Wow The War Within Protection Warrior Spec Guide

Introduction

Protection Warrior is quite a strong spec and performs relatively well in the majority of the content. With its strong additions of good healing and big armor that provides the class itself and Shield Block ability, this is a tank spec that can perform in most of the endgame content without any issues and provide a stable tanking spec to lead the group to success. There are also lots of cooldowns that can make you even beefier in case you need it for some heavier packs or emergency buttons to make sure you survive large bursts that some mobs or bosses can do. Providing solid AoE damage and being efficient in holding big packs with its utility and sustain, this spec can make you feel like a true Goliath in a raid or dungeon environment. Here’s all you need to know regarding Protection Warrior in TWW Season 2.

Protection Warrior Spec Overview

As mentioned above, the class can provide significant and valuable tanking aspects to your group, having a stable tank in your group and being able to tank lots of incoming damage is all there is to tanks, but that’s not all. With good AoE cooldowns and overall good output of damage, this is a spec that really can put a dent in the forces of enemies. Shield Block is an ability that you consistently use due to its low cooldown, making sure you have big uptime with it. You also have lots of healing built into the spec and a few other abilities, such as Ignore Pain and Impending Victory, providing additional healing/sustain options to make you a true monster in the tanking department.

The strongest and Hero Talent that proves to be the best for Prot Warrior is Colossus, having enough options to get the job done and make sure you survive upcoming damage, and can also have solid damage output on top of it. The class also has overall lots of utility, so some of it is available for the Protection as well, with some abilities such as Shockwave even being better with a lower cooldown. Spell Reflection, Rallying Cry, and Charge are here to help your part, yourself, survive even easier, providing significant support.

Strengths

• The spec is incredibly strong in the scenarios where there is a large amount of physical or blockable damage, providing a very stable tanking experience.
• Can survive lots of incoming damage and usually doesn’t lose HP fast due to high armor values and solid sustain options, so unlike some other classes that can tank a lot, but are a bit more anxious to play with HP dropping heavily, this class feels VERY tanky to play.
• A lot of mobility options with abilities such as Charge, Intervene, and Heroic Leap
• Has solid utility for themselves and the rest of the party, with abilities such as Rallying Cry, Spell Reflection, Battle Shout, Shockwave, and Intimidating Shout.
• Has a large variety of builds, where you can spec for more AoE-oriented, single-target, or a pure defensive monster build, easily adapting to any situation you might need.
• Has strong Single Target and AoE DPS depending on your build, providing a good additional damage to your party.

Weaknesses

• Depending on the build you take, it can have less AoE or less single-target damage.
• Can struggle a bit in situations with heavy bleeds or damage over time. This also applies to the unblockable damage.
• Some of the Reflection abilities, such as Spell or Shield Block, can be quite inconsistent in providing sustain over time.

Protection Warrior Rotation

Our beloved plate class doesn’t usually have complicated rotations, and honestly, protection is no different. It keeps the feeling of the warrior as the class, with lots of flashy weapon moves true to the spirit of the class itself. Since the most efficient one is the Colossus, we’re going to run through it as you’re spec-d in Colossus Hero Talent. The most important thing is to keep up the Shield Block running and use it on cooldown whenever you can. This provides you with additional armor and gives your character an even tankier experience. General rotations are using Shield Bash to generate enough rage to use Revenge, you can also apply Execute where it’s applicable. Ignore pain should also be used often with Impending Victory to provide that you have enough healing and sustain options available, you can apply them whenever it’s necessary or you’re taking large packs.

• When it comes to your general burst rotations with big and important CDs, it should be the following. Drop Ravager at the pack to apply damage and get aggro > Charge into the pack > Avatar should be activated as you charge > Apply defensives such as Shield Block or Ignore Pain if enough rage > Shield Bash > Demoralizing Shout if available > Champion’s Spear, Demolish, and Shield Charge > Thunder Clap.
• When it comes to the defensives, as mentioned, Shield Block should be active at all times, but you also have the Ignore Pain and Impending Victory to add some additional support and make sure you stay healthy. There are big cooldowns, such as Last Stand, that can help you survive some bigger packs or mobs that can drop lots of unblockable damage and make sure that you’re as healthy and stable as possible.
• Generating as much rage as you can. A lot of abilities generate rage, which is your main resource. Maintaining lots of rage means that you heal more. Once you spend 10 rage, you can get back 1 % of your HP. Managing your rage is important, so you can make sure that you heal as much as possible while using your offensive or defensive cooldowns in the right situations. (Mostly when you’re in a fight or there are lots of mobs. Once you’re ready to switch to another pack, make sure that you’re good on rage and can use defensives if required in that certain pack.)

Best in Slot gear for Protection Warrior

Making sure you have all the correct gear and stats equipped and understanding what each does in a specific situation is key to your success. Optimizing your build with what you need is important, so let’s run through all you need to know regarding your gear.

Best stats for Protection Warrior

The stats that you should always prioritize over anything else, if available in that slot, are Stamina and Strength. They provide additional Health, Armor, and Damage Output, proving to be the strongest picks for your spec.

• Haste - This is quite a strong stat, as it gives you faster rotations and lower CDs on some of the rotational abilities, meaning that you can throw and use them faster, generating more rage and overall doing more damage and applying more HP/s
• Critical Strike = Versatility - These two stats are quite strong and mostly are very similar for your class, so getting any of these two will work well, as they will give you additional damage or in terms of versatility, you will be able to heal a bit more on top of additional damage that the stat itself provides. Crit also gives you a chance to parry more, proving that to can also apply some sustain assistance to your spec.
• Mastery - This one is least efficient for Prot Warriors, but of course, it has its uses. It can give you Critical Block, allowing you to block more, and it gives you a higher chance to critically block.

Best gear for Protection Warrior
 

Best Trinkets

The trinkets above are one of the most useful general trinkets to use in any content, and they’re proving to be strongest regardless of the scenario. The following trinkets are the ones that can be good replacements and provide to give you optimization in Mythic+ or Raid environments.

• Eye of Kezan (Chrome King Gallywix in Liberation of Undermine)
• Tome of the Lights Devotion (Priory of the Sacred Flame)
• Improvised Seaforium Pacemaker (Operation: Floodgate)
• House of Cards (Chrome King Gallywix in Liberation of Undermine)
• Scrapfield 9001 (Chrome King Gallywix in Liberation of Undermine)

Best Cyrene’s Circlet Citrines for Protection Warrior

This is another really good item, even though there is another one that works as good as this one in its respective slot, the Cyrene’s Circlet is way easier to get and provides pretty good support despite having lower item level then the other ring in your slot (The maximum Ilvl that ring can reach that is). Here are the best citrines to make sure you get all the possible power from this item. All the mentioned under this paragraph can be used in both Raiding and Mythic+ as they provide solid support in all fields required for both.

• Stormbringer’s Runed Citrine
• Legendary Skipper’s Citrine
• Fahtomdweller’s Runed Citrine

Best Enchants for Protection Warrior

• Enchant Ring - Radiant Haste
• Enchant Ring - Radiant Critical Strike
• Magnificent Jeweler's Setting (adds up to 2 sockets to a Ring or Neck) 
• Enchant Weapon - Authority of the Depths 
• Single target: Greater Rune of the Void Ritual / Greater Rune of Gushing Wound or AoE: Greater Rune of the Void Ritual
• Magnificent Jeweler's Setting(adds up to 2 sockets to a Ring or Neck) 
• Enchant Cloak - Chant of Leeching Fangs
• Enchant Chest - Crystalline Radiance
• Enchant Bracer - Chant of Armored Leech
• Defender's Armor Kit    
• Enchant Boots - Defender's March

Final Thoughts

Protection Warrior is quite a stable tank and can provide decent lead in any group. With the big variety of sustain and utility it can provide to the party, it does feel like a very dependable tank, making the group feel a lot safer with this spec behind them. Overall, we think it can make a big dent in any activity and be a strong contender with the best tanks, giving big damage output and good HP/s for itself, proving to be a very strong candidate for this season as one of the better tanks.

If you need any additional help and want to understand any class, including this one, better, we offer some interesting coaching/mentoring plans. They can help you improve even further and take your tanking experience to a whole new level!