DPS question from a prot spec warrior

squeekur · 05/18/07, 2:00 AM

I am a fully protection spec warrior and MT for my guild. I am doing mostly endgame, however, I miss my PvP days and still want to be successful in the battlegrounds and arena without having to respec.

I have a couple questions for anyone dealing with the same issue:

When switching out my defense gear with more suitable PvP pieces, what stats should I care most about? I'm taking my defense down, so how much resilience should I be shooting for. My AGI and crit are ridiculously low, should I concentrate on pieces with crit before worrying about the resilience?

I'm also torn between dual wielding and using a two hand wep. Which scenario would generate the most damage? I would be dual wielding Kings Defender and Fireguard, and I am using Lionheart as my 2H. All very good pieces, but I honestly have no idea which would be most efficient to my current spec.

demonachizer · 05/18/07, 8:39 AM

Have you considered putting together a block set and trying out Shield Slam?

Randor · 05/18/07, 8:51 AM

Arena and BGs are different so you'd have to approach both differently.

For arena (I'm assuming 5 on 5), I'd go shield slam/concussion blow, thunderclap, demo shout, shield bash, utility play.

For BGs, I'd consider DWing (at least you can Devastate and likely have 1hand specialization. I never liked using my Lunar Crescent when prot as I didn't have an instant to use as bread and butter.

Gear-wise, it sounds as if you don't have much of a dps set. Farming for some blues via instances or PvPing is one one. I'd also suggest focusing on crit first.

Or there's the option of speccing for PvP on weekends or so but you said you're hesitant to do that. While not a big deal in BGs if you don't mind not being atop the leaderboard in kills, it will hamper an serious Arena play unless you have a solid DPS set you can use to compensate for your spec.

Nezralix · 05/18/07, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by Randor

For BGs, I'd consider DWing (at least you can Devastate and likely have 1hand specialization. I never liked using my Lunar Crescent when prot as I didn't have an instant to use as bread and butter.

Dual wielding might be better for soloing against NPC's, but it's basically useless in PvP. Devastate hits for very small amounts without a stack of Sunders and basically requires sustained close contact, which isn't all that common in PvP. All the while, you're taking away a huge chunk of armor and the ability to Spell Reflect + Shield Bash (silence) + block. Have you actually tried this, or are you speculating?

nfw · 05/18/07, 10:43 AM

For PvE, DW fury style will do more damage in my opinion.

For PvP, you should keep to sword+shield, but find gear that offers a balance between stamina, shield block, crit and strength.

Randor · 05/18/07, 1:25 PM

Originally Posted by Nezralix

Have you actually tried this, or are you speculating?

Tried it but I'm used to pvping as a DPS build so I tend to mix it up as I can, rez and mix it up again.

Suesse · 05/18/07, 1:36 PM

I have two sets
+ a lot of +block (560 static, more when trinket is activated)
+ lots of stamina (15k unbuffed hp)

I always wear my shield. I switch sets depending on if I see a lot of rogues/hunters/dps warriors or a lot of warlocks/mages/shadow priests.

My success in BGs is usually due to my enemy not being very alert. I often will charge into a group of rogues/warriors. They will focus me because I'm the first thing they saw. I shield block spam and make sure they don't get behind me. My teammates focus them down one at a time while I take 20-100 damage per second combined from them.

I think no matter how you gear yourself, a good opponent will always ignore you until last if you're prot speced -- and a shield in your hand really labels you as prot quickly.

Twid · 05/18/07, 4:10 PM

If you are interested in arena's (5v5) as protection, you'll be fulfilling a utility role. A prot warrior is able to either lock down a paladin for around 17 seconds (SB, CB, SB), or force his bubble. This works even better if there is another dispelling class on the opposing team, as things such as sheep can be cleansed, but an interrupt or stun cannot. Stacking block value can also frighten poorly played mages in to worrying about you as a threat, which you are most definitely not.

One effective tool is definitely dependent on the team you are playing against, but if they are a wait and see team (Nagrand pillar-hiders), riding right into the middle of them can cause them to focus on you momentarily, until they realize that you are going to take a ridiculously long time to kill.

Also, if it's ever down to you versus a rogue, you should never lose. Block is very efficient against fast but not necessarily hard hitting attacks.

After all of these little tips however, as soon as I purchased my Gladiator's Shield, I stopped arena'ing on my prot warrior. I felt like my team was a bunch of kids that had to fight over who got stuck taking grandpa with them.

rbrogan · 05/18/07, 5:09 PM

I miss my PvP days and still want to be successful in the battlegrounds and arena without having to respec.

Not to discourage you but I wouldn't have high expectations if you're not willing to respec to even a hybrid spec. You will be missing a lot of tools that make warriors successful in PVP. You should really consider farming for an hour to be able to respec and play a warrior to its full potential.

stampy · 05/18/07, 5:40 PM

Definitely go with the shield, and crank the block value. We dont really have viable PvP dps, regardless of gear; a shield block set keeps a lot of your survivability intact, while still allowing you to put a little thump behind your instant attack.

With respectable block value, you will never have more than a 10% or 15% crit rate... at that point, and against resilience, I just consider crits lucky when they happen, and dont worry too much about stacking the crit rate.

The biggest, shiniest two hander you can find is actually very useful to a prot warrior in PvP... as a decoy. Keep it equipped, charge in and whirlwind, and *then* break out the shield (itemrack ftw). You'll get a lot more attention that way, and attention is good. Its a lot better for your target to be thinking "why the hell does this MS warrior have a shield out" than to be thinking "who else is here for me to kill, besides this stupid prot warrior."

And yeah, the sad truth about being a prot warrior in arenas is that the best way to handle us is to ignore us, and even if you walk in with a two hander out, a good team will start ignoring you the second you pop a shield slam. We can be quite useful in AB and WSG though, where there are other objectives besides killing that you can use to draw attention.