The patch arrives today and I find myself trying to select two tanking specs. The 15-5-51 deep wounds spec was in my view ideal for a time when survivability was not an issue but Ulduar is quite different. The threat and dps of deep wounds spec is predominantly a spec for farming content. Is that a fair summary? Granted there are some situations where it is expedient for progression such as 'dps' encounters which have an Engrage timer, say Thaddius or in the Malygos fight which was a 'threat' race. It also excelled in Obsidian Sanctum with Sarthiron + 2 or 3drakes where it provided adequate survivability combined with dps/threat. I would say that at some stage in the months to come 15-5-51 will be the spec we all go back to as survival is not in question. Indeed in one of the specs I discuss below I adjust the deep wounds build only subtley to account for our two piece tier bonus.
Having read the contributions earlier in the thread debating impale builds I think it would have been a better discussion if the boundaries of each build were clearly defined. The ethos of tanking that very much appeals to me is survivability to the fullest extent. Yet Naxxrammas 25 never raised questions of survivability from its first clear, until it became pure farm material. Circumstance has to be taken into account as well: a poorly geared tank running naxx with unskilled players might have wanted a build which maximised survivability. Some people mention 8-5-58 frequently. Yet being the master of survival is restricted to times of progression. We strive to move away from this for quicker clears, more dps and not putting a glass ceiling on our dps by limiting our own threat generation.
Therefore this discussion requires context and I think the premise that ulduar will require maximum survivability first and foremost is where we must now focus- as per the posts compiled by respected persons on this site such as the tanking health critique by xav. For the duel speccing tank, what is the best option for a primary and secondary protection build? I must admit that this is the point where I become less certain about the correct choices to make though I do consider that effective health is the first port of call- this being patch day.
As a warrior I look at physical damage reduction then magical damage reduction as part of a talent spec and wonder if I should combine both in the one spec or have one spec for each. As has been mentioned by several posters in this thread, once you reached a certain number of points in the protection tree (51) it used to be until now, that the other more specialised survivability talents become strickly optional (when farming content).
Survivability is now a major factor so those semi useful protection talents obligate consideration.
Improved Demorilizing Shout
Despite reading up about this I am entirely unclear as to whether 2 or 5 points are desirable in this talent if it is taken. Theory on this is sparse. On a broader note I am well aware that many people say it should not be taken at all because fury warriors or warlocks respectively may be responsible for it. I am inclined to take it as part of my physical mitigation build because of the quite stunning results it produces in terms of reducing incoming physical damage. My observations of myself in days gone by and new warrior tanks when raiding with an alt point to the fact that this is one of the forgotten abilities of the warrior tank so to speak. My dilemma arises as to whether I should be viciferous in requesting a fury warrior in my raid to spec into this and use it or a warlock to maintain curse of weakness? I would personally argue that I can handle this buff myself letting other classes with real DPS potential run riot. Is my global cooldown worth more or less than theirs?
Improved Spell Reflection
Needless to say this is one of the few talents that may increase magical effective health aside from the staple choice that is improved defensive stance. The question arises as to which talents should be dropped at the expense of improved spell reflection and regrettably I see the previously excellent deep wounds as victim.
Shield Specialisation
This looks to be a straightforward mandatory choice in a build prioritising survival. It also combines the steady generation of rage which could compensate slightly if other talents in the arms tree cannot be selected.
An overall concern that I have in selecting my spec/s is that while I am happy to have one spec which is predominatly to do with physical damage reduction, for those ocassions where there is spell damage also then my alternate spec might have to combine both physical and magical reducing talents.
One of the presumptions I am certainly making in all of this is that threat is not going to be an issue in spite of dropping a considerable number of threat inducing talents from the arms tree. Yet for scenarios where dps ride the tank for threat there are several less talked about options. The new glyph of vigilance probably in place of glyph of revenge for physcial damage encounters or in place of blocking for magical damage bosses. Revenge is a core ability at present but one of my slightly more outlandish queries is whether to get 2 pieces tier 8, dispense with revenge talent and glyph and use devastate more. This could be supplemented by filling out the cruelty talent option in the fury tree. The alternative or concurrent option is to do all the above but to consider our primary talent spec for predominantly melee heavy encounters as one in which we can also move to include an element of increased threat potential. I still see it as important to take more protection talents than in ciderhelms deep wounds spec, particularly shield specialization 5/5. Demorilitzing should is then arguable for the reasons previously mentioned.
Here are the specs I am contemplating
5-10-56
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft
This build is about a focus on physical damage mitigation to compliment a set of gear intended to maximise effective health. Improved Demorilising Shout plus 5/5 Shield Specialisation goes the extra yardage in terms of damage reduction above and beyond the traditional deep wounds spec that I see on xav and often ciderhelms armory. Threat generation will be down due to the lack of deep wounds, with 2 points in improved heroic strike small consolation. Glyph of devastate, blocking and revenge are the best in my opinion.
As a final word on this spec, if improved demorilising shout is not deemed necessary then you have 5 points to spare which I expect will be heading straight into impale- deep wounds.
15-5-51
2 piece devastate build, deep wounds 3.1
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft
I present this build as a direct replacement to the 5-10-56 build above as a possibility when players equip 2 pieces of tier 8 for the crit bonus to devastate. It omits demorilising shout, the inclusion of which was debateable anyway and can hopefully be the responsibility of another class. This build prioritises devastate over revenge and may call for glyph of vigilance over glyph of revenge depending on just how little revenge is used. Whilst armed to the teeth may be preferable to puncture, puncture allows me to advance down the protection tree given that i am not taking improved revenge or improved spell reflect. Taking it a step further one might take armed to the teeth over deep wounds though I wouldn't personally.
I am prepared to be wrong on the viability of omitting revenge in these circumstances and putting all my eggs into the devastate basket. My starting point with this build is that it has all the survival talents I want for physical damage encounters and hopefully combines the opportunity for more threat than the previous build at a time when raiders around me are getting upgrades to their dps sets.
5-10-56
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft
This is my attempt at a build to deal with bosses more prone to magical attacks and would sit with either of the two builds above as my second protection talent spec. Although melee damage may still be a factor, I am prepared to dispense with improved demorilising shout as a greater portion of damage incoming is spell based. Improved spell reflection replaces improved revenge in the protection tree- something which we already see in deep wounds spec used for Malygos by Ciderhelm. As for glyphs: glyph of revenge is preferable due to the free heroic strikes while revenge will remain a staple ability in magical damage fights due to its low rage cost. I have selected unbridled wrath talent in the fury tree as these talents could not really be put in other talent spots for the purposes of increased survivability anyway and so they become free points.
Instead I view unbidled wrath as a talent which is representative of a more self sufficient approach to threat generation for a warrior tank for situations when bosses are not dealing physical damage to keep my rage ticking over. Glyph of vigilance looks like a solid choice at the expense of glyph of blocking due to infrequent melee attacks. Improved disciplines is also a selection I make and glyph of shield wall could work nicely alongside in this spec as another tool in the magic reduction box at the expense of glyph of devastate. The idea of a standalone magic reduction build can work nicely with standalone magical effective health items such as the tempered titansteel helm with the appropriate meta gem.
My only regret here is that I couldn't express myself in fewer words. Any flaws in my reasoning would be appreciated but I'd like to be the first to say that until we see the likes of the two piece set bonus in action we are all speculating.
WotLK Prot Warrior guide
. Damn i was pretty sure it said + 10 % damage with an one-handed weapon, but i checked and you were right.
ok i neeed a rotation that will help me hold agro on five or more people in a mob or one that will show me how to do high amounts of threat...plz help
