Protection Warrior Guide — Class Guides · WoW Classic

The tanking tree: more armour, block and threat from Shield Slam, plus abilities that hold several enemies.

A plate-wearing melee fighter who builds Rage by dealing and taking damage and spends it on attacks, shouts and stances. Warriors tank with a shield in Defensive Stance or deal melee damage with two-handed or dual-wielded weapons. More about the warrior

Class: Warrior
Roles: Tank
Used for: Raids and dungeons
Top talent: Shield Slam
Popular builds: 2
Version: WoW Classic

How to play

Protection is the main tank tree. With a shield in Defensive Stance you take less damage, block with Shield Block and build threat with Sunder Armor, Revenge and Shield Slam. Defiance raises your threat, and Last Stand and Shield Wall save you when the healers fall behind.

Threat is limited by Rage: early in a fight you have little of it, and that is when damage dealers pull enemies off you. Open with Bloodrage and Sunder Armor, use Revenge whenever it lights up (cheap and strong threat), Shield Slam when ready, and keep Shield Block up against hard-hitting bosses so their blows can't crush.

Many guilds tank raids with a Fury build that keeps Bloodthirst for threat. The deep Protection tree trades that threat for survival: it suits main tanks on the hardest-hitting bosses, and dungeons, where you hold several enemies with Thunder Clap, Demoralizing Shout and a Sunder Armor on each.

At a glance

Single-target threat
Holding several enemies
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Classic.

Rotation and priorities

1Pull with a ranged weapon or Charge, then Bloodrage for opening Rage.
2Shield Slam whenever it is ready.
3Revenge whenever it can be used (after you block, dodge or parry).
4Sunder Armor to five stacks, then keep using it as filler threat.
5Shield Block against heavy hitters, so their attacks can't crush.
6Heroic Strike with spare Rage; Taunt or Mocking Blow if you lose an enemy, Challenging Shout if a whole pack gets loose.
7Shield Wall and Last Stand for emergencies, ideally one after the other.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

The best main tank in Classic: the most health, armour and avoidance.
Shield Wall and Last Stand cover the healers' worst moments.
Strong control: Taunt, Challenging Shout, Shield Bash and Concussion Blow.
Dungeon groups always need a tank, so groups are easy to find.

Weaknesses

Low threat at the start of fights and whenever Rage runs short.
Holding many enemies at once is hard: you have no strong area threat.
Slow to level: most Protection warriors level as Arms and respec.
Large repair bills.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

1
Defenseto 440: level 63 bosses can no longer crit you
2
Stamina
3
Armour
4
Dodge, parry and block
5
Hitfewer missed Sunders and Shield Slams
6
Strengththreat and block value

What to look for

A one-handed weapon and the best shield you can find: shield armour and block value matter, and the weapon's damage sets your Heroic Strike and white-hit threat.
Defense to 440 first, then Stamina and armour; switch in threat gear (hit, Strength) once the healers are comfortable.
Keep resistance gear for the raid bosses that need it: fire in Molten Core, nature in Ahn'Qiraj, frost for Sapphiron.

Items worth chasing

Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the WindseekerThe legendary sword: its procs hit several enemies and slow their attacks, great for threat.
Drillborer DiskA high-armour raid shield.
Elementium Reinforced BulwarkA raid shield with block and defense.
Lifegiving GemAn emergency trinket that raises your maximum health.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

Arms
Fury
Protection

Shield Slam Bulwark
TankPvE
1731
17/3/31
A raid main tank built for mitigation: Shield Slam, Last Stand and full Toughness, with Deep Wounds and Impale from Arms adding threat.
- Impale 2/2
- Last Stand 1/1
- Concussion Blow 1/1
- One-Handed Weapon Specialization 5/5
- Shield Slam 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level
Dungeon Shield-Bearer
TankPvE
1731
17/3/31
Tuned for fast dungeon pulls: Improved Revenge and Improved Shield Bash for control, Shield Slam for threat and Deep Wounds for extra damage.
- Anger Management 1/1
- Concussion Blow 1/1
- Improved Shield Bash 2/2
- One-Handed Weapon Specialization 5/5
- Shield Slam 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting

Key talents

Shield Slam · top talent, up to 1
Slam the target with your shield, causing 225 to 235 damage, modified by your shield block value, and has a 50% chance of dispelling 1 magic effect on the target. Also causes a high amount of threat.
Improved Bloodrage · tier 2, up to 2
Increases the instant Rage generated by your Bloodrage ability by 5.
Toughness · tier 2, up to 5
Increases your armor value from items by 10%.
Last Stand · tier 3, up to 1
When activated, this ability temporarily grants you 30% of your maximum hit points for 20 seconds. After the effect expires, the hit points are lost.
Improved Shield Block · tier 3, up to 3
Allows your Shield Block ability to block an additional attack and increases the duration by 2 seconds.
Improved Revenge · tier 3, up to 3
Gives your Revenge ability a 45% chance to stun the target for 3 sec.
Defiance · tier 3, up to 5
Increases the threat generated by your attacks by 15% while in Defensive Stance.
Concussion Blow · tier 5, up to 1
Stuns the opponent for 5 sec.
Improved Shield Bash · tier 5, up to 2
Gives your Shield Bash ability a 100% chance to silence the target for 3 sec.
One-Handed Weapon Specialization · tier 6, up to 5
Increases the damage you deal with One-Handed Melee weapons by 10%.

Protection abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.