A Guide to the Protection Warrior (in PvP)

[Artega]

A. Alliance Races


Humans

Perception – Activate to dramatically increase stealth detection strength and radius for 20 seconds. 3 minute cooldown. Activated.

Sword Specialization - +5 bonus to Two-Handed Swords and One-Handed Swords skills. Passive.

Mace Specialization - +5 bonus to Two-Handed Maces and One-Handed Maces skills. Passive.

The Human Spirit – Total Spirit increased by 5%. Passive.

Diplomacy – All Reputation gains are increased by 10%. Passive.

As a whole, Humans are a pretty poor choice for Warriors; while they receive two weapon bonuses, the bonuses are not nearly good enough to counter the relative uselessness of Perception (it’s only useful if you know the Rogue is there, and if you know that, Demoralizing Shout, Piercing Howl, and even Thunder Clap do the same job without a 3 minute cooldown.) Likewise, The Human Spirit isn’t going to do much for a Warrior, who won’t have very much Spirit to boost. Diplomacy is pretty handy if you’re aching for Reputation-based rewards from Battlegrounds vendors, or you absolutely must have a cross-racial mount.


Dwarves

Stoneform – Activate to increase total Armor by 10% and become to all Bleeding, Poison, and Disease effects for 20 seconds. 3 minute cooldown. Activated.

Gun Specialization - +5 bonus to Guns skill. Passive.

Frost Resistance – Natural +10 to Frost Resistance. Passive.

Treasure Finding – Activate to show nearby treasure chests on the minimap. Remains active until cancelled or another tracking ability is activated. Activated Passive.

Dwarves are definitely one of the better races for Warriors, with Stoneform contributing a large boost to Armor and immunity to Poisons (the other two effects being marginally useful), which means Rogues will have serious difficulty with you. Gun Specialization and Treasure Finding aren’t great, but Frost Resistance is an excellent skill, increasing the chance that you’ll resist that a Frost Nova at a critical time.


Night Elves

Shadowmeld – Activate to blend into the shadows, becoming invisible. Lasts until cancelled or you take a hostile or overt action (such as interacting with the environment.) Cannot be used in combat. Activated.

Quickness – Additive +1% bonus to Dodge. Passive.

Wisp Form – Assume a wisp form in the ghost world, increasing your speed to 150% of normal, compared to other races’ 125%. Passive.

Nature Resistance – Natural +10 to Nature Resistance. Passive.

Night Elves are quite possibly the most popular Warrior race for the Alliance, especially for PvP purposes. Shadowmeld almost always guarantees that you will get the first attack (e.g. Charge) in many battles, and allows for relatively safe rezzing outdoors. Wisp Form is very useful for getting back into the fight faster than other races, though it’s only active when you’re dead (which we are trying to avoid.) Quickness makes a negligible difference in the grand scheme of things, though Nature Resistance comes in handy when facing Druids and Shamans (whose Lightning spells are Nature-based), as well as Rogues that have a Poison fetish.


Gnomes

Escape Artist – Activate to free yourself from any snare or root effects currently active on you. 0.5s cast, 1 minute cooldown. Activated.

Expansive Mind – Total Intellect increased by 5%. Passive.

Technologist – +15 to Engineering skill. Passive.

Arcane Resistance – Natural +10 to Nature Resistance. Passive.

Gnomes are probably the underdog race for Warriors, even though their racial abilities are superior to the other Alliance races’ in most cases. Escape Artist allows you to nearly instantly counter the bane of Warriors – roots and snares – once per minute. Because they receive a +15 bonus to a production skill, taking Engineering as a Gnome is a no-brainer. Arcane Resistance is marginally useful when fighting Mages, but in practice is little more useful than Expansive Mind (which, of course, is utterly pointless for a Warrior.)