World of Warcraft: Forever Arms Warrior 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, greatly improving the leveling and farming experience.

This guide covers leveling and PvE play through Level 30. 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 30 toolkit and do not reflect end-game potential.

Our first 5 points go 3 into Improved Rend and 2 into Deflection. Rend is something we will want to always apply at the start of combat with a mob, and increasing our parry chance provides improved survivability, as well as a very small damage increase through parry hastening.

Next we go 2 points into Improved Overpower, boosting Overpowers crit chance by a massive 50%. After well put 5 points into Improved Tactical Mastery simply to reach Anger Management, which generates 1 Rage every 3-seconds while in combat; it also reduces your Rage decay outside of combat, allowing you to keep your Rage up between pulls. Finish this section off with 2 points into Deep Wounds for now.

Pick up Spearing Strike here, its' not all that powerful of an ability, but for only 15 Rage we can use it as a Rage dump and a finisher move. 3 points in Two-Handed Weapon Specialization is a minor but consistent damage increase while wearing a two-handed weapon. Put another point into Deep Wounds to complete the talent here, giving us a bit extra damage whenever we crit. For our last talent point we will get Sweeping Strikes, duplicating your next 5 attacks onto a second nearby target. This is great for dungeons and allows you to pull a second mob whenever you have the Rage and cooldown available.

For those players who have invested into the legacy points system, it is possible to have a total of 5 extra talent points during this Level 30 cap on the beta if you take 5 points in Talented. We suggest putting those 5 points in Bloodthrill, giving your Main Hand attacks against targets debuffed with Rend a 20% chance to activate the use of Overpower.

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: Night Elf — Elune's Light increases your Critical Strike Chance by 10% for 15 seconds, giving you a strong offensive cooldown that lines up well with other cooldowns. Shadowmeld allows you to temporarily drop threat, giving you a moment to let tanks regain aggro. Quickness increases your Movement Speed by 2%, which increases your overall uptime on any encounter that has extensive movement. Wisp Spirit increases your Movement Speed while dead by 75%, making corpse runs much faster if you do die.

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.

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 two 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 30. 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.

Berserker Stance becomes available from Level 30 after completing the Warrior class quest. This stance increases your critical strike chance by 3%, but also causes you to take 10% more damage. It allows you to use abilities such as Whirlwind and Pummel once you learn them; you will mostly only use this stance while in dungeons and not tanking.

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.

Victory Rush becomes available at Level 20 and can be used for 20-seconds after you kill an enemy thats worth experience. It has no Rage cost, deals some damage, and restores up to 10% of your max health, making it especially useful when fighting enemies back-to-back. Use it before the Victorious buff expires after 20-seconds; Victory Rush also has a 30-second cooldown, preventing you from using it every single kill.

Intimidating Shout becomes available at Level 22 and causes your target to cower in fear while nearby enemies flee for a short time. Use it to create space when a pull goes badly, interrupt a dangerous cast, or give yourself time to escape. Be careful near other enemies, as fleeing targets can run into another group.

Shield Wall becomes available at Level 28 and reduces the damage you take by 60% for 12 seconds. It requires Defensive Stance and a shield equipped to use it, and has a 15-minute cooldown. Save it for a dangerous pull or a as an emergency while you are running away from a deadly enemy.

Intercept becomes available at Level 30 and lets you charge an enemy during combat, dealing a small amount of damage and stunning it for 3-seconds. This is great for closing the gap on an enemy while in combat, catching a fleeing target or a player who is running away. Unlike Charge, Intercept costs Rage rather than generating it. Can only be used in Berserker Stance.

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. Use Bloodrage whenever available, ideally between pulls to help keep your Rage up.
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.
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. Apply Rend early;
   • 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.
5. 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 some 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, as shown by the buff it grants, Victorious.
6. 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. If you have Bloodthrill you will also get Overpower procs from time to time.
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 30. 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.
9. Spearing Strike if high Rage or surrounded;
   • Spearing Strike is an Arms talent, instantly dealing damage for 15 Rage; it deals triple damage against Giants and Dragonkins, so if you are fighting those enemy types, be sure to use it on cooldown. Outside of Giants and Dragons, Spearing Strike should mostly only be used as a small Rage dump if you are near cap, or as a way of finishing an enemy off if they begin to run away into another group of enemies.
10. Execute should not be used.
    • While Execute becomes available at Level 24, it usually isn't worth using while leveling. This is because Execute deals increased damage by consuming additional Rage, and will leave you with 0 Rage entirely. This extra damage is usually not needed to finish off an already low health mob, and keeping your Rage for the next mob will help you level much more quickly.

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 two 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. 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.

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.

At Level 30, Sweeping Strikes lets your next five melee attacks also hit a nearby enemy. It costs 30 Rage, so use it when you can keep two enemies together long enough to benefit from those attacks. It makes fighting two targets much faster, but only pull a second enemy when you can survive both and have a decent amount of Rage saved up beforehand so you can use multiple abilities.

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 loot and item stats entirely, so a Classic-style equipment list cannot be used to make a best-in-slot gear list for the beta. Specific level-30 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.

Upgrading your weapon is the single biggest gearing improvement you can make as an Arms Warrior while leveling. Weapon damage directly affects your auto-attacks and most of your damaging abilities, meaning a weapon upgrade will usually provide more value than small increases to stats on your armor. Always keep an eye out for a better weapon as you progress, even if its secondary stats are not perfect.

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:

1. Weapon Damage
   • Weapon Damage is the most important stat to consider while leveling. A stronger weapon increases the damage of your auto-attacks and most of your abilities, making weapon upgrades more valuable than small increases to other stats.
2. Hit Chance
   • Hit Chance reduces the chance that your melee attacks will miss. Missing an attack means dealing no damage and generating no Rage from that swing.
3. Crit Chance
   • Crit Chance increases your chance to critically strike with melee attacks and abilities. Critical strikes deal double damage and help you kill enemies much faster.
4. Strength
   • Strength increases your Attack Power, improving the damage of your auto-attacks and most of your abilities. It is one of your most reliable damage stats because it directly increases the damage you deal.
5. Agility
   • Agility increases your Crit Chance, Dodge chance, and provides a small amount of Armor. This gives you a useful combination of offensive and defensive value.
6. Stamina
   • Stamina increases your maximum Health, making it easier to survive accidental additional pulls, tank dungeons, or fight stronger enemies. Stamina does not increase your damage or directly reduce the damage you take, but having enough of it can make leveling much safer.

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.

• Potions
  • Greater Healing Potion — Restores 520 health instantly.
  • Great Rage Potion — Instantly grants 30 to 60 Rage.
  • Rage Potion — A cheaper alternative that grants 20 to 40 Rage.
  • Frenzy Potion — Briefly increases your Attack Power.
  • Free Action Potion — Prevents stuns and movement-impairing effects for 30 seconds; it does not remove effects already on you.
  • Swiftness Potion — Increases run speed by 50% for 15 seconds.

• Elixirs
  • Elixir of Ogre Strength — Increases Strength by 8 for one hour.
  • Elixir of Agility — Increases Agility by 15 for one hour.

• Weapon stones
  • Solid Sharpening Stone — Adds 6 damage to a sharp weapon for 30 minutes.
  • Solid Weightstone — Adds 6 damage to a blunt weapon for 30 minutes.

• Scrolls
  • Scroll of Strength II — Increases Strength by 9 for 30 minutes.
  • Scroll of Agility II — Increases Agility by 9 for 30 minutes.
  • Scroll of Protection III — Increases Armor by 180 for 30 minutes.

• Food buffs
  • Bear Brisket — Grants 10 Strength and 5% more experience from kills for 15 minutes.
  • Plain Ol' Paletusk — Grants 10 Strength and 5% more experience from kills for 15 minutes.

• Bandages
  • Heavy Mageweave Bandage — Heals 1,104 damage over eight seconds; requires 175 First Aid to use.
  • Mageweave Bandage — Heals 800 damage over eight seconds; requires 150 First Aid to use.

WoW Forever has a new Camping system, allowing players to create a Campfire and give all nearby players specific buffs. These buffs are meant to be a way for raids to buff themselves with specific buffs that they would otherwise be missing, but also allows you to get them while questing, albeit in a weaker form. These buffs do not stack with their counter parts, so a stats buff from Fish Bowl will not stack with Blessing of Kings for example, and the version you get at lower levels will generally be weaker than the player given buff you would get in a raid. Below you will see all of the buffs available for Warriors that you can look out for while in the open world:

• Fish Bowl — From Fishing, increases all stats; exclusive with Blessing of Kings.
• Camp Chair — From Skinning, increases Critical Strike chance; exclusive with the bonus provided by Moonkin Aura.
• Sharpening Wheel — From Blacksmithing, increases Strength; exclusive with Strength of Earth Totem.
• Lodestone — From Mining, increases melee Attack Power, exclusive with Blessing of Might.
• Enchanted Lute — From Enchanting, increases Armor, all stats, and resistances, exclusive with Mark of the Wild.
• First Aid Kit — From First Aid, increases Stamina. Exclusive with Power Word: Fortitude.

Worth mentioning while you are leveling is Camp Tent from Leatherworking, which grants a small bit of rested exp, giving you a slight boost in experience gains for a short while.

More WoW Forever Warrior Guides

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