Warrior PvE

Rotations & Guide · PvE · PvP · Builds · Abilities · Talent Calculator · Changes vs Classic

Warriors are rage-fuelled melee fighters that excel as tanks or two-handed/dual-wield damage dealers. Forever makes Tactical Mastery baseline so stance dancing keeps rage, reworks Slam into an 18 sec cooldown strike (Improved Slam no longer resets your swing), and adds Spearing Strike for dismounting and hitting giants.

Arms Warrior PvE guide

Arms is the two-handed damage spec. At level 20 a dungeon Arms warrior plays much like any warrior: Rend, Overpower, Slam and Heroic Strike, with Anger Management supplying Rage when nobody is hitting you. Its signature talents, Sweeping Strikes and Mortal Strike, come at 30 and 40, so at the current cap your job is to spend Rage well and not pull threat off the tank.

Your job in a group

Arms deals single-target melee damage with a two-handed weapon and brings Battle Shout, which raises the melee attack power of every party member within 20 yards. On packs you add Cleave (learned at 20), and Thunder Clap or Demoralizing Shout when the tank needs help. Arms has no interrupt of its own before Pummel at 38 unless you carry a shield for Shield Bash, so leave interrupts to the tank or a Rogue. Disarm takes the weapon off a hard-hitting humanoid for 10 sec, Hamstring stops a fleeing enemy from bringing friends, and if an enemy gets loose you can change to Defensive Stance and Taunt it off the healer.

Opener

• Battle Shout: Before the pull. It reaches every party member within 20 yd and lasts 3 min, so one cast covers several pulls.
• Charge: Once the tank has the enemy's attention and you aren't in combat yet: 9 Rage and a 1 sec stun. It can't be used in combat, so it is only an opener.
• Bloodrage: Right after Charge, or as soon as the pull starts if you walk in: 10 Rage at once and another 10 Rage over 10 sec. It puts you in combat, so never press it before Charge.
• Rend: On elites and bosses that will live through most of its 15 sec. Improved Rend makes the bleed stronger. Skip it on trash that dies quickly.
• Overpower: Every time the target dodges: a cheap weapon hit that can't be blocked, dodged or parried.
• Slam: Right after a swing lands, when it is off cooldown. Without the Fury talent Improved Slam its cast delays your next swing, so start it just after a swing to lose as little as possible.
• Heroic Strike: Your Rage dump on a single target once the tank has a lead. It causes a high amount of threat, and Improved Heroic Strike makes it cheaper.
• Cleave: Instead of Heroic Strike when two enemies stand together and nothing crowd-controlled is next to them.

Cooldowns

• Bloodrage: Whenever it is ready and you are short of Rage. It costs health rather than Rage, so skip it when the healer is struggling.
• Slam: Every time it comes off cooldown on a target that stands still. Blizzard's notes say its cooldown was raised in Forever, so it is a regular extra hit, not a filler you can repeat.
• Spearing Strike: New in Forever. Against Giants, Dragonkin and mounted enemies it deals an additional 80% weapon damage, so use it on cooldown there. On other enemies its 40% weapon damage isn't worth the Rage.
• Disarm: On a humanoid elite or boss that hits hard with a weapon: 10 sec without it takes pressure off the tank.
• Retaliation: When a pull goes wrong and several melee enemies hit you from the front: every melee hit on you for 15 sec is counterattacked. Its 15 min cooldown makes it an emergency button.

Stats

Weapon DPS, Strength, Hit, Critical Strike, Agility, Stamina. Overpower, Slam, Cleave and Spearing Strike all deal your weapon damage plus a bonus, so a two-hander with high damage per swing is the biggest upgrade you can find. Strength is your main damage stat. Hit stops swings and attacks from missing, and a missed attack wastes Rage as well as damage. Critical Strike gains value at 30, when the dungeon build takes Deep Wounds and Impale. Agility is a smaller gain, and Stamina comes last in a group with a healer.

Tips

• Charge and Bloodrage both belong at the start of a fight, but Bloodrage puts you in combat and Charge can't be used in combat. Always Charge first.
• Tactical Mastery, a trainer passive new in Forever at level 14, keeps up to 10 Rage when you change stance, and Improved Tactical Mastery raises that. If the tank dies, change to Defensive Stance and Taunt the enemy without losing all your Rage.
• Heroic Strike and Cleave both cause extra threat. In the first seconds of a pull, spend Rage on Rend, Overpower and Slam, and only dump Rage into Heroic Strike once the tank has a lead.
• Hamstring humanoids that turn to run at low health, so they can't bring more enemies back to the group.
• The client doesn't list which stance each attack needs. If an attack stays greyed out, change stance; Tactical Mastery means it costs you little Rage.

Fury Warrior PvE guide

Fury is the dual-wield damage spec, but at 20 the dungeon build's talents are all passive and you press the same buttons as any warrior. Cruelty adds crit, Unbridled Wrath adds Rage from your hits, and Improved Cleave makes Cleave cheaper for paired enemies. Fury's burst talent, Death Wish, arrives at 30 along with Dual Wield Specialization.

Your job in a group

Fury deals melee damage and brings Battle Shout for the whole party, which Improved Battle Shout makes stronger at 30. It is at its best on pulls of two or more, where a cheaper Cleave hits two enemies at once, and it can help the tank with Thunder Clap and Demoralizing Shout. Like Arms it has no interrupt before Pummel at 38 unless you carry a shield for Shield Bash. Disarm a hard-hitting humanoid, Hamstring enemies that run, and be ready to change to Defensive Stance and Taunt if an enemy breaks loose on the healer.

Opener

• Battle Shout: Before the pull, for every party member within 20 yd; it lasts 3 min.
• Charge: When the tank has the enemy and you aren't in combat yet: 9 Rage and a 1 sec stun.
• Bloodrage: Right after Charge: 10 Rage at once and another 10 Rage over 10 sec.
• Cleave: On packs once the tank has threat, when two enemies stand together and nothing crowd-controlled is next to them. Improved Cleave makes it cheaper.
• Slam: Right after a swing lands, when it is off cooldown. Until Improved Slam its cast delays your next swing.
• Heroic Strike: Your Rage dump on one target. Hold it until the tank has a lead, since it causes a high amount of threat.
• Overpower: Whenever the target dodges; it can't be blocked, dodged or parried, and it is cheap.

Cooldowns

• Bloodrage: Every time it is ready and you need Rage. It costs health, not Rage.
• Retaliation: When several melee enemies turn on you: every melee hit from the front for 15 sec is counterattacked. It has a 15 min cooldown.
• Spearing Strike: New in Forever: against Giants, Dragonkin and mounted enemies it deals an additional 80% weapon damage. Elsewhere it isn't worth the Rage.
• Disarm: On a humanoid that hits hard with a weapon: 10 sec without it.
• Demoralizing Shout: On packs of melee enemies: lowers the melee attack power of every enemy within 10 yd for 45 sec. Agree with the tank who casts it, so you don't both spend Rage on it.

Stats

Hit, Strength, Critical Strike, Agility, Weapon DPS, Stamina. Fury wants to land as many hits as possible: Unbridled Wrath gives Rage from weapon hits, and a miss wastes damage and Rage, so Hit comes first. Strength is your main damage stat, and Critical Strike stacks with Cruelty. Agility is a smaller gain. Weapon DPS matters for both weapons if you dual-wield, and for a two-hander, which gets 2 Rage per Unbridled Wrath proc instead of 1.

Tips

• Unbridled Wrath's tooltip gives 2 Rage per proc with a two-handed weapon and 1 with others. The client lets warriors dual-wield from level 20, but a good two-hander is a fine choice at the cap; the level 30 dungeon build is made for two one-handers with Dual Wield Specialization.
• Cleave and Heroic Strike both cause extra threat. Don't Cleave next to a crowd-controlled enemy, and give the tank a couple of seconds at the start of every pull.
• Blizzard raised Slam's cooldown in Forever and changed Improved Slam to shorten it again. Start Slam right after a swing lands so its cast delays your next swing as little as possible.
• If you pull threat, move toward the tank so they can Taunt the enemy back, or change to Defensive Stance if the tank is down; Tactical Mastery keeps up to 10 Rage when you do.

Protection Warrior PvE guide

Protection is the tanking spec: a one-handed weapon, a shield and Defensive Stance. At 20 you hold threat with Sunder Armor, Revenge and Heroic Strike, spread it on packs with Thunder Clap and Demoralizing Shout, and use Shield Block to turn blocks into Rage and Revenges. Blizzard corrected Sunder Armor's threat on all ranks in Forever, including a small increase to the threat it gets from attack power.

Your job in a group

You take the hits and hold every enemy's attention. Defensive Stance lowers the damage you take by 10% and raises all your threat by 30%. Thunder Clap hits up to 4 enemies and Demoralizing Shout reaches every enemy within 10 yards, and you tab between enemies with Sunder Armor and Revenge to keep each one on you. Shield Bash interrupts casters and locks out that spell school for 6 sec, which makes you the group's main interrupt. Taunt and Mocking Blow pull back an enemy that turns on the healer. Mark targets and ask for crowd control on big packs, since you have no area taunt until Challenging Shout at 26, and pull at a pace your healer's Mana can keep up with.

Opener

• Charge: Into the first enemy of the pull: 9 Rage and a 1 sec stun. It can't be used in combat, so it only opens.
• Defensive Stance: Straight after Charge: 10% less damage taken and 30% more threat. Tactical Mastery keeps some Rage when you switch.
• Bloodrage: Right away: 10 Rage now and 10 Rage more over 10 sec, raised by Improved Bloodrage.
• Thunder Clap: First on a pack: up to 4 enemies take damage and attack 20% slower for 14 sec.
• Demoralizing Shout: Reaches every enemy within 10 yd and lowers their melee attack power for 45 sec.
• Sunder Armor: On the main target, then tab to the others. It stacks up to 5 times and lasts 30 sec.
• Revenge: Every time it lights up after a block, dodge or parry: cheap and a high amount of threat.
• Shield Block: When the enemy is swinging at you: 75% more block chance for 7 sec, up to 2 blocks plus one more from Improved Shield Block. Every block gives Rage through Shield Specialization.

Cooldowns

• Taunt: When an enemy turns away from you. It has no effect on an enemy that is already attacking you.
• Mocking Blow: Your backup taunt when Taunt is on cooldown: the enemy focuses on you for 6 sec. It has a 2 min cooldown.
• Shield Bash: Interrupt a heal or a dangerous spell; it locks out that spell school for 6 sec.
• Disarm: On a boss or elite that hits hard with a weapon: 10 sec without it.
• Retaliation: When a big pull is all over you: every melee hit from the front for 15 sec is counterattacked. It has a 15 min cooldown.
• Bloodrage: Each time it is ready and you need Rage for threat. It costs health, which your healer has to cover.

Stats

Stamina, Armor, Defense, Block, Block Value, Dodge, Parry, Hit, Strength. Stamina and armor keep you alive while your healer catches up, and Toughness raises your armor from items. Defense, Block, Dodge and Parry all help you avoid or reduce hits, and every block also gives Rage through Shield Specialization and lights up Revenge. Hit and Strength add threat once you are hard to kill.

Tips

• Shield Specialization gives 5 Rage on every block, so keep Shield Block up against enemies that hit you often: it pays for itself and keeps Revenge available.
• Heroic Strike causes a high amount of threat, but it spends Rage you may need for Sunder Armor and Revenge. Use it only when you have Rage to spare.
• The tier 3 talent that adds threat in Defensive Stance while a shield is equipped is server-side in the current client, so none of the builds take it. If it later shows readable ranks, it will be worth a look.
• Mark a kill order and ask for crowd control before big pulls. Until Challenging Shout at 26 you have no way to pull a whole pack back to you.
• Thunder Clap only hits up to 4 enemies. On bigger pulls, Demoralizing Shout still reaches every enemy within 10 yards, so use both, then tab-Sunder whichever enemies aren't attacking you.

Checked against WoW Forever beta build 1.60.1.70009.

Warrior abilities

• Improved Intimidating Shout
• Long Daze
• Battle Shout (level 1)
• Battle Stance (level 1)
• Heroic Strike (level 1)
• Improved Challenging Shout (level 1)
• Improved Pummel (level 1)
• Spearing Strike (level 1)
• Charge (level 4)
• Rend (level 4)
• Thunder Clap (level 6)
• Hamstring (level 8)
• Bloodrage (level 10)
• Defensive Stance (level 10)
• Sunder Armor (level 10)
• Taunt (level 10)
• Overpower (level 12)
• Shield Bash (level 12)
• Demoralizing Shout (level 14)
• Revenge (level 14)
• Tactical Mastery (level 14)
• Mocking Blow (level 16)
• Shield Block (level 16)
• Disarm (level 18)
• Cleave (level 20)
• Retaliation (level 20)
• Slam (level 20)
• Intimidating Shout (level 22)
• Execute (level 24)
• Challenging Shout (level 26)
• Shield Wall (level 28)
• Berserker Stance (level 30)
• Intercept (level 30)
• Berserker Rage (level 32)
• Whirlwind (level 36)
• Pummel (level 38)
• Recklessness (level 50)