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| [Classes] Arms Warrior Guide Welcome fellow Warriors. I could not find an up to date and in-depth Arms Warrior guide on these forums and I know most of us cannot get to regular WOW sites at work. So I put together with the help of a few websites an in-depth Arms Warrior Guide for you to enjoy at work. If I missed anything or have made any errors please let me know and I will update this for us.
Chapter 1: Viable talent and glyph choices for your Arms Warrior
1.1. Talent Choices
1.2. Tier 1 Talents
1.3. Tier 2 Talents
1.4. Tier 3 Talents
1.5. Tier 4 Talents
1.6. Tier 5 Talents
1.7. Tier 6 Talents
1.8. Major Glyphs
1.9. Minor Glyphs
chapter 2: Arms Warrior core abilities and how they should be used together (Rotation). As well as when to use your cooldowns
2.1. Single Target Rotation
2.2. Multiple Target Rotation
2.3. Cooldown Usage
2.4. Stance
2.5. Mastering Your Arms Warrior
2.5.1. Rage Generation
2.5.2. Key Concepts
2.5.2.1. Deep Wounds
2.5.2.2. Enrage
2.5.2.3. Colossus Smash
2.5.2.4. Overpower
2.5.2.5. Sunder Armor
2.5.3. Detailed Cooldown Usage
2.5.3.1. Recklessness
2.5.3.2. War Banners
2.5.3.3. Berserker Rage
2.5.3.4. Shattering Throw
2.5.3.5. Deadly Calm
2.5.3.6. Tier 4 Talents
2.5.3.7. Tier 6 Talents
Chapter 3: A list of the Buffs, Debuffs and useful abilities that an Arms Warrior brings to a raid.
3.1 Buffs
3.2 Debuffs
3.3 Utility
3.4 Crowd Control
3.5 Survival
Chapter 4: Best statistics for an Arms Warrior, Reforging strategy, Varriors Caps and why they should be attained.
4.1. Basics
4.2. Getting a Better Understanding
4.2.1. Hit Cap
4.2.2. Expertise Cap
Chapter 5: Gems, Enchants, Consumabls (food, flasks, potions)
5.1. Gems
5.2. Enchants
5.3. Consumables
5.3.1. Food
5.3.2. Flask
5.3.3. Potion
5.4. Summing-up Profession Perks
Chapter 6: Macros and Addons
6.1.1. Generic Macros for Warriors
6.1.1.1. Bladestorm Cancelaura Macro
6.2. Addons
6.2.1. Generic Addons for Warriors
6.2.1.1. ElvUI
6.2.1.2. Boss Mods: Deadly Boss Mods or Bigwigs
6.2.1.3. Parrot or Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
6.2.1.4. Weak Auras
6.2.1.5. Recount
6.2.1.6. Omen Threat Meter
1. The folloing presents you the viable talent and glyph choices for your Arms Warrior. Detail what each of the talents and glyphs do and in which situations they should be taken.
1.1. Talent Choices
Level Choices
15 Juggernaut
Double Time
Warbringer
30 Enraged Regeneration
Second Wind
Impending Victory
45 Staggering Shout
Piercing Howl
Disrupting Shout
60 Bladestorm
Shockwave
Dragon Roar
75 Mass Spell Reflection
Safeguard
Vigilance
90 Avatar
Bloodbath
Storm Bolt
• Performance-enhancing
• Survival
• Crowd Control
• Movement
• Utility
• Situational
There is no longer such a thing as a default build. Most of the talents are now viable. They can easily be changed, thanks to Dust of Disappearance(and Tomes of the Clear Mind from level 86 to 90). You will frequently find yourself changing talents and glyphs between encounters, in order to adapt your play style to different mechanics. Therefore, it is important to understand what each of your talents does and how they affect your play style.
1.2. Tier 1 Talents
Tier 1 talents offer you a choice between 3 improvements to your Charge.
• Juggernaut reduces the cooldown of Charge by 8 seconds (down to 12 seconds).
• Double Time removes Charge's cooldown, instead making it operate on a charge system. You can have a maximum of two charges. Each charge has a 20 second recharge time. Note that, in this system, Charge only generates rage every 12 seconds, so you cannot use two Charges in a row to get a burst of rage.
• Warbringer causes Charge to stun the target for 3 seconds.
Currently, your choice of talents in this tier will be based on the encounter mechanics, and you should adapt your talents accordingly.
Juggernaut is great if you can make use of the lowered cooldown to handle certain encounter mechanics better.
Double Time is better if you need to Charge more often than every 12 seconds.
Warbringer will be the ideal choice when you need to stun adds, although we do not see this as being used very often.
1.3. Tier 2 Talents
Tier 2 talents offer a choice between 3 self-healing talents.
• Enraged Regeneration instantly heals you for 10% of your maximum health, and also heals you for another 10% of your maximum health over the next 5 seconds. It costs 60 rage and has a 1-minute cooldown, but its rage cost is removed if you use it while enraged.
• Second Wind causes you to heal yourself passively for 3% of your maximum health every second, while you are below 35% health. Also, each time you are the victim of a stun or immobilize effect, you regenerate 20 rage over 10 seconds.
• Impending Victory is an improved version of Victory Rush, which it replaces. Impending Victory has a 30-second cooldown and costs 10 rage. It heals you for 10% of your maximum health, and does a bit of damage to the target. After killing an enemy that yields experience or honor, Impeding Victory acts just like Victory Rush: its cooldown is reset and it heals for 20% of your maximum health.
We believe that Impending Victory will be the best choice in the majority of situations, because of the fact that it can be used precisely when needed, with a very small resource cost.
If you are in need for a larger heal (20% of your maximum health, as opposed to the 10% that Victory Rush provides), then Enraged Regeneration will be better. Keep in mind, however, that its higher cooldown (1 minute, so twice that of Impending Victory) will make it more likely that the ability is unavailable when you desperately need a heal.
Finally, Second Wind is nice if you are lingering below 35% health for extended periods of time. Since we do not see this situation as happening very often, we do not believe that Second Wind will be very beneficial.
1.4. Tier 3 Talents
Tier 3 talents offer a choice between 3 crowd-control talents.
• Staggering Shout causes all snared enemies within 20 yards to become rooted for 5 seconds. It has a 40-second cooldown.
• Piercing Howl snares all enemies within 15 yards, slowing them by 50% for 15 seconds. It has no cooldown.
• Disrupting Shout interrupts all spellcasting within 10 yards, and locks out interrupted players for 4 seconds. It has a 40-second cooldown.
None of these talents are particularly useful in PvE. Choosing one over the others will be based on the kiting method which you may have to employ in the encounter, or on the need to have an AoE interrupt.
1.5. Tier 4 Talents
Tier 4 offers a choice between 3 important, damage-dealing abilities.
• Bladestorm deals damage to all enemies within 8 yards for 6 seconds. While Bladestorm is active, you cannot perform any actions except for using your shouts. You are, however, immune to movement-impairing and loss of control effects, and you continue to dodge, parry and block attacks. Bladestorm can be stopped prematurely by being disarmed. It has a 1 minute and 30-second cooldown.
• Shockwave deals damage to and stuns all enemies in a 10-yard cone in front of you for 4 seconds. It has a 20-second cooldown.
• Dragon Roar deals damage to all enemies within 8 yards, knocking them back and stunning them for 3 seconds. It ignores armor and it is always a critical strike. It has a 1-minute cooldown.
The damage values of these abilities are being constantly re-balanced, so it is difficult to make an evaluation of which one is best.
Dragon Roar deals the most damage, and is the preferable choice if you do not have other constraints in mind.
Shockwave deals comparable damage to Dragon Roar, but due to its lower cooldown, you will waste many more global cooldowns casting this ability. It is, however, excellent if you wish to stun the target(s) you are attacking (which will temporarily stop their damage output).
Bladestorm is ideal for moments when you want to avoid being the victim of movement-impairing effects or effects that cause loss of control of your character.
1.6. Tier 5 Talents
Tier 5 talents offer a choice between 3 abilities that help you protect raid members.
• Mass Spell Reflection reflects the next spell cast on you and on all party and raid members within 20 yards for 5 seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown and, unlike its single-target counter-part (Spell Reflection), it does not require that you have a shield equipped.
• Safeguard is an improvement over Intervene, which it replaces. It allows you to intercept the next melee or ranged attack (not spells) made against the targeted raid member (the attack is done to you instead), and it reduces the damage they take by 20% for 6 seconds. In the process of doing so, you charge the targeted raid member, also removing any movement-impairing effects that may have been on you. Safeguard has a 30-second cooldown.
• Vigilance allows you to transfer 30% of the damage taken by the targeted raid member to yourself, for 12 seconds. While Vigilance is active, your Taunt has no cooldown. Vigilance has a 2-minute cooldown.
The choice here depends heavily on what the encounter mechanics are.
Mass Spell Reflection is useful in the event that there are important spells that can be reflected. Since most boss abilities are not reflectable (and those that are generally do not pose problems), we do not see this talent being used very much.
Vigilance is useful if one or both of its benefits can come in handy to you. Do note that you must keep your own survivability in mind when you cast Vigilance on someone to reduce the damage they take (since the damage is transfered to you).
Safeguard is useful if you wish to provide someone with a 20% damage reduction, but you must remember that it will also cause the first attack made against them to be made against you, instead.
1.7. Tier 6 Talents
Tier 6 talents provide you with a choice between 3 powerful, gameplay-altering abilities.
• Avatar is a DPS cooldown that increases your damage done by 20% for 24 seconds. It also removes movement-impairing effects when activated. It has a 3-minute cooldown.
• Bloodbath is a DPS cooldown that causes all your special attacks to place a bleed on the target, equal to 30% of the damage of the respective special attack. The ability lasts for 12 seconds, and the bleed lasts for 6 seconds. Each new special ability cast while Bloodbath is active will refresh the bleed duration, and update its damage. Bloodbath has a 1-minute cooldown.
• Storm Bolt is a 3-second single-target stun, that also deals a moderate amount of damage to the target. If the target cannot be stunned (as is the case with raid bosses), the damage it deals is much increased. It has a 30-second cooldown.
All three talents in this tier are extremely well balanced in terms of their DPS contribution. The differences in DPS that they offer are so small that you can pick the talent you prefer without seeing any real difference.
That said, for those who wish to gain every possible advantage, we will point out that simulations currently place Bloodbath slightly above the other two talents, with Storm Bolt next, and Avatar last.
1.8. Major Glyphs
As an Arms Warrior, Major Glyphs do not provide you with any reliable and straightforward DPS increases. There are a number of glyphs that may increase your DPS in some situations.
• Glyph of Unending Rage increases your rage pool by 20, giving you a maximum rage amount of 120. This glyph will probably be beneficial in every possible scenario, making it much easier for you to manage your rage. Additionally, it allows you to pool up rage (even if only slightly), which you can then use in a time of need.
• Glyph of Recklessness increases the duration of Recklessness by 50%, but reduces the benefit of the spell by 20% (that is to say, Recklessness will provide you with 30% increased critical strike chance, instead of 50%). The glyph is not a DPS increase on its own. However, in some situations, it can prove beneficial, for example when you want to benefit from increased DPS for a longer period of time.
• Glyph of Rude Interruption causes your successful Pummel interrupts to increase your damage by 6% for 20 seconds. If you are part of your raid's interrupt rotation, or if you can otherwise interrupt mobs during the encounter, this glyph will be excellent.
• Glyph of Death From Above improves Heroic Leap by reducing its cooldown and improving its damage. If you have a chance to make use of Heroic Leap during the encounter (either for mobility or for damage), then this glyph is a solid option.
• Glyph of Bull Rush increases the amount of rage generated by your Charge by 15.
There are also other Major Glyphs that improve your utility, survivability or AoE damage potential.
• Glyph of Colossus Smash causes Colossus Smash to apply a stack of Sunder Armor to the target.
• Glyph of Mortal Strike increases the healing you receive by 10% for 10 seconds after using Mortal Strike.
• Glyph of Enraged Speed increases your movement speed by 20% while you are enraged.
• Glyph of Whirlwind increases the radius of Whirlwind by 4 yards.
• Glyph of Overpower increases the damage of the next Overpowera after using Cleave by 20%.
1.9. Minor Glyphs
Minor Glyphs do not provide you with any DPS increase. Many of them offer cosmetic improvements that you will probably want to check out. Two glyphs, however, are worth mentioning.
• Glyph of Bloody Healing increases the amount of healing you receive from bandages by 20%, while you have Deep Wounds (passively applied as part of your normal rotation) up on at least one target. Since bandages are seldom used, its benefit will probably be very minor.
• Glyph of Intimidating Shout changes your Intimidating Shoutto no longer cause the enemies to run around in fear. Instead, they will simply stand still for the duration of the fear. This is very useful when you wish to avoid the feared mobs aggroing other packs.
2. The following lists your Arms Warrior core abilities and how they should be used together (rotation). Also explained when to use your various cooldowns. Then, we go deeper and present all the subtleties that playing an Arms Warrior will face you with.
2.1. Single Target Rotation
1. Use Mortal Strike on cooldown (unless you are at full rage, in which case you can delay it for one global cooldown).
2. Use Colossus Smash and fit damaging abilities in the 6 seconds window
o your melee hits have a 20% chance of resetting the cooldown of Colossus Smash.
3. Use Execute
o Only available when the target is below 20% health.
4. Use Overpower often enough so that none of its uses are wasted. Overpower is made available in the following ways
o When the the target dodges one of your attacks.
o Each time you use Mortal Strike.
o Thanks to Taste for Blood, each Overpower had a 30% chance of triggering another Overpower.
5. Use Heroic Strike
o when you have stacks of Taste for Blood;
o when you are unable to avoid being at maximum rage (using Slamas your main rage-dump is crucial; only use Heroic Strike when you cannot dump rage fast enough with Slam).
6. Use Slam as a filler or to dump rage.
o Only use it when the target is above 20% health. Otherwise, use Execute
7. Use Battle Shout or Commanding Shout (depending on which of the two you have chosen to provide for your raid) in order to generate rage when nothing else is available.
Berserker Rage plays a crucial part in your DPS performance. We treat this ability as a cooldown, so you will find it in the cooldown sections.
Note that it is important to understand several key concepts of the rotation in order to be able to execute it comfortably.
2.2. Multiple Target Rotation
When facing two enemies, you should keep up Sweeping Strikes and execute a single target rotation. You should cast Mortal Strike alternatively on both targets, to maintain Deep Wounds on both of them.
When facing three enemies, you should:
1. Spread Deep Wounds to all targets through Thunder Clap(thanks to Blood and Thunder).
2. Keep up Sweeping Strikes.
3. Use your tier 4 talent of choice on cooldown.
4. Execute a normal rotation on one of the targets, replacing Heroic Strike with Cleave.
When facing four or more enemies, you should:
1. Spread Deep Wounds to all targets through Thunder Clap(thanks to Blood and Thunder).
2. Use your tier 4 talent of choice on cooldown.
3. Use Whirlwind whenever your rage allows. In the meanwhile, use Mortal Strike, Colossus Smash and Overpower.
2.3. Cooldown Usage
As an Arms Warrior, you have several DPS cooldowns. Additionally, you can obtain two more DPS cooldowns from your talents of choice.
• Berserker Rage should be used to help with your Enrage uptime. This is more subtle, and we tackle it in depth in a later section.
• Recklessness should be used as many times as possible throughout the encounter. It is ideal to stack it with other cooldowns.
• Skull Banner should be used as many times as possible throughout the fight, but keep in mind that the rest of your raid should benefit from this as well.
• Shattering Throw is essentially a raid cooldown, so keep in mind that the rest of your raid should benefit from it as well.
• Deadly Calm should be used as many times as possible throughout the encounter (basically on cooldown). Ideally, though, you should time Deadly Calm in such a way that you use it while you have stacks of Taste for Blood, or while you need to dump rage with Heroic Strike.
2.4. Stance
Battle Stance grants you a lot of rage with each melee attack you make, but grants you no rage from damage taken.
Berserker Stance grants you half the rage that Battle Stance does, from your melee attacks, but also grants you rage from damage taken.
Other than this, there is no difference between the stances, and your abilities are not conditioned at all by your current stance. Therefore, use Berserker Stance when there is high raid damage, and Battle Stance otherwise.
2.5. Mastering Your Arms Warrior
The guidelines given above will enable you to play your Arms Warrior with good results. If you want to push things further and master your character, then we advise you to continue reading.
2.5.1. Rage Generation
By default, your rage is generated from two sources:
• Dealing damage with auto attacks.
• Using special abilities that generate rage (Charge, Mortal Strike, etc.).
Exceptionally, if you are in Berserker Stance, you also generate rage from damage taken.
Your rage is mostly used by abilities in your rotation, although some utility spells also cost rage.
2.5.2. Key Concepts
2.5.2.1. Deep Wounds
Deep Wounds is a passively applied bleed effect. Even though you will often see this mentioned in tooltips, you do not need to concern yourself with it. Simply assume that you will always have it active (if you are following our recommended rotation).
2.5.2.2. Enrage
Each time you critically strike with Mortal Strike and Colossus Smash, you become enraged, dealing 10% increased physical damage for 6 seconds. This will happen passively, so you do not need to concern yourself with it. Being enraged is a pre-requisite for certain abilities (Enraged Regeneration is free of cost, for example, if you are enraged), so it is advisable to have a way of monitoring this buff.
2.5.2.3. Colossus Smash
Colossus Smash should be used, primarily, for the debuff which it applies, and not for its damage. In the 6 seconds after using Colossus Smash, all of your abilities deal significantly more damage.
You should also keep in mind that your Sudden Death passive ability provides you with a 20% chance to reset the cooldown on your Colossus Smash each time you perform an attack. Because this effect does not have an internal cooldown, you should use Colossus Smash as soon as possible, when it becomes available, to avoid wasting Sudden Death procs.
Finally, you should always wait for the 6-second debuff to wear off before using Colossus Smash again (assuming its cooldown was reset shortly after using it), so that the debuffs applied by your subsequent Colossus Smashes do not overlap.
Therefore, you should use Colossus Smash following these guidelines:
• Use as many abilities as possible in the time that the debuff is active.
• Do not use Colossus Smash while the debuff from the previous Colossus Smash is still active.
• Use Colossus Smash as soon as it is available (provided that the debuff from the previous one has worn off). You can delay it for a few seconds so that abilities like Mortal Strike come off cooldown or until you have a lot of rage.
2.5.2.4. Overpower
Your Overpower ability is normally only usable after one of your attacks is dodged. Thanks to the Taste for Blood passive ability, each Mortal Strike enables the use of Overpower once (the effect wears off if Overpower is not used within 10 seconds).
Moreover, also thanks to Taste for Blood, each time you use Overpower, you have a 30% chance to make Overpower available for 10 seconds. These Overpowers can also proc the effect, so you can, in theory, be allowed to cast back-to-back Overpowers for a long time.
Finally, Taste for Blood has a secondary effect. Each time an Overpower procs another Overpower, you gain a stack of a stacking buff, lasting 15 seconds. Each stack increases the damage of your next Heroic Strike or Cleave by 100%. Making use of these stacks can have a tremendous impact on your DPS.
2.5.2.5. Sunder Armor
If no one else in your raid is providing the Sunder Armor debuff, then you should do so yourself. All you need to do is apply it at the start of the fight, after which Colossus Smash should always refresh it (thanks to Glyph of Colossus Smash). If there is a Feral or Guardian Druid, or a Protection Warrior, then the uptime of the debuff is practically guaranteed.
2.5.3. Detailed Cooldown Usage
2.5.3.1. Recklessness
There is no great subtlety to using Recklessness. Simply make sure to use it as many times as possible during the encounter, and try to stack it with as many other cooldowns as possible (especially with Skull Banner and Heroism/ Bloodlust/ Time Warp).
2.5.3.2. War Banners
Skull Banner is by far the most important of your banners. While we advise to always use it together with Recklessness (and Avatar, should you chose that talent), you must keep in mind that it is an extremely powerful raid buff. As such, if there is a time when your raid would benefit more from using the cooldown, than you would by stacking it with your other cooldowns, you should put the raid's best interests first.
Demoralizing Banner is also a raid cooldown of sorts, although it is a fairly weak one. You should coordinate with your raid leader, or at least with your tanks, in order to figure out the best time to use it.
Mocking Banner is mostly useless in PvE raids, but it could have some merit against adds.
2.5.3.3. Berserker Rage
Berserker Rage is a very powerful DPS cooldown, especially so when you consider that it only has a 30-second cooldown. Berserker Rage must be considered together with Enrage.
Their effects do not stack, so using Berserker Rage while Enrage is active is a waste. As such, you should keep in mind that Enrage will proc off Mortal Strike and Colossus Smash critical strikes, and adjust your Berserker Rage usage accordingly:
• Always make sure that you are enraged while under the effects of Colossus Smash (6-second debuff). If the Colossus Smash itself did not proc an enrage, then you will be presented with the following two posibilities:
o The Mortal Strike which you used before Colossus Smash did not proc Enrage, in which case you should use Berserker Rage immediately after Colossus Smash.
o The Mortal Strike which you used before Colossus Smash procced an Enrage, in which case you should use Berserker Rage as soon as this Enrage expires.
• Try to maximise the optime of your enrage state. The safest way of making sure that your enrages do not stack is to always wait until after a Mortal Strike- Colossus Smash sequence, and if neither resulted in an Enrage proc, using Berserker Rage.
2.5.3.4. Shattering Throw
Shattering Throw is a raid cooldown above all else. As such, you should always prioritise your raid's best interests when determining the time to use this ability. We advise that you consult with your raid leader, as well as with other Warriors.
2.5.3.5. Deadly Calm
Deadly Calm should be used as many times as possible during an encounter. As we mentioned earlier, it is best to use it when you have stacks of Taste for Blood, or when you need to dump rage with Heroic Strike. Additionally, it is useful for reducing the cost of Cleave, so you can use it during periods when you need to AoE.
2.5.3.6. Tier 4 Talents
Shockwave and Dragon Roar are both valuable when used against a single target, despite the fact that they are designed with multiple targets in mind. As such, no matter what you choose, you should incorporate it into your rotation by using it on cooldown.
Bladestorm is a slight DPS loss against a single target. As such, though, it should only be taken and used when you can benefit from one of its other effects.
Consider the multiple target properties of these abilities, and if there is a situation that is suited for them, try to save them for that time. For example, if a pack of adds is just about to spawn, it is fine to delay your ability slightly so as to make better use of it (or to make use of it at all, in the case of Bladestorm).
2.5.3.7. Tier 6 Talents
Avatar should be stacked with Recklessness and Skull Banner at all times. Additionally, you should try to make sure that you use Berserker Rage while Avatar is active.
Bloodbath should be used on cooldown.
Storm Bolt should be used on cooldown. Due to its short cooldown, it will essentially become part of your rotation.
3. The following is a list of the buffs, debuffs and useful abilities that an Arms Warrior brings to a raid .Also list equivalent buffs and debuffs that other classes provide.
3.1 Buffs
Battle Shout
Increases the Attack Power of all party and raid members by 10% — does not stack with Horn of Winter and Trueshot Aura
Commanding Shout
Increases the Stamina of all party and raid members by 10% — does not stack with Qiraji Fortitude, Power Word: Fortitude, and Blood Pact
Skull Banner
Raid-wide buff that increases the critical strike damage of all raid members by 20% for 10 seconds
Rallying Cry
Raid-wide buff that increases maximum health of all raid members by 20% for 10 seconds
3.2 Debuffs
Demoralizing Banner
Reduces physical damage done by all enemies within 30 yards by 10% for 15 seconds
Thunder Clap
-10% Physical Damage dealt — does not stack with Scarlet Fever, Thrash/ Thrash, Demoralizing Roar, Demoralizing Screech, Keg Smash, Hammer of the Righteous, Earth Shock, and Curse of Enfeeblement
Colossus Smash
+4% Physical Damage taken — does not stack with Brittle Bones, Ebon Plaguebringer, Gore, Acid Spit, Ravage, Stampede, and Judgments of the Bold
Sunder Armor
-12% Armor — does not stack with Faerie Fire, Dust Cloud, Tear Armor, Expose Armor, and Devastate
Shattering Throw
Reduces the armor of the target by 20% for 10 seconds. Stacks with Sunder Armor
Mortal Strike
Healing received reduction — does not stack with Monstrous Bite, Widow Venom, Rising Sun Kick, Wound Poison, and Wild Strike
3.3 Utility
Taunt
Single-target taunt
Heroic Leap
Leap to a target location, dealing damage on landing
Disarm
10-second disarm
Pummel
Single-target interrupt
3.4 Crowd Control
Charge
Single-target stun, lasts 1 second and generates 20 Rage
3.5 Survival
Intervene
Intercept the next attack made against the target
Shield Wall
40% damage reduction from all sources
4. The following explains what the best statistics are for Arms Warriors , how the class benefits from each of them, and what your reforging strategy should be. We also detail what the various caps are and why they should be attained. The statistics priority is important as it influences reforging strategies as well as itemisation choices (gear, enchants, and gems).
4.1. Basics
The stat priority for an Arms Warrior is:
1. Hit Rating (until 7.5%);
2. Expertise Rating (until 7.5%);
3. Strength;
4. Critical Strike Rating;
5. Mastery Rating;
6. Haste Rating.
These statistics have been obtained by combining common sense, in-game testing, and simulations using Simulation Craft.
If you are unsure what the optimal reforging strategy is for the above priority, you can Ask Mr. Robot for a personalised optimisation of your character's gear.
4.2. Getting a Better Understanding
Hit Rating decreases the chance that your melee attacks will miss their target (7.5% against a raid boss). Therefore, your goal is to reach the 7.5% hit cap (see section below), which will ensure that your attacks never miss.
Expertise Rating decreases the chance that your melee attacks will be dodged (7.5% against a raid boss). Therefore, your goal is to reach the 7.5% expertise cap (see section below), which will ensure that your attacks are never dodged. Note that you should always be attacking bosses from behind, which prevents them from parrying your attacks. Therefore, it is usually unnecessary (unless the boss cannot be attacked from behind) to decrease the chance that your attacks will be parried (something that you can do by stacking Expertise Rating after reaching the 7.5% cap).
Strength is your primary statistic. You should look for it in all of your upgrades. It provides you with Attack Power, which determines the damage your abilities do.
Critical Strike Rating is particularly beneficial thanks to the fact that critical strikes with Mortal Strike and Colossus Smash trigger Enrage.
Mastery Rating, through, Mastery: Strikes of Opportunity, gives your melee attacks a chance to trigger an additional melee attack which hits for 55% weapon damage.
Haste Rating increases your attack speed.
4.2.1. Hit Cap
At level 90, most races require 2,550 Hit Rating to reach the melee hit cap. Draenei, thanks to Heroic Presence, only need2,210 Hit Rating.
4.2.2. Expertise Cap
At level 90, most races require 2,550 Expertise Rating to reach the expertise cap. Some races, in some cases, only need 2,210 Expertise Rating, thanks to passive racial skills:
• Dwarves when using a Mace (Mace Specialization);
• Humans when using a Mace/Sword (Mace Specialization and Sword Specialization);
• Orcs when using an Axe (Axe Specialization).
5. Arms Warrior DPS Gems, Enchants, and Consumables. The following presents you with the best gems and enchants that you can get for an Arms Warrior, including profession-specific perks. Also listed is the best consumables: food, flasks, and potions.
5.1. Gems
Sockets Gems
Reverberating Primal Diamond
• Having issues reaching the expertise cap?
o → Precise Primordial Ruby/ Perfect Precise Pandarian Garnet, Precise Pandarian Garnet (cheaper), or Precise Serpent's Eye (JC)
• Otherwise
o → Inscribed Vermilion Onyx/ Perfect Inscribed Tiger Opal or Inscribed Tiger Opal (cheaper)
Smooth Sun's Radiance/ Perfect Smooth Sunstone, Smooth Sunstone (cheaper), or Smooth Serpent's Eye (JC)
• Having issues reaching the hit cap?
o → Rigid River's Heart/ Perfect Rigid Lapis Lazuli, Rigid Lapis Lazuli (cheaper), or Rigid Serpent's Eye (JC)
• Otherwise
o → Piercing Wild Jade/ Perfect Piercing Alexandrite or Piercing Alexandrite (cheaper)
If you are still unsure what the optimal gemming strategy is for your character, you can Ask Mr. Robot for a personalised optimisation of your character's gear.
5.2. Enchants
Slot Main Enchantments Extra Enchantments
Shoulders • Greater Tiger Fang Inscription
• Tiger Fang Inscription (cheaper)
• Secret Tiger Fang Inscription (Inscription)
Back • Enchant Cloak - Superior Critical Strike
• Swordguard Embroidery (Tailoring)
Chest Enchant Chest - Glorious Stats
Wrists • Enchant Bracer - Exceptional Strength
• Enchant Bracer - Mastery (cheaper)
• Fur Lining - Strength (Leatherworking)
Socket Bracer (Blacksmithing)
Hands Enchant Gloves - Super Strength
• Synapse Springs (Engineering)
• Socket Gloves (Blacksmithing)
Waist Living Steel Belt Buckle
Legs • Angerhide Leg Armor
• Draconic Leg Reinforcements (Leatherworking)
Feet • Enchant Boots - Pandaren's Step
• Enchant Boots - Greater Haste (cheaper)
• Enchant Boots - Greater Precision (for hit cap)
Weapon • Enchant Weapon - Dancing Steel
• Enchant Weapon - Elemental Force (cheaper)
• Enchant Weapon - Windsong (cheaper)
Note that Extra Enchantments can be applied to an item in addition to a Main Enchantment.
5.3. Consumables
5.3.1. Food
You should always eat food that gives you Strength. You will be granted:
• 300 Strength by Black Pepper Ribs and Shrimp;
• 275 Strength by Eternal Blossom Fish, Banquet of the Grill, or Great Banquet of the Grill;
• 250 Strength by Charbroiled Tiger Steak or any of other banquets.
5.3.2. Flask
Your flask should be a Flask of Winter's Bite.
5.3.3. Potion
During the encounter, your best choice for a potion will be Potion of Mogu Power.
5.4. Summing-up Profession Perks
Choosing a profession for your Arms Warrior can impact your raid performance. As a rule, you should shy away from gathering professions (with the exception of Herbalism), which leaves the following viable professions for raiding:
Profession Perks
Tailoring Provides +1000 Attack Power in average through Swordguard Embroidery, instead of +180 Critical Strike from Enchant Cloak - Superior Critical Strike and +180 Hit from Enchant Cloak - Accuracy.
Blacksmithing Provides a 640 Critical Strike gain through two extra sockets, Socket Bracer and Socket Gloves, in which you can fit 2 Smooth Sun's Radiance.
Jewelcrafting Provides a 320 Critical Strike Rating gain through the ability to use 2 Smooth Serpent's Eye
Alchemy Provides an 320 Strength gain to your flask through Mixology.
Enchanting Provides a 320 Strength gain through Enchant Ring - Greater Strength.
Engineering Provides a 320 Strength gain in average through Synapse Springs.
Inscription Provides a 320 Strength gain through Secret Tiger Fang Inscription.
Leatherworking Provides an 330 Strength gain through Fur Lining - Strength. Also provides Draconic Leg Reinforcements, a much cheaper equivalent to Angerhide Leg Armor, the traditional leg enchant.
Herbalism Provides a 480 Haste Rating gain in average through Lifeblood.
You will generally prefer a passive Strength bonus over any of the temporary gains. Indeed, Lifeblood provides Haste Rating, which, as an Arms Warrior, is much less valuable than any Strength or Attack Power bonus. Synapse Springs is good, but if you already have an on-use trinket, the two effects cannot be used simultaneously and you will prefer that of your trinket, which is, most likely, a lot more powerful than that of Synapse Springs.
6. Macros/Addons
6.1.1. Generic Macros for Warriors
6.1.1.1. Bladestorm Cancelaura Macro
• #showtooltip Bladestorm
• /cast Bladestorm
• /cancelaura Bladestorm
This macro allows you to easily cancel your Bladestorm before its 6 second duration expires. This is sometimes necessary, because while Bladestorm is active you cannot cast any of your other abilities. It is especially useful if you begin Bladestorming when there are multiple enemies alive who then die very quickly.
6.2. Addons
6.2.1. Generic Addons for Warriors
6.2.1.1. ElvUI
I useElvUIfor all my characters. This addon is a complete replacement of the default User Interface. It comes with almost everything you need to perform properly: action bars, cooldown timers, proc display, etc.
I strongly recommend you to get this addon.
6.2.1.2. Boss Mods: Deadly Boss Mods or Bigwigs
Boss mods are addons that warn you about boss abilities and give you live advice on how to handle some mechanics. We strongly recommend you to get one such addon. At Icy Veins, we mostly useDeadly Boss Mods, the most popular boss mod. A good alternative isBig Wigs.
6.2.1.3. Parrot or Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
Parrot andMik's Scrolling Battle Text are highly customisable addons for displaying floating battle text while in combat (incoming heals, damage of your spells, etc.). They both work very well by default.
6.2.1.4. Weak Auras
WeakAuras is an extremely useful addon that allows you to have visual effects on your screen, helping you track your buffs, debuffs and cooldowns. It is highly customisable and it can make it much, much easier to keep track of your procs and play your spec more proficiently. It can also be used for a variety of other functions.
6.2.1.5. Recount
Recount is a well known addon that most people use for displaying current DPS or HPS (Healing Per Second). We advise you to also use it for checking what you take damage from and if the share of damage/healing you do with each of your abilities is similar to that of other players of your class.
6.2.1.6. Omen Threat Meter
Omen Threat Meteris the most popular addon for displaying the current threat levels on your target. We recommend you to use it to avoid taking aggro when the tank is still building up threat on an enemy. | |
1 edit | This part is for Raid leaders/raiders.
There are problems with DPS warriors, but the problems aren't the kind that lead to low numbers. The problems are more esoteric. Again, before players of other classes come along and say "What problem? Execute hits like a truck" that is, in fact, the problem. Execute hits like a truck, all right. In fact, Execute hits like a truck full of angry bees that have just seen you crossing the street in your Winnie the Pooh costume. The problem is just how much of a DPS warrior's damage comes from Execute. It can be up to 25% of a warrior's damage, which considering it's only applicable during the last 20% of a boss fight, means that DPS warriors underperform during the learning portion of a fight, and overperform in the part of the boss fight that's at 20% or below. (Thanks to Matthew Rossi over at WoW.Joystiq.com for pointing this out)
So please if you have a warrior join your progression group do not just remove him because of low dps on wipes his main power does not come into play until the last 20% of the fight. | |
| RESERVED FOR UPDATES | |
 Venom1
join:2011-10-21
Augusta, GA | reply to Baddiablo01
sweet, tks. | | |
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