Paladin auras

Template:AurasNavBarPaladin

The paladin's auras, blessings and seals are the three buffs that combine to give the class the flexibility that it has. The auras themselves are AOE buffs; that is, they affect all party members within 30 yards of the Paladin. A paladin may only have one aura running at one time, however, they are free to cast, with the only cost of changing them being the Global cooldown. As such, it is wise to always have one aura or another running. You may not change auras while silenced or incapacitated, however, they are not counted as magic, and cannot be dispelled, except that the Druid's [Cyclone] causes the aura to have no effect for the duration of the debuff.

Auras do not stack. If two Paladins in a party are using the same aura, only the greater of the two will be in effect, the other is effectively wasted. As with blessings, it is essential that the Paladins coordinate to have two different auras running, rather than overlapping with the same one. In addition, the resistance auras do not stack with other spells that grant the same benefit; for example the priest's [Prayer of Shadow Protection] will render a [Shadow Resistance Aura] obsolete.

Secondly, the aura only affects people in the Paladin's party, and not the entire raid. As such most raids will tend to separate paladins, so that as many people as possible gain the benefit. It is also possible of course, to place the paladins together so a single party gains the benefit of multiple auras; this technique most commonly places the paladins with the tanks, to ensure they have the added benefits of the extra auras.

The various auras are:

• [Devotion Aura]: Gives additional 55/160/275/390/505/620/735/861 armor to nearby party members.
  (type: Protection; first acquired at level 2; 8 ranks) Armor bonus can be increased via talents
• [Retribution Aura]: Causes 5/8/12/16/20/26 holy damage to any creature that strikes a party member.
  (type: Retribution; first acquired at level 16; 6 ranks) Holy damage can be increased via talents
• [Concentration Aura]: Gives 35% chance of ignoring spell casting delays caused by damage to nearby party members.
  (type: Protection; first acquired at level 22; 1 rank) Chance of ignoring spell casting delays can be increased via talents
• [Sanctity Aura]: Increases Holy damage done by party members within 30 yards by 10%. This is gained through a talent.
  (type: Retribution; Obtained at the Retribution Talent Tree; 1 rank) Additional effect of 1%/2% bonus to damage done by party members may be obtained through a supplemental talent
• [Shadow Resistance Aura]: Increases the group's shadow resistance to 30/45/60/70.
  (type: Protection; first acquired at level 28; 4 ranks)
• [Frost Resistance Aura]: Increases the group's frost resistance to 30/45/60/70.
  (type: Protection; first acquired at level 32; 4 ranks)
• [Fire Resistance Aura]: Increases the group's fire resistance to 30/45/60/70.
  (type: Protection; first acquired at level 36; 4 ranks)
• [Crusader Aura]: Increases the mounted speed by 20% for all party members within 30 yards; does not stack with other movement speed increasing effects
  (type: Retribution; first acquired at level 62; 1 rank)

Usage

As with all paladin buffs, usage of Auras is highly situational, and it is unwise to always rely on a single aura for all situations. Indeed, switching auras in combat is frequently beneficial. However, one thing that may not be immediately obvious is that most auras (in fact, all except Crusader and Sanctity) only benefit a player that is actively under attack (usually your tank). To clarify, the added armor from Devotion Aura is only useful to your combat classes, if your tank is doing their job, the casters will not be under attack and will have no need for it. The same is true for Concentration Aura; if your casters are never attacked, the question of spell interruption will never arise.

If you are soloing, you of course have free choice over your aura. Popular choices are Devotion or Retribution, mostly depending on the enemy at the time. Concentration Aura is also useful; especially given that for a paladin specced with Spiritual Focus (Tier 2 Holy talent), Concentration Aura makes healing completely uninterruptable in normal combat (stuns, knockdowns, kicks, etc will all still work against you). Alternatively if soloing, a Retribution Paladin may choose Sanctity Aura for the added bonus to Holy damage.

Talents

The following talents affect auras:

• [Improved Devotion Aura] - Protection Tier 1 - Improves the armor of Devotion Aura by 8-40%.
• [Improved Retribution Aura] - Retribution Tier 4 - Increases Retribution Aura damage by 25-50%.
• [Improved Concentration Aura] - Protection Tier 4 - Adds 5-15% chance to resist interruption. Also adds 5-15% chance to resist Silence and Interrupt effects.
• [Improved Sanctity Aura] - Retribution Tier 5 - Adds 1-2% to damage bonus.
• [Aura Mastery] - Increases aura range to 40 yards.