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Warrior Reference Guide - US
Credits: Written by Kyne,
with many contributions and and editing
The European Guide can be
found here:
http://www.worldofwarcraftgolds.net/world-of-warcraft-gold-21.htm
Notes from the Author
This guide was designed in order for Warriors to have a reference tool for all
information relating to Warrior builds, talent information, and strategies.
This is an imperfect guide because the game is constantly changing, and as
such I will update the guide as new content is released. I welcome any and all
suggestions and would like to open this up as a center for discussion about
Warrior Talent builds, equipment suggestions for them, and insight from the
community. Below are some helpful links that deserve attention:
An amazing how-to Warrior Macro guide written by Landrain:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-warrior&t=74295&p=1&tmp=1#post74295
Contains useful addons for Stance Switching and Weapon Swapping in
combat:
http://capnbry.net/wow/
A good strategy guide, with an excellent class-by-class PvP analysis
written by Ciel:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-warrior&t=151738&p=1&tmp=1#post151738
Talent Calculators, brought to you by IGN.com:
http://wowvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Talents.View&category_select_id=5
Where to download CosmosUI interface for your version of World of
Warcraft:
http://www.cosmosui.org
World of Warcraft information centers for your item and questing
inquiries:
http://www.thottbot.com
http://wow.allakhazam.com/
An EverQuest based Warrior forum with a frequented World of Warcraft
section:
http://www.thesteelwarrior.org
Table of Contents:
1. Rage Generation
2. Stances
3. Talents
4. Warriors in the Field
5. FAQ
1. Rage Generation
Rage is the bread and butter of the Warrior class. It is your pool from which
you draw points to activate all of your skills, second only in importance to
your Hit Points (without which you would be dead). Warriors live and die by
spending their Rage Points so naturally there are a few things to consider
about Rage generation. A Warrior will have zero Rage Points in a completely
neutral state. When you attack an enemy you accumulate rage, and how much rage
generated is determined by the amount of damage dealt. Now, you will also
accumulate Rage when your attacks are parried, dodged, or blocked. Critical
Hits will also deliver additional rage on top of that as well. As a rule of
thumb, two-handed weapons will deliver you the greatest amount of rage per
swing. However, this is not to say that you can't also generate rage quickly
while hitting rapidly with a one-handed weapon or dual wielding one-handed
weapons. There are alternatives. Alchemists have the ability to craft potions
that grant you large portions of Rage instantaneously, and the Warrior has
innate abilities that instantly generate Rage as well:
Charge
Instant Cast
10-25 yard range
15 second cooldown
Requires Battle Stance
Charges an enemy and generates rage, stunning them for 1 second. Cannot be
used while in combat. Rage generated depends on skill rank.
Bloodrage
Instant Cast
1 minute cooldown
Grants 10 Rage Points in exchange for Hit Points, and grants additional
Rage for a 10 second duration. User is considered in combat for the duration
of the skill.
There are also talents that grant additional Rage. These will be reviewed
further in the guide. Remember that out of combat, your Warrior's Rage Points
will slowly decay.
2. Stances
Warriors have three stances available to them:
Battle Stance - Granted to you as a Level 1 Warrior upon creation of
your character. A well balanced stance with no bonuses or penalties to stats.
Useful in most all circumstances.
Defensive Stance - Granted to you as a Level 10 Warrior upon completion
of a quest granted by your Trainer. While in Defensive Stance Warriors
generate more threat, deal 10% less damage but take 10% less damage as well.
Ideal for parties.
Berserker Stance - Granted to you as a Level 30 Warrior upon completion
of a quest granted by your Trainer. While in Berserker Stance, Warriors have
their Critical Hit rate raised by 3% and take 10% more damage as well. Useful
for soloing, or in parties based on configuration.
Warrior skills are distributed among these three stances. Some skills are
usable while in all stances, while others are restricted to only one or two.
Charge listed above for example, is only useable when a Warrior is in Combat
Stance. Bloodrage however has no stance requisite, and is therefore accessable
at any time. Most of the Warrior community agrees that the key to a successful
Warrior is knowing when to be in the right stance at the right time. Also,
changing stances at the drop of the hat is pivotal to unleashing the full
potential of your character. Bear in mind that when you change stances your
Rage Points will drop immediately to zero. The Tactical Mastery talent
(explained later) will help you with this. Take some time getting familiar
with what each stance has to offer, and get used to moving in between the
three stances. If you need any further help on interface options for
streamline stance-switching, the link to Landrain's Macro Guide contains lots
of useful info for creating an interface you can get comfortable using.
3. Talents
When distributing points into your talent trees, it's a good idea to bear in
mind what kind of a Warrior you are aiming to create. Are you trying to build
a Warrior that dual wields two weapons and hits your enemy fast and hard? Or
would you rather go for a more defensive based warrior and reap the benefits
of using a shield? Or perhaps you would like the satisfying burst damage that
a hefty two-handed weapon can provide? Whatever you chose, bear in mind what
talents you have available to you as a Warrior. Talents contain commentary and
are rated with asteriks on a scale from 1 (being the lowest) to 5 (being the
highest) with the following guidelines:
* - Not a very helpful talent in it's current incarnation, only
recommended as a sink for spare points if at all.
** - A marginally useful talent that could help improve performance to
a small degree, generally too narrow for general use or doesn't fit into a
scheme.
***- A semi-useful talent that is either too specific, or is only
proven useful by a small niche of players, but still worth consideration.
**** - A good talent that provides bonuses and abilities for specific
talent builds, or talents that nicely fit into a Warrior's general repitoire.
***** - The ideal talent for either all around use, or for character
designs based on tree-by-tree talent specialization.
Arms Talents
This tree provides Warriors various bonuses to existing weapon skills, access
to new weapon skills, and training in weapon proficiency. Talents are as
follows:
-Improved Heroic Strike: Reduces the cost of your Heroic Strike ability
by 1 Rage Point. Can be upgraded to Rank 3 with a maximum cost reduction of 3
Rage Points.
*Heroic Strike costs 15 Rage and has your next strike deliver weapon
damage, plus a bonus based on skill rank. After the patch, this was granted a
much larger bonus can prove quite useful. The amount of damage adds up rather
quickly, and provides a solid alternative for Warriors who do not invest in
the Arms Talents tree all the way to Mortal Strike. Not bad, but the points
could go much farther placed in other talents. Rating - ***
-Deflection: Increases your chance to Parry an attack by 1%. Can be
upgraded to Rank 5 with a maximum increase of 5% chance to Parry.
*Additional chance to completely negate melee damage is never a bad thing.
A guaranteed must for any Warrior planning on continuing further into the Arms
tree. Rating - *****
-Improved Rend: Increases the bleed damage caused by your Rend ability
by 15%. Can be upgraded to Rank 3 a maximum increase of 35% bleed damage.
*Rend is a Warrior's only Damage over Time skill (herafter reffered to as
DoT), with bleed damage based on skill rank. Rend itself doesn't deliver
amazing damage but is immensely useful as an instant cast attack that can aid
in your battles, as well as hamper a Rogue's ability to stealth. Improved Rend
unlocks Deep Wounds and Impale, two incredibly useful talents in the Warrior
arsenal. Rating - **** (Only because it's a requisite for more
useful talents).
-Improved Charge (requires 5 points in Arms Talents): Increases
the amount of rage generated by your Charge ability by 3 Rage Points. Can be
upgraded to Rank 2 with a maximum increase of 6 additional Rage Points
generated.
*Charge is one of the Warriors most useful abilities. Not only does it
generate Rage Points, but it stuns the opponent and allows you to enter combat
from a distance. Warriors will be using Charge to begin the vast majority of
their battles, and the additional Rage to begin the battle never hurt. Some
preffer to invest in other talents, but Improved Charge is definitely worth
consideration. Rating - ****
-Tactical Mastery (requires 5 points in Arms Talents): You will
retain up to 5 Rage Points when switching stances. Can be upgraded to Rank 5
with a maximum retainment of up to 25 Rage Points.
*Tactical Mastery is an absolute must for almost any Warrior. This talent
will allow you to change your stance and retain Rage Points in order to use
abilities, and bridges the gap across all your stances allowing you full
access to most all of your abilities at a moment's notice. This allows you to
get the most out of everything your Warrior will have to offer you. If you go
no further into the Arms Tree, at least pick up this gem! Rating -
*****
-Improved Thunder Clap (requires 5 points in Arms Talents):
Decreases the Rage Cost of your Thunder Clap ability by 1 point. Can be
upgraded to a maximum Rage Cost reduction of 4 points.
*Thunder Clap can be a useful skill to reduce the amount of DPS your
Warrior receives by 10%, but the damage caused by it has always been trivial.
The Thunder Clap ability was modified in the last patch, and now deals
physical damage as well as retains a longer skill timer. The new Improved
Thunder Clap makes the Thunder Clap ability slightly more accesible, but still
doesn't measure up to some of the other Arms Tree talents. Rating - **
-Improved Overpower (requires 10 points in Arms Talents):
Increases the Critical Hit rate if your Overpower skill by 25%. Can be
upgraded to Rank 2 with a maximum increase of 50% Critical Hit Rate.
*Overpower is among the most powerful attacks for a Warrior. For a mere 5
rage, you get a free attack whenever your opponent dodges an attack. The
Overpower attack cannot be dodged, parried, or blocked. This results in a
quick Damage Per Second (hereafter reffered to as DPS) surge as well as a near
guaranteed hit. Overpower can still miss however, but a Critical Hit has a
100% chance of landing for greatly increased damage. A wonderful talent for
most any Warrior. Rating - *****
-Anger Management (requires 10 points in Arms Talents, 5 points in
Tactical Mastery): Increases the time required for your Rage Points to
decay while out of combat by 30%.
*This isn't too bad a skill to take straight up as it allows you to keep
your Rage pool fresh between battles. There is currently a bug that generates
a Rage Point per second in combat if you have this skill. Considering that
this is more than likely to be addressed at some point, Anger Management is
still an extremely useful tool when grinding for only a singular talent point
investment. Rating - *****
-Deep Wounds (requires 10 points in Arms Talents, 3 points in Improved
Rend): Your critical strikes cause the opponent to bleed, dealing 20%
of your melee weapon's average damage over 12 seconds. Can be upgraded to Rank
3 with a maximum effect of 60% of your melee weapon's average damage.
*Deep Wounds is another bleeding DoT like Rend, but can stack on top of
Rend for even more damage. Combined with Rend this kind of damage adds up
really quickly, and is a great compliment to your arsenal. As you increase
your level and use more powerful weapons, the potency of this skill will also
increase. Nigh mandatory for anyone planning on delving further into the Arms
Talents tree. Rating - *****
-Two-Handed Weapon Specialization (requires 15 points in Arms Talents):
Increases the damage you deal with two-handed melee weapons by 1%. Can be
upgraded to Rank 5 with a maximum increase of 5% damage dealt.
*The majority of Warriors who specialize in the Arms Talents tree will be
using two-handed weapons, making this selection quite viable. The extra damage
certainly helps in drawn out fights, but bear in mind that with a 5% increase
in damage, the amount of extra damage you deal at the cost of five talent
points is questionable. The classic example is that if you take 5 points in
Two-Handed Weapon Specialization, and deal 1000 damage in a single hit, you
will only get an additional 50 damage. This number is almost ignoreable in the
grand scheme of things. However, this is still a viable choice for any
Warrior. Rating - ***
-Impale (requires 15 points in Arms Talens, 3 points in Deep Wounds):
Increases Critical Hit damage done by your abilities in Battle, Defensive, and
Berserker stances by 10%. Can be upgraded to Rank 2 a maximum increase of 20%
Critical Hit damage.
*If you have invested the points necessary to unlock this skill, Impale
still proves rather useful. Critical Hits are where the big damage factors in,
and weapon skills such as Whirlwind, Overpower, and Mortal Strike (for those
that invest fully into the Arms Talents tree) will yield the most use from
this talent. Remember that with Improved Overpower you already have an
additional 50% chance to inflict a Critical Hit with your Overpower ability,
so these two talents synergize well together. Fairly useful, especially so if
you plan to climb further down the Arms Talents tree. Rating - ****
-Axe Specialization (requires 20 points in Arms Talents):
Incrases your chance to land a Critical Hit with an Axe by 1%. Can be upgraded
to Rank 5 with a maximum increase of 5% Critical Hit chance.
*Of the Weapon Specializations, this has proven to be a favorite becuase of
the coveted Arcanite Reaper, the heaviest-hitting weapon currently available.
Orcs will enjoy investing in this choice as well, further promoting their
mastery with Axes. Again, Critical Hits are imperative while in combat, and
increasing the frequency of them are paramount. A great choice! Rating
- *****
-Sword Specialization (requires
20 points in Arms Talents): Gives you a 1% chance to deal an
additional attack after dealing damage with a Sword. Can be upgraded to Rank 5
yielding a maximum chance of 6%.
*Sword Specialization panders to a different crowd than Axe or Polearm
users. Rather than raising your Critical Hit chance, you might get a free
additional attack. Potentially, this has the power to be very devastating, as
both attacks have an equal chance to land a Critical Hit. The difference here
is that Swords in general have a lower damage frequency then Axes do. Using an
Axe will get you larger attacks out of your weapon damage abilities such as
Deep Wounds, Overpower, Cleave, Whirlwind, and Mortal Strike, just to name a
few. However, it is rumored that even using skills like thse can set off the
6% chance for a free attack as well. If you want to try something different,
this is definitely worth considering. Rating - ****
-Mace Specialization (requires 20 points in Arms Talents): Gives
you a 1% chance to stun your target for 3 seconds after dealing damage with a
Mace. Can be upgraded to Rank 5 with a maximum 6% chance to stun.
*This is the least chosen path of the weapon specilizations. The stun
ability can be nice, but does not contribute large amounts of burst DPS that
other specializations can provide. It should also be noted that consecutive
stuns do not last the full duration, but have their duration timers reduced.
Some success has been had with this specialization by Warriors here in the
community, but it is the least recommended by most of the same. Still could
prove to be useful. Rating - ***
-Sweeping Strikes (requires 20 points in Arms Talents): 30 Rage
cost, Instant Cast, 30 second cooldown. Requires Battle Stance, and user must
be wielding a melee weapon. Your next 5 melee weapon swings will strike an
additional nearby opponent.
*This ability is useful, and does prove to be slightly better than Cleave
should you invest this far into the Arms Talents tree. It allows you to deal
damage to multiple enemies at once, which can greatly improve your performance
when grinding monsters, or in group PvP. However, it's greatest use is in that
it is requisite to the single most coveted Warrior weapon skill, Mortal
Strike. Rating - **** (Again, only because it is a requisite
skill).
-Polearm Specialization (requires 25 points in Arms Talents):
Increases your chance to land a Critical Hit with a Polearm by 1%. Can by
upgraded to a maximum of Rank 5 with a maximum increase of 5% Critical Hit
chance.
*Much like Axe specialization, this talent focuses on raising the frequency
of Critical Hits in your fights. Polearms are harder to find than the other
weapon specialization types, but are very potent weapons and can boast some
damage compareable to Axes. For example The Doomsaw, a high-end polearm is
quite often used by Warriors late in the game. By the time you can train this
weapon specialization, there should be some nice Polearms up in the local
Auction House for your browsing. Remember however, that unlike the rest of the
weapon specializations this requires you to have 25 points in Arms Talents
before you can begin to train it which will require slightly different Arms
Talents build variants. Still very solid. Rating - ****
-Improved Hamstring (requires 25 points in Arms Talents):
Increases the slowing effect of your Hamstring ability by 5%. Can be upgraded
to Rank 2 with a maximum of 10% increased slow effect.
*Hamstring isn't the most useful skill when you're fighting non-humanoids
in a PvE situation. However in PvP, Hamsting is most useful in almost every
situation in order to keep up with your enemy. You can further prevent your
enemy from running too quickly from you, and can quickly bring down opponents
without letting the fight get too messy. Worth investing in if you have the
talent points available. Rating - ****
-Mortal Strike (requires 30 points in Arms Talents, 1 point in Sweeping
Strikes): 30 Rage cost, Instant Cast, 6 second cooldown, 5 yard range.
User must be wielding a melee weapon. Deals a vicious strike that deals weapon
damage plus 85 and wounds the target, reducing the effectiveness of any
healing by 50% for 10 seconds.
*Mortal Strike is the end-all of the Arms Talents tree and is arguably the
most powerful attack available to a Warrior. Not only does it deal a massive
amount of damage instantaneously, but it severly weakens all healing effects
your opponent may try to use. Please note that you can purchase additional
skill upgrades from your class Trainer, yielding a maximum of weapon damage
plus 160 when used. A wonderful skill in *any* situation if you have 30 Rage
ready. This skill is the reason Warriors invest fully into the Arms Talent
tree, and doesn't fail to impress. Rating - *****
Fury Talents
This tree provides Warriors a bolster to their Shout abilities, bonuses to
existing weapon skills, new abilities, and also contains many passive
"trigger" talents that revolve around dealing and receiving a
Critical Hit. Talents are as follows:
-Booming Voice: Increases the duration of your Battle Shout and
Demoralizing Shout abilites by 10%. Can be upgraded to Rank 5 a maximum
increase of 50% Shout duration.
*While your Battle Shout and Demoralizing Shout abilities are fairly good,
their 2 minute duration/30 second duration (respectively) are usually more
than enough to cover your Warrior's needs. You can invest in this talent
should you feel you want to get more mileage out of these abilities.
Rating - **
-Cruelty: Increases your chance to land a Critical Hit by 1%. Can be
upgraded to Rank 5 with a maximum increase of 5% Critical Hit chance.
*Much like Deflection, increased Critical Hit chance is a wonderful thing
and this talent is probably your best investment of five talent points so
early into the Fury tree. A definite must for most any Warrior of any build.
Rating - *****
-Improved Demoralizing Shout (requires 5 points in Fury Talents):
Increases the attack power reduction of your Demoralizing Shout by 5%. Can be
upgraded to Rank 5 with a maximum increase of 25% attack power reduction.
*Demoralizing Shout is a frequently used Warrior ability that reduces the
attack power of nearby enemies based on skill rank. Investing points into this
skill leads into Piercing Howl, a very useful PvP tool, as well as providing
you a bolster to an already useful ability to lower incoming DPS. Quite
useful! Rating - ****
-Unbridled Wrath (requires 5 points in Fury Talents): Gives you
an 8% chance to generate an additional Rage Point when you deal melee damage.
Can be upgraded to Rank 5 yielding a maximum 40% chance to generate an
additional Rage Point.
*This skill is really useful because it helps Warriors generate all the
Rage they're going to need for their skills. The only problem is, that
investing 5 talent points into this skill still won't guarantee that you're
going to get that additional Rage Point on even half of your attacks. A very
useful investment overall if you plan on furthering into the Fury Talents
tree. Rating - ***
-Improved Cleave (requires 10 points in Fury Talents): Increases
the bonus damage caused by your cleave ability by 40%. Can be upgraded to Rank
3 with a maximum increase of 120% additional bonus damage.
*[i]When you use the Cleave ability you're only dealing weapon damage plus a
bonus. Since the last patch, Blizzard has doubled the bonus damage that this
talent will lend to the Cleave ability, and will prove very useful for
grinding, allowing a large amount of extra Cleave bonus damage to multiple
targets. Great for lower levels who plan on investing primarily in the Fury
Tree! [\i] Rating - ****
-Piercing Howl (requires 10 points in Fury Talents, 5 points in Improved
Demoralizing Shout): 10 Rage cost, Instant Cast. Causes all enemies
near the Warrior to be dazed for 6 seconds.
*For a single talent point, this is a very useful PvP tool. Again, like
Improved Hamstring you won't find yourself using this ability very often when
grinding experience save versus humanoids. However, dazing an enemy slows
their movement speed by 50%. This is a great PvP tool (especially group PvP)
worth spending the talent point if you've invested 5 points into Improved
Demoralizing Shout already. Rating - ****
-Blood Craze (requires 10 points in Fury Talents): Regenerates
1% of your total Health over 6 seconds after being the victim of a Critical
Hit. Can be upgraded to Rank 3 allowing a maximum of 3% of your total Health
to be regenerated over 6 seconds.
*Health Regeneration is an excellent thing to have during long fights. This
ability got revamped in the last patch to heal a percentage of your total
life, rather than letting your innate regeneration rate heal you. For a
top-end Warrior with roughly 5000 Hit Points and a max rank in this ability,
being the victim of a critical strike will recover you 150 Hit Points over 6
seconds, or 25 Hit Points recovered every single second. Overall, it did get a
major improvement which will help a bit for grinding, but overall still offers
nothing shattering. Rating - ***
-Improved Battle Shout (requires 10 points in Fury Talents):
Raises the attack power bonus of your Battle Shout ability by 5%. Can be
upgraded to Rank 5 for a maximum 25% increase to your attack power bonus.
*Many Warriors will tell you that this is mandatory if you plan to advance
further into the Fury Talents tree. Battle Shout increases the attack power of
yourself and nearby party members based on skill rank, making it a valuable
part of a Warrior's repitore. The upcoming patch will decrease the Rage cost
of this skill, making investing points into this talent very valuable indeed.
Rating - *****
-Dual Wield Specialization: (requires 15 points in Fury Talents):
Increases the damage done by off-hand weapons by 5%. Can be upgraded to Rank 5
with a maximum of 25% damage with an off-hand weapon.
*A brand new addition to our vamped Fury Tree, Dual Wield builds finally
become truly viable for Warriors. More importantly, the requirement allows it
to be stacked into the Arms Tree for Warriors who still wish to pursue a
Mortal Strike 31/20 build, while having Dual Wield specialization on backup.
It provides a Warrior that's great for both grinding, and high-end PvP. An
excellent addition to our line-up. Rating - *****
-Improved Execute (requires 15 points in Fury Talents): Reduces
the Rage Point cost of your Execute ability by 2 Rage Points. Can be upgraded
to Rank 2 for a maximum decrease of 5 Rage Points.
*Execute is another important skill available to Warriors that can end
messy fights after the opponent is at 20% life or less. Using this skill
drains your entire Rage bar, and converts it into additional skill damage.
Spending two talent points to get the most out of this choice will yield an
additional 5 rage to convert to damage. The overall difference won't be game
impacting, but if you have a spare talent point to spend, this is a viable
choice. Rating - ***
-Enrage (requires 15 points in Fury Talents): Grants you an 8%
melee damage bonus lasting 12 seconds, for 12 swings any time you are the
victim of a Critical Hit. Can be upgraded to Rank 5 for a maximum increase of
40% melee damage for 12 strikes over 12 seconds.
*This is another one of the passive "trigger" talents available
in the Fury Talents tree. Enrage will drastically increase your DPS while
active, and is another ability like Deep Wounds that will become more potent
as you come into new and more powerful weapons. Also requisite of Flurry,
another excellent skill in the Fury Talents tree. Changed in the last patch to
apply to more attacks, making it more beneficial for Dual Wield builds with
faster weapons. A fantastic change for the talent. Rating - *****
-Improved Slam (requires 20 points in Fury Talents): Decreases
the casting time of your Slam ability by 0.1 seconds. Can be upgraded to Rank
5 for a maximum decrease of 0.5 seconds of casting time.
*Slam is a nifty ability with a 1.5 second cast timer that automatically
deals weapon damage to your opponent. This is quite a useful skill when using
large two-handed weapons with three second swing times and up, essentially
allowing you a comparitively quick hit. The innate problem with the Slam
ability is that because it requires casting time, you are not allowed to move
while preparing the skill. It can be a useful ability in a PvE situation, but
be aware that in World of Warcraft's PvP involves lots of movement, thus
disallowing liberal use of the Slam ability. This could be a very useful
talent in the hands of a very experienced player, built to get the most out of
their use of Slam. Rating - ***
-Death Wish (requires 20 points in Fury Talents): 10 Rage cost,
Instant Cast, 3 minute cooldown. When activated, increases your melee damage
by 20%, grants immunity to Fear, but lowers your defense against all types of
attacks by 20%. Lasts 30 seconds.
*Careful use of Death Wish can give you a severe edge versus some types of
opponents. Immunity to Fear is a useful tool for PvP, much like the Undead
ability Will of the Forsaken. The increase in damage dealt will help end your
battles quickly, which makes up for the increase in damage. However, this
ability is hamstrung by its own purpose. Death Wish seems ideal versus caster
classes that have lower hit points, and take more damage per hit. The immunity
to Fear will turn around battles specifically versus Priests and Warlocks as
well. The problem lies in that the increase in damage will also apply to
magical damage which these clases rely on, and the Warrior class without
equipment to raise magic resistance (such as Thorium plate) are practically
defenseless. Useful however, if used with trepidation. Rating - ***
-Improved Intercept (requires 20 points in Fury Talents):
Reduces the cooldown time of your Intercept ability by 5 seconds. Can be
upgraded to Rank 2 for a maximum cooldown reduction of 10 seconds.
*Intercept is an invaluable PvP tool that works mechanically the same as
Charge in that it rushes and stuns the opponent from a distance, but consumes
Rage Points rather than generating them. It can also be used mid-combat, and
requires your to be in Berserker Stance. These are most notably helpful versus
ranged oriented classes such as magic users and Hunters. These classes will
try to put as much distance between them and you as possible, as they can't
last as long as a melee class in toe to toe combat. A useful investment, but
not always necessary. Rating - ***
-Improved Berserker Rage
(requires 25 points in Fury Talents): Increases the duration of your
Berserker Rage ability by 3 seconds. Can be upgraded to Rank 2 for a maximum
duration increase of 6 seconds.
*While active, Berserker Rage makes your Warrior immune to Fear and
knock-down effects for 10 seconds. Like Death Wish, this can give you an edge
versus Warlock and Priest in PvP combat, except it leaves you less vulnerable.
Increasing the duration of Berserker Rage is never necessary, but if you want
to get more bank for your buck this would be the way to do so. If you happen
to be an Undead Warrior however, this talent has little to offer you.
Marginally useful, but you might be better served placing your talent points
elsewhere. Rating - **
-Flurry (requires 25 points in Fury Talents, 5 points in Enrage):
Increases your attack speed by 10% for your next 3 swings after a critical
strike. Can be upgraded to Rank 5 for a maximum increase of 30% attack speed.
*Flurry is a very powerful "trigger" talent that like the
requisite Enrage skill, will vastly increase your Warrior's DPS. This shines
brightest when paired with a hefty two-handed weapon for quicker swings, or
even dual wielding to quickly rain attacks on your opponent. These extra
attacks could in themselves provide additional chances for Critical Hits as
well. If you plan on investing a large number of points into the Fury tree,
then Flurry will increase the damage performance of your character greatly.
Rating - *****
-Bloodthirst (requires 30 points in Fury Talents, 1 point in Death Wish):
Activates after dealing a killing blow. Your next melee weapon attack will
deal 100% increased damage.
*Bloodthirst is the end-all of the Fury Talent tree. However, it lacks in
the usefulness that other end-tree talents such as the potent Mortal Strike
and helpful Shield Specialization can grant. This talent does guarantee a
large damage increase when transitioning into further battles, but can only
really help during experience grinds. In a group situation, it will only be
marginally helpful and will prove the same in a PvP situation. Of the end-tree
talents, Bloodthirst could stand some improvement. Rating - **
Protection Talents
This tree provides Warriors with superior defensive capabilities, bonuses to
existing weapon skills, access to shield specialization, and increased threat
generation. Talents are as follows:
-Shield Specialization: Increases your chance to block an attack with
your shield by 1% and has a 20% chance to generate 1 Rage Point when a block
occurs. Can be upgraded to Rank 5 for a maximum 5% increased chance to block
and 100% chance to generate 1 Rage Point when a block occurs..
*Shield Specialization is a firm place to start when furthering into the
Protection Skill tree. Many Warriors spending more than 10 points in the
Protection Talents tree are likely putting themselves in a group situation,
where damage mitigation is key. This provides additonal mitigation of damage,
which makes it an excellent talent to have. In the last patch, this ability
was modified to generate a Rage Point every time a block occurs, making it
even more fantastic than before. Keep in mind that this skill requires a
shield, and that blocks don't always negate damage entirely. Rating -
*****
-Anticipation: Increases your Defense skill by 2. Can be upgraded to
Rank 5 for a maximum Defense skill increase of 10.
*Warriors who are not focusing in Protection Talents and plan on Dual
Wielding or using a two-handed weapons will probably preffer using this talent
as an all-around alternative to Shield Specializtion. Your Defense rank helps
in calculating your chance to Block attacks with your shield, your chance to
Parry attacks, your chance to Dodge attacks, and lessens your chance to be the
victim of a Critical Hit. Full investment won't raise your overall chance in
any of these catagories by a full 1%, but again, Anticipation proves useful if
you do not plan on using a shield. Rating - ***
-Improved Bloodrage (requires 5 points in Protection Talents):
Decreases the health cost of your Bloodrage ability by 25%. Can be upgraded to
Rank 2 for a maximum cost decrease of 50%.
*Bloodrage is an ability I previously mentioned that allows the
instantaneous generation of Rage. This makes it a useful ability, however the
Hit Point cost of the skill is rather high and can hurt your Warrior and
increase downtime during questing/killing. Improved Bloodrage helps to soften
this blow, and makes your Bloodrage skill itself much more cost effective. For
Protection-based Warriors, Rage generation can sometimes be an issue. This
talent greatly helps to fill that gap. Rating - ****
-Toughness (requies 5 points in Protection Talents): Increases
Armor Value from your items by 2%. Can be increased to Rank 5, for a maximum
increase in Armor Value by 10%.
*The majority of Warriors not going further into the Protection Talents
tree end here. Toughness is an excellent talent that gets you the most bank
for your buck out of everything that you wear. This provides enourmous bonuses
when your Warrior starts equipping Plate armor, and when maxed contributes as
much AC as an additional armor slot. An excellent talent! Rating -
*****
-Iron Will (requires 5 points in Protection Talents): Increases
your chance to resist Stun and Charm effects by 3%. Can be upgraded to Rank 5
for a maximum increase of 15% resistance.
*You won't find yourself in a great deal of circumstances in which you will
need to resist Charm effects, however, Stun is a near constant worry in your
PvP battles. It is said that currently, this only checks your innate ability
to resist Stun and Charm effects, and raises that percentage by the talent
percentage. What you're left with is a very diminishing return on your talent
point allocation. Until this issue is entirely clarified or resolved, it could
be wiser to invest your talent points else. Could be worth it in very rare
circumstances, or further down the road. Rating - **
-Last Stand (requires 10 points in Protection Talents, 2 points in
Improved Bloodrage): Instant Cast, 10 minute cooldown. When activated,
temporarily grants your Warrior a 30% bonus of your maximum Hit Points for 20
seconds. After the effect expires, the Hit Points are lost.
*Last Stand has a very long cooldown time, but can be quite useful versus
Instance bosses, and in PvP fights. In a snap you can gain large amounts of
Hit Points and turn the tables in your favor. For example, if your character
has 1000 maximum Hit Points, and activates Last Stand, you will then have 1333
maximum Hit Points and recover the 333 Hit Points gained. When the effect
expires, you will lose 333 Hit Points, and your maximum Hit Points will revert
to 1000. If this reduction of 333 current Hit Points would kill your
character, your Hit Points will instead drop to 1. Not a tactic you can solely
rely on, but very potent when you need it. Rating - ****
-Improved Shield Block (requires 10 points in Protection talents, 5
points in Shield Specialization): Allows your Shield Block ability to
block an additional attack, and increases the duration of your Shield Block
ability by 0.5 seconds. Can be upgraded to Rank 3 for a maximum skill duration
increase of 2 seconds.
*Improved Shield Block much like Shield Specialization is fantastic if you
plan on using a shield. Shield Block grants a bonus 75% chance to block the
next attack, and lasts an obnoxiously short 5 seconds. If you activate Shield
Block and your parry or dodge the next attack, the 10 Rage Points you spend on
the ability can potentially go to waste. This talent essentially allows you a
little more leniance when using Shield Block, while granting an additonal
block for use against quick attackers. Perfect for the defensively inclined
Warrior, but keep in mind that you're getting two benefits from the first
point dropped in the talent, and only receving additional duration for further
investment. Rating - ****
-Improved Revenge (requires 10 points in Protection Talents):
Gives your Revenge ability a 20% chance to stun the target for 3 seconds. Can
be upgraded to Rank 3 with a maximum 40% chance to stun the target.
*Revenge is a counter-attack ability that is useable only in Defensive
Stance immediately following a Block, Parry, or Dodge of an attack. Using a
shield grants maximum use of the Revenge ability, and when paired with Shield
Block is almost guaranteed. Stunning is a very powerful skill in World of
Warcraft, and Improved Revenge is also requisite for Concussion Blow, another
very powerful stun attack. A must for any who wish to invest further into the
Protection Talents tree. Rating - *****
-Defiance (requires 10 points in Protection Talents): Increases
the threat generated by your attacks in Defensive Stance by 3%. Can be
upgraded to Rank 5 for a maximum 15% increase in threat generation.
*Defiance is a helpful talent in providing insurance that your character
will have attention of the enemy, namely in instance dungeons. However,
Warrior already has a great deal of "snap-aggro" skills such as
Taunt, Intimidating Shout, Challenging Shout, and Mocking Blow. Between these
skills, the threat already generated by your attacks, and with practice, you
should have no trouble keeping the full attention of your enemies. That said,
this is a beneficial talent that you can use in order to further improve your
tanking prowess. Rating - ****
-Improved Sunder Armor (requires 15 points in Protection Talents):
Decreases the Rage Cost of your Sunder Armor ability by 1 point. Can be
upgraded to Rank 3 for a maximum Rage Cost reduction of 4 points.
*Sunder Armor is a handy skill that allows stackable decrease of your
opponents damage mitigation, which is most helpful when fighting in Elite
dungeons. Note that it also provides a great deal of threat, and is an ideal
skill when tanking while in a party. It has been said that Improved Sunder
Armor will also increase the amount of threat generated by your Sunder Armor
skill, which certainly never hurt. There is also a cap put on the amount of
armor class rating you can reduce (I beleive it was said to be 1800). This
talent has proven to be useful for using your Sunder Armor ability more often,
but does not contribute as largely as it once did. Still solid. Rating
- ****
-Improved Disarm (requires 15 points in Protection Talents):
Increases the duration of your Diasrm ability by 1 second. Can be upgraded to
Rank 3 for a maximum ability duration of 3 seconds.
*Disarm is an incredible tool in a PvP sitation, or against an Elite
instance boss who can deal heavy damage with their weapon. In the case of the
Warrior it does require you to be in Defensive Stance however. The extra three
seconds certainly does help, but only noticeably versus toe to toe melee
oriented classes in Pvp such as Paladin, Shaman, Warrior, and Rogue. When
Disarm already provides a 10 second ability duration, the additional 3 seconds
can be questionable in determining how useful maxing this talent might be.
Still, Improved Disarm is a potentially helpful investment. Rating -
***
-Improved Taunt (requires 15 points in Protection Talents):
Reduces the cooldown timer of your Taunt ability by 1 second. Can be upgraded
to Rank 2 for a maximum cooldown timer reduction of 2 seconds.
*The timer on your Taunt ability is 10 seconds to begin with. Much like
Defiance, Improved Taunt is not a talent that will help your character
overcome any great obstacles. It is a class example of a "win-more"
talent, in that it will only help you keep aggro more effectively without
changing your character in any significant way. Useful if you have the talent
points to spare! Rating - ****
-Improved Shield Wall (requires 20 points in Protection Talents):
Increases the effect duration of your Shield Wall ability by 3 seconds. Can be
upgradd to Rank 2 for a maximum effect duration increase of 6 seconds.
*Shield Wall is one of the 30 minute cooldown abilities available ot the
Warrior class. Useable only in Defensive Stance, it reduces all incoming
damage by 75%, and lasts for 10 seconds. Improved Shield Wall allows you milk
another 60% of that time out of your Shield Wall ability, making it ideal for
tanking instance bosses. In PvP it proves to be less useful than another 30
minute ability, Retaliation. A decent investment if you plan on furthering
into the depths of the Protection Tree. Rating - ***
-Improved Shield Bash (requires 20 points in Protection Talents):
Gives your Shield Bash ability a 50% chance to Silence the target for 3
seconds. Can be upgraded to Rank 2 for a maximum 100% chance to Silence the
target.
*Improved Shield Bash is a Protection-based Warrior's best weapon versus
caster classes. Shield Bash already interrupts any spell currently being cast
and prevents further casting out of the same school for a shot time when used.
Improved Shield Bash is icing on the cake, and an amazing addition for
Warriors preffering to use shields. Rating - *****
-Concussion Blow (requires 20 points in Protection Talents, 3 points in
Improved Revenge): 15 Rage cost, Instant Cast, 45 second cooldown.
Stuns for 5 seconds.
*Concussion Blow is an incredible tool for defensively inclined Warriors,
and allows a large window of time in which the Warrior can use for bandaging,
dealing additional damage, disengaging an opponent, almost anything! Moreover,
it is now an instant attack bringing it even more versatility. A wonderful use
of a single talent point! Rating - *****
-One-Handed Weapon Specialization (requires 25 points in Protection
Talents): Increases the damage you deal with one-handed weapons by 2%.
Can be upgraded to Rank 5 for a maximum increase of 10% weapon damage.
*Having invested so far into the Protection Talents tree, a Warrior will
not be able to take both One-Handed Weapon Specialization, and a weapon-type
specialization from the Arms Talents tree. Though the 10% damage isn't a vast
amount in the long run, it negates the damage penalty suffered when using
Defensive Stance! This means that you're dealing standard damage as well as
increasing your threat generation. Highly recommended, though not mandatory.
Rating - ****
-Shield Discipline
(requires 30 points in Protection Talents, 2 points in Improved Shield Bash):
15 Rage cost, Instant Cast, 45 second cooldown. While active, increases the
amount of damage absorbed by your shield by 50%, increases the amount of
damage done by your Shield Bash ability by 200%, and the threat generated from
your Shield Bash ability by 100%. Lasts for 20 seconds.
*This is the end-all of the Protection Talents tree. Shield Discipline is
useful in that it helps mitigate additional damage when block attacks with
your shield. While active you greately increase the damage and threat done by
your Shield Bash ability as well, virtually turning it into an additonal
"snap-aggro" ability available to you. The only problem is that the
damage actually done by Shield Bash is minimal, and though the increase does
help it doesn't provide any sort of burst DPS you can rely on. Shield
Discipline is great in partying situations where you are taking the majority
of the damage and carries a nominal Rage cost. Stands improvement, but still
helpful. Rating - ***
4. Warriors in the Field
As a Warrior your primary role will vary from situation to situation.
Solo PvE
In a PvE solo role, a Warrior will primarily use the build they've chosen in
order to move from enemy to enemy with the least amount of downtime
throughout. Tactics can vary based on character build. Warriors who invest
early in to the Arms Talents or Fury Talents will move from battle to battle
with relative ease, taking a fair amount of damage from enemy to enemy.
Protection Talent Warriors will find their battles to be longer in duration,
with nominal damage taken during the course of a fight and almost no downtime.
So which is better? The short answer would be that neither is inherently
better the other in statistics alone. It will vary from player to player based
on style, so get comfortable with how you play your Warrior.
Berserker Stance and Battle Stance are suited for PvE soloing as both have a
vast number of abilities and bonuses that focus on ending the battle as
quickly as possible. Many Warriors will discover themselves most suited to
killing enemies of equal or lesser level with a range from +1 to -5 for
experience and questing purposes. This ensures the highest hit-rate and best
downtime to experience gained ratio throughout the leveling process with
either near-full or more damage mitigation than listed in your character
statstics menu. It is entirely possible to kill monsters further above your
current level, but be warned that you will encounter a vastly greater
difficulty level when doing so, with more downtime between fights. Many quests
will require you to kill Unique Humanoids or Monsters much higher than your
current level, so be prepared for what lies ahead. Training your First Aid
skill to create bandages will help keep your Hit Points plentiful and your
downtime between fights to a minimal. Food consumption will also contribute to
this. Remember that while soloing, you only really need to keep an eye on your
Hit Points and the environment around you so as not to find yourself in an
unwelcome battle.
PvE Grouping
This is where things change. In a grouping situation Warriors will be expected
to take the majority of the damage or "tank" for the team by keeping
the enemy focused on them for the duration of the battle. Defensive Stance is
ideal in a situation like this as you get the greatest amount of damage
mitigation, threat generation, and abilities suited for receiving damage. You
will be expected to keep full attention of what you fight, and as such, it is
advised that you pay close attention to the movement and focus of your enemy.
While grouping with a healer one can generally concentrate on the welfare of
the party and the flow of battle, as the healer will be paying attention to
your welfare in return. There are times when things will go awry and keeping
control of the situation can be a daunting task. Warriors excel at maintaining
control as they have a vast number of "snap-aggro" skills and
abilities that will regain temporary control of the battle long enough to
either quickly bring it to a conclusion, or establish dominance. Not only
this, but debuffs such as Sunder Armor and Demoralizing Shout bring much to
the battlefield.
5. FAQ
Q: I'm considering creating a Warrior for the first time. What kind of
benefits does this class receive?
A: Warriors are a gear reliant melee class that can serve a variety of
purposes. Being the only other class than Paladin that can equip Mail armor
from level one, as well as the only class other than Paladin that can ever
equipe Plate armor, Warriors enjoy a high armor class rating. With proper
construction a Warrior can deal some very ferocious physical damage, or take
even the nastiest beatings. Warriors are also one of the few classes that can
equip shields, allowing them some of the best damage mitigation in World of
Warcraft. Couple in the fact that Warriors have the highest number of
"snap-aggro" skills, and what you end up with is a highly sought
after addition to any party.
Q: Throughout this guide you've mentioned "snap-aggro" more than
a couple times. Can you clarify what this means?
A: "Snap-aggro" is a term I use for any ability that allows you to
immediately direct the attention of a monster towards you. A lot of these
abilities are exclusive to the Warrior class.
Q: What are the best primary professions for Warriors to have?
A: That is based entirely on what you want to do with your Warrior. Here are
some examples:
Mining/Blacksmithing: Allows you to make your own armor and
weapons. The most common combination for the Warrior class.
Mining/Engineering: Gives your Warrior a plethora of tricks from
powerful guns and Goblin explosives, to quirky Gnomish trinkets that work most
of the time.
Alchemy/Herbalism: Gives your Warrior the ability to make Rage
Potions, Healing Potions, and Free-Action Potions, just to name a few.
This should not distract you from doing what you want with your character
however. If you wish to make a Tailor, then by all means sew away! If you want
to train your character in Skinning/Leatherworking, then go for it! This is
World of Warcraft and you can do whatever suits you best.
Q: What about secondary professions? Which one should a Warrior focus on?
A: Many Warriors swear by First Aid as a focus for your secondary profession.
Killing humanoids will yield cloth material drops, and these can be used in
order to create bandages which greatly reduce downtime between fights. As most
Warriors shy away from the Tailoring profession they have little other use for
the abundance of cloth material they find, save for selling it to other
players. Cooking is also an excellent secondary profession, as the healing
from food also reduces downtime significantly as well as provide useful
lasting effects.
Q: Which is the best talent build for Warriors?
A: This is a highly debated topic. The simple answer is that there is no
single best talent build for every single situation. Each tree offers many
unique skills and bonuses for your Warrior, and will shape them accordingly
based on how you want your character to perform. In the end, you are the one
to decide how you wish to allocate your talent points based on the kind of
character you want to play. That's the most important thing to keep in
mind.
Q: What are some popular talent builds for Warriors?
A: Here are a couple examples of the current builds enjoyed by a many
Warriors. Some vary slightly:
"The Mortal Strike Build"
Arms Talents: 31
Deflection - 5/5
Improved Rend - 3/3
Tactical Mastery - 5/5
Anger Management - 1/1
Improved Charge - 2/2
Improved Overpower - 2/2
Deep Wounds - 3/3
Impale - 2/2
Axe/Polearm Specialization - 5/5
Sweeping Strikes - 1/1
Mortal Strike - 1/1
If Axe Specialization: Improved Hamstring - 1/2
If Polearm Specialization: Two-Handed Weapon Specialization - 1/5
Fury Talents: 20
Cruelty - 5/5
Improved Demoralizing Shout - 5/5
Piercing Howl - 1/1
Improved Battle Shout - 4/5
Enrage - 5/5
*The build above is your cookie cutter PvP build using Axes or Polearms in
order to maximize the frequency of Critical Hits. This build generally uses
two-handed weapons in order to get the greatest amount of damage from the
Mortal Strike skill, and uses Fury training in order to further streamline
damage efficiency. Very effective build for PvP.
"The Defensive Tank Build"
Protection Talents: 33
Shield Specialization - 5/5
Toughness - 5/5
Improved Bloodrage - 2/2
Last Stand - 1/1
Improved Revenge - 3/3
Improved Sunder Armor - 3/3
Improved Shield Block - 3/3
Improved Taunt - 2/2
Concussion Blow - 1/1
Improved Shield Bash - 2/2
One-Handed Weapon Specialization - 5/5
Shield Discipline - 1/1
Arms Talents: 13
Deflection - 5/5
Tactical Mastery - 5/5
Anger Management - 1/1
Improved Overpower - 2/2
Fury Talents: 5
Cruelty - 5/5
*This is a Warrior that specializes in tanking instance dungeons for
parties. With the use of their Protection-based talent setup, they can get a
lot of mileage using a one-handed weapon and a shield for high damage
mitigation, as well as dabbling in Fury and Arms for additional damage
mitigation, Critical Hit rate, and Rage mangement. They should be able to keep
focus on a lot of monsters while dealing some damage, but generally not as
satisfying for the more bloodthirsty types.
Remember, these are just examples taken from within the Warrior community here
in the Blizzard forums, and are not guidelines on how to create your
character.
Q: Where can I send suggestions/comments regarding this thread?
A: Your best bet would be to simply reply to me within this thread. If you
have a suggestion about something you'd like to have added/linked such as a
personal article or post that you feel has good insight, I'd be more than
happy to add it for you.
Q: There have been quite a number of "definitive guides" in the
past. Why make another one?
A: Many of the guides posted have had some excellent insight, and at the
request of the authors there are some I would like to link to this guide as
well. I do however feel that some of these guides tell a player how they should
play their class, rather than let them know what sort of options they have to
work with. This guide was written as merely a reference tool in order to steer
Warriors towards forming unique ideas, gathering insight, and to promote
creativity within the community.
Never
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