Protection Warrior PvP Rotation and Playstyle (Shadowlands / 9.2)
PvP requires you to perform various actions in the course of a duel, match, or battleground: interrupting/silencing enemies, damaging them, bursting them down, defending yourself, keeping yourself alive, etc.. It is a game mode that fully utilizes your kit, especially spells that are rarely used in PvE. On this page, we go through all the spells you need to use in PvP as an Protection Warrior, how you should use them, and we explain what your playstyle should be.
This page is part of our Protection Warrior PvP Guide.
Playstyle for Protection Warriors
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.
Before the Gates Open
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.
Offensive Rotation
Understanding Protection Warrior Damage
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).
Sustained Damage
This list serves as your sustained damage rotation priority.
- Maintain
Hamstring on your kill target at all times.
- Use
Avatar for when you wish to burst.
- Use
Execute when the enemy drops below threshold.
- Use
Shield Slam on cooldown to deal damage and generate Rage.
- Use
Thunder Clap when
Shield Slam is not available.
- Use
Revenge when it procs.
- Use
Devastate if nothing else is available.
Rage Spenders
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.
Burst Damage
When you have the enemy healer in crowd control and you are trying to kill an enemy, you use your burst damage.
- Make sure you have the
Protection Warrior 2-Piece bonus ready
- Use
Storm Bolt to stun your kill target.
- Use
Conqueror's Banner or
Spear of Bastion
- Use
Shield Slam to consume
Outburst from
Protection Warrior 2-Piece
- Use
Avatar for
Protection Warrior 4-Piece bonus and gain another
Outburst.
- Use
Ancient Aftershock if Night Fae
- Use
Shield Slam on cooldown to deal damage and generate Rage.
- Use
Thunder Clap when
Shield Slam is not available.
- Use
Revenge when it procs.
- Use
Devastate if nothing else is available.
Defensive Techniques
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.
Good Avatar Usage
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.
Good Intimidating Shout Usage
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
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.
Macros
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.
Changelog
- 28 Feb. 2022: Page updated for Patch 9.2.
- 08 Nov. 2021: Page reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 04 Jul. 2021: Updated for Patch 9.1.
This guide has been written by Karanze, an experienced Gladiator Warrior player who has been a Stormforged/trusted member in the popular Warrior class discord Skyhold. You can watch his stream on Twitch.
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