Protection

Seeded from the first four days of #forever-prot (4,129 messages, September 12 to 15). Everything here is read from BlizzCon demo footage and stream screenshots capped at level 38, plus secondhand relays of the panels. No coefficients have been confirmed and nothing has been tested at 60. The beta opens September 17 with a level 30 cap, so Holy Shield and the other capstones cannot be tested before launch.

Where Protection stands

• The kit is shield tanking with a new seal. Seal of Fury puts a small absorb on your melee hits, and judging it is your taunt. Holy Strike is a new melee button, Consecration is baseline, and Holy Shield is still the 31-point capstone.
• The channel’s mood is “functional, better than it was, half-baked.” Most complaints are about wanting more, not doom. The one loud exception argues the 4-target Consecration cap kills the spec.
• The tank split most people guess at: warriors best on single targets, druids on 2 to 3, paladins on 4 or more. Prot warrior currently looks better on raid bosses.
• Deep Prot before 60 is seen as unnecessary. Ret or a Vengeance-into-Prot build is expected to tank leveling dungeons fine.

Current builds

Splits are Holy/Prot/Ret. Only one build was posted as a link, and its author disclaimed it. The rest were described as point lists or screenshots, so there is nothing to click yet.

Also posted: a talentsforever.com link with 13 Prot points, shared as a spellbook copy and flagged as containing wrong tooltips. Not a build.

Point-split debates inside Deep Prot:

• Toughness 3/5 versus Reckoning 3/5 is the cut. One person takes Toughness 4/5 to fit Precision 3/3.
• Pursuit of Justice is called non-negotiable. Deflection 5/5, Improved Judgement 2/2 and Improved Holy Strike 2/2 are near-mandatory.
• Shield Specialization 3/3 versus 1/3: several say 3/3 is mandatory (“hate drinking while tanking”), one says 1/3 is enough because of the internal cooldown.
• Swift Judgement (the Judgement reset) versus Sacred Arbiter is the key deep-Prot decision. Some call the reset bait, more call it required for boss openers.
• Skip the armor talent for Holy Strike points, or take Shield Specialization and Sacred Duty over armor.
• Two early ideas lost ground: camping Seal of Fury as main tank (superseded, see below) and a deep-Ret two-hander “ret prot” as the early meta (rejected by several as fighting the shield-based design).

How tanking is expected to play

The current read, from September 14 to 15, supersedes the first-day assumption that the main tank sits in Seal of Fury.

• Main seal is Seal of Righteousness. Judge it on cooldown for threat. Seal of Righteousness is expected to out-damage Seal of Fury, and Judgement threat is considered essential.
• Swap to Seal of Fury only to taunt, for mana, or when solo. Judgement is off the global cooldown, so you can swap seal and judge in the same global, then swap back. A common macro is Seal of Fury, Swift Judgement, Judgement in one button. The double swap every 8 seconds is disliked as mana-expensive and awkward.
• Core loop: Holy Shield (~10 s), Consecration (~8 s), Holy Strike (~10 s), Judgement (~9 s). Several call it “same as TBC” with a lot of auto-attack downtime. One suggestion is holding Holy Strike so its 6-second damage reduction lines up with boss swings.
• Do not hold Judgement. One person argued for holding it at pull start while Consecration and Holy Shield build threat. Several strongly disagree. Consensus: judge on cooldown; if a taunt is needed with Judgement down, use Swift Judgement.
• Spamming Judgement of Fury on a boss applies taunt diminishing returns, which is the main reason to tank in Righteousness. Hammer of Justice and Blessing of Protection cover emergencies while Judgement is down.
• Off-tank: stay in Seal of Righteousness so your judge does not taunt. Any damage that breaks a Seal of Fury absorb, including DoTs, returns mana through the improved talent, so off-tank mana is workable.
• No ranged pull. Judgement is 10 yards and Exorcism was described as evil-only on stream (though one person saw it cast on naga). Engineering is the pull tool. Shock Prot exists partly to fix this.
• Holy Shield is a raid-boss talent, not a pack tool. Four charges, roughly 10-second cooldown; expect downtime even on bosses and no uptime on a pack.
• Reckoning extra attacks proc Seal of Fury. Judge Wisdom for mana while leveling.
• Leveling: two-hander until about 40 (no Holy Shield before then), then sword and board. Ret cost-reduction talents make mana a non-issue while leveling.
• Demo feel: one demo player says Prot feels solid in dungeons but “you have to respect threat.” Mobs hit hard, described as a lesser version of TBC heroics. Streams showed control of about 4 targets and got sketchy past that, for warriors too.

Key talents and how the channel values them

• Seal of Fury (new): melee hits generate an absorb based on the seal’s holy damage. Read as about 11 damage absorbed at level 38, “peanuts”, “a sneeze will break it”. Procs from auto attacks only, not from the judge. Requires a shield. You can block while the absorb is up (tested in the demo). Consensus is that it will not stack. Can crit. Judgement of Fury taunts (10-yard range, versus 5 yards for bear and warrior taunts, which Blizzard framed as a plus) and deals flat damage. Taunt duration read as about 4 seconds with diminishing returns.
• Improved Seal of Fury (3/3): restores mana when the absorb is fully consumed. One person calls the amount low.
• Holy Strike: melee-range, weapon-damage based, learned at level 6, about 15 mana at 38. Cooldown read as 12 seconds base and 9 to 10 talented. Grants 10% damage reduction for 6 seconds. The first read tied that reduction to the 35-point Iron Creed talent (5/5, uptime driven by Holy Strike casts); later reads attribute it to Holy Strike itself. Either way it is on the Holy Strike button. Whether the reduction is global or only against the Holy Strike target was asked and not answered. Described as “does little damage at the known ranks.”
• Holy Shield (31 points): +20% block chance, down from 30%, with roughly double the block damage and threat. Four charges (one report says down from six), about a 10-second cooldown. No Improved Holy Shield. The channel values the 10 lost block points more than the doubled damage for leveling and pre-raid, since the old block damage was only about 3% of a Prot paladin’s damage.
• Shield Specialization: 6% of max mana on block with a 3-second internal cooldown (several; one says 5 seconds). Extra ranks raise the proc chance, 3/3 read as near-guaranteed. Wowhead’s version is wrong per several people. This plus Reckoning plus Improved Seal of Fury is why mana is not expected to be the constraint.
• Reckoning: procs on block for one extra swing. First-day reads conflicted (20% per point versus 8% on block or 20% on non-periodic crit). The latest read calls it “a 40% reckoner”, worse than the Season of Discovery version but “fine in the scope of this game.” Called the one meaningful SoD-derived win. Pairing it with a very fast weapon is a feelsbad combo per one person.
• Redoubt: now a real talent. First read was 50% proc chance; the later read (September 14) is 10% chance on being hit to grant 30% block for 5 blocks, no longer guaranteed on crit. Consensus: a gamble that rarely matters except a little in multi-target.
• Templar’s Bulwark (21 points): absorb for 100% of max health, 5-minute cooldown. Called the “wall” and a better panic button than Shield Wall in a game with no external defensives.
• Improved Righteous Fury (3/3): 2% damage reduction per point while Righteous Fury is up. The threat bonus is gone from the talent; Righteous Fury itself is +90% threat baseline and reportedly tagged as all threat rather than holy-only (one person, unconfirmed). Duration unknown.
• Consecration (baseline): full damage to the first 4 targets, about 80 to 85% less beyond that. One theorycrafter’s tooltip comparison: vanilla rank 2 does 120 total, Forever rank 2 does 80 to the first 4 and 24 to the rest. Read as a buff for pulls of 4 or fewer and a nerf beyond. Consecrated Ground talent: holy spells deal +10% to the first 4 enemies entering the area. Can crit.
• Swift Judgement: 1-minute cooldown, resets Judgement. Expected to become an offensive double-judge on pull rather than an emergency taunt.
• Blessing of Sanctuary: seen in the middle of the Prot tree in one day-one screenshot, later reported as not in the game, then speculated as a trainer spell at 50 to 60. Unresolved.
• One-Handed Weapon Specialization: 1% lower max for 2 fewer points. As written it affects only Holy Strike and auto attacks, not seals.
• Precision: +3% hit, unchanged. Improved Hammer of Justice still present. Anticipation: possibly +4 defense per point instead of +2 (one person, uncertain). Improved Seals (Holy): +15%. Pursuit of Justice: 15% (8% at the first point).
• Passive damage reduction from talents: disputed at 6%, 12% “at 41 playing optimally”, and 16%.
• Ret talents Prot cares about: Deflection, Improved Judgement (Judgement 10 s base, 8 s at 2/2), Benediction (-10% instant cost), Holy Conduit (-40% Consecration cost), Vindication (reachable if wanted). Champion of the Light converts Intellect to spell power at the bottom of Ret; no Prot talent does.

Numbers from the demo

All read from level-38 stream screenshots and tooltips. No spell power or attack power coefficients are known for any Prot ability.

One theorycrafter’s quick avoidance math (no source shown): at 440 defense with Holy Shield and Redoubt up, about 91.4% avoidance, so about 11% more needed from gear; without Redoubt, about 41% from gear. Several expect the crush cap to be out of reach in dungeon or tier 0 gear.

Gearing, stats, races, professions

• Spell power versus Strength is the big unknown. Holy Strike is weapon damage and no Prot talent converts Intellect, so several expect tank abilities to lean physical. Against that: spell power is on items from level 10, a crafted plate piece with Strength and spell power was shown, and Seal of Fury, Consecration and Holy Shield should scale with spell power if Classic scaling holds. Working target from the channel: early spell-power plate, a fast one-hander plus spell power to feed the absorb, then block and defense. Worry that gear splits into Strength/Stamina versus Stamina/Defense/spell-power pieces.
• Defense and avoidance: several expect threat to stay the focus if healers are as strong as they look, but one person cautions to reach 440 defense for crit immunity. Blizzard said on stage they don’t want tanks getting crit and plan to accommodate that. Stacking defense tanks your threat.
• Block: may be common on gear. Some think it is weak because it needs two stats; others say it is strong for leveling and Holy Shield uptime. Parry doubles as threat via Reckoning-style procs.
• Weapon skill stays but with less per item (Edgemasters shown at +1). New affixes seen: +1% dodge or parry, reduced chance to be parried. Fractional stats exist, so expect values like 2.5%.
• Weapon speed: the Undead proc is likely per-minute so slow and fast even out. A fast one-hander with Reckoning was floated as strong and later called a feelsbad combo. Normalization unknown. One person worries Flurry Axe remains best in slot.
• Thorns gear (Skullflame Shield, Cloak of Flame, Nagelring, Razor Gauntlets, Essence of Flame, Chitinous Spikes) plus Eye for an Eye is a floated large-pack angle. Thorns only apply on non-fully-blocked hits, so full block stops Skullflame proccing; whether that makes it good or bad for farming is disputed. A mini Skullflame-style lifesteal shield drops in the “shark dungeon” around 38 per the deep dive. Force Reactive Disk plus Holy Shield is cited as an AoE threat tool.
• Races: Undead favored for Prot (Touch of the Grave, up to 5% max HP damage and heal, procs from spells and attacks; estimates range from ~1% damage to 30 to 40 DPS at 8k HP; internal cooldown disputed). Human for +2% sword crit and the stun break. Dwarf for Stoneskin, read as a flat 10% physical reduction cooldown (armor bonus disputed). Gnome +10% on the next few abilities. Undead is the only Horde paladin. Night Elf and Troll paladins were reported by Wowhead and disputed as retail-only.
• Professions: Engineering is considered mandatory for pulls and AoE (many), with a fear of a second forced profession. Devs reportedly want to move away from Engineering being required. Suggested setup: Engineering and Blacksmithing on the main, gathering on an alt.
• Sets: hope for meaningful set bonuses at 60 without making tier replacement feel bad. Dungeon sets and epics are being reworked. PvP has no tank set; see the PvP page.

What Blizzard has said

Direct sources are in Sources. Items marked “relayed” were repeated in the channel without a link or timestamp.

• Dungeons are meant to be tactical. “CC and threat matter”, not pulling a whole dungeon at once. AoE potential was reduced on purpose (Consecration cap, weaker mage AoE) to discourage AoE farming stacks. (Deep dive, relayed.)
• “Seal busywork is bad.” Judgement no longer consumes seals so you are not re-sealing every other global. The channel notes Prot’s seal-based taunt and mana reintroduce swapping anyway. (Deep dive, relayed.)
• Tanks should not get crit. “You don’t wanna get crit as a tank” and the plan is to accommodate it. Every piece of gear, including epics, is being redone. (Stage, relayed.)
• Judgement of Fury’s 10-yard taunt was framed as an advantage over 5-yard taunts. (Relayed.)
• Hit and crit are unified across melee and spells. (Deep dive.)
• Spell power appears on items from level 10, on crafted plate with Strength, and on caster weapons much earlier than vanilla. Quests will offer rewards “for all styles.” (Deep dive gear segment, relayed.)
• Weapon skill stays but is “less abusable”, with less per item, because they did not want it all in one place. (Relayed, screenshot of Edgemasters at +1.)
• Built-in damage meter shown at BlizzCon, including healing. Whether it shows threat is unknown; devs said they want DPS watching threat. (Relayed.)
• Every talent should “do something meaningful, not just 1%.” The demo trees still contain 1% talents. (Stage, relayed.)
• Legacy points start at level 5, so about 5 extra talent points in beta. New spells can be learned from quest NPCs. Dual spec is reported as in, not yet verified against a VOD.
• Beta: level 30 cap, about 5 weeks, starting around September 17. The BlizzCon demo build is reportedly older than the beta build.
• The “twisting ain’t the only game in town” tweet before the deep dive was read as a Ret tease. The channel’s verdict after the panel: nothing new for Prot.

Consensus versus disputed

Consensus

• Judgement doubling as the taunt is bad design. Even its defenders concede it is janky and just find it flavorful. Feedback is to go in beta. A separate taunt is wanted.
• Seal of Righteousness is the main tanking seal; Seal of Fury is for taunts, mana and solo. Off-tanks stay in Righteousness.
• The Seal of Fury absorb will not stack.
• Consecration’s 4-target cap is deliberate and probably applies to all AoE. Pulls of 1 to 4 are the intended norm. Prot paladin is still the best pick for 4-target dungeon packs.
• Holy Shield with 4 charges and 20% block is weak on packs and has downtime on bosses.
• Reckoning is the one real Season of Discovery carry-over; Redoubt at 10% rarely matters.
• Mana is unlikely to be the constraint outside of Consecration spam.
• Engineering will be required.
• Everything is level-38 demo data. Wait for beta datamines before calling anything best in slot. Ignore the AI-generated and overnight third-party spellbook sites; trust streams.
• Deep Prot before 60 is unnecessary.

Disputed or one person’s theory

• “Prot pally is dead” because of the Consecration cap (one person) versus “4 targets is more AoE threat than anyone had in vanilla and few packs exceed 5” (several). Counter-counter: most AQ and Naxx trash is 5+.
• Consecration is nerfed even on 4 targets (one theorycrafter, from tooltips) versus “baseline and better for cleave” (several).
• Spell-power tanking via Seal of Fury and Consecration scaling could be strong (one) versus scaling probably will not survive (several). Related: “Prot will never itemize spell power” (one) versus “spell power will be everywhere” (several).
• Shield Specialization internal cooldown: 3 seconds (several) versus 5 (one). 1/3 enough (one) versus 3/3 mandatory (several).
• Swift Judgement: bait (one) versus essential opener (several).
• Holding Judgement at pull: correct (one) versus never (several).
• Passive damage reduction total: 6%, 12% or 16%.
• Blessing of Sanctuary: in the tree, not in the game, or a trainer spell later.
• Touch of the Grave internal cooldown: none (one VOD) versus present (one tester). “Underwhelming” versus “depends on proc rate.”
• Skullflame Shield: strong solo-farm item (one) versus bad because full block stops the proc (one) versus “a buffed Skullflame with retained scaling is very unlikely” (one).
• Righteous Fury applies to all threat (one, from a tooltip tag).
• Hammer of the Righteous is too strong for Blizzard’s vision (one); several doubt it is coming at all.
• Paladin versatility means one paladin tank replaces two in a 20-man (one) versus “the extra utility is one blessing and a judgement” (several).
• Sweaty guilds will run prot warrior plus feral and bring paladins for utility (one).
• Hour-long seals seen on stream are a signal (one) versus alpha jank (one).
• Dispel protection for seals is the real problem, not duration (one).
• Holy Strike and Iron Creed make the spec “retail-lite” (one).

Open questions

• Spell power and attack power coefficients for Holy Strike, Seal and Judgement of Fury, Consecration and Holy Shield. Does Forever keep Classic’s Consecration scaling (about 21 per tick at 500 spell power)?
• How much does the Seal of Fury absorb hold at 60, and is it really non-stacking? Does Templar’s Bulwark overwrite it? Does Power Word: Shield block the proc?
• Will Judgement of Fury stop applying taunt diminishing returns when the boss is already on you? Does it leave a debuff? Is there any AoE taunt, Hand of Reckoning or Avenger’s Shield after 40?
• Is Iron Creed’s reduction global or single-target? Is Holy Strike on the global cooldown? Does it sound and scale like Hammer of the Righteous?
• Does Righteous Fury apply to all threat, and what is its duration? How does it interact with Salvation?
• Is Blessing of Sanctuary in the game? Is Blessing of Might Strength or attack power?
• Does Seal of Righteousness still double-proc Judgement of Wisdom as in Season of Discovery?
• Does Consecration tick on entry, and does it trigger Touch of the Grave?
• Resistance model, attack table, glancing blows, crushing blows, hit needed, and whether 440 defense and the crush cap are reachable.
• Does spell training level affect threat? Will a threat API exist?
• Is One-Handed Weapon Specialization reworked? Does Reckoning use the Fury coefficient?
• Racial proc internal cooldowns; Skullflame proc rate.
• Role-specific tier sets, and whether raid sizes flex across 10, 20 and 40.
• Will the beta cap rise above 30 so capstones and Seal of Wisdom can be tested?
• Are Tranquil Air Totem and Salvation both allowed, making threat trivial?
• Is dual spec confirmed?

What the channel is arguing about

• Whether the Consecration cap makes Prot paladin the worst AoE tank or still the best one.
• Whether spell power or Strength is the tank stat, and whether the Seal of Fury absorb ever matters.
• Whether the Judgement taunt is a flavor win or a design mistake, and whether beta feedback can move it.
• Shield Specialization ranks and the reset talent versus Sacred Arbiter inside the Deep Prot sketch.
• Whether anyone should go deep Prot before 60 at all.
• Whether prot warrior plus feral squeezes paladin tanks out of serious raids.

A pinned beta test plan (September 13) covers threat per ability versus training level, Righteous Fury versus Salvation, the resistance model, the Holy Strike attack table, spell versus melee hit, absorb versus full block, and coefficients, using a threat addon with isolated casts and advanced combat logs uploaded to warcraftlogs.com.