Protection Warriors are losing access to Spell Block in Patch 11.2: Ghosts of K’aresh. Blizzard has acknowledged the feedback around the removal and emphasized that they’re actively reviewing magic damage in high-end content.
They reassured players that surviving tankbusters is a design priority. Specific mechanics that previously relied on Spell Block are being evaluated to ensure they’re fair without it.
Blizzard also clarified that Hunker Down and
Spellbreaker, the two new talents introduced in Patch 11.2, are not intended to be direct replacements.
We hear your concerns about losing Spell Block as a defensive tool. It is super important to us that warriors have sufficient tools to survive magic tankbusters in raids and in high keys. We are coordinating to review magic attacks in light of Spell Block’s removal to ensure that they’re fair, including specific abilities you’ve raised concerns with here and in other channels. Feedback about your experiences with specific magic attacks will continue to be very valuable, thank you.
Regarding the power level of Spellbreaker and Hunker Down – they are not intended to be replacements at the same power level as Spell Block. When Spell Block worked on an attack, it was an extremely powerful mitigation, and we feel that would be too strong on an effect that works on all magic damage. The Hunker Down / Spellbreaker node offers a choice between on-demand magic damage reduction or passive average value magic damage reduction. And again, we will continue to work to ensure the tools you have are strong enough to survive magic attacks in difficult encounters.