Altitis has hit again!Follow

So I've decided to try out a warrior. The thing is, I've practically never done anything but dps (rogue, enh shammy (although healed a few times in instances), and fire mage).

I've read the very informative FAQ and stickies at the top of the page, and they've helped a lot. Also some threads (one by Isyris... sorry if I spelled it wrong =<) that had helped a lot as well.

I did decide that I'm going to level as prot, even though it'll take a while. This toon is going to be just a casual "get-away" toon, so I'm in no rush to level it.

I was looking at the two prot builds in the sticky, and was wondering about certain points.

In this one, It has picked up Improved Revenge and Taunt. Yet, this one picked up Improved Shield wall and def. stance.

Is there a reason why you couldn't (or shouldn't) get all four talents? I was looking more towards a build like this.

Is cruelty and imp. Demo important?

Any help would be great. (Note: right now I'm just up to level 10, but I like planning ahead. Don't know about many abilities yet, but that's the best thing about make new toons, is learning about them! =D)

Thanks!

Edit: I had found two more builds from another thread as well. This and this.

Edited, Mar 31st 2008 11:07am by xNocturnalSunx

So pretty much out of the four talents I spoke of, the only one that would be fairly beneficial to get is imp def. stance?

And as for going from DPS to prot, I definitely understand. I've tried starting a warrior a while back but just couldn't stand just slowly wailing away. But now that I've got one to at least 10, I'm starting to enjoy it.

As I said, I'm in no rush to hurry this toon, it's just something to get away to if I get bored with my other ones.

I did read that you can still tank in groups pretty well until you get into your late 50s early 60s (or something of that nature) without being specced into prot. But I figured I'd just go straight into speccing prot since I'm in no rush to level and the fact that I want to try to level through without respeccing a lot (like I do with my other toons, though I doubt I can go until end game without respeccing once lol).

Thanks for the reply, that helped. Perhaps a build like this would work (without taking those talents and putting those points somewhere else).

Still took imp taunt, and maxed out imp def stance and cruelty. i did put points into imp bloodrage (although not too sure if that's needed, if not please let me know), just looks appealing due to the extra rage generated, and I also put the last two points into unbridled wrath for, once again, extra rage.

Well you both mentioned dps spec, but which should I focus more on? DW or 2h?

I figured as DW, I could make that into a more "smoothe" transition from my normal DW-dps toons. But as a warrior, would 2h be more beneficial?

There is this DW build and a 2h Arms/Fury build from RP's thread, along with a arms/prot hybrid build which could give me some of the points in the prot tree.

Alternatives
17/44/0
2h Arms
2h Fury
(taken from devioususer's dps thread)

Tab, which of the ones you've tried at lower levels did you feel worked the best (not counting time it takes to level with a specific spec)

Edit: I did just see another thread floating around regarding whether to use a 2h or dw, it looks like 2h arms or fury is the way to go. The other thread also stated, 2h fury is good with the slam. Here

Edited, Mar 31st 2008 3:20pm by xNocturnalSunx

2H Fury (swing timer + slam) and Arms seemed to give me the fastest leveling and questing speed. If I'd had a bit more crit (~21% was what I had at the time) 2H Fury leveling would have been even faster.

Prot was always my favorite when I was questing with other people. It's more personal style though; I like tanking even when that just means "holding onto all the mobs that aggro while questing".

Each style has strengths and weaknesses, and if you play around with them, you'll figure out which works best for you. You've got a 70 Rogue; don't be afraid to respec a few times as you go.

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Re: your initial build ... Improved Taunt is unnecessary in a decent group (if you need those extra 2 seconds between Taunts, something is wrong), and you should be able to hold hate without it. Improved Revenge is nice, but I skipped it because it won't proc on bosses, or any mob where I really need it.

Cruelty is a great talent. You can crit on most key tanking abilities (Revenge, Shield Slam, Devastate, Heroic Strike), and that helps your threat generation. It also helps you build more rage by critting on white attacks.

/disagree

You will tank much better than they would as an offspec though, and you can tank every instance I've seen in a disciplined group with good CC.

1) in most cases, the points you put in imp. defensive stance can be put to better use elsewhere (imp heroic strike, imp taunt). the 6% reduction in spell damage can be useful in some fights, however, notably those where you will be taking spell damage exclusively (hydross comes to mind).

2) i used to think that imp taunt was a crutch before i really got into high dps groups in heroics and to a lesser extent, raids. some mobs hit REALLY, REALLY hard in heroics... assuming you are a beginner tank in heroics and you have 12k hp and 13k armor with 30% dodge+parry, dps will want to burn your target(s) down as fast as possible especially if your healer has beginner's gear for heroics. sometimes they'll burn a bit too fast. that's where imp taunt comes in handy. i also like in that situation where concussion blow is on cooldown, but i know the mob will die in a few more seconds... i'll taunt the mob back on me and not shield slam or anything because i know dps will kill it in the few seconds the mob is glued to me, and i'll get a bit more extra rage to unload quickly on the next mob.

3) imp demo shout is a MUST HAVE REGARDLESS OF PVE BUILD. you only need 2 points in it to reduce a level 73 mob's AP to basically nothing, which decreases your damage taken significantly. maxing it out is only necessary when a warlock uses curse of recklessness on a mob, and in these cases one of your raid's dps warriors should have it maxed out since you should be using those 3 points elsewhere.

4) imp revenge is not a total waste if you are leveling or are in beginner's gear in heroics and some raids (though a lot of raid mobs are immune to stuns). however, when you've stacked enough avoidance, you'll find that when tanking one or two mobs you'll be rage-starved. i like to put these points in imp. HS or imp. taunt.

5) imp shield wall is a MUST HAVE if you want to be a serious tank. those few seconds of extra shield wall can buy your healers the time they need to land a big heal. it has probably saved many raid tanks many, many times from dying and wiping the raid.

6) 5/5 cruelty is a MUST HAVE REGARDLESS OF BUILD, PVP OR PVE. there is no easier way to pick up 5% crit, and crit will help you whether you're dpsing or tanking.

7) imp bloodrage is debatable. it can help you have more rage at the initial pull, but generally this should not be a problem if your dps gives you a few seconds and your healer trusts your health pool and mitigation to let you stack some threat on a mob before he busts out the heals.

8) unbridled wrath is in the same tier as imp demo shout, and in PVE the utility of imp demo shout in this tier is unparalleled. you may want to take unbridled wrath in a PVP build.

as for leveling as prot and tanking at 70...... i first learned to really tank at 70 in regular shadow labyrinth, on the 5-6 mob pulls in the second boss' room. i did it as a 17/44 spec and farmed reg SL for the shoulders off murmur til i hit exalted with lower city (never did get them to drop). i did it well enough that my groups thought i was prot specced. when i respecced to prot, tanking became much, much, MUCH easier, but for the sake of leveling, you will want to pick up a 2h and go down the fury tree for 2/2 imp slam and then down the arms tree for mortal strike. keep that in mind if you ever feel bogged down when leveling as prot.

something like this is fine. preferably with sword spec for the extra attack proc, or axe spec for the additional 5% crit. 2/2 imp slam is an incredible tool to level with even if you aren't decked out in all blues and epics.

you can aim for a 17/44 build and dual wield if you like, but you have to be rich to enchant both weapons with crusader in the lower levels to get the full benefit of the spec before having enough hit and crit to really make it viable.

Edited, Apr 1st 2008 1:29pm by fromanthebarbarian