Arms Warriors are masters of the two-handed sword and deliver deadly blows.
When you play as a Arms Warrior in World of Warcraft, you deal a lot of damage to your opponents with powerful two-handed weapons. However, you can also play a damage dealer as a Fury Warrior or choose a tank specialization with the Protection Warrior.
The most important changes
Compared to Battle for Azeroth, Arms Warriors still play similarly, and those who were already familiar with this specialization before will hardly have to get used to anything new. Whirlwind now only hits five targets, Blade Storm only eight.
Also returning are the abilities Intervene, Piercing Howl, and Shattering Throw. Shattering Throw removes all magical immunization effects, making it an important addition for Warriors, especially in PvP.
The most important change, however, is to the mastery: Deep Wounds. This now increases the target’s damage taken by all of the Warrior’s abilities, instead of just DoTing the opponent. Execution no longer inflicts Deep Wounds, resulting in Deadly Strike regaining a more important place in the rotation.
In addition, Colossal Smash now inflicts Deep Wounds. Since the duration of the effect has also been extended, it shouldn’t be too difficult to maintain. There is also little change to the talents. Collateral Damage increases the damage of the next Whirlwind by 25% for each ability used during Far Reaching Strikes columns as a talent now replaces Far Reaching Strikes, hitting up to five enemies in front of you and inflicting Deep Wounds.
How to play the Arms Warrior
Your attribute prioritization for the Arms Warrior is as follows:
- Strength
- Speed
- Critical Hit Rating
- Mastery
- Versatility
| Stage | Talent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Skullsplitter | Strikes an enemy on the skull, dealing 867 physical damage. Generates 20 rage. |
| 25 | Double Time | Increases the maximum number of charges of Storm Attack by one and reduces the cooldown by three seconds. |
| 30 | Rend | Wounds the target, dealing 274 physical damage immediately and an additional 1,191 bleed damage over 15 seconds. Increases the critical damage you deal to the enemy by 10%. |
| 35 | Defensive Stance | A defensive combat stance that reduces all damage taken by 20% and all damage dealt by 10%. Lasts until cancelled. |
| 40 | Warbreaker | Replaces Colossal Smash. Strikes the ground and shatters the armor of all enemies within eight meters. Deals 1,549 physical damage and increases the damage you deal to those enemies by 30% for ten seconds. |
| 45 | In For The Kill | Warbreaker or Colossal Smash increases your speed by 10% or by 20% if a target has less than 20% health. Lasts for ten seconds. |
| 50 | Anger Management | For every 20 Rage remaining, the remaining cooldown of Warbreaker or Colossal Strike and Blade Storm is reduced by one second. |
Your primary goal is to maintain Deep Wounds on all enemies and use Colossal Smash/Warbreaker on cooldown to optimize your damage. You build up your rage by using Overpower to boost the next use of your Deadly Strike and bring it down on the enemy.
Rage then flows primarily into Execute and Wound, with lowest priority into Shatter. Once you are fighting multiple targets, you should use Far Reaching Strikes/Splits as often as possible – unless you are about to use a Blade Storm. For maximum damage, try to use all of your strongest cooldowns so that they fall within the duration of Colossal Smash.
