Warrior

The Warrior is the highly armored terror of the battlefield. Capable of dealing out devastation with two melee weapons, mastering the discipline of a single weapon, or strapping on a shield and weapon in order to defend others, the Warrior is a combatant plain and simple—war and the weapons and armor used to wage it are its beginning and its end. The Warrior leaps and charges into combat, using its chosen combat style (whether it be the armored, shielded juggernaut; the furious berserker with two weapons; or the man at arms who prefers the discipline of steel) to deal out destruction to its enemies.

Warriors are pure melee fighters. Aside from a few tricks, they lack ranged damage and seek always to get into melee range as quickly as possible. Within this limitation, however, Warriors are flexible, able to

bring their weapons to bear as damage dealing (DPS) or tanks, who hold enemy attention on themselves for the good of others. All races can play the Warrior, because war on Azeroth has no favorites.

Boosting to Level 90

The Warriors main resource is Rage, which starts at zero and is generated by damage dealt, stance, Charge, or entering an enrage state.

There are three Warrior specializations. Arms is a damage dealing specialization based around the mastery and use of a single two-handed weapon. Fury is also a damage dealer, but one that revolves around the use of two weapons in combat. These can be one- or two-handed weapons (a Fury Warrior is the only class specialization in the game that can use more than one two-handed weapon). Finally, Protection is a tanking spec, aimed at safeguarding others by keeping attackers focused on the Warrior. Each Warrior specialization has its own unique style.

Warriors wear plate armor and can use any weapon in the game, but get the most benefit from items with strength on them. A weapon or piece of gear with agility on it is not a good choice for a Warrior.

Warriors generate their resources (Rage) through combat. As long as a Warrior is in combat, they can generate Rage—they are only limited by their attacks.

Warriors have an attack named Victory Rush. Every time the Warrior kills an enemy near or above their own power level, Victory Rush will heal them for a portion of their health.

Class Abilities and Resources

Stances

Warriors are defined by their Stances. All Warriors have access to two stances, which vary depending on talent choices. All Arms and Fury Warriors will have Battle and Defensive Stance, while Protection Warriors will have either Battle or Gladiator Stance (but not both) and Defensive Stance. Both Battle and Gladiator Stance are damage-dealing stances, designed to generate high rage and be used when the Warrior wants to inflict as much damage as possible. Defensive Stance is a tanking stance, designed to help the Warrior keep the attention of enemies while staying alive as long as possible.

Rage

The Warrior class is based around melee combat. Warriors generate their main resource (Rage) via attacking or being in combat (depending on specialization and stance), as well as from specific attacks. Rage for Warriors doesn’t work the same way as Mana or Energy—Rage starts at zero for the Warrior, who then has a variety of ways to generate it during combat.

Charge allows a Warrior to quickly close the gap on a target, and it also generates Rage. It is the primary way for a Warrior to enter combat and immediately generate some Rage, as well as get into the thick of battle as soon as possible. In addition, Warriors may also Intervene to a friendly player, which acts similarly to Charge, but also allows the Warrior to take the next attack for their Intervene target.

Shouts

Warriors have several Shouts. Battle Shout adds to a Warrior’s attack power, or the Warrior’s entire party or raid group. Commanding Shout increases the Warrior’s stamina and that of the entire party or raid as well. Each Warrior can only have the benefits of one Shout up for a group at a time. Protection Warriors also have access to Demoralizing Shout, which reduces the damage enemies do to the Warrior while it is up.

Another key ability for Warriors is Hamstring. It prevents enemies from fleeing by reducing their movement speed.

Non-Specialization Abilities

Name	Level	Description
Battle Stance	1	An aggressive combat stance that generates rage from autoattacks.
Block	1	When using a shield, gives a chance to block enemy attacks.
Heroic Strike	1	Instantly deals 105% weapon damage. This attack is not on the global cooldown.
Parry	1	When using a melee weapon, gives a chance to parry enemy attacks.
Charge	3	Charge to an enemy, rooting it for 1.50 sec. Generates 20 Rage.
Victory Rush	5	Instantly attack the target, causing damage and healing you for 15% of your maximum health. Can only be used within 20 sec after you kill an enemy that yields experience or honor.
Defensive Stance	9	A tanking combat stance that increases threat generation and reduces damage taken by 20%. Also generates 1 Rage every 3 seconds while in combat.
Taunt	12	Taunts the target to attack you and increases threat that you generate against the target for 3 sec. Using this ability while in Battle Stance activates Defensive Stance.
Headlong Rush	15	Haste now reduces your global cooldown, and the cooldown of Thunder Clap and either Shield Slam, Mortal Strike or Bloodthirst depending on spec.
Heroic Throw	22	Throw your weapon at a target, generating high threat and 50% Physical damage.
Pummel	24	Interrupts spellcasting as well as preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 4 seconds.
Hamstring	36	Maims the enemy for Physical damage, reducing movement speed by 50% for 15 sec.
Battle Shout	42	Increases the attack power of all raid and party members within 100 yards by 10% for 1 hour. Targets may only have one Shout active on them per Warrior.
Intimidating Shout	52	Causes the targeted enemy to cower in fear, and up to 5 additional enemies with 8 yards to flee. Targets are disoriented for 8 sec.
Berserker Rage	54	This ability grants immunity to all Fear, Sap and Incapacitate effects for 6 seconds.
Spell Reflection	60	Raise your shield, reflecting the next spell cast on you. Lasts 5 sec.
Commanding Shout	68	Increases the Stamina of all raid and party members within 100 yards by 10% for 1 hour. Targets may only have one Shout active on them per Warrior.
Intervene	72	Run at high speed toward an ally within 25 yards, intercepting the next melee or ranged attack within 10 sec while the target remains within 10 yards.
Shield Barrier	81	Raise your shield, absorbing damage for the next 6 sec. Consumes up to 40 additional Rage to increase the amount absorbed.
Heroic Leap	85	Leap through the air toward a targeted location, slamming down with destructive force to deal Physical damage to all enemies within 8 yards.

Talents

Talent	Description	Notes
Level 15 Tier
Juggernaut	You can Charge every 12 seconds instead of every 20 seconds.	This is a solid mobility boost for a Warrior.
Double Time	You can use Charge twice in a row, but it can only grant Rage once every 12 sec. Each use has a 20 second recharge time.	This is similar to Juggernaut, but appeals more for Warriors who want or need to use Charge in quick succession.
Warbringer	Your Charge now stuns its target for 1.50 sec instead of rooting it.	Useful for players who use Charge as an interrupt or to prevent initial attacks.
Level 30 Tier
Enraged Regeneration	Instantly heals you for 10% of your maximum health, and another 20% over 5 seconds. Usable when stunned.	A good option for PvP healing, since it’s not dependent on you making attacks and can be used when stunned. Also strong in PvE as a mini-survival cooldown.
Second Wind	When you are below 35% health, you gain 10% leech, healing yourself for a percentage of damage you deal.	A good option for soloing older content, but harder to use in PvP or other situations where you lose control of your character.
Impending Victory	Instantly attacks a target, causing damage and healing you for 15% of your maximum health. Killing an enemy that yields experience or honor resets the cooldown of Impending Victory. Replaces Victory Rush.	A very solid choice for leveling and soloing, as it gives you a solid chunk of healing on a reliable 30 second cooldown. Like Second Wind, it is reliant on being able to attack.
Level 45 Tier
Taste for Blood (Arms)	Each time Rend deals damage, you gain 3 Rage.	Useful for rage generation and to make keeping Rend on a target more rewarding.
Furious Strikes (Fury)	Wild Strike costs 25 less Rage.	This allows Fury Warriors to squeeze in more Wild Strikes as a Rage spending attack.
Sudden Death	Your autoattack hits have a 20% chance to make your next Execute cost no initial Rage and be usable on any target regardless of health level.	A universal talent increasing the utility of Execute.
Slam (Arms)	Slam an opponent, causing 100% Physical damage. Each consecutive use of Slam increases the damage by 50% and the Rage cost by 100%, stacking up to 2 times for 2 seconds.	A solid attack with the potential to scale upwards and increase Arms’ burst potential.
Unquenchable Thirst (Fury)	Bloodthirst no longer has a cooldown.	Bloodthirst is the Rage generation attack for Fury Warriors. This talent makes Rage easier to attain.
Heavy Repercussions (Protection)	Shield Slam deals 30% additional damage while Shield Block or Shield Charge is active.	A solid means to increase your damage output while using defensive abilities.
Unyielding Strikes (Protection)	Devastate reduces the Rage cost of Heroic Strike by 5 for 5 sec, stacking up to 6 times. Once this effect reaches 6 applications, its duration will no longer refresh.	Especially useful for reducing the Rage cost of threat generation or offensive output.
Level 60 Tier
Storm Bolt	Hurls your weapon at an enemy, causing 60% Physical damage and stunning for 4 sec. Deals quadruple damage to targets permanently immune to stuns.	A solid attack, with both PvP and PvE applications due to its stun and its increased damage against things resistant to stuns (most bosses), this is your best single target choice.
Shockwave	Sends a wave of force in a frontal cone, causing damage and stunning all enemies within 10 yards for 4 sec. Cooldown reduced by 20 sec if it strikes at least 3 targets.	An excellent talent for controlling large groups, with its 4 second stun and ability to be targeted to a degree.
Dragon Roar	Roar explosively, dealing damage to all enemies within 8 yards and knocking them back and down for 0.50 sec. Damage ignores all armor and is always a critical strike.	A very useful AoE damage ability, it’s also good for single target thanks to the damage ignoring armor and always being a critical strike.
Level 75 Tier
Mass Spell Reflection	Reflects the next spell cast on you and on all party and raid members within 20 yards for 5 sec. Replaces Spell Reflection.	Potentially the best choice for a non-tank player, as it allows the use of Spell Reflection without a shield and extends its effect to many allies near you.
Safeguard	Run at high speed toward a party or raid member, intercepting the next melee or ranged attack made against them, reducing damage taken by them by 20% for 6 sec. Replaces Intervene.	A very solid choice for a tank who expects to have to switch a target between her/himself and another tank. Also useful for DPS to help save a tank from a big damage spike.
Vigilance	Protect a party or raid member for 12 sec, reducing damage they take by 30% and allowing you to use Taunt with no cooldown.	Useful for either a tank who wants to be sure to be able to taunt off of someone or a DPS who just wants to reduce how much damage another player is going to take.
Level 90 Tier
Avatar	Transform into a colossus for 24 sec, dealing 20% increased damage and removing all roots and snares.	A combination of a damage increase cooldown and a root/snare clearing cooldown, very useful for PvP.
Bloodbath	For the next 12 sec, your melee damage abilities and their multistrikes deal 30% additional damage as a bleed over 6 sec. While bleeding, targets move 50% slower.	This ability is a good choice for a damage cooldown because of its relatively short 1 minute cooldown. It’s especially good in heavy AoE situations.
Bladestorm	Become an unstoppable storm of destructive force, striking all targets within 8 yards for 120% Physical damage every 1 sec for 6 sec. You are immune to movement impairing and loss of control effects, but can only use Taunt and other defensive abilities.	A very solid AoE damage ability, but useless for single-target damage, whereas the other two talents have uses in both situations.
Level 100 Tier
Anger Management	Every 30 rage that you spend reduces the remaining cooldown of several of your abilities by 1 sec: Avatar, Bloodbath, Bladestorm, Storm Bolt, Shockwave, Dragon Roar, Mocking Banner, Heroic Leap, Recklessness, Die by the Sword, Shield Wall, Demoralizing Shout and Last Stand.	The exact abilities that Anger Management affects depend on specialization. It’s a strong ability for allowing you to control the pace of your cooldowns.
Ravager	Throw a whirling axe at the target location that inflicts damage to enemies within 6 yards every 1 sec. Lasts 10 sec. Also increases your chance to parry by 30% for 11 sec. (Protection only)	A good AoE damage ability, if you lack other AoE talents/attacks like Bladestorm.The parry makes it attractive as a tanking mini-cooldown.
Siegebreaker (Arms and Fury)	Use your full strength to slam the target with your weapon, dealing 300% damage, and knocking them back and down for 1 sec. Replaces Intimidating Shout.	A solid combination of damage and single-target crowd control, useful for both PvP and PvE.
Gladiator’s Resolve (Protection)	Increases the damage reduction provided by Defensive Stance by 5%. Also allows you to forgo your defensive role, and instead focus only on offensive capabilities, by replacing Battle Stance with Gladiator Stance.	Gladiator Stance is a means for a Protection Warrior to become a damage dealer instead of a tank while still using the weapon and shield playstyle of a Protection Warrior.

Arms

The Arms Warrior is the master of weapons. Relying on precision and skill, dealing out masterful strikes with a two-handed weapon, this is the discipline of the blademaster. Arms Warriors are the master soldiers, the battlefield savants. Thanks to their Weapons Mastery, the Arms Warrior can focus on brutal, punishing strikes that make the most of a two-handed weapon. Arms has a varied toolkit, and can make good use of it in situations when fighting multiple opponents, as well as when fighting a single target. Flexibility and control are the highlights of the Arms Warrior in battle. Unlike Fury, Arms is exclusively about the use of a single two-handed weapon, and it eschews the weapon and shield dreadnaught approach of Protection for raw offense.

Specialization Abilities

Ability	Level	Description
Execute	10	Attempt to finish off a foe, causing 150% Physical damage to the target, and consuming up to 30 additional Rage to deal up to 300% additional damage. Only usable on enemies that have less than 20% health.
Rend	10	Wounds the target, causing bleed damage over 18 sec, and a final burst of bleed damage when the effect expires.
Mortal Strike	10	A vicious strike that deals 215% Physical damage and reduces the effectiveness of healing on the target for 10 sec. Replaces Heroic Strike.
Seasoned Soldier	10	While wielding a two-handed melee weapon, all damage dealt is increased by 10%.
Thunder Clap	14	Blasts all enemies within 8 yards for damage and reduces their movement speed by 50% for 6 sec.
Whirlwind	26	In a whirlwind of steel you attack all enemies within 8 yards, causing 200% Physical damage with your main-hand weapon to each enemy.
Plate Specialization	50	Increases your Strength by 5% while wearing only Plate armor.
Die by the Sword	56	Increases your parry chance by 100% and reduces damage taken by 20% for 8 sec.
Sweeping Strikes	60	Your melee attacks strike an additional nearby opponent for 50% damage. Lasts 10 sec. Using this ability in Defensive Stance activates Battle Stance.
Inspiring Presence	80	You inspire all nearby party and raid members, granting 3% Versatility.
Colossus Smash	81	Smashes a target for 140% Physical damage and causes your attacks to bypass all of their armor for 6 sec. Bypasses less armor on players. Using this ability in Defensive Stance activates Battle Stance.
Rallying Cry	83	Temporarily grants you and all party or raid members within 30 yards 15% increase to maximum health for 10 sec. After this effect expires, the health is lost.
Recklessness	87	Grants your special attacks an additional 15% chance to critically strike and increases your critical strike damage by 10%. Lasts 10 sec. Using this ability in Defensive Stance activates Battle Stance.
Weapon Mastery	90	You gain 5% more of the Mastery stat from all sources.

Draenor Perks

Draenor Perks are four special boosts to different abilities that are earned, at random, as the player levels from 91 to 100.

Perk	Description
Enhanced Rend	Each of your autoattacks causes additional Physical damage from your Rend on the target.
Enhanced Sweeping Strikes	Sweeping Strikes now lasts 5 sec longer.
Improved Die by the Sword	Increases the damage reduction from Die by the Sword by 10%
Improved Recklessness	Increases your Critical Strike Chance while Recklessness is active by an additional 15%.

Rotation

For Arms Warriors, you have two main elements to consider. You should get Rend up on a target and keep it up. Next, you want to hit Colossus Smash whenever it is up.

First, if possible, use Charge to generate Rage.
Next, hit Rend, as it is bleed damage and not affected by armor. You must reapply Rend at least once every 18 seconds.
Use Colossus Smash next, if possible, as it allows you to ignore all armor for six seconds.
Use Mortal Strike, Arms’ heaviest attack, next. Use this as soon as it comes up again, on cooldown.
There are certain talents you may have taken, such as Storm Bolt or Slam. If you have one or both of these, use them during the Colossus Smash debuff if at all possible.
Finally, if you have nothing else to spend Rage on, use Whirlwind and avoid capping Rage.
When fighting multiple enemies at once, work Sweeping Strikes into your rotation, and prioritize Whirlwind above attacks like Storm Bolt or Slam (or even Rend). Also use talents like Dragon Roar, Shockwave, or Bladestorm when in a fight with multiple enemies. This is called AoE (Area of Effect) damage.

Group Play

An Arms Warrior is a damage player, and your role in a group is simply to deal damage to your enemies—you use your weapons and attacks to help your group destroy attackers.

Stand behind a target when in a group. Your job is to avoid as much damage as possible while still performing your attacks, letting the healers focus as much as possible on the tank or tanks.

Against multiple targets, use specific abilities that hit multiple targets at once in order to do as much damage to them all as possible.

Group Buffs

Arms Warriors automatically provide Inspiring Presence, giving all nearby party or raid members 3% Versatility. This increases all damage dealt and decreases damage taken. In addition, Arms Warriors have either Battle Shout to add attack power or Commanding Shout to add Stamina. Only one shout may be active from one Warrior at a time.

Arms Warriors also provide Rallying Cry, which raises the health of all party or raid members within 30 yards by 15% for 10 seconds.

Preparing for High-End Content

Gear in Warlords of Draenor is more flexible than in previous expansions, but it still bears repeating that Arms Warriors value Strength over Agility or Intellect. If a piece of gear does not have Strength for whatever reason, it is not as useful for damage output as a piece that does.

Arms Warriors value Mastery, Haste, Crit, Multistrike, and Versatility on gear, in that order.

Fury

The Fury Warrior is the bloodthirsty berserker, lashing out with two weapons on anything that crosses his or her path. While other classes such as Rogues, Death Knights, Shaman, and Monks can dual wield, only a Fury Warrior can dual wield both regular one-handed and larger two-handed weapons. Fury Warriors have access to Crazed Berserker, which increases off-hand weapon damage and brings one-handed weapons up to parity with two-handed in terms of damage.

Fury is the damage dealing spec that focuses on raw brutality rather than heavy armor and a weapon and shield like Protection or Arms’ focus on precise control of a single two-handed weapon. Fury is explosive, and its practitioners let themselves go into Enrages that increase their damage output.