Protection Warrior Tank Mythic+ Tips — The War Within (11.1.7)

The biggest differences between the two Mythic+ builds are that as Mountain Thane, you aim to play Unstoppable Force instead of Immovable Object. Most of the other talents remain the same.

Some quick notes and alterations can be found below:

• Indomitable can be dropped for Ravager.
• You can drop Best Served Cold for Fight Through the Flames for a more defensive choice.
• Battering Ram can be swapped for Ravager.
• Storm Bolt, Crackling Thunder or Intimidating Shout can be swapped for Intervene. Be sure to use Storm Shields instead of Storm Bolt then in the Mountain Thane tree.

This Mythic+ build provides us with high Shield Block up-time, while also having access to multiple offensive cooldowns.

Some quick notes and alterations can be found below:

• Indomitable can be dropped for Ravager.
• Crackling Thunder or Intimidating Shout can be swapped for Intervene or Rumbling Earth.
• Thunderous Roar and the two following nodes can be swapped for Champion's Spear and its following nodes. The two are competitive with eachother.
• You can drop Best Served Cold for Fight Through the Flames for a more defensive choice.
• Battering Ram can be swapped for Ravager.

Pummel is our main interrupt ability. As tanks, we will take the blunt force of the overall damage intake in dungeons, and while we can deal with the physical damage intake fairly easily thanks to Shield Block, the magic damage is where it can get trickier. Using Pummel effectively to interrupt various dangerous casts will help lower our damage intake greatly and increase our chances of survival.

Disrupting Shout allows you to silence multiple enemies while also Taunting all of them. While on paper, it seems like a great ability, it has a hefty 75 second cooldown and needs to actually interrupt the cast in order for the silence to take effect. It does have potential uses in situations where you are facing multiple deadly casters, or need help grouping packs.

Intimidating Shout is primarily used as an interrupt because the disorient it provides is easily broken by damage. You can also use it as crowd control by using it on a group of enemies and pulling a specific enemy out of that group to focus it down.

Shockwave is your AoE stun. Use it to delay or cancel dangerous abilities, or use it as a survivability tool to stun enemies when your defenses are down. Rumbling Earth helps lower the cooldown of this significantly, and it can be further enhanced by Colossus talents like Boneshaker and Earthquaker

Storm Bolt acts as another strong single-target stun. Use it instead of Shockwave when you only need to stun one enemy in order to prevent stun DR from kicking in. Mountain Thane has the Storm Bolts talent, which will make this also hit 2 additional enemies.

Shield Charge should mainly be used on cooldown for the offensive part, but it is worth remembering that it also stuns your primary target for 4 seconds when cast.

Champion's Spear allows you to tether enemies hit by the spear to it. As with Shield Charge, you should mainly use this on cooldown, offensively. Some types of situations where you might consider delaying your spear are when fixates come up, or enemies jump around. In such cases, using Champion's Spear for the purpose of tethering these enemies might be more beneficial for the overall group performance.

Spell Reflection is primarily used for the magic damage reduction. In Mythic+, however, many spells can be reflected back to the caster. There are some spells that hit very hard, and if you are able to reflect those, you can deal a lot of damage to the enemy. Additionally, sometimes you are able to apply debuffs to the enemy that normally would have been applied to you had you been hit by the spell.

Rallying Cry can be used to save teammates during heavy damage intake phases or to just help ease the pressure off your healer. It has a fairly long 3-minute cooldown, so be sure not to waste it.

Berserker Rage makes us immune to Fear, Sap, and Incapacitate effects. This can be used pre-emptively before the cast goes off or reactively when you are already under the effect. You can further pick up Berserker Shout, which allows you to remove Fear effects also from your party members within 12 yards.

Intervene is an extremely potent tool if there is a use case for it. Preventing your party member from taking damage from, let's say, a fixating enemy is a great way to help your group. This ability is made even better thanks to Mountain Thane talent, Storm Shield. This causes the Intervene target to also gain a magic absorb shield, which can be used as an extra defensive on allies who need it.

Shattering Throw may have niche uses in some dungeons where the enemies either have a magical immunity or an absorb. Just remember that it has a cast time, meaning that you do not want to use it while actively tanking enemies.

Wrecking Throw, similarly to Shattering Throw deals bonus damage to absorbs. While it does not remove magical immunities, it does have a much shorter cooldown, making it a more compelling choice should the situation arise.

• Big M.O.M.M.A.
  • Electrocrush is blockable with Spell Block. If this is not available, use other defensives like Shield Wall or Spell Reflection.
  • Use Heroic Leap to move the boss around quickly if needed.
• Keeza Quickfuse
  • Barreling Charge is blockable with Shield Block, but you should step aside from it.
  • Wallop is blockable with Shield Block.
  • Try to keep the two bosses together so they get cleaved down more efficiently.
  • The third charge of Barreling Charge is always targeted at the tank, use Heroic Leap to position yourself quickly behind a bomb.
• Swampface
  • Mudslide is deflectable with Spell Reflection, so use it if you cannot move aside.
  • The damage from Awaken the Swamp, Razorchoke Vines and Sludge Claws is blockable with Spell Block, and in the case of Sludge Claws, also Shield Block.
• Geezle Gigazap
  • Thunder Punch deals magical damage, use a defensive to deal with it.
  • Heroic Leap can be used to get around the arena faster, for example to position for the sparks faster.

• Below, you can find examples of casts in this dungeon, which are reflectable with Spell Reflection:
  • Blood Bolt from Darkfuse Bloodwarper;
  • Backwash from Bubbles;
  • Flamethrower from Shreddinator 3000;
  • Lightning Bolt from Venture Co. Electrician;
  • Surveying Beam from Venture Co. Surveyor;
  • Trickshot from Mechadrone Sniper.

• Brew Master Aldryr
  • Blazing Belch can be blocked with Spell Block, but you should aim to side-step all of these;
  • Keg Smash is blockable with Shield Block;
  • Use Heroic Leap during intermission to deliver a brew quickly.
• I'pa
  • Bottoms Uppercut is blockable with Shield Block;
  • Spouting Stout is blockable with Spell Block, but you should aim to side-step all of these;
  • Shockwave, Storm Bolt and Intimidating Shout can all be used to keep the elementals away from the boss.
• Benk Buzzbee
  • Honey Marinade is blockable with Spell Block. Move out of the puddle it leaves on the ground fast;
  • You can use Heroic Throw to pickup distant Ravenous Cinderbee adds.
• WoWCMGoldieBaronbottom
  • Burning Ricochet can be deflected with Spell Reflection;
  • Cash Cannon can be blocked with Shield Block, or outranged with Heroic Leap if needed. Aim this frontal at the big flaming barrels while avoiding your party members.

Nothing significant about trash in this dungeon. Do not overpull, as a lot of the trash deals mixed damage or heavy AoE damage to your party.

• Ol' Waxbeard
  • Rock Buster is blockable with Shield Block;
  • Move the boss quickly to the Dynamite Cart as it stops with Charge.
• Blazikon
  • Never leave the bosses melee range, otherwise the closest ally will get meleed;
  • Use defensives as needed and keep Shield Block up.
• The Candle King
  • Use Heroic Leap to move behind a wax statue if targeted by Darkflame Pickaxe;
  • The pulsing damage from Eerie Molds is blockable with Spell Block.
• The Darkness
  • Eternal Darkness is blockable with Spell Block;
  • You can use Heroic Leap to leap at a candle and Charge to get back to the boss quickly if the candle is low on light. Only do this as a last resort.

• Below, you can find examples of casts in this dungeon, which are reflectable with Spell Reflection:
  • Flame Bolt from Kobolt Flametender;
  • Crude Weapons from Menial Laborer;
  • Wicklighter Bolt from Royal Wicklighter;
  • Candleflame Bolt from Sootsnout.

• Kyrioss
  • Lightning Dash is blockable with Spell Block;
  • During intermission you can use Heroic Leap if you are positioned poorly. Avoid using it to leap too far ahead of your group or you risk spawning a Grounding Bolt from Lightning Torrent there.
• Stormguard Gorren
  • Use a defensive for Chaotic Corruption if targeted by it. Ensure that you are near a ally who has not been targeted by it yet as it is about to end;
  • Position the boss so that Crush Reality and the following Dark Gravity are avoidable by all party members.
• Voidstone Monstrosity
  • Oblivion Wave is blockable with Spell Block, but you should aim to dodge all of them by simply walking out of the way or using Heroic Leap to side-step it.

• Below, you can find examples of casts in this dungeon, which are reflectable with Spell Reflection:
  • Arcing Void from Coalescing Void Diffuser;
  • Seeping Corruption from Corrupted Oracle;
  • Void Bolt from Corrupted Oracle;
  • Lightning Bolt from Cursed Thunderer;

• Captain Dailcry
  • Use a defensive like Shield Wall while also dumping rage into Ignore Pain during the bleed left behind by Pierce Armor;
  • The most common route to go in this dungeon is left. As such, the miniboss with the boss will periodically cast Divine Judgment, use a smaller defensive like Spell Reflection to mitigate the initial damage from it.
• Baron Braunpyke
  • Castigator's Shield is reflectable with Spell Reflection;
  • Use Heroic Leap to position the boss quickly needed;
  • You can soak multiple of the Sacrificial Pyres as a tank.
• Prioress Murrpray
  • Holy Smite is reflectable with Spell Reflection;
  • Use Shockwave and other stops to help manage the adds during the intermission.

• Below, you can find examples of casts in this dungeon, which are reflectable with Spell Reflection:
  • Holy Smite from Devouted Priest;
  • Fireball from Fanatical Conjuror and Risen Mage;
  • Seal of Flame from Forge Master Damian;

• Coin-Operated Crowd Pummeler
  • Use Heroic Leap to position the boss quickly away from the coins if he is about to cast Coin Magnet near coins;
  • Save your big hitting offensive cooldowns for the period when he has the debuff on him.
• Azerokk
  • Shockwave, Storm Bolt and Intimidating Shout can be used to help control the Earthrager adds;
  • Use defensives like Shield Wall paired with Ignore Pain to deal with the bleed from the enraged add.
• Rixxa Fluxflame
  • This bosses auto attack, Searing Reagent is purely magical. Use Spell Block to mitigate the damage. If it is on cooldown, rotate other defensives accordingly;
  • Heroic Leap can be used to position the boss quickly in a more favourable spot.
• Mogul Razdunk
  • The boss will constantly cast Alpha Cannon at you. This is magical, and can be reflected with Spell Reflection or blocked with Spell Block;
  • Use Heroic Leap to position yourself near a pillar if targeted by Drill Smash.

• Below, you can find examples of casts in this dungeon, which are reflectable with Spell Reflection:
  • Charged Shield from Mechanized Peacekeeper;
  • Iced Spritzer from Refreshment Vendor;
  • Caustic Compound from Venture Co. Alchemist;
  • Rock Lance from Venture Co. Earthshaper;
  • Mind Lash from Venture Co. Mastermind;
  • Echo Blade from Weapons Tester;

• An Affront of Challengers
  • Mighty Smash is blockable with Spell Block;
  • Mortal Strike is blockable with Shield Block;
  • Necrotic Bolt is reflectable with Spell Reflection;
  • Use Heroic Leap to move around the arena quickly. Be sure to try and keep the bosses all together while giving your party members ample room to dodge mechanics.
• Gorechop
  • Hateful Strike is blockable with Shield Block;
  • Demolish can be used to avoid getting dragged by Meat Hooks;
  • Be sure to grab aggro of the Oozing Leftovers adds that spawn.
• Xav the Unfallen
  • Brutal Combo can be blocked with Shield Block.
  • Use Heroic Leap to position yourself quickly out of the way of the 3 part combo.
• Kul'tharok
  • Necrotic Bolt can be reflected with Spell Reflection;
• Mordretha, the Endless Empress
  • You can deflect one tick of the Dark Devastation cast with Spell Reflection, but you should avoid standing in it in the first place;
  • Death Bolt from the adds can be reflected with Spell Reflection;
  • Reaping Scythe deals mixed damage and can be blocked with Spell Block and Shield Block.

• Below, you can find examples of casts in this dungeon, which are reflectable with Spell Reflection:
  • Decaying Strike from Diseased Horror;
  • Necrotic Bolt from Manical Soulbinder;
  • Spirit Frost from Nefarious Deathspeaker;
  • Bind Soul from Shackled Soul;

• Tussle Tonks
  • Use your defensives for Platinum Pummel, as it is not blockable;
  • Heroic Leap can be used to position the boss quickly under a hammer during the Platinum Plating buff.
• K.U.-J.0.
  • Blazing Chomp is blockable with Spell Block. If this is not available, use other defensives like Shield Wall or Spell Reflection to help deal with the damage;
  • While you should pre-position near a box for Venting Flames, you can use Heroic Leap to move quickly to cover if needed.
• Machinist's Garden
  • Blossom Blast is reflectable with Spell Reflection;
  • Charge can help you get to the add faster.
• King Mechagon
  • Pulse Blast is reflectable with Spell Reflection. This acts as the boss auto-attack during the first phase and deals purely magical damage. Use defensives as needed for it.

• Below, you can find examples of casts in this dungeon, which are reflectable with Spell Reflection:
  • Arcing Zap from Defense Bot Mk III;
  • Giga-Wallop from Mechagon Tinkerer;

Periodically spawns orbs that need to be interrupted or crowd-controlled. Tools to deal with this affix include:

• Pummel;
• Disrupting Shout;
• Storm Bolt;
• Shield Charge;
• Shockwave;
• Intimidating Shout.

Periodically spawns orbs, connected to players. You need to walk into another players orb, and someone needs to walk into your orb to get rid of it.

Places an absorb on players which needs to be dispelled or healed through. As Warriors, we can't dispel, but we can assist our healer by healing ourselves with Impending Victory and Last Stand.

Spawns a new add, which buffs others. Just swap to this add as soon as possible, and be sure to kill it off as a high priority. As the Void Emissary has 1 health, you can start casting Execute as soon as it spawns since it deals a massive amount of damage.