Paladin abilities

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Overview

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 or Holy Light 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. 4 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 the Paladin must stop all casting to change Auras, then wait for the global cooldown to finish before casting another spell. It is common for others to think of the Paladin as being lazy when not changing Auras to adapt to certain situations in battle, but in cases where the Paladin is fully occupied in task such as healing or tanking, sometimes it is not feasible to stop what the Paladin is doing just to change Auras for trivial things. Such examples like changing to Shadow Resistance Aura to absorb a Shadowbolt before changing back to Devotion Aura while tanking. 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 to yourself and all party members within the Aura. This is your 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.

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

[Retribution Aura]

Anyone under this Aura will reflect a fixed small amount of holy damage to the attacker that physically strikes you. 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 your damage mitigation is already high enough.

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

[Concentration Aura]

Anyone under this Aura will be 35% more resistant to spell casting delay after being damaged. This is a good Aura to have on if you're 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 the Paladin's talent [Spiritual Focus] or the Warlock's 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.

Increases spell casting delay resistance by an additional 35%. Resistance to spell casting delay can be increased by 15% as well as increasing resistance to silence and interrupt effects by up to 15% via talents.

(When fully improved by talents, [Concentration Aura] will increase spell casting delay resistance by 50% and increase resistance to silence and interrupt effects by 15%)

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

Increases yours and the party's resistance to the appropriate school of magic. The effect of these Auras will not mitigate a lot damage if initially you have 0 resistance, but it will increase the chance that you will partially resist all of the damage. This Aura does not stack with any other resistance-increasing buffs such as [Gift of the Wild] or [Prayer of Shadow Protection]. If any of these buffs are on you simultaneously, the resistance buff that gives the highest resistance will be used to calculate your total resistance.

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

[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 yours and party member's Holy damage by 10%. This Aura is most often used in a Player versus Player environment where high levels of damage is a good form defense. 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.

Increases Holy damage by 10%. This Aura can be improved where players under this Aura deal an extra 1 or 2% damage.

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 5 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 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.

Fifteen-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.

Standard Blessings

These blessings last 5 minutes, and have a 15-minute Greater Blessing version available.

[Blessing of Might]

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

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.

[Blessing of Wisdom]

Gives the target a small amount of mana every 5 seconds. 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.

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.

[Blessing of Salvation] (Group member only)

Reduces the target's threat generated 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.

Reduces threat generated by the target by 30%.

[Blessing of Light]

Increases the amount the target is healed by the Paladin's [Holy Light] and [Flash of Light] spells. 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).

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 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 the target's 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. 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 indeed 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 buffs such as [Prayer of Fortitude] are counted. 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, simply because damage output is more important than increase in longevity (a large increase of AP from Might over a small increase of AP and %crit from Kings, thinking only damage terms). It is up to the Paladin to determine which is the best Blessing to use. 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.

Increases total attributes by 10%.

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

Decreases the target's damage taken, and reflects a small amount of Holy damage every block. This is a good talent 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 last, 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.

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.

Situational Blessings

These Blessings are used in very specific situations and only lasts several seconds as opposed to the standard 5/15 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.

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

Protects the target from all physical attacks for a short duration, and causes [Forbearance]. This Blessing is used for protecting primarily spell-casters who cannot get away from a melee-oriented foe. However, anyone under this spell also cannot physically attack, making this Blessing not suitable for primary melee classes unless they are perilously in danger or cannot control their threat. 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.

Protects the target from all physical attacks for 6 seconds, up to 10 seconds over 3 ranks. The cooldown of this Blessing can be decreased by up to 2 minutes through talents.

[Blessing of Freedom] (10 second duration, 20 second cooldown, Group member only)

Players with this Blessing are immune to movement-impairing effects. 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.

Grants immunity to movement-impairing effects by 10 seconds. The duration of this Blessing can be increased by up to 6 seconds through talents.

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

This Blessing transfers a flat amount of damage to the Paladin everytime the target is attacked. This is an excellent support ability that helps anyone that is constantly taking damage, such as a tank. However, this is one of the least used Blessings generally 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.

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

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 the victim's strength and agility by 5% per talent point (up to 15%).

Area of Effect & Damage over Time

Paladins have one universal AoE ability (besides [Holy Wrath], only useable 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 Coefficients

As is shown here, the majority of a paladins damage comes from spells. Aside from a few talents that can be used to increase your holy damage output, the main way is through equipment with a + to spell damage/healing effect. The full amount listed on the item does not get added straight away, though; it is based on a percentage on a spell by spell basis, as listed below.

• 10% One-Handed Seal of Righteousness
  
• 12% Two-Handed Seal of Righteousness
  
• 50% Judgement of Righteousness
  
• 20% Seal of Command
  
• 43% Judgement of Command
  
• 33% Consecration
  
• 43% Holy Shock
  
• 43% Hammer of Wrath
  
• 43% Exorcism
  
• 19% Holy Wrath
  
• 20% Holy Shield (5% per Block)
  

• 71% Holy Light
  
• 43% Flash of Light
  

In WoW 2.0, several coefficients have been improved. Seal of Righteousness's coefficient has also been tied to the speed of the weapon it's used with:

• 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
  
• 76% Consecration
  
• 9% Avenger's Shield (new spell)
• 17% Seal of Vengeance (per tick) (new spell)
• 43% Judgement of Vengeance (new spell)
• 0% Seal of Blood

So, for instance, pre-2.0, if you have +50 to spell damage/healing, you can expect your seal of righteousness to hit for 5 more damage per strike, its judgment to do 25 extra damage, and your holy shock to do approximately 22 extra damage. Beside that, you notice holy light and flash of light are both listed here; they are also affected by these items with the percentage listed.

Critical Hits

A paladin uses both types of critical hits, melee and spell, depending on the ability, as shown below:

• Seal of Command: Melee crit rate
  
• Judgement of Command: Melee crit rate
  
• Hammer of Wrath: Melee crit rate
  
• Avenger's Shield: Melee crit rate
  
• Seal of Righteousness: Can not crit
  
• Judgement of Righteousness: Spell crit rate
  
• Holy Shock: Spell crit rate
  
• Exorcism: Spell crit rate
  
• Holy Wrath: Spell crit rate
  
• Holy Shield: Can not crit
  

In addition, Paladins can increase their Judgements' critical hit rate by up to 15% by investing Talent Points in Retribution's Fanaticism (Requires 1 Point in Repentance & 35 Points in Retribution Talents). This stacks with the paladin's existing spell crit. So as you can see in the list above, the general rule is that if you use Seal of Command and Judgement of Command as your main source of damage, it is better to use +melee crit gear, whereas for a paladin without Seal of Command, +spell crit is better. Also note that a paladins healing spells are, of course, based on spell crit.

At level 60 a paladin receives 1% melee crit for every 20 AGI and 1% spell crit for every 28.5 INT.