WotLK [Guide] Comprehensive guide to warrior tanking (with "BiS" lists)

[Alcyruun]

Protecition Warrior Tanking Guide
"It isn't all about hp pool"

Hello there
This guide's gonna be pretty long, so if you do not want to read it all, after each part i'll put a tl:dr

About me
Playing World of Warcraft since TBC till Cata on global, then I had 1-2 year break before I created a character on a private server. Member of the Warmance community for about 4 years now. I've played warriors from the beginning, always in prot spec, which offered me way more fun than just rough DPS. Didn't PvP much, since I'm a fanatic of achievements, roleplay etc., but have some experience. Now I'm an officer in GROM guild (because it's the only polish guild on DW on ally side) and the main tank of it. My current gs is 6218 while having hc wep, shield, trinkets and about half of the armor. I think thats all you have to know, lets start the important part.

Table of Contents

1. Changelog
2. Basic informations about warriors
3. Choosing a race
4. Talent builds and glyphs
5. Skills used in PvE tanking
6. Rotation
7. Gear
8. Tactics
9. Professions
10. Consumables
11. Macros
12. Addons
13. Feedback

1. Changelog

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1. 2015-05-14 - guide made
2. 2015-05-15 - guide finished
3. 2015-05-16 - minor changes due to some linguistic errors thanks to taraley
4. 2015-05-17 - Consumables part updated with Indestructible and removed untrue part about NElves thanks to jendah
5. 2015-05-18 - minor update to Tactics part, thanks to taraley
6. 2015-08-24 - update do hit and exp caps, still need some research, added macro for Enraged Regeneration, thanks to Apostate
7. 2015-09-10 - huge update do gear after the parry and hit fixes

2. Basic informations about warriors

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Warriors are melee fighters which can equip any kind of armor and weapons except wands and staves. They use rage as a resource which is different to all but one class, the bear form druid. Rage is generated through damage being dealt to and by the warrior and is capped at 100. They have the best defensive statistics and high mobility. Through variety of skill they can not only hold aggro, but also move through the battleground efectively, react to almost any situation and make their team dps even harder

Comparision to ther classes:
Death Knights - warriors have way better aoe threat abilities, but might fall behind on solo threat when OTanking with a DK MTank. Warriors are better at knockback or mobility encounters, like Lady, Rotface (oozes), BPC, Sindragosa, but are weaker vs magic dmg (i.e. keleseth)

Druids - warriors have higher armor values, which causes them to take less dmg and requiring smaller hp pool. On the other hand warriors are voulnerable to disarm effect and deal less dmg as offtanks (because of dudu's Cat Form)

Paladins - paladins have better abilities to rebuild aggro, especially multiple times, they aren't also so voulnerable to disarms, because they can switch to spells, which warriors are missing. On the other hand, paladins are the only tanking class that has no fear-avoidance, and their spell interrupt (Hammer of justice) has a long cooldown.

And what is really important, warriors have MOST DEFENSIVE SKILLS in game.

tl;dr when played correctly, warrior tanks are most usefull for the raid while having biggest deffensive skills

3. Choosing a race

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The diferences aren't really big, so choosing a race for your warrior is totally up to you. Here's a list of what you can use from every race:
Humans - sword and maces expertise, helpfull on lower level gears
Dwarves - maces expertise, Stoneform, frost resistance
Gnomes - Escape Artist (i.e. for sindragosa), expertise with swords
Night elves - Quickness (2% dmg reduction as an average) Shadowmeld, which can be used as the last line of defence, or for utility, nature resistance (decreases chance for nature spells to hit you, not their dmg)
Draeneis - heal (scales with AP, which you, as a tank, don't have as much as DPS, but it still may save ur life), party-wide hit buff, shadow resistance (decreases chance for shadow spells to hit you, not their dmg)
Orcs - Blood fury
Trolls - attack speed bonus, Da Voodoo Shuffle
Tauren - additional stun, more hp, nature resistance
Undead - Will of the Forsaken, shadow resistane (decreases chance for shadow spells to hit you, not their dmg)
Blood elves - the only race that can't be a warrior

tl;dr differences are minimal, but if going for highest effectiveness, I'd say go dwarf on alliance side or tauren on horde's

Attention! Before we go to the rest of the guide, you have to know 1 thing: there is more than one way to tank. Every boss has it's tactics, every encounter needs slighlty different things. This applies to talents, skills and GEAR

4. Talent builds and glyphs

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For tanking 5-mans, I'd go for this build.

Points that you can change
Improved Thunder Clap is filler talent, points can be moved freely, but because holding aoe threat is the biggest part of tanking dungeons, this is the one I'd take.
Improved Bloodrage is good if you're lacking rage a lot, and this might happen with lower gear
Incite another filler talent. One of the best for aggro, because it applies to your 3 commonly used skills and grants them high chance to proc Deep Wounds
Puncture - take this if you still have rage problems
Why not Last Stand? This talent is most usefull for raiding, when you put it on cooldown at first boss in a dungeon, there's a chance it won't be off cd before the next one. And if you need to pop this, it means you're pretty undergeared for the instance you're actually doing. But, it might save your life on some last bosses, i.e. in PoS. Feel free to move filler talent here if you really want it.
Armored to the Teeth - the openwow description is wrong, it's 3 AP every 108 armor you have. Still, because you're having the hardest armor there is, this talent grants you 2nd biggest AP income, right after pure strength. But, if you're undergeared, this bonus might be low enough to consider spending those points on something else.

Pre-HC raiding
Again, feel free to move points from Improved Thunder Clap, but if your rading partners are better geared than you, the aoe aggro might be a problem for you. At this point, however, your biggest concern should be boss aggro, so taking Focused Rage or even Cruelty might be worth considering

HC raiding
The only change is Safeguard, which some may say is a PvP talent, but it has extreme value because of the dmg reduction you can put on the other tank (prefferably MT). Just remember to check his threat, as this skill will lower it by 10%, which isn't really a problem, because the tank can retaunt the mob if he looses the aggro. In the end you can tank the boss for those few seconds as well.
Again, feel free to move points from Improved Thunder Clap.

Glyphs
Major possibilities:
Glyph of Blocking awesome at first, looses its awsomness with growing gs, because you want block rating mostly for the Shield Slam dmg, which has a cap of 2760 so anything beyond might not be a waste, but isn't worth anymore.
Glyph of Cleaving good for aoe threat, I've never been using this though
Glyph of Devastate faster stack means faster maxing the dmg of devastate and team members, but it's not that big difference and devastate isn't your No. 1 threat skill. Might be usefull with
Glyph of Sunder Armor
Glyph of Heroic Strike again, the openwow description is bad, it gives 10 rage. This glyph is good when combined with
Glyph of Revenge
Glyph of Last Stand is a must-have for hc raiding, reduces cd to 2 min (when combined with raiding talents)
Glyph of Shield Wall exactly the same as Last Stand
Glyph of Shockwave 3 sec cd reduction, good for keeping aoe threat
Glyph of Taunt must have for hc encounters, because aoe taunt isn't working on bosses and a missed taunt is wipe for 90% of the time
Glyph of Vigilance awesome if there's some dps making really high threat and no hunt/rouge is MDing/ToTing you. The totall difference is 16% (-8% for him and +8% for you)

Minor glyphs
The choice of minor glyphs is up to you, because non of them is mandatory. I'll put those which I'm using first
Glyph of Comand +2 min for commanding shout
Glyph of Battle +2 min for battle shout, good if u're having another warrior in raid, but not enough paladins, or for RHCs
Glyph of Bloodrage not loosing 1299 hp is great, ecpecially if u're using it every 60 sec for the rage income. Useless if using 4p T10
Glyph of Charge +5 yards to range, good if u lost aggro on multiple targets and Challenging Shout didnt get them all back

Glyph of Thunderclap +2 yards to range, help with bigger groups or when loosing threat right before its cd wears off


tl;dr for first talent build take Glyph of Blocking, Glyph of Revenge and Glyph of Cleaving, for raiding builds go for Glyph of Last Stand, Glyph of Shield Wall and Glyph of Taunt

5. Skills used in PvE tanking

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Bloodrage - 30 rage in total, 45 if talented, grants a shield equal to 20% of your max hp if using 4p T10 bonus. If not, and not glyphed, costs health
Concussion Blow - stuns the target, used in PvE mostly in dungeons for interrupting spellcasts
Devastate - reduces target's armor and deals growing dmg. Stacks up to 5 times (25% armor reduction). Filler ability, can trigger Sword and Board
Intervene - charges friendly target, intercepts next melee or ranged attack against it (not spell) and reduces its threat by 10% (also lowers it's dmg taken by 30% if talented)
Last Stand - grants you 30% hp boost for 20 sec, after this time, the health is lost.
Revenge - counterattack, useable after block, dodge or parry, although its CD isn't reset when it happens. No. 2 threat generating ability, can trigger Sword and Board
Shield Bash - No. 1 silence/interrupt skill
Shield Block - increases your chance to block by 100% (i.e. from 16% to 116%) and doubles your block value (i.e. from 1800 to 3600)
Shield Slam - No. 1 threat generating
Shield Wall - 60% dmg reduciton (40% if glyphed)
Shockwave - aoe stun and aoe threat generating ability
Spell Reflection - reflects next spell cast on you, doesn't work on raid bosses
Edit: after spending some time on bugtracker, I've found that this skill is going to reflect more than spell if they hit you during those 5 sec. And yes, it should be so. Check this!
Taunt - forces the target to attack you, but has no effect if the target is already attacking you (bad desciption, it's 30 yards range).

Charge - charges the target, with Warbringer it is usable while in combat
Heroic Strike - adds damage to your next auto attack, causes high amount of threat
Heroic Throw - throws weapon on the target, causes high threat, silences the target
Mocking Blow - causes moderate threat and forces target to attack you for the next 6 sec, no matter of threat
Rend - deals really comparable damage and threat to Devastate; also a filler skill
Retaliation - conuterattacks any melee attack in the next 12 sec
Shattering Throw - 1.5 sec cast, deals moderate threat, but reduces target's armor by 20%.
Thunder Clap - AoE skill, deals high threat, can cause Deep Wounds, reduces hit enemies' attack speed (doesn't work on bosses)

Battle Shout - increases AP of raid members, used when there's no pala for GBoM
Berserker Rage - removes and makes you immune to fear, sap and generates rage when taking dmg
Challenging Shout - forces all nearby enemies to attack you, if you won't gain enough aggro in the next 6 sec, they will go back for their previous target. Doesn't work on bosses
Cleave - makes your next auto attack to strike 2 enemies (3 if glyphed)
Commanding Shout - biggest HP buff ingame
Enraged Regeneration - heals you for 30% of your maximum health
Intimidating Shout - causes 5 nearby enemies to run in fear

What and when
Concussion Blow, Shield Bash and Intimidating Shout are not really usable in raids, as bosses are immune to those effects. But, they are great for RHCs.
Use Bloodrage whenever you can, it's a great rage generator, good both for some burst threat as well as for longer fights.
If you're OT, Intervene can be used on top dps to lower it's threat, so that MT will have easier time getting aggro
Last Stand and Enraged Regeneration are most effective when used together, you need an enrage effect before it though.
Never use Last Stand and Shield Wall together, that's a waste (unless you really need it, i.e. last 2% of boss and all healers died etc.). Try to use them alternately (together with Shield Block)
Spell Reflection should be used if every interrupt is on CD (and every stun if target isn't a boss)
Allways start a fight with Charge, don't be affraid of using it in mid-fight as well.
Heroic Throw is a great opener, use right before/after charging
Mocking Blow should be used when taunt is on cooldown and you'll loose aggro in the next 1-2 sec
Rend is used mostly at the beginning of the fight (because of the 35% dmg buff if target has >75% hp) and if there is at least 1 feral druid (Rend and tear, Mangle) or arms warrior (Trauma)
Thunder Clap - don't bother using it on bosses or even solo targets, unless it's a rouge or something else with high attack speed
Berserker Rage - use everytime it's off cd. From talents you have rage from avoided attacks, BR gives you rage from unavoided ones

6. Rotation

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First thing's first - there is no such thing as ROTATION for prot warrior, not literally. Because of the procs, there's a PRIORITY LIST. The difference is I can't tell you to go for 1-2-3-3-4-repeat every time. You have to check yourself every time, which of this abilities are available (some reset other's cds, some are usable only after block/dodge/parry, some cause bleeding, so no need to use them every 3 sec). Simply follow the list:

Single target
Heroic Strike (if >50 rage)->Shield Slam->Revenge->Rend (if not on target or it ends in less than 4 sec)->Devastate

Multitarget
Cleave (if >50 rage)->Shockwave->Thunderclap->Shield Slam->Revenge->Rend (if not on target or it ends in less than 4 sec)->Devastate. Remember to use TAB (or whatever bind you have to change target) and check threat on as many targets as you can, because you're not having same threat on all of them, and neither do your DPS friends.

Pro tips
Boss-fight threat burst
For raid bosses, when you have time between encounters for all of your CDs to wear off, you can use this combination as a starter:
Switch to Battle Stance, cast Bloodrage and wait for 5 sec (till 25 rage). Start casting Shattering throw and right after use Retaliation. Switch back to Defensive Stance, Charge on boss and in the meantime use Heroic Throw. I can guarantee you, for the next 20 seconds no one will be able to overaggro you, unless they'll taunt.

You can use similar combination for encounters where you exchange with other tank (fester, dbs, sindi). Just pop Retaliation and taunt the boss. This will provide you with a decent amount of threat and rage (conterattacks also generate rage) for even more threat.

Don't be afraid of retaunting the boss then it's on another tank. You're just as good as him, why should you just stand there for the cleave dmg? Just be sure to tell the other tank and heals what you're about to do (prefferably BEFORE the fight starts) so that they won't panic. Retaunting a boss 3-4 times at the beginning will provide both of you with an amount of threat which none of DPS' can generate in such short period of time. When I'm using this "tactic", both of the tanks usually end up with 2x highest DPS threat when the fight is about to end.

Also, always use Shield Block BEFORE using Shield Slam, as it doubles your block value (and the cap), so SS deals almost twice the damage.

7. Gear

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Now, the fun part begins. What do you think most tanks will say, when you ask them about the BiS list? Some will say 4p T10+Pillars, some 4p T10+Broken Ram, some will say 4p T10 isn't worth it etc. And what I will tell you about the BiS list? It does not exist. Yes, that's true. We're tanks, not DPS', not healers. There is no BiS list for ANY tanking class. We do not want to maximize our dmg, hp, avoidance or whatever. Tank should be elastic. Every boss requires other gear. Some deal mostly physical dmg combined with frost (maro, sindi), some deal only spell dmg (keleseth, lady). Some have such combination of dmg sources that the best tactic is to stack stam. I'll show you the BiS gear for EVERY BOSS. You can consider yourself as a kind of boss, because You're being attacked as well. Your job is to minimize this dmg as much as you can.

Basicly, I've divided ICC bosses into groups, according to gear required to mimimize their dmg. Those groups are:

1. Armor - Marrowgar, Saurfang (both GSB and after), Valanar (When tanking him only on ICC25hc), Lich King
2. Avoidance (highest hp pool) - Rotface, Festergut, Professor, Taldaram+Valanar duet, Blood Queen, Dreamwalker. If your fps' or internet conection isn't best, you could put Marrowgar here as well, because of the flames
3. Frost resisnatce - Lady and Sindragosa
4. Shadow resistance - Keleseth (any encounter)

Note, that all bosses can be tanked in the avoidance gear, but thats what a decent tank does. You don't want to be decent, you want to be GREAT

Before I list the items, let me talk about caps you need to meet. Those caps are most important thing when tanking, they provide you the biggest profit when gearin up.

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Defence
That's an easy part. 535 for dungeon bosses, 540 for raid bosses (which equals to 689 def rating).

Hit
Second most important stat for tanks. Not Stamina, not armor. HIT. If you're not hit capped, you won't be able to use your full potential. You'll miss attacks (less rage), skills (less threat), taunts (basicly a wipe). The hit cap is 8%.
Because there is no hit talent for protection warrior, we need to get whole amount from the gear and gems. Warrior's threat is based on hits (i.e. if DK misses, his rune is put on shorter cd, but warrior will loose the rage and that's the end of the story) and that's why it's so important. For raids you need 7% hit from gear, because there's always some draeneis, just pay attention if they are in your party. If not, ask raid leader to put you in a group with one.

Expertise
Third cap you should aim for. The soft cap is 26. This means your attacks won't get dodged. More expertise isn't wasted, because it will still lower chance to get parried, and you don't wan't bosses to get parry-hasted much. (after parrying an attack the next attack is done faster, thus increasing boss' dps)
Conclusion is clear - we have 6 expertise from talents, we need to get 20 more, which is equal to 153 expertise rating.

Gemming
Unless you're really undercapped, I'd say you should go for, as I call them, "mixed" gems (so green, orange or purple). There are 2 reasons, why I don't like to use "pure" gems (blue, yellow, red) other than 30 stam. Firstly, Gemming i.e. 2x +10 hit +15 stam can give you access to socket bonus while giving the same amount you'd get from 30 stam and 20 hit. Secondly - they're cheaper. 10 EoHs compared to 20 or about 700 gold compared to 900 (on deathwing). Might not seem much, but when you multiply it by the number of gems you'll be using through your adventure, it's not neglible.

Gems I'm using:
Meta socket: Austere Earthsiege Diamond
Yellow sockets: Rigid King's Amber, Vivid Eye of Zul, Accurate Ametrine Jagged Eye of Zul
Red sockets: Regal Dreadstone, Guardians Dreadstone, Accurate Ametrine,
Blue sockets: Solid Majestic Zircon, Vivid Eye of Zul, Guardians Dreadstone

After caps its up to you if you want to gem for stamina or anything other. For me 1% increase in dodge is worth more than 500 hp, especially in most cases the difference isn't so big, because you get the socket bonuses.

You may ask, why do I gem for dodge and not for parry? Answer is simple: dodge scales better. The best situation is when you have dodge=1.88*parry, which won't happen even in the avoidance gear, gemmed for dodge only after caps.

So, now I can show you the BiS lists I've made. I've spent few hours with the WoWEquip addon to compare items in every slot from ICC, RS and bought with EoFs. Considered even Onyx and ToC hc items. Note that I tried to keep the same gemming for the same item in different sets, even though it could make some caps not achieved. That's why I got:

Avoidance gear (highest HP pool)

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T10 Head with Argent crusade enchant
Marro 10 neck
T10 shoulders with Hodir enchant
Fester 10 back with armor ench
Rot 25 chest with all stats
Marro 25 wrists with Major Stamina
T10 hands with Armsman
Fester 25 belt with Eternal Belt Buckle
T10 legs with Frosthide
Halion 25 feets with Tuskarr
VDW 25 ring
Lady 10 ring
GSB 25 trinket
Halion 25 Trinket
LK 25 weapon with Blade Ward
BQL 25 shield with Titanium Plating
VDW 10 ranged with anything or nothing

Possible changes:
If you're not a fan of 4p T10 bonus, I'd say you should take the BPC 25 hands.
You might want to change one of the trinkets for stam one.
If you preffer Ashen rep ring, take it instead of the VDW one.

Other enchants, that might also be good, as well as profession related:

Shoulders - inscriptiors only
Back - defense (enchanting)
Back - engineers only
Chest - defense (enchanting)
Chest - health (enchanting)
Bracers - smithes only
Hands - engineers only
Hands - smithes only
Feet - stamina (enchanting)
Fingers - enchanters only

This gear set is over defcaped (1021), under hitcaped (138) and almost exp caped (135). When gemmed with 10x hit gems, 2x exp gems, 5x dodge gems and 6x stam gems, it gives about 33.5k armor, 20% block, 2k block value, 36% dodge, 22.5% parry, 2k str, 45k hp, all unbuffed. So in total it's ~80% mitigation (~60% in icc) together with 45k hp (47 with commanding shout) and decent attack power.

Armor gear

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T10 Head with Argent crusade enchant
Rot 25 neck
T10 shoulders with Hodir enchant
EoF back with armor ench
T10 chest with all stats ench
DBS 10 wrists with Major Stamina
T10 hands with Armsman
EoF belt with Eternal Belt Buckle
crafted legs with Frosthide
VDW 25 feets with Tuskarr
Ashen Verdict's rep ring
VDW 25 ring
Professor 10 trinket
Halion 25 Trinket
LK 25 weapon with Blade Ward
BQL 25 shield with Titanium Plating
VDW 10 ranged with anything or nothing

Possible changes:
Halion 25 feets, but you will need more exp gems.
GSB 25 trinket, but the effective armor difference is about 20 while 152 dodge (~3% after dr) isn't worth 270 stam (2700 hp) in my opinion.
If you're not a fan of 4p T10 bonus, take Lady 25 head

Other enchants, that might also be good, as well as profession related:

Shoulders - inscriptiors only
Back - engineers only
Chest - health (enchanting)
Bracers - smithes only
Hands - engineers only
Hands - smithes only
Feet - stamina (enchanting)
Fingers - enchanters only

This gear set is over defcaped (837), under hitcaped (124) and under exp caped (42). When gemmed with 10x hit gems, 5x exp gems, 3x dodge gems and 5x stam gems, it gives about 41k armor, 19% block, 2k block value, 27% dodge, 19.5% parry, 2.1k str, 44k hp, all unbuffed. So in total it's 41k armor, 65% mitigation (45% in icc) together with 44k hp (46 with commanding shout) and pretty good attack power.

Frost resistance gear

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T10 Head with Hodir enchant
Marro 10 neck
T10 shoulders with Hodir enchant
Fester 10 back with Armor ench
crafted chest with Health enchant
Marro 25 wrists with Major Stamina
T10 hands with Armsman
Crafted belt with Eternal Belt Buckle
T10 legs with Frosthide
Crafted feets with Icewalker
Ashen Verdict's rep ring
Onyx 25 ring
Sindragosa 25 trinket
Professor 10 Trinket
LK 25 weapon with Blade Ward
BQL 25 shield with Titanium Plating
VDW 10 ranged with anything or nothing

Possible changes:
Onyx 25 head, but you loose 230 armor, 1.5% mitigation and 700 hp for 10 resist, unworth IMHO.
If you're not a fan of 4p T10 bonus, I'd say you should take the BPC 25 hands.
Halion 25 Trinket instead of the Professor 10 Trinket, you trade 2700 hp for 440 armor and ~3% effective dodge (if kept 100% uptime, which is hard to do)

Other enchants, that might also be good, as well as profession related:

Head - Argent crusade enchant, if you do not want to change it between fights
Shoulders - inscriptiors only
Back - engineers only
Chest - all stats (enchanting)
Bracers - leatherworkers only
Bracers - frost resi - leatherworkers only
Bracers - smithes only
Hands - engineers only
Hands - smithes only
Feet - tukarr - especially for sindi
Fingers - enchanters only

This gear set is over defcaped (761), under hitcaped (146) and almost exp caped (135). When gemmed with 9x hit gems, 2x exp gems, 4x dodge gems and 5x stam gems, it gives about 32k armor, 18% block, 1.7k block value, 23.5% dodge, 17% parry, 1.4k str, 44.5k hp and 342 frost resistnace, all unbuffed. So in total it's ~59% mitigation (~39% in icc) together with 44.5k hp (47 with commanding shout) 342 resist but low attack power.
The worst is the loose in strength, but sindi encounter is a very mobile one, and debuff causes dps' to stop attacking, while lady encounter is all about building aggro by reatunting, making it less hurting.

Shadow resistance gear

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T10 Head with AV enchant
Ashtongue neck
T10 shoulders with Hodir enchant
Crafted back with Shadow resi enchant
Rot 25 chest with All stats
Crafted wrists with Major Stamina
T10 hands with Armsman
Crafted belt with Eternal Belt Buckle
Crafted legs with Frosthide
Crafted feets with Tuskarr
Ashen Verdict's rep ring
Onyx 25 ring
Sindragosa 25 trinket
EoF Trinket
LK 25 weapon with Blade Ward
BQL 25 shield with Titanium Plating
VDW 10 ranged with anything or nothing

Possible changes:
Onyx 25 head, but you loose 230 armor, 1.5% mitigation and 700 hp for 10 resist, unworth IMHO.
Marro 10 neck - you trade 40 resist for 89 str and 750 hp, up to you (remember spells cannot be avoided).
BPC 25 hands - you trade 69 hit for 33 str and 210 hp (rest is neglected due to pure spell dmg). Unworth IMHO.

Other enchants, that might also be good, as well as profession related:

Head - Argent crusade enchant, if you do not want to change it between fights
Shoulders - inscriptiors only
Chest - all stats (enchanting)
Bracers - leatherworkers only
Bracers - shadow resi - leatherworkers only
Bracers - smithes only
Hands - engineers only
Hands - smithes only
Feet - Icewalker - especially with BPC 25 hands
Feet - stamina (enchanting)
Fingers - enchanters only
Chest/Legs/Hands/Feet - 32 resist in total

This gear set is under defcaped (657), but mobs can't critically hit with spells, almost hit capped (203) under expcaped (42), but you will have enough time to build aggro. When gemmed with 4x hit gems, 2x exp gems 2x only exp gems, 2x dodge gems and 2x stam gems, it gives 375 shadow resistance (407 with sr ench, 1100 str, 39k hp, all unbuffed.

Problem with this gear is that it's hardly obtainable, unless you have a friend who can craft those items. Otherwise you'd have to do a 16 quests long chain, requiring you to do 3 TBC instances... Ok, it's still easier to obtain than RS25hc gear, you're right.

You may ask, why even consider taking TBC items, if you can have higher hp pool and avoidance? Thats because spells are not affected by mitigation. And lowering their dmg by at least 30% (so 14k keleseth's shadow bolt dmg down from 20k on 10n) is worth more than 5k more hp (even though it's 6.5k in ICC)

You have also to remember, that resistance does not work like armor, it doesn't reduce the spell dmg by constant amount. It makes some of the possible resistance to occur more often than the others. On EJ there once was a graph, unfortunatelly not there anymore. I'd explain it this way: Having 75% resisnatce means, that you have about 30% chance to resist 70 or 80% of the damage, 20% for 60% dmg reduction, 10% for 50% damage reduction and 10% for less. Ofc the dmg reduction cap is 75%, so you can't resist 80%, but I've wrote it to show you that there is no such thing like 62% resistance. It's either 60 or 70.
People saying you don't need shadow resistance gear on keleseth, because when you take 3 nucles, you are capped, are wrong. The damage reduction from Dark Nuclei is multiplicative not additive, so even with 6 Nuclei the tank still takes some damage. More than 6 Nuclei is not advisable, since at that point the tank takes more damage from the Nuclei than from Shadow Lance.

Note, that while having end game gear (gs >5.5k) all you need in RHC is def cap. You can change unneeded gear for dps one (like trinkets or any piece of gear that won't lower your def below 535 when unequipped). This will make your dmg higher while still being capable of tanking. Faster, easier, funnier (many times I've been top dps in RHCs)

tl;dr If you're too lazy to read this part, just consider "Avoidance gear" as your BiS.

To 4p T10 bonus or not to 4p T10 bonus? Isn't simple when comparing to mitigation, but very simple math when comparing to "constant hp" - (31x/30)>x+hp. I.e when comparing to 600 hp, your hp pool has to be higher than 18k for shield to give you more than hp. Why 31/30? Shield gives 1/5 max hp for 10 sec every 60 sec (1/6 uptime). 1/5*1/6+1=31/30

8. Tactics

Spoiler: Show

I'm not going to explain the tactics, this isn't a guide for newbies. I'm only gonna say how can you improve your skills as prot warrior, or make your (and healers) life easier.

RHCs

Spoiler: Show

1. Ahn'Kahet - do not pull all of the spiders right after you enter at once, this will most likely kill healer, and you afterwards.
   Try pulling small groups in the next 2 rooms, because they will pull you, which may pull other thrash mobs. Pray for your aoe skills to be off cd!
   Nadox is easy, just follow rotation.
   Pay attention to mobs between him and Taldaram, as they often pull other mobs.
   You might have to pull Taldaram with taunt or Heroic Throw.
   Tell you healer to not heal you before you stop and pull all the adds to the bridge on the way to Volazj. They like to pull other mobs as well.
   Unfortunatelly you can't interrupt Volazj, but you have good enough dps to make your way through "clones"
2. Azjol-Nerub - try to pull small groups.
   Krik'thir is easy, follow rotation and use some aoe skills to take adds off healer
   Don't stay in Hadronox' toxic cloud
   Don't use all aoe skills at one when fighting with Anub'arak
3. ToC - focus healer, that's all that can cause problems in this instance
4. Drak'Tharon Keep - watch for aoe skills at the beginning
   turn mob's backs at your party, so they wont poison you all
   Focus on shammies when going for Tharon'ja
5. FoS - focus adepts->bonecasters->animators
   If you don't see Bronjahm, stand on the big skull otside the circle on the ground. You won't get feared and can wait for others to kill him
6. PoS - learn the cd of poison. You need 3 places to tank him, then the toxin will disappear
   Ick - you can use charge to come back fast. He also resets his threat table, be sure to taunt him
   You can tank forgemaster from behind the saronite. Will take longer, but you'll get almost no damage
   For scourgelord you have enough def cds to at least one be popped all the time
7. HoR - use taunt and heroic throw whenever off cd. If you're still in combat while no mobs visible means you have stealthed rouge on you, run a little around the room and stun him when he comes out of stealth
   Tank incomming mobs as close to the wall as possible, so you'll make biggest use of your aoe skills and you'll have most time
8. Gundrak - you can't interrupt Slad'ran's toxin casts, don't even bother
   Do all you can to not die on Colosus, or whole instance will bug.
   Do not allow Moorabi to transform.
   Killing all frogs causes another Eck to appear. Save one for after defeating 1st boss if you're not sure if you can handle it.
   Beware of Gal'darah's aoe.
9. Nexus - overall easy, you can tank Keristrasza in Frost Resi Gear
10. Oculus - This is doable, but I do not recommend doing it with pug, because almost everytime they bug it. Easy if you know how
11. Halls of Lightning - hunters in the big hall are falling off textures if you come close to them. Run a little back if this happens, but best solution is to keep agr by heroic throw+taunt while dps is dealing with them
    Do not chanrge elementals on your way to Volkhan. Air elementals will push u back and you need a way to get back to fight in no time. You can also find a place where they will push u to a wall only
    You can interrupt Loken's Lightning Nova. Wait till almost the end of casting time, so he has less time for attacks
12. Halls of Stone - Do not use all your skills at once, pretty often people will accidentially pull more and you have to have way to react.
    Krystallus doesnt need big hp pool if you spread after he throws the stone. If all are more than 10 yards away of each other, the damage is like 3-4k.
    While Brann Bronzebeard's talk is ongoing, you can switch to dps spec, because there's just no chance you will effectively tank this encounter. Not with breaks between waves when you loose rage. After 2nd golem appears there will be 2 more waves of iron dwarves and that's all, you do not have to wait for other to tell you to tp out and in again.
    Do not forget to switch back to tank before starting Sjonnir fight
13. Utgarde Keep - you can almost kill the whole wave of Keleseth's skeleton with Shockwave
    Skarvald often charges and then can't be attacked by melee, you have to move a little back, so he comes back to you
    Ingvar is bugged he won't chase you if you tank him from behind a column. You can use it if things go rough or if you want to make it the lazy way
14. Utgarde Pinnacle - mobs near the gate use fear from time to time. Use Berserker rage if you do not want to be "thrown" on the other side of the gate. Yes, that's right, while feared, you will just go through this gate. Intervene someone that's on the proper side to get back without teleporting
    Svala often hides in the tectures, just move away and she will follow, finally comming on the surface.
15. Violet Hold - Just remember tactics for buggy mini bosses: Erekem - kill him first, not adds. Ichoron - better to leave 1 ichore globe, he likes to bugg from time to time

Raids

Spoiler: Show

1. OS - easy bosses, easy fight. Your only concern is how to get those minis down there
2. RS - no tricks here, just remember to stand with your back facing tree when Baltharus pushes you away or you won't make it in time for his mirror image
3. ToC - no tricks here as well, just follow the tactics
4. ICC - try to tank Marro in the corner, that will give your dps time to move away from flames
   When tanking adds at Lady, you have to use 4 skills to pull them all - Heroic Throw, Taunt, Charge+Shield Slam. If HT is on cd, C+SS the 2nd add, move to the third one and use Thunder Clap. Use Retaunt tactic all the way till she looses her mana shield
   If you're tanking Surfang on horde ship, remeber to do it as far in the corner as possible, to no one recieves cleave dmg. Also watch your stacks. They often reset on 25 encounters, so you will have max 5 all the time. No need for dps to jump back in such situation. You can easily hold 20 stacks with Armor gear
   DBS fight isn't a tough one, just remember to not use any skill 2 sec before adds spawn, so that you can take them all on you. You can put Vigilance on the other tank to reset cd on taunt and take those adds that have been over aggroed by dps
   On Rotface encounter your job is to take oozes, warriors are best for it because of 2 charges. Just check who has the debuff and intervene them, then charge the 2nd ooze when it spawns. If you're away and charge is on cd, use heroic throw
   Don't try to use shadow resi gear for Fester, as it isn't defcapped, and he uses moslty melee attacks.
   Send lowest dps (propably one of the tanks) to drink from Professors table, this will minimize the dps loss. But, if theres someone who deals less dmg than you, don't be afraid to order him to do it. You're not only better dps than him but also you apply 25% armor reduction on the boss, which gives huge improvement in other people's dps.
   You can tank any of the BPC bosses, you're best al valanar though, because of your capability to come back in no time. If tanking Keleseth, you can use your gun to take nucles, just remember to make your gun skill to 400
   BQL shouldn't be concerning for you, you have good def cds, fear removal as well. Not really much to do for you
   VDW is one of the hardest encounters for me, because you can't do anything if you're loosing it. Its all on your DPS to kill adds fast enough. If you miss a couple of % only and there are suppressers, shockwave them. With charge you can stop Lay waste
   After Sindragosa uses blistering, you can intervene to anyone who is further than you, it also removes slow. You can even intervene a totem or a pet.
   At LK encounter it's better for you to be OT if the other tank is DK or Pala, but MT if it's dudu. DK and Pala should do as good as you with armor gear (DKs will have easier time getting to cap), but druids would do way worse. Why go OT, if you're both are good? Safeguard ftw. LK applies +30% dmg taken debuff, you apply 30% dmg reduction buff. Overally it's 1.3 * 0.7 = 91%, so still almost 10% damage reduction. This can really save MTs ***.
5. Naxxramas - easy, with good group you have just to hold aggro on the bosses
6. Eye of Eternity - unfortunatelly bugged, the only way to get the achiev is by buying items that drops from him with VPs. Not all of them trigger the achievement, but I don't know which do. Saw once a dwarf paladin that got the achiev while in dalaran, so VP is my guess.
7. Ulduar - haven't done this on warmane
8. VoA - while in Frost Resi Gear, you can stand with even 20 stacks. If your dps is good, you should be able to solo tank 25

Tactic number 1 everywhere - keep boss' back facing dps. Never tank him facing the raid, not even in dungeons.

9. Professions

Spoiler: Show

Most people will say that Jewelcrafting is the best for tanks, because it gives 63 additional stam (3x 51 instead of 3x30 gems). And it is, but the reason isn't just stam. It's mostly for hit gems, which you can put into your resistance gear to get to the cap. I'd say second best is Blacksmithing, same reason - you can put more hit gems. Hit loose is the worst part of resistance gear (except sindragosa, when you can have the hit cap with ease but you miss strength).
Mining bonus (60 stam) is OK
LW bonus (62 bonus stam on bracers or additional resisnatces) is awesome, making it 3rd best
Inscription bonus (40 dodge rating) is low
Skinning bonus (60 critical strike rating) is low as well, you're not druid, you arent building threat on crits
Herbalism (heal) just no
Alchemy (better and longer flasks) not worth in imho
Engineering bonus (pure stam on head, agi+slow fall on back, armor on hands) is good, i'd classify it as 4th
Enchanting bonus (60 stam) is OK
Tailoring bonus (400 ap) isn't what you want

tl;dr use JC+BS for effectivenes, or combine them with mining, LW, enchanting or engineering

10. Consumables

Spoiler: Show

Food is pretty obvious - Fish or Sculpin. You can also try Eel. What's interesting, Skullfish stacks with fish feast, so you can go for the crit bonus

Flasks and potions
Stoneblood should be used when in avoidance/resistance gear
Protection or Indestructible should be used with Armor gear. As for battle elixirs, you can use any of those: Expertise, Crit, Hit, Agi, Str or all stats.

Pro tip
Night elves can use Shadowmeld to keep 100% of Indestructible Potion (or any other potion) uptime. Just drink it right before the start, then when the first is about to end drink second and SM (ensure the second tank will take the boss for that time). This will allow CD of the potion to start.

Also, remember about stam, agi or armor scrolls.

11. Macros

Spoiler: Show

I'm using "/in xx /w yy" macro on every buff (CS, BS, Vigi), so that I don't have to watch them. Here's an expample:

Spoiler: Show

#showtooltip
/cast Commanding Shout
/in 220 /w Alcyruun Commanding Shout has nearly ended

I have CS glyphed, so it lasts 4 mins. 4*60 sec = 240, so I have 20 secs to put it somewhere in my rotation (prefferable instead of devastate) without any lose.

I'm also using Intervene macro

Spoiler: Show

#showtooltip Intervene
/cast [target=mouseover,help] Intervene; [target=targettarget,help] Intervene; [target=focus,help] Intervene

This makes me run towards mouseover target (dps with highest threat that will break aggro in a moment), boss target (dps that has already broke the aggro), my focus (i.e. MT on LK encounter). This can be mixed with charge using mods

Spoiler: Show

#showtooltip
/cast [target=mouseover,harm,mod:ctrl] Charge; [target=targettarget,harm,mod:crtl] Charge; [target=focus,harm,mod:ctrl] Charge;
/cast [target=mouseover,help] Intervene; [target=targettarget,help] Intervene; [target=focus,help] Intervene;

this ensures you won't charge to an enemy by mistake. But this macro can be done without mods as well

Spoiler: Show

#showtooltip
/cast [target=mouseover,help] Intervene; [target=targettarget,help] Intervene; [target=focus,help] Intervene;
/cast [target=mouseover,harm] Charge; [target=focus,harm] Charge; Charge

I love mouseover taunt macro, helps a lot in aoe fights

Spoiler: Show

#showtooltip
/cast [target=mouseover,harm] Taunt; [harm] Taunt; Taunt

Panic macro

Spoiler: Show

#showtooltip
/cast Bloodrage
/cast Last Stand, Enraged Regeneration
/cast Shield Wall
/cast Shield Block
/cast Spell Reflection
/use 13
/use Runic Healing Potion
/use Healthstone

13 is the slot where I have Sindragosa's trinket. Feel free to add any def cd u have there (stone form if you're dwarf etc.) Bloodrage might seem wierd, because it makes you loose hp, but I'm using 4p T10 so in gives me shield instead and it allows to cast ER

But, if you do not need to use all def cds at once, i'd put them all on different keybinds

12. Addons

Spoiler: Show

Omen - threat measuring addon. A MUST HAVE
Bartender4 - makes your action bars moveable, allowing you to have more "vision". Also makes keybinding easier
Deadly Boss Mode - shows boss' skill cd, debuffs, etc. A MUST HAVE
Xperl - raid frames together with nice utility
Any other addons are up to you, I'd recommend Atlas, Carbonite, ClassLoot, MP Reporter, OneBag, OneBank, Recount together with Combat Log Fix, TitanPanel, WowEquip

13. Feedback
Thanks to Lynea and Abra for the hit and expertise experiments, Lynea has also the credits of the look of this guide Click me!

[taralej]

An overall good chunk of information, although there are already 3 other guides. I've got several things to note:

- Heroic Throw also resets the swing timer. Players should keep this in mind.
- Rend is really only better than Devastate when the target is >75%, because Devastate can also trigger Sword and Board.
- Intervene intercepts the attack, it does not interrupt it - you take the hit instead of your buddy.
- Taunt also puts you on the same aggro as the first on the threat list, as all "true" taunts.
- Challenging Shout is not a "true" taunt - like Mocking Blow, if you haven't built enough threat by its end, the enemy will go back to his other targets.
- Intimidating Shout causes nearby enemies to flee, but your target (it requires a target to cast) will cower in place (think SPriests' Psychic Horror). This effect is interrupted by damage. Also, on Warmane (and most private servers) both the flee and the cower effects are applied, which means that your target will start running once it takes damage, which can be annoying, at least.

I think that's it. Also, the last 2 points, which you've put in Safeguard are totally just a personal preference. Aggro-wise, they're best spent on Cruelty. My brother likes to put them in Improved Spell Reflect - he HAS actually downed Sindragosa enraged after her missing with her frost breath due to this talent.

cheers ^^

[Alcyruun]

An overall good chunk of information, although there are already 3 other guides.

None of them is giving all the informations in one place, none of them is also so comprehensive. I've did this one to gather all informations in one place and also give some that have not yet been mentioned.

- Heroic Throw also resets the swing timer. Players should keep this in mind.

Hm, I didn't know that. Although I dont think this is going to make my ThreatPerSecond really higher, because of the cd

- Rend is really only better than Devastate when the target is >75%, because Devastate can also trigger Sword and Board.

Thats true, I've forgotten to mention this talent in skills section

- Intervene intercepts the attack, it does not interrupt it - you take the hit instead of your buddy.
- Taunt also puts you on the same aggro as the first on the threat list, as all "true" taunts.
- Challenging Shout is not a "true" taunt - like Mocking Blow, if you haven't built enough threat by its end, the enemy will go back to his other targets.

Yea, that's what I meant. English isn't my primary language, good you've spotted it!

- Intimidating Shout causes nearby enemies to flee, but your target (it requires a target to cast) will cower in place (think SPriests' Psychic Horror). This effect is interrupted by damage. Also, on Warmane (and most private servers) both the flee and the cower effects are applied, which means that your target will start running once it takes damage, which can be annoying, at least.

And because of that I didn't evenmention the cower effect, as it is interrupted in notime. We're playing on warmane not global, so we're sticking to what is happening, not what should :)

Also, the last 2 points, which you've put in Safeguard are totally just a personal preference. Aggro-wise, they're best spent on Cruelty.

The 2% crit chance isn't such a big difference for 2 talent points, especially we have 15% crit chance from Incite. Fully buffed and well geared+talented warrior will have 30% crit chance on Heroic Strikes, which we almost spam. Deep Wound lasts for 6 sec, thats enough to have uptime almost for the whole fight. And the dmg (and threat) isn't that big to make a real difference, it's just a nice way to put some constant threat generator on the boss. And IMO 2% on other skill's crit chance (as well as auto attacks) isn't enough to beat the 30% dmg reduction. You're not dps, hunters should be MDing, rouges should be ToTing you, and you shouldn't have any problems with threat. Although yes, this is a personal choice.

My brother likes to put them in Improved Spell Reflect - he HAS actually downed Sindragosa enraged after her missing with her frost breath due to this talent.

NOW THAT'S AWESOME

[jendah]

Hi, good job with the guide! Its good to have multiple sources of information.

Just a few notes:
Bosses do not have expertise. And even if they had Nelf racial would not loose any effectivness (since it increases bosses miss chance - every tank already has some from defense ratting and it would cut flat amount -> its 2% damage reduction on average).

There is not a graph any more, but there is still a table about resists on EJ (http://forums.elitistjerks.com/topic...nics-in-wotlk/).

It would be a good idea to add some info about potions to your consumables section. (Indestructible potion f.e. - which nelfs can use multiple times in a fight if they find an opening when they can safely shadowmelt - handy at lk)

[taralej]

No worries, mate :) I'm just happy to help. I just hope they fix Intimidating Shout. Also, hi jendah ^^

[Alcyruun]

Hi, good job with the guide! Its good to have multiple sources of information.

Thanks!

Bosses do not have expertise. And even if they had Nelf racial would not loose any effectivness (since it increases bosses miss chance - every tank already has some from defense ratting and it would cut flat amount -> its 2% damage reduction on average).

i'll change that section then

There is not a graph any more, but there is still a table about resists on EJ (http://forums.elitistjerks.com/topic...nics-in-wotlk/).

I'll put that in guide

It would be a good idea to add some info about potions to your consumables section. (Indestructible potion f.e. - which nelfs can use multiple times in a fight if they find an opening when they can safely shadowmelt - handy at lk)

Done :)

[taralej]

I read the tactics section and I'm back with some feedback, more for the dungeon section since your raid section is quite small.

DTK - by "shammies" I guess you mean the Drakkari Shamen on the overlook. Most notably, they use Heal and Chain Heal. The first one is single-targeted and uninterruptable so Conc Blow or Shockwave need to be used. The second one can and should be interrupted.

ToC - use Shield Slam to remove Earth Shield from Colossus and Renew from Argent Priestesses and Paletress's image. As a tank, you should kite away from exploding ghouls on Black Knight.

FoS - I still can't understand why people hate those Adepts so much - Shadow Bolt and Drain Life are nothing compared to Bone Volley, not even mentioning Bone Barrier (Shield Slam!) and Raise Dead. Intervene with Safeguard can be used on Mirrored Soul, def CDs can be used if cast on you so the DPS doesn't have to stop. Phantom Blast can and should be interrupted, it cannot be reflected (not a bug).

PoS - when Ick casts his poison nova, he immediately follows up with fixate which bugs him, making him Freeze in one place. If he is fixed on a ranged target, don't Taunt him - just kill him. On Scourgelord if you're still gearing up, don't tank him against the wall and time your Shield Wall and Last Stand carefully for each Enrage so you survive the first Forceful Smash and then kite until the enrage fades. If he enrages a third time, then your DPS sucks and you'll probably get one-shotted.

Gundrak - Slad'ran's poison nova is not supposed to be interruptable - you need to run away from him, done easily with Intervene to a ranged. Drakkari Colossus isn't hard - just remember that the mojo elemental clears its threat table both times he appears. Eck is ONLY supposed to spawn after you clear all the gorlocs; however, on Warmane he is already spawned once, so players can effectively do him twice. Remember that he has a rather quick and very strong Enrage, which CAN kill you if you're undergeared. If he vomits at the group while Enraged, it's a wipe. Moorabi is a boss, so he's immune to Heroic Throw.

HoL - Lighting Nova*, and it's a bug that it is interruptable, but whatever because his aura is bugged too, working while he casts Lighting Nova and ticking several times at once, making doing him "normally" impossible.

HoS - tanking on Brann is not only possible but also necessary for cloth groups. Simply conserve your rage, starting pulls with an immediate Charge + Thunder Clap, and keeping 40-60 rage inbetween waves. Do not forget that Bloodrage STOPS rage decay while it's active.

VH - Erekem is not buggy. When both adds die, he enrages, removing Stormstrike's cooldown - that's how he works normally. Shield Slam his Earth Shield away, but don't interrupt Chain Heal so that the adds don't die.

Overall, that's it. I hope that players will find at least some of these tips useful. Also, I've seen people with >6k GS dying in Naxx. For this raid tactics > gear.

[Alcyruun]

DTK - by "shammies" I guess you mean the Drakkari Shamen on the overlook.

yup, I guess all know that

FoS - I still can't understand why people hate those Adepts so much

no idea as well, but this is what people said to me when I first came to FoS on Warmane and it never failed me.

Intervene with Safeguard can be used on Mirrored Soul

still all depends on healer

PoS - (...) don't Taunt him - just kill him.

You should taunt him for melee dps to be able to attack from behind unless he's on some ranged dps/healer

On Scourgelord if you're still gearing up, don't tank him against the wall and time your Shield Wall and Last Stand carefully for each Enrage so you survive the first Forceful Smash and then kite until the enrage fades. If he enrages a third time, then your DPS sucks and you'll probably get one-shotted.

I did this guide for people that already know something about warriors, but still want to be better, not complete newbies. But well, good someone mentioned it

Gundrak - Slad'ran's (...) you need to run away from him

never died of it, so I see no sense in running away.

Drakkari Colossus isn't hard

I didn't say it's hard, but if you'll get groupped with some low heal, you still can die and bug the whole instance

Eck is ONLY supposed to spawn after you clear all the gorlocs

As I said before, we're playin on warmane for some reason, no sense in saying how it should work. Just adapt and get better.

Remember that he has a rather quick and very strong Enrage, which CAN kill you if you're undergeared.

True even if you're properly geared. You need two of three: good gear on you, good dps, good healer.

HoL - Lighting Nova*

Thanks for that, gonna change it

it's a bug that it is interruptable

Again, no sense in saying how it should work.

HoS - tanking on Brann is not only possible but also necessary for cloth groups

All depends on your group, I've been in RHCs with mages/spriests with such dmg that adds didn't had chance to come to them. Still, in most cases tanking in dps spec is doable here and more efficient (because you simply kill them faster) [quote]Simply conserve your rage, (...) keeping 40-60 rage inbetween waves[/qoute] easy to say, try to keep rage when in a group with someone that does 20k dps vs your 5.

VH - Erekem is not buggy

Seen many 6k+ people wiping here because they killed adds first, the enrage is bugged for sure. Maybe you just haven't been on such run yet

I've seen people with >6k GS dying in Naxx. For this raid tactics > gear.

Not only for this raid, this is true always. Not only in raids tbh. Seen 4k gs killing 6.9k palas on arenas, so tactics/skill is way more important than gear. Ofc if boss can one shot you, no tactic will help you.

[taralej]

Ick still attacks, he just doesn't move. So if his target gets close to him, he will start hitting it and chasing it.

I've died on Erekem this way on many pservs, Warmane included, and retail - he works as intended. Adds die - Stormstrike spam begins.

[Alcyruun]

Ick still attacks, he just doesn't move. So if his target gets close to him, he will start hitting it and chasing it.

He will start attacking, but won't start chasing until the "phase" changes. I hope you're not afraid of taking some damage as a tank? :D and the dps increase would be noticeable.

I've died on Erekem this way on many pservs, Warmane included, and retail - he works as intended. Adds die - Stormstrike spam begins.

let's then say he isn't bugged but this is still the easiest way to kill him

[Aderes]

This guide just made me almost master of the spec in 1 day. Thanks for this epic work! (tanking fos pos on freaking 2.6k gs with no probs at all)

[taralej]

He will start attacking, but won't start chasing until the "phase" changes. I hope you're not afraid of taking some damage as a tank? :D and the dps increase would be noticeable.

He will chase if you Taunt him off whichever target he has targeted during fixate. He will not attack during his barrage channel (which also doesn't work and does nothing).

let's then say he isn't bugged but this is still the easiest way to kill him

Well, it's the proper way to kill him. Killing the adds just shows lack of knowledge regarding the tactics :D

[Selaya]

I would /never/ recommend the Avoid set as the go-to option. 28k Armor tanks will fold to every other heroic encounter, while an Armor one will usually get the job done regardless.
There`s only one time where you`d consider an avoid tank - offtanking rs25h

[Mao]

Nice guide.

"Warriors are melee fighters which can equip any kind of armor and weapons except wands and staves."

Warriors can equip staves and hit with them, just can't use special abilities with them, as if they were carrying a sword, an axe, a mace.



"Last Stand and Enraged Regeneration are most effective when used together. You cannot macro ER though, I have no idea why. Neither of macros I've made for ER ever worked, even if it was macro only for ER. If any of you has a working ER macro, share it in the comment, I'd be very pleased."

That can occur because ER to activate, you would need an enrage effect before it. So, basically it works by activating Berserker Rage or Bloodrage, or having passive enrage active, but we can't count on that one, we need to be sure macro works. So, when making a macro, you need to include casting Bloodrage or BR before ER. And yes, it works with Last Stand also, so all three can be in one macro. I used that for Prot PvP. Reason I recommend using Bloodrage and not BR, is because Bloodrage doesn't share GCD with any of spells, and so you can always have rage from it for ER. So you can put macro something like (I'm improvising, didn't play some time and I'm lazy to log ingame to check): #showtooltip Enraged Regeneration /cast Bloodrage /castsequence Last Stand, Enraged Regeneration
Tooltip can be important since if you have Glyph for Last Stand, it will be two minutes, and ER 3 minutes, so macro might not work always if you don't follow your spells CD.

[Alcyruun]

This guide just made me almost master of the spec in 1 day. Thanks for this epic work! (tanking fos pos on freaking 2.6k gs with no probs at all)

glad I could help :)

He will chase if you Taunt him off whichever target he has targeted during fixate. He will not attack during his barrage channel (which also doesn't work and does nothing).

Then this prolly changed with the latest update, haven't checked it since then

I would /never/ recommend the Avoid set as the go-to option. 28k Armor tanks will fold to every other heroic encounter, while an Armor one will usually get the job done regardless.
There`s only one time where you`d consider an avoid tank - offtanking rs25h

Check on which bosses i recommend this gear - on those which dmg doesn't rely mostly on autoattacks, the have some aoe spells, debuffs and so on, and (unless enraged) those bosses don't deal massive physical damage

Nice guide.

"Warriors are melee fighters which can equip any kind of armor and weapons except wands and staves."

Warriors can equip staves and hit with them, just can't use special abilities with them, as if they were carrying a sword, an axe, a mace.

well this was taken out of wowwiki :D

So, basically it works by activating Berserker Rage or Bloodrage, or having passive enrage active

Not sure if I've checked this option, gonna test it in few seconds
EDIT: Yup, it works. I'm dumb :D

Tooltip can be important since if you have Glyph for Last Stand, it will be two minutes, and ER 3 minutes, so macro might not work always if you don't follow your spells CD.

Yeah, that's why i recommend still having them on action bar to see if both are ready and even if not, you can still see if LS is ready in case **** happens