My Macros for a Protection Warrior
Hello, Briskit here!
I have received a lot of compliments on my tanking ability "for a warrior". I was even given a "Saronite Swordbreaker" (bracer) by a much better geared DPS warrior because he was impressed that my skill was much better than my gear (Thank you Mr. Tociin, you are proof that karma does exist)! I am by no means geared, I have just recently broke 4.5k GS so pretty much all of my experience in tanking comes through RDF. There is a lot of negative stigma about protection warriors as tanks and I do not want this! I have had a few great warrior tanks while playing as DPS but I have seen a few too many protection warriors that make this stigma true.
I would like to share with you my macros that helped me become a successful RDF tank. I am a big fan of using the ALT modifier in my macros and not a lot of macros that I have seen online use this technique. I am sure someone can improve these even further but I just wanted to open some eyes on a different way to use macros. Some of these are basic macros but some have a little twist to them. I do not like to switch pages to often on my action bar so the "ALT" modifier definitely pretty much DOUBLES the amount of spells / skills you can put on a single actionbar.
You can easily customize these macros by substituting skill names for other ones if you wish to change it. Maybe you want to combine Thunder Clap / Shockwave instead of Thunder Clap / War Stomp or you may be feeling extra fancy and want to take it a step further by adding a "CTRL" modifier and a THIRD skill!
"Shield Slam"
#showtooltip Shield Slam
/cast [@mouseover,harm,nodead][harm,nodead] Shield Slam
This macro will cast Shield Slam on whatever your target is if it is harmful and alive UNLESS your mouse is hovered over a different mob. VERY useful when tanking multiple mobs and you want to keep a certain mob as your target (casters mainly, helps so you can keep one mob interrupted and generate threat on another).
"Revenge"
#showtooltip Revenge
/cast [@mouseover,harm,nodead][harm,nodead] Revenge
This macro will cast Revenge on whatever your target is if it is harmful and alive UNLESS your mouse is hovered over a different mob. VERY useful when tanking multiple mobs and you want to keep a certain mob as your target (casters mainly, helps so you can keep one mob interrupted and generate threat on another).
"Devastate / Rend"
#showtooltip Devastate
/cast [mod:alt,@mouseover,harm,nodead][mod:alt,harm,nodead] Rend
/cast [@mouseover,harm,nodead][harm,nodead] Devastate
This macro will cast Devastate on whatever your target is if it is harmful and alive UNLESS your mouse is hovered over a different mob. VERY useful when tanking multiple mobs and you want to keep a certain mob as your target (casters mainly, helps so you can keep one mob interrupted and generate threat on another). But wait, there's more! If you press the "ALT" key when you hit this macro, it will instead cast Rend. Why rend? It's not great DPS nor does it generate as much threat as other skills and is pretty much the waste of a GCD, but it has came in useful many times during some PvP to help negate stealth / vanish.
"Heroic Strike / Cleave"
#showtooltip
/cast [mod:alt] Cleave; Heroic Strike
This macro will cast Heroic Strike on your target, good DPS (especially if they are dazed from a shield bash) and great threat! But wait, there's more! If you press the "ALT" key when you hit this macro, it will instead cast Cleave. There is not a lot of threat generated from Cleave, but it does help out with DPS. If I start getting backed up on rage, I will start throwing Cleave around like crazy as a rage dump / more dps / some threat. This is very useful when you are tanking multiple mobs and do not have to worry about the threat on your current target.
"Taunt / Consussion Blow"
#showtooltip Taunt
/cast [mod:alt,@mouseover,harm,nodead][mod:alt,harm,nodead] Concussion Blow; [@mouseover,harm,nodead][harm,nodead] Taunt
This macro combines the usefulness of Taunt and Concussion Blow. You will taunt your target or whatever mob your mouse cursor is hovering over. Sometimes you don't have a lot of time to throw a stun at a mob (if it's casting, lots of stuff going on, on the move), so by just pressing "ALT" with your taunt hotkey you can quickly hit your target or mouseover target (if it's in range!) with a nice delicious Concussion Blow. Mobs love Concussion Blows. Between Shockwave, Concussion Blow, and War Stomp, many times you can tank a mob from 100% to 0% without even taking damage!
"Thunder Clap / War Stomp" -------Tauren only!
#showtooltip
/cast [mod:alt] War Stomp; Thunder Clap
This macro will let you cast Thunder Clap, a great threat spell for large packs of mobs. If you press "ALT" when you hit this hotkey, it will also cast War Stomp (short casting AE stun). Why War Stomp? Because the graphics are very similar and it makes you look like a better tank! JK, I am a fan of War Stomp because you can interrupt multiple casters and it can also help buy time until a better needed spell is off cooldown (taunt, mocking blow, challenging shout). I wanted War Stomp to be quickly accessible and Thunder Clap is always on my hotkey bar.
"Bloodrage / Berserker Rage"
#showtooltip
/cast [mod:alt] Berserker Rage; Bloodrage
Bloodrage, the great rage generator! This skill feeds you lots of rage at the cost of a little bit of health. By holding "ALT" and pressing the hotkey, you will instead cast Berserker Rage, a great spell that removes / prevents a LOT of hindering effects (Fear, Sap, Incapacitate). I wanted this button to be very quickly accessible because if you get hit by one of the previously mentioned spells, you need to counter it ASAP!
"Shield Bash / Heroic Throw"
#showtooltip Shield Bash
/cast [mod:alt,@mouseover,harm,nodead][mod:alt,harm,nodead] Heroic Throw; [@mouseover,harm,nodead][harm,nodead] Shield Bash
Shield bash, it's how a warrior tells a caster to politely STFU. It also pairs well with Heroic Strike for a little more damage / threat! This macro will cast Shield Bash on whatever your target is if it is harmful and alive UNLESS your mouse is hovered over a different mob. VERY useful when tanking multiple mobs and you want to keep a certain mob as your target (casters mainly, helps so you can keep one mob interrupted and generate threat on another). If you hold "ALT", it will instead cast Heroic Throw. Heroic Throw is how a warrior tells a caster to STFU from across the room. This hotkey is super useful when you want to keep two mobs silenced or if you need to double-down on interrupts on a single mob.
"Battle Shout / Commanding Shout"
#showtooltip
/cast [mod:alt] Battle Shout
/cast Commanding Shout
This is a pretty basic macro. While using the space of only ONE hotkey, you can combine our two most used buffs with the press of one button! You will cast Commanding Shout if you press it, but if you hold "ALT" it will instead cast Battle Shout! These two spells are situational. If I am in a group of non-caster DPS and aggro really doesn't seem to be much of an issue, let the Battle Shout fly! If I'm in a group of DPS where nobody wants to focus on the same mobs and aggro is flying around everyone, you want to keep Commanding Shout up at ALL times.
"Challenging Shout / Intimidating Shout"
#showtooltip
/cast [mod:alt] Intimidating Shout
/cast Challenging Shout
I don't always use Intimidating Shout, but when I do, I don't want to fumble through icons trying to find it! This combines two great defensive shouts into one hotkey. This macro allows you to cast Challenging Shout to bring all the mobs to you, or if needed, scare all the mobs away from you (or your groupmates).
"Pinball Wizard"
#showtooltip Charge
/castsequence [harm] reset=15 Charge, Intercept; [help] Intervene
This is a MUST HAVE macro for all prot warriors with the "Warbringer" talent and fits in perfectly with the theme of efficiency. This macro combines Charge, Intercept, and Intervene into the ease of a single button press. DO NOT mash this button, just hit it once, or you will find yourself pretty low on mobility! Our mobility is one of the things that set us aside from every other tank. It is fun to Charge into a pack of mobs, drop a Thunder Clap on the cluster, intervene back to a healer (or DPS) and then Intercept back into the mobs. With proper use, you can be in two spots at once!
"The big red button"
#showtooltip
/cast Last Stand
/cast Enraged Regeneration
/cast Shield Wall
/cast Shield Block
/cast Spell Reflection
/cast Runic Healing Potion
/use Healthstone
/use 13
The magic "OH ****" button. This combines ALL of your defensive abilities into a single hotkey. 99% of the time, each of these skills should be cast independently of each other but sometimes in a panic situation you just need everything you got. "/use 13" is your top trinket slot, "/use 14" would be your bottom trinket slot. You may not need either in your hotkey or you might need both! It all depends on what gear you have equipped.
