http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/paladin/talents.html?tal=050000000000000000000000000053053502310251533312321501020000000000000000000000
This is the build I'm rolling with this week. After some empirical testing by both me and other members of the maintankadin community, it is clear that Seals of the Pure in the Holy tree is noticibly more effective for threat generation than Conviction in the Ret tree. Both are generally minor increases (of LESS than 1% TPS generation per point invested) but hey, even from a non-threat perspective... damage is damage, right? Conviction only has a prayer to compete with Seals of the Pure when you factor in healing. If you need to throw a heal up, 5% crit can be valuable... but is it worth it for us? Probably not.
I did not take Unyielding Faith. After raiding, it is 100% clear to me that it is wasted points. There will ALWAYS be another class (Shammies anyone?) who can give us the same benefits all of the time. While it may be valuable in some 5 mans, that's not what I'm tailoring my build for. As a raid main tank, it's pointless.
I kept Stoicism. There's a lot of hot debate about this one. Many see it as a waste, Imp. HoJ being the alternative. I was actually somewhat glad that I took it. That may change when I decide on meta gems for a future helm, but for now -- I'm happy with Stoicism.
The upper Protection Tree remains the same. I took 2/3 Improved HoJ because I had the points. It was either that or Benediction -- mana isnt a huge issue. Not great for raid bosses, but it's nice on trash to throw up a couple of times every fight. I kept Judgements of the Just after seeing several cases first hand where I definitly wanted to have the slow effect up and I was the only one available to do it. Where I once thought, "well, yea -- but someone else can do this too.." I now realize that it is extremely important. It is also the cheapest option available to all of the classes to get a slow up. Where the others have to weigh their available resources before casting, all we need is a free GCD (which Judgement is on the 9/6/9 rotation anyway, so it happens constantly).
I've shuffled my Ret tree around a bit. 2/2 Improved Judgements was not needed because the extra second is just cut off in rotation anyway. It takes a full 9 seconds before you can get around to casting Judgement again anyway, so why bother having it on an 8 second cooldown? The only real benefit is when you break rotation, for example when a judgement debuff is resisted and you want it up ASAP. Still, 1 second longer without a judgement debuff up isn't exactly "ZOMG I GOTZ TO BLOW ALL MY LONG COOLDOWNZ TO SURVIVE THIZ!" of a situation. So I reduced this talent to 1/2.
I grabbed Improved Blessing of Might for a very specific reason. Kings is 5 points, Might is 2. Kings is a FUNDAMENTAL talent of a Ret build. It then follows that a Ret, who has Kings straight from their cookie cutter, would Kings the entire bloody raid. Leaving me to Might the Rets (and more importantly Sanctuary myself). Sounds good in theory. Works good in practice. Again, you might take it to tailor to a 5 man build but frankly after testing -- no, Kings isnt ALL THAT. One thing I dislike about the maintankadin community is that everyone is obsessed with Kings because of the influence of a few key figures. I've looked into it, and given the choice I'd rather have Sanctuary. I would ALWAYS 100% want my healers to have Wisdom before Kings, and physical damage dealers to have Might. Warlocks, Mages, Shadow Priests, and Crit Chickens. They're the classes that get Kings before anything else. And frankly, it isn't as big a deal of a buff for them as it is for us. If that says anything.
I cut Heart of the Crusader because, as I expected, there would always be a Ret putting it up. Just as long as you each know what the other is Judging, the slow effect and 3% crit will always be up. Ideally Prot judges Light for the threat boost and Ret Judges wisdom. Not hard to coordinate.
Next week I might shuffle some more. I *may* look for a way to fit Kings in, but I don't think much else will change.