Protection Warrior in Wrath - Viable?

[Sembiance]

So I have a 5x Mage team at 68.
I've paused there and tonight I'm going to start raising a new group from 60.
1x Protection Warrior, 1x Paladin, 3x Shadow DPS Priests

I figure I'll get them up to 68 at which point I'd like to form a team that I will level to 80.
My goal is to reach 80 and start doing PvE content.

I love playing Mages, so I'd like as many of them as possible in my group, hopefully four.

The main question is, is a Protection Warrior viable in Wrath?

With 4 mages, there would no healing for the tank.
So I would need to burn things down quick enough before the tank died.
I suppose I could swap out one of my pages with a Priest.

I'd really like to hear everyones thoughts on the Protection Warrior question.

Why does nobody every really talk about using a prot warrior as a tank? Do they suck or something?

Everyone always talks about using Paladins as tanks. Are Prot Warriors better in wrath now?
Or are they still not worth it since they don't have any buffs and can't heal?

[Aradar]

I use a pally and have never played a protection warrior but my understanding is it's not a case of them not being viable, they just take more micro management whereas pallies are easy mode, i.e., practically no management.

As for a group with no healer, I think you will have problems. There are people on these forums running a tank and 4 elem shammies but a class such as a mage with no possibility of healing at all doesn't seem viable to me.

[Svpernova09]

The reasons everyone was so gung ho for Warrior tanks was because they couldn't effectively AoE tank. With the changes to thunderclap scaling with AP, and being able to hit unlimited targets Warriors are now viable AoE tanks. It is really going to come down to your personal preference IMO. Buff wise, warriors don't bring much to the group. Pallies have blessings and Druids have Gift of the Wild / Thorns.

[Ken]

The reasons everyone was so gung ho for Warrior tanks was because they couldn't effectively AoE tank. With the changes to thunderclap scaling with AP, and being able to hit unlimited targets Warriors are now viable AoE tanks. It is really going to come down to your personal preference IMO. Buff wise, warriors don't bring much to the group. Pallies have blessings and Druids have Gift of the Wild / Thorns.

http://www.wowwiki.com/Commanding_Shout is helpful :)
So are the stun abilities and Intimidating shout (fear for 8s). Let's not forget charge, intervene(make them autoselect depending on friendly/enemy target in a macro), etc.

It's all just a matter of preference indeed :)

[Sembiance]

http://www.wowwiki.com/Commanding_Shout is helpful
So are the stun abilities and Intimidating shout (fear for 8s). Let's not forget charge, intervene(make them autoselect depending on friendly/enemy target in a macro), etc.

It's all just a matter of preference indeed

Wow, that's a nice buff!

My main concern... will a tank be able to hold aggro even with 3 or 4 mages unleashing pure death upon the boss?

[Sembiance]

I use a pally and have never played a protection warrior but my understanding is it's not a case of them not being viable, they just take more micro management whereas pallies are easy mode, i.e., practically no management.

As for a group with no healer, I think you will have problems. There are people on these forums running a tank and 4 elem shammies but a class such as a mage with no possibility of healing at all doesn't seem viable to me.

I think you've convinced me that my team makeup should be:
1x Prot Warrior
1x Priest
3x Mage

Your probably right, having the ability to heal is probably a lot more valuable than 1 more Mage DPS.

Too bad Mages didn't have some sort of pet they could summon to tank for them

[Svpernova09]

Commanding shout is great, for the warrior, your other toons really don't need the extra HP. I'd rather them have Kings or G/MotW. But again, its all personal preference. Warriors have a bunch of "oh shit" buttons that other tanks don't really have.

[Ken]

http://www.wowwiki.com/Commanding_Shout is helpful :)
So are the stun abilities and Intimidating shout (fear for 8s). Let's not forget charge, intervene(make them autoselect depending on friendly/enemy target in a macro), etc.

It's all just a matter of preference indeed :)

Wow, that's a nice buff!

My main concern... will a tank be able to hold aggro even with 3 or 4 mages unleashing pure death upon the boss?

I honestly don't know .... I am considering to replace 1 shaman with a mage and I'm troubled with that question too.

Commanding shout is great, for the warrior, your other toons really don't need the extra HP. I'd rather them have Kings or G/MotW. But again, its all personal preference. Warriors have a bunch of "oh shit" buttons that other tanks don't really have.

I agree, but as extra info: Since the last patch(3.x), I don't seem to need them that often anymore.
It's still handy though ... there's 3 separate abilities to instantly taunt an NPC!

[Turenn]

Yes they are very viable, infact just as good as a paladin. Especially since 3.0. But why not add a healer to your team as well?

[Svpernova09]

I agree, but as extra info: Since the last patch(3.x), I don't seem to need them that often anymore.
It's still handy though ... there's 3 separate abilities to instantly taunt an NPC!

Lucky warriors :_D Us druids have never had an oh shit button. I had to get the epic JC tanking trinket + badge of tenacity and use both of those as my "oh shit" button to hit 60% dodge lol.