Reaver

The Reaver is a defensive soul that specializes in using the powers of disease, death and decay to aide them in protecting their allies. Much like the Death Knight in WoW, the Reaver has some powerful self heals and excels at tanking multiple mobs. Most players who are creating a tanking build will want to include the Reaver, which is equally at home as a primary, secondary or tertiary soul.

Pros

• Self heal talents early in the tree
• Well equipped to handle multiple mobs
• Strong crowd control capabilities
• Damage output increases in relation to damage taken

Cons

• Weaker against single targets
• Poor mitigation abilities
• Higher ramp-up time for damage than other tanks

Overview

The Reaver is one of the four defensive minded souls for the Warrior calling and has many of the best talents for tanking multiple mobs. Having a spec with the Reaver as the secondary soul is optimal for tanking many of the small group dungeons with a heavy AoE group as threat on multiple mobs is increased.

Solo Play

With the ability to have multiple soul sets, most players won’t rely on a defensive soul as the focal point of a soloing build. The Reaver does have some nice abilities as a secondary soul especially when one starts to venture into some of the more densely populated areas of the game where adds become a concern.

Group Play

Reaver abilities are well suited for group play as most tanks will want to spend at least a few points in the tree. Adding a strong Reaver to a group adds an extra dimension of crowd control in the form of a fear. Reavers are also excellent off-tanks who possess a nice slowing ability for kiting mobs. Enraged Essence gives Reavers the ability to increase their party’s damage by 5% periodically.

Pairs Best With

Paladin

The Reaver is a cant miss soul for both of the other defensive specialists in the calling, as well as with the Warlord in certain situations. Pairing it with a Paladin will greatly increase deficiencies in mitigation and single target threat as well as finding immediate gains in armor and block values with Defender and Stalwart Shield respectively.

Void Knight

The Void Knight is an excellent choice for a tertiary soul of a Reaver, adding heavy resistance against magic dealing foes. Reavers who are slated to be their raids permanent AoE and off tanks, or if most of their fighting is done in rift encounters,  may even bump this up to a secondary soul.  Insatiable Hunger grants a fairly consistent mana drain ability with only 5 points spent.