Please note: This is a work in progress update to Wrath information. You will see a 540 defense gear list and a movie directory included soon (these are already posted to the forums). Corbusier's Fury guide will be coming once they're updated for Wrath as well. Enjoy!

Important Links & Resources
http://www.tankspot.com/
TankSpot is the dedicated tanking community originally built to augment this reference guide.

http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f200/41670-tankspot-s-official-guides-articles-listing.html
This is the a links directory with safe links to nearly every major class guide, as well as gear lists and movie links.

http://www.projectmarmot.com/
Tanking movies and guides directory, predominantly from Warrior point of view.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Ciderhelm
YouTube channel with Wrath of the Lich King tanking movies.


Page 1 - Guide Links & Fortifications Tanking Guide
Page 2 - Corbusier/Meeks Dual Wield Fury Guide


Quick Reference
All suggestions and interpretations in this guide are for the majority of situations, not all. With Warriors, there are almost always exceptions to any hard rule.

• If you see a thread you find useful on the WoW forums, bump it with a reply. It'll be useful to others as well.
  
• CTRL + F (Search) is your friend. Use a key word like "Armor" to scroll through related subjects.
  
• Leveling: DW Fury is the most efficient leveling spec until level 60, at which point Protection becomes the most effective leveling spec until level 80.
  
• Tanking Stats: 540 Defense at level 80. For handling damage, use Stamina, Armor, Avoidance, in that order. For increasing Threat, use Expertise, Hit, Block Value, Strength, in that order.
  
• If others have difficulty finding this quite-obvious library of information and decide to post before reading it, feel free to direct them to http://www.readthesticky.com/ .

Protection Priority (Single Target)
Shield Slam
Revenge
Devastate
Shockwave/Concussion Blow*

Heroic Strike at 40+ Rage.

*Shockwave and Concussion Blow are both higher priority than Devastate if your Shield Slam will be available the next global cooldown. In other words, if a Devastate procing Sword & Board would not reduce the cooldown of Shield Slam, prioritize Shockwave and Concussion Blow instead.


Protection Priority (Multi Target)
Shockwave
Thunder Clap
Shield Slam
Revenge

Cleave at 40+ Rage.

Welcome to the 4th Edition Warrior Reference Guide. This time around, things are going to look quite a bit different than the previous three. As a community, we've pulled together a large collection of thought, debate, and text that was not easily available two years ago, when the last edition was written.

For this reason, I will be including the work of many authors other than myself -- always cited and always with permission -- and I will be providing links to the source material. Thanks!



Fortifications Reference Directory

Quick-Reference Information
0.1 Answers to Oft-asked Questions
0.2 Rating Conversions
0.3 Defense & Armor
0.4 Avoidance & Shield Block
0.4.1 Dodge
0.4.2 Parry
0.4.3 Chance to be Missed
0.4.4 Shield Block
0.5 Threat & Threat Values
0.5.1 Threat
0.5.2 Taunt
0.5.3 Threat from Stances, Talents, Buffs, and Classes
0.5.4 Damage as Threat
0.5.5 Critical Strikes & Effective Abilities
0.6 Talent & Skill Information
0.6.1 Skills
0.6.2 Arms
0.6.3 Fury
0.6.4 Protection
0.7 Links Directory

0.1 Answers to Oft-asked Questions

1. 540 Defense is the Defense "goal" to remove critical strikes from the combat table. Creatures cannot critically strike players with special abilities. Past 540, Defense still gives increases to Block, Dodge, Parry, and Chance to be Missed. Please note that creatures and players with greater than 5% Crit may still critically strike you.

2. Shield Mastery affects Shield Slam. So does One-Handed Specialization. (0.7)

3. Dodge and Parry are not the same. Parry causes a counter-attack to occur. Creatures can Parry. (0.4)

4. Spell Reflect will reflect or negate most single-target spells unless specifically scripted not to. It will reflect the single target aspect of some spell volleys, such as Shadowbolt Volley. It will not reflect most pure AOE skills, such as Frost Nova.

5. Weapon Speed Normalization affects the Attack Power portion of your damage. It does not affect the normal damage range of your weapon; they are independent. A slower weapon will hit harder with instant attacks based on weapon damage than a faster weapon. Daggers are Normalized at a much faster speed than any other One-Handed Weapon, and are inefficient for use with Devastate.

6. Proc-Per-Minute enchants such as Mongoose and Executioner benefit greatly from slower weapons and will proc more often on average when using instant attacks. Per-Hit abilities and enchants, such as Heroic Strike or +Weapon Damage, benefit greatly from faster weapons.




0.2 Rating & Diminishing Returns at Level 80
While many conversions remain static and easily calculable, Avoidance is now subject to a system of diminishing returns. This includes Dodge, Parry, and chance to be Missed.

Satrina has detailed the Diminishing Returns system in this addition to the Evil Empire guides:
http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f63/40003-diminishing-returns-avoidance.html

Defensive

Defense Rating _______   4.92 to 1

Block ________________   16.40 to 1

Resilience ___________   91.97 to 1

*Dodge & Parry subject to Diminishing Returns.



Offensive

Expertise ____________  32.79 to 1 (1% Dodge/Parry Reduction)

Hit __________________  32.79 to 1

Critical Strike ______  45.91 to 1

Haste ________________  32.79 to 1

0.3 Defense & Armor

1 Defense Skill

Dodge __________________   0.04% *

Parry __________________   0.04% *

Block __________________   0.04%

Chance to be Missed ____   0.04% *

Chance to be Crit ______  -0.04%

*Dodge, Parry, and Chance to be Missed subject to Diminishing Returns.

Defense does not calculate added Defensive bonuses against same-level mobs until it reaches the baseline of your character. The baseline Defense can be found by multiplying 5 * Character Level; in the case of a level 80 Warrior, this is 400 Defense.

For Defense to effectively remove Critical Strikes from the combat table on higher-level creatures, you need to reach the 5% reduction according to the baseline of that creature. Creatures have a 5% chance to Critical Strike, so you would need to reach the Defense required for a level 83 player to reduce Critical Strikes by 5%. Since 125 Defense is equal to 5% Critical Strike reduction, you would add to the level 83 baseline of 415 -- your goal, then, is 540 Defense. Most "Skull" Elites are effectively level 83 creatures.


Armor
Please note: a very detailed explanation of the relationship between Armor and Stamina can be found in "Effective Health" towards the bottom of this page. It is the first in the articles section.

                          Armor

Mitigation (80) =   -----------------

                     Armor + 15232.5



                          Armor

Mitigation (83) =   -----------------

                      Armor + 16635

Mitigation represents the actual Damage Reduction you receive from Armor. The 80 and 83 represent the levels of your opponent.

Note that there are significant Diminishing Returns on Mitigation; as you gain each new point of Armor, each point provides a smaller net benefit in terms of mitigation.

However, in the words of Satrina, "Mitigation is subject to diminishing returns, but Armor is not." What this means is, Armor provides a linear increase to lifespan, if not mitigation.

To better understand this, read Satrina's Evil Empire guides on this subject:
http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f63/41522-diminishing-returns-armour.html
http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f63/41526-ac-stamina.html

0.4 Avoidance & Shield Block
Avoidance can occur in nearly all situations, including while mounted or while using a Ranged weapon. Avoidance is one of the most helpful attributes of a tank and accounts for a significant reduction in necessary healing.

0.4.1 Dodge
Dodge represents 100% avoidance of a frontal attack. Players can Dodge most Physical attacks, including many Cleaves and Whirlwinds. Most Elemental-based Melee attacks can be Dodged. A player cannot Dodge a Critical Strike or Crushing Blow under normal circumstances.

Creatures are capable of Dodging attacks from any direction.


0.4.2 Parry
Parry represents 100% avoidance of a frontal attack. Players can Parry most Physical attacks. Most Elemental-based Melee attacks can be Parried. A player cannot Parry a Critical Strike or Crushing Blow under normal circumstances.

If you Parry an attack, a check is made that determines how much time is left on your next normal swing. If you have more than 60% of the time left before a swing would occur, then a flat 40% reduction will occur to your swing time. If you have between 20% and 60%, a flat 20% reduction will occur to your swing time. If you have less than 20%, no reduction will occur.

When a creature Parries it also gains attack speed. Raid bosses normally have greater than 10% Parry. For this reason, it is beneficial to keep all non-tanking players directly behind a creature. In addition, Expertise reduces the chance of Parry and the following counter-attack.


0.4.3 Chance to be Missed
Being Missed represents 100% avoidance of an omni-directional attack. Being missed can occur by any Physical attack and most Elemental-based Melee attacks. Reducing a creature or player's Chance to Hit will increase their Chance to Miss.

Chance to be Missed only comes from Defense. This attribute is shown when you highlight your Defense attribute in your Character Pane. Also, creatures have a base 5% Chance to Miss and that can be added to your Chance to be Missed from Defense.


0.4.4 Shield Block
Shield Block represents a reduction in damage from a frontal attack. Shield Blocks are effective against all Physical attacks, including Ranged. Shield Blocks are usually effective against Elemental-based Melee attacks.

The use of the Shield Block ability can boost Avoidance and Shield Block well above 100% on the combat table. When this occurs, Shield Block takes priority over Critical Strikes. Players can Block a Critical Strike from special abilities. This means that special attacks from Players can be Blocked. Creatures are incapable of landing a Critical Strike with a special ability, however, and Defense effectively removes Critical Strikes from environmental content.

For technical reference, Shield Block is not a form of Avoidance but a form of Mitigation.

0.5 Threat & Threat Values
0.5.1 Threat
Threat should not be looked at as an arcane, mysterious entity that can not be understood or put into real terms. It is based on real and understandable concepts and numbers.

Let's say that 1 Damage is equivalent to 1 Threat. For the purposes of this game, this is the best way to quantify threat, as 1 Damage will produce the equivalent of 1 Threat before any modifiers come into play. The Warrior who is tanking will always want to make sure their threat is at a higher level than the Threat of their party or raid members. Following this, the Warrior can make use of specific abilities which maximize his or her Threat potential. This is done by the intelligent use of abilities, gear, threat-producing talents, and basic positioning in relation to party members.

While 1 Damage is equivalent to 1 Threat, it takes 2 points of Healing to amount to 1 Threat. Also, Threat is only produced by effective healing -- overhealing produces no Threat.

Threat does not decay in combat. It can be reduced through the use of several mechanics such as Knockback. However, under normal circumstances Threat will never decay.


Pulling and Holding Aggro (100/110/130 Rule)

Tank (Baseline) _____________________  100%

Melee Range Aggro Gain ______________  110%

Ranged Aggro Gain ___________________  130%

The above chart represents the balance of when a player will pull aggro from the tank. To get aggro, a player in melee range must exceed the total threat of the current player with aggro by 10%. If the player is at a range, they would have to produce 30% more threat to fully gain aggro.

This has some important implications. First, it gives you breathing room to miss a few attacks and not instantly lose aggro -- that seems to be the purpose of the 10% rule. Second, it means that ranged classes take a heavy risk by moving into melee range with a large amount of threat built up -- the mob will instantly change targets to a ranged target who moves into melee. Third, this means that tank switching can be difficult in some cases.


0.5.2 Taunt
This is where Taunt comes in. The Warrior Taunt immediately places you at 100% aggro of whoever the highest-Threat player is on the target list for that creature. It also bypasses the 10% rule and does not require you build immediate threat. When tanking, it may be helpful to remember that you can let any player you want build Threat for you on a mob -- all you have to do is Taunt the mob to get everything they worked for and make the mob yours. This is also a good argument for Improved Taunt.

One important note about Threat gained from Taunt is that you will only gain the Threat of the current target of your creature. For instance, a ranged class such as a Mage may have 120% of your accumulated Threat, but due to the 100/110/130 rule has not pulled aggro. You would not receive the Threat bonus from that Mage for using your Taunt prior to him actually being targeted by the creature. If a creature is applying a Secondary or Random-Secondary ability where he temporarily changes targets to someone else -- disregarding his normal Threat table -- you will not gain the Threat of the player he is targeting.

Taunt, as well as Mocking Blow and Challenging Shout, also force your target to attack you through a debuff placed on the creature. This debuff can be helpful when the creature may be in danger of immediately moving to or harming another party or raid member. For instance, some mobs will randomly Intercept nearby players, wiping or diminishing their Threat list. A well-timed Taunt or Mocking Blow can cause a creature that may otherwise not return to you to immediately do so. Challenging Shout can be useful as a six-second buffer for an AOE class to safely damaging several nearby targets at once; it can also be useful in temporarily capturing the attention of one or more creatures that may otherwise kill a nearby player.

Aside from the debuff, Mocking Blow and Challenging Shout are dissimilar to Taunt and will not give you a Threat gain in relation to another player. Mocking Blow and Challenging Shout are six second targetting debuffs; Taunt is three.

Taunt is affected by Physical Hit and no longer falls under the standard rules of Spell Resistance. For the purposes of this game, if there are any critical Taunt fights such as the Four Horsemen of Naxxramas, getting 5% Physical Hit will minimize the chance of resists.


0.5.3 Threat from Stances, Talents, Buffs, and Classes
The following chart shows multipliers to Threat values that affect the amount of Threat players produce.

Ability Multipliers                   Percent  Multiplier

Defensive Stance / Bear Form ________  130%      (1.3)  Multiplicative

Defiance / Feral Instinct ___________  115%     (1.15)  Multiplicative

Fury Stance (Imp Berserker) _________   71%     (0.71)  Multiplicative

Battle Stance _______________________   80%      (0.8)  Multiplicative

Rogue / Cat Form Druid ______________   71%     (0.71)  Multiplicative

Blessing of Salvation _______________   70%      (0.7)  Multiplicative

Tranquil Air Totem __________________   80%      (0.8)  Multiplicative

Druid (Subtlety) ____________________   80%      (0.8)  Multiplicative

Priest (Silent Resolve) _____________   80%      (0.8)  Multiplicative

Mage (Frost Channelling) ____________   90%      (0.9)  Multiplicative

Mage (Burning Soul) _________________   90%      (0.9)  Multiplicative

Mage (Arcane Subtlety) ______________   60%      (0.6)  Multiplicative

Warlock (Destructive Reach) _________   90%      (0.9)  Multiplicative

Warlock (Imp. Drain Soul) ___________   90%      (0.9)  Multiplicative

Innate Threat
Many Warrior abilities are built around the concept of Innate, or hidden, Threat values. What this means is that abilities which neither deal Damage or Healing produces Threat on the targeted creature when used. Innate Threat never replaces Threat produced from damage; in many cases, such as with Shield Slam, Devastate, Heroic Strike and Revenge, the Damage portion of the ability produces Threat in addition to the innate value.

The following chart gives detailed Innate Threat values for abilities at Level 70:

Shield Slam _________________________   307

Revenge _____________________________   200

Devastate ___________________________   176 (Special, Read Below)

Sunder Armor ________________________   301

Heroic Strike _______________________   196

Cleave ______________________________   130 (Split)

Mocking Blow ________________________   290

Demoralizing Shout __________________    56 (Split)

Battleshout _________________________    69 (Split)

Commanding Shout ____________________    68 (Split)

Disarm_______________________________   104

Hamstring ___________________________   181

Whirlwind ____________________  100% Damage (Unaffected by Stance Multiplier)

Execute ______________________  100% Damage (Unaffected by Stance Multiplier)

Thunderclap __________________  175% Damage

Spell Reflect ________________  100% Damage

Piercing Howl and Concussion Blow do not generate Threat.
Sunder Armor continues to generate the same threat even after five applications.

When Threat is split as indicated above, that means it is either divided by the number of mobs affected or by the number of creatures aware of your presence. This is determined by whether the ability directly affects the creature or not. For instance, the Threat from Demoralizing Shout shout would only be split by the creatures it directly hits; however, the Threat from Commanding Shout would be split among all creatures engaged with your character.

Devastate Threat Per Current Sunder Armor Application
0: 119
1: 134
2: 148
3: 162
4: 176

All of the above will also add 301 Sunder Armor Threat. After the fifth application, it will continue to provide 176 Threat but will no longer apply Sunder Armor. Damage will always be calculated as Threat in addition to the above, and will increase with each application of Sunder Armor.

Read Satrina's testing here:
http://www.tankspot.com/forums/theory-articles-guides/33437-devastate-testing-25-october.html


0.5.4 Damage as Threat
All damage is Threat; not all Threat is damage. Any increase in damage will be a direct increase in Threat. Threat from damage scales in specific ways.

The most obvious scaling can be seen in Shield Slam, which becomes stronger as a Warrior collects standard tanking gear with Shield Block Value.

Devastate and Normal attacks both scale from Attack Power. Though improvements in this area are generally less perceptible, they make up a significant portion of your overall threat. Devastate and Normal attacks also benefit from party and raid buffs.

Heroic Strike and Devastate scale based on Weapon Speed. However, getting faster weapons for Heroic Strike is much better in terms of net gain; Devastate is Normalized, meaning your Attack Power bonus is based on a 2.4 Speed weapon, whereas Heroic Strike is not affected by Normalization, and the fastest weapons will produce the best possible results.


0.5.5 Critical Strikes & Effective Abilities
Critical Strikes have no unique impact on Threat. The extra Threat generated from a Critical Strike is strictly from the damage produced; Innate Threat is not affected.

The Threat on abilities such as Hamstring Shield Bash are not affected by whether the effect is successful or not unless the target is fully immune to the ability. For instance, Hamstring will deal 181 Threat regardless of whether the target is slowed. Even if the target is immune to slowing, the ability will still gain the 181 Threat bonus since Hamstring also causes damage -- the ability is at least functionally operational so the Threat is awarded.

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1. Keybinds and Macros
The following section is a reference and explanation for different and more efficient ways of controlling your character.


1.1 Keybinds
Keybinds are any action your character is capable of that is bound to to a specific button on your keyboard, mouse, or other input device. The most basic controls such as movement are Keybinds -- arrow keys, for instance.

1.1.1 Why Are Keybinds Important To The Warrior?
The Warrior is an instinctive creature. What she lacks in 33 Intellect, she makes up for by hitting the right target ridiculously hard, or with particular animosity. She is ready to command and control many situations, be it holding a line or destroying the same.

At least, this is how the Warrior class is designed. Whether you are able to control one of the most twitchy classes in World of Warcraft and maximize your potential is dependent on how quickly you can react. Believe me when I say that reaction time comes with practice.

It also comes with your physical ability to control your character through your keyboard and mouse. Here is an example of a complex pull in Heroic Shattered Halls and how I personally handle it:

Pack A has a Legionnaire, which will deal moderate

damage and call in three additional low-damage

Brawlers through the duration of the fight; it has

a Savage, which will deal heavy direct damage to

it's target; there are two Reavers, which will

deal moderate damage as well as do an occasional

Knockback and Cleave; there are also two casters,

an Acolyte and a Darkcaster, which do not need to

be tanked and can be killed first.



When pulling, I use my ranged weapon on the

Legionnaire. He will move a pace ahead of the rest

of the pack; as soon as the Savage comes into 

range, I will shoot him as well, then immediately

turn around and run around a corner to force all

of the mobs to converge on me via Line of Sight.

One of the finer points of controlling many situations involving movement or Line of Sight involves being able to turn on a dime -- if you simply use your right or left arrow keys while clicking a shoot button, you will be unable to assure your own safety in this kind of pull. Snap-turning requires a mouse exclusively, so you want a Ranged attack to be able to be queued up with a Keybinding, especially if it is very fast such as many Throwing Weapons.

I have built no Threat on either of the Reavers

and have built very little Threat on the Savage

and Legionnaire. I will be hit very hard, very

quickly and if my Healers don't react, I will

die -- this means I need established Threat before

I receive too much healing. I Shield Slam the

first Reaver, change targets, Heroic Strike,

change targets, Revenge, change targets, Heroic

Strike, change targets, Taunt, switch to Battle

Stance, Thunderclap, switch to Defensive Stance, ...

Follow the above list carefully. Shield Slam, Revenge, and Thunderclap are on the Global Cooldown of 1.5 seconds; Heroic Strike is connected to your Weapon Speed and does not affect any other ability cooldown; Taunt is on an independent cooldown; stance changing is on an 1-second independent cooldown.

It is possible to complete the entire first just under 5 seconds, but it necessitates the use of Keybindings to give yourself enough flexibility to control your character and your targets with the Mouse (or through Tab-targetting). Since every situation is different, you can't simply line up the buttons you are going to use and be ready to mouse-click them in the right order -- especially since Heroic Strike needs to be queued up between and while other abilities are being used.

In all but the most mundane work, establishing effective Keybindings will make you able to react and respond more effectively than trying to frantically click buttons. Fortunately, the learning process is very quick.


1.1.2 Movement Keybindings -- Common Examples

Standard

Q   W   E

A   S   D   F

This represents your Standard movement setup, where Q and E represent strafing side to side, and WASD are similar to your Arrow Keys. This is a default of the game. The "F" key in this scenario is most often bound to a very important ability that is not in constant use but needs easy access -- in my case, I use "F" for Execute and "Shift+F" for The Decapitator item use.

Non-Standard Ergonomic

W   E   R   T

S   D   F   G

This is a very solid movement setup for a Microsoft ergonomic keyboard. It works effectively for many players on normal keyboards as well. W and R represent strafing, whereas ESDF represent standard movement. With this setup, the easiest-access keys are T and G, so we use those for special abilities. Q and A work effectively for uncommon use abilities, though if you use the 1-6 keys for basic abilities these are not as accessible as T and G.

If you are using a 5-button laser mouse or any similar mouse, it is common to rebind the strafe keys to the far left and right mouse buttons. This allows for more key availability.


1.1.3 Easy Access to Independent Cooldowns and Core Abilities
This is one of the more important concepts in setting up effective Keybindings for your Warrior. You have several core abilities which you will use in nearly all situations. For tanking, the six most commonly used abilities are Taunt, Shield Block, Shield Slam, Sunder Armor, Revenge, and Heroic Strike.

Notice that Taunt, Shield Block, and Heroic Strike are completely independent of each other, as well as being independent of the Big 3 (Shield Slam, Sunder, Revenge).

Though some players have some very complex setups, I will illustrate how to apply these the default method -- your Number keys. I use 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, for easy access above my movement keys.

Here is an example of Defensive Stance for me while tanking:

1 - Taunt

2 - Shield Block

3 - Shield Slam

4 - Sunder Armor

5 - Revenge

6 - Heroic Strike

Finger positioning is critical. My Taunt and Shield Block are controlled by my ring finger; my Shield Slam, Sunder, and Revenge (all on the same Global Cooldown) are controlled by my middle finger, and my spammable Heroic Strike is controlled by my index finger.

Note that the Shield Slam, my most important ability, is directly above my Forward movement key. This is where my hand naturally rests.


1.1.4 Universal and Similar Keybinds Across Stances
This is very specific to moves which involve stance dancing and, in many cases, macros. Often, you want similar abilities to be in the exact same place across all of your stances, to maximize speed and minimize mistakes.

Here are some examples of my own hotbars:

Player-Verse-Environment

1 - Taunt  (Defensive Stance)

1 - Mocking Blow* (Battle Stance)

3 - Shield Slam (Battle/Defensive/Berserker Stance)

*This is specifically so if I see my Taunt is resisted, I can immediately switch stances to Battle Stance and use Mocking Blow immediately. Having easy access to this means I am 100% sure I can effectively get the Mocking Blow off immediately, without accidentally spamming the wrong key in the wrong stance.

Player-Verse-Player

1 - Shield Bash (Battle/Defensive Stance)

1 - Pummel (Berserker Stance)

2 - Charge/Intercept Macro (Battle/Defensive/Berserker Stance)

3 - Shield Slam (Battle/Defensive/Berserker Stance)

6 - Piercing Howl** (Battle/Defensive/Berserker Stance)

**Note that Piercing Howl could be replaced with Hamstring/Shield Bash depending on stance and use.


1.1.5 Do Your Own Thing; and, Some Mouse Clicking is Fine
I simply do not believe you can be the most effective player of the Warrior class by limiting yourself to the use of your mouse alone. However, I also believe that players have many different preferences and all I can give is an example.

If you wish to experiment with your own Keybindings, please keep in mind that you have to develop a "muscle memory," or, your brain has to get used to doing the unfamiliar. The keyboard itself is inherently an extension of your brain, just as a hammer or wrench might be, so you will learn it -- it just takes a day or so to get used to it.

Also, I do not entirely use Keybindings. Battle/Commanding Shout, Last Stand, Healthstones, Shield Wall, etc., are exclusively clicked for me. Depending on my hotbar setup, I may use my mouse to click some abilities on the Global Cooldown for the sake of ease. Don't feel bad if you don't Keybind everything!

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2.0 Defensive Talent Builds
The following are examples of solid talent builds that work. I have used all of them for the purposes listed; you can check which build I am using currently by following this link:
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-talents.xml?r=Earthen+Ring&n=Ciderhelm

What is critically important to remember with any of these talent builds is that they are simply examples. While they may give you some insight to possibilities you had not thought of before, that doesn't mean you should necessarily copy paste. So much of speccing is about getting the job done that you need to get done. For instance, in Blackwing Lair, then again with the Four Horsemen in Naxxramas, I would never miss Improved Taunt in my build -- yet, how good was Improved Taunt, really, when I wasn't working on those encounters?

Be smart!


2.1 Damage Reduction (8/5/48)
This is a popular build that emphasizes raid survivability. This build assumes you have another Warrior with Improved Demoralizing Shout. If another Warrior has Imp Thunderclap you should switch points into Imp Heroic Strike. This is not a rage-efficient build, but is superior for some Main Tanking situations.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/warrior/talents.html?050003000000000000000000500000000000000000000055511033012103531351


2.2 Highest Efficiency/Utility (11/7/43)
This is my current and favorite build. Reasons for all talent decisions are outlined elsewhere in this guide. This is not suggested for certain encounters such as Kael'thas, where Improved Defensive Stance is beneficial.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/warrior/talents.html?250003010000000000000000520000000000000000001055511033000103501351


2.3 Stupid-high Shield Slams (21/5/35)
This is for those fanatics who want to put their Block Value to use for a bit. If you were serious about PVP'ing you may want to switch some points around in favor of Imp Intercept; however, you'd be able ot tank 5-mans, Heroics, and off-tank raid content w/ this build w/o a problem.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/warrior/talents.html?350033013020100000000000500000000000000000000255511030000123501100

View it in action: http://www.shieldslam.com/

Tanking Theory
The following represents theory and Burning Crusade articles and commentary. They are provided with links as to allow response and disagreements.



3.1 Effective Health, Armor, and Gemming/Gearing
NOTE - This article is being updated. There are clear situations where Avoidance is superior to Effective Health, including Prince and other quick-hitting mobs. Will have an update ASAP - March 28 '08

With tanking new content, one rule is important -- it's not about taking less damage; it's about being able to take more damage. This article prompted a slew of great responses, notably from Wanderlei and Cronedog. Please check out the original post for a great read.

Original Post:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=91629683&postId=915014513&sid=1#0

Eventide Tanking Post:
http://www.theoryspot.com/forums/tankspot-library/1060-effective-health-theory.html



Effective Health Theory
Let's establish what Effective Health and Effective Stamina are. This is basically a measurement of how much raw damage a creature has to deal to kill you. It is a measurement of Armor and it's relation to Stamina.

What many tanks do not understand is just how much damage a creature is dealing to them. I didn't realize it until I studied Patchwerk -- who dealt 22,000 to 29,000 raw damage to our tanks with every Hateful Strike.

Effective Health is the measurement of how much breathing room your healers have to keep you alive assuming all other factors fail -- assuming you do not avoid or block attacks or have a mana shield active. Effective Health is important for tanking heavy hitting creatures because of Murphy's Law -- if you can have long strings of not Dodging an attack, it will definitely happen. Raid tanking, ultimately, is about stability.

Life Per Stamina (LPS) & Effective Life Per Health (ELPH)

  AC                 Mitigation         LPS           ELPH

0 ___________________   0.00% _____    10 : 1 ____  1.00 : 1

10,000 ______________  48.64% _____  19.4 : 1 ____  1.94 : 1

12,000 ______________  53.20% _____  21.3 : 1 ____  2.13 : 1

13,000 ______________  55.18% _____  22.3 : 1 ____  2.23 : 1

14,000 ______________  57.01% _____  23.2 : 1 ____  2.32 : 1

15,000 ______________  58.69% _____  24.2 : 1 ____  2.42 : 1

16,000 ______________  60.25% _____  25.1 : 1 ____  2.51 : 1

17,000 ______________  61.69% _____  26.1 : 1 ____  2.61 : 1

20,000 ______________  65.45% _____  28.9 : 1 ____  2.89 : 1

25,000 ______________  70.31% _____  33.6 : 1 ____  3.36 : 1

The equation to determine Life Per Stamina is (Special thanks to Ilmare):

1 / (1 - Mitigation) 

Mitigation is determined through this equation (Special thanks to Satrina):

                          Armor

Mitigation (70) =   -----------------

                     Armor + 10557.5



                          Armor

Mitigation (73) =   -----------------

                      Armor + 11960

Effective Life Per Health is determined simply by dividing the Stamina numbers by 10.



Special Note: Please keep in mind that every 1,000 Armor produces precisely the same increase in Effective Life that the last 1,000 Armor did. Satrina has covered this in-depth, but it can never hurt to say it again -- Mitigation is subject to diminishing returns but Armor is not. Armor provides a linear increase in life expectancy. Stamina scales with Armor.

Link to Satrina's information: http://evilempireguild.org/guides/diminishmath.php




Examples
The first hypothetical is for a tank who has chosen primarily to focus on Stamina and Armor over Avoidance and Defense. The following are reasonable attributes for this Warrior, assuming he has been through Karazhan but not further:
14,000 Armor
13,000 Health

If we run with the above Effective Life Per Health ratio, this is our end result:

13,000 * 2.32 = 30,160 Effective Life


Let's take the standard number of people who tend to itemize Avoidance and Defense equally, or sometimes in greater standing than Stamina and Armor:
12,000 Armor
12,000 Health

Running the same equation:
12,000 * 2.13 = 25,560 Effective Life


That's a 5,100 difference in raw damage between two tanks who think they are at similar standing. Or, to put it in more familiar terms, that is the difference between a Warrior comfortably tanking a lvl 70 Patchwerk and a Warrior regularly getting one-shot by same.


Now let's run some numbers to see how very basic consumables affect tanking. I'll use just a Flask of Fortification and a Stoneshield Potion on our first tank.
16,000 Armor
14,500 Health

14,500 * 2.51 = 36395 Effective Life

This means that with just these two potions, a tank has increased the damage he is able to withstand more than 17%.



Conclusions
1) Even though this may sound obvious, it needs to be repeated that every increase in Armor gives linear and potent scaling to the effectiveness of Stamina. Every increase in Armor is a direct increase in the effectiveness of Stamina; every increase in Stamina is a direct increase in the value of Armor.

2) With the above in mind, the Vitality talent needs to be evaluated for total merit. While a tank may complain that Vitality only gives them a 600 health increase, they fail to recognize the effective health gained is generally going to be more than twice that.

3) Solid Star of Elune gems should be viewed under the same principle. While Avoidance gems such as +Defense and +Dodge gems will always offer a precise, static damage reduction, a Solid Star of Elune can scale in many raid situations to be the equivalent of over 30 Stamina.

4) There are a few people who have made comments regarding why Avoidance stats may be better. One poster mentioned that he would rather have 10% Dodge from gems than Stamina. The equivalent of that 10% Dodge would be 2,835 HP, which, given his Armor, would in turn increase his Effective Life by over 6,000. In other words, if he focused on Stamina, he could take hits from a full raid zone beyond his current capability. Need proof? Look at the Armory profiles from tanks in the top-progressing guilds worldwide.

5) If you have enough Stamina, the most effective means of increasing survivability as a tank is to increase Armor at the cost of other attributes. In particular, when facing an enchant choice such as that of +12 Dodge to Cloak or +120 Armor to Cloak, a Stamina heavy tank will definitely find greater benefit from the +120 Armor.

6) Increasing Stamina is not always the best method to increase Effective Health. When making a choice between Armor and Stamina upgrades, you will often find that Armor will give you a higher Effective Health than Stamina.

7) The choices between Stamina/Armor and Defense/Avoidance should only come when evaluating near-equal pieces of gear. Gems are a generally good subject because they are naturally equal in item level. One smaller point to remember is that Avoidance always takes a 7% hit on overall damage reduction due to the combat table -- 1% Dodge is actually only 0.93% damage reduction once the additional damage from Crushing Blows is factored in. When dealing with items of significantly different item levels, common sense applies.


8) It's not about balance. Like tanking weapons, where faster is always better, when tanking new encounters, Stamina and Armor are always better. The set you use to tank new content should always have the highest Effective Health possible. As you get comfortable with an encounter, you wear more Damage Reduction gear (Armor/Defense/Dodge). This is a hard and fast rule.


In Summary
Like always, this is not written to help the casual tank. It is written only for the tanks who are pushing through content beyond their gear level and wish to do it more effectively. This is what the Stamina Warrior is, and I write this just as passionately as I did over a year ago with "Miles to Go."

I deeply respect people like Emeraude, who championed the Defense/Avoidance/Agility/Armor tank theory. I remember seeing a great Twin Emperor's combat monitor from Emeraude. I fall squarely into the Stamina/Armor/Strength/Block Value camp, and many months ago we used to have great arguments on these forums.

I understand the irony of having a Druid post an article about Stamina and Armor. One of the old catchphrases of these forums was that Avoidance is what sets Warriors apart from Druids. I will make this absolutely clear -- Avoidance is good (especially Dodge, as Wanderlei has clarified). You will find great pieces of incredible Avoidance gear such as Boots of Elusion. Defense is good. You want and need these stats, and you will get them with much of your tanking gear.

With tanking new content, one rule is important -- it's not about taking less damage; it's about being able to take more damage.

Thanks,
Cider


Addendum (1):
http://tankspot.com/index.php?pageid=TankSpotCalc

Shield Block Value and additional Effective Health
The Effective Health shown on this website is reliable and accurate. However, there is an additional, scaling bonus to your Effective Health in the form of Shield Block Value. This is the secondary scaling of Shield Block Value (the primary scaling is already included in the equation here).

In addition to increasing your Effective Health by a base amount -- exactly like Health -- it also decreases a percentage of damage taken. However, the percentage decrease cannot be quantified without detailed information regarding the attack speed, average damage, and maximum damage of your enemy.

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