PvE Protection Warrior Tank Stat Priority & Reforging

Unlike most other specializations with one solidly defined Stat Priority, Protection Warriors in Mists of Pandaria can use three stat priorities that lead to different builds and playstyles. The builds are Parry Build, Mastery Build, and Full Critical Strike Chance Build!

Stat Priority

Parry Build Stat Priority

1. Stamina
2. Hit (7.5%)
3. Expertise (15%)
4. Parry
5. Dodge
6. Mastery
7. Critical Strike Chance
8. Haste

Mastery Build Stat Priority

1. Stamina
2. Hit (7.5%)
3. Expertise (15%)
4. Mastery
5. Parry
6. Dodge
7. Critical Strike Chance
8. Haste

Critical Strike Chance Build Stat Priority

1. Stamina
2. Hit (7.5%)
3. Expertise (15%)
4. Critical Strike Chance
5. Mastery
6. Parry
7. Dodge
8. Haste

Stamina is a primary stat that directly increases your maximum Health Points. As a Protection Warrior, Stamina is among the most crucial stats, no matter what build you are playing. In addition, Protection Warriors synergize very well with Stamina due to Last Stand and Rallying Cry, two of the best defensive tools in their kit.

Hit or Hit Chance is a secondary stat that ensures attacks and spells land against higher-level mobs. You will need 7.5% Hit to ensure that your Attacks never miss against a level 93 target, with each 340 Hit resulting in 1% Hit Chance. As for Spells (Shouts or Dragon Roar), the rest of the 7.5% required Spell Hit Chance is acquired from Expertise in Mists of Pandaria, meaning that you won’t need more than exactly 7.5% Hit.

Expertise is a secondary stat in Mists of Pandaria that increases Spell Hit Chance and reduces the chance of your attacks being dodged or parried. You need 7.5% Expertise to ensure your attacks can’t be dodged and 15% Expertise to avoid being parried. 340 Expertise results in 1% Expertise. You will always want to ensure you reach the 15% Hard Cap as a Protection Warrior.

Parry is a secondary stat that increases your overall avoidance, effectively negating Physical Attacks! The stat is considered the best form of avoidance, with many claiming it is stronger than Mastery overall. Parry directly synergizes with your Riposte mechanic, enhancing your Critical Strike Chance by an amount equal to 75% of your Parry whenever a successful Parry occurs. A successful Parry also resets the cooldown of Revenge, effectively adding to your total Rage Generation. Each 885 Parry results in 1% Parry Chance before Diminishing Returns!

Dodge is a secondary stat similar to Parry, which provides avoidance. Dodge is often considered weaker than Parry, with most Protection Warriors preferring to stack the stat far less, due to its diminishing returns. Like Parry, Dodge synergizes with your Riposte mechanic, enhancing your Critical Strike Chance by an amount equal to 75% of your Dodge whenever a successful Dodge occurs. The same scenario with Rage Generation also applies to Dodge. Each 885 Dodge will result in 1% Dodge Chance before Diminishing Returns!

Mastery is a stat that enhances the Mastery: Critical Block mechanic. It plays a unique role for Protection Warriors as it is directly tied to how often they use their Shield Block ability. While Protection Warriors have a base Block Chance through various effects, the true interaction with Mastery in their crit is their ability to Critically Block. While this can happen without Shield Block, the chances are exponentially higher when the effect is active, leading directly to a large chunk of Physical Damage mitigation.

However, the issue is that Shield Block can often take away valuable Rage that may be used for Shield Barrier instead, especially in encounters against heavy Magical Damage. On the bright side, Mastery ensures a very high Rage Generation through the Enrage mechanic in encounters where damage can be consistently blocked. Every 600 Mastery results in a 1% increase in the Mastery: Critical Block!

Critical Strike Chance is a stat that allows attacks to deal increased damage, up to 200% of their normal amount! For Protection Warriors, Critical Strike Chance has deeper implications related to the Enrage mechanic, boosting all DPS dealt and providing steady Rage Generation! Due to how strong the stat synergizes with the Protection Warrior specialization, a full Critical Strike Chance build is entirely viable, especially when combined with strong healers.

Lastly, Haste is a stat considered utterly useless to Protection Warriors, always taken as a last resort. Since Protection Warriors can’t generate Rage with their Melee Swings in Defensive Stance, the Auto-Attack Speed resulting from Haste is inconsequential. You could argue that you could use Haste to lower GCD, but Protection Warriors already have a very spammy rotation that doesn’t necessarily improve from Haste.

Reforging

Reforging can only be done on secondary stats, meaning you can’t acquire more Stamina or Strength through it! Based on the type of build they choose to play, Protection Warriors have many choices regarding gearing and reforging. No matter what build they decide to follow, they will always want to ensure they acquire their Hit & Expertise caps, followed by the core stats of the respective build.

• Hit (7.5%)
• Expertise (15%)
• Stats Depending on the Build (Parry/Mastery/Critical Strike Chance)