I'm more of a cabbage patch kid myself.... but back on topic:
In my opinion, you can get a lot out of Protection with as little as 13 points (Shield Spec, Bloodrage, Toughness, and 1 shield block). For pre-Molten Core raids you can get some great utility up to 23-25 points (stuns, shield bash silence, imp. disarm come to mind). In non-stunnable/silenceable/disarmable situations (bosses & most of MC I'm told), defiance, improved taunt, and imp. shield wall may or may not add to your effectiveness. If you're having issues holding aggro, then shield discipline+bash may be necessary, many people claim to hold aggro well enough without it.
More important, I would say, is making gear choices with the mindset of a primary tank. Stamina, +defense, +% dodge and of course the armor value itself all being of primary interest with agility (dodge/parry/block boost) and strength (amount blocked boost) still being of interest. Having a golf bag of resist gear to switch in (esp. rings) is good too.
My suggestion would be trying the following build keeping sweeping strikes while getting group friendly talents from other trees:
- Arms to Sweeping Strikes (avoiding rend/deep wounds as long as the debuff slot cap is an issue). 21 points.
- Protection to Imp Shield block 1. 13 points.
- Fury to Enrage 2 (including piercing howl). 17 points.
In my opinion, you can get a lot out of Protection with as little as 13 points (Shield Spec, Bloodrage, Toughness, and 1 shield block). For pre-Molten Core raids you can get some great utility up to 23-25 points (stuns, shield bash silence, imp. disarm come to mind). In non-stunnable/silenceable/disarmable situations (bosses & most of MC I'm told), defiance, improved taunt, and imp. shield wall may or may not add to your effectiveness. If you're having issues holding aggro, then shield discipline+bash may be necessary, many people claim to hold aggro well enough without it.
More important, I would say, is making gear choices with the mindset of a primary tank. Stamina, +defense, +% dodge and of course the armor value itself all being of primary interest with agility (dodge/parry/block boost) and strength (amount blocked boost) still being of interest. Having a golf bag of resist gear to switch in (esp. rings) is good too.
My suggestion would be trying the following build keeping sweeping strikes while getting group friendly talents from other trees:
- Arms to Sweeping Strikes (avoiding rend/deep wounds as long as the debuff slot cap is an issue). 21 points.
- Protection to Imp Shield block 1. 13 points.
- Fury to Enrage 2 (including piercing howl). 17 points.