Warrior tanking builds

[Artega]

Some credible estimates recently have shown that 60% of prot warrior threat generation scales with damage done (I have no source so take that for what it is worth). Assuming that is true, 5/5 Cruelty is really roughly 3% greater threat generation. 5/5 1H spec is somewhat less than 6% greater threat generation due to the use of shield slam for a nice chunk of that 60%. That is unless 1H spec also applies to shield slam damage... that's an interesting question that I am not certain of.

If you consider the big value these talents are for when you aren't tanking, I think you'll see why most tanks choose to take cruelty and 1H spec.

That of course doesn't imply that you have to.

One-Handed Weapon Specialization also affects Shield Slam and Shield Bash.

The talent build that I usually use is this one, though I'm sure it's not good for 25-man raiding. But I doubt I'll ever see 25-man raids, and I see Karazhan pretty rarely as it is, so it works for me. Heroic Strike accounts for a fair bit of my threat, particularly in Heroics where some fights I'll have plenty of rage to dump, so making it more efficient is a no-brainer. I don't need Improved Taunt because I don't lose aggro. I don't need Improved Defensive Stance because at the level of things I'm tanking, an extra 6% off a damage type that I don't face a great deal of to begin with is fairly pointless. Improved Shield Bash gives me a silence on top of the interrupt which makes pulling casters with multiple spell schools feasible (though the daze effect is annoying) and is also handy for PvP. I do not need Anticipation because I can hit 490 defense quite easily through gear alone, and I don't even NEED 490 defense if I choose to wear a couple pieces of PvP gear, since the resilience crit reduction more than covers the small amount missing if I go down to 470 or 460 defense.