Critique my warrior tank setup please
Are there any experienced warrior tanks out there that might suggest how I could improve my setup? My main purpose is tanking heroics/karazhan at the moment.
»armory.worldofwarcraft.com/chara···n=Yarock
Thanks!
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-26 14:25:24 · Reply to this
Coolbrz
join:2002-12-16
Port Allegany, PA
Looks pretty good so far, imo. Everyone has little differences in how they do things but here is my take....
I go by the rule of hitting 490 def, then start bumping other stats. Stam/Armor then avoidance. So, pretty much all my tank gear is gemmed with stam gems, either +9 if you cannot afford the elune, but I would go with +12.
You are revered with Keepers of Time, get the Timewarden's Leggings »www.wowhead.com/?item=29184 , socket with +12 stam, they will last you until Curator drops your legs.
There is an easy quest for Sha'tari Vindicator's Waistguard, »www.wowhead.com/?item=31460
If you have the money, you can get Gyro-Balanced Khorium Destroyer »www.wowhead.com/?item=32756 crafted. Very nice stam for tanking.
Can probably wait for Attumen to drop bracers for you, but there is a quest for a green pair in Netherstorm than are actually decent.
Enchant your sword with +15 agility unless you have someone that can do Mongoose for you.
If you do not have a warrior OT, well you mentioned Heroics too, get Imp Tclap.
Everything is pretty decent for starting Kara/heroics though, just some minor tweaks if it were me. Heroics and trash I go with a block set, more block rating and value. Bosses I lean more towards avoidance and high health/armor.
Here is my current setup, our talents are about the same, but Id def get Imp Tclap in your situation. Helps quite a bit when tanking just about anything.
»armory.worldofwarcraft.com/chara···artianna
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-26 14:49:14 · Reply to this
quatra
join:2003-06-22
Matthews, NC Thanks so much very helpful
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-26 14:57:11 · Reply to this
Coolbrz
join:2002-12-16
Port Allegany, PA Bah, also forgot, farm steamvaults until you get Devilshark Cape »www.wowhead.com/?item=27804#M0z
Best tanking cloak for quite some time, imo.
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-26 15:07:44 · Reply to this
Mike
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reply to quatra
Once you hit 490 defense you can start to work on stamina + avoidance more.
My warrior has imp defensive stance for the reduced spell damage.
You don't really need imp bloodrage or tac mastery either.
I usually pull in a 5 man with beserker rage up so I get extra rage from that. Doesn't work well with a mob that fears, but you're alliance so just use fear ward.
--
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to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-26 18:08:19 · Reply to this
gordom
join:2006-06-14
Antelope, CA
reply to quatra
seems like a good place to ask a grinding while protection spec question. (this is from the stand point of a level 63 tauren.)
a: how bad is it really? thinking it can't be any worse then grinding as a resto shaman.
b: weapon choice. do i want to use a shield or two one handed weapons? for two weapon, was going to main hand the axe of the leagon and off hand the rep axe from trallmar. another war told me the sporregor shield and it's dot on block mod is very nice for protection grinding. (ask cause i talked to another war who said he could do more damage with his shield then with a weapon. i talked to these two way before i ever really started the warrior. so didn't get to ask how one choice compared to another.)
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-26 18:40:34 · Reply to this
Mike
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clubs: [Seti@Home] [Folding@Home] [Team RC5] just spec fury or something for grinding then go back.
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-26 18:51:41 · Reply to this
Coolbrz
join:2002-12-16
Port Allegany, PA
said by Mike See Profile :
just spec fury or something for grinding then go back.
I was Fury all the way up until 70. While Prot does help quite a bit in tanking, it is not needed for reg instances unless you run with overgeared DPSers or just plain stupid DPS.
At 70 I farm sometimes as Prot, but my block gear is hovering around 550ish I think, 750 with autoblocker active, so shield slams hit pretty hard, factor in revenge buff and Prot grinding isnt too bad. As long as you have decent block gear 1h + shield is decent grinding. Hardly take any damage either. Alot of Prot warriors will DW and use devastate to grind, for me 1h/shield was faster.
But for leveling, def go fury or even MS.
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-26 19:29:40 · Reply to this
Tehuno
join:2005-01-18
Bartlesville, OK reply to quatra
dont level 60-70 as prot, trust me. i ended up going at MS at 68 cuz it was taking about 15 hours a level from 65-68, and that was with my mage friend helping me along the way.
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-26 19:41:16 · Reply to this
Mighty_Rob
join:2007-02-16
San Antonio, TX
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I went 59-70 as a prot build and although it was a royal pain that took forever, it wasn't that bad. As long as you keep questing and doing 5 mans, you should be fine. Just don't expect to be able to "grind" much by killing mobs purely for the sake of XP. Also, farming is still a royal pain and not even worth the time as prot. I actually had to lvl an alt to farm with.
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-27 08:25:02 · Reply to this
gordom
join:2006-06-14
Antelope, CA
said by Mighty_Rob See Profile :
I actually had to lvl an alt to farm with.
i had to do the same. have a resto shaman main, and what will prob end up being a protection tank alt.
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-27 11:52:33 · Reply to this
quatra
join:2003-06-22
Matthews, NC
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reply to quatra
Is resilience completely worthless once you have 490+ defense against monsters? I realize prot is horrible for pvp but I wonder at what defense rating resilience would become useless against players with crazy crit ratings. BTW, thanks mike for the tip on using berzerker rage when pulling I had never thought of that. I'm getting mongoose on my sun eater as soon as I can find an enchanter with it. I'll respec to get rid of improved blood rage/stance master (although it is nice in arena) and pick up imp tclap/imp defensive stance. I started that quest line for the belt you suggested it's actually about a 12 step quest-line (2 prereq quest lines before it) but I need the arc key anyway. I'll check out the timewardens leggings, I'll be losing 200 armor but adding as much health I suspect.
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-27 13:00:45 · Reply to this
Mighty_Rob
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edit:
July 27th, @01:39PM
said by quatra See Profile :
Is resilience completely worthless once you have 490+ defense against monsters?
Resilience is worthless for PvE action once your defense is at 490+, but if you are going to PvP it is still a huge part. NPC's only have a certain percent chance to crit and your 490+ will make you immune to them, but other players can and will crit you at will without points in resilience. PvP is pretty pointless as prot spec though (speaking from experience) as all it will do is delay the inevitable.
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-27 13:37:51 · Reply to this
SauceMaster
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reply to Mike
said by Mike See Profile :
You don't really need tac mastery either.
I disagree and I believe it's a must for stance dancing , but each to his own.
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-27 14:59:52 · Reply to this
bimzor
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reply to quatra
I would not get rid of imp Bloodrage for tanking. With it you can get Sheild Slam on the first hit and get more threat than any other attack, this will help you if you have over zealous dps and also allows them to start dps faster.
Starting with berzerker rage up is a great way to get additional rage from bosses, I do not think it is worth it for regular trash mobs, but every Boss I pull is with berzerker rage up at the beginning.
I would also get rid of stance mastery, that is 3 points that you will only use for a very limited number of boss fights. Hydross in SSc is a good example of a boss where it comes in handy, because you pull by intercepting the boss in zerker stance, switch to defensive stance and then tank him in place. The extra rage you carry over does help grabbing snap aggro and allows dps to start sooner, this is important because this boss has a enrage timer which will kill the raid if you do not kill him within 10 min.
Imp Thunderclap is useful for all fights, it slows down the enemies attack speed, causes threat to multiple targets and helps to mitigate damage on boss fights. This is a talent I would never go without.
Improved defensive stance is another talent that is very situational. 6% less magic damage IMO is not a good way to use up 3 talent points. If you do the math, a mob that hits you for 4000 magic dmg, this talents maxed out will only lower the total damage by 240. You can easily wear 1 or 2 pieces of resistance gear that will lessen the amount of magical damage against you more than 6%, so Imp Thunderclap will benefit you more in the long run than Imp defensive stance. You should also farm different sets of resistance gear, 295 resistance is the number you are striving for, the cap is 365, and with shaman totems or paladin aura or hunter aspect of the wild, you make up the difference between 295 and the cap. When you are creating this gear you can get epic patterns from Karazhan, the blacksmith just past attunemen the huntsmen, for frost resist, you can get nature gear patterns from reputation from Cenarion Circle, and fire resistance gear from badges of justice from Shattrah City. You will not need any real reistance gear until you get to SSC and start to fight Hydross, where frost/nature resistance is mandatory. However these are items that will be better to farm for earlier so that you aren't trying to get all of the mats a week before SSC. The epic patterns require Primal Nethers, so it is easier to do heroics for them and save the mats until you need to make the gear.
As for the rest, your goal is 495 defense to be uncrittable, after you reach that number you should be looking to max out stamina and armor. During boss fights keep shield block up at all times, this will help to stop crushing blows and will make you easier to heal. Practice the order of your attacks. Start using bloodrage, then your first attack should be Sheild Slam, this generate a lot of aggro right away and will help you control the mobs against dps classes who are trying to top the damage meter, after the initial SS, I generally switch between sunder armor, heroic strike and devastate. Once I feel I have sufficient aggro I make sure I keep thunderclap, shield block, and use SS every time the CD is up.
The one thing you will realize is that what works for 1 tank will not work for all. Every tanking warrior does things in different ways, none are more right or wrong than any others. Find something that works for you and the group you are in and then try to fine tune it.
If you would like to look me up on the armory my tanks name is Bimtank on Zuluhead.
Good luck to you, and if you have any questions please post them, and I will do my best to answer them.
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to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-27 15:18:08 · Reply to this
Mike
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clubs: [Seti@Home] [Folding@Home] [Team RC5] If someone pulls aggro let them die. after 3 or 4 times they learn to let you actually shoot the mob first before they dump on it.
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-27 16:35:52 · Reply to this
Tehuno
join:2005-01-18
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reply to SauceMaster
said by SauceMaster See Profile :
said by Mike See Profile :
You don't really need tac mastery either.
I disagree and I believe it's a must for stance dancing , but each to his own.
The only time tank warriors typically stance dance is to avoid fear, and zerker rage dosent cost rage, so its not really necessary. If the first few tiers of the prot tree werent so strong it would be a good place to put some filler points, but as it is most endgame tanks will pass over tact mastery for the added mitigation/threat talents.
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-27 16:55:05 · Reply to this
shorto85
join:2002-04-28
Citrus Heights, CA
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edit:
July 30th, @02:31AM
reply to quatra
My talent setup... tanked everything up to Kaz'rogal in Hyjal...
»armory.worldofwarcraft.com/chara···a&n=Nard
Probably dropping the points in TM and putting 1 more in imp defensive stance and the other one in imp shield wall.
Pay no attention to my shield... we've only had 1 legacy defender drop and Kaz'rogal didn't drop his tonight either
to forum · permalink · [Encourage,Ignore,Watch] · 2007-07-30 02:28:55 · Reply to this
Tehuno
join:2005-01-18
Bartlesville, OK i didnt know there was a shield inbetween the one off gruul and the one off illidan, woot! since we just got our 1st kael kill last night, we will be starting on hyjal this next week, cant wait to get in there =)