The Protection Warrior has long been revered among tanks for simply holding more survivability than any other classes. A lot will need to go south for a properly geared Prot Warrior to end up on their back, and the outstanding DPS of a Fury Warrior means that it’s a relatively simple class to level compared to something like a Priest. Even when tanking, the mantra ‘DPS is threat generation’ strikes true. Dragonflight offered a few reworks to how Warriors operate but don’t stress it too much — fit these best talents into your build, and you won’t struggle much.
Best Warrior Tree talents for Prot Warriors
Warriors already have a bit of baked-in survivability, so when tanking with the Prot spec, we’re looking at AoE damage. Prot Warriors should focus on the Haste stat after Strength, with Versatility taking a third. Toe-to-toe, nothing has more survivability than a Prot Warrior, so don’t be too afraid to reach deeper into rotations for additional damage.
Related: The best Fury Warrior talents in World of Warcraft Dragonflight
Avatar/Unstoppable Force
Much as with the Fury Spec, Avatar remains a solid pick — it turns out turning into a colossus for twenty seconds is simply a desirable trait. Instead of Titan’s Torment, however, we’re opting for Unstoppable Force, which increases both Thunder Clap and Shockwave DPS by 50% while reducing Thunder Clap cooldown by 50%, resulting in a three-second cooldown for the AoE. This increases threat generation since we’re focusing far more on group damage like the Vengeance Demon Hunter, but remember never to let your Shield Block fall off.
Thunderous Roar
The argument could be made for Spear of Bastion instead of Thunderous War — when considering follow-up talents; however, there’s a clear winner in terms of tank specs. Thunderous War procs a DoT bleed against a group of enemies, while follow-up talents Uproar and Thunderous Words decreases the cooldown by a third and increases the DoT timer. Alternating with Thunder Clap, depending on mob and threat size, helps the Prot tank move fluidly through dungeons while offering a reasonable level of DPS.
Best Protection Tree talents for Prot Warriors
The Protection tree has the most important talents for tank warriors.
Shield Charge
The Shield Charge/Champion’s Bulwark is the vital pick for the Prot tree, by no small margin. Shield Charge offers a single-target stun with an AoE damage, helping with threat generation and capable of stunning foes out of casts. Champion’s Bulwark gives an off-cooldown Shield Block, however, which blocks all incoming melee damage for six seconds. It also procs Revenge! and generates additional rage, but being able to proc Shield Block is the primary means of Prot Warriors staying alive in combat.
Tough as Nails
Tough as Nails is a unique passive talent that Prot Warriors should absolutely strive to include in their builds. Tough as Nails allows the Warrior to maintain threat passively during a fight, as every blocked attack increases threat generation towards the attacker. This talent pairs very well with anything that increases block chance, such as the Brace for Impact. This is a vital pick as it greatly decreases the chance of mobs being pulled off during pulls, especially from high-DPS Dragonflight classes such as Demon Hunters and Rogues.
