Tank Rotation & Cooldowns

This rotation offers a general priority list for Protection Warrior abilities, along with key cooldowns at the bottom. It's based on a standard build and is here to help while we work on a smarter, build-aware system. If you are very new to the game or this class, we added info on the new assisted rotation features at the bottom of this guide. Updated for the latest patch in World of Warcraft: The War Within (11.2).

Single Target

Start with Taunt and Charge to engage.

• AvatarView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Demoralizing ShoutView detailsUse on cooldown (with Booming Voice).
• Champions SpearView detailsUse on cooldown.
• RavagerView detailsUse on cooldown.
• DemolishView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Thunderous RoarView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Shield ChargeView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Thunder BlastView detailsUse when it procs.
• Shield SlamView detailsUse on cooldown. Watch for resets and Burst Of Power procs.
• Thunder ClapView detailsUse on cooldown.
• ExecuteView detailsUse if Rage is not needed for survivability.
• RevengeView detailsUse if above Execute health threshold and Rage is not needed for survivability.

Prioritize Avatar and Demoralizing Shout for cooldowns. Use Champions Spear, Ravager, and Demolish as they become available. Maintain Rage generation with Shield Slam and Thunder Clap, and spend excess Rage on Ignore Pain or Revenge.

AoE

Open with Ravager and Charge to establish threat.

• AvatarView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Demoralizing ShoutView detailsUse on cooldown (with Booming Voice).
• RavagerView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Champions SpearView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Thunderous RoarView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Shield ChargeView detailsUse on cooldown.
• DemolishView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Thunder BlastView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Shield SlamView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Thunder ClapView detailsUse on cooldown.
• RevengeView detailsUse to spread Deep Wounds or when Rage is available.

For AoE, prioritize Avatar and Demoralizing Shout. Use Ravager, Champions Spear, and Thunderous Roar for burst damage. Maintain threat with Thunder Clap and Revenge, and manage Rage effectively.

Cooldowns

• AvatarView detailsUse for increased damage and Rage generation.
• Demoralizing ShoutView detailsUse for damage reduction and Rage generation (with Booming Voice).
• Shield WallView detailsUse for high-damage phases or non-blockable damage.
• Last StandView detailsUse for emergency health boost or to extend Shield Block uptime.
• Spell ReflectionView detailsUse to reduce magic damage or reflect spells.

Use Avatar for damage bursts, Demoralizing Shout for mitigation and Rage, and Shield Wall or Last Stand for survivability. Spell Reflection is situational for magic damage or reflecting spells.

New to Class? Try Assisted Rotation

Patch 11.1.7 introduced new features that make it eaiser to pick and play new characters. These new settings can be enabled from settings » gameplay enhancements:

• Single-Button Assistant
• Assisted Highlight
• Cooldown Manager

If you are new to World of Warcraft or a certain class, enabling Assisted Highlight and Cooldown Manager can help you learn which abilities to prioritize and use.

While the Single-Button Assistant can be a much easier and more accessible way to play the game, it does come with a slight performance hit due to a small GCD penalty, as you will have to wait 25% longer in between spells and abilities.

To see which specs are best with the Single-Button Assistant feature, you can check out our DPS Rankings which uses SimC to sim every class using this feature.