Arms Warrior DPS Mythic+ Tips — Shadowlands 9.0.2

Mythic+ Dungeons, especially high ones, are arguably the highest level of competitive PvE content that WoW has to offer aside from Mythic raiding.

Arms is a multi-target powerhouse in Shadowlands, with a multitude of tools to handle various situations, including two target with Sweeping Strikes, three or more targets with Cleave, and burst AoE using Warbreaker alongside Bladestorm. Where the specialization falters is in its defensive toolkit and lack of group utility options. While Defensive Stance is one of the better defensive abilities, the reduced damage makes it more difficult to use effectively than other specializations defensive tools.

Because the majority of Mythic+ revolves around dealing with multiple targets, Arms follows the basic multi-target priority laid out in the Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities page. The key difference is in predicting the layout of the dungeon, and knowing when to save cooldowns versus when to use them. Smartly saving your cooldowns when a target is about to die, and instead using it on a fresh pack which will survive the duration of your burst damage is far more efficient and will help your group finish on time.

If you are unfamiliar with Mythic+ and its associated general mechanics, you can read more about it on our Shadowlands Mythic+ Season 1 page below.

Below are the suggested talents for Mythic+, and although there is one primary dungeon build, a couple talents can shift slightly depending on your Covenant choice or preferences.

Level	Choices
15	✗ War Machine	✓ Sudden Death	✓ Skullsplitter
25	✓ Double Time	✗ Impending Victory	? Storm Bolt
30	✓ Massacre	✓ Fervor of Battle	✗ Rend
35	✗ Second Wind	? Bounding Stride	✓ Defensive Stance
40	✗ Collateral Damage	? Warbreaker	✓ Cleave
45	✗ In For The Kill	✓ Avatar	✗ Deadly Calm
50	✗ Anger Management	✓ Dreadnaught	✗ Ravager

Arms Warriors have a lot of talent choice when it comes to Mythic+, with the flexibility to bring extra defensives, utility, and tailor their damage to the expected situation.

• Level 15: War Machine has high potential Rage generation if you pull quick enough, but Skullsplitter gives Rage when you actually need it, helping fill gaps in your rotation.
• Level 25: Double Time is a staple for both mobility and rage generation leading to more damage, although Storm Bolt can be taken when stuns are needed to lock down difficult targets.
• Level 30: Fervor of Battle is not a burst option, but synergizes well with the rest of the toolkit and provides extra multitarget damage. On the other hand, Massacre is very strong when taking Condemn as part of the Venthyr Covenant.
• Level 35: Defensive Stance is an amazing on-demand defensive, especially when pushing into higher keystone levels. In places where it is not necessary to survive, Bounding Stride is extremely useful for getting out of tight situations.
• Level 40: Warbreaker syncs perfectly with Bladestorm for high burst potential, but Cleave has the highest raw output when consistently facing multiple targets, making it a choice of greater burst or more frequent damage.
• Level 45: Avatar likewise lends itself toward burst damage, and performs even better when combined with Signet of Tormented Kings, due to the greater frequency of proccing buffs.
• Level 50: Dreadnaught create AoE shockwaves which add a consistent amount of extra damage over the course of a dungeon. During Sweeping Strikes, two shockwaves will form which both hit every available target.

For the most part, your rotation will remain the same as normal in Mythic+ dungeons. Because of the nature of dungeons, however, with mobs dying constantly and there sometimes being downtime in between packs, we recommend taking the following extra considerations.

Note that the information below specifically pertains to Mythic+. If you require more general information, you should go to the main Rotation page below.

1. Open with Charge whenever possible
2. Colossus Smash on the primary or longest lived target
3. Cleave / Warbreaker to apply and maintain Mastery: Deep Wounds
4. Overpower
5. Condemn / Spear of Bastion / Ancient Aftershock
6. Bladestorm
7. Execute
8. Whirlwind

Battle Shout increases attack power by 5%, which applies to all melee specs and Warrior abilities, even those which do not deal purely Physical damage.

Pummel is crucial in Mythic+ as interrupting dangerous spell casts is of the utmost importance.

Rallying Cry applies to the entire party, making it a strong defensive tool during periods of group-wide damage, or a personal cooldown as needed.

Spell Reflection is exceptional in Mythic+, either for reducing the damage of powerful debuffs, or reflecting high damage and debilitating effects. Although the ability can be used quite often due to its low cooldown, properly identifying which abilities should be reflected is key, as it can completely nullify dangerous effects and render some enemies completely harmless.

Storm Bolt is another useful tool in stopping enemy attacks and spellcasts, although it comes at the cost of Double Time, which is a very strong mobility option. Intimidating Shout can also be used as a faux stun, but much less reliably.

Currently the best choice of Legendary for Mythic+ dungeons is Signet of Tormented Kings, as the extra Bladestorm procs contribue a great deal of extra damage when facing multiple targets. Judgment of the Arbiter is also a good choice when paired with another player also using the effect.

Covenants are a major system in Shadowlands, requiring players to make a choice between four different factions to align with. As each grants a different special ability and customization options, choosing between them can be very difficult for players. Below, we have outlined a brief overview of each Covenant in Mythic+, in order of how well they perform, though it is extremely important to understand that the difference between each amounts to a small difference in total performance — less than 10% under ideal conditions, so players can safely choose any of the four and still be not only successful, but competitive inside Mythic+.

Night Fae offers Ancient Aftershock, which is a strong multi-target attack which also knocks down enemies and generates Rage over time. While it is the strongest Covenant inside of the AoE heavy Mythic+ dungeons, it is also harder to use effectively than many of the other options. The AoE attack has a long cooldown and leaves behind a ground effect, which enemies must remain in to take damage and generate rage, and while it does continually knock down enemy targets, it is still possible for them to escape the field and deprive you of those advantages. The signature ability, Soulshape is also only moderately useful, due to the high amount of mobility Warriors already have and the inability to attack while transformed.

Kyrian grants Spear of Bastion, which is a ranged AoE attack that tethers enemies for a short time. While only very slightly weaker than Night Fae, the Spear has an advantage in a lower cooldown and dealing immediate damage, rather than over the span of 12 seconds, making it much easier to use effectively and gain full value every time it is cast. This makes it a very competitive choice and actually narrows the already small gap between the two Covenants. The signature ability, Phial of Serenity is also the most useful secondary ability, as having an extra on-demand heal is always beneficial, with the added bonus of removing a wide variety of deadly and debilitating debuffs.

Venthyr replaces Execute with Condemn, which deals more damage and is useable at the beginning of encounters as well as the end. While the strongest sustained single-target choice, it falters in Mythic+ due to infrequent sustained execute phases and lack of burst AoE. That said, the Covenant as a whole is still only a few percent behind Night Fae and Kyrian in terms of total damage done, and it does contribute a good deal of priority damage to bosses and other important targets. The signature ability, Door of Shadows is only moderately useful, due to the cast time and high amount of instant mobility Warriors already have, although Soulbinds can enhance it with other effects, such as disorienting nearby enemies.

Necrolord teaches Conqueror's Banner, which is a group Critical Strike buff on a long cooldown. Because of its group-buffing nature, it can be difficult to put a value on exactly how strong the ability will be, as not everyone values Critical Strike the same and will not always have cooldowns aligned with it, but it is generally considered the weakest Covenant abilities for a few reasons. First and foremost, it has a long duration and a long cooldown, which means proper placement is key, and missing a use severely diminishes its total effectiveness, a situation which is exacerbated by the immobile ground effect requiring the group remain within the area to gain full value. When factoring the group buff, the Covenant is not actually far behind other choices, but the increased amount of effort required to make effective use out of the ability does not make it a very endearing choice. The signature ability, Fleshcraft is surprisingly strong though, even more so due to the regular corpses available in dungeons to amplify it even further.

Remember that no matter what your choice, there really is not a profound difference between Covenants, and they can all be successful in regular Mythic+ dungeons. If you are in a push group competing for world records, you may have a strategy which favors one or another, but in terms of total damage output, you should not feel bad about taking one over another.

When choosing your trinkets, there are two avenues of approach. The first is maximizing burst in conjuction with your cooldowns, while the second is maximizing single target in order to perform better on bosses. We recommend simulating yourself on Raidbots using the Patchwerk option for raids and single-target, and DungeonSlice (Mythic+/AoE Fights) Fight Styles. Usually, we recommend using trinkets that proc stats, rather than single-target damage dealers.

You can also get a quick overview of good Mythic+ Trinkets on our Gearing page, specifically the Simulation chart for multi-target scenarios.