Warrior PvE guide " Note : unless otherwise specified , the statements on this page assume the warrior is tanking , and may not be relevant for DPS warriors . " Things warriors want non - warriors to know . Some class - specific notes - - Paladins - Make good use of your auras . If we ' re dying , Resistance or Devotion Aura s are nice , but if we ' re losing aggro , Retribution Aura might be nicer . Tanking warriors tend to prefer Blessing of Kings due to the increased Stamina - and Sanctuary is nice but we don ' t get the resource benefit , so it ' s not as useful for us . Hunters - We know you ' re good at pulling , but it ' s a lot simpler to let us do it in most situations . Offer to pull in dangerous situations where there ' s a big chance for problems ( lots of or fast moving patrols , many close enemies ) but please don ' t be too offended if we ' d rather do it ourself . If you really want to pull and you have the misdirection spell offer a misdirection pull as that will dump all aggro on us . Also , please keep Growl turned off , and remember that our main responsibility is to keep the party alive ; your pet comes last . If your pet keeps drawing aggro when everybody else is fine , don ' t blame us . Misdirection ' s short cooldown lets you use it often - please do . Druids - Thorns is nice , please don ' t forget to cast it on us . Also , even if you aren ' t the healer , if you aren ' t the tank please resist the temptation to turn into a bear and use Growl / Maul on everything . It makes it much more difficult to hold onto the mobs , since you have naturally increased threat in that form . Rogues - If you use Expose Armor , we can ' t use Sunder Armor on that target . If we can ' t put up the Sunder Armor debuff , our threat is slightly reduced due to a loss of Devastate damage . Our debuff is typically easier to put up and is up quickly enough for anything but short burn fights ( i . e . Heart of the Deconstructor ) . Also , be aware that stun ning a mob means it isn ' t hitting us , and not giving us any rage or lighting up Revenge . While it won ' t be a danger to anyone , there ' s a good chance that it ' ll turn to you when the stun wears off . And please resist the urge to stun mobs during the pull it makes tanking a lot harder for us . Mages - Please don ' t Blink away when you pull aggro . We can ' t move that fast , and it tends to make it difficult to get a hold of all the mobs again . If you do happen to pull aggro , don ' t forget the other tools you have available , such as Frost Nova ! If possible , don ' t rely on a macro that says your target ' s name when you Polymorph . We don ' t usually have time to read names in 1 . 5 seconds , and sometimes there ' s more than one of them anyway . Visual clues are a much bigger help . Raid icons are useful too ; i . e . Moon gets polymorphed . Warlocks - When in doubt ( and if you ' re not Demonology with a felguard ) , please bring your Imp . Blood Pact is a really awesome buff , giving healers more time between us being at full health and us being dead , and allowing us to use Battle Shout for increased threat generation , even if Commanding Shout does provide slightly more health . If you have the Master Demonologist talent , your imp will also reduce the amount of threat you produce . At the same time though , don ' t be afraid to pull out a Voidwalker , Succubus , or Felhunter if you think their skills will be useful in dealing with the mobs . If you ' re going to use a Voidwalker though , please keep Torment turned off . Also , we ' d like a healthstone if you ' ve got shards to spare . Priests - With the changes to rage generation and absorbs , provides us an early bit of absorption without stifling our rage generation . With the shift of threat to the healing priest , Prayer of Mending can cause a priest to pull threat on a new target , so when there are new targets showing up it can be a bit of a liability , though this is not typically a huge problem if you keep your warrior between you and new targets . Renew also helps mitigate your initial threat , and should be applied as soon as we engage the enemy . Death Knights - Use Death Grip only in special situations , only to pull Mobs off a healer or to pull in ranged attacking mobs . Death Grip is a fixate , causing the mob to stop attacking the tank and to place you at the top of the threat list . NEVER use Death Grip on a mob that the Tank has aggro on . General tips . Rogue . PvE pull the aggro , if the rogue doesn ' t remember to get behind the mob , you go behind it ( turning the mob around ) , maybe the rogue will figure it out and Backstab . If you notice that the rogue is wielding some weapon other than a dagger in his / her right hand , he won ' t be able to Backstab . However , even if the rogue is built off of the Combat tree and doesn ' t need to be behind the target to Backstab , maneuvering the mob so he is behind it will make him more effective , since mobs can ' t parry or block attacks from behind ( mobs can still dodge ) . In short always try and keep the mob facing you ( the warrior ) and have its back to the rogues . Warrior . When grouped with another warrior , it is vital that the two of you agree who is to be " main tank " , and who is to be secondary . Even if it ' s just the two of you alone in a big open field of wandering mobs , grinding for XP , it is still helpful to have these roles . In instances , it is vital . Main tank : Use Defensive Stance and a one - handed weapon + shield . Focus on high threat specials , like Sunder Armor and Revenge , and Taunt as necessary . Secondary Use Battle Stance or Berserker Stance and dual wield or use a two - hander . Focus on low or no threat specials , such as Rend , Hamstring , and the Shouts . Be aware that you will generate much less rage , not being aggro . Use Bloodrage and Charge to compensate . See the " As a warrior " section of the Instance Grouping Guide for more details . Dual tank : If you are paired with another Warrior and you cannot decide on who will be the Main Tank , you may also attempt to aggro a group of mobs or a single boss amongst both of you , splitting the amount of mobs a single tank must deal with , making the group stronger . It is suggested you use Defensive Stance for this . When the main group of mobs is done , the last remaining straggler can be " dual - aggroed " by both tanks , causing the mob to constantly turn around on whoever just used the higher - threat - inducing skill . This will cut the damage on each tank by half , and double the damage upon the mob . This is especially useful on bosses , and can increase the aggro on the warriors and remove some responsibility a single tank must have to defend his / her group . Priest . Any time you ' re grouped with a priest , keep the following in mind : - If you die , but you ' ve eliminated and weakened enough enemies for the priest to be able to finish off the rest , the priest can simply resurrect you . - If the priest dies , but you finish off the enemies yourself , you ' re stuck waiting for the priest to run back from the graveyard before the group can continue adventuring . You may even have to start over , if you ' re in an instance dungeon , for example . Always , " always " protect the priest , even if he ' s an idiot . " Especially " if he ' s an idiot . Warlock . The warlock is yang to your tanking yin . If you do your job well , they can do their job really well . Their high DPS is achieved through damage over time ( DoT ) spells . The downside is that they generate a moderate amount of threat , so warlocks can ' t fire - and - forget unless someone is holding aggro for them . It ' s surprising the number of warriors who will whack away at one mob and do very little to hold on to the rest of the group until the you - know - what hits the fan and something starts to charge a cloth wearers . A level 50 warlock can easily do 200 - 300 net DPS on three or four mobs by switching targets frequently and recasting DoTs . However , if the tank is not actively holding all three or four attacker ' s aggro , the Warlock would be foolish to try this tactic and will just sit there wanding the main target while you get hammered by three full strength mobs . It ' s much more effective for the Warlock to DoT all of the mobs while you keep aggro , so when the final boss is dead , the secondary mobs are already at 50 % health . In some situations Fear can be a good crowd control ability , remember to pull the mob group back into the previously cleared room if this is going to be done . If the warlock decides to solo said mob Via fear and dots , Please don ' t go hit crazy on it . Direct damage has a higher chance of breaking fear then dot damage . Mage . Do not attack the sheep . In addition , avoid area effect attacks like cleave and whirlwind while sheep are near . Do not slap down a rend on a creature the mage is trying to sheep . Avoid weapons and items with uncontrollable Area of Effect chances like Skullflame Shield , as they will randomly break sheep and other crowd control effects . In order to keep aggro away from a mage ( especially pre - 60 ) you both have to work at it . A mage has higher DPS than a warrior so naturally he ' ll pull the aggro unless you use your special aggro generating abilities . Sunder Armor works very well pre - 60 , even after it stacks 5 times keep on using it , because it still causes aggro even if the armor debuff isn ' t stacking ( unless you have Devastate , which will refresh the sunder armor and cause additional threat and damage ) . Also make sure the mage actually gives you some time to get aggro . A skilled mage will always wait for you , but there ' s lots of mages who will just start using their biggest burst damage spells from the beginning . Do not remove their Intellect buff . Although it won ' t increase your mana , it will increase the damage done by your Thunder Clap ability . Druid . In PvE , it ' s great to have a druid healer , but you need to manage the aggro because you might lose a mob from some of the higher damage druid spells . Be ready to pull any mobs that attack the druid so that he / she can focus on your HP , otherwise you might be waiting for your partner to get back from the graveyard . Note that around level 20 druids gain the ability to resurrect , so find out if your partner can perform this function and defend accordingly . Also , it is important to remember that while you may benefit from running from one mob to the next , your caster friends are going to need mana at some point . Hunter . A bad , immature , or egocentric Hunter will be a nightmare for a tanking warrior , but after the healer , an intelligent one will be your best friend . A skilled hunter can control the number of mobs you have to deal with simultaneously , and in addition to a mage if you have one , can also use crowd control to ensure that you are not overwhelmed with more mobs at once than you can handle . A hunter can also use Misdirect for situations where you need a large amount of aggro with a given mob simultaneously . A skilled Hunter can essentially work as a secondary tank , protecting cloth wearers behind the front line so that you only need to worry about the mobs immediately in front of you . If one of them manages to slip past you , the Hunter can deal with it temporarily and protect the healer and other DPS until you are able to intervene . Finally , a Survival hunter can act as a form of insurance for you , using Deterrence offtanking to save the healer and potentially prevent a total wipe in the event that you die . Realize that the hunter can create a Perfect Zone of Ultimate Safety and you cannot . When there is a healer in the group that can res the hunter , let him pull without giving him crap about aggro management . In cases where there is no healer , the hunter might still be a better choice of pulling , as he is much less likely to die on a bad pull than you are , as he has ways to abort the pull , while you do not . In such cases , you need to recognize when his tactics fail and you need to step in . The hunter has ways of giving up aggro from a pull , so you should have no trouble taking the aggro from him . Just make sure he is using them . Do not roll on high level ranged weapons if you have a Hunter in your group , unless you have made sure that the Hunter does not need it first . You might use a ranged weapon purely for the stats , or for initial pulling , whereas a Hunter uses them as a primary weapon . By the same token , however , you should not tolerate ignorant hunters in your group who roll on melee weapons with + Strength that you need . If paired in a duo with a hunter , make sure you ( and the hunter ) understand how his pet fits into the overall strategy . Generally , PvE characters will use pets like tanks , so they should be used to working with one . PvP hunters tend to have pets that deal damage which , combined with their taunts , can pull aggro off of you and lead the hunter to overestimate what a talented but merely human tank can do to keep aggro off of them . Poorly run PvP hunters tend to sprint around the battlefield , forcing you to take a beating if they ' ve drawn more aggro than they can deal with instead of using the abilities they have that shed aggro . If your hunter is Survival , and / or their favorite pet is a boar , bear or scorpid , you ' ll likely feel right at home . If on the other hand her favorite pet is a cat or raptor , you may be in for some frustration before the evening ' s adventuring is done , unless the hunter remember to turn off the taunting ability . Paladin . Working with a paladin comes down largely to whether or not the paladin is serving as the party ' s main healer , the main tank , DPS or some combo . Paladin as healer . Treat the paladin same as you ' d treat a priest or druid - sure they can take hits better than those other two classes , but any mana they spends healing themselves is mana they can ' t spend healing you . Keeping the mobs focused on you also reduces the amount of aggro they will create with their healing spells , since they ' re only casting spells on one character ( you ) rather than two ( you and themselves ) . Paladin as tank . If the paladin is protection spec , they have better initial - aggro gaining abilities than a warrior due to Avenger ' s Shield and Judgement of Righteousness . They can hold aggro on lots of mobs with ease with their Consecration and reactive damage . If a paladin loses aggro , it ' s much easier for them to regain it than it would be for a warrior . Warriors can peel off individual mobs with a taunt , but a paladin taunts 3 mobs at a time from a much farther distance . On the other hand , warriors can tank casters or fear - bosses far easier than a paladin could . If you are in raid with another paladin tank , no matter who are the maintank or off - tank , let the paladin pull with Avenger ' s Shield first , then taunt your target off him ! Reason : Avenger ' s Shield is a very good preload of threat . If you taunt your target after it is hit by the Avenger ' s Shield , you also share that good initial threat load . Besides , if it is done reversely , it is actually harder for a paladin to get a single target off you , because Avenger ' s Shield and Righteous Defense both affect three targets . Therefore , he can only rely on a very short ranged Judgement of Righteousness to get his mob off you . As you can see , if you do it correctly , it is a win - win situation for both ! Paladin in general . Like a priest , if you go down but have eliminated enough mobs for the paladin to survive , you ' ll be shortly resurrected . If the paladin goes down , you ' re going to be waiting for him to come back from black - and - white land . So if it looks like if only one of you is going to survive , make sure it ' s him , meaning you have to pull all the aggros off of him as he heals himself and you take one last stand against the mobs . Shaman . Watch that the shaman is avoiding the use of Frost Shock ( unless he ' s kiting ) , as this generates extra threat . Windfury procs can also pull aggro , so be alert . Shamans are a hybrid class which wears mail and can heal . The main thing you are concerned with is totems which are stationary AoE buffs , the ones you would like are - Strength of Earth Totem - Adds an amount of strength and agility , making life easier ( adds avoidance and DPS too ) - Stoneskin Totem - Reduces the amount of melee damage from a mob before AC - Grace of Air Totem - Removed after Wrath of the Lich King - Windfury Totem - Gives 16 % melee haste , allowing for greater rage generation . ( 20 % with talents in Enhancement Improved Windfury Totem ) As they can only have one totem of each element up it is recommended you go for Windfury and Strength of Earth unless the mob deals a lot of damage then maybe Stoneskin is a better choice . " - Note from a shaman : Strength of Earth is almost always the better choice due to the extra block value it will add to your shield . The only time Stoneskin is remotely useful is on non - elite AoE pulls . The extra damage dealt by Windfury will augment your ability to generate threat . Choose based on what you ' re having more difficulty with . " " Note : Strength of Earth Totem won ' t stack with Death Knights ' Horn of Winter . " Since Wrath of the Lich King , shamans have nice aggro - reducing abilities ( Wind Shock , Nature ' s Guardian ) . Wind Shock is useable by all shamans and remove a nice amount of aggro but don ' t rely on it , save the shaman , especially if they are the main healer . Nature ' s Guardian is also very effective , but it ' s a deep nature talent .