Ultimate Protection Warrior Build Guide

Skill Point Allocation

Level 10 - Shield Specialization
Level 11 - Shield Specialization
Level 12 - Shield Specialization
Level 13 - Shield Specialization
Level 14 - Shield Specialization
Level 15 - Improved Bloodrage
Level 16 - Improved Bloodrage
Level 17 - Anticipation
Level 18 - Anticipation
Level 19 - Anticipation Level 20 - Master of Defense
Level 21 - Master of Defense Level 22 - Improved Revenge Level 23 - Improved Revenge Level 24 - Improved Revenge Level 25 - Vanguard Level 26 - Improved Thunder Clap Level 27 - Improved Thunder Clap Level 28 - Improved Thunder Clap Level 29 - Defiance Level 30 - Concussion Blow OR Last Stand

Levelling to 16

In true Protection warrior fashion, we are incredibly rage starved at the begin of our progression. Before we unlock the talent tree your basic rotation is as follows:

Charge > Rend > Heroic Strike (until rage starved). Thunder Clap can be used but, in my opinion, early on this spends far too much rage when we are struggling to get it flowing.

At level 10, once you gain Defensive Stance, this is a solid rotation if you are looking to avoid stance dancing:

Sunder Armor [2 -5 times] > Revenge [off cd] > Heroic Strike

Once you reach level 16 and gain access to Shield Block, Revenge starts to really ramp up in terms of value added!

16 - 30 Levelling Build

The main synergy and strength this build offers is 5 points in Shield Specialization and 2 points in Master of Defense (when it can be maxed) which creates a situation where we have 100% chance to generate 5 fury from any dodge, parry or block. Anticipation aids with this, providing more flat defence!

Couple this with the fact Revenge now provides much more damage output and does a much higher amount of threat and you've essentially got a free revenge everytime it procs! This is so strong and feels very smooth to play. At Level 16 you will get Shield Block. This is insanely good and just further compounds how often we can spam revenge. Once 3 points is put in Improved Revenge, we'll be doing 60% Increased damage which is really nice indeed!

Improved Bloodrage allows us to keep our rage up during downtime and means we can pull consistently and swiftly, thus increasing our overall clear speeds!

THIS WILL BE UPDATED AS MORE IS EXPLORED AND THE LVL CAP INCREASES!

Victory Rush - comes online at level 20 and gives us some really nice sustain when chain pulling and keeping the engine moving.

Demoralizing Shout - A good way to start a pull. It gives you some threat on everything around you and helps you get that early threat traction going in dungeons.

When you first start tanking with a Warrior, keep things simple. Your main job is to get threat on as many mobs as possible as quickly as you can.

Thunder Clap is also useful for getting threat on multiple mobs. It deals damage to nearby enemies and reduces their attack speed. Use it when you need to establish threat across a group.

You will sometimes lose aggro. This is not a disaster. Use Taunt to get the mob back and continue building threat. Losing aggro occasionally does not make you a bad tank.

On larger pulls, use Cleave Revenge and Sunder Armor to spread your threat around. Try to use Revenge whenever it is available because it generates good threat for its cost.

Taunt and Mocking Blow are quite literally the glue to our tanking prowess. If you lose aggro, you can snap targets focus back to you with these skills.

You do not need to stay on one mob until it dies. Once you are happy with the threat you have on a target, move to the next mob.

This is one of the easiest ways to speed up your dungeon runs. Your threat remains on the mobs after you move away, so you can start building threat on the next target while your DPS finishes the first one.

It is also useful to mark targets with a Skull and Cross. The Skull tells your DPS which mob to kill first, while the Cross can be used for the second target.

Your group will not always follow your marks, especially in a random group. That is fine. The important thing is that you are controlling the pull and keeping threat spread across the enemies.

The main thing to remember is simple: keep moving, keep building threat and do not panic when you occasionally lose aggro.