TBC Classic Protection Warrior Guide (Phase 3)

Opener

• If your rage is between 0 and 10, stand in Berserker Stance and press Berserker Rage: it increases the rage gained from taking damage. Do not do this if enemies use fear
• If you are not pulling from range, stand in Battle Stance and enter the pack with Charge
• Thunder Clap on a large pack or Shield Slam on a small one
• Switch to Vanguard and play the normal priority
• Bloodrage — between packs so you enter the fight with a rage reserve

Multi-Target Priority

On 2–3 targets just play the normal priority, constantly switching targets and building threat evenly. From 3 targets and up:

• Thunder Clap — on cooldown
• Whirlwind — on a large pack; remember that switching stances keeps only 10 rage
• Cleave — only on a very large pack or a couple of times on the pull; usually it is better to spread Heroic Strike across different targets
• Demoralizing Shout — if enemies hit hard
• Taunt — on any durable target that got away from you; do not waste it on ones about to die
• Concussion Blow — stun a target; often you can simply stun it and ignore it
• Intervene — cover an ally and manage to pick the target back up
• Intercept — catch up to and stun a target that ran to an ally
• Mocking Blow — requires Battle Stance, forces the target to attack you for 6 seconds
• Disarm — sharply cut a target's damage when taunts are unavailable
• Challenging Shout — an AoE taunt with a very long cooldown, use it only as a last resort
• Intimidating Shout — the absolute last resort: scatter the pack with fear to survive until your cooldowns

Tanking a pack demands constant control: you need to know how much threat you have on each target, which one to stun, and which you will soon have to grab with a taunt. Rage management is just as important here: know the cost of your abilities, keep the rage bar in view, and think a couple of buttons ahead.