Warrior Tank Talents & Builds Guide – WoW Classic

Von Beanna Aktualisiert: 20.03.2025

View ChangelogNavigation BarRelated GuidesTable of ContentsTalent Builds for Warrior Tank in Season of MasteryDeep Prot vs. Fury Prot IntroductionDeep Prot = 31 points in the Protection tree to unlock Schildschlag
Fury Prot = 31 points in the Fury tree to unlock BlutdurstFury Prot specializationwhen dual-wielding weaponsDeep Prot specializationBut do you actually need this threat increase?

Based on our trusty Classic DPS simulation tools, it is expected that a rank 14 Fury Krieger with the best buffs (not world buffs), consumables, and the best gear available in phase 1 of Season of Mastery, will push upwards of ~900 DPS single target in a 2-minute fight.

This dps converts to roughly 765 threat per second for Horde and 535 TPS for the Alliance thanks to Segen der Rettung.

A Protection Krieger with a cookie-cutter Deep Prot specialization and similar gear level can expect to output around 800 TPS, while wearing a shield!

Fury Prot build ProsKriegerideal for off-tanksalthough you will miss tactical mastery dearlyBeidhändigkeits-SpezialisierungConclusion

Deep Prot Pros

Fury Prot Pros

Deep Protection builds for Warrior Tank in Season of Mastery

Verbesserter SpottGeschmolzener KernSpottVerbesserte RacheVerbesserter SchildwallSchildwall

Fury Protection builds for Warrior Tank in Season of Mastery

In this build, there are a few talent points you can move around to your liking. Here are some options to consider:

Verbesserter heldenhafter Stoß is the theoretical maximum TPS choice for your 3 last talent points, but it's a very minimal increase and you can decide to move these points in either Zähigkeit or Abwehr for damage mitigation instead.
Verbesserter Spott is great for dungeons and Geschmolzener Kern where every mob, including bosses, is tauntable, should one escape you at any point.
Furthermore, the reduced cooldown on Spott enables an interesting sequence of taunt and fixate mechanics that can maintain threat on any tauntable boss for up to 21 countinuous seconds:

Verbesserte Rache is amazing for dungeons while you are farming your pre-raid BiS gear to better control and peel in heavy AoE situations, but basically useless in raids where 99% of mobs are immune.

If you have a dedicated Fury Krieger tasked to apply Demoralisierungsruf on every mob, you can move the points from Verbesserter demoralisierender Ruf to Entfesselter Zorn for a minor rage generation increase.

If you never ever use a shield, you could technically ignore the Schild-Spezialisierung → Verbesserter Schildblock line and instead progress to the next tier of talents with Vorahnung that will benefit dual-wielding ever so slightly.

WoW Classic Overview of Talents for Tank Warriors

Arms Tree Talents

Verbesserter heldenhafter Stoß

Even though you are using Heroic Strike on cooldown at higher levels you won't need to take this talent, the only time you generally see this taken is in DPS Fury builds.

Abwehr

What is one of the most underrated talents in the game, Parry not only negates an incoming attack but allows your next attack to come sooner. While it isn't too useful in PVE specs as a DPS Warrior, this talent definitely shines while leveling, tanking, and in PVP.

Verbessertes Verwunden

While this talent on its own isn't very exciting, it is a gateway talent to some very important talents later on in the Arms tree. This is a must have for any DPS spec.

Verbesserter Sturmangriff

This talent is not widely used, usually when you spec into deep Arms for PVP you have a couple extra points and some players choose to use this for access to some extra rage. I wouldn't recommend taking this talent most of the time.

Taktiker

TM is probably one of the most important talents for Warriors as a whole, being able to change stances with minimal penalty is incredibly important. You may need to swap stances and instantly use an ability, TM allows you to instantly use abilities like Entwaffnen and Spöttischer Schlag.

Verbesserter Donnerknall

This might genuinely be the worst Warrior talent, I have never seen anyone take this.

Verbessertes Überwältigen

Generally you take 2 points of this in PVP, this talent has incredible value in instances where you are using Overpower, it also has synergy with other Arms talents.

Aggressionskontrolle

AM is second to only Taktiker in regards to improving your quality of life as a Warrior. In all aspects of the game, you'll want to "pool" Rage and spend your resources precisely when you need them, this talent allows you to get the most out of your main resource.

Tiefe Wunden

This is the first of two reasons why we took 3 points in Verbessertes Verwunden, this talent is fantastic in both PVE and PVP. In PVE it provides a little extra damage, in PVP the bleed is a relevant debuff, and of course Deep Wounds sets us up for taking impale in the next tier.

Zweihandwaffen-Spezialisierung

Two-Hand Spec is about as straightforward as a talent gets, 1% extra damage for each point that you invest. This talent is generally taken to fill out your talent builds, while it isn't one of the premiere talents in the tree it certainly carries its own weight.

Durchbohren

The final talent that we've been building toward with Verbessertes Verwunden and Tiefe Wunden is here, Impale makes your critical strikes do 220% increased damage as opposed to the standard 200%. This talent is incredibly powerful and is utilized by many Warrior talent specs.

Axt-Spezialisierung

On this talent tier you will find several options that are "weapon specializations" you'll only have these as a traditional Arms PVP spec, and you should use whichever spec matches the weapon you are using to PVP.

Weitreichende Stöße

One of the best talents in the Arms tree, this talent gives you access to a short cooldown that allows you to cleave the next 5 abilities that you perform onto an additional foe. This is a great talent for leveling and is an important talent for any Arms PVP spec, it also is required in order for you to take the 31 point Arms talent.

Streitkolben-Spezialisierung

Similar to the other specialization talents, just take whatever talent matches the weapon you are using.

Schwert-Spezialisierung

What is widely considered to be the best weapon specialization in Classic World of Warcraft, you should take this if you are using a sword in PVP.

Stangenwaffen-Spezialisierung

In Classic World of Warcraft, Polearms are often held in a league of their own despite there not being any good Polearms to use, and the Arms tree is no exception. This talent is ultimately the worst of the specialization talents because it is on a higher talent tier; but, once again I must reiterate, if you are using a Polearm in PVP then take this talent.

Verbesserte Kniesehne

This talent can be quite useful in PVP, based on preference people take 1-3 points of this talent when they are speccing Arms for PVP. The ability to root an enemy in PVP can be game changing since Warriors are an entirely melee based class.

Tödlicher Stoß

The 31 point talent in Arms is absolutely incredible! Mortal Strike deals a tremendous amount of damage (based on your weapon damage) and applies a debuff to the target reducing the amount of healing they receive by HALF. This talent goes on to be one of the most format defining talents for PVP throughout the years of World of Warcraft, so it's no surprise that it is powerful in Classic as well.

Fury Tree Talents

Donnernde Stimme

Booming Voice is quite nice and is going to be one of the better talents in the first two tiers of the Fury tree, the increased range and duration might not seem that powerful at first glance but it is a solid quality of life improvement.

Grausamkeit

Cruelty is one of the most powerful tier 1 talents for Warriors, very straightforward, very powerful, 1% crit each for each point up to a total of 5%.

Verbesserter demoralisierender Ruf

This talent is quite underwhelming in Classic World of Warcraft, although some people use it while leveling, it ultimately won't see much use until TBC.

Entfesselter Zorn

This talent is favored in PVE situations as it's going to offer you a lot of extra Rage throughout a boss encounter, as well as a lot of extra Rage over the entirety of a Raid.

Verbessertes Spalten

Improved Cleave comes in on a talent tier that doesn't give it much room to shine, upon further inspection of the talent's tooltip you'll notice that it says it increases the "bonus" damage of cleave which ultimately adds up to not a whole lot. This talent doesn't see much play but could be incorporated in a more greedy talent build.

Durchdringendes Heulen

Piercing Howl is a must have for PVP Warriors, it gives you a lot of extra control in situations where you need it in PVP.

Blutwahnsinn

Blood Craze is another solid PVP talent that the Fury tree gives you access to, just via the nature of how combat works in Classic World of Warcraft you're going to get crit eventually; and, as you'll see late on in this section, Fury has a lot of talents that are influenced both by dealing critical strikes as well as being crit.

Verbesserter Schlachtruf

This talent is a staple for Fury Warriors, generally I end up taking this for PVE in both leveling and raiding. For PVP you'll probably be more inclined to take the PVP oriented talents but, this is a solid damage increase.

Beidhändigkeits-Spezialisierung

If you're dual wielding in PVE you're going to be speccing into this, if you look below you'll notice there are some Fury tanking specs as well, generally Fury Warriors are going to be dual wielding and this talent is a no brainer. It's important to note that it only boosts your offhand weapon damage.

Verbessertes Hinrichten

Improved Execute has a somewhat shallow tooltip, when you look deeper you'll find that it reduces the base cost of Execute by 5 Rage which ultimately allows you to sink 5 extra Rage into each Execute.

Wutanfall

Enrage is one of the key talents in the Fury tree, for PVE it leads to one of the most important talents in the latter tiers; and, for PVP, it is an absolute must-have. If you've played in any of the previous World of Warcraft expansions than you know, Enrage goes on to be one of the core mechanics for Fury Warriors, if you're this far in the Fury tree you'll want 5 points in this.

Verbessertes Zerschmettern

Slam is a rather unique ability for Warriors because it has a cast time that is usually quite a deterrent to players trying to use it. There are however a couple talent specs that utilize this talent to be able to work slam into their rotation, you'll find those specs down below.

Todeswunsch

Death Wish is what I would call "game-defining" for Classic World of Warcraft because it sets the bar so high for DPS Cooldowns. Three minutes is a relatively short cooldown, and with a duration of 30 seconds, Death Wish is unmatched in its strength compared to the cooldowns available to other classes. This is by far the most valuable talent that Warriors get in Classic and you'll be taking it as a Fury Warrior.

Verbessertes Abfangen

Improved Intercept is actually quite a good pair of talents but, unfortunately this talent is both too far down the Fury tree for Arms warriors to get and also not very useful in PVE for Fury Warriors to get. I think if this talent was maybe a 2nd or 3rd tier talent you would see it but, in reality you don't.

Verbesserte Berserkerwut

This talent is never taken, similar to Verbessertes Abfangen it is just too deep in the Fury tree to actually be a viable option. Berserk Rage already has very strong utility in making you immune to fear, so to attach a 10 rage incentive to use it on cooldown doesn't make much sense.

Schlaghagel

Flurry is one of the absolute best talents for a Fury Warrior, although it only lasts for 3 swings you should, at a certain gear level, have nearly 100% uptime on this buff and you'l definitely want to have 5 points in this as a Fury Warrior.

Blutdurst

The 31 point talent for Fury is Bloodthirst, this ability scales off of your attack power and is one of your highest DPR (damage per rage) abilities. This ability is the highest ability on your damage priority list besides Execute.

Protection Tree Talents

Schild-Spezialisierung

Shield Spec is required to take a tier 3 talent later on down the line for Protection Warriors, on its own this talent is rather underwhelming but, it's something that you'll certainly want to pick up if you're tanking.

Vorahnung

When you first reach the end-game content as a tank Warrior, you'll definitely want to take advantage of a lot of the mitigation talents that the Protection tree has to offer you. Among other things (such as a 440 soft cap for defense), 10 Defense from this talent gives you some extra avoidance stats which isn't bad for a first tier talent.

Verbesserter Blutrausch

Improved Bloodrage is pretty nice but more importantly it is a gateway talent to Last Stand, which you'll definitely want and need as a tank Warrior.

Zähigkeit

Toughness is one of the more fair talents in the game, it increases your armor gain from items which will result in you taking less damage from physical attacks. Once again, this is another talent that can make your character a bit more tanky as you enter the end-game content.

Eiserner Wille

This talent is in a weird place, a traditional Arms PVP spec will have you 31/20/0 which leave no room to take Iron Will, the talent by itself is quite good: 15% stun and charm resist is comparable to the Orc racial Zähigkeit. Unfortunately I think this talent is just too oddly placed in the talent tree to be taken.

Letztes Gefecht

Last Stand is one of the best talents from Protection, it is extremely useful throughout the entirety of Classic World of Warcraft and you'll definitely want to pick it up if you're tanking.

Verbesserter Schildblock

This talent is unique, although it has 3 points available for you to take, you won't get value beyond the 1st point. The reason it is only worth taking 1 point is that a boss won't attack more than two times while you have shield block up. With that being said, this talent is incredibly powerful, and you want to pick up this 1 point if you're going to be tanking.

Verbesserte Rache

Improved Revenge is an interesting talent, usually people will take this because of preference but, this can help early on when you first enter end-game content as being able to stun various mobs in dungeons will be a great benefit to your group. This talent isn't mandatory but it's quite nice.

Trotz

For tanking in Classic World of Warcraft this is a must have talent, Threat is an incredibly important mechanic for tanks to master. There's not much to say except for that this talent is required for tanking, 15% extra threat won't do you wrong.

Verbessertes Rüstung zerreißen

Sunder Armor is going to be the filler spell in your rotation so reducing the cost of it isn't bad at all. Generally speaking you end up not maxing this talent even as a tank because there are just better talents that you need to tank, but extra points usually find their way to this talent.

Verbessertes Entwaffnen

Improved Disarm doesn't see much play time, it's a pretty niche talent to take and it's probably too deep in the Protection tree to be relevant.

Verbesserter Spott

Improved Taunt is quite good in the early raids of Classic's end game content, especially in a raid like Molten Core even the bosses are tauntable so having the ability to Taunt 2 seconds earlier is fantastic.

Verbesserter Schildwall

Improved Shield Wall is an interesting talent because you're adding 5 seconds to the duration of a 30-minute cooldown. While that is not particularly exciting on paper, you can certainly imagine how having five more seconds of 75% damage reduction would benefit you while progressing on a particularly hard boss. Personally, I take this when I first hit 60 to smooth things out but, ultimately I think it comes down to preference on this one.

Erschütternder Schlag

If you're speccing deep into the Protection tree you'll want to take this talent to enable you to take the 31 point talent eventually. On its own, this ability is good for dungeons and any content that you are able to stun an enemy in, 5 seconds is quite a long stun and it only costs 15 rage.

Verbesserter Schildhieb

Beyond its usage in a niche Protection PVP spec, you won't find many people speccing into this, this talent is too deep in the tree to be worth taking.

Einhandwaffen-Spezialisierung

One-Hand Spec is decent, I think it's ultimately worth taking if you are speccing into deep Protection for the little bit of extra threat that you'll gain.

Schildschlag

When you first reach level 60 as a tank Warrior you'll want to be specced into deep Protection and this is why. Before you have an abundance of Attack Power to make Fury/Prot viable, Shield Slam is going to be by far your most threatening ability for you to use.

Leveling WoW Classic Warrior Talent Builds

For an in depth look at leveling talents for Warriors, see our guide, Warrior Leveling Guide & Best Leveling Spec 1-60 - WoW Classic.

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Kommentare

Kommentar von Daddylow

Under what circumstances will improved heroic strike be better than improved sunder armor?

Kommentar von rlindse5

Curious, in the DW Fury Prot Build, (assuming proper Gear) is there some weird mechanical reason to take Shield Specialization and a point in Redoubt ( despite not having a shield) over Anticipation and anything else? or is it a matter of "it will be useful when you need a shield" and you should be swapping between DW and 1H+SH as needed?

Kommentar von Muffpotter

I think Fury/Prot needs a bigger disclaimer. The amount of wannabe-Skarms that I have seen in their blue/green gear is just too much. Everyone is just following the new meta without understanding why you should (and when you should not) play Fury.

For 95% of the playerbase, Deep Prot is the right choice. It's easier on your healers, it's almost impossible to screw up, and you won't have to fight with your DPS over gear since you're not relying as much on high crit chance as Fury does.

Kommentar von robbiedehand

What happen too the impale prot build it a much better option for a bit more agro then going strait for the fury prot wich is pretty much a gimmick spec for speed clears

Kommentar von Nnjaa

I don't know if changes that happen in "SOD" in terms of class buffs or Nerf stats/Build ability gotten improved from original classic ability & so on.

So, my question is, does "SOD" information like this page & many other "SOD" abilities, rotation, consumables, etc. work as well in "Classic Anniversary Wow" or not.?

Kommentar von alvarado

What is a rank 14 warrior?

Kommentar von DenaloVehgan

I'm not sure why this guide is still set for SOM when SOM is long over, Is there an Era style one i can't find that someone could point me to?.

Warrior Tank Talents & Builds Guide – WoW Classic

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