Forever Arms Warrior Melee DPS Guide

Arms Warrior focuses on using a two-handed weapon, managing your Rage, and taking advantage of strong attacks when opportunities appear. Your weapon will have a major impact on your damage while leveling, making upgrades especially important as you progress. At level 20, Victory Rush also gives you a reliable way to recover health after a kill, grealy improving the leveling and farming experience.

This guide covers leveling and PvE play through level 20. The talent build and combat advice are starting recommendations based on the available WoW Forever trainer and talent information. They will be refined as beta testing reveals anything that was missed in the demo, as well as any updates that come to the game.

The scores below are early ratings based on the Level 20 toolkit and do not reflect end-game potential.

These fundamentals will carry you through most of the leveling process, from choosing useful professions and racials to keeping your abilities trained and fighting enemies close to your level. Following these basics will make leveling more consistent and help reduce unnecessary downtime as you progress.

Warriors want to fight enemies around their level or even slightly below the. Before pulling, check your health, nearby enemies, and available space. Recover between fights when necessary, and group up for elites or a crowded quest area. If needed, use a ranged weapon to pull the enemy back to you rather than going in.

A weapon upgrade should be one of your top priorities. Compare its damage per second and damage range with your current weapon, and keep the relevant weapon skill trained. After changing weapon types, practice against lower-level enemies to level up that particular weapon skill, bringing it up to par with your current level; a new weapon will not perform as expected while its weapon skill is far behind.

Return to your trainer often for useful abilities and new spell ranks, and be sure to add any newly trained abilities to your action bars. Save some money for the trainer instead of spending everything on a small equipment upgrade that you will quickly replace anyways.

Mining and Blacksmithing pair well together while leveling, as Mining directly supplies Blacksmithing the materials needed to craft your own weapons and armor. Not every crafted item will be an upgrade, so compare each recipe with your current gear before spending your limited materials. Use Blacksmithing to fill useful gaps in your equipment rather than slowing down your leveling route to craft every available recipe.

Engineering is another strong option, especially for Gnomes due to their racial Engineering Specialization. Once Blacksmithing has provided the gear you need, you can replace it with Engineering, or eventually replace Mining if you want to run Blacksmithing and Engineering together as your endgame professions. Do not drop Mining too early, however, as you should first gather the materials needed to fully level both professions and make your gear before giving up your primary source of ore.

Leveling Cooking as you go gives you a reliable way to make your own food and save plenty of money compared to buying it from vendors. Any food that provides a food buff now also grants 5% increased experience, making Cooking even more valuable during the leveling process. Fishing is a great profession to level alongside it, providing a steady supply of ingredients and helping you keep your Cooking skill up to date.

Alliance: Gnome — Escape Artist removes movement-impairing effects and briefly makes you immune to additional roots and slows, great for PvP and many PvE situations. Eureka increases the damage of your next three abilities by 10% and reduces their Rage cost by 40%, giving you an additional damage cooldown. Expansive Mind increases your maximum Rage by 5%, while Engineering Specialization improves the reliability of Engineering devices, making Gnome especially useful if you plan to take Engineering.

Horde: Orc — Blood Fury increases your Attack Power by 10% for 15 seconds, giving you a strong damage cooldown while leveling. Axe Specialization increases your Critical Strike Chance by 1% while using an axe, making axes especially valuable when available. Hardiness reduces the duration of stuns by 20%, while Shatter Curse removes and grants temporary immunity to Curses and Banes while also reducing Magical damage taken, giving Orc several useful offensive and defensive bonuses while leveling.

At Level 20, you do not have enough talent points to reach many of the stronger talents deeper in the Arms tree. Instead, we spend our early talent points in Fury, picking up several bonuses that immediately improve our damage and Rage generation while leveling. We will begin investing further into Arms once more talent points become available.

Cruelty increases your melee Critical Strike Chance by 5%, giving you a simple increase to your overall damage. One of the best early damage increases you can get for awhile, and hard to pass up no matter what spec you wish to play.

Unbridled Wrath gives your melee attacks a chance to generate an additional Rage, with two-handed weapons generating 2 additional Rage when it triggers. This directly helps with one of the biggest limitations of an early Arms Warrior, giving you more Rage to spend on abilities without needing to wait as long between attacks.

Our final point goes into Piercing Howl, giving you an additional way to slow nearby enemies by 50%. This is not part of your normal damage rotation, but can be extremely useful when fighting multiple enemies or when you need to create space and escape from a dangerous pull. Remember that Piercing Howl costs Rage, so avoid using it when the slow is not needed.

While you don't have access to your entire talent tree or spell book while on the beta, you can still learn much about a Warrior in the first few levels of gameplay.

Rage is the resource Warriors spend to use most of their abilities. You generate it through auto-attacks, taking damage, and abilities such as Charge and Bloodrage. Rage gradually decays outside of combat, so managing it carefully and learning a balancing of generating and spending Rage on important attacks is one of the first things you will learn as a Warrior. At low levels Rage comes in slowly, so its important to know which abilities to spend it on.

At level 4 you can train the first rank of Charge, allowing you to quickly close to distance on an enemy, and generates a bit of Rage. This is only usable outside of combat, so use it to close the gap and start the fight with a little bit extra Rage. You also get Bloodrage at level 10, allowing you to sacrifice health to generate 10 Range immediately, and another 10 Rage over 10-seconds. Try to use Bloodrage as often as possible to keep your Rage up, especially between pulls to prevent your Rage from decaying outside of combat.

Heroic Strike enhances your next auto-attack, spending Rage to gain additional damage on the next weapon swing. As it enhances your next auto-attack, it converts your attack into a special attack (yellow hit), rather than an auto-attack (white hit). Special abilities, or yellow hits, do not generate Rage, so Heroic Strike should be avoided most of the time while leveling, as it is mostly an end-game ability for when you have excessive Rage.

Stances are another unique feature that only Warriors have. Your current stance decides which abilities you are able to use, as some abilities can only be used in a specific stance; each stance also offers its own buff. Only one stance can be active at a time, but you can swap between them any time, even during combat. When you do change your stance, all Rage is lost, so only do so when needed. At level 14 you can learn Tactical Mastery, allowing you to retain up to 10 Rage when changing stances; this can further be improved with Improved Tactical Mastery.

Currently you only have access to 2 stances, Battle Stance by default, with Defensive Stance becoming available once you complete the Warrior class quest at level-10. Be sure to keep a one-handed weapon and shield ready for abilities that require a shield such as Shield Bash, which works in both Battle Stance and Defensive Stance, allowing you to interrupt from either stance as long as you have a shield equipped.

Battle Stance — This is your main stance for both questing and dealing damage at level 20. It allows you to use Charge to start a fight, and Overpower after an enemy dodges your attack. Stay in this stance the majority of the time unless you need to tank, or are taking too much damage.

Defensive Stance — Reduces the damage you take and deal by 10%. Also increases your threat generated by 30%, helping to keep enemies focused on you when you are tanking. Gives you access to abilities such as Shield Block and Disarm, giving you several defensive options when fighting stronger enemies.

Shield Bash is your only available interrupt at this level, and requires a shield to be equipped to use it. Keep a shield and one-handed weapon ready to equip when fighting enemies with dangerous casts, as it may save more health to interrupt the cast rather than using another damaging ability.

Hamstring slows your target, helping to prevent fleeing enemies from reaching a nearby group, or giving you space to retreat from a dangerous fight. Be aware of your surroundings when trying to escape, as moving carelessly can easily pull additional enemies.

Mocking Blow forces an enemy to attack you for a short time. This can be useful for pulling an enemy away from a vulnerable party member, but be prepared to take the incoming attacks yourself after using it. Remember that you can always equip a shield in any stance, and you may want to do so when fighting tougher enemies before using Mocking Blow.

Retaliation becomes available at level 20 and causes you to counterattack enemies that strike you from the front. This can be extremely useful when fighting multiple melee enemies or recovering from a difficult pull. Keep enemies in front of you to take full advantage of its effect, as you can not counterattack enemies that are behind you.

Below is our recommended rotation for Arms Warriors on the WoW Forever Beta. Each spell has additional information after it to explain in depth information about when and how to use the ability.

Be sure to not waste Rage by using any ability on an enemy right before it dies. When an enemy is low health, simply finish it off with an auto-attack to preserve your Rage for the next pull.

1. Prepare for the pull — Keep Battle Shout active at all times. If it is not active already at the start of combat, use it as soon as you have the Rage to do so.
2. Use Charge if possible — remember that Charge can only be used outside of combat, has a limited range, and can not be used if you are too close to the target. Be sure you are not charging into multiple enemies or you will be overwhelmed. If there are multiple enemies around the target, try to use a ranged weapon to pull the enemy back to you instead. Use Bloodrage if available after entering combat.
3. Debuff the target with Demoralizing Shout — When you are close to your target you will want to use Demoralizing Shout on non-casting enemies to reduce the damage that they deal. While this might seem minor, the extra health you save over time between pulls greatly reduces the amount of time you must stop to eat and heal up, giving you more time to fight enemies.
4. Use Victory Rush if available — At level 20 you can train Victory Rush, which can be used after killing an enemy around your level. Victory Rush costs no Rage, deals solid damage, and restores 10% of your maximum health. You want to use this early as it has a limited 20-second window to use it before the proc expires.
5. Use Overpower if possible — When an enemy dodges one of your attacks Overpower becomes available for a few seconds; be ready to use the proc quickly when it becomes available.
6. Apply Rend early — At these lower levels Rend is useful. Apply it early on in combat if that enemy that will survive for most of the bleeds duration. Don't reapply Rend when the target is close to death or you will waste most of the bleed and lose the Rage.
7. Sunder Armor once or twice early on — After completing the Warrior quest at level 10 you will unlock Sunder Armor, which is a stacking debuff that reduces the targets armor for each stack applied. Usually you will only have enough Rage to apply this once or twice during a fight. Don't waste Rage applying more Sunder Armors to targets below 50% as this is generally the breaking point where it's not longer worth it.
8. Slam right after an auto-attack — Slam becomes available to train at level 20. Slam has a short cast time, requiring you to remain stationary for a moment to get the attack off. Slam also resets your auto-attack swing timer, meaning you should only use Slam after landing a white attack. If you are struggling with timing Slam, you can spam the button to cast it when you are below 15 Rage, as it will then start casting after your next auto-attack lands. With future levels this won't be an issue when we can unlock the Improved Slam talent.

In early levels, Warrior does not deal all that much damage to multiple targets at once; you should avoid pulling more than one enemy at a time if possible. If you do pull more than one enemy at a time and can not run, you are typically better off trying to remove one enemy from the fight quickly, as this will usually save you more Health than spreading your damage evenly between both targets. When leveling with a healer you will typically want to pull 2 enemies at a time to give you more Rage generated from damage taken, and allowing you to kill more enemies at a time.

Cleave gives you a way to attack more than one enemy at a time, causing your next auto-attack to hit a second, nearby enemy. Cleave replaces your next auto-attack, turning it into a special attack, which means you won't generate Rage from it. This can be difficult to use early on due to the Rage cost and it is not uncommon to only be able to use this once or twice in a fight.

Thunder Clap and Demoralizing Shout help reduce the damage you take when fighting multiple melee enemies at once. Both abilities cost Rage, so only use them when the additional protection is useful rather than automatically using them in every fight. In dungeons, give your tank time to establish threat before using Cleave, and avoid attacking enemies that your group is keeping under crowd-control effects.

Here we will cover as much as we can with the available information about best in slot gear, stats, and consumables for Arms Warriors during WoW Forevers beta test.

WoW Forever has reworked dungeon loot and item stats entirely, so a Classic-style equipment list cannot be used to make a best-in-slot gear for the beta. Specific level-20 item recommendations will be added once most of the items and their drop sources have been discovered in the beta. We expect most of the best gear in the beta will come from dungeons and crafted profession such as Blacksmithing.

WoW forever has a unique stat distribution system when compared to other RPG games, where sometimes even a uncommon item can be better than a much rarer item. Be sure to compare potential upgrades entirely against each other, rather than simply just looking at their rarity or level requirement alone.

For now, prioritize a stronger two-handed weapon and useful armor upgrades following the stat priority recommendations down below. As a Warrior, be sure to always keep a usable shield and one-handed weapon on you at all times so you can quickly switch over to them with a macro when needed, or used them to tank should the need arise.

Stats are bonuses found on weapons and armor that improve different parts of your character; some increase your damage, while others improve your survivability. While leveling you do not need completely optimized gear. Instead, focus on consistently upgrading your gear with better items that improve your most important stats, shown below in order from best to worst:

Weapon Damage is your most important stat to consider while leveling. A stronger weapon increases the damage of both your auto-attacks and most of your abilities, making weapon upgrades more valuable than small increases to your other stats. In most cases, upgrading your weapon to one with higher damage is worth doing so even if its other stats are not ideal.

Hit Chance reduces the chance that your melee attacks will miss. Missing means you deal no damage with that attack and generate no Rage, making Hit Chance your best stat to look for. Gear with Hit Chance is typically uncommon at lower levels, but should you find some gear with Hit you will likely use that item for a long time.

Crit Chance increases your chance to critically strike with melee attacks and abilities. Crit strikes deal double the damage, generating more Rage and increasing your kill time greatly. Like Hit Chance, flat Crit Chance is not common on lower level gear, making it a valuable stat when available.

Strength increases your Attack Power, which improves the damage of your auto-attacks and most of your abilities. It's one of your most reliable damage stats as it simply increases your damage dealt, ensuring you always get value from it in every fight. Strength appears frequently on Warrior gear, even at early levels, making it a solid choice when comparing similar items.

Agility increases your Crit Chance, Dodge chance, and also provides a small amount of Armor. It is a useful stat that offers a nice mix of both offensive and defensiveness, but generally provides less overall value than Strength when comparing similar gear pieces.

Armor reduces the amount of Physical damage you take from enemy attacks, making it a strong defensive stat while leveling. More Armor allows you to survive longer in combat, reducing the amount of time you spend recovering between fights. Typically you will not look at an items Armor as the primary stat when determining whether or not it's an upgrade, but if two items are very close in stats, Armor can typically be the deciding factor between them.

Stamina increases your max Health, making it easier to survive when accidentally pulling additional enemies, tanking dungeons, or fighting harder mobs. Stamina does not increase your damage dealt or reduce your damage taken, but having enough Stamina can make leveling much safer.

Spirit increases your Health regeneration while out of combat, which can slightly reduce the amount of time you spend eating between fights. It provides some convenience while leveling, but is not important enough to prioritize over your main offensive or defensive stats.

Intellect increases your Mana and has no meaningful benefit for a Warrior. Gear with Intellect should generally only be considered if the item is a significant upgrade in other areas, such as Weapon Damage.

Specific potion and elixir recommendations are unknown at this time and will be updated as more information comes out with the beta. Keep an eye out for a suitable healing potion for your level, as this will be the most commonly available option at lower levels, and are absolutely amazing for both leveling and dungeons. Make sure to add these Health Potions to an action bar button that you will remember to use in an emergency situation.

Always keep at least one or two stacks of food on you to heal up between pulls as this is the main way for you to restore health as a Warrior on your own. You can also get the secondary profession First Aid and create bandages, allowing you to quickly heal a portion of your health over a short channel, and it is highly recommended to do so as healing with bandages is much quicker than healing with food.

More WoW Forever Warrior Guides

Protection Warrior Tank GuideFury Warrior Melee DPS Guide

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