A Guide to the Protection Warrior (in PvP)

[Artega]

B. Horde Races


Orcs

Blood Fury – Activate to increase base melee Attack Power by 25% for 20 seconds, at the cost of HP. 2 minute cooldown. Activated.

Hardiness – Base chance to resist Stun and Incapacitate effects additively increased by 25%. Passive.

Command – Pet melee damage increased by 5%. Passive.

Axe Specialization - +5 bonus to Two-Handed Axes and One-Handed Axes skills. Passive.

Orcs are one of the more popular Horde race choices, primarily due to Hardiness, which makes you an utter pain in the ass to fight as a Rogue, as well as any other class that makes frequent use of stuns or incapacitation. Blood Fury can up your damage output for a limited amount of time, which can be handy at times. Command is pointless for Warriors, since Engineering trinkets are considered Guardians, and not Pets. Axe Specialization is only useful if you use Axes (duh), and there aren’t many choice one-handed axes when compared to maces and swords.


Trolls

Berserking – Activate to increase melee attack speed by 10% and take 10% more physical damage for 20 seconds. Only useable after being the victim of a critical strike. 2 minute cooldown. Activated.

Troll Regeneration – HP regeneration is active during combat at 10% of normal, and normal HP regeneration is increased by 10%. Passive.

Beast Slaying – +5 bonus to Melee and Ranged Attack when fighting Beasts. Passive.

Throwing Specialization - +5 bonus to Throwing skill. Passive.

Quite possibly the most uncommon Warrior race (and perhaps the most uncommon race in the game overall), Trolls don’t have a great deal to offer to a Warrior. Berserking is useful for increasing your overall damage output (and especially Rage generation if you have Unbridled Wrath), but the increased damage taken makes this ability somewhat undesirable, and Throwing Specialization is pretty much crap, given that Throwing weapons can’t have stat boosts that Bows and Guns get. Beast Slaying equally useless, given that all PvP opponents are Humanoid. Troll Regeneration can actually be quite good if you manage to stack enough Spirit, though you’d probably be better off selecting a different race and stacking better stats. Pick Troll if you want to be unique; otherwise, avoid this race.


Undead

Will of the Forsaken – Activate to become immune to all Fear and Charm effects for 5 seconds, and break any existing effects active on you. 2 minute cooldown. Activated.

Underwater Breathing – Able to stay underwater 300% longer than other races. Passive.

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

Cannibalize – Activate to cannibalize any nearby Humanoid or Undead corpses, regenerating 35% of your total HP over 7 seconds. Any damage taken will interrupt the effect. 2 minute cooldown. Activated Passive.

Undead are, by far, the best overall choice for a PvP anything. Will of the Forsaken makes Priests a great deal easier to fight (especially when you consider that you can also use Berserker Rage to break Fear effects), as is the case with any class that makes extensive use of Fear effects. Underwater Breathing is a godsend in the unlikely event you decide to take a fight underwater (which can actually be a good idea; stun your opponent as they try to swim for the surface and laugh as they drown), and Shadow Resistance further increases your effectiveness against Priests and Warlocks. Cannibalize is equal to Heavy Runecloth Bandages for rapid healing, and the ability to munch on the corpse of someone you just pounded into the ground is hilarious.


Tauren

War Stomp – Activate to stun up to 5 nearby enemies for 2 seconds. 0.5s cast, 2 minute cooldown. Activated.

Cultivation – Herbalism skill increased by 15. Passive.

Endurance – Total HP increased by 5%. Passive.

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

Tauren are perhaps the best overall choice for Protection Warriors, possessing an AE stun ability (exceptionally useful in both PvE and PvP settings) and a great boost to total HP – a Tauren Warrior will always have more HP than any other Warrior of a different race if they are wearing identical gear, and this extra HP can sometimes mean the difference between victory and defeat. Cultivation is quite handy if you decide to take Alchemy, since it will allow you to pick Earthroot right off the bat. Nature Resistance is less useful for Tauren, since they won’t normally be fighting Shamans outside of tournaments and duels, though it’s still very handy against Druids and Poison-whoring Rogues.