In this article, we present you with the best gems and enchants that you can get for a Protection Warrior in WoW MoP 5.3, including profession-specific perks. We also list the best consumables: food, flasks, and potions.

Make sure to check our Gear Optimisation Guide, which serves as a support guide for this article. The other articles of our Protection Warrior guide can be accessed from the table of content on the right.

This guide has been reviewed and approved by Sco, Guild Master of Method and one of the best Protection Warriors in the world. You can watch his stream on Twitch. For frequent updates on his streaming schedule, make sure to check out his Facebook page.

1. Gems↑top

Sockets	Gems
	Austere Primal Diamond or Indomitable Primal Diamond (better)
	Solid River's Heart/ Perfect Solid Lapis Lazuli or Solid Serpent's Eye (JC)
	Avoidance? → Defender's Imperial Amethyst/ Perfect Defender's Roguestone Hit/Expertise? → Guardian's Imperial Amethyst/ Perfect Guardian's Roguestone
	Puissant Wild Jade/ Perfect Puissant Alexandrite

If you are still unsure what the optimal gemming strategy is for your character, you can Ask Mr. Robot for a personalised optimisation of your character's gear, by filling the form below.

2. Enchants↑top

Slot	Main Enchantments	Extra Enchantments
Shoulders	Greater Ox Horn Inscription Ox Horn Inscription (cheaper) Secret Ox Horn Inscription (Inscription)
Back	Enchant Cloak - Greater Protection
Chest	Enchant Chest - Superior Stamina
Wrists	Enchant Bracer - Mastery Fur Lining - Stamina (Leatherworking)	Socket Bracer (Blacksmithing)
Hands	Enchant Gloves - Superior Mastery	Synapse Springs (Engineering) Socket Gloves (Blacksmithing)
Waist		Living Steel Belt Buckle
Legs	Ironscale Leg Armor Heavy Leg Reinforcements (Leatherworking)
Feet	Enchant Boots - Pandaren's Step
Rings	Enchant Ring - Greater Stamina (Enchanting)
Weapon	Enchant Weapon - River's Song Enchant Weapon - Colossus
Shield	Enchant Shield - Greater Parry

Note that Extra Enchantments can be applied to an item in addition to a Main Enchantment.

3. Consumables↑top

3.1. Food

We advise you to always eat food that gives you Stamina. You will be granted:

• 450 Stamina by Chun Tian Spring Rolls;
• 415 Stamina by Twin Fish Platter, Banquet of the Oven, or Great Banquet of the Oven;
• 375 Stamina by Wildfowl Roast or any of the other banquets.

3.2. Flask

For the vast majority of encounters, you should use a Flask of the Earth. Your other option is Flask of Winter's Bite, which grants you Strength. Strength provides you with increased DPS/threat, as well as increasing your chance to parry.

3.3. Potion

During the encounter, your best choice for a potion will be Potion of the Mountains for physical damage and Master Healing Potion for magic damage.

In order to boost your DPS (which is considerable), you can use a Potion of Mogu Power instead of the above-mentioned potions (which have a relatively small effect on your survivability).

4. Summing-up Profession Perks↑top

Choosing a profession for your Protection Warrior can impact your raid performance. As a rule, you should shy away from gathering professions (with the exception of Herbalism), which leaves the following viable professions for raiding:

Profession	Perks
Blacksmithing	Provides a 640 Mastery or 480 Stamina gain through two extra sockets, Socket Bracer and Socket Gloves, in which you can fit 2 Fractured Sun's Radiance or 2 Solid River's Heart..
Jewelcrafting	Provides a 320 Mastery Rating gain through the ability to use 2 Fractured Serpent's Eye, or a 480 Stamina gain through the ability to use 2 Solid Serpent's Eye (if you gem for Stamina).
Engineering	Provides a 1,920 Dodge Rating bonus for 10 seconds, on a 1 minute cooldown, through Phase Fingers. Engineering also provides a belt addon called Frag Belt, which you can use every minute (off the global cooldown) for additional damage.
Alchemy	Provides a 480 Stamina gain to your flask through Mixology.
Leatherworking	Provides +750 Stamina through Fur Lining - Stamina, instead of the usual +170 Dodge provided by Enchant Bracer - Superior Dodge or +170 Mastery provided by Enchant Bracer - Mastery. Also provides Heavy Leg Reinforcements, a much cheaper equivalent to Ironscale Leg Armor, the traditional leg enchant.
Enchanting	Provides a 480 Stamina gain through Enchant Ring - Greater Stamina.
Inscription	Provides a 450 Stamina gain through Secret Ox Horn Inscription.
Mining	Provides a 480 Stamina gain, through Toughness.

5. Changelog↑top

• 20 May 2013: Patch 5.3 update: nothing to change.
• 24 Apr. 2013: Added legendary meta-gem.
• 24 Apr. 2013: Updated the meta-gem to Austere Primal Diamond, since this is the best choice. Added Potion of Mogu Power as an alternative potion.
• 02 Apr. 2013: Removed green-quality gems.