Arms Warrior
PvE Talent Guide & Calculator
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Arms
0
Fury
0
Protection
0Arms Warriors bring the essential Blood Frenzy debuff (+4% physical damage to the target) that benefits every physical DPS in the raid. The 33/28/0 build combines deep Arms for Mortal Strike and Blood Frenzy with enough Fury for Flurry and Precision. While not the top DPS meter class, Arms Warriors are a critical raid utility spec that enables your melee and hunters to deal significantly more damage.
Key Talents
Mortal Strike
A powerful weapon strike that deals 210% weapon damage. Your primary rage dump and hardest-hitting ability.
Blood Frenzy
Targets hit by your Rend and Deep Wounds take 4% increased physical damage. The #1 reason you're brought to raids.
Flurry
After landing a melee critical strike, your attack speed increases by 25% for 3 swings. Huge sustained DPS increase from the Fury tree.
Sword Specialization
5% chance to gain an extra attack on each swing. Combined with Flurry's haste, this generates significant bonus damage.
Stat Priority
- Hit Rating (until 9% / 142 rating)
- Expertise (until 6.5% / 26 rating)
- Strength
- Critical Strike Rating
- Attack Power
- Haste Rating
Arms Warrior DPS follows a strict priority system built around Mortal Strike and Whirlwind cooldowns, with Slam weaved between auto attacks to fill gaps. Execute phase below 20% HP dramatically increases your damage output.
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Mortal Strike — Use on cooldown. Your hardest-hitting ability and top priority in the rotation.
-
Whirlwind — Use on cooldown when Mortal Strike is unavailable. Strong AoE and single-target damage. -
Slam — Weave between auto attacks when MS and WW are on cooldown. Requires timing — cast immediately after a white hit lands. -
Execute — Below 20% HP, Execute replaces Slam in the priority. Dump all rage into Execute during this phase.
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Battle Shout — Keep active at all times. Refresh when it has 5 seconds or less remaining. -
Heroic Strike — Use to dump excess rage (above 50-60). Replaces your next white hit, so only use when rage capped.
Best gear obtainable from heroic dungeons, crafting, reputation, and quests before entering Karazhan. Focus on reaching the 9% hit cap, then stack expertise, strength, and crit.
| Slot | Item | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Bold Helm | Heroic Shattered Halls — Warchief Kargath |
| Neck | Choker of Vile Intent | Heroic Shadow Labyrinth — Murmur |
| Shoulders | Bold Shoulderpads | Heroic Steamvault — Hydromancer Thespia |
| Back | Blood Knight War Cloak | Heroic Shattered Halls — Warchief Kargath |
| Chest | Bold Chestguard | Heroic Mechanar — Pathaleon |
| Wrists | Vambraces of Courage | Heroic Arcatraz — Harbinger Skyriss |
| Hands | Gauntlets of Dissension | Heroic Arcatraz — Zereketh the Unbound |
| Waist | Girdle of the Deathdealer | Heroic Underbog — The Black Stalker |
| Legs | Bold Legguards | Heroic Shadow Labyrinth — Murmur |
| Feet | Eaglecrest Warboots | Heroic Sethekk Halls — Talon King Ikiss |
| Ring 1 | A'dal's Command | Sha'tar — Exalted |
| Ring 2 | Ring of Umbral Doom | Heroic Shadow Labyrinth — Ambassador Hellmaw |
| Trinket 1 | Abacus of Violent Odds | Heroic Mechanar — Pathaleon |
| Trinket 2 | Bloodlust Brooch | Quest — 41 Badge of Justice |
| Weapon | Lionheart Champion | Blacksmithing (Crafted) |
Best endgame gear from SSC, Tempest Keep, Hyjal, Black Temple, and Sunwell Plateau. Stat priority: Hit (9%) > Expertise > Strength > Crit > AP > Haste.
| Slot | Item | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Onslaught Battle-Helm | Hyjal Summit — Archimonde (T6 token) |
| Neck | Choker of Serrated Blades | Zul'Aman — Nalorakk |
| Shoulders | Onslaught Shoulderblades | Black Temple — Mother Shahraz |
| Back | Thalassian Wildercloak | Sunwell Plateau — Trash Drop |
| Chest | Onslaught Breastplate | Black Temple — Illidan Stormrage |
| Wrists | Bracers of Eradication | Sunwell Plateau — Brutallus |
| Hands | Onslaught Gauntlets | Black Temple — Azgalor (Hyjal T6 token) |
| Waist | Belt of One-Hundred Deaths | Sunwell Plateau — Brutallus |
| Legs | Onslaught Legguards | Hyjal Summit — Azgalor (T6 token) |
| Feet | Boots of Utter Darkness | Black Temple — Teron Gorefiend |
| Ring 1 | Hard Khorium Band | Jewelcrafting (Crafted) |
| Ring 2 | Band of the Eternal Champion | Hyjal Summit — Exalted |
| Trinket 1 | Madness of the Betrayer | Black Temple — Illidan Stormrage |
| Trinket 2 | Berserker's Call | Zul'Aman — Timed Chest (4th boss) |
| Weapon | Cataclysm's Edge | Black Temple — Supremus |
Essential Arms Warrior macros for PvE and PvP in TBC Classic.
Mortal Strike + Heroic Strike
#showtooltip Mortal Strike
/cast Mortal Strike
/cast !Heroic Strike
Queues Heroic Strike while using Mortal Strike. The ! prevents toggling off.
Stance Dance: Intercept
#showtooltip Intercept
/cast [stance:1/2] Berserker Stance
/cast [stance:3] Intercept
Switches to Berserker Stance and uses Intercept in one press.
Shield Wall Panic
#showtooltip Shield Wall
/equip [noequipped:Shields] Shield Name
/cast [stance:1/3] Defensive Stance
/cast Shield Wall
Equips shield, swaps to Defensive Stance, and activates Shield Wall.
Pummel (Interrupt)
#showtooltip Pummel
/cast [stance:3] Pummel
/cast [stance:1/2] Berserker Stance
Interrupts from any stance by switching to Berserker first.
- Always keep Battle Shout or Commanding Shout active — this is free DPS/survivability for your group.
- Use Execute phase (sub-20% HP) aggressively — dump all rage into Execute spam.
- Don't spam Heroic Strike when low on rage — it replaces your next auto attack and can starve you.
- Don't use Whirlwind in tight situations where you might pull unwanted adds.
- Hit cap is 9% for special attacks (142 rating). Expertise soft cap is 6.5% (26 rating) to eliminate dodges.
- Stance dancing is the hallmark of a skilled Warrior — practice Berserker Rage usage from Battle Stance.
Meta Gem
— +12 Agility, +3% Critical Strike Damage. Requires more red gems than blue.
Gem Priority
Use Bold Living Ruby (+8 Strength) in red sockets. Use Inscribed Noble Topaz (+4 Str / +4 Crit) in yellow sockets. Ignore blue sockets unless the bonus is +4 Strength or better — use Sovereign Nightseye (+4 Str / +6 Stamina) to activate meta requirement.
Enchants
Flasks & Elixirs
Food
Other
