TBC Classic Protection Warrior Pre-Raid Gear

In this guide we go over the different gear available for Protection Warriors before entering raids. We will offer multiple different pieces as some can be rather expensive or very rare to find. In addition to that, we will show you gear to look at for threat and for pure tankiness.

For the most part we will exclude PvP gear choices. While PvP gear can be a very powerful option for some slots, the gear will require many hours of battlegrounds or weeks of arena point farming to obtain while not being a "best" choice. We recommend only investing time into farming a couple of these pieces at most as the lack of fully PvE focused stats can leave you lacking in certain aspects (such as hit rating or avoidance).

If your character is ready to jump into Phase 5 Sunwell content, then see our current best in slot list. If you wish to go through the content of Tiers 4, 5 or 6 instead, then please see their respective lists below.

Finally, there may be times where you may want to stack resistance to a particular damage type. For these moments we have created separate lists detailing the best gear to maximize your Fire, Frost, Nature, or Shadow resistances.

Rank	Item	Gems	Source
Best	Hard Khorium Goggles	1 x Powerful Earthstorm Diamond, 1 x Enduring Seaspray Emerald	Hard Khorium Goggles — Engineering
Good	Tankatronic Goggles	1 x Powerful Earthstorm Diamond, 1 x Enduring Talasite	Tankatronic Goggles — Engineering
Recommended	Faceguard of Determination	1 x Powerful Earthstorm Diamond, 1 x Solid Star of Elune	G'eras — 50 x Badge of Justice
Easy	Felsteel Helm	3 x Solid Star of Elune	Felsteel Helm — Blacksmithing

Hard Khorium Goggles is our best in slot helm for the rest of the expansion, but requires engineering to use. If you do not have the profession, go for one of your other options.

Rank	Item	Gems	Source
Threat	Hard Khorium Choker	1 x Smooth Lionseye	Hard Khorium Choker — Jewelcrafting
Best	Brooch of Deftness	no sockets	G'eras — 35 x Badge of Justice
Good	Shattered Sun Pendant of Resolve	no sockets	Shattered Sun Offensive — Exalted
Easy	Mark of the Ravenguard	no sockets	Brother Against Brother — Sethekk Halls

Phase 5 has a few necks we can pick up easily. Hard Khorium Choker is great for threat generation, but requires Jewelcrafting to use. Both Brooch of Deftness and Shattered Sun Pendant of Resolve are great options, giving us some much need hit rating and expertise.

Rank	Item	Gems	Source
Great	Merciless Gladiator's Plate Shoulders	2 x Solid Star of Elune	11,250 Honor Points
Good	Shoulderplates of Everlasting Pain	2 x Solid Star of Elune	Selin Fireheart — (H) Magister's Terrace
Good	Fanblade Pauldrons	2 x Solid Star of Elune	Shirrak the Dead Watcher — (H) Auchenai Crypts
Option	Shoulderguards of the Bold	2 x Solid Star of Elune	Murmur — Shadow Labyrinth
Easy	Warchief's Mantle	2 x Solid Star of Elune	Return to Andormu — Old Hillsbrad Foothills

Unfortunately there are not many new shoulder options for us in Phase 5. PvP shoulders are a great option, giving high armor, stamina and resilience to reduce our chance to be crit. If you do not want to farm honor for the PvP shoulders, aim for one of the other available options.

Rank	Item	Source
Tanky	Slikk's Cloak of Placation	G'eras — 35 x Badge of Justice
Threat	Dory's Embrace	G'eras — 60 x Badge of Justice
Good	Devilshark Cape	Warlord Kalithresh — The Steamvault

Phase 5 has no new pre-raid best in slot cloaks for us to get. Slikk's Cloak of Placation is a very tanky cloak option, while Dory's Embrace is a good threat choice.

Rank	Item	Gems	Source
Best	Chestplate of Stoicism	1 x Shifting Shadowsong Amethyst	100 x Badge of Justice
Great	Merciless Gladiator's Plate Chestpiece	3 x Solid Star of Elune	10,328 Honor Points
Good	Netherforce Chestplate	3 x Solid Star of Elune	Kael'thas Sunstrider — (H) Magister's Terrace

Chestplate of Stoicism is a new chest available in Phase 5, costing 100 Badge of Justice. Merciless Gladiator's Plate Chestpiece is a good option, but requires honor farming in battlegrounds. The 2 set resilience bonus from the PvP gear is a great option to help reach crit immunity.

Rank	Item	Gems	Source
Best	Bracers of the Ancient Phalanx	no sockets	G'eras — 35 x Badge of Justice
Good	Bracers of the Green Fortress	no sockets	Bracers of the Green Fortress — Blacksmithing
Easy	Sha'tari Wrought Armguards	1 x Solid Star of Elune	The Soul Devices — Shadow Labyrinth
Easy	Junior Technician 3rd Grade Bracers	no sockets	You're Hired!

Bracers of the Ancient Phalanx remain a very bracer choice, giving us some much needed defense and expertise. Grab one of the easy to obtain options until you can get your best choice.

Rank	Item	Gems	Source
Best	Hard Khorium Battlefists	2 x Solid Empyrean Sapphire	Hard Khorium Battlefists — Blacksmithing
Good	Bonefist Gauntlets	1 x Shifting Nightseye, 1 x Solid Star of Elune	G'eras — 60 x Badge of Justice
Easy	Felsteel Gloves	2 x Solid Star of Elune	Felsteel Gloves — Blacksmithing

In Phase 5, we can grab Hard Khorium Battlefists from a Blacksmith. While these are DPS gloves inherently, they give us some very high threat stats, in addition to high armor and stamina. Bonefist Gauntlets are a good option, but have a high Badge of Justice cost and are not recommended to get early on. Felsteel Gloves remain a very solid choice if you have nothing else.

Rank	Item	Gems	Source
Best	Girdle of the Fearless	1 x Shifting Shadowsong Amethyst	75 x Badge of Justice
Good	Red Belt of Battle	2 x Solid Star of Elune	Red Belt of Battle — Blacksmithing
Option	Girdle of the Immovable	2 x Solid Star of Elune	Quagmirran — The Slave Pens (Heroic)

Girdle of the Fearless is a new belt available in Phase 5, being our second best in slot belt for the rest of the expansion. This should be your first Badge of Justice purchase before anything else. Red Belt of Battle is a decent option if you have nothing better, having high armor, stamina and giving some needed hit rating.

Rank	Item	Gems	Source
Best	Sunguard Legplates	1 x Shifting Shadowsong Amethyst, 1 x Solid Empyrean Sapphire	100 x Badge of Justice
Option	Timewarden's Leggings	3 x Solid Star of Elune	Keepers of Time — Revered
Easy	Felsteel Leggings	3 x Solid Star of Elune	Felsteel Leggings — Blacksmithing

Sunguard Legplates are new legs available in Phase 5, giving us a huge stat boost. These are our second best in slot legs for the rest of the expansion; you will want to purchase these legs as your second item with your Badge of Justice.

Rank	Item	Gems	Source
Best	Sabatons of the Righteous Defender	G'eras — 60 x Badge of Justice
Great	Sunstrider Warboots	2 x Solid Star of Elune	Kael'thas Sunstrider — Magister's Terrace
Option	Boots of the Colossus	2 x Solid Star of Elune	Pandemonius — Mana Tombs (Heroic)
Option	Flesh Beast's Metal Greaves	no sockets	Someone Else's Hard Work Pays Off — Mana Tombs

Sabatons of the Righteous Defender are technically our best in slot pre-raid boots option, despite them being intended for Protection Paladins. I would not recommend spending badges on these until you have all other items you want from badges, and instead get one of the other options. PvP boots are also a solid choice here if you are willing to farm the needed honor.

Rank	Item	Source
Best	Ring of the Stalwart Protector	60 x Badge of Justice
Threat	Angelista's Revenge	60 x Badge of Justice
Threat	Hard Khorium Band	Hard Khorium Band — Jewelcrafting
Great	Shapeshifter's Signet	Lower City — Exalted
Good	Band of Determination	Vexallus — Magister's Terrace
Good	Crystal Band of Valor	Tavarok — (H) Mana Tombs
Easy	Band of Impenetrable Defenses	BoE World Drop

Phase 5 has many new rings available for us to choose from. We typically will want to use our ring slots to fill in needed stats, whether they are defensive stats, hit rating, expertise or crit immunity. Grab whichever rings you can obtain.

Rank	Item	Source
Best	Commendation of Kael'thas	Priestess Delrissa — (H) Magister's Terrace
Best	Shard of Contempt	Priestess Delrissa — (H) Magister's Terrace
Great	Darkmoon Card: Vengeance	Darkmoon Faire
Great	Darkmoon Card: Madness	Darkmoon Faire
Good	Goblin Rocket Launcher	Goblin Rocket Launcher — Engineering
Good	Gnomish Poultryizer	Gnomish Poultryizer — Engineering
Good	Timelapse Shard	Keepers of Time — Exalted
Threat	Abacus of Violent Odds	Pathaleon the Calculator — Mechanar
Threat	Icon of Unyielding Courage	Keli'dan the Breaker — (H) The Blood Furnace
Option	Argussian Compass	The Black Stalker — (H) The Underbog
Option	Regal Protectorate	Cruel's Intentions / Overlord
Option	Adamantine Figurine	Blackheart the Inciter — Shadow Labyrinth

Trinkets are similar to rings in the way that you will want to collect a few of them to use in different situations. Typically you will want to be wearing Stamina trinkets, whichever of the best options you have. If you are low on Defense Rating, wear one of the trinkets that help you become critical strike immune.

Both Commendation of Kael'thas and Shard of Contempt are amazingly powerful trinkets available in Phase 5. You will want to farm the new dungeon Magister's Terrace on heroic difficulty daily until you can obtain both.

Rank	Item	Source
Great	Quickening Blade of the Prince	Kael'thas Sunstrider — (H) Magister's Terrace
Great	Latro's Shifting Sword	Aeonus — The Black Morass
Option	Honor's Call	Honor Hold — Exalted
Option	Warbringer	Thrallmar — Exalted
Easy	Grom'tor's Charge	The Cipher of Damnation

Phase 5 does not really offer any new tanking weapons outside of raids, limiting our options. Quickening Blade of the Prince is a great option we can grab in the new dungeon, Magister's Terrace. If you can not get one of these preferred tanking weapons, a slow DPS weapon will make do in the meantime.

Rank	Item	Gems	Source
Best	Merciless Gladiator's Shield Wall	no sockets	15,000 Honor Points
Good	Dawnforged Defender	no sockets	Shattered Sun Offensive — Exalted
Option	Crest of the Sha'tar	2 x Solid Star of Elune	The Sha'tar — Exalted
Option	Platinum Shield of the Valorous	no sockets	Ambassador Hellmaw — Shadow Labyrinth

With Phase 5, Merciless Gladiator's Shield Wall becomes available for Honor Points, allowing us to get a very solid shield from PvP. If you do not want to farm honor, Dawnforged Defender is a very strong choice available by reaching exalted with the new faction, The Shattered Sun Offensive.

Rank	Item	Gems	Source
Great	Nightstrike	Priestess Delrissa — Magister's Terrace
Great	Gyro-Balanced Khorium Destroyer	1 x Solid Empyrean Sapphire	Gyro-balanced Khorium Destroyer — Engineering
Option	Crystalline Crossbow	no sockets	Ogri'la — Exalted
Easy	Mark V's Throwing Star	no sockets	Mark V is Alive!

Phase 5 offers us Nightstrike from the new dungeon Magister's Terrace. While it does not have defensive stats on it, the hit rating and expertise are excellent stats for tanking overall, helping us with our threat generation. Gyro-Balanced Khorium Destroyer remains a very solid defensive choice, having high stamina and a gem slot, but has a high cost to craft.

For a list of recommended enchants, check out our Protection Warrior Enchants guide.