Protection Warrior PvP Talents and Builds (Shadowlands / 9.2)
Choosing the right PvP and PvE talents is a prerequisite to proper performance in PvP. This guide goes through the various talent choices available to you as an Protection Warrior and gives you the best combinations you can take.
This page is part of our Protection Warrior PvP Guide.
Changes to the build in 9.2
Punish has taken the lead in the first row of talents, because of
the new Tier Sets.
Sword and Board is worth considering now.
Talent Choices for Protection Warriors
Level | Choices | ||
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15 |
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25 |
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30 |
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35 |
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40 |
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45 |
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50 |
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While the above table provides a generally accurate overview of the viability of talents, some finer points are discussed in the sections that follow, and we recommend you read those for a deeper understanding.
Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
Punish provides a decent single target damage increase to your main
damage dealer. The damage reduction is a nice touch as well.
Devastator is also a decent option, giving you the most sustained damage
output.
War Machine is of too little benefit to be considered.
Tier 2 (Level 25) Talents
Storm Bolt gives Warrior a much needed on-demand ranged stun, which
is incredibly powerful both offensively and defensively. Storm Bolt is a big
win condition for the Warrior's team offensively, and is ideal for stopping
enemy attempts to kill you or your teammates. This talent is mandatory for
competitive PvP.
Rumbling Earth is not worth considering, as hitting 3 targets with
Shockwave is a rare occurrence.
Double Time is a very niche talent, which should only be used versus
casters that are very difficult to catch up to in 2v2. A good example is Affliction Warlock with the
permanent slow Legendary, where it can be more beneficial to play with extra
mobility, should you lack spells like
Blessing of Freedom on your
team.
Tier 3 (Level 30) Talents
Booming Voice boosts your damage output and Rage generation and
should be picked.
Best Served Cold and
Dragon Roar are less valuable and should
not be chosen.
Tier 4 (Level 35) Talents
Crackling Thunder makes it easier to catch targets trying to kite
you out, especially when combined with
Thunderstruck.
Bounding Stride is a niche talent, which you can consider picking up
against targets that can easily kite you, such as Affliction Warlock.
Menace is generally more of a burden than a help with its
knock-back and we would not recommend it.
Tier 5 (Level 40) Talents
Indomitable and
Impending Victory are both great talents to
increase self sustain. We recommend picking
Indomitable against
sustained damage matchups where you have a lot of uptime, and
Impending Victory against burst compositions and low uptime
targets.
Never Surrender is only effective on low health, which is generally
where you do not want to find yourself, so stick with the other options.
Tier 6 (Level 45) Talents
Unstoppable Force turns you into a powerhouse when
Avatar
is active and is the overall best option.
Into the Fray and
Ravager do not compare to the
burst damage and root potential of
Unstoppable Force.
Tier 7 (Level 50) Talents
Anger Management lets you use your most crucial abilities more
frequently and is the go-to pick. If you do not play with
Unbreakable Will, then you can use
Bolster against burst
compositions with matching cooldowns, such as
Avenging Wrath.
Heavy Repercussions does not increase your survivability enough to
be considered.
PvP Talents for Protection Warriors
You can choose 3 of the following PvP talents. Each of them has their uses, but some are better for certain strategies than others. As Protection Warrior, your choices are limited as you will be running the mandatory PvP talent almost every match.
Mandatory PvP Talents
Morale Killer is incredibly powerful and should be picked just about
every match. The damage reduction for your team is huge and extra Rage
generation is always welcome.
Situational PvP Talents
Thunderstruck is great for peeling a teammate that relies on kiting
against melees. This root is not affected by diminishing returns, and can be a
total nightmare for enemy melees when paired with
Unstoppable Force.
Bodyguard gives an incredible strong Physical damage reduction to
an ally, which gets redirected to you. Protection Warrior can handle Physical
damage very easily, and this makes your partner very unlikely to die to
specializations based around Physical damage, such as Subtlety Rogue or Arms Warrior. The downside of this
strong talent, though, is that it breaks if you move too far from your ally, and
you must consider if you have to kite a lot or not.
Disarm has a short cooldown and can completely ruin the damage of
weapon-based classes like Retribution Paladins or Subtlety Rogue. This ability can even
be used offensively versus specializations that require weapons for their
defensives, such as stopping an Arms Warrior from using
Die by the Sword
or a Death Knights from using
Death Strike.
Shield Bash provides further damage reduction to the enemy, and can
be kept up permanently if used successfully on enemies casting spells, allowing
you to reduce the damage your team takes significantly.
Oppressor can be used if your team is looking for more offensive
pressure, letting you do up to 9% more damage in arena.
Sword and Board is a decent choice now with
Protection Warrior 2-Piece.
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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