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Arms Warrior Guide for WoW Forever

Arms Warrior builds for WoW Forever. Leveling talents to 30, the Mortal Strike raid build and PvP at 60, with rotation, gear and macros.

WarriorArmsLevelingPvEPvPRaidsDungeonsDPS

By stillsixty staffUpdated

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Variants

Overview

Arms is the two-handed Warrior, and in WoW Forever it plays like a real spec instead of a path to one button. You still build toward Mortal Strike, but Forever gives you a loop to feed it: keep Rend on the target, let Bloodthrill light up Overpower, and weave a fast, swing-friendly Slam between them. Every big hit is a crit waiting to happen, and Deep Wounds and Impale turn those crits into bleeds and bigger numbers.

The four old weapon specializations (Axe, Mace, Sword and Polearm) are gone. In their place sits Weaponmaster, one talent that rewards whatever weapon you carry: crit for axes and polearms, armor penetration for maces and staves, extra attacks for swords. Pick the best two-hander you can get and the talent follows you.

Rage works differently in Forever. You gain Rage per swing based on your weapon's speed, not on how hard you hit, and a critical strike gives no extra Rage. Your income is steady and predictable, so Arms plays around cooldowns and procs, not around Rage spikes.

Strengths

  • Big burst: Mortal Strike, Overpower and Slam all hit with your whole two-hander, and Execute finishes the job for 600 damage plus 15 per extra Rage.
  • Mortal Strike cuts healing by 50% for 10 seconds. It is your answer to every healer in PvP.
  • Bloodthrill turns Rend into a stream of Overpower procs, so the rotation never runs dry.
  • Weaponmaster works with every two-handed weapon type, so you never pass on an upgrade.
  • Sweeping Strikes and Spearing Strike give you cleave damage and a hard answer to Giants, Dragonkin and mounted players.
  • Strong solo from 10 to 60: Victory Rush, Deep Wounds and Anger Management keep you fighting.

Weaknesses

  • Arms lives in Battle Stance. Whirlwind, Intercept, Pummel and Recklessness all mean a stance swap.
  • Battle Stance cuts your threat by 20%, which helps in raids but gives you no margin when tanking an add.
  • Slam has an 18-second cooldown, so it is a filler you weave, not a button you spam.
  • No mobility beyond Charge and Intercept. Kiting casters make you work.
  • A single weapon means no off-hand swings and no Flurry. Your damage depends on landing big hits.

What's new in Forever

New in Forever
  • Weaponmaster (tier 5, 5 ranks) replaces Axe, Mace, Sword and Polearm Specialization. At 5/5: axes and polearms get +5% critical strike chance, maces and staves ignore 15% of the target's armor, swords get a 5% chance for an extra attack.
  • Bloodthrill (tier 5, 5 ranks): your main-hand attacks against a target with your Rend have a 4% chance per rank (20% at 5/5) to let you use Overpower for 6 seconds.
  • Spearing Strike (tier 4): 40% weapon damage, plus 80% more against Giants, Dragonkin and mounted targets, and it dismounts riders. 15 Rage, 20-second cooldown.
  • Improved Slam moved into Arms at tier 6. At 2/2 Slam casts in 1 second, no longer resets or delays your swing, and its cooldown drops from 18 to 15 seconds.
  • Slam is a trained 1.5-second attack with an 18-second cooldown for 15 Rage.
  • Tactical Mastery is baseline at 14: you keep up to 10 Rage when you change stance. Improved Tactical Mastery raises that to 25 and is the gate to Anger Management, which now generates 1 Rage every 3 seconds in combat.
  • Victory Rush is trained at 20 for every Warrior: usable for 20 seconds after you kill a non-trivial enemy, it heals you for 10% of your maximum health on a 30-second cooldown.
  • Improved Rend starts weaker: 12% and 23% bleed damage on ranks 1 and 2, then 35% at 3/3. Impale no longer requires Deep Wounds and works in every stance.
  • Thunder Clap slows attack speed by 20% and works in Battle and Defensive Stance.

Talents

The two-hander leveling build. Improved Rend and Deep Wounds make every fight bleed, Improved Charge starts every pull with Rage in the bank, and Anger Management keeps Rage coming when you're not swinging. The last five points buy flat damage and bigger crits.

Split 21/0/0 · 21 points at level 30 · Open in calculator

Arms

21 points

Fury

0 points

Protection

0 points

Talent order

  1. Levels 10–12: 3/3 Improved Rend. Rend is your best Rage-per-damage attack at low level, and Improved Rend makes it 35% stronger. It is also the gate to Deep Wounds.
  2. Levels 13–14: 2/3 Improved Heroic Strike. Heroic Strike costs 13 Rage instead of 15, and it is the attack you press most while leveling.
  3. Levels 15–16: 2/2 Improved Charge. Charge generates 6 more Rage. You land with 15, so Rend is paid for before your first swing.
  4. Levels 17–19: 3/5 Improved Tactical Mastery. Three ranks here unlock tier 3.
  5. Levels 20–22: 3/3 Deep Wounds. Every crit now bleeds the target for 60% of your weapon's average damage over 12 seconds.
  6. Levels 23–24: 5/5 Improved Tactical Mastery. You keep 25 Rage through a stance swap, and the next point unlocks Anger Management.
  7. Level 25: 1/1 Anger Management. 1 Rage every 3 seconds in combat, on top of your swings. That is a free Heroic Strike every 45 seconds.
  8. Levels 26–28: 3/3 Two-Handed Weapon Specialization. +3% damage with two-handed weapons, which is every attack you make.
  9. Levels 29–30: 2/2 Impale. +20% to the critical strike damage bonus of your abilities.

Flexible points

  • Tanking dungeons at 20–30? Put the two Improved Heroic Strike points into Deflection for 2% Parry.
  • Take Spearing Strike over the second Impale point if you're questing in zones full of Giants or Dragonkin. Against them it deals 120% weapon damage.

Races

Best races

Horde: Orc. Blood Fury gives 10% Attack Power for 15 seconds every 2 minutes, and Axe Specialization adds 1% crit with all attacks while you hold an axe. Stack that with Weaponmaster's +5% crit for axes and one weapon choice gives you 6% crit. Hardiness shortens stuns by 20%, and Shatter Curse strips Curses and Banes and cuts Magic damage taken by 15% for 8 seconds.

Alliance: Human. Sword Specialization gives 2% crit while you hold a sword or two-handed sword, and Weaponmaster gives swords a 5% extra-attack chance. Will to Survive breaks every stun on a 3-minute cooldown, a stun break for every PvP fight.

Alliance burst: Night Elf. Elune's Light adds 10% critical strike chance for 15 seconds every 3 minutes. Line it up with Recklessness or a Mortal Strike window and Arms deletes targets. Quickness adds 1% dodge and 2% movement speed.

Horde hit: Tauren. Endurance gives 5% more health and +1% hit. War Stomp stuns up to 5 enemies for 2 seconds, which is a PvP opener and a leveling panic button.

All playable races

Rotation

Single pull

  1. Charge from 8–25 yards. With Improved Charge you land with 15 Rage at rank 1, and 18 from level 26.
  2. Rend right away. Improved Rend makes it one of your best attacks until 30.
  3. Overpower whenever the target dodges. It costs 5 Rage and can't be dodged, blocked or parried.
  4. Slam from 20, right after an auto-attack lands. Without Improved Slam its cast interrupts and delays your swing, so it costs you swing time. Fire it right after an auto-attack lands to lose as little as possible; Improved Slam removes the cost at 41.
  5. Heroic Strike with any Rage above 30.
  6. Execute from 24 once the target drops to 20% health. Every extra point of Rage adds damage, so dump it all.
  7. Victory Rush after you kill a non-trivial enemy. Train it at 20: it heals 10% of your maximum health and you can use it for 20 seconds after the kill. Pull the next mob with it ready.

Two or three mobs

  • Thunder Clap (Battle Stance) slows their attack speed by 20% and damages up to 4 targets.
  • Demoralizing Shout from 14 cuts their Attack Power. Use it on every multi-mob pull.
  • Cleave from 20 as your Rage dump on two targets.
  • Retaliation from 20 on a 15-minute cooldown. Every melee hit on you gets a counterattack for 15 seconds, up to 30 of them.
  • Intimidating Shout from 22 scatters up to 5 enemies for 8 seconds when you need a breather.

Downtime

  • Keep Battle Shout up. It lasts 3 minutes.
  • Bloodrage gives you 20 Rage for a pull you can't Charge into. It costs health, so use it when you're above 70%.
  • Victory Rush and Anger Management cut your eating to one break every three or four pulls.
  • Runners: Hamstring them at 20% health. They flee at low health and come back with friends.

Stat priority

Leveling

  1. Weapon damage per second
  2. Strength
  3. Stamina
  4. Critical Strike
  5. Agility

A bigger two-hander is the largest upgrade you can find at every level. Mortal Strike, Overpower and Slam all scale with weapon damage. Strength adds Attack Power to every swing. Stamina means fewer breaks between pulls. Crit hits harder, but it doesn't give you Rage anymore.

Gear

Weapons

Always use the slowest, highest-damage two-hander you can find. Your abilities add a flat amount to weapon damage, so a big weapon hit is worth more than a fast one.

Plan for the Whirlwind chain in your 30s. The Islander sends you to Klannoc Macleod on Fray Island, and The Affray has you kill Big Will, a level 33 Humanoid. The Affray also teaches you Berserker Stance. The Windwatcher takes you to Bath'rah the Windwatcher, Cyclonian sends you out for the parts, The Summoning is a level 40 quest to bring him the Whirlwind Heart, and in Whirlwind Weapon he places the heart in the weapon you choose.

The Whirlwind two-handers are Warrior-only, with +15 Strength and +14 Stamina each:

  • Whirlwind Axe: 102–154 damage, 3.60 speed. The Arms pick, and the axe to take as an Orc for Axe Specialization. Once you put points into Weaponmaster, axes gain up to +5% critical strike chance.
  • Whirlwind Sword: 82–124 damage, 2.90 speed. Take it as a Human for Sword Specialization.
  • Whirlwind Warhammer: 97–146 damage, 3.40 speed. For Dwarves and armor-heavy targets.

Armor

Mail with Strength and Stamina, and plate from 40. Take Strength over Agility, and Stamina over both if you keep running out of health mid-pull.

Professions

Mining and Blacksmithing is the Arms pair. Blacksmithing makes sharpening stones and weightstones for every level of your life, and the Arcanite Reaper at 60. At skill 20 it also gives you the Sharpening Wheel for your camp, a group buff for everyone who stands at your campfire (it doesn't stack with Strength of Earth Totem).

For PvP, swap to Engineering and Mining at 60. Engineering bombs and gadgets give Arms the stuns and ranged tricks it lacks.

For gold while leveling, take Mining and Skinning. Warriors kill a lot of Beasts, and both gathering skills pay from the first zone.

Group play and dungeons

Your job is damage, then utility.

  • Let the tank build threat. Two or three Sunder Armors from the tank before you Charge in. Battle Stance cuts your threat by 20%, which helps, but a crit-heavy Mortal Strike still pulls mobs.
  • Sweeping Strikes on two-target pulls. Pop it before Mortal Strike so both mobs take the hit.
  • Mind the crowd control. Damage breaks Polymorph, Sap, Fear and most other crowd control. Never Sweeping Strikes, Cleave or Whirlwind next to a crowd-controlled mob.
  • Interrupt. Swap to Berserker Stance for Pummel: it locks the school for 4 seconds. With 25 Rage kept, the swap costs you nothing.
  • Shouts. Battle Shout for your party, and Demoralizing Shout if your tank doesn't have it.
  • Off-tank in a pinch. Mocking Blow forces a loose mob onto you for 6 seconds from Battle Stance, and Intimidating Shout buys the group a moment on a bad pull.
  • Mortal Strike for healers. Enemy healers heal for half as much for 10 seconds. Keep it on the mob that's healing.

In raids, Barrow Deeps (10 players) and Hyjal Summit (20) open on December 9.

PvP

Arms brings more PvP tools than any other Warrior spec. Mortal Strike halves healing, Improved Hamstring roots, Spearing Strike dismounts, and Victory Rush heals you after every non-trivial kill.

  • Get in, stay in. Charge from Battle Stance, Intercept from Berserker Stance. Hamstring the moment you land.
  • Mortal Strike the healer's target, or the healer. A 10-second, 50% healing reduction wins fights that pure damage can't.
  • Break control. Berserker Rage makes you immune to Fear and Incapacitate for 10 seconds. Use it before a Priest or Warlock fears you, not after.
  • Darkspear Islands is the new 15v15 battleground. Big open fights reward Piercing Howl and Intimidating Shout on groups.

Tips

Rend is the engine

No Rend, no Bloodthrill. Rend falls off after 21 seconds at max rank. Refresh it before it drops, or your Overpower procs stop.

Crits don't give Rage

In Forever you get Rage per swing, based on your weapon's speed, and a crit gives no extra. Plan your Rage by the swing timer, not by the damage numbers. Anger Management and Unbridled Wrath raise your income per minute; Bloodrage, Improved Charge and Rage potions give you bursts on top.

Slam costs swing time until 41. Before Improved Slam, Slam's 1.5-second cast interrupts and delays your swing. Arms still uses it from 20 because it adds weapon damage for 15 Rage, but start it right after an auto-attack lands. Improved Slam removes the swing cost entirely.

Stance swaps are free now. Tactical Mastery keeps 10 Rage, and Improved Tactical Mastery raises it to 25. Swap for Whirlwind, Pummel or Intercept without thinking twice.

Victory Rush is your downtime killer. Use it on the next mob, not the corpse: it has 20 seconds of use after you kill a non-trivial enemy. Pull, Victory Rush, and you've healed 10% without stopping.

Pick your weapon by damage, then type. Weaponmaster rewards every weapon type, so the highest damage two-hander wins. Type only breaks ties: axes for crit, swords for Humans, maces for Dwarves.

Macros

Charge out of combat, Intercept in combat. It swaps you into the right stance first, so press it twice.

Charge or Intercept
#showtooltip
/cast [nocombat,stance:1] Charge; [stance:3] Intercept; [nocombat] Battle Stance; Berserker Stance

Overpower from any stance. The first press swaps you to Battle Stance, the second fires Overpower.

Overpower
#showtooltip Overpower
/cast [stance:1] Overpower; Battle Stance

Heroic Strike that starts your auto-attack and never toggles itself off when you press it twice.

Heroic Strike
#showtooltip Heroic Strike
/startattack
/cast !Heroic Strike

Pummel from Berserker Stance, or swap into it first.

Pummel
#showtooltip Pummel
/cast [stance:3] Pummel; Berserker Stance

Berserker Rage from any stance. Press it before a Fear lands.

Berserker Rage
#showtooltip Berserker Rage
/cast [stance:3] Berserker Rage; Berserker Stance

Changelog

  • Guide published with Level 30, Level 60 Raid and Level 60 PvP builds.
  • Corrected the Level 30 axe advice and the Forever changes list; linked raids.

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