Protection legion Discussion

[Rhokz]

non-static CDs are fun.

[Deleted]

or you can just macro it to shield slam and don't give a damn fuck about it.

So far there wasn't any raid boss that would require BR use

only one that comes into my mind is Nightbane in Kara

[Toybox]

or you can just macro it to shield slam and don't give a damn fuck about it.

So far there wasn't any raid boss that would require BR use

only one that comes into my mind is Nightbane in Kara

Dragons.

Macroing Berserker Rage into Shield Slam would be all kinds of stupid.

[Deleted]

Dragons.

Macroing Berserker Rage into Shield Slam would be all kinds of stupid.

oh forgot about that one... but honestly, BR wasn't even needed there...

on a second though... yea on shield slam, you could waste some rage out of it...

Better to macro it on Revenge !

[Deleted]

Hello folks! Are there any guides to the fundamentals of tanking? I've mained my rogue this expansion but lately I found the love for Kohlrabi the Warrior again, and I just want to make sure I've not forgotten too much since WoD. And I'm not talking about threat/rage generation or keeping Shield Block up, because that's the core of the protection warrior, not the fundamentals of tanking. I'm talking about positioning, tricks to help your dps doing more damage, pace of pulling etc.

With the addition of difficult grouping content in m+ (challenge modes were hard, but not the same thing) and having played a melee dps for a while, I've really come to appreciate good tanks that simply think outside of their own box, and despise the tanks that only think about themselves (my thoughts tend to lack nuances on this subject). I'm not sure if it comes to intuition or awareness, but good tanks are hard to come by, and when they do pop up I am very thankful.

This leads me to my inquiry. I want to emulate this behaviour and become one of the good tanks. Are there any guides for this? Or do you just need to keep reminding yourself of these steps until you become on yourself? I don't even know all the steps that I need to do, much less put them into practice, so I'm grateful for any help or insight you can offer me.

[Eninya]

T20 will turn Berserker Rage into the original Bloodrage. lol

[potis]

This leads me to my inquiry. I want to emulate this behaviour and become one of the good tanks. Are there any guides for this? Or do you just need to keep reminding yourself of these steps until you become on yourself? I don't even know all the steps that I need to do, much less put them into practice, so I'm grateful for any help or insight you can offer me.

There is no guide for experience, what you are describing is situational awareness and experience, hence why not tanking isnt "keep shield block up" and "press Shield Slam on cooldown and waste rage on IP".

Positioning, movement and awareness is what separates tanks for a few expansions since threat became irrelevant.

You cant be taught, you simply learn when to do what and repeat it as the years pass.

If you want some general rules?

The tank must be the best player in the group, what that implies:

You must know the instance by heart, what each mob does and how to counter it with every class despite you not playing that class.

You must expect the DPS to never do their job so you have to make sure you are ready to do it, Shockwave exists for a reason.

You must know when the "Oh shit" moment happens, or what is the most source of damage and of course expect the others to not know what it is or to help you counter it therefor you must do it alone.

Example: Vileshard Husks in Neltharion Lair, the big earth elementals wannabee, they always do their knock up before they cast the 3 million magical damage cone dot that can only be stunned and not interrupted, if you stun them they are nothing more than a tank/spank mob because they get a cooldown on the ability cause its not a spell, it seems to be a physical ability.

You must know your limits and your groups limit, if you pulled 3 mobs and average dps of everyone in the group is 200K on 3 mobs in the daily HC, dont start chain pulling, you will probably wipe cause they cant keep up etc etc.

Always face the mobs to a wall, and general number 1 rule of tanking, never ever face the group.

There are ton more things but cant really write them all, you mechanically do them when they need to happen.

[Rufio]

Tbh good tanks use CDs proactive. This requires experience and knowledge, "OH sh!t" moments are your fault in general.
The other underrated part is mob position. You should drag mobs into cleave range to max dps. While tanking Tich in NH, your can just move 2y into the boss and strafe back to have all blobs stacked (not every class has a 15y aoe skill).

[Valech]

or you can just macro it to shield slam and don't give a damn fuck about it.

So far there wasn't any raid boss that would require BR use

only one that comes into my mind is Nightbane in Kara

Hyjal archimonde. I remember stance dacing cause you couldnt use it in def stance.

[Deleted]

You must expect the DPS to do stupid shit all the time.

Tanking in a nutshell

[Zoldor]

I also like to mess with DPS and Healers as a tank during trash pulls in raid. Why? Keeps em on their toes and see who is vocal. The shadow casters in Tichs room is a fun one, point em at the raid Stuff like that, just to see if they are paying attention. Keeps em from getting tunnel vision.

But really, what was posted above is a lot of the most important aspects of tanking. Awareness, knowledge, and position. Those three things are key to tanking and honestly raid leading as well. All the while being able to do a rotation that benefits your group the most....ie here I need to pour dps and not worry about mitigation as much as the boss hits like a noddle for this period, but a few seconds before the next big chunk I need to pool some rage etc. Especially if you are trying to bring a CD up faster, burn that rage on DPS.

Little things make the difference in tanking. Learning to pull adds to the right spots for cleave onto the boss and adds, knowing when your ranged dps is enough for an add or if you need that extra melee bring it near them if they aren't switching. DPS are pretty prone to tunneling, but if they see a new mob most will at least cleave or do a number pad.

Know your tank partner is a big one as well. Tank synergy is key, know what to expect out of him. My partner knows on pull on certain bosses I go hard dps and will more than likely out threat him because of it, but I know on certain bosses he needs to have first to hold back, but still squeeze out that right amount of dps. Admit your mistakes to your partner and learn from each other. For instance, I know most first interrupts and third he's probably going to get with his shield as it is in his rotation for the most part. means I normally hold off on a interrupt as not to burn mine and we have one melee dps who never fails to be ontop of interrupts as well. So I know my spot is third choice interrupt or last minute if no one speaks up and the cast bar is nearing completion. things like that.

[Plehnard]

The best thing you can do as a tank is to grow a thick hide, not against monsters but your team mates.
If shit happens you are to blame.
If no shit happens they'll find something to complain.

[Alaexaender]

The best thing you can do as a tank is to grow a thick hide, not against monsters but your team mates.
If shit happens you are to blame.
If no shit happens they'll find something to complain.

More importantly, learn to take the blame. A lot of times, a bunch of people contributed to the wipe, including you. If you can take the blame, then it can smooth over a lot of in-raid tilt. Raiding is as much a mental game as anything.

[Chewtoy]

We have any kind of BiS list going for ToS? Are we aiming for 2P T19, 4P T20? All the tank trinkets seem to have their niches. Do the new legendaries change anything or are bracers/gloves still too good to pass up? Maybe I need to check the warrior discord, anyone have a link?

[Toybox]

We have any kind of BiS list going for ToS? Are we aiming for 2P T19, 4P T20? All the tank trinkets seem to have their niches. Do the new legendaries change anything or are bracers/gloves still too good to pass up? Maybe I need to check the warrior discord, anyone have a link?

I made my own for NH & I'll probably do the same again for ToS. Will post it here once I've finalized my thoughts, but at the moment, I'm thinking 4P T20, Gloves/Bracers, all the trinkets (inc DPS trinket from first boss, Infernal Contract, & Darkmoon alongside our beloved stat-sticks), and IP/Armor relics.

T19 2P is nice, but not worth unequipping Kakushan's/losing T20 4P for, especially when you take iLvl into consideration. If you don't have Kakushan's, maybe it can be viable to go 2P/4P on physical heavy fights, but even then I'd take any decent iLvl upgrade given to me from ToS (all my T19 pieces are 905).

Leviathan's Hunger is awesome, by the way.

[KingAdmiral]

Protection warrior definitely needs better set bonuses in my opinion. I really like them this expansion thanks to Devastator.

[Toybox]

Protection warrior definitely needs better set bonuses in my opinion. I really like them this expansion thanks to Devastator.

I don't think T20 set bonuses are that bad, honestly. Boring as hell & tedious to use maybe, but not bad.

[Chewtoy]

Oh really....

Talents
Indomitable Increases your maximum health by 25%->20%, and the maximum effect of Ignore Pain by 25%->20%. Protection Warrior - Level 75 Talent.

Protection
Ignore Pain Fight through the pain, ignoring 90% of the next up to [ 1,860% of AP + 186% changed to -> [ 2,230% of AP + 223% of AP ] damage you take from any sources, based on Rage spent. Warrior - Protection Spec. 200 Rage. Melee range. Instant. 1 sec cooldown.

Indomitable isn't really used unless you can't survive stuff like Guldan bonds etc. but is that enough of a punch to IP that it'll put us in a better spot?

[PraisCthulhu]

Oh really....

Talents
Indomitable Increases your maximum health by 25%->20%, and the maximum effect of Ignore Pain by 25%->20%. Protection Warrior - Level 75 Talent.

Protection
Ignore Pain Fight through the pain, ignoring 90% of the next up to [ 1,860% of AP + 186% changed to -> [ 2,230% of AP + 223% of AP ] damage you take from any sources, based on Rage spent. Warrior - Protection Spec. 200 Rage. Melee range. Instant. 1 sec cooldown.

Indomitable isn't really used unless you can't survive stuff like Guldan bonds etc. but is that enough of a punch to IP that it'll put us in a better spot?

I don't know if it will be enough for us to move up a spot on tank strength rankings, but it certainly does a bit to shore us up. I've been debating between running a Brewmaster or Prot warrior, and I think it is enough for me to settle on my Warrior. I prefer playing the Prot Warrior, but Brewmaster is good enough that I thought I *should* run it. Between the BrM nerfs and the small Prot buffs, I think they'll be close enough that running Prot won't be handicapping my raid.

[Waniou]

Oh really....

Talents
Indomitable Increases your maximum health by 25%->20%, and the maximum effect of Ignore Pain by 25%->20%. Protection Warrior - Level 75 Talent.

Protection
Ignore Pain Fight through the pain, ignoring 90% of the next up to [ 1,860% of AP + 186% changed to -> [ 2,230% of AP + 223% of AP ] damage you take from any sources, based on Rage spent. Warrior - Protection Spec. 200 Rage. Melee range. Instant. 1 sec cooldown.

Indomitable isn't really used unless you can't survive stuff like Guldan bonds etc. but is that enough of a punch to IP that it'll put us in a better spot?

I'd love to know what they're thinking with that Indom change. Devastator is already the best talent on that line, as much as I still hate the gameplay change it introduces and all they've done is make it even more mandatory?