Arms Warrior DPS Easy Mode — Season 4
On this page, we explain how to easily play Arms Warrior in World of Warcraft — Season 4, using the simplest rotation, talent tree, stat priority, gear setup, etc., without sacrificing performance.
Foreword
This section is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous priorities and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.
The Basics of Arms Warrior
Arms is a combination damage dealer that focuses on big hits and bleeds. While the base rotation is not very complicated, talents can add extra attacks or replacement abilities in order to allow customization, though it also means more playstyles to learn. The build showcased here is a simple yet effective play style, good for all types of game content, which is meant to help new players learn the fundamentals of Arms.
If you are completely new to Arms and need more information on the abilities available to you, you can check out our Spell Summary page.
Talent Choices for Arms Warriors
This talent set is is a hybrid build very similar to popular Mythic+ builds, which offers a range of capabilities to introduce players to Arms' single target, burst, and AoE tools. While there may be better-performing builds for specific pieces of content, they are also more specialized. Despite being the "easy mode", it is still quite effective for questing, dungeons, and entry raid content. As you gear up, acquire tier bonuses, or plan to engage with specific forms of content, more specialized builds will become available.
Remember that you can easily import the talent tree below into the game with either of the two "Copy Export String" buttons:
If you are looking for the best Arms Warrior talent builds, which do not compromise on performance for ease of use, you can find a more in-depth analysis on our full talents page below.
Stat Choices for Arms Warriors
The current Arms stat priority is as follows when using this build:
- Strength;
- Haste;
- Critical Strike;
- Versatility;
- Mastery.
Critical Strikes more than double all damage dealt and increase Rage generation from auto-attacks, which reduces downtime in the rotation. Mastery increases damage taken by enemies, while Haste compresses the rotation, increasing auto-attack speed and reducing the time between ability casts. Finally, Versatility is a static damage increase, which also reduces damage taken by half the amount.
While the stat priority for classes is normally the same for both the Easy Mode page and our full guide, subtle differences may still occur. If you want to see a full explanation of the stat priority, as well as the absolute top choices for the priority, head to our full stats page below.
Basic Rotation for Arms Warrior
The simplified rotation outlined below encompasses both single and multiple target situations using our suggested talents. While the Arms playstyle is relatively straightforward, it is key to remember there are two distinct periods: when the target is above 35% health and the Execute phase below that mark. Prior to 35% health, Warriors will spend the majority of their time using Mortal Strike, Overpower, and one of three Rage spending abilities.
- Cast Fyr'alath the Dreamrender either before Avatar or after its duration has expired, whenever doing so will not put you in danger. Some encounter timing will require using it after opening cooldowns.
- Cast Thunder Clap to apply Rend or refresh it when the debuff has less than 4 seconds remaining.
- Cast Sweeping Strikes when there are multiple targets and Bladestorm is on cooldown.
- Cast Avatar on cooldown whenever enemies will live long enough to benefit from the full duration.
- Cast Warbreaker on cooldown, aligned with other cooldowns as much as possible.
- Cast Whirlwind with Storm of Swords talented.
- Cast Cleave against multiple targets.
- Cast Thunderous Roar on cooldown.
- Cast Bladestorm against multiple targets.
- Cast Mortal Strike on cooldown, for damage and to maintain Deep Wounds.
- Cast Overpower to buff Mortal Strike or Cleave.
- Cast Thunder Clap to spend excess rage with Blood and Thunder talented.
All builds focus on the same principle of resetting the cooldown of Overpower with Tactician procs to buff Mortal Strike, and using it in turn to maintain Deep Wounds. Other talents add extra abilities and maintenance buffs and replace other abilities within the rotation.
Changelog
- 22 Apr. 2024: Updated with new talent and rotation recommendations for Season 4.
- 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 01 May 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1
- 24 Jan. 2023: Talent build updated for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 18 Nov. 2022: Update Fervor of Battle use and description.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Warrior Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Archimtiros, Warrior class theorycrafter and SimulationCraft developer who has been writing class guides for more than a decade. You can follow him on Twitter or see more of his day to day work in Skyhold, the Warrior Discord.
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