Warrior Hero Talents — The War Within (11.0.7)

As Mountain Thane, the Hero Talents focus on amplifying your already existing abilities. The most noticeable one is turning Thunder Clap into Thunder Blast. The strength, and why the tree is better designed for ProtectionWarriors, is how the talents themselves interact with each other.

• Burst of Power allows Lightning Strikes to proc Shield Slam;
• Strategist can proc Shield Slam;
• Shield Slam can proc Thunder Blast;
• Thunder Blast can proc Lightning Strikes thanks to Flashing Skies;

As shown in the list above, the whole tree creates a positive Rage feedback loop while maintaining our rotational fluidness. The better Rage economy is what mainly sets Mountain Thane and Colossus apart.

Mountain Thane is the best middle-ground choice for raiding and Mythic+. While the damage output it provides might be slightly smaller than what Colossus brings to the table, it makes up for it by being a defensively better option. As Mountain Thane, we generate a lot more Rage compared to Colossus, which in turn leads to more Anger Management, Indomitable and Violent Outburst value.

Thunder Blast deals a lot of damage, regardless of the target count, while also generating Rage. Gaining 2 Thunder Blast procs each time we use Avatar guarantees predictable burst windows on a fairly short cooldown, thanks to Anger Management. Mountain Thane's heavy emphasis on Shield Slam and Thunder Clap also means that our whole rotation feels a lot smoother and faster.

From talents side, Mountain Thane prefers to use Champion's Spear, and its following nodes: Piercing Challenge and Champion's Might. This will give you more damage output than Thunderous Roar while also giving you even more Rage to play around with. Avatar of the Storm also grants you 2x Thunder Blast each time you use Avatar, which in turn means that you can synchronize your burst windows together with Champion's Spear.

Key talent differences from Colossus can be found below.

• Champion's Spear instead of Thunderous Roar;
• Champion's Might instead of Thunderous Words;
• Piercing Challenge instead of Uproar;
• Picks Unstoppable Force;

You can still play Thunderous Roar as Mountain Thane, but you might not perform as well.

Colossus, similarly to Mountain Thane, has one build which works well everywhere. The One Against Many / Arterial Bleed choice node is the only one you will change depending on the content. One Against Many should be used in AoE / Mythic+, while Arterial Bleed should be used in Raid / ST scenarios.

Using Demolish is straightforward; just use it on cooldown. It will align with your other damage amps, like Avatar and Demoralizing Shout (with Booming Voice) more or less naturally.

Colossus is a more offensive choice compared to Mountain Thane. It can deal a lot more damage, but this damage output comes at the cost of defensive value. Due to having less Rage generation, you will not be able to use it on Ignore Pain as much and will have overall less value out of Indomitable, Anger Management and Violent Outburst. The gameplay is also a lot slower, but this can either be a positive or a negative, depending on each individual.

The tree revolves around Demolish and amping the damage of your bleeds and Revenge. Unfortunately, Demolish does not provide any Rage generation. This means that you will be able to cast fewer abilities and need to make tougher choices between using Rage on Ignore Pain and Revenge, compared to Mountain Thane where you have enough Rage to use both freely. This choice is made even harder because a big part of your AoE damage output will come from Revenge, meaning that in order to deal maximum amounts of of damage, you need to actively use it as much as possible. Forgoing usage of Ignore Pain means that your damage intake will be higher, so striking a balance between the two is crucial.

From the talents side, everything is more or less the same as with Mountain Thane, but Colossus prefers to use Thunderous Roar, and both of the sub-talents: Thunderous Words and Uproar. You do not pick Unstoppable Force as Colossus, which might feel weird at first. Not playing Unstoppable Force, and picking Thunderous Words will provide you with more damage output. Demolish lines up with Thunderous Roar, which provides you a significant damage boost through Dominance of the Colossus.

Key talent differences from Mountain Thane can be found below.

• Thunderous Roar instead of Champion's Spear;
• Uproar instead of Champion's Might;
• Thunderous Roar instead of Piercing Challenge;
• No Unstoppable Force;

You can still play Champion's Spear as Colossus, but you might not perform as well.