[Prot] Need some help with understanding mechanics

[Merope]

I've been gearing up my prot pally to be able to breeze through non-bleeding-edge content to help fellow guildies with whatever they might need (heroics/mythics/lfr/etc.).

The questions I have about playing prot are:

1. Is there any real point in having Crusader Strike on your bars? It seems the increase in ST damage isn't that great compared to HotR, and thus just bar clutter.
   
2. When to use WoG vs SotR. Should WoG only be used at max potency (5 stacks of Bastion and 3 HP)? Is this an 'oh shit' button? How does this compare to the damage reduction of SotR and other 'oh shit' buttons?
   
3. I never seem to use Hand spells. Yeah....
   
   
4. Sacred Shield...wtf is up with this spell? Purely maintenance fluff?

Also...so many buttons

[Curulan]

If you have separate buttons for HotR and CS instead of macroing them to the same keybind with a modifier, then you're doing your bars wrong. As an example, I use [mod:shift] for HotR and [nomod] for CS.

Yes, you generally want to use WoG when it will provide the maximum benefit.

I suck at using hands (which is one of the many reasons I don't main Prot), so I'll defer to others' expertise on that.

If you use Sacred Shield, (IMHO, the best choice of that talent tier) it should be up at all times. Refresh it when it has around 9 seconds remaining. It gives you an absorb every five seconds. Damage that doesn't have to be healed is better than damage that does.

[Keiyra]

1) - As mentioned, no reason CS and HoTR cant be the same button so clutter is not an issue

2) WoG is use when needed - if your healers are solid you may never/rarely end up using it. That being said, it can heal for a LOT - i mean like lay of hands sized. Good amount of resolve and 5 stacks of bastion of glory and WoG is an excellent oh shit heal. Save it for when your health spikes below 20% or so (and of course at 3HP)

3)Hands are good in various scenarios. Hand of Protection removes bleeds and prevent interruptions (This can be used to clear the bleed dot on Kilrog from Heartseeker or to allow a druid to Tranquility through an ability that would normally force them to move/be interrupted.) Hand of Sacrifice can be used to help the other tank when you are offtanking, or a raid member with a strong dot on them, etc. - Basically knowing when to use them comes with practice and knowing the fight mechanics...or, just let your Raid Leader/healers call for them when necessary.

4)Sacred shield has a 30 sec duration, just keep it up all the time. That 1 gcd every 30-36 secs absorbs a lot of damage over the course of a fight.

[Deleted]

I've been gearing up my prot pally to be able to breeze through non-bleeding-edge content to help fellow guildies with whatever they might need (heroics/mythics/lfr/etc.).

The questions I have about playing prot are:

1. Is there any real point in having Crusader Strike on your bars? It seems the increase in ST damage isn't that great compared to HotR, and thus just bar clutter.
   
2. When to use WoG vs SotR. Should WoG only be used at max potency (5 stacks of Bastion and 3 HP)? Is this an 'oh shit' button? How does this compare to the damage reduction of SotR and other 'oh shit' buttons?
   
3. I never seem to use Hand spells. Yeah....
   
   
4. Sacred Shield...wtf is up with this spell? Purely maintenance fluff?

Also...so many buttons

Let's hope blizzard doesnt listen to people like you. :P

1. yes, CS does more dps on single target.
2. SotR is pretty much the Nr. 1 Spell to do. WoG with 5 Stacks acts like a LoH most of the time if needed. Esp. against Magic Damage.
3. That seems like a personal problem. I use all of them on almost all fights. HoP vs. Stacks, a DPS pulling aggro (lol) - HoSac as an External for your 2nd Tank or to help someone who soaks something or to just help out., HoSalv is the least used of those, yes. But I still like to use it sometimes. For Tank Swaps it is pretty useful - esp. if your second tank isnt that great.
4. I don't know what you understand with "fluff" but it is a maintenance spell and if you manage to keep it on you (many many people still have problems with this for whatever reason) it absorbs a huge amount of damage. It is a smoothing-mechanism and a very good one at that.

Atm a good prot feels like playing piano. And I love it. Let's hope it stays that way. It is pretty much the only reason I mange to keep myself entertained in PvE.

[Jackielope]

1: Crusader Strike should be used over Hammer of the Righteous on single target but adding in a simple modifier as already stated makes it work better.

2: Blizzard kinda wants WoG to be an "ohshit" button but the catch with that is if it is such a situation then the fact that you can't quickly go back to using SotR like normal means it doesn't do as good of a job at that. Using it means there's potential for times when SotR isn't covering you. It's still a lot of healing but its usage could be better (which is the main reason lots of people keep asking for the T16 4p to be made baseline.)

3: Do you have mouseover macros and/or some sort of raid frames? Those help a lot in using Hand spells. If you already do then it's mostly down to practice to get used to using them.

4: Yup, SS is pure maintenance but it is very much worth it to do so. Not everything can be interesting to use and keep up after all and it certainly beats out Selfless Healer and Eternal Flame.