Protection Warrior PvP Rotation and Playstyle (Shadowlands / 9.1)

The Protection Warrior focuses solely on stalling a game and protecting his team for as long as possible. While doing this, you must push out as much damage and pressure as you can to help drain the enemy team's Mana pool.

In general, PvP comes down to good judgment and decision-making. There are no two matches that are identical, and you will have to use your toolkit differently versus some enemies than the general guidelines indicate. However, the most important part is to master the fundamentals of playing Protection Warrior, like dealing damage and reacting to enemy cooldowns, before thinking about how to outplay your opponents, and you should therefore focus on the information and rotations listed in this section for starters.

Coordinate with your team who your kill target is going to be, and any potential swaps you can do. The main focus of your team should be to hit the target you can do the most damage to, but also prevent the most damage from, like an enemy Shadow Priest.

The damage rotation of Protection Warrior is not that complex, and is mostly about Shield Slam and Thunder Clap being used on cooldown.

Revenge should only be used when it procs.

Your filler ability, Devastate, should only been used when you cannot use the above (or Revenge with a proc).

This list serves as your sustained damage rotation priority.

1. Maintain Hamstring on your kill target at all times.
2. Use Avatar for when you wish to burst.
3. Use Execute when the enemy drops below threshold.
4. Use Shield Slam on cooldown to deal damage and generate Rage.
5. Use Thunder Clap when Shield Slam is not available.
6. Use Revenge when it procs.
7. Use Devastate if nothing else is available.

Your Rage should be spent on Ignore Pain most of the time, but can also be used on Shield Block against Physical damage users. It is important to note that Shield Block only works against Physical melee or ranged attacks, meaning the damage of Templar's Verdict or Envenom is not reduced by the block.

Do not be afraid to sit on high or maximum Rage: you should keep it high so you can chain Ignore Pain back to back when needed or use Execute at maximum power to close out the game.

When you have the enemy healer in crowd control and you are trying to kill an enemy, you use your burst damage.

1. Use Storm Bolt to stun your kill target.
2. Use Avatar.
3. If the enemy team is stacked and it will not slow you down enough for the enemy to stop your burst rotation, use Sweeping Strikes.
4. Use Spear of Bastion if you are Kyrian.
5. Use Shield Slam on cooldown to deal damage and generate Rage.
6. Use Thunder Clap when Shield Slam is not available.
7. Use Revenge when it procs.
8. Use Devastate if nothing else is available.

Shield Wall is your primary defensive cooldown, and is extremely strong for both you and your team when combined with Unbreakable Will. If playing with this legendary, do not be afraid to spend the ability on your allies rather than yourself.

Ignore Pain enjoys the liberty of having only a 1-second cooldown, unlike Arms Warrior and Fury Warrior who have a 12-second cooldown on this ability. This means that, as long as you have the Rage for it, you can keep yourself permanently shielded, and this is vital for reducing the damage you take and keeping your healer's Mana high.

Heroic Leap has great pursuit potential but can be equally powerful when trying to survive. Breaking the line of sight of enemies will nullify most of their damage, and is a great way to prevent being killed by unstoppable cooldowns like Combustion.

Rallying Cry is a great defensive for you and your team, especially when in conjunction with Inspiring Presence. Beware, as the health gained is lost at the end of the duration and can surprise kill you or your teammates.

Shield Block blocks any non-enhanced melee attack and ranged attack (Hunters). It does not work against abilities like Templar's Verdict or Obliterate, that is Frost-enhanced. Shield Block serves as a great defense against Subtlety Rogues, Feral Druids, Windwalker Monks, Arms Warriors, and Marksmanship Hunters.

Victory Rush is not usable often, but it can still be used sometimes. You can gain this ability after killing an enemy or an enemy pet. So, if you need a heal, you can quickly try to kill a pet and hit an enemy for a heal. Often times, you will be running with Impending Victory to make it available without having to score a kill first.

Shield Bash is great for your team as well, allowing you to reduce the damage of a target, or even multiple targets, by 15% permanently.

Avatar is your primary burst cooldown, which greatly enhances your damage output and is almost crucial to being able to apply any pressure. However, roots are also a great counter to Protection Warrior, and it can often be a good idea to hold onto Avatar for abilities such as Frost Nova, so you can break free and help your team.

Intimidating Shout is a very powerful ability that can make or break your game. This ability is as strong offensively as it is defensively. For this reason, this ability can be the hardest to determine how to use best.

Some good ways to use it offensively are to use it as a followup-CC to an already applied CC on the enemy healer, or to start a CC chain. The enemy team will try to stop your team from applying other forms of CC like Polymorph or Hex. If you can land an Intimidating Shout onto all of the enemy team, your team will be in a prime position to burst and apply CC without having to worry about being stopped. This way, you can turn the tides of a fight by, for an example, using it on a Windwalker Monk with Storm, Earth, and Fire during Fists of Fury, to nullify their offensive burst and letting you Storm Bolt your kill target to counter pressure with your team.

Intervene is one of the best tools Protection Warriors have for the team. It allows you to quickly reposition to your chosen teammate, and then redirect all melee and ranged attacks onto you. Keep in mind that this ability does not do anything against spells unless you have the Safeguard Conduit. Use it frequently and in respond to enemy attempts to kill your teammates.

Shattering Throw also made a return in Shadowlands and is great for when a Mage uses Ice Block or a Paladin uses Divine Shield/ Blessing of Protection. This ability can also be used to deal a very large amount of damage to absorption shields like Life Cocoon, almost breaking them entirely.

It is advised to use Macros to use abilities on enemies or allies without having to target them. For this reason, we have a page dedicated to them.