I have been playing Protection Warrior in PvP since phase 1 and played 3 classes during that phase: Shadow Priest, Protection Warrior, and melee-weave Hunter. I focused on my Warrior until Scarlet Enclave when it came up that SoD is going to continue far past Naxx. I love Gladiator Stance, it feels so good in group PvP being able to initiate with Shield Wall and CC entire teams with Shockwave, but since I also do a lot of 1v1 PvP I want to talk about the difference between Protection Warrior’s matchups and my now 1060 gs Shadow Priest’s matchup differences. Here it goes:
First, Protection Warrior. Feels great against DPS, can definitely kill healers. I would say that, against a good DPS, Gladiator Stance Protection Warrior goes 1 for 1 with an equally geared DPS. If I have the gear advantage, it’s almost no contest. Here’s the problem: other tanks. I can’t beat tank Shaman, can’t beat a bear Druid that is playing properly, can’t beat an equally geared Meta Warlock. I pop all of my cooldowns and do maybe 500 damage on a crit. I know it will be more once I get 4 set Lightbreaker, but that takes up to 5 globals/swings to stack up. It won’t outpace their damage. This is an impossible matchup if I want to keep my build that beats most DPS. Protection needs a rune like Second Wind or something that gives them equivalent survivability to the other tanks. I like the class regardless, it has clear potency in a lot of scenarios.
Now, Shadow Priest. I am not a caster main and I have yet to struggle in a PvP scenario as this class in a fair fight. Unless my opponent is Undead or a Warrior in Berserker Stance, they are dead before they leave Psychic Scream now that I have 2pc Revelation. The main reason this is so rough is because there’s very little you can do in this game to cut spell damage. Resistances aren’t a viable stat to build and reflector trinkets take a gear slot and only allow for one instance of damage reversal. I don’t think a full gear Shadow Priest struggles with anything. Even if people break the fear, you can kite with Mind Spike. I love the way it feels, but it makes off-meta specs feel so much less potent.
In conclusion, meta specs are just so much more potent than off-meta. Off-meta in SoD, as far as I have experienced, means you just can’t win certain matchups. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has felt this, and I’m sure it’s largely why a lot of people don’t PvP. Basically, SoD might need a decent sized balance patch for PvP. Discuss other experiences here! 