Protection Warrior 10m

[Deleted]

So as the title says I'm a 10m raiding prot warrior and I'm here to ask you guys for a few advice.

I'm feeling that I'm getting bursted down way to quick even when I'm actively using SB/SBar so I started looking at the stat prio I'm using.

Currently I've prioritized 7.5% hit > 15% exp > mastery > stam > parry > dodge.

This prio is for everything, reforges, gems and enchants.

However as I said I'm getting bursted and healers are having a hard time to react, especially on ji-kun and tortos heroic.

So my idea on this was to get rid of my mastery gems/enchants and go for stamina instead to prevent the "realistic damage taken"

Now I want your advice on wether it's good or plain horrible to go stamina on 10m and if it's worth taking stamina, will my stat prio change to prefer parry over mastery? And will my rotation be more filled with SBar?

Any advice or opinions, good or bad is more than welcome.

My armory link is http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...%ACon/advanced

[Xintic]

I can't really see much wrong with your gear to be honest. As a 10m tank myself, the prio I follow is Hit&Exp cap>Stamina=Mastery>Parry>Dodge, and I am not having that many issues with massive damage taken. We're both quite similar in gear level as well although I use a Stamina trinket instead of a Mastery one.

For fights like Ji-Kun and Tortos I find it's crucial with how you time your blocks/barriers, they shouldn't be randomly spammed. For example always making sure you have a block up for Snapping Bite on Tortos and having a barrier for the stomp mechanic to keep your Humming Crystal buff up, it's small things that comes with experience of the fights. When I was new to them I messed up some cause I wasn't 100% sure when to use them.

You should also be using your CDs accordingly and not just sit on them for when shit hits the fan, sure it's good to have them for when it does, but the best thing is knowing when you will need them. Like for example on Ji-Kun you might have to take a 3rd or 4th stack of Talon Rake, it will be nice to have Shield Wall for it, another example is on Council when there is tank swap and say that you're "tanking" Mar'li and you need to taunt Frost King with Frigid Assault I know I will only need to take him once before Mar'li gets empowered, so I pop Shield Wall and Demo Shout+Dodge trinket as I know I will be taking Frigid Assault hits, as well as having Mar'li casting on me, and then when I take him the second time I usually get a PS together with Demo Shout and trinket use again.

Maybe I am just rambling on about nonsense here, and I am nowhere the best tank/warrior, but I like to consider myself to be good at least. I am sure others can contribute more/better as well, but I guess the tl;dr version is: learn when the damage is coming to be able to best mitigate it. Cooldowns are there to be used, don't be afraid to use them/ask for them.

[Shadowcrash Umbra]

I can't reinforce what Xin said enough about timing. I was struggling on Ji'kun H last night ( the first time I've struggled so far this tier) trying to keep Block/Barrier up as much as possible, but the talon rakes were annihilating me. Did a little research and started pooling and using them right with each rake and it worked like a charm. I went from taking nearly 70% of my health to taking...well, sometimes less than 10%. Trick with Ji is that, yes, his normal melee and the dot ticks hurt, but much less than making your healers pee their pants. Shield Wall is up for when I take a third rake (which is sometimes), and I use my raid-wides at healer discretion. Worked like a charm.

Your gear looks solid, so I think that'll help you a lot.

[Valech]

Well, your choice of enchantments and gems is fine. You might sometimes want to swap trinkets to stamina if the amount of unblockable damage is high or you have to tank over longer periods of time a heavy hitter.
Like the others said before, it´s all about timing of SBlock, SBar, cooldowns and anticipating high damage. Your current stat-priority is made for taking out high spikes. If you want to have a higher survivability you will have to favor parry and dodge over hit, exp and mastery. IMO that is not necessairy and it does not make the job easier for your healers. you will take less damage and more rarely, but if you take damage it will be high.
So, what can i recommend? Learn the damage mechanics of a boss by heart.

Always have a neat 60-Rage-SBar ready for Megaera´s breaths. With Glyph of Spellreflection, Massspellreflexction and interrupting shout it´s absolutly possible to take NO DAMAGE at all from mar´li. You need to taunt malakk? Right, pop Shieldwall and Dodgetrinket. My Point is, that people tend to wait to use their cooldowns if their health has already fallen to a problematic level. But why not use Demo Shout on cooldown?
Also, get a feeling for the length of a fight. If there is a high-damage ability near the end of a fight you want to know how often and when you can use shieldwall before that. Why not mitigate some damage and save some healer´s mana?
Aside from that, I can´t figure why you should be dropping to fast.

[Deleted]

Hey again and sorry for not replying so fast.

The main thing about my spikes would be on Ji-kun where, if I'm unlucky, I first get a talon rake for approximately 350k followed by a infected talon tick for about 200k. After this burst damage I would like to have more than 10% of my hp left.

I also feel that stamina is worthwile on bosses like tortos heroic where it does make your crystal shield larger.

And the final thing why I abandoned mastery would be that I feel SB is very much rng whilst with SBar you always know how much it will mitigate.

I'm just feeling that the original playstyle as a prot warrior with mastery stack is uncomfortable and I will try stacking stamina on wednesdays raid. If I notice that it's just not working I will go back to mastery.

[Deleted]

On the contrary about your last comment about SBAR / SB, yes you always know what SBar will absorb for the first hit, but it just isn't viable to keep spamming SBar as it leaves you open for so many full hits, SB is a MUCH more reliable method for consistent damage intake

[Deleted]

Don't bother with stamina, its so damn pointless in 10 man. Just keep stam trinkets for more magic/harder hitting bosses.

---------- Post added 2013-04-21 at 02:23 PM ----------

The main thing about my spikes would be on Ji-kun where, if I'm unlucky, I first get a talon rake for approximately 350k followed by a infected talon tick for about 200k. After this burst damage I would like to have more than 10% of my hp left.

Just combine every talon rake with a SB+SBar. You will take little to no damage, just use SW for your 3rd stack and you will have no issues.

I am sitting on 565k HP, but I have 30% more mastery than you. I have 85% mastery with the mastery buff (which we have every raid). Damage is so minimal (relatively to stacking stamina) and super super smooth.

[Deleted]

The main thing about my spikes would be on Ji-kun where, if I'm unlucky, I first get a talon rake for approximately 350k followed by a infected talon tick for about 200k. After this burst damage I would like to have more than 10% of my hp left.

[20:55:17.313] Klausi afflicted by Talon Rake (4) from Ji-Kun
[20:55:17.313] Ji-Kun Talon Rake Klausi 144979 (A: 108441, B: 475164)

[20:58:29.452] Klausi afflicted by Talon Rake (4) from Ji-Kun
[20:58:29.452] Ji-Kun Talon Rake Klausi 430639 (A: 209556, B: 274369)

Looking at our last, rather sloppy kill. On the first 4-stack Rake i did use Demo Shout, but not on the second + I didn't wall and there still was no need for externals, it's still a manageable size if you prepare correctly (block + as much barrier as possible). Your Co-tank regulary can take the boss between two rakes if your dot-stacks get to high so you won't have to deal with that additional 200k damage before/after that burst unless he's on nest duty (every once in a while).

10% hp? Last stand, horridon trinket, healthstone, rallying cry, lifeswap, spiritlink totem - there are still a ton of things left you and your team can do afterwards if you prepare them mentally and don't panic

---

On horridon: it doesn't really matter, you can either spam SBar absorbing some part of the melee attacks/puncture or spam SB and add some damage (with really high vengeance), his melee swings are as lethal as his burst from dire call/triple puncture with the only difference that you actually know when those bursts are about to happen and get guaranteed reduction and melee is kind of rng with 40%ish avoidance.

[slondon]

This is indeed something I have been struggling with as a 10m warrior tank. Mastery or stamina? I can see why stamina is great in 25m, but I am sort of on the fence at the moment. To clarify, is the general consensus is stamina 25m and mastery 10m (barring heavy unblockable encounters)? Or is it more a case of gearing for your healers?

[Deleted]

This is indeed something I have been struggling with as a 10m warrior tank. Mastery or stamina? I can see why stamina is great in 25m, but I am sort of on the fence at the moment. To clarify, is the general consensus is stamina 25m and mastery 10m (barring heavy unblockable encounters)? Or is it more a case of gearing for your healers?

It depends on normals/heroics aswell, Having a big healthpool is really nice for fights like Tortos, Horridon, Iron Qon (if one tanking, and heroic naturally).

Generally I go for a mix of stamina/avoidance... And I balance it out a little.