Proving Yourself: Endless Tank (Wave 30) (Level 90)

Hi Wowhead! I'm Ashaton and today I'd like to share my Prot Paladin strategy for the Proving Grounds. Using this, I was able to get to wave 67 (proof on WoWProgress) and could easily do more. I also have a video guide up here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhwLpE9nawc

--- Summary ---
The Proving Grounds aren't particularly hard, and with proper cooldown management and self heals, the damage isn't really the thing that will kill you. As you get higher into the waves, it just becomes more and more about perfect execution. The strategy can carry you only as far as your stamina (I mean your real life stamina, not your HP) can go. After an hour of executing the same strategies over and over, it may become easy to taunt the wrong mob by mistake and wipe. The whole thing is really just a test of your personal endurance, which is what I believe it's designed to be. Good job, Blizzard!

--- Gear ---
I did this using pretty much my standard tank set with a few modifications. Please note that the legendary meta gem does not work in Proving Grounds, but I couldn't be bothered to get another hat so I used it anyway. Also, the legendary cape proc and any set bonuses are disabled. With my gear I had:

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• 8167 strength and 27110 stamina
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• 8.77% hit (yeah, I know...) and 12.35% expertise
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• 28.07% haste, 10.12% crit and 15.49% mastery
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• 6.17% dodge and 14.35% parry
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For trinkets, I used Spark of Zandalar and Soul Barrier. For my weapon I used Windsong.

--- Talents ---

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• Speed of Light: You will need this to kite the Foragers until your stacks fall off.
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• Evil is a Point of View: Makes most of the harder waves much easier by completely removing a mob.
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• Eternal Flame: I haven't done the math on whether or not Sacred Shield is better than this at such low haste levels, but it worked for me.
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• Unbreakable Spirit: 30 seconds on Divine Protection is too useful to pass up.
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• Holy Avenger: On most waves you won't need much help surviving. On the waves that you do need help, this will always be there. Take it over Divine Purpose.
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• Holy Prism: It helps on AoE threat and it's also 40 yards, great for grabbing mobs that get away. The heal is pretty great too.
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--- Glyphs ---

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• Glyph of Divine Protection: Most of the damage we take is physical, so this is a no brainer.
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• Glyph of Blinding Light: Mandatory for waves 2, 7 and 9 to let you kite all of the mobs.
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• The third one is up to you, I used Glyph of Alabaster Shield for a little extra damage.
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--- Buffs ---
Flask of the Earth and Chun Tian Spring Rolls.

--- Strategy ---

For cooldowns, please note that I consider Divine Protection, Devotion Aura, and Ardent Defender to be optional for each wave. Use them at your own discretion / for emergencies.

Wave 1 is a low damage wave.
Cooldowns: Avenging Wrath, Holy Avenger
The goal of this wave is to kill both mobs before wave 2 starts. Start with Holy Avenger and Avenging Wrath up, and SotR the Wind-Guard as much as you can. Put your back to Sikari so you are between her and the Wind-Guard. This way, when he knocks you back, you will be flying in the same direction that he is traveling and picking him up again is trivial. If you can't kill both mobs in time, that's okay - but one must be dead and the other should be on the brink of death at the start of wave 2.

Wave 2 is a high damage wave.
Cooldowns: Blinding Light, Speed of Light, Guardian (For higher tiers)
The strategy for this wave is simple, and doesn't change as you get to higher and higher rounds. Start by gathering all of the Foragers away from Sikari, next to one of the barricades where they spawn. You will be getting a lot of Grand Crusader procs so use Avenger's Shield as often as you can. The Small Ambusher will spawn when you have roughly 15 stacks of the bleed, make sure to pull him into your mob group once he reaches Sikari. Once you have 20 to 25 stacks of the bleed, use Hand of Freedom to negate the Ambusher's snare, use Blinding Light to stun all of the mobs, and Speed of Light to sprint away. Kite all of the mobs until your bleed falls off. The second Ambusher will spawn as you are running so be sure to pick him up. Once the mobs catch up to you, use Divine Protection to smooth the damage until all of them are dead. You should finish the wave without any living mobs.

On higher tiers like 42 and up, you will probably want to use Guardian here in addition to DP. The damage gets pretty tough and you won't need it for the next two waves.

Wave 3 is a very low damage wave.
Cooldowns: None
This wave, I assume, is really meant for refreshing your food buff at the higher tiers. It is many times easier than any other wave. Pull both of the Rippers and one of the Flamecallers into a patch of fire. Let Sikari tank the remaining Flamecaller by herself. AoE everything down, making sure to stun and rebuke the Flamecaller that you're tanking as often as you can. Use DP early on when all three mobs are still on you.

You will probably finish this round with 20 to 30 seconds left on the clock. Use this time to refresh your food buff at the higher tiers (53+).

Wave 4 is a very low damage wave.
Cooldowns: None
As soon as the wave starts, use Turn Evil on the Wind-Guard. Sikari will begin attacking the Small Conqueror. Once the Wind-Guard is feared, pull the Conqueror away from her and tank it as usual. Use DP when it enrages, its damage is surprisingly small. Taunt the Large Ambusher when it spawns, and tank it with the Conqueror. The Ambusher will die at about the same time as the fear wears off on the Wind-Guard, so tank that by itself and bring it into the next wave.

Wave 5 is a medium damage wave.
Cooldowns: None
Bring the Wind-Guard from Wave 4 with you and pick up both Rippers. Put them in the fire. You may let Sikari tank the Flamecaller if she has enough health left to do so. HoJ the Wind-Guard once it's in the fire to prevent it from kicking you away, and AoE everything down. Use the periodic Ambusher spawns to keep your stacks of BoG up. At the end of the wave, Eternal Flame yourself with whatever you have left.

Wave 6 is a medium damage wave.
Cooldowns: Avenging Wrath, Holy Avenger, Hammer of Justice, Divine Protection
Turn Evil completely trivializes this wave. As soon as it starts, use Turn Evil on the right-most Wind-Guard. Tank the remaining two together. Use Avenging Wrath and Holy Avenger to keep your damage low. Position them the same way as Wave 1, so your back is to Sikari. When Holy Avenger runs out, refresh Eternal Flame on yourself and HoJ one of the Wind-Guards. When one of them dies, stand right next to Sikari because the fear will wear off of the third Wind-Guard around this time. As soon as it starts coming to her, put Turn Evil on it again. Do as much damage as you can to the remaining Wind-Guard, preferably killing it. It's alright if you have two of them remaining for Wave 7, as long as one of them is close to death.

Wave 7 is a high damage wave.
Cooldowns: Blinding Light, Speed of Light, Hand of Protection (optional)
When the wave starts, Sikari will break the fear on the second Wind-Guard from Wave 6. Pull that, along with everything else, together away from her. Use DP and get as much AoE threat as you can. Once the Small Conqueror enrages, use Blinding Light and Speed of Light to get away from the pack while kiting the Conqueuror. Make sure you refresh Eternal Flame if it falls off here. Keep kiting all of the mobs until the Foragers are dead, and it's just the Wind-Guard and the Conqueror. Once Sikari stops AoEing, use Turn Evil on whichever mob she is not attacking. You will have one of these mobs still alive when Wave 8 starts.

Wave 8 is a medium damage wave.
Cooldowns: NONE! Save as much as you can for Wave 9/10 (DP / Devo are obviously ok here)
Put both the Flamecaller and whatever remains from Wave 7 into a pool of fire. Taunt the Large Ambusher when it spawns and AoE everything together. If you can't reliably put them into the fire, then use Turn Evil on the Large Ambusher to help mitigate some of the damage. Make sure you use it on whichever one spawned most recently, as it will be the lowest priority on Sikari's kill order. You should finish this wave with one of the Large Ambushers at half health, or if you're really good, with all of the mobs dead.

Wave 9 is a very high damage wave.
Cooldowns: Blinding Light, Speed of Light, Avenging Wrath, Holy Avenger, Guardian, Hand of Protection (optional)
This is probably going to the the blocker for most people, especially around wave 29. As soon as the wave starts, pull all of the mobs to the barricade by where they have spawned. Immediately use Divine Protection and refresh your Eternal Flame stacks. Once DP is down, or if you think you're taking too much damage, use Guardian. If one of the Wind-Guards switches to Sikari, taunt it back. If both Wind-Guards switch, it's easier just to BoP her instead of trying to get aggro back. Once Guardian is down, use Blinding Light and Speed of Light to get a little breathing room from the mobs. When they return to you, use Holy Avenger and Avenging Wrath to keep the damage low and refresh your Eternal Flame stacks. They should be pretty close to dead now so just keep kiting and AoEing until they die. You should finish this wave with all of the mobs dead.

Wave 10 is a low damage wave except for the enrage.
Cooldowns: Divine Shield, Speed of Light
Start the wave by using Turn Evil on the Large Flamecaller. The fire isn't going to be very useful here because you'll be moving so much. If Sikari attacks the Flamecaller first instead, then you will just have to deal with it with HoJ and Devotion Aura until it's dead.

Take the Conqueror to the outer ring. Once it enrages, use Divine Protection and Speed of Light to kite it for a few seconds. The damage will quickly get overwhelming, so I find it's easiest to simply use Divine Shield and taunt him back to me during the enrage - this effectively negates the hardest mob you will have to deal with in the Proving Grounds. After the enrage, a Large Ambusher will spawn. Simply use Turn Evil on him to remove him from the game until the Conqueror is dead. Once he dies, you will have a little time to finish off the Ambusher. If you can't kill it, just bring it into Wave 11.

Wave 11 is the same as Wave 1, but possibly with an Ambusher from Wave 10.
Use DP while finishing off the Ambusher, then by this time, Holy Avenger should be up again. Use it to kill both mobs in this wave, and repeat the whole cycle.

I hope that was helpful for anyone stuck on this achievement. Thanks for reading, and good luck!

Protection Warrior guide

Info; had about 463k hp, 52% mastery (Mastery build is really recommended here as a lot of damage is physical), make sure you have 7.5% hit and expertise.
Talents: Double Time, Impending Victory, Piercing Howl, Shockwave, Vigilance, Storm Bolt
Glyphs: Heavy Repercussions, Enraged Speed, Death From Above, Intimidating Shout (minor)

Note: As of September 18th 2013, Sikari's Crackling Jade Thunderstorm now has a chance to break your Intimidating Shout. Keep this in mind when Intimidating Shout is recommended in the guide below!

Wave 1: [npc=71833] [npc=72337]
The first wave is fairly easy. You should be able to survive this wave with the use of Shield Block. You can use Shockwave, but I recommend you to use it in the first 20 seconds as you want it to be ready for the next wave.

Wave 2: [npc=71831] x4, [npc=71832] x4
Midfight spawns: [npc=71839] x2
You want to be moving to their spawning point at the end of wave 1. The moment they spawn, open with a Thunder Clap followed by a Shockwave. Then run to the opposite side of the room (straight line). Wait there until the mobs get close to you, then charge the monkey that spawns next to you. Use an intimidating shout to fear the monkey and some of the virmen. Then you want to run away from the feared mobs (I moved past three barricades). Then wait for the mobs to stack on you, shockwave them. (Note: if you kited right, you should be near the circle where they initially spawned from), charge the monkey that's attacking your healer at this point and keep on running to the wall. By the time the virmen catch up, the small ones have died and the large ones drop dead.

Wave 3: [npc=72339] x2, [npc=72337] x2
Make sure you stand on one of the two spawning spots and open with a Thunder Clap so you can pick up the melee add and caster that spawn on that side. Charge the melee add on the other side and bring both the melee adds to the caster on that side. Shockwave all of them, heroic leap back to the place you started wave 3. Position yourself in such a way that the two Rippers stand in the lava after they've made their way to you. Use Spell Reflect and/or Storm Bolt to mitigate damage from the casters. Other than that, rotate between Shield Block and Shield Barrier.

Wave 4: [npc=72340] [npc=71833]
Midfight spawn: [npc=71838]
This wave isn't much of a problem. Just make sure you avoid the stuns from the conquerors. The monkey will spawn near the end of the enrage on the conqueror. This will allow you to focus on dodging his stuns and staying alive, taunt the monkey when it's close to the healer and then shockwave all three adds. Depending on which mob gets dps'd after, you might take one of them into wave 5. Just keep up shield block the entire time and you should be fine.

Wave 5: [npc=72338] [npc=72336] x2
Midfight spawns: [npc=71839] x3
Make sure you end wave 4 on the circle these mobs spawn upon. Open with a Thunder Clap and, if needed, use Shockwave or Intimidating Shout. Personally I like to save these to stun the mobs inside a firepool so they stack the debuff. Other than that, pick up the monkeys and you should be fine. Keep Shield Block up and Spell Reflect/Storm Bolt the caster.

Wave 6: [npc=71833] x3
This is one of the more annoying waves for a warrior. The way I dealt with it was by opening with a Thunder Clap and Shockwave the moment they got close to the healer. Make sure you have Shield Block up before you engage them, or their initial attacks might hurt a lot. After this, just keep up Shield Block. Once your first Shockwave stun ends, drop a Mocking Banner next to Sikari. Whenever one of these mobs switches, they'll instantly come back to you. Now it's just a matter of kiting them a bit. If you keep some distance between you and Sikari, you'll have two of them on you most of the time. Keep up Shield Block. When you have two of them left, Storm Bolt one, disarm the other. At most you want to use Demoralizing Shout here. Start moving the spot where Wave 7 spawns.

Wave 7: [npc=72340] [npc=71832] x4
You want to open with a Thunder Clap to stack everything up, then instantly Shockwave. Move to the middle of the room, once the mobs are stacked up on you again, use Initmidating Shout. As soon as the fear runs out, make sure you are at a bit of a distance from the mobs, allowing you to buy some time for Shockwave to be back. Once the conqueror enrages, pop shield wall and use Vigilance on Sikari. Spam taunt the two Wind-Guards, or they might overwhelm Sikari. One of them should die shortly after this, you'll end up taking either a wind-guard or a conqueror to the next wave.

Wave 8: [npc=72338]
Midfight spawns: [npc=71838] x3, [npc=71839]
Sikari will end the conqueror rather fast. Position yourself in such a way behind a fire pool, that you can taunt monkeys that are in the middle of the room in such a way they'll stand in the fire pool once they reach you. If you fail to do so, Sikari won't have enough dps to clear everything before this wave ends and then it might get ugly in wave 9.

Wave 9: [npc=71834] x2, [npc=72337] x2, [npc=72336]
Midfight spawns: [npc=71839] x2
You want to open this fight with a Thunder Clap into a Shockwave. As soon as the Shockwave runs out, Intimidating Shout. As soon as the fear runs out, make sure you have the rage for 2x Shield Block, use Demoralizing Shout and wait for Shockwave to be ready. Once it's ready, instantly use it. Then follow it up by dropping a Mocking Banner and from this point on, just survive. Personally I used Shield Wall the moment they got out of the Shockwave. Kite them around a bit and they will die.

Wave 10: [npc=72341] [npc=72339]
Midfight spawns: [npc=71838]
Pick up the conqueror, then go for the caster. At this point wait for the first stun from the conqueror, dodge it and position yourself behind a pool, so when he comes for you he gets the debuff. Keep an eye on the caster as well. Try to keep it stunned, feared, or reflect the incoming spells. Sikari sometimes goes for the caster first, sometimes for the conqueror. When the conqueror enrages, watch your step. His stuns have a bigger radius at this point, so make sure you dodge it or it will hurt. Use Last Stand and Demoralizing Banner to live through it. When his enrage ends, the monkey will spawn. Pick up the monkey and try to debuff him as well. At this point it's just a matter of properly using Shield Block. Disarm / Storm Bolt whenever the situation looks a bit scary.

If you have any questions, just give me a whisper!
Marty-Sylvanas (Horde EU)