Places a Blessing on the friendly target, reducing damage dealt from all sources by up to X for 5 min. In addition, when the target blocks a melee attack the attacker will take X Holy damage. Players may only have one Blessing on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Greater Blessing of Sanctuary]	60	Gives all members of the raid or group that share the same class with the target the Greater Blessing of Sanctuary, reducing damage dealt from all sources by up to X for 15 min. In addition, when the target blocks a melee attack the attacker will take X Holy damage. Players may only have one Blessing on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Holy Shield]	Protection 30 Blessing of Sanctuary 1	Increases chance to block by 30% for 10 sec, and deals X Holy damage for each attack blocked while active. Damage caused by Holy Shield causes 20% additional threat. Each block expends a charge. 8 charges.
	[Avenger's Shield]	Protection 40 Holy Shield	Hurls the paladin's shield at an enemy 8 to 20 yards away, inflicting X Holy damage and bouncing to affect up to 2 additional nearby targets.

Retribution

Icon	Ability	Reqs	Description
	[Seal of Command]	Retribution 10	Gives the Paladin a chance to deal additional Holy damage equal to 70% of the damage of the attack. Only one Seal can be active on the Paladin at any one time. Lasts 30 sec. Unleashing this Seal's energy will judge an enemy, instantly causing X to X Holy damage, X to X if the target is stunned or incapacitated.
	[Sanctity Aura]	Retribution 20	Increases Holy damage done by party members within 30 yards by 10%. Players may only have one Aura on them per Paladin at any one time.
	[Repentance]	Retribution 30	Puts the enemy target in a state of meditation, incapacitating them for up to 6 sec. Any damage caused will awaken the target. Only works against Humanoids.
	[Crusader Strike]	Retribution 40	An instant attack that causes weapon damage plus 40% of your Holy spell damage and refreshes all Judgements on the target.

Abilities by Type

Auras

Auras are buffs that benefit the Paladin as well as party members within a 30 yard range. There are a wide variety of Auras a Paladin can have on, but only one Aura can be activated on the Paladin at any one time. If there are other Paladins in the group, the same Aura's effects do not stack, but different Auras can be used instead to further strengthen the group. Changing Auras is free, but it does trigger the global cooldown in which can be a problem if the Paladin is already fully occupied. Therefore it is not feasible to change Auras just to absorb a certain magic school (such as Devotion Aura to Shadow Resist Aura to absorb a single Shadowbolt), then reverting back to the previous one. These Auras are very much support buffs that make grouping easier, but they are not so vital that they are the key factor in determining whether the group will succeed or fail.

The range of your Auras can be increased to 40 yards by the talent [Aura Mastery], or by an additional 10 yards obtaining the 3-piece bonus from Judgement Armor.

[Devotion Aura]

Increases armour by 55, up to 861 over 7 ranks. Armour bonus can be increased by up to 40% through talents.

This is the Paladin's first Aura, and is great for most situations. Classes with low armour will benefit from this the most and in some cases, doubling the player's existing armour. This Aura should not be used against pure spell casters as this Aura only increases armor - it will not mitigate any magical damage.

[Retribution Aura]

Reflects 5 Holy damage, up to 26 over 5 ranks. Holy damage reflected can be increased by up to 50% through talents.

Anyone under this Aura who is physically struck will reflect a fixed small amount of holy damage to the attacker. This is good against light and fast melee hitters or increasing damage output passively through reflective damage. Any magical attacks against you with this Aura will not reflect holy damage so it's best not to use this against spell casters. This Aura can also be used for Paladin tanking provided damage mitigation is already high enough.

[Concentration Aura]

Increases spell casting delay resistance by an additional 35%. Effects of the aura can be increased by 15% as well as reducing the duration of silence and interrupt effects by up to 30% via talents.

This is a great Aura to have on when expected to heal in the fray. It is also highly beneficial to other spell casters and those who use lot of channeling spells. With spells that already have increased resistance to spell interruption, such as a Paladin healing with the talent [Spiritual Focus] or a Warlock using [Hellfire] with the Intensity talent, the effect of this Aura is added on, providing an uninterruptable cast/channel when chance to resist reaches 100%. In this case, only a stun, incapacitate or controlled spell interrupt can stop the spell.

Note: When fully improved by talents, [Concentration Aura] will increase spell casting delay resistance by 50% and decrease the duration of silence and interrupt effects by 30%.

[Shadow Resistance Aura] [Frost Resistance Aura] [Fire Resistance Aura]

Increases resistance to Shadow/Frost/Fire spells by 30, up to 70 over 4 ranks.

The effect of these Auras will not mitigate a lot damage if the beneficiary initially has 0 resistance, but it will increase the chance that the target will partially resist all of the damage. This Aura does not stack with any other resistance-increasing effects such as [Gift of the Wild] or [Prayer of Shadow Protection]. If any of spell resistance effects are on the target simultaneously, the resistance effect that provides the highest resistance will be used to calculate the total resistance.

[Crusader Aura]

Increases mount speed by 20%, including flying mounts. The speed bonus does not stack with other speed enhancing effects, such as  [Carrot on a Stick] or  [Riding Crop].

[Sanctity Aura] Talent Only (Retribution Tree)

Increases Holy damage by 10%. This Aura can be improved where players under this Aura deal up to 2% extra damage via talents.

This Aura is most often used in a Player versus Player environment where high levels of damage is desirable. It is nearly not used in a PvE group at all if it is the only Aura in the group, but the improved version (through further talent point investment) has some uses. When grouping with others, generally they will not be happy with this Aura as it only benefits the Paladin using it or Paladins in the group and offers little support for other classes in its improved version (increases damage dealt very slightly). There are certainly better Auras to use to benefit the group, even if Sanctity Aura has been improved.

Blessings

Along with the Paladin's Auras, they also have a wide range of powerful Blessings that when cast on a friendly target, provide a positive effect that generally lasts 10 minutes. Due to their short duration, they also cost very little mana so different Blessings can be used on a target when circumstances change. Like the Auras, only one Blessing can be cast on the target per Paladin. This means two Paladins cannot cast the same Blessing on a target, but two different Blessings on a target is possible.

Thirty-minute versions of most of these Blessings are also available called Greater Blessings. They are typically used in raids where there are enough Paladins to cast most of the Blessings useful to each class. Each cast requires a reagent, and all players of the same class of the target in the group will receive the Blessing. Training of Greater Blessings begins at level 52. All Blessings are instant cast.
Note: Before Patch 2.2 standard blessings lasted 5 minutes and 15 minutes for their greater versions.

Standard Blessings

These blessings last 10 minutes, and have a 30-minute Greater Blessing version available.

[Blessing of Might]

Increases attack power by 20, up to 220 through 7 ranks. The attack power of this Blessing can be increased by up to 20% through talents.

This is the standard Blessing given to increase the player's melee and ranged attacking potential. It is useful for any melee-oriented class.

[Blessing of Wisdom]

Restores 10 mana every 5 seconds, up to 41 mana per 5 seconds over 7 ranks. Mana regenerated can be increased by up to 20% through talents.

This is the standard blessing for any spell-casting class. Although the mana regeneration is small, this regeneration can occur during casting where regeneration through spirit cannot help. It also excels on particularly long battles.

[Blessing of Salvation] (Group member only)

Reduces threat generated by the target by 30%.

It is typically used on healers, offensive spell-casters and high-damage melee to protect them from building up too much threat and being targetted in a group situation. If the tank is skilled and consistently builds up enough threat in each encounter, the Paladin may not have to use this Blessing. Instead, the Paladin can cast another Blessing that may aid in the friendly target's damage or healing output (if another is available). This Blessing has no utility against other players in a PvP environment.

[Blessing of Light]

Increases the amount the target is healed by the Paladin's [Holy Light] and [Flash of Light] by up to 210 and 60, up to 580 and 165 over 4 ranks.

This Blessing is excellent if the Paladin is assigned as a dedicated healer as it significantly increases the potency of the Paladin's primary healing spells. Most likely the target of this Blessing will be the main tank of the group or one that requires a lot of healing. Remember this Blessing only benefits your spells on the target - if the target is not often healed by the Paladin, another Blessing useful for the class is recommended (if one is available).

Note: This Blessing actually increases the amount healed by these two spells by the full amount, not "up to" like the spell description states.

[Blessing of Kings] Talent Only (Protection Tree, Level 20+)

Increases total attributes by 10%.

This is an excellent secondary Blessing to have in a group or raid, and a powerful Blessing in PvP for its low-cost ability to increase a player's health and mana pool. It increases only Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intellect and Spirit by 10%, not other attributes like attack power and defense. The increase of these base attributes however already constitutes to rises in secondary attributes such as critical strike rates and attack power by a small amount. Since the increase is by a percentage, this Blessing becomes even more powerful as attributes get higher, and attributes are calculated after other attribute-increasing spells are counted, such as [Prayer of Fortitude]. This Blessing is widely accepted by all classes but may not be as fitting to the class in certain circumstances, such as a Warrior wanting [Blessing of Might] over Kings, if the warrior's role in this case is to only deal damage. If a basic Blessing is already available from another Paladin (such as Blessing of Might on a Warrior), generally Blessing of Kings is the next best Blessing to use.

[Blessing of Sanctuary] Talent Only (Protection Tree, Level 30+)

Decreases damage taken from all sources by up to 10 and reflects 14 Holy damage per block, up to 80 damage reduced and 46 Holy damage reflected per block over 5 ranks.

This is a good blessing to have on a shield-bearing player such as a tank. The amount of damage reduced is relatively low and the amount of damage reflected after a block (full or partial) is medeocre, but can still be used when all other useful Blessings have been cast on the target. However, the final rank of Blessing of Sanctuary is a big improvement from the previous, and visible differences in damage taken are definitely noticed. The damage reduced is calculated before other sources such as armour, so this Blessing gives full benefit to the target against magical damage if none of it is resisted.

Situational Blessings

These Blessings are used in very specific situations and only lasts several seconds as opposed to the standard 10/30 minute blessings. They are even more powerful in its proper use and actually have restrictions set on their frequency of use. They will also override the Paladin's previous Blessing cast (following up from the rule "One Blessing per Paladin at any one time") and have no Greater Blessing equivalent. These blessings have great PvP utility.

[Blessing of Protection] (Up to 10 second duration, 5 minute cooldown, Group member only, Causes [Forbearance])

Protects the target from all physical attacks for 6 seconds, up to 10 seconds over 3 ranks. The player cannot physically attack with the spell active. The cooldown of this Blessing can be decreased by up to 2 minutes through talents.

Blessing of Protection will protect any player from physical attacks, but in turn the player cannot physically attack. However spell-casting is still allowed. Due to this effect, this blessing is used on primary spell-casters being attacked by melee-only damage. Not only will it protect the target from all physical damage, it also removes any threat built up by the target for the duration of the Blessing. Once the Blessing fades though, the normal threat is returned and the foe may return to its original target unless dealt with by another player. This Blessing causes the [Forbearance] effect, and the target cannot receive another Blessing of Protection from another Paladin for one minute.

[Blessing of Freedom] (10 second duration, 25 second cooldown, Group member only)

Grants immunity to movement-impairing effects by 10 seconds. The duration of this Blessing can be increased by up to 4 seconds through talents.

This Blessing is extremely powerful in PvP as it renders the snare-and-attack strategy used by some classes useless. It grants immunity from the effects of [Frost Trap], [Slow], [Frost Nova] and [Earthbind Totem] and other similar abilities. This Blessing does not negate daze effects.

[Blessing of Sacrifice] (30 second duration, 1 minute cooldown, Group member only)

Transfers flat 45 damage from the target to yourself, up to 104 damage over 4 ranks.

This is an excellent support ability that helps anyone that is constantly taking damage, such as a tank. This blessing is mostly used in PvP to make the Paladin relatively immune to crowd-control effects, such as polymorph as damage taken from BoSac will continually break these effects. This is one of the least used Blessings in PvE because other standard Blessings are seen to be more useful, and circumstances do not arise too often where a Paladin needs to use it. In a group situation where the target can be constantly changing, Blessing of Sacrifice can further complicate a Paladin's job in the group as the Paladin now has to keep an eye on his own health from the damage transferred by this Blessing. Many Paladins just prefer to heal the extra damage taken by the target instead of transferring some to themselves (one healing target instead of two). However in a controlled encounter where it involves a single target being attacked for an extended period, this Blessing can really shine as it can reduce the load on the healers, and the damage transferred to yourself can easily be healed by yourself. It is imperative that you heal yourself under this circumstance, otherwise healers will also see two healing targets instead of one, complicating their jobs.

Seals and Judgement

Seals are Paladin self-buffs that modify the user's auto-attack in various ways and is the basis of the Paladin's melee system. They are instant cast and last 30 seconds, but only one Seal can be used by the Paladin at a time. In addition to the Paladin's Seals, there is the Judgement, which instantly casts a negative magic effect on the enemy target but has positive effects on other friendly units who may be attacking the same target. Casting a Judgement will also consume the Seal on the Paladin. Different seals have different Judgement effects, and some may not apply a magic effect on the enemy target at all, but instead dealing instant holy damage when judged upon. If the Judged seal does result in a debuff magic effect on the enemy, it will last 20 seconds but the Paladin can refresh the duration of that spell by simply striking the target with a melee hit. Only one debuff can be cast on the enemy by the same Paladin at any one time, but multiple Paladins can maintain different Judgement effects. Judgement effects do not stack, and if the Paladin judges the same target with a different Seal, the old debuff will be replaced with the new one.
Judgement (Instant cast)

Unleashes a Seal's energy, casting Judgement upon the target and consuming the Seal. For the effects of the Judgement, refer to the respective Seal spell descriptions. The cooldown of Judgement can be reduced by 1 or 2 seconds via Improved Judgement talent, the critical strike chance of Judgement can be increased by 3-15% also via [Fanaticism] talent, and have up to a 100% chance to return 50% of base mana cost of the judged Seal with every Judgement via Sanctified Judgement talent.

This ability can only be used if a Paladin has a Seal active, otherwise disabled. Unleashing a Seal's energy with Judgement can affect the target in different ways depending on the Seal active at that time. Most will result in casting a debuff magic effect on the target, resulting in positive effects for your group, or deal instant holy damage. Judgement has a 10 second cooldown, is instant once a Seal is active and is not affected, nor does it not affect the global cooldown. Since Judgement is the basis of the Paladin's support and controlled damage system, it is probably most used spell of the Paladin's spellbook if he or she is utilising melee potential.

Important notes common to all Seals and Judgements:

• All are instant cast with a 30 second duration, and only one can be active at a time.
• Judgement effects last 20 seconds on an enemy target unless refreshed by the judging Paladin's melee hit, and the same Paladin can only have one Judgement effect on an enemy at a time.
• Both Seal and Judgement are upgraded through the same rank.
  
• Talents affect both Seal and Judgement effects, unless stated.
  

Seal of Righteousness

Adds constant Holy damage per swing, with Holy damage per swing increased with upgrade over 9 ranks. The Holy damage dealt by this spell can be increased by up to 15% via talents.

Note: The additional Holy damage cannot be estimated as it varies depending on weapon speed, handedness and DPS. The in-game tooltip values will change immediately as the Paladin changes weapon.

Adds a constant amount of Holy damage per melee hit on the target. While the extra damage may sound weak especially at lower levels, with enough spell damage this Seal can more than double damage output from melee damage alone. This is the standard Seal to use for damage, and is the primary Seal to use when Paladin tanking. Slower weapons will gain more damage from Righteousness than faster ones so to balance out the damage done with each different weapon. Seal of Righteousness has a generous spell damage coefficient, so spell damage gear will increase Holy damage done by this spell significantly; two-handed or slow weapons give a higher spell damage coefficient than one-handed or faster weapons. The damage done each swing is constant, and cannot crit no matter what the Paladin's spell or melee critical strike is.

Judgement of Righteousness

Deals instant 15 Holy damage to the target, up to 208 to 228 Holy damage over 9 ranks. Holy damage done by this Judgement can be increased by up to 15% via talents.

Instantly deals Holy damage to the target, consuming the Seal but not removing any Judgement debuff the Paladin had on the enemy target. This Judgement is the main form of Paladin controllable damage. Again it is useful for just dealing damage or Paladin tanking. Critical strike chance of this ability follows spell critical rules (spell critical chance, and x1.5 extra damage per critical hit).

Seal of the Crusader

Reduces swing time and melee damage per hit by 40%, and increases attack power by 40, up to 494 over 7 ranks.

The paladin will attack 40% faster, but at a 40% reduction to melee damage. Therefore the increase in damage from this Seal comes directly from increased attack power. This Seal is particularly useful if the target has low armour rating, or for triggering Judgement effects on an enemy at a faster rate without significantly lowering melee damage potential. This seal is more often used at lower levels where Holy damage is not so important to Paladin damage, but is almost never used offensively in PvP or end-game partying and raids.

Judgement of the Crusader

The target receives up to 23 extra Holy damage, up to 219 extra Holy damage over 7 ranks. Increase in critical hit chance by attacks made against the target by up to 3% via talents.

Applies a magical debuff on the enemy target, resulting in the target taking extra Holy damage. This Judgement is used much more than the Seal itself as it increases Holy damage done to the target by a fixed amount, depending on the spell damage coefficient of the Holy spell. Paladin damage is a combination of physical damage and Holy damage (when using the correct Seal), which is generally unmitigatable so it is desirable to increase Holy damage rather than physical damage. In solo play, the Paladin will generally begin the battle by casting Crusader and then judging it immediately before switching to another Seal that generates extra Holy damage (Righteousness or Command). While this increases the Paladin's damage by an acceptable amount, it may burn up more mana than usual. This Judgement isn't used much in a group perspective unless if the Paladin is tanking, which will then provide the Paladin with more threat based on Holy damage. Otherwise, it only benefits Paladins or even Priests in the rare case that they resort to the Holy school of damage. The improved version of this Judgement can be useful in PvP and large raids, however.

Seal of Justice

Gives each melee hit a chance to stun the target for 2 seconds.

Seal of Justice can act as an unreliable PvE interrupt against primary spell casters for those who are not immune to stun effects. It has limited use in PvP because of diminishing returns to the stun effect, rendering your [Hammer of Justice] spell useless after the target has been stunned three times from the seal. This seal will stun the enemy 4-5 times a minute.

[Judgement of Justice]

Applies a magical debuff on the target, preventing PvE targets from fleeing in fear in rank 1, with rank 2 also limiting PvP targets to 100% movement speed (walking speed) for the duration of the debuff.

In instances where enemies will flee at near-death to get reinforcements (often wiping a party), this Judgement will stop the target from running away, making this spell one of the most useful in the PvE environment. Targets with this debuff will also be immune from a crowd-control fear, so be mindful if on occasion if fear effects are used in crowd-control. In a PvP environment, this Judgement is used to stop runners, primarily flag carriers in Warsong Gulch. It will limit player movement to walking speed, therefore any gear with +% movement effects as well as various movement-increasing spells and forms will be negated.

[Seal of Light]

Gives each melee hit a chance to heal the Paladin for 39, up to 133 over 5 ranks.

This Seal isn't often used in either PvE or PvP, but can be useful if the Paladin requires heals without leaving melee combat. The amount healed from melee becomes respectable when used along with [Judgement of Light] on the target. Protection Paladins use it most during AoE grinding. The chance of heal depends on the speed of the weapon; slower weapons have higher chances to heal than faster weapons, normalising the effectiveness of this spell across all weapon types. +Healing gear will not increase the amount healed.

[Judgement of Light]

Applies a magical debuff on the target; upon physically striking the target, will have a chance to heal the attacker for 25, up to 95 over 5 ranks. The chance to heal can be increased by 10% with the Lawbringer Armor set bonus (3 pieces), and amount healed can be increased by 20 with the Justicar Raiment set bonus (2 pieces).

This is an excellent support debuff in raids, gaining value as raid size increases (more melee players will benefit from this Judgement, increasing healing rate). The target must be physically hit by the player for this debuff to heal, and has a heal chance of 50% so fast-hitting melee such as Rogues will benefit most from this Judgement. The value of this Judgement in whatever sized group should not be underestimated, but unfortunately serves no use for players who do not engage in melee combat. Any improvements to the Judgement from various armour set bonuses will be shared with all players, not just the Paladin.

[Seal of Wisdom]

Gives each melee hit a chance to for the Paladin to gain 50 mana, up to 121 mana over 4 ranks.

This has the same utility as [Seal of Light]. This is an excellent Seal to use for renenerating mana, and is even more effective if [Judgement of Wisdom] is already on the target. The chance to gain depends on the speed of the weapon; slower weapons have higher chances to heal than faster weapons, normalising the effectiveness of this spell across all weapon types.

[Judgement of Wisdom]

Applies a magical debuff on the target; upon damaging the target, the attacker may gain 33 mana, up to 74 over 4 ranks.

Like [Seal of Light], this is a valued support debuff for any group for classes that use mana. The player only has to hit the target with this Judgement to have a chance of gaining mana. This damage can be physical (melee), spell or from wands. This Judgement shines on long boss encounters where mana preservation is important. Healers who wish to regenerate more mana can simply wand the target or auto-attack it; Paladins can also use [Seal of Wisdom] with auto-attack to regenerate even more. It has the same triggering rates as [Judgement of Light].

[Seal of Vengeance] Alliance only

Gives each melee hit a chance to apply Holy Vengeance on the target, dealing 150 Holy damage over 15 seconds (30 damage every 3 seconds). The effect can stack up to 5 times (150 damage every 3 seconds). When Holy Vengeance has stacked 5 times on a target, each melee attack will deal additional Holy damage.

This Seal is good for tanking, but only if the target will be continuously attacked for an extended period of time, as it takes time to generate aggro at the beginning as opposed to Righteousness. Depending on gear and talents, over time SoV will do more damage than SoR. It can also make multiple-target tanking easier as the DoT will continue to generate threat for the Paladin even when not focused on that target. The chance to apply Holy Vengeance is 20 times a minute, meaning a 3.00 or slower speed weapon will have a 100% chance to apply the DoT. The additional Holy damage from a melee hit on a 5-stack Holy Vengeance-inflicted target can critically hit at spell critical damage, with critical rate Paladin's spell critical chance.

Judgement of Vengeance

Inflicts 120 Holy damage per Holy Vengeance stacked on the target. The damage is magical, and can critically hit at spell critical damage, with rate determined the Paladin's spell critical chance.

[Seal of Blood] Horde only

Adds Holy damage equal to 35% of normal weapon damage, but 10% damage inflicted with this spell is returned to the Paladin.

The additional Holy damage inflicted cannot be increased with +spell damage gear. It also isn't recommended to use this Seal to tank.

Judgement of Blood

Inflicts 295 to 325 Holy damage to the target, returning 33% to the Paladin in damage done by the Judgement.

This Judgement is considered melee damage, so it will double its damage (and damage to the Paladin) during a critical hit, and critical rate is determined by the Paladin's melee critical chance.

[Seal of Command] Retribution only

Adds a chance to deal Holy damage equal to 70% of normal weapon damage.

Due to it's nature, this seal is best utilised with a slow, large, 2-handed weapon. On average it procs at about 7 times per minute, so the slower the weapon, the harder (and more likely) it hits. This seal is also considered as melee damage, so it deals double the damage when it crits and is determined by melee critical strike chance.

Judgement of Command

Inflicts 93 to 101 Holy Damage (456 to 504 Holy Damage at rank 6) if the target is stunned or incapacitated, half that damage otherwise.

This Judgement is considered melee damage, so it will double its damage during a critical hit, and critical rate is determined by the Paladin's melee critical chance. It also works best if the target is stunned or incapacitated - a Paladin has two reliable abilities to make this occur, a stun with [Hammer of Justice] and an incapacitate with the Retribution talent [Repentance].

Heals

Paladins have two basic healing abilities: Holy Light and [Flash of Light], one talented healing ability [Holy Shock] and a last resort heal [Lay on Hands].
Holy Light (2.5 second cast)

Holy Light is the Paladin's strongest heal, offering good heal per second rate but at a relatively high mana cost. Normally the Paladin's mana pool will not last very long at healing when casting this spell continuously even with a large mana pool, so use this spell if you find your target losing too much health and are looking to increase the target's HP quickly. Holy talents helps with the heavy mana cost, such as [Illumination] and [Divine Illumination]. Coupled with other holy talents that increase spell critical hits, it can offer excellent healing over an extended period of time, almost, if not matching a Priest's performance with main-healing. This spell has a high spell damage/healing coefficient, so it is feasible to stock up on the respective items to improve efficiency further.

Heals the target for 37 to 47, up to 2196 to 2446 through 11 ranks. The amount healed by this spell can be increased by up to 12% via talents.

[Flash of Light] (1.5 second cast)

Flash of Light is a quick heal that heals a small amount. Even though the amount it heals is low compared to the amount of time it needs to be cast, it is extremely mana efficient. It has a lower spell damage coefficient that Holy Light, but in decent healing gear, continuously casting Flash of Light is a good way of healing effectively and very efficiently, falling back to Holy Light when you require faster heals per casting time. This ability is obtained at level 20.

Heals the target for 62 to 72, up to 448 to 502 through 7 ranks. The amount healed by this spell can be increased by up to 12% via talents.

[Lay on Hands] (Instant cast, 1 hour cooldown)

Lay on Hands is a last resort heal that heals the target equal the the Paladin's maximum health. It is an instant cast, but drains the rest of the Paladin's mana (it cannot be used at 0 mana). Lay on Hands has a very long cooldown, but has the ability to save wipes or turn the tide of a losing battle so time its use correctly. Higher ranks of this ability also returns a small amount of mana to the target. Lay on Hands cannot be improved by healing gear, but can critically heal ( [Divine Favor] will not work with Lay on Hands).

Heals the target equal the the Paladin's maximum health and returns 0, up to 900 mana over 4 ranks. The cooldown of this ability can be decreased by up to 20 minutes, as well as increase the target's armour by up to 30% for 2 minutes via talents.

[Holy Shock] Talent only (level 40+) (Instant cast, 15 second cooldown)

Whilst generally not over-used for healing because of its moderate mana cost, it is still a decent spell to have to boost your rate of healing, and really shines when combined with lot of spell damage/healing. [Holy Shock] can also be used with [Divine Favor] for a critical heal with mana return from [Illumination]. This spell also damages the target in Holy damage of the same magnitude to the heal if cast on an enemy, and can also be used with [Divine Favor] for some extra damage potential. However you will not get any mana returned from [Illumination] if used offensively.

Heals the target for 204 to 220, up to 365 to 395 through 3 ranks.

Threat Modifiers

A Paladin has several tools for threat management.

[Righteous Fury] (Instant cast)

Righteous Fury is a self-buff that lasts 30 minutes and increases all threat generated by your Holy spells by 60% (For example, threat from dealing 100 holy damage would be the equivalent of threat from dealing 160 damage to the target). Keep in mind that healing spells are Holy spells, so only use it when you need it and leave it alone if you do not intend on being hit. The threat bonus from this spell can be increased with the Protection Tree talent [Improved Righteous Fury], increasing the effect by up to 50% (for a total of 90% increased threat) as well as reducing all damage taken by up to 6%.

Righteous Defense (Instant cast)

Righteous Defense is a low-mana, high-range taunt. The difference between Righteous Defense and a Warrior's Taunt is simply the target: Righteous Defense is cast on a friendly target, and acts as a snap taunt; Taunt is cast on the creature itself. It is slightly more difficult to use the snap taunt as a paladin because it does involve you clicking the spell on the person that has pulled aggro, however, there are macros available that automate the process. When cast and the mobs are attacking you, you have a few seconds to build up as much threat on the targets as possible - otherwise they may revert back to their original target.

Cast it on a friendly target, commanding up to 3 enemies to attack you instead.

Abilities by Function

Protection

Paladins have several protective blessings at their disposal for use on group members: Blessing of Protection, which will protect a member from all physical damage for a set number of seconds; Blessing of Sacrifice, which will send a small part of the taken from the blessed player and send it to the Paladin unmitigated; and Blessing of Freedom, which will make the blessed player immune to movement hampering effects.

Tanking

Paladins tanking generally use Seal of Righteousness as it is a guaranteed number of holy damage each weapon swing, and may lead with a Judgement of the Crusader for increased Holy Damage. Seal of Vengeance (Alliance Paladins only, obtained at level 64) is also a viable seal to use when tanking, although it takes a longer time to build up threat. However, it can deal more Holy damage over time than Seal of Righteousness (thus causing more threat), depending on the Paladin's gear.

Debuffs

Paladins have two debuffs (other than judgements) that weaken or harm the victim:

• Holy Vengeance is a damage-over-time debuff that causes Holy damage on the target every 3 seconds, and its effect can be stacked up to 5 times. It is applied when the Paladin uses Seal of Vengeance whilst physically striking the victim, but its rate of application depends on the weapon. (Alliance Paladins only)
• Vindication which is a passive ability talent obtained in the Paladin's Retribution tree, reduces all of the victim's attributes by 5% per talent point (up to 15%).

Area of Effect & Damage over Time

Paladins have one universal AoE ability (besides [Holy Wrath], only usable against Undead NPCs), [Consecration], which is available to everyone. This is also one of two of the Paladin's damage-over-time spells - the other being Holy Vengeance (from [Seal of Vengeance]) but the spell is unique to Alliance Paladins only.

Instant cast | 8 sec cooldown
Consecrates the land beneath the Paladin, doing X Holy damage over 8 sec to enemies who enter the area.

Rank 1: 136 mana | 64 damage
Rank 2: 235 mana | 120 damage
Rank 3: 320 mana | 192 damage
Rank 4: 435 mana | 280 damage
Rank 5: 565 mana | 384 damage

The Consecrate ability has been made available as a class skill starting at level 20 in the Burning Crusade patch released in December of 2006.

Direct Damage

Paladins are a melee Hybrid class, with no ability to use ranged weapons (or wands) whatsoever, so naturally they deal direct damage with weapons. They also have several spells such as instant-cast exorcism and casted holy wrath, which only effect Undead and Demons, Holy Shock, which deals holy damage to any target, and is accessible via the Holy Talent Tree. Finally there is Seal of Righteousness, which deals holy damage with every melee strike, and can be judged to do an amount of direct damage. Seal of Command is similar to Seal of Righteousness, except it triggers less often for more damage; and the amount of holy damage dealt on judging is increased if the target is stunned or otherwise incapacitated. Seal of Command is most useful in burst-damage situations, like PvP. Hammer of Wrath is a ranged spell available to all paladins and only usable on targets under 20% health and has a very brief cast time; if the target heals or regenerates above 20% health at any time - even if the projectile is in flight - the spell will be cancelled. There are no paladin spells that deal direct damage without having a cooldown aside from Seal of Righteousness, which strikes every melee swing.

Upon release of Patch 2.0 in December of 2006, the two talents that allow paladins to used Ranged Attacks are Holy Shock (Holy, 31-point) and Avengers Shield (Protection, 41-point). Holy Shock's cooldown was halved to 15 seconds, making the Holy Castadin or Mageadin template very viable.

Misc Information on Abilities

Spell Damage and Healing Coefficients

The majority of a paladins damage comes from spells. Aside from a few talents that can be used to increase holy damage output, the main way is to increase the spell damage/healing attribute. The maximum amount of damage and healing is not 100%; it is based on a percentage on a spell by spell basis, as listed below.

• 9.2% per 1.0 weapon speed, One-handed Seal of Righteousness
  
• 10.8% per 1.0 weapon speed, Two-handed Seal of Righteousness
  
• 73% Judgement of Righteousness
  
• 20% Seal of Command (29% with +Holy damage)
  
• 43% Judgement of Command
  
• 96% Consecration
  
• 43% Holy Shock
  
• 43% Hammer of Wrath
  
• 43% Exorcism
  
• 19% Holy Wrath
  
• 20% Holy Shield (5% per Block)
  
• 9% Avenger's Shield
• 17% Seal of Vengeance (per tick)
• 43% Judgement of Vengeance
• 0% Seal of Blood

• 71% Holy Light (healing only)
  
• 43% Flash of Light (healing only)
  

For example, 100 spell damage/healing will increase each cast of Judgement of Righteousness by 73 damage, [Holy Shock] by 43 damage and [Holy Light] by 71 health.
Note: [Lay on Hands] is not listed here because amount healed depends on the Paladin's maximum health.

Critical Hits

A paladin uses both types of critical hits: melee and spell. Each ability is listed under the appropriate critical rate mode. Abilities not listed here are ones that cannot have critical effects.

Melee Critical Percentage (x2 effect)

• Seal of Command
  
• Judgement of Command
  
• Seal of Blood
  
• Judgement of Blood
  
• Hammer of Wrath
  
• Avenger's Shield
  

Spell Critical Percentage (x1.5 effect)

• Judgement of Righteousness
  
• Seal of Vengeance (the direct damage dealt when there are 5 stacks of Holy Vengeance on the target)
  
• Judgement of Vengeance (with at least 1 Holy Vengeance debuff on the target)
  
• Holy Shock
  
• Exorcism
  
• Holy Wrath
  
• Holy Light (heal)
  
• Flash of Light (heal)
  
• Lay on Hands (heal)
  

Notes:

• The talent Holy Power in the Holy tree will only increase the critical chance of spell-related abilities, and will not affect critical rates of abilities affected by melee critical percentages.
• Paladins can increase their Judgements' critical hit rate by up to 15% by investing Talent Points in Retribution's [Fanaticism]. This stacks with the paladin's critical chance (spell critical for Judgement of Righteousness, melee critical for Judgement of Command).