Protection Warrior Guide for WoW Forever: Talents, Rotation and Tanking

Protection is the safest main tank in Forever. Shield Wall, Last Stand and Shield Block cover almost every situation. Defensive Stance now adds 80% threat instead of 30%, and several new talents make the shield mandatory.

Talents and builds

The links open the talent calculator with the finished build, including why the points go where they go.

• Leveling: Protection leveling (deep Protection) (points 0/19/32). Deep Protection route for laid-back leveling that still brings a lot of value. The calculator shows the point-by-point order below the tree.
• Raid: Protection raid (standard) (points 4/15/32). The go-to build that balances defence and threat without leaning too far either way.
• Dungeons: Protection dungeons (deep Protection) (points 4/15/32). Standard deep Protection build for a relaxed dungeon style: stay in Defensive Stance with high Enrage uptime against multiple enemies.
• PvP: Protection PvP (points 0/19/32). Protection is surprisingly good in melee 1v1s and has real burst.

Where it ranks

• PvE tanks: Safest main tank: Shield Wall, Last Stand, Shield Block against crushing blows, plus Sunder Armor and Thunder Clap. Defiance now gives up to 20% more threat (was 15%). Most new lists say S, the simulations A.
• PvP (battleground/open world): Almost unanimously C: Concussion Blow and Improved Shield Bash give control, but the tree brings little damage.
• Leveling: B and C: sturdier than the other Warrior specs, but slow. Worth it mainly if you tank a lot of dungeons.

The tiers combine several tier lists and level-60 simulations. Raid logs only exist from 9 December, so treat this as a snapshot. Every spec side by side: rankings.

The shield is not optional

Nearly everything in the Protection tree needs a shield. Bastion at 5/5 adds 10% damage, Defiance raises threat in Defensive Stance, Master of Defense gives 5 rage on every dodge or parry, and Shield Specialization gives 5 rage per block. Most of your rage comes from the boss hitting you. Rage from damage taken ignores armor and absorbs in Forever, so heavy armor and shields on you don't starve it.

Single-target rotation

1. Shield Block on cooldown while a melee mob is hitting you. It is off the global cooldown.
2. Shield Slam on cooldown: 421 to 439 damage plus block value, very high threat and a 50% chance to dispel a magic effect. 20 rage, 6-second cooldown.
3. Revenge whenever it lights up after a block, dodge or parry. Improved Revenge adds 60% damage.
4. Thunder Clap kept up. It works in Defensive Stance, has a 6-second cooldown and scales with attack power.
5. Sunder Armor stacked, and keep pressing it at five stacks. Its threat scales with your attack power.
6. Heroic Strike with spare rage.

Before a boss, pop Bloodrage and hold rage for Revenge and Shield Block instead of burning it in the first seconds.

Packs

Vanguard lets you Charge in Defensive Stance. Charge in, Thunder Clap, Demoralizing Shout, then tab around with Sunder Armor, Revenge and Shield Slam on anything heading for the healer. With two or more mobs, Cleave replaces Heroic Strike. Challenging Shout is for emergencies, not every trash pull. Against a big pack, Shield Block only lasts a couple of hits.

Cooldowns

• Shield Wall: 15-minute base cooldown, only 4 minutes with Improved Shield Wall. It no longer shares a cooldown with Retaliation and Recklessness. Save it for big hits.
• Last Stand: 30% extra maximum health for 20 seconds, gone again afterwards. It is not damage reduction, so your healer has to keep healing. 3-minute cooldown.
• Concussion Blow: 5-second stun on a 45-second cooldown. Good on casters or on a mob running at the healer.

Stats

For survival, Stamina, armor and avoidance. For threat, hit and expertise, so Shield Slam and Revenge don't miss or get dodged. Block value adds straight to Shield Slam damage. In Forever 1% dodge costs 12 rating, 1% parry 15 and 1% block 5, hit and expertise 10 each. Anticipation at 5/5 gives 20 defense.

Common mistakes

• Tanking without a shield or outside Defensive Stance.
• Heroic Strike before Shield Slam and Revenge, or right before the boss pull.
• Counting on Last Stand to save you without heals.
• Turning your back to mobs. You can't block or parry attacks from behind.
• Burning Shield Wall and Challenging Shout on routine trash.

Leveling as Protection

You can tank from level 10, once the class quest gives you Defensive Stance. The leveling build goes deep Protection and is relaxed to play: you lose little health and Thunder Clap lets you fight several mobs at once. It really comes together with Vanguard and, at the latest, Bastion and Shield Slam at 31 points, which is level 40. Solo you will be slower than Arms. If you plan to tank a lot of dungeons on the way up, go Protection anyway. Otherwise level as Arms and respec at 60.

In raids

Protection is the safest main tank for raids. Shield Block pushes crits and crushing blows off the table while it has charges, and Sunder Armor and Thunder Clap come with the spec anyway. The raid build leaves out Improved Thunder Clap and Improved Sunder Armor because raid rage is plentiful. The dungeon build takes Improved Thunder Clap instead, since you press it far more often there. Focused Rage cuts the cost of your attacks by 3 rage in both.

Further reading

• Warrior class guide: races, new abilities and every build of the class
• The other specs: Arms Warrior, Fury Warrior
• Raid comp planner: put your raid together and see which buffs are still missing
• Warrior talent calculator: plan your own build and share it as a link