Protection Warrior WotLK Guide
Protection Warrior tank guide for WotLK 3.3.5a: threat rotation, cooldowns, the 15/5/51 build, glyphs, stats and BiS gear for ICC and Ruby Sanctum.
The Protection Warrior is a real raid tank. It does not heal itself the way a Blood Death Knight does, and it does not pull as many mobs at once as a Protection Paladin, but it has the best single-target threat and a very clear toolbox: Shield Slam, Revenge and Devastate for threat, Shield Wall, Last Stand and Shield Block to survive, and Vigilance for the other tank.
This guide covers the threat priority, the cooldowns and how to rotate them, the pull and the taunts, the talents and glyphs we run, the numbers to reach, and the fights where the Warrior tank matters. It is written for Icecrown Citadel 25 and Ruby Sanctum on 3.3.5a. The short overview is in the class guide.
1.How the Protection Warrior plays
Your threat comes from Shield Slam, and it is the strongest of your attacks, so you press it whenever it is ready. Revenge comes second, Devastate is your filler, and Heroic Strike spends the rage you do not need. On a group of enemies you add Thunder Clap, Cleave and Shockwave.
Survival is a schedule, not a reaction. Shield Wall, Last Stand and Shield Block each cover a different kind of damage, and the best Warrior tanks alternate them instead of stacking them, so there is always one ready when the next hit comes.
2.Threat priority
- Heroic StrikeWhen you have more than fifty rage. Never let the rage bar sit at the cap.
- Shield SlamOn cooldown. It is your best threat button.
- RevengeWhenever it is usable, after you dodge, parry or block.
- RendWhen it is not on the target, or it ends in under four seconds.
- DevastateThe filler, and it also keeps your Sunder Armor stacks up.
- Thunder ClapOn groups, and to keep the attack speed debuff on the boss.
Start the fight with Charge and Heroic Throw, and use Shield Slam at the first chance. On fights where the damage dealers press hard, the guides we read use retaunting: swap with the other tank early to build a large lead in threat before the damage ramps up.
3.Cooldowns and raid utility
Do not use all your defensive cooldowns at the same time. Alternate them, and always know which one is ready.
Takes a large part of the damage from all sources for a short time. Your emergency button for a hit you cannot survive without it.
Raises your maximum health for a short time, and then the health goes away. Use it before a big hit, not after.
Makes you block the next hits and raises the value of every block. Use it against physical hits, and alternate it with the other two.
Puts a buff on the other tank that reduces the damage they take and gives you a threat reduction. Very good value in a two-tank fight.
Moves you to a raid member and takes the next hit for them, and removes threat from a dangerous damage dealer.
A single-target taunt. Learn which fights ask for a fast taunt swap.
4.Talents and glyphs
Our recommended Protection build is the 15/5/51 in the calculator, built around Shockwave, Sword and Board, Devastate, Vigilance, Critical Block and Last Stand. There is a second variant for guilds that want the Unrelenting Assault build, and a third one for revenge-heavy threat.
The major glyphs are Taunt, Shield Wall and Last Stand. The Glyph of Taunt in particular is a must for heroic bosses, because it makes the taunt much less likely to be resisted.
Sends a wave of force in front of the warrior, causing 8 damage (based on attack power) and stunning all enemy targets within 10 yards in a frontal cone for 4 sec.
Increases the critical strike chance of your Devastate ability by 15% and when your Devastate or Revenge ability deals damage it has a 30% chance of refreshing the cooldown of your Shield Slam ability and reducing its cost by 100% for 5 sec.
Requires One-Handed Melee Weapon. Sunder the target's armor causing the Sunder Armor effect. In addition, causes 120% of weapon damage plus 58 for each application of Sunder Armor on the target. The Sunder Armor effect can stack up to 5 times.
Focus your protective gaze on a group or raid target, reducing their damage taken by 3% and transfers 10% of the threat they cause to you. In addition, each time they are hit by an attack your Taunt cooldown is refreshed. Lasts 30 min. This effect can only be on one target at a time.
Your successful blocks have a 60% chance to block double the normal amount and increases your chance to criticially hit with your Shield Slam ability by an additional 15%.
When activated, this ability temporarily grants you 30% of your maximum health for 20 sec. After the effect expires, the health is lost.
Increases the chance for your Taunt ability to succeed by 8%.
Reduces the cooldown on Shield Wall by 2 min, but Shield Wall now only reduces damage taken by 40%.
Reduces the cooldown of your Last Stand ability by 1 min.
5.Stats, gems and gear
Your priority is hit, then expertise, then defense, then armor, then dodge and stamina. You need eight percent hit so your taunts do not miss, expertise at the soft cap of 26 and later the hard cap of 56 for fights with parry haste, and 540 defense so a boss cannot crit you.
Armor-focused sets handle physical damage best, and a set with more avoidance suits mixed damage fights. Your BiS list has both, and you will want to swap between them for the fight you are on.
- Defense (to 540)
- Hit/Expertise for threat
- Avoidance (Dodge/Parry)
- Stamina
8% (263 rating), 230 with Draenei
Glyph of Taunt reduces how much is actually needed for reliable taunts alongside common raid debuffs.
Soft cap 26 (214 rating) · Hard cap 56 (459 rating)
The hard cap matters mainly for parry-hasted threat rotations.
540 rating (uncrittable)
Blood Fury (+322 attack power on a 2-min cooldown) plus Axe Specialization — a free +5 expertise if you run axes, which frees that gear budget for other stats. Hardiness (−15% stun duration) is a real tanking perk too.
Sword / Mace Specialization gives +3 expertise with those weapon types, and Every Man for Himself is a genuine encounter tool for tanks. Draenei is the alternative — Heroic Presence hands the whole party +1% hit.
Havoc's Call, Blade of Lordaeron Kings
Icecrown Glacial Wall
Dreamhunter's Carbine
Sindragosa's Flawless Fang
Petrified Twilight Scale
Broken Ram Skull Helm
Sanctified Ymirjar Lord's Breastplate
6.Common mistakes
• Tanking with the boss facing the raid. Always turn the boss away.
• Using all defensive cooldowns at the same time.
• Not reaching the hit cap, and missing taunts and threat.
• Panic-pressing buttons without looking at your rage.
• Not talking to the other tank about who takes which hit.
7.On the bosses
Warrior tanks are strongest on single targets and on fights with add pickups. Some notes for Icecrown and Ruby Sanctum:
Tank him in a corner, and pick up the Bone Spikes as your raid leader asks.
You have four ways to pull the adds: Heroic Throw, Taunt, Charge with Shield Slam, and Thunder Clap.
Tank in a corner so the cleave does not spread, and pick up the Blood Beasts when they arrive.
Retaunt the adds to keep control of threat.
Watch your rage and your defensive cooldowns through the phase changes. See the Ruby Sanctum guide.
8.Questions people ask
Yes, especially for single-target threat. The Blood Death Knight has a stronger toolbox, and the Protection Paladin is better at AoE, but a good Warrior is a real main tank.
Eight percent, so your taunts do not miss. It is one of the most important numbers for the spec.
Taunt, Shield Wall and Last Stand.
Only if you have to. It is better to alternate them so there is always a defensive cooldown ready.