Deep in Diablo IV's endgame, you'll spot Judgment popping up on elites and think, "Alright, free damage." That's the trap. If you're serious about pushing higher tiers, you end up watching that little orb like it's a cooldown. I've seen plenty of folks ignore it and wonder why packs feel sticky. The better move is to treat it like a button you control, not a timer you tolerate, and if you're the kind of player who's always tinkering with setups and shopping for upgrades on U4GM, this is one of those mechanics worth building around from the start.

What the Mark Actually Does

Here's the plain version. You apply Judgment, an orb floats over the target, and if nobody interacts with it, it pops after a short delay for a chunk of weapon-based damage. Nice, but it's also slow and kind of wasteful in real fights. The real value is tempo. When you're in a cramped room with ranged mobs peppering you, waiting for a delayed pop feels awful. You want the damage right now, on your terms. Once you play it that way, the whole mechanic stops feeling like background noise and starts feeling like part of your rotation.

Forcing the Detonation

This is where Udicator's Oath changes everything. With it equipped, you can pop Judgment early using core skills, so you're not standing around hoping the timer lines up. In practice, it means you tag, swing, and the pack just collapses. Skills like Blessed Hammer feel especially good for this because you're already cycling them nonstop, so detonations happen naturally. It also keeps you moving. Hit, step, reposition, pop. That rhythm matters more than people admit, especially when the floor is covered in nonsense.

Build Choices People Argue About

I usually see two approaches. 1) The active style: you mark, then you deliberately pop, over and over. It's smoother for leveling, farming, and most dungeon runs because you're driving the damage. 2) The passive style: you let Judgment expire on its own and focus on steady pressure, often paired with Spear of the Heavens setups that don't want to "waste" globals. Passive can work, but it's picky. If your cooldown reduction or uptime is off, it feels like you're always waiting for the game to catch up.

Scaling, Gear, and One Weird Group Detail

If you want Judgment to hit like a truck, you stack the stuff that actually feeds it. Aspect of Golden Hour is the big one because it cranks the damage and can help marks chain into nearby targets, which is basically what you want in every crowded pull. Add Aspect of Dejudicator for more punch and a bigger blast, and suddenly you're clearing packs without overcommitting. Also, don't sleep on your shield rolls; a strong Strength line can move your numbers more than you'd expect. In groups, there's a funny quirk: the credit goes to whoever applied Judgment, not whoever detonated it, so if your squad is mixing roles, talk it out and make sure you're gearing for the job, not just copying someone else's highlight clip with D4 items in mind.