Arms Warrior Torghast Guide and Best Anima Powers — Shadowlands 9.0.5

This page will help give advice on navigating Torghast, Tower of the Damned, as an Arms Warrior. For more details on Torghast itself, check our dedicated pages.

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

✘ War Machine

✔ Sudden Death

✔ Skullsplitter

Sudden Death will perform better with Condemn from the Venthyr covenant, while Skullsplitter will tend a bit better otherwise.

✔ Double Time

✘ Impending Victory

✔ Storm Bolt

Double Time is usually the go-to talent, although Storm Bolt can be a useful choice for stunning dangerous targets when survivability is a problem.

✔ Massacre

✔ Fervor of Battle

✘ Rend

Massacre is generally the strongest, although certain Anima Powers can affect this choice. Voracious Culling Blade will eventually make Execute usable at any health percent, thereby replacing Massacre entirely, while stacking Bloodstained Whetstone makes Fervor of Battle better.

? Second Wind

✔ Bounding Stride

✔ Defensive Stance

Bounding Stride helps get through the activity, although Defensive Stance is the better defensive option when needed.

✘ Collateral Damage

✘ Warbreaker

✔ Cleave

Cleave generally performs best due to maintaining Mastery: Deep Wounds on the frequent multi-target pulls. Other talents can be used for varying degrees of increased burst damage, but are not typically better than having a reliable way to benefit from mastery.

✘ In For The Kill

✔ Avatar

✔ Deadly Calm

Deadly Calm is excellent for jumpstarting rage generation, working best with Condemn or Voracious Culling Blade. It is possible to gain enough rage generation from powers such as Brawler's Brass Knuckles that it is not needed though, in which case Avatar should instead be used.

✘ Anger Management

✔ Dreadnaught

✘ Ravager

While Dreadnaught is the best choice across the board, due to the increased single target and AoE damage it provides.

Throughout your climb through Torghast, you will be offered up a variety of Anima Powers as you progress. Some of these are unique, while others can stack and making the right choice first time can be difficult. Because of that we have made a Tier List below that helps make quick decisions if you are struggling.

Remember though, do not follow the list blindly, there is a lot of different playstyles to explore within Torghast and trying things out is part of the enjoyment. None of the powers are necessary to complete a run, and picking a power that improves something you rarely use will ultimately be useless. After all, you might not run into the power that you are looking for each run!

For a complete list of Anima Powers available to Warriors, please refer to the pages linked just below.

• Scratched Knife
• Warlord's Resolve
• Unbound Fortitude (with Warlord's Resolve)
• Voracious Culling Blade
• Brawler's Brass Knuckles
• Smoldering Inertia

• Hurricane Heart
• Bloodstained Whetstone (with Hurricane Heart)
• Fan of Longswords (with Hurricane Heart)
• Zovaal's Warbanner
• Spearheads of Eternity
• Spattered Soles (for mobility)

• Battlelord's Cypher
• Battlelord's Ultimatum
• Writhing Noose
• Edge of Hatred (without Voracious Culling Blade)
• Shadehound Tooth (without Voracious Culling Blade)
• Livingwood Pommel

• Bladed Bulwark
• Champion's Decree
• Gibbering Skull
• Ogundimu's Fist (Kyrian)
• Periapt of Furor
• Pleonexian Command
• Ragemote
• Resonant Throatbands
• Shrieking Flagon
• Singing Stones
• Soulwrought Studs
• Succulent Carpaccio
• Thundering Roar
• Umbral Ear Trumpet
• Battlelord's Invocation
• Battlelord's Legacy
• Battlelord's Lesson
• Battlelord's Mythos
• Ancient Prolegomenon
• Elysian Shoulderwrap
• Kyrian Warhelm
• Stonepiercer Signet
• Distillation of Sin
• Pridebreaker's Anvil
• Hateful Fetish
• Repulsive Pennant
• Sinew-Sewn Tassels
• Overgrowth Catalyst
• Petrified Wildseed

If an Anima Power is not in the Tier List above, it is either because we have been unable to test due to being unavailable as a pick, or information about its tuning is not complete. It will be added to the list as we find out more.

Occasionally you will be offered the ability to get Phantasma instead of an Anima Power, or increases to your Phantasma generation. Judging these is more difficult because it depends on how much of each floor you are clearing. Grabbing these early on is usually a good idea so you can make use of vendors, while the later the run goes the less valuable these are.

Arms Warriors have a very strong toolkit for dealing with the mixed pulls in Torghast, backed by several powerful anima powers which create interesting gameplay builds. The only real weakpoint is a lack of in-combat self healing, but that is easily be compensated for by numerous defensive abilities and anima powers which enhance them. Some tips for gameplay are:

• Scratched Knife is the best power, which will almost always take out the strongest enemy or boss on the floor in one hit and grant an extra anima power, leading to many more powers over the course of a run than otherwise.
• Combining Brawler's Brass Knuckles and Voracious Culling Blade will result in a one-button rotation capable of decimating everything in your path.
• Stacking Hurricane Heart and Bloodstained Whetstone can create a very strong self healing build.
• Gaining enough Unbound Fortitude and Warlord's Resolve will result in a 100% uptime on Die by the Sword, making you nearly immortal.
• Do not be afraid to kite if you feel you are in danger, using Piercing Howl and Intimidating Shout.
• Do not rush into big pulls if you have no cooldowns and are not stable. Torghast has no timer, and enemies can become very dangerous at higher floor levels so know your limits.