A Guide to the Protection Warrior (in PvP)

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For those of you that haven't read Skandranon's guide, do not post replies to this thread; it's exclusively for the guide itself. I'll have a comment thread up for comments and feedback, as well as for notification when I update the guide, and whatever else comes up.

Overview

Many people believe that Protection Warriors are ineffective in PvP combat, and this guide is here to help dispel that rumor. This guide is only geared towards PvP, and will not elaborate on PvE concepts. Additionally, this guide assumes the reader has an accurate and competent grasp of basic Warrior concepts (including jousting and Fear-Aid™), and will not take the time to explain Warrior skills and talents. The guide covers race selection, since activated racial abilities (and some passive racial abilities) can drastically alter the outcome of some battles; this guide will also cover equipment and what to expect in PvP, assuming both the Warrior (and/or his party) and the opposition are geared in UBRS blues. Many believe UBRS blues to be the last point in PvP, gear-wise, where all classes are still in relative balance. Additionally, non-raiding and casual players will likely be restricted to gear of that level (and possibly ZG-level blues and purples, which will be covered in later updates), thus making a guide assuming that readers will be geared in BWL purples rather pointless for them. In UBRS-level PvP, there is nothing that affects the outcome of a battle more than personal skill at playing the class; this guide cannot replace or even mitigate the impact of personal skill, but instead will help its readers gain valuable knowledge that can be used to further their own skills, whether they use the information gained to play or defeat Protection Warriors in PvP.



Table of Contents

I. Racial Abilities
- A. Alliance Races
- B. Horde Races

II. Talents

III. Equipment and Professions
- A. All-Purpose Equipment
- B. Anti-Melee Equipment
- C. Anti-Caster Equipment
- D. Enchantments
- 1. Armor Enchants
- 2. Weapon Enchants
- E. Production Professions
- 1. Blacksmithing
- 2. Engineering
- 3. Alchemy


IV. PvP Basics

V. Battlegrounds PvP
- A. Warsong Gulch
- 1. Offense
- 2. Defense
- B. Arathi Basin
- C. Alterac Valley

VI. Credits and Acknowledgements

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I. Racial Abilities

Race determines a bit more than simply what your character will look like; racial abilities, when used properly, can sometimes drastically alter the outcome of a battle. The most popular Warrior races are Night Elves and Undead; the least popular are Trolls and Gnomes.

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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.)

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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.

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II. Talents

For the sake of brevity, this guide will only be discussing a single core talent build, though it will cover optional talent placement for those of you who wish to be a bit more distinctive.

The Core Talent Build

Protection Talents – 31 Points (31 total)

• Shield Specialization – 5/5
• Improved Bloodrage – 1/2
• Toughness – 5/5
• Improved Shield Block – 1/2
• Improved Revenge – 3/3
• Defiance – 5/5
• Improved Shield Wall – 2/2
• Improved Shield Bash – 2/2
• Concussion Blow – 1/1
• One-Handed Weapon Specialization – 5/5
• Shield Slam – 1/1

Arms Talents – 9 Points (40 total)

• Deflection – 5/5
• Tactical Mastery – 4/5

Fury Talents – 11 Points (51 total)

• Cruelty – 5/5
• Unbridled Wrath – 5/5
• Piercing Howl – 1/1

This core build scoops up the critical talents in both the Fury and Arms trees (Piercing Howl, Cruelty, and Tactical Mastery), and also gets every major talent in the Protection tree. Piercing Howl gives you an additional snare (as well as allowing you to use a snare in Defensive Stance), Cruelty increases your overall DPS and Rage generation, and Tactical Mastery is a no-brainer, allowing you a good deal more maneuverability and variation in combat. While Defiance has no bearing on PvP performance, it’s so useful in PvE combat it’s in this build.

Some common substitutions:

• 2/2 Improved Taunt, in exchange for 1/2 Improved Shield Block and 1/2 Improved Bloodrage. It reduces your PvP abilities, but increases your PvE abilities, especially for PUGs (where Taunt will see a lot of use.)

• 5/5 Anticipation instead of 5/5 One-Handed Weapon Specialization or 5/5 Defiance. Losing One-Handed Weapon Specialization will significantly hurt your damage output (and, thus, Rage generation) and is not advised. Losing Defiance will make you have to work harder at tanking in PvE, but will improve your defensive performance.

• 5/5 Improved Demoralizing Shout for 5/5 Unbridled Wrath. This increases your Demoralizing Shout to -196 Attack Power, changing the DPS loss from -10 to -14. Not recommended, but it’s doable if you’re obsessive about mitigating incoming damage.

• 3/3 Improved Sunder Armor, in place of 3/3 Improved Revenge. Before the 1.9 change that removed all forms of diminishing returns from Improved Revenge, this was how this talent build went. It’s still very effective, especially if you don’t see a need for an occasional stun when fighting melee opponents. It can help increase your effectiveness against casters, but will probably hurt your performance against melee targets.

• 2/2 Improved Bloodrage and 1/1 Last Stand in place of 3/3 Improved Revenge. Like some of the other options, this reduces your offense in favor of defense. Last Stand can be used like an extra Major Healing Potion, and with both talent points, Bloodrage will cost next to no HP (not that it costs much now.)

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III. Equipment and Professions

You are what you wear. The right selection of equipment can make a massive difference in battle outcomes, though you won’t always have the luxury of choosing what you’re going to wear to the party. Your production profession can affect your viability in combat somewhat, depending on what branch you go down, and depending on the profession itself. All three professions have at least one item that is Bind-on-Pickup (though Alchemy’s, besides the Philosopher’s Stone, is such a monumental pain in the ass to make, it’s really pretty pointless mentioning it.) Engineering can make a huge difference against caster classes, using bombs and grenades as an additional spell interrupt, while dynamite can be used against all classes as quick burst damage. As mentioned in the Overview, only equipment that can be acquired through the Level-60 five-man instances (Stratholme, Scholomance, Blackrock Spire, Dire Maul) will be listed; anything above or that requires excessive Reputation grinding (e.g. Battlegrounds vendors) is not considered.

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A. All-Purpose Equipment

Your All-Purpose Equipment outfit is pretty much what it says: it’s designed to be able to handle all situations with relative efficiency, since you can’t change Armor or Trinkets when engaged in combat. It’s effective against all opponents, and is the set of choice when facing hybrid classes or any opponent that doesn’t fit into the melee or caster archetypes. It offers a good balance between offensive power and defensive power, possessing strong Strength and Stamina boosts, along with a smattering of +Defense and +Critical. It lacks large amounts of any kind of Resistance, however.

Head: Enchanted Thorium Helm (Armorsmithing)
Shoulder: Bulky Iron Spaulders (Ogre Guards, Dire Maul – North Entrance)
Chest: Kromcrush’s Chestplate (Captain Kromcrush, Dire Maul – North
Entrance)
Belt: Omokk’s Girth Restrainer (Quest, Lower Blackrock Spire)
Legs: Eldritch Reinforced Legplates (Prince Tortheldin, Dire Maul – West Entrance)
Boots: Ribsteel Footguards (Urok Doomhowl, Lower Blackrock Spire)
Bracers: Battleborn Armbraces (Rend Blackhand, Upper Blackrock Spire)
Gloves: Reiver Claws (Overlord Wyrmthalak, Lower Blackrock Spire)
Right Hand: Timeworn Mace (Prince Tortheldin, Dire Maul – West Entrance)
Left Hand: Draconian Deflector (General Drakkisath, Upper Blackrock Spire)
Back: Redoubt Cloak (Ogre Tribute Chest, Dire Maul – North Entrance)
Ring 1: Band of the Ogre King (King Gordok, Dire Maul – North Entrance)
Ring 2: Band of the Ogre King (King Gordok, Dire Maul – North Entrance)
Neck: Emberfury Talisman (Pyroguard Emberseer, Upper Blackrock Spire)
Trinket 1: Mark of Tyranny (Quest, Upper Blackrock Spire)
Trinket 2: Hand of Justice (General Angerforge, Blackrock Depths)

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B. Anti-Melee Equipment

This equipment set focuses entirely on defending against melee attackers: other Warriors, Paladins, Rogues, and the occasional Survival Hunter. Because the general strategy regarding opposing melee classes is to wear them down over time, this gear-set sacrifices offensive power (such as Agility and +Critical boosts) for extra defensive power (+Defense, extra Armor, and extra Stamina.) Additionally, the shield is changed out for one specifically designed to defend against melee attacks. Like the All-Purpose build, it lacks Resistances, under the assumption that most melee attackers will not be using significant amounts of magical damage.

Head: Enchanted Thorium Helm (Armorsmithing)
Shoulder: Bulky Iron Spaulders (Ogre Guards, Dire Maul – North Entrance)
Chest: Kromcrush’s Chestplate (Captain Kromcrush, Dire Maul – North Entrance)
Belt: Handcrafted Mastersmith Girdle (Goraluk Anvilcrack, Upper Blackrock Spire)
Legs: Enchanted Thorium Leggings (Armorsmithing)
Boots: Ribsteel Footguards (Urok Doomhowl, Lower Blackrock Spire)
Bracers: Fel-Hardened Gauntlets (Lord Hel'nurath, Dire Maul – West Entrance)
Gloves: Force Imbued Gauntlets (Hunter Chick, Dire Maul – West Entrance)
Right Hand: Timeworn Mace (Prince Tortheldin, Dire Maul – West Entrance)
Left Hand: Barrier Shield (Ogre Tribute Chest, Dire Maul – North Entrance)
Back: Redoubt Cloak (Ogre Tribute Chest, Dire Maul – North Entrance)
Ring 1: Band of the Ogre King (King Gordok, Dire Maul – North Entrance)
Ring 2: Band of the Ogre King (King Gordok, Dire Maul – North Entrance)
Neck: Evil Eye Talisman (Immol'thar, Dire Maul - West Entrance)
Trinket 1: Mark of Tyranny (Quest, Upper Blackrock Spire)
Trinket 2: Royal Seal of Eldre'Thalas (Quest, Dire Maul)

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C. Anti-Caster Equipment

Just like it sounds, this equipment set is designed for maiming, annoying, and killing casters as quickly and efficiently as possible. It lacks the defensive capabilities and adornments to excel against melee targets, but it’s not designed with them in mind. While it includes a smattering of Resistances, it tends towards Shadow Resistance more than any other kind (it being among the easiest to get), making this set especially effective against Priests and Warlocks of all kinds (though it’s especially effective against Shadow Priests and Shadow Mastery/Ruin Warlocks.) If you’re a Blacksmith, consider replacing Kromcrush’s Chestplate with Dark Iron Plate, for additional Fire Resistance.

Head: Darkrune Helm (Armorsmithing)
Shoulder: Dark Iron Shoulders (Blacksmithing)
Chest: Darkrune Breastplate (Armorsmithing)
Belt: Omokk’s Girth Restrainer (Quest, Lower Blackrock Spire)
Legs: Eldritch Reinforced Legplates (Prince Tortheldin, Dire Maul – West Entrance)
Boots: Corpselight Greaves (Undead Guy, Stratholme – Undead Side)
Bracers: Battleborn Armbraces (Rend Blackhand, Upper Blackrock Spire)
Gloves: Darkrune Gauntlets (Armorsmithing)
Right Hand: Silent Fang (Darkmaster Gandling, Scholomance)
Left Hand: Draconian Deflector (General Drakkisath, Upper Blackrock Spire)
Back: Redoubt Cloak (Ogre Tribute Chest, Dire Maul – North Entrance)
Ring 1: Band of the Ogre King (King Gordok, Dire Maul – North Entrance)
Ring 2: Band of the Ogre King (King Gordok, Dire Maul – North Entrance)
Neck: Emberfury Talisman (Pyroguard Emberseer, Upper Blackrock Spire)
Trinket 1: Royal Seal of Eldre'Thalas (Quest, Dire Maul)
Trinket 2: Hand of Justice (General Angerforge, Blackrock Depths)

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D. Enchantments

Enchantments take a good equipment set from the point of being merely good to the point of being great. For this guide, “enchantments” are defined as being any permanent addition to a piece of equipment, which includes Leatherworking patches, Blacksmithing chains, Libram enchants, and the like. Additionally, it’s assumed that readers have accomplished crafters and enchanters on their server (e.g. ones that have access to enchants and prints that can only be attained through raiding or extensive Reputation grinding), so all enchants will be considered.

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1. Armor Enchants

Head

Not too many options for head enchants; the Libram Enchant is about the only practical option here.

Chest

Several options are available here. You can go with a basic +100 HP enchant, which is probably the best bet if you’re on a budget. If you have some money to burn, the +5 to all stats enchant is a bit better (you lose 50 HP, but gain .25% Dodge, .25% critical, and 10 Attack Power.) The other option would be either a Thick Armor Kit if you’re on a very tight budget, or a Core Leather Patch if you want a little extra Defense.

Legs

Your main options here are either the aforementioned Thick Armor Kits or Core Leather Kits, or a Libram enchant. Go with an Armor kit if you’re on a budget, or splurge for a Libram.

Boots

Quite a wide variety of options here. Blacksmiths can affix Mithril Spurs to your boots, increasing your mounted movement speed by 3%, which can give you an edge when chasing down a mounted opponent. Enchanters can slap on a variety of stat boosts, including Stamina and Agility. Enchanters can also add a footspeed enchant that increases your normal on-foot movement speed by 3%, which can be somewhat useful. You can also elect for an Armor Kit if you’re on a budget. Stamina enchants are probably going to be the most useful here.

Bracers

Like Boots, enchanters can add a variety of stat boosts here, including the usual suspects (Strength, Stamina, Agility.) Stamina boosts, like always, are going to be king here. If you’re a Troll and want to abuse the hell out of Troll Regeneration, consider getting a Spirit enchant, instead.

Gloves

Even more options here for enchanters. You can get damned near anything on gloves, from skill boosts for gathering professions, to more mundane stat boosts. As with Boots, Chests, and Legs, you can also affix Armor Kits here if you’re looking for a boost on a budget. As with Boots and Bracers, Stamina boosts are probably going to be king.

Back

Cloak enchants typically come in one of three flavors: Armor, all-resistance, or single-resistance. Armor is your basic enchant, and would be best for everyday use. Avoid the All-Resistances enchant if you can; it doesn’t provide a large enough boost to really make a difference, and it’s a good deal more expensive than a Single-Resistance boost (which also happens to boost the Resistance in question more.)

Shields

Shields can receive a variety of buffs, including stat boosts, an increase in your chance to block, shield spikes from Blacksmiths, and even minor boosts to Resistances! The most popular enchants are Stamina boosts and shield spikes, though I personally prefer the Frost Resistance and Blocking enchants (since Frost Resistance is somewhat difficult to find in significant amounts, and more Blocking is always good.)

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2. Weapon Enchants

Lifestealing

• Lifestealing frequently (roughly 5 ppm) hits your target for 45 Shadow damage, and heals you for the damage it does. This healing effect also generates threat.

• Pros: Heals more than the Crusader enchant, and will cause more damage than the Crusader enchant against high-Armor targets.

• Cons: Does less damage than the Crusader enchant, the damage effect can be resisted (which also prevents any healing), and it’s somewhat expensive.

• It generates a medium purple glow.


Crusader

• Crusader occasionally (roughly 2 ppm) activates, healing you for 90 and increasing your Strength by 100 for 10 seconds. The healing effect generates threat.

• Pros: Can cause a large boost in damage against low-Armor targets, and the Strength boost translates into an additional 4 damage blocked.

• Cons: Does less damage than Lifestealing against high-Armor targets, and heals less. It’s also somewhat expensive.

• It generates a strong white glow.


Fiery Weapon

• Fiery Weapon frequently (roughly 5 ppm) hits your target for 40 Fire damage. The damage done is nearly identical to Lifestealing (against high-Armor targets with little or no Fire Resistance), though it doesn’t heal you.

• Pros: Consistent damage against high-Armor targets, and it’s fairly inexpensive.

• Cons: Still slightly less damage than Lifestealing and Crusader, and it won’t heal you.

• It generates a strong, orange flame.


Strength or Agility

• Strength and Agility increase the stat in question by 15.

• Pros: Permanent increase to a single stat, and it’s a fairly large increase. Strength translates into an additional 30 Attack Power (or a bit over 2 DPS), while Agility is worth .75% Dodge and .75% Critical.

• Cons: Very expensive

• They both generate a strong green glow.


Striking

• Striking increases the minimum and maximum damage range of your weapon by 7.

• Pros: The most consistent damage boost available, and it’s reasonably priced.

• Cons: It deals less damage than all of the other enchants listed (except perhaps Strength), and it’s not so inexpensive it makes up for that.

• It generates an intense blue glow.


Steel Weapon Chain

• Steel Weapon Chains are made and affixed by Blacksmiths, and render you immune to Disarm.

• Pros: Immunity to Disarm is handy against Riposte Rogues, other Warriors, and any of those excruciatingly annoying mobs that like to spam Disarm. It’s also very cheap.

• Cons: It offers absolutely no damage boost or stat boosts, and is pointless against enemies that can’t Disarm.

• It does not produce a visible effect.


Choose the best enchant, based on your budget (Agility or Strength if you’re rolling in the cash, Crusader or Lifestealing if you’re reasonably wealthy, Fiery Weapon if you don’t have a lot to spare, and a Steel Weapon Chain if you’re downright broke), and based on what you spend most of your time beating on. If you find yourself fighting high-Armor targets frequently (Paladins, Hunters, Shamans, and other Warriors), Lifestealing or Fiery Weapon are going to be your best bets. Against everything else, Crusader and Agility are going to be better.

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E. Production Professions

Because Leatherworking and Tailoring produce nothing that a Warrior would consider using, they aren’t listed here. Neither are gathering skills, since they don’t offer any benefits besides being able to gather the raw materials you need to craft for yourself, rather than having someone else do it or buying them off the AH. Additionally, professions are only covered insofar as useful things that they can produce, and specifically what they produce that is Bind on Pickup (things that only people of that particular profession can ever get.)

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1. Blacksmithing

Blacksmithing is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the most arduous and lengthy profession to skill, and there really isn’t a whole lot to show for it. Every weapon or piece of armor that you produce to gain a skillpoint costs a ridiculous amount of raw material (especially when you consider how weak they are, compared to what you can get from instances), but there are a few Bind-on-Pickup items and such that it produces, a couple of nice quest reward trinkets, and there’s something to be said for wearing an expensive piece of armor with your name on it.

Blacksmithing produces these Bind-on-Pickup items:

Dark Iron Plate – 817 Armor, +21 Stamina, +19 Fire Resistance. Armorsmithing only. Essentially a better-looking version of Ornate Adamantium Breastplate with Fire Resistance in lieu of +Defense. Very handy when going up against spellcasters (Warlocks and Mages being the most obvious), so it makes an ideal substitute for Kromcrush’s Chestplate in the Anti-caster setup. It’s also extremely useful for Molten Core, in the event that you get a shot at getting down there.

Item

Item

Item

Blacksmithing receives these items as quest rewards:

Glimmering Mithril Insignia – Activate to dispel all Fear, Stun, and Incapacitate effects active on you. 10 minute cooldown. Trinket. While the cooldown is rather lengthy, it’s basically Will of the Forsaken on a badge, and the importance of that can’t be overstated.

Symbol of Expertise – Activate to summon the Hammer of Expertise, an epic one-handed mace for 1 hour. 3 hour cooldown. This loses importance as you start getting weapons that are actually better than the hammer produced by this trinket, but it’s extremely useful until you get to that point. It makes leveling much faster, and can give you one hell of an edge in PvP for a few levels.

Item

Item

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2. Engineering

Engineering is widely regarded as The PvP Profession™. Seemingly everything it produces has an excellent use in PvP, and it produces a wide variety of items. Exploding Sheep, dynamite, grenades, and bombs are all extremely useful in PvP for various reasons, and the trinket pets can add a little extra DPS here and there. It’s an obvious choice for Gnomes, and it’s the profession of choice, unless you want something from Blacksmithing, or you’re Tauren and want to take Alchemy to take advantage of Cultivation.

Engineering produces these Bind-on-Pickup items:

Gnomish Death Ray – Activate to channel a spell, causing damage to you, then cause severe damage to target. Damage dealt to you determines how much damage is dealt to your target. Trinket. 5 minute cooldown. The Death Ray is one of two reasons people tend to take Gnomish Engineering over Goblin Engineering. When you activate the trinket, you begin channeling a short spell (it can’t be interrupted or staggered, though stuns and such will stop it cold) that causes a variable amount of damage to you in a series of ticks, then it fires a beam that causes a devastating amount of damage to your target. How much damage that beam causes depends on how much damage you took during the channeling process, and it can inflict anywhere from 500 to upwards of 1500 damage. Additionally, this attack can crit, and there have been several people witnessing and/or being victimized by crits that have dealt more than 5000 damage. On top of this, the attack can’t be avoided in any way; the only way to avoid it is to stun the person before they finish channeling the spell.

Gnomish Net-O-Matic – Activate to ensnare your target in a hooked net, rooting them to the ground for 10 seconds. Trinket. 10 minute cooldown. Like most other Engineering gadgets, the net gun can (and often does) backfire in a variety of ways. Besides firing normally, the net gun can root you instead, or root both of you in place, side-by-side. While it’s pretty useful, I’ve never seen a reason to need it, since we already have two potent snares.

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3. Alchemy

While Alchemy doesn’t produce any Bind-on-Pickup items (besides one that’s more trouble than it’s worth), making your own potions will generally save you money in the long run, especially after you consider the absurd prices people want for them in the AH.

Useful potions that alchemy produces:

Major Healing Potions – A real no-brainer here. Heals you for 1350-2200 HP instantly, with a 2 minute cooldown. Since we can’t heal ourselves (beyond bandaging tricks), healing potions are a necessity.

Major Rage Potions – Instantly gives you 60 Rage and increases your Strength by 75 for 20 seconds. Shares the same 2 minute timer with healing potions. You always want a handful of these, since a quick 60 Rage can be a godsend at times, and the Strength bonus increases both DPS and blocking. Preferable to healing potions when you have a healer buddy around.

Greater Frost, Fire, Shadow, Holy, Nature Protection Potions – Absorbs a certain amount of the specified type of magical damage, and shares the same 2 minute timer with healing and rage potions. Protection effect lasts 30 minutes. Obviously, these are extremely useful if you know what spec of Mage you’re going up against. Best used well before battle, so you can drink a Rage or healing potion when you need it. Use Holy Protection potions when you’re facing down a Paladin, and Nature Protection potions when combating Shamans.

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IV. PvP Basics

There are some fundamental differences between Protection and Arms or Fury Warriors. First off, Protection Warriors almost must travel with a group (preferably with at least one healing class) to excel. Second, Protection Warriors need to play much more aggressively than Arms or Fury Warriors, because that’s where our disruptive abilities are best used. While an Arms or Fury Warrior can only beat on something in the hopes that they can kill it before it kills them (or their healer), a Protection Warrior can stun, silence, and still do a reasonable amount of damage, and are much harder to kill.


Things you should do as a Protection Warrior:

• Lead your group’s charge on the enemy formation. Get used to charging in, hitting Berserker Rage (to negate any knee-jerk Psychic Screams), and then following up with a Concussion Blow, Shield Bash, or Intimidating Shout.

• Pursue enemy casters without let-up. Several of your abilities can be particularly debilitating to enemy casters (especially if you’re using Silent Fang, and it procs), making it very hard for them to do what they’re supposed to be doing. In particular, you’re going to want to chase Priests.

• Avoid fighting one-on-one if you can help it; while you have the defense to support a lengthy fight, you lack the offense to end it. Against enemies that hit slow and hard (such as Arms Warriors), you’re going to lose, and lose badly. Against enemies that specialize in staying alive (Holy Priests, Paladins of all kinds, Druids), you’re going to spend 15 minutes before either of you gets anywhere near death. Your place is with your group, not playing Rambo half a klick away.

• Leave the Priest-sitting to your Fury and Arms comrades; they’re capable of killing that Rogue eating your Priest much faster than you are. Your place is at the front of the battle, not the back.

• Spread your stuns out. Revenge Stun aside, all of your stuns (including War Stomp, if you’re Tauren) share a single diminishing returns timer. That is, if you just hit one person with a Charge or Intercept, the next stun to hit them within 15 seconds is going to be at half duration. Don’t waste your Concussion Blow when it’s only going to be at half or one-quarter duration.


Things you should not do as a Protection Warrior:

• Turtle. Most people think Protection = Turtle, and that’s the exact opposite of how it's supposed to be played. While being Protection means you are hard to kill, it doesn’t mean the Priest keeping you healthy is. Your insane durability and disruption potential aren’t seeing much use if you’re camping in the back.

• Go play Rambo. You’re not cut out for fighting alone. If you want to be Rambo, go spec Fury or roll a Rogue.

• Ignore your healbot. If your healbot is out of mana (or close to it), treat as though you were out of life. If you charge that enemy formation when your healbot is out of mana, they’re going to kill you ten times before you hit the ground, regardless of how tough you are.

• Use Recklessness. Recklessness causes you to take quite a bit more damage than usual, and the fact that you’ll be critting every hit won’t make much of a difference when you weren’t hitting particularly hard to begin with. Save that timer and use it on a Retaliation, or preferably a Shield Wall.

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V. Battlegrounds PvP

PvP in a Battleground is quite a bit different from sorties out in the field; in Battlegrounds, both sides are (typically) even, and there are more objectives than simply killing the opposition. In general, the Battlegrounds objective (be it take-and-hold, capture the flag, or assault) is of highest priority, and killing and annoying the other players should take a backseat to this.

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A. Warsong Gulch

Ah, Warsong Gulch. It’s Capture the Flag for World of Warcraft, and it’s my favorite Battleground because of it. Each side is allowed 10 players, and the first team to three captures wins. Like all forms of Capture the Flag, organized teams will have both Offense and Defense teams, and both will support each other.

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1. Offense

This is where you’re likely to be, most of the time. Your disruption skills are put to their best use here, and, with healer and dispeller support, you are the best flagrunner, bar none (Druids may be the best solo flagrunners, but you’re the best grouped.) Your Offense team will typically be between 6 and 8 people, mostly dependant on how hard the opposition is defending.

Important things about being on Offense:

• The enemy flag is ten times more important than your own. If you can get it (and keep it), do it.

• Playing Rambo will get you and anyone you’re with killed. Don’t do it.

• Just because you’re labeled “Offense” doesn’t mean you can’t help defend your flag. If you’re not defending your flagcarrier, help your defenders kill theirs.

• When carrying the flag, stay in Defensive Stance, hit Shield Wall if you start getting mobbed, and spam Shield Block and Piercing Howl. Free Action Potions are invaluable for flagrunning.

• Try not to kill enemy players until you’re already at least halfway down the field; if you kill them close to their base, there’s a good chance they’ll be quickly rezzed and come back at you with full HP and MP, and from a mount.