Protection Warrior Tank Mythic+ Tips — The War Within (11.0.5)

This build is the default Mythic+ build. It provides us with high Shield Block up-time, while also having access to multiple offensive cooldowns.

Some quick notes and alterations can be found below:

• You can pick Show of Force or Disrupting Shout instead of Thunderlord;
• Bloodborne can be dropped, and the point used in Bloodsurge, Disrupting Shout, Thunderlord instead;
• Into the Fray should be picked once you feel comfortable with your Shield Block up-time;

If you do not enjoy Champion's Spear, you can also play Thunderous Roar instead. Just be wary that this will perform worse damage-wise.

• Talen build with Thunderous Roar: CkEAmidFBOBFf5oKuZ7r/WeW7YEDAAAAzMzwMzwMbzsMzMzyCjhpxgxMAWGjZYjZmhBmxMAAAAAAgZGAgltNADDsBLLGNmBwsFbMbA

While Colossus is not the ideal Mythic+ Hero Talent tree, it is by no means bad. You can still play it and have great success. As Colossus, you aim to play Thunderous Roar, and without Unstoppable Force. This might feel counter-intuitive for long-time Protection Warrior players, but this will net you the highest damage output.

Some quick notes and alterations can be found below:

• You can pick Disrupting Shout instead of Bloodsurge or Show of Force if needed;
• Into the Fray should be picked once you feel comfortable with your Shield Block up-time;
• You can pick Rumbling Earth instead of Intervene or Storm Bolt;

You can also pick Champion's Spear talents instead of Thunderous Roar as Colossus. Just be wary that this will perform worse damage-wise.

• Talent build with Champion's Spear: CkEAmidFBOBFf5oKuZ7r/WeW7YEDAAAAzMzMmZGMbzsMzMzyiZMMNGMmBwyADbMzMMMzDMmBAAAAAAMzAAsstBYA2MjhNyAzwCN2YWA

Pummel is our main interrupt ability. As tanks, we will take the blunt force of the overall damage intake in dungeons, and while we can deal with the physical damage intake fairly easily thanks to Shield Block, the magic damage is where it can get trickier. Using Pummel effectively to interrupt various dangerous casts will help lower our damage intake greatly and increase our chances of survival.

Disrupting Shout allows you to silence multiple enemies while also Taunting all of them. While on paper, it seems like a great ability, it has a hefty 75 second cooldown and needs to actually interrupt the cast in order for the silence to take effect. It does have potential uses in situations where you are facing multiple deadly casters, or need help grouping packs.

Intimidating Shout is primarily used as an interrupt because the disorient it provides is easily broken by damage. You can also use it as crowd control by using it on a group of enemies and pulling a specific enemy out of that group to focus it down.

Shockwave is your AoE stun. Use it to delay or cancel dangerous abilities, or use it as a survivability tool to stun enemies when your defenses are down. Rumbling Earth helps lower the cooldown of this significantly, and it can be further enhanced by Colossus talents like Boneshaker and Earthquaker

Storm Bolt acts as another strong single-target stun. Use it instead of Shockwave when you only need to stun one enemy in order to prevent stun DR from kicking in. Mountain Thane has the Storm Bolts talent, which will make this also hit 2 additional enemies.

Shield Charge should mainly be used on cooldown for the offensive part, but it is worth remembering that it also stuns your primary target for 4 seconds when cast.

Champion's Spear allows you to tether enemies hit by the spear to it. As with Shield Charge, you should mainly use this on cooldown, offensively. Some types of situations where you might consider delaying your spear are when fixates come up, or enemies jump around. In such cases, using Champion's Spear for the purpose of tethering these enemies might be more beneficial for the overall group performance.

Spell Reflection is primarily used for the magic damage reduction. In Mythic+, however, many spells can be reflected back to the caster. There are some spells that hit very hard, and if you are able to reflect those, you can deal a lot of damage to the enemy. Additionally, sometimes you are able to apply debuffs to the enemy that normally would have been applied to you had you been hit by the spell.

Rallying Cry can be used to save teammates during heavy damage intake phases or to just help ease the pressure off your healer. It has a fairly long 3-minute cooldown, so be sure not to waste it.

Berserker Rage makes us immune to Fear, Sap, and Incapacitate effects. This can be used pre-emptively before the cast goes off or reactively when you are already under the effect. You can further pick up Berserker Shout, which allows you to remove Fear effects also from your party members within 12 yards.

Intervene is an extremely potent tool if there is a use case for it. Preventing your party member from taking damage from, let's say, a fixating enemy is a great way to help your group. This ability is made even better thanks to Mountain Thane talent, Storm Shield. This causes the Intervene target to also gain a magic absorb shield, which can be used as an extra defensive on allies who need it.

Shattering Throw may have niche uses in some dungeons where the enemies either have a magical immunity or an absorb. Just remember that it has a cast time, meaning that you do not want to use it while actively tanking enemies.

Wrecking Throw, similarly to Shattering Throw deals bonus damage to absorbs. While it does not remove magical immunities, it does have a much shorter cooldown, making it a more compelling choice should the situation arise.

Note that it is early days and that this section will be far more fleshed out as the Season progresses and cool tricks and tips are found.

• Avanoxx
  • Gossamer Onslaught is blockable by Spell Block;
  • Voracious Bite is blockable by Shield Block;
  • If needed, you can use Champion's Spear, if talented, to keep Starved Crawlers tethered to the spear. Ideally you would use Champion's Spear on the boss for damage purposes instead.
• Anub'zekt
  • Nothing special, keep the boss faced away from allies to prevent Impale from being faced towards them.
• Ki'katal the Harvester
  • Cosmic Singularity and Venom Volley are blockable with Spell Block;
  • Heroic Throw can be used to kill off any Bloodworkers from range, just keep in mind that they will drop pools of Black Blood on the ground;
  • You can use Avatar to break the root from Grasping Blood.

• Below, you can find examples of casts in this dungeon, which are reflectable with Spell Reflection:
  • Bloodstained Webmage, Web Bolt;
  • Atiik, Poison Bolt;
  • Ixin, Web Bolt;
  • Nakt, Web Bolt;
  • Generally, any Web Bolt is reflectable.

Note that it is early days and that this section will be far more fleshed out as the Season progresses and cool tricks and tips are found.

• Orator Krix'vizk
  • Vociferous Indoctrination is blockable with Spell Block;
  • Vociferous Indoctrination is a good time to use Intervene, with Storm Shield to assist allies.
  • Subjugate deals both physical and magical damage; be sure to keep Shield Block and a magic mitigation ability like Spell Block, Shield Wall or Spell Reflection up.
• Nx and Vx
  • Duskbringer is blockable with Spell Block;
  • Shade Slash should be targeted away from your allies as it is a frontal;
  • Rime Dagger deals both physical and magical damage; be sure to keep Shield Block and a magic mitigation ability like Spell Block, Shield Wall or Spell Reflection up.
• The Coaglamation
  • Viscous Darkness knockback can be used to Charge back in for extra Rage;
  • Corrupted Coating healing absorb can be reduced with Last Stand and Impending Victory;
  • Dark Pulse deals damage to all allies, use Intervene, with Storm Shield to assist them.
• Izo, the Grand Splicer
  • Gorge, from the scarab adds, is blockable with Shield Block;
  • Process of Elimination deals both physical and magical damage; be sure to keep Shield Block and a magic mitigation ability like Spell Block, Shield Wall or Spell Reflection up;
  • Umbral Weave's root can be deflected with Spell Reflection;
  • Splice can be reflected with Spell Reflection;
  • Use Intervene with Storm Shield talented to assist allies with the Splice debuff.

• Below, you can find examples of casts in this dungeon, which are reflectable with Spell Reflection:
  • Covert Webmancer, Grimweave Blast;
  • Elder Shadeweaver, Umbral Weave and Web Bolt;
  • Skittering Assistant, Web Bolt;
  • Sureki Silkbinder, Web Bolt.

Note that it is early days and that this section will be far more fleshed out as the Season progresses and cool tricks and tips are found.

• Speaker Shadowcrown
  • Shadow Bolt can be reflected with Spell Reflection;
  • Obsidian Beam should be avoided, but in cases it can't be, you can use Spell Block to mitigate it.
• Anub'ikkaj
  • Dark Orb and Shadowy Decay are both blockable with Spell Block;
  • Terrifying Slam deals both physical and magical damage; be sure to keep Shield Block and a magic mitigation ability like Spell Block, Shield Wall or Spell Reflection up;
  • Terrifying Slam knocks you away, so use Charge to get back in. Be sure not to use it too fast, or you might fear your allies around you;
  • Use Intervene with Storm Shield talented to help allies.
• Rasha'nan
  • Erosive Spray is blockable with Spell Block;
  • Use Intervene with Storm Shield talented to help allies.

• Below, you can find examples of casts in this dungeon, which are reflectable with Spell Reflection:
  • Animated Darkness, Congealed Shadow;
  • Nightfall Darkcaster, Tormenting Beam;
  • Nightfall Shadowmage, Shadow Bolt;
  • Sureki Webmage, Web Bolt.

Note that it is early days and that this section will be far more fleshed out as the Season progresses and cool tricks and tips are found.

• General Umbriss
  • Skullsplitter is blockable with Shield Block;
  • Shadow Breath is blockable with Spell Block.
• Forgemaster Throngus
  • Blistering Heat is blockable with Spell Block;
  • Molten Flurry deals both physical and magical damage; be sure to keep Shield Block and a magic mitigation ability like Spell Block, Shield Wall or Spell Reflection up;
  • Molten Mace causes him to deal a lot more damage, either kite or use extra defensives if you can survive the extra damage.
• Drahga Shadowburner
  • Shadowflame Bolt is reflectable with Spell Reflection.
• Erudax
  • Crush deals both physical and magical damage; be sure to keep Shield Block and a magic mitigation ability like Spell Block, Shield Wall or Spell Reflection up;
  • Depth's Grasp, the tentacle slam, can be deflected with Spell Reflection.

• Below, you can find examples of casts in this dungeon, which are reflectable with Spell Reflection:
  • Molten Giant, Lava Fist;
  • Twilight Beguiler and Twilight Warlock, Shadowflame Bolt;
  • Twilight Decapitator, Shadowflame Slash;

Note that it is early days and that this section will be far more fleshed out as the Season progresses and cool tricks and tips are found.

• Blightbone
  • Crunch is blockable with Shield Block;
  • Use Intervene with Storm Shield on allies targeted by Heaving Retch;
  • Use Spell Reflection to deflect the Fetid Gas pools on the ground if you need to run over them;
  • You can use Champion's Spear on the worm adds as they spawn to keep them tethered. If you do so, be sure to also hit the boss with the spear.
• Amarth
  • Necrotic Bolt can be reflected with Spell Reflection if it is cast on you;
  • Frostbolt Volley, from Reanimated Mage, is reflectable with Spell Reflection.
• Surgeon Stitchflesh
  • Mutilate is blockable with Shield Block;
  • Use Intervene on allies targeted with Morbid Fixation, pay attention it lasts for 8 seconds, but Intervene lasts for 6;
• Nalthor the Rimebinder
  • Frozen Binds can be reflected with Spell Reflection;
  • If you are frozen by Frozen Binds, you can Avatar to remove the root;
  • Ice Shard, despite the name, is a physical attack and can be blocked with Shield Block.
  • Wrecking Throw, if talented for some reason, can be used on Icebound Aegis.

• Below, you can find examples of casts in this dungeon, which are reflectable with Spell Reflection:
  • Brittlebone Mage, Frostbolt;
  • Corpse Harvester, Drain Fluids;
  • Rotspew, Spew Disease;
  • Zolramus Bonemender, Gatekeeper, Sorcerer, Necrotic Bolt
• Important blockable abilities with Shield Block include:
  • Abominations, Tenderize;
  • Abominations, Mutilate;
  • Zolramus Bonecarver, Boneflay;
  • Zolramus Bonemender, Gatekeeper, Sorcerer, Necrotic Bolt.
• Use Champion's Spear, if talented, to prevent Patchwerk Soldiers from Leaping around.
• Use Berserker Rage if you are feared by Skeletal Marauder's Rasping Scream.

Note that it is early days and that this section will be far more fleshed out as the Season progresses and cool tricks and tips are found.

• Ingra Maloch
  • Be sure to have your big offensive cooldowns like Avatar, Shield Charge, Demoralizing Shout with Booming Voice and others, up for when Droman's Wrath is cast. The boss takes 200% increased damage then;
  • Spirit Bolt is reflectable with Spell Reflection;
  • Use Intervene, with Storm Shield talented to help allies deal with the magic damage;
  • Berserker Rage can be used to dispel, or immune, the fear from Repulsive Visage. With Berserker Shout talented, you can do this for your whole party.
• Mistcaller
  • Be sure to interrupt Patty Cake with Pummel;
  • Use Intimidating Shout, Shockwave, Storm Bolt to help keep the Illusionary Vulpin in place.
• Tred'ova
  • Use Intervene on the player targeted by Marked Prey;
  • Use Champion's Spear, Shockwave and any other crowd control abilities to help keep the spawned Gormling Larva in place. Be sure to also hit the boss with Champion's Spear;
  • Use Heroic Leap to break Mind Link quicker.

• Below, you can find examples of casts in this dungeon, which are reflectable with Spell Reflection:
  • Drust Boughtbreaker, Bramble Burst;
  • Drust Harvester, Spirit Bolt;
  • Drust Soulcleaver, Soul Split;
  • Mistveil Guardian, Anima Slash;
  • Mistveil Stinger, Anima Injection.
• Mistveil Gorgegullet casts a frontal called Tongue Lashing, sidestep or outrange it;
• Mistvel Matriarch casts Shred Armor, be wary of it as it increases your damage taken;
• Mistveil Nightblossom casts Triple Bite, which leaves a DoT on you that deals a lot of damage, use defensives like Shield Wall if needed.

Note that it is early days and that this section will be far more fleshed out as the Season progresses and cool tricks and tips are found.

• Chopper Redhook
  • Heavy Hitter, the melee attack, is blockable with Shield Block;
  • Face Irontide Cleavers away from your party members to avoid hitting them with Heavy Slash.
• Dread Captain Lockwood
  • Crimson Swipe and Gut Shot are blockable with Shield Block.
• Hadal Darkfathom
  • Use Heroic Leap if you are not in place before the Tidal Surge cast happens;
• Viq'Goth
  • Ensure that you are always in range of the Demolishing Terror; otherwise it will deal heavy group-wide damage.

• Below, you can find examples of casts in this dungeon, which are reflectable with Spell Reflection:
  • Bilge Rat Tempest, Water Bolt;
  • Irontide Curseblade, Cursed Slash;
  • Irontide Waveshaper, Brackish Bolt.

Note that it is early days and that this section will be far more fleshed out as the Season progresses and cool tricks and tips are found.

• E.D.N.A
  • Refracting Beam can be blocked with Spell Block;
  • Seismic Smash cannot be blocked with Shield Block, use defensives like Shield Wall, Demoralizing Shout and swap into Defensive Stance for it;
• Skarmorak
  • Crystalline Smash can be blocked with Shield Block.
• Master Machinists Speaker Dorlita and Speaker Brokk
  • Molten Metal can be reflected with Spell Reflection;
  • Igneous Hammer can be blocked with Spell Block;
• Void Speaker Eirich

• Below, you can find examples of casts in this dungeon, which are reflectable with Spell Reflection:
  • Curseforge Stoneshaper, Stone Bolt;
  • Cursedheart Invader, Arcing Void;
  • Forgebound Mender, Alloy Bolt;
  • Void Bound Despoiler, Shadow Claw.

Periodically spawns orbs that need to be interrupted or crowd-controlled. Tools to deal with this affix include:

• Pummel;
• Disrupting Shout;
• Storm Bolt;
• Shield Charge;
• Shockwave;
• Intimidating Shout.

Periodically spawns orbs, which then start moving. Intercept them before they reach enemies. As a tank, the enemies are following you; be sure not to drag the mobs into the orbs while you are trying to collect some of them.

Places an absorb on players which needs to be dispelled or healed through. As Warriors, we can't dispel, but we can assist our healer by healing ourselves with Impending Victory and Last Stand.

Spawns a new add, which buffs others. Just swap to this add as soon as possible, and be sure to kill it off as a high priority. As the Void Emissary has 1 health, you can start casting Execute as soon as it spawns since it deals a massive amount of damage.