Prot warrior looking for critiques please (logs included)

[Resurgo]

https://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports...K7GkRb#fight=2
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...urgowar/simple

So, finally got my prot warrior somewhat caught up to the point I'm not a carry. Decided to bring out the warrior for a normal/alt run night.

Mostly, I'm looking to maximize ability usage while also keeping damage up as much as possible. My mindset isn't quite there yet, and I'd love for people to be as brutal as possible. If I'm doing it wrong, by all means. Rather try and fix it now while I'm still relatively green than fix bad habits.

I haven't tanked as a warrior since Vanilla, so tanking as a warrior now is pretty much brand new to me. (tanked as a DK for most of the last expacs, and DH for Legion)

[Konnery]

I took a quick glance and can already see a big problem, your shield block uptime is really bad. It seems you are prioritizing rage for IP over SB? Don't do that. You're hovering around 60% SB every fight were you wanna be at least 80+

[Resurgo]

I took a quick glance and can already see a big problem, your shield block uptime is really bad. It seems you are prioritizing rage for IP over SB? Don't do that. You're hovering around 60% SB every fight were you wanna be at least 80+

Thank you for that. I was tangentially aware of that, so I tried to get better last night doing Heroic EN. However, tank swaps and mechanics tend to have me fail at keeping it near 80%. I found the closest I could get to 80% uptime was Ursoc fight here: https://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports...ht=17&source=1
However, I pretty much failed the 80% mark most of the way around.

What I do tend to find is that since I've geared up as fast as I have, I have a rougher time figuring out the rhythm of my rotation. Various haste levels, that have gone as high as 25%, to as low as 17% seem to throw me off slightly. It's a bad excuse, I know, but I seem to feel it. (edit: Just last night alone, went up almost 5 ilvls in gear, but went from 23% haste to like 17% haste, and gained Crit)

That being the case, how do you guys manage to keep up 80+% when there's definitely times you're standing there not actively tanking? It's not as if there's a lot of free rage to be had when you're not getting beat on...

[Lyraat]

Just last night alone, went up almost 5 ilvls in gear, but went from 23% haste to like 17% haste, and gained Crit

Unless the item(s) with crit are 15+ ilvls higher, do not drop haste for crit. Stay above 20% haste and your SB uptime will increase dramatically. If your upgrades are substantial, gem and enchant for haste to get back above 20%, ideally 22-25%.

Dont use IP when not actively tanking. Pool rage, keep SB up (+crit chance on SS), use IP just before taunting.

[Resurgo]

Unless the item(s) with crit are 15+ ilvls higher, do not drop haste for crit. Stay above 20% haste and your SB uptime will increase dramatically. If your upgrades are substantial, gem and enchant for haste to get back above 20%, ideally 22-25%.

Dont use IP when not actively tanking. Pool rage, keep SB up (+crit chance on SS), use IP just before taunting.

Oh, I meant my overall ilvl went up 5. The items in question were 10+ilvls higher per item. The net gain was Mastery with a loss of haste for crit. *shrug*

Thanks guys, I'll keep that stuff in mind. Feel free to critique me more!

[kiklion]

http://imgur.com/a/n7T0y

Just a small snippet of three different events to talk about. Shield Block up time is affected by haste, but is also highly affected by play style. You need to ensure every shield block gets extended at least once while maximizing your chances at multiple extensions.

First picture, you shield block without shield slam up, devastate, then need to leap away for rot. Need to watch timers, don't shield block shortly before leaping away. Also you missed a GCD in here with devastate going off at 26.312 and leap going off at 29.757. Very important to never miss a GCD for maximizing chances at resetting shield slam and casting shield slam.

Second picture, you cast shield slam and then shield block. This is a common trap. You have no rage, you shield slam, you have rage, you decide to shield block. No No. You need to sit without any defenses up until shield slam comes around again. Then you shield block and immediately extend it with shield slam. You got lucky here and proc'd a shield slam on second global after shield block, but if you didn't get a reset then this shield block would have not been extended because CD on shield slam is more than the duration of shield block (until about 24% haste, which is why it's often touted as a break point... because it allows for lazy play where you can always get at least one extension into a shield block no matter when you cast it. Though if you continue to play well then you are guaranteed 2 extensions for each shield block).

Don't cast thunder clap ever on single target. It doesn't reset shield slam, it isn't a shield slam, don't use it.

[Llarold]

I took a quick glance and can already see a big problem, your shield block uptime is really bad. It seems you are prioritizing rage for IP over SB? Don't do that. You're hovering around 60% SB every fight were you wanna be at least 80+

Definitely the most important piece of advice in the thread. Shield Block is tremendously important while actively tanking.

[Resurgo]

http://imgur.com/a/n7T0y

Just a small snippet of three different events to talk about. Shield Block up time is affected by haste, but is also highly affected by play style. You need to ensure every shield block gets extended at least once while maximizing your chances at multiple extensions.

First picture, you shield block without shield slam up, devastate, then need to leap away for rot. Need to watch timers, don't shield block shortly before leaping away. Also you missed a GCD in here with devastate going off at 26.312 and leap going off at 29.757. Very important to never miss a GCD for maximizing chances at resetting shield slam and casting shield slam.

Second picture, you cast shield slam and then shield block. This is a common trap. You have no rage, you shield slam, you have rage, you decide to shield block. No No. You need to sit without any defenses up until shield slam comes around again. Then you shield block and immediately extend it with shield slam. You got lucky here and proc'd a shield slam on second global after shield block, but if you didn't get a reset then this shield block would have not been extended because CD on shield slam is more than the duration of shield block (until about 24% haste, which is why it's often touted as a break point... because it allows for lazy play where you can always get at least one extension into a shield block no matter when you cast it. Though if you continue to play well then you are guaranteed 2 extensions for each shield block).

Don't cast thunder clap ever on single target. It doesn't reset shield slam, it isn't a shield slam, don't use it.

Love it. Thanks a lot!

[Siversmith]

I found that being picky about your items and not just leveling because of ilvl is important which is also a way to ensure your building your character in the right direction. After reading here on the forums and playing around with my warrior I found that when I dropped over 15 ilvl to get the right combination of gear it allowed me to tank more effectively and with better results. Don't fall for the ilvl trap.

A lot has been dealt with regards to how your should build your warrior to make them more effective. 25% Haste! Priority 1. As much mastery as your can, Priority 2. Now Vers would be a great as well but I found that every item is almost tainted with crit which is really sad. In the last 2 weeks I alone I have forgone 3 items, each giving me +10 ilvl compared to the previous item but I would then loose my haste to by 3-4% every time. Be picky. Don't settle for the "better" ilvl item. Btw you would be better served with Mark of the Heavy Hide over Mark of the Claw for tanking purposes.

Everyone else pretty much covered the main reason why you felt like you were getting damaged too much. Shield block. Not going to harp on about that especially since kiklion gave such a good explanation. Would like to point out is that you barely used Battle Cry and never used Demoralizing Shout. 8 sec of 20% less damage at a critical time is a massive bonus since it helps your healers out as well. Battle Cry needs to be up as you want to be doing damage and those Huge Shield slam crits when it is up is so important. Yes your a tank and your primary function is to soak damage for the team but who says that your 2% damage on the boss isn't vital? That could mean the difference between a wipe or a kill. Anyways enough of my ramblings.

[Soilx3]

Continuing with the above post; you don't do "2% of damage on the boss", tank and healer damage has never in the history of the game been as important as in Legion. Easily do over 200k DPS on single target fights myself. While obviously survival is a tank's main priority, using damage enhancing cooldowns like Battle Cry (which also increases your survivability through Ultimatum & Vengeance btw) shouldn't be neglected.

[Resurgo]

For those that have already replied, and any others that might in the future, thank you all very very much.

Much of these things I probably all should have known or would have eventually but it's great having all these at the forefront to keep in mind. Very much appreciated everyone, thank you!