Pandaria 5.4.2 Warrior Tank and you.

[LordSplat]

Introduction:

This guide is on the two viable ways to tank on Warriors in this patch.

I. Intro
II. Which gear set?
III.Talents and Glyphs
IV. Set bonuses
V. Avoidance
a) Gear
b) Gemming
c) Enchants
d) Why Avoidance
VI. Mastery/Crit
a) Gear
b) Gemming
c) Enchants
d) Why Mastery/Crit
VII. Conclusion


Which Spec?
Overview
Avoidance:
Pros

Higher avoidance
Low chance of damage spiking
Easier to play
Easier to get gear for

Cons

Lower block
Lower crit

Mastery/Crit:
Pros

High rage generation
High damage
Huge numbers
More Ultimatum procs

Cons

Higher chance of damage spiking
Takes a higher skill cap to play
If played wrong takes tons of damage
Highly gear dependant
Only really shines with T16 2p


Talents & Glyphs

Talents should be changed on a fight to fight basis. And are very dependent on play style, one may like Double Time over Juggernaut. One might swear by Second Wind & another by Enrage Regeneration. Now who is wrong and who is right, this depends on the raid comp & raid performance.

Below is my preferred setup on Horridon.
A couple things that you could change on this depending on raid compositions and dps for Horridon. Double time gives two charges giving a higher interrupt rate on casters. If your group is low on CC you could run Storm Bolt instead of Bloodbath.


What it comes down to is change talents to fit the raid group needs per fight.

Glyphs. These are the glyphs you should be using.



Major Glyphs.
Unending Rage - Adds 20 to your rage cap for a total of 120. A higher rage cap equals more rage you can pool to avoid damage.
Hold the Line - Improves Revenge damage after you parry by 50%. This one is mainly for threat and to boost your damage.
Heavy Repercussions - 30% damage on Shield Slam when Shield Block is active. Again for threat and damage output.

Situation Major Glyphs
Incite - Demoralizing shout makes your next three Heroic Strikes or Cleaves free. A once every 30 second damage booster & used to pool your rage.
Bulls Rush - Charge generates 15 more rage. Use this glyph in combination on pull with Commanding Shout & Berserker Rage to get enough rage for a Shield Block or a full Shield Absorb off the start of a fight.

Glyphs in general are somewhat limited this patch, these 5 will be your bread and butter.

Set bonuses

Lets first look at Tier 15 protection set bonuses.

2 pieces: Your Shield Slam and Revenge have a 10% chance to activate Victory Rush or Impending Victory as if you had killed your target.
4 pieces: Your abilities generate 50% more Rage when used against targets afflicted by Demoralizing Shout.

In my personal opinion 2p is worth getting as the proc has saved my butt several times. I highly dislike 4p due to I feel it sacrifices too many stats to generate more rage every 30 seconds.

Now lets look at Tier 16 protection set bonuses.

2 pieces: You heal for 30% of all damage blocked with a shield and 30% of all damage absorbed by Shield Barrier.
4 pieces: For 10 sec after Demoralizing Shout falls off your targets, you gain Rage from taking damage.

This is one of the strongest 2p bonuses in this whole expansion. This bonus will result in around a 10% damage reduction in fights in SoO & ToT. As for 4p, it is lacking as you can pick up better stats if you only use 2p.


Avoidance Tank how to gear

Statistics you want to get. Hit Rating (until 7.5% can pass with 5.27% 1,7k rating and be hit capped on Warmane) and Expertise Rating (until 15% right around 5k rating).
Now how would one gear for avoidance? Parry > Dodge > Mastery.

Why Parry over Dodge.

Parry has always had a higher return rate than Dodge. Dodge has a higher diminishing return than Parry does, making Parry a more valuable stat to stack. Meaning you get more out of Parry than Dodge, of course you still want Dodge you just do not want to full socket your gear in it.




Avoidance Tank BiS T15

No tier
Helm: Puncture-Proof Greathelm
Neck: Necklace of the Terra-Cotta Protector* or Moonjade Necklace
Shoulders: Metabolically Boosted Shoulderplates
Back: Horn-Rimmed Doomcloak or Many-Layered Scalecloak**
Chest: Overloaded Bladebreaker Cuirass
Wrist: Shell-Coated Wristplates
Gloves: Artery Rippers
Belt: Plated Toothbreaker Girdle
Legs: Black Blood Legplates
Boots: Treads of the Blind Eye
Ring 1: Durumu's Severed Tentacle
Ring 2: Jin'rokh's Soulcrystal
Trinket 1: Ji-Kun's Rising Winds
Trinket 2: Delicate Vial of the Sanguinaireor Steadfast Talisman of the Shadow-Pan Assualt**
Weapon: Worldbreaker's Stormscythe
Shield: Visage of the Doomed or Ulitmate Protection of the Emperor
2282 Hit rating & 2837 Expertise rating, reforge unneeded hit & gem for expertise till cap.
*Trash drop off ToT
**Shadow-Pan Assault Friendly

2p
Helm: Puncture-Proof Greathelm
Neck: Necklace of the Terra-Cotta Protector* or Moonjade Necklace
Shoulders: Metabolically Boosted Shoulderplates
Back: Reinforced Mirror-Sheen Cloak
Chest: Chestgaurd of the Last Mogu
Wrist: Shell-Coated Wristplates
Gloves: Artery Rippers
Belt: Plated Toothbreaker Girdle
Legs: Legguards of the Last Mogu
Boots: Treads of the Blind Eye
Ring 1: Durumu's Severed Tentacle
Ring 2: Jin'rokh's Soul Crystal
Trinket 1: Ji-Kun's Rising Winds
Trinket 2: Delicate Vial of the Sanguinaire or [teadfast Talisiman of the Shadow-Pan Assualt**
Weapon: Worldbreaker's Stormscythe
Shield: Vissage of the Doomed*** or Ultimate Protection of the Emperor
1736 Hit & 2837 Expertise
*Trash drop
** Shadow-Pan Assault rep friendly
***Shared boss loot

4p
Helm: Puncture-Proof Greathelm
Neck: Necklace of the Terra-Cotta Protector* or Moonjade Necklace
Shoulders: Shoulderguards of the Last Mogu
Back: Reinforced Mirror-Sheen Cloak
Chest: Chestgaurd of the Last Mogu
Wrist: Shell-Coated Wristplates
Gloves: Handgaurds of the Last Mogu
Belt: Plated Toothbreaker Girdle
Legs: Legguards of the Last Mogu
Boots: Treads of the Blind Eye
Ring 1:Durumu's Severed Tentacle
Ring 2: Jin'rohk's Soul Crystal
Trinket 1: Ji-Kun's Rising Winds
Trinket 2:Delicate Vial of the Sanguinaire
Weapon: World Breaker's Stormscythe
Shield: Vissage of the Doomed** or Ultimate Protection of the Emperor
2365 Hit & 3375 Expertise
*Trash drop
**Shared boss loot

Avoidance Tank BiS T16

Helm: Rage-Blind Greathelm
Neck: Choker of Final Word
Shoulders: Pauldrons of Violent Eruption
Back: Qian-Ying, Fortitude of Niuzao* [Gloomwrap Greatcloak
Chest: Earthbreaker's Steaming Chestplate
Wrist: Blood Rage Bracers
Gloves: Handgaurds of the Prehistoric Marauder
Belt: Untarnishable Greatbelt
Legs: Legguards of the Prehistoric Marauder
Boots: Ominous Mogu Greatboots
Ring 1: Galakrond Control Band
Ring 2: Ring of the Iron Tomb
Trinket 1: Vial of Living Corruption
Trinket 2: Juggernaut's Focusing Crystal
Weapon: Shield of Mockery
Shield: Encapsulated Essence of Immerseus
3200 Hit & 3117 Expertise
*If legendary questline works otherwise Gloomwrap is your only cloak drop in SoO

Gemming
Meta - Austere Primal Diamond
Red: Parry (Flashing Primordial Ruby)
Yellow: Parry*
Blue: Parry**

*If you need more health you could gem 160 dodge & 120 stam (Regal Wild Jade). Low on Hit? 160 hit & 160 dodge (Nimble Wild Jade)
** If you need more health you could gem 160 parry & 120 stam (Defenders Imperial Amethyst) Low on hit? 160 parry & 160 hit (Retaliating Imperial Amethyst)

Enchants

Shoulders: Greater Ox Horn Inscription (300 stam & 100 dodge)
Chest: Superior Stamina (300 Stam)
Cloak: Greater Protection (200 Stam)
Bracers: Major Dodge (170 Dodge)
Gloves: Superior Master (170 Mastery) or Superior Expertise (170 Expertise)
Boots: Panderan Step (Move speed & 140 Mastery)
Shield: Greater Parry (170 Parry)
Weapon: River Song (1,650 Dodge for 7 seconds), Cheaper Colossus (Absorbs 7,500 damage)


Why Avoidance?
Avoidance was favored by Sco Methods main tank, guild master, raid leader & he is one of the best tanks in the world. Now I do not know the exact reason why he favored avoidance, but avoidance at end game SoO gear levels has around 2% more static Parry and 6% more Dodge than Mastery/Crit*. With higher static Dodge & Parry it gives less of a chance to damage spike when Shield Block is down or you are too rage starved to Shield Barrier. What it comes down to it has less of a chance for something to go wrong.

*Please note that these percents are from back when I was playing on Blizzard servers and compared Sco and Slootbags gear. My memory could be wrong as I have not calculated them to the exact percent so they could be off by 2-3% at most.


Mastery/Crit:
Statistics you want to get. Hit Rating (until 7.5% can pass with 5.27% 1,7k rating and be hit capped on Warmane) and Expertise Rating (until 15% right around 5k rating). 63% Mastery is right around 12k, then Crit > Parry > Dodge.


Mastery/Crit BiS T15

Helm: Faceguard of the Last Mogu
Neck: Necklace of the Terra-Cotta Vanquisher*
Shoulders: Shouldergaurds of the Last Mogu - Flare-Forged Greatbelt**
Back: Grievous Gladiator's Cloak of Prowess - Hydra-Scale Bloodcloak or Horn-Rimmed Greatcloak**
Chest: Chestplate of Violent Detonation
Wrist: Bonecrusher Bracers
Gloves: Egg-Shad Grips
Belt: Grievous Gladiator's Girdle of Prowess
Legs: Legplates of Whipping Ionization - Legplates of Lightning Blood**
Boots: Columbreaker Stompers - Sabbatons of Superior Being**
Ring 1: Ring of King Kangrom
Ring 2: Achillobator Ring
Trinket 1: Lao-Chin's Liquid Courage till you get Fortitude of the Zandalari
Trinket 2: Ji-Kun's Rising Wings or use Brutal Talisman of the Shadow-Pan Assualt*** on farm fight
Weapon: Qon's Flaming Scimitar
Shield: Ultimate Protection of the Emperor
5241 Exp & 2771 Hit
*Trash drop
**Replace normal mode pieces with these items on HC
***Shadow-Pan Assault rep Friendly


Mastery/Crit BiS T16

Helm: Facegaurd of the Prehistoric Marauder
Neck: Malkorok's Tainted Dog Tags
Shoulders: Tusks of Mannoroth* Krugruk's Rigid Shoulderplates
Back: Qian-Ying, Fortitude of Niuzao** Gloomwrap Greatcloak
Chest: Breastplate of Shamanic Mirrors
Wrist: Bracers of Blind Hatred
Gloves: Handgaurds of the Prehistoric Marauder
Belt: Untarnishable Greatbelt
Legs: Legplates of Willful Doom
Boots: Ominous Mogu Greatboots
Ring 1: Bloodclaw Band
Ring 2: Devilfang Band
Trinket 1: Thok's Tail Tip
Trinket 2: Skeer's Bloodsoaked Talisman or Vial of Living Corruption***
Weapon: Haromm's Frozen Crescent
Shield: Ancient Mogu Tower Shield
1820 Hit & 4414 Expertise
*Garrosh 10/25hc only
**If legendary questline works otherwise Gloomwrap is your only decent cloak drop in SoO
***Use on fights your not used to or having survival issues on

Gemming
Meta - Austere Primal Diamond
Red: 160 expertise & 160 mastery (Keen Vermilion Onyx)*
Yellow: Mastery**
Blue: 160 Stam & 160 Mastery (Pussiant Wild Jade)***

*Capped on expertise but still need mastery? 160 Parry & 160 Mastery (Fine Vermilion Onyx). Mastery Capped but need Expertise? 160 Expertise & 160 Crit (Crafty Vermilion Onyx). Expertise & Mastery capped? 160 Strength & 160 Crit (Fine Vermilion Onyx)
**Expertise and Mastery capped? 320 Crit (Smooth Sun's Radiance)
***Need more Hit & still not Mastery capped? 160 Hit & 160 Mastery (Sensei's Wild Jade). Mastery capped but need hit? 160 Crit & 160 Hit (Piercing Wild Jade). Hit & Mastery capped? 160 Crit & 120 Stam (Jagged Wild Jade)

Enchants:

Shoulders: Greater Ox Horn Inscription (300 stam & 100 dodge)*
Chest: Superior Stamina (300 Stam)
Cloak: Greater Protection (200 Stam)*
Bracers: Mastery (170 Mastery)
Gloves: Superior Master (170 Mastery) or Superior Expertise (170 Expertise)
Boots: Panderan Step (Move speed & 140 Mastery)
Shield: Greater Parry (170 Parry)
Weapon: Dancing Steel (1,650 Strength proc), Cheaper Windsong (1,500 Crit, Mastery & Haste proc all three can proc at the same time)

*Why stamina over Crit enchants? First and foremost your still a tank, you value survival over everything else. All our enchants should be focused on survival so that we do our job in the most effective way possible.

Why Mastery/Crit?
This build was developed by Slootbag Midwinters main tank, raid leader and is also considered one of the best tanks in the world. It is based on the pure Crit tank build, which had problems with damage spiking. It uses Mastery to help smooth damage spiking & makes the build extremely viable. With 2p T16 30% of all damage blocked & absorbed by Shield Barrier are converted into a heal on your self. With the extra Crit you get with this build you should always have either Shield Block or Shield Barrier up. Now this build is still viable with T15 in ToT but is not as effective as regular avoidance builds. Due to the fact the build requires gear with Mastery & Crit rating on them & most of the gear in ToT has Crit, Haste on it.

Now in SoO Mastery/Crit will have as stated before 2% less static Parry & around 6% less Dodge. Although, you will have somewhere around 11% more static Block with the Mastery gained & 13-15% more static Crit.

*Again please note that these percents are from back when I was playing on Blizzard servers and compared Sco and Slootbags gear. My memory could be wrong as I have not calculated them to the exact percent so they could be off by 2-3% at most.


Wrap up
In the end both sets are viable for tanking endgame content, although one is harder to get due to you will be rolling against Mdps for the pieces & needs a higher item level to be highly effective. Avoidance will always be easier on healers, but if you have strong healers the Crit set will be slightly better. It was possible to solo tank 25hc Garrosh on Retail with either set, so play how you want to play.

[Malborito]

Nice guide, for me, as a fresh warrior, a rotation of skills would be useful also. (y)

[Tekmansam]

Rotations in MoP are so intuitive, they are almost foolproof. Finding ways to macro your abilities is far more useful to spend time figuring out. Having something like --

#showtooltip
/cast Last Stand
/cast Berserker Rage
/cast Enraged Regeneration
/cast Shield Wall

-- for a max-soak panic button helps. Learn to macro and spend lots of time at a training dummy is my advice.