TBC Classic Protection Warrior Spell Summary

Here well discuss the basics of a Protection Warrior abilities, as well as what changes from Classic WoW, and all of the different uses certain abilities have.

Here are all of the abilities that got improved in Burning Crusade, as well as all of the new ones added in for Protection Warriors.

• Thunder Clap can now be used in Defensive Stance.
• Thanks to Stance Mastery you now keep up to 10 Rage when changing stances, by default.
• Devastate is an improved version of Sunder Armor that deals damage.
• Spell Reflection reflects a spell back at the caster. It requires a shield and either Battle Stance or Defensive Stance.
• Commanding Shout is the tank version of Battle Shout.
• Intervene can be used as a gap-closer to a friendly target. It requires Defensive Stance.

"Stance dancing" is a common thing that good Warrior tanks need to practice and execute properly and frequently. This means changing between stances to allow you to use different abilities.

• Battle Stance can be used on the start of a pull for extra Rage from Charge, or when Mocking Blow is needed.
• Defensive Stance is the main stance you will be using the majority of the time for the large threat increase it gives.
• Berserker Stance is mainly used when you know a fear is incoming and can prevent it with Berserker Rage. It can also be used as a gap-closer through Intercept in combat, and Whirlwind is useful to build threat on multiple targets at once.

These are the main abilities that you will be using frequently and should be very familiar with.

• Shield Slam generates very high threat and dispels a magic buff from the target.
• Revenge generates high threat and costs very little Rage. It can only be used after you block, dodge, or parry.
• Devastate is your main ability. It replaces Sunder Armor, as it deals damage and applies the Sunder Armor debuff.
• Heroic Strike generates very high threat on your next melee swing. It should be used nearly every attack when Rage is high.
• Cleave deals damage to two enemies on your next melee swing.
• Shield Block increases block chance by 75%, preventing you from being crushed while active. Shield Block is not on the global cooldown, so it can be used freely.
• Thunder Clap reduces the attack speed of enemies by 10% (20% when talented).
• Demoralizing Shout reduces Attack Power of all nearby enemies. It can be improved through the Improved Demoralizing Shout talent.
• Bloodrage trades some health for Rage, on a 1-minute cooldown.
• Taunt force a target to attack you, making you have the highest threat on that target.
• Mocking Blow can only be used in Battle Stance with a 2-minute cooldown. It forces a target to focus their attacks on you for 6 seconds.
• Challenging Shout forces all nearby enemies to attack you for 6 seconds on a 10-minute cooldown.

Warrior tanks are the only tank in Burning Crusade to have powerful defensive cooldowns. Make sure to use them appropriately as they have rather long cooldown timers.

• Last Stand grants you 30% additional health for 20 seconds, on an 8-minute cooldown.
• Shield Wall reduces all damage taken by 75% for 10 seconds; the duration can be increased by talents. It has a 30-minute cooldown that is shared with Retaliation and Recklessness.

Warrior tanks have a huge arsenal of tools available to them when it comes to controlling all different types of mobs. Your tanking toolkit is loaded with many great abilities that, when utilized properly, can severely reduce your damage taken.

• Concussion Blow is good for interrupting casters or stunning a mob you have bad threat on.
• Disarm is great against hard-hitting mobs or creatures with strong weapon-based attacks.
• Intimidating Shout can be used as a form of short CC, or even an interrupt.
• Hamstring, while not used very commonly by Protection Warriors as it cannot be used in Defensive Stance, can be used to slow mobs down if you need to get away, or prevent a mob from running far.
• Shield Bash interrupts a cast and even generates decent threat.
• Intercept is often used as a gap-closer, but it can also be used as a form of interrupt via the stun.