Seal and Judgement Effects for Raiding Paladins

Cross-posted to the GoV boards.

In Wrath of the Lich King, each paladin tree has a talent (or two) that affects the Judgement mechanic.

RETRIBUTION:
Judgements of the Wise: replenish mana upon cast of Judgement
Heart of the Crusader: increase critical chance against the Judged target by 3%

PROTECTION:
Judgements of the Just: reduce melee attack speed of target by 20%

HOLY:
Judgements of the Pure: increase caster haste by 15%

Of the three trees, two have effects dependent on the Judgement debuff remaining on the target. The third tree, Holy, does not modify the Judgement debuff, and instead buffs the caster.

In a case where multiple paladins are using the same Judgement on a single target, each consecutive Judgement will overwrite the previous Judgement on the target, including all additive effects. Here's an example:

Paladin A (protection paladin) casts Judgement of Light on Target X. Target X now attacks at 80% speed.
Paladin B (retribution paladin) casts Judgement of Light on Target X. Target X now attacks at 100% speed, but is 3% more likely to take critical damage.
Paladin C (holy paladin) casts Judgement of Light on Target X. Target X attacks at 100% speed with no additional chance to be critically hit.

This is why, in a raid environment, or even a party environment with multiple paladins, it is important that all paladins coordinate their judgements to maximize their effects.

PROTECTION

YOUR SEAL: Seal of Vengeance (Alliance) or Seal of Corruption (Horde)

Why: Seal of Vengeance/Corruption ultimately deals more damage than Seal of Righteousness, allowing you to keep more threat over multiple mobs for longer periods of time regardless of whether or not you are active or incapacitated. I also suspect that striking multiple mobs via Hammer of the Righteous has a chance to apply the debuff to all affected targets.

YOU JUDGE: Judgement of Light

Why: While it will be nerfed in a future patch, Judgment of Light currently provides additional threat from its healing effect.

The 3.1 patch will remove the threat effect from Judgment of Light. The preferred Judgement will probably be Judgement of Wisdom, as mana regeneration also causes threat and provides another source of mana.

HOLY

YOUR SEAL: Seal of Light with the Glyph of Seal of Light

Why: Glyph of Seal of Light increases your healing effectiveness by a flat 5% while your Seal of Light is active, providing a fully scalable bonus to your healing regardless of effective spellpower.

YOU JUDGE: Judgment of Justice by default. Judgement of Light if no protection paladin will be using it (2nd priority). Judgement of Wisdom if no retribution paladins or mana regeneration mechanics are available.

Why: Even though Blizzard has made it attractive for Holy Paladins to judge, it's still a difficult spell to work into a healer's repertoire. Judgement of Justice doesn't really affect its target, but it does trigger Seals of the Pure.

If no protection paladins are available to judge Judgement of Light, use that instead to reduce the strain on healers. Judge Light over Wisdom unless there is a real need to use Wisdom instead - that is, when the healers are running out of mana. (In my experience, this is usually signifies a problem with the DPS, so if you're judging Wisdom at all please consider ending your run after that fight.)

RETRIBUTION

YOUR SEAL: Seal of the Martyr (Alliance) or Seal of Blood (Horde)

Why: Seal of the Martyr does more damage than Seal of Command, procs more often and scales better with attack power. In a raiding environment, you should not take significant amounts of damage from the seal due to Judgement of Light and splash-heal effects (which will restore your mana as well).

YOU JUDGE: Judgement of Wisdom by default, Judgement of Light if no protection paladin is available

Why: Judgement of Wisdom provides mana over and above that provided by Judgements of the Wise and increases the retribution paladin's raid utility.

If no protection paladin is available, Judgement of Light is the next best judgement, and should probably be the default judgement after the 3.1 patch is implemented. Judgement of Light mitigates the damage caused by Seal of the Martyr and provides raid utility. However, it is also increases threat by large amounts, and should therefore be used with caution.