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Review of Mountain Thane Hero Talents - Robust Fantasy and Enhanced Tanking
Just before the holidays, Blizzard unveiled a sneak peek of the new Hero Talent Trees coming with The War Within expansion. In this blog post, our guide writer Llarold, will be giving an early review of the Mountain Thane Hero Talents for Protection Warriors.
War Within Hero Talents Overview
The Hero Talents are an exciting addition to the Talent system that allows players to explore new class fantasies with a third talent tree. The Mountain Thane Hero Talent tree aims to combine elements of Protection, Fury, and the Mountain King Hero from Warcraft 3.
The tree focuses heavily on abilities like Thunder Clap and Avatar, which were key components of the Protection Warrior playstyle in the previous expansion, Battle for Azeroth. The Mountain Thane tree offers a lot of AoE damage through procs, without adding much complexity to the rotation. Most of the talents are passive, with some that can affect the rotation in a positive way.
One thing to note is that the Mountain Thane tree leans heavily towards damage output rather than defensive benefits. While this may not be an issue for some players who prefer a more aggressive playstyle, it may not be ideal for those looking for strong defensive capabilities.
Mountain Thane Tree Breakdown
The Mountain Thane tree adds a significant amount of AoE damage through procs, without adding any new keybinds. The talents mainly focus on enhancing Thunder Clap, Shield Slam, and Avatar, allowing for harder-hitting abilities and occasional free Rage, cooldown reduction, or ability resets.
The tree's damage-oriented nature makes it a solid option for Mythic+ dungeons, where it excels in dealing with packs of enemies. However, its effectiveness in single-target encounters, such as raids, remains uncertain. It lacks direct defensive benefits, with no interaction with defensive abilities like Ignore Pain or Shield Block.
Despite the lack of direct defensive benefits, the increased Shield Slam damage and Avatar uptime provide more Rage and cooldown reduction, resulting in a more offensive-driven defense. This fits well with the Protection Warrior playstyle, where offense is the best defense.
While it's still unknown whether the Mountain Thane tree will be the best option for high-level Mythic+ content, its high damage output and potential for competitive defensive capabilities make it an attractive choice for players who enjoy a more damage-oriented tanking style.
Deep Dive into the Tree
Let's take a closer look at the talents in the Mountain Thane tree:
| Talent | Description |
| Lightning Strikes | Dealing damage with Thunder Clap, Revenge, Raging Blow, or Execute has a chance to strike enemies with a lightning bolt, dealing Nature damage. |
| Call of Thunder | Increases the damage of abilities like Stormstrike, Thunder Clap, and adds armor penetration. |
| Ground Current | Adds low amounts of Nature damage to enemies near your Lightning Strikes target. |
| Strength of the Mountain | Increases Shield Slam damage. |
| Thunder Blast | Shield Slam and Bloodthirst have a chance to grant Thunder Blast, which causes your next Thunder Clap to deal increased damage. |
| Storm Bolts | Your Storm Bolt ability hits an additional nearby target, stunning them briefly. |
| Storm Shield | Intervening a target grants them a shield that absorbs magic damage equal to three times your Armor. |
| Flashing Skies | Increases the chance and damage of critical strikes from Lightning Strikes. |
| Valarjar Training | Reduces the cooldown of Ravager whenever Lightning Strikes trigger. |
| Steadfast as the Peaks | Increases maximum health temporarily after using Victory Rush. |
| Keep Your Feet on the Ground | Reduces damage taken for a short duration after using Thunder Blast. |
| Gathering Clouds | Increases the frequency of Lightning Strikes. |
| Thorim's Might | Lightning Strikes generate Rage and increase the damage of Revenge, Raging Blow, and Execute. |
| Burst of Power | Lightning Strikes have a chance to remove the cooldown on Shield Slam or Bloodthirst. |
| Avatar of the Storm | Casting Avatar grants Thunder Blast charges and resets the cooldown of Thunder Clap. Lightning Strikes have a chance to trigger a temporary Avatar. |
The Mountain Thane tree offers a combination of damage-boosting talents, cooldown reduction, and proc-based rotational enhancements. The talents have good synergy and complement the existing playstyle of Protection Warriors.
Final Thoughts
The Mountain Thane Hero Talent tree presents an appealing option for Protection Warriors who enjoy a more damage-oriented approach to tanking. While it may not offer much in terms of group utility or direct defensive benefits, its focus on enhancing Thunder Clap and Avatar provides a thrilling gameplay experience. Players looking for a fun and aggressive playstyle will find the Mountain Thane tree to be a perfect fit.
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