Protection Warrior

Shield tank with strong active defenses.

TankMeleeEasy to play

Talents

Copy the build, then in game press N to open Talents, click Import and paste.

Crit is worth more in Mythic+.

Pick gear, gems and enchants with your top stats first. Item level still matters most.

Patch 12.1. Stat source

Picks for Protection in patch 12.1, from the Icy Veins guide.

Flask Flask of the Shattered Sun Critical Strike. The best flask for Protection.
Combat potion Light's Potential Raises your Strength for 30 seconds. Use it with your big cooldowns.
Health potion Concentrated Silvermoon Health Potion Healing in combat. It doesn't share a cooldown with Healthstones, so you can use both.
Food Harandar Celebration A group feast. On your own, eat Royal Roast instead.
Augment rune Void-Touched Augment Rune Raises your Strength. It's expensive and is lost when you die, so save it for progression.
Weapon oil Thalassian Phoenix Oil Lasts an hour. Reapply it after it wears off.

Head
Raises Leech.
Shoulders
Raises Leech, which heals you for part of the damage and healing you do.
Chest
Raises your primary stat.
Legs
Raises Agility or Strength, plus Armor.
Feet
Raises Leech and Stamina.
Both rings
Raises Haste.
Main hand
Your spells and abilities can grant Hash'ey's Might, a boost to a random secondary stat.