World of Warcraft’s Arms Warrior is a perfect class to start out with for any newcomer. Its simplistic style allows for a greater understanding of the game all while getting to wield a big two-handed weapon – what’s not to love? That’s why we’ve created a guide on how to become that Arms Warrior you were always meant to be.
Warriors are one of the classes that came in the original game’s release back in 2004. It’s been a tried and true class in World of Warcraft that any player can tap into when need be and it’s had its say in each expansion since then.
As a class with two DPS specializations and one tank specialization, many of the game’s fans seem to go for Arms. It’s one of the perfect ways to get some good cleave damage in all while still being a melee class.
Arms Warriors, in particular, are very strong when it comes to sustained multitarget damage but also have their fair share of burst AoE damage as well. A strong DPS class all around that can be essential to any group.
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What is the Arms Warrior?
Warriors by nature are melee fighters highly trained in the arts of weaponry. Dependant on heavy plate armor, shields, and battle prowess to either defend themselves from an attacker or retaliate, they are always the first to charge into the battlefield.
As opposed to their Fury counterpart, Arms Warriors take a more tactical approach, fully mastering their weapon and making sure that they exploit their enemy’s weakness to the fullest extent. On top of that, they use their mobility to their advantage while also making sure they take down their foes with overpowering strikes.
They are the masters at consistent cleave or on-demand AoE burst, and although slow and bland in the usage of their spells, they pack a consistent punch.
Best Races for Arms Warriors in WoW
Alongside being one of the aforementioned classes that came with the original release of WoW, any race can be a Warrior. With that in mind, here are our top race picks for Arms Warriors separated in both Horde and Alliance:
Alliance:
- Human
- Mechagnome
- Dwarf
To start off, Humans have a very strong Racial Passive in The Human Spirit that makes it so you gain 2% more of all secondary stats (Haste, Critical Strike, Mastery, and Versatility) from all sources. There’s also their Racial ability, Will to Survive that removes all stun effects on a 3 min cooldown.
For Mechagnomes however, their Combat Analysis racial is immensely powerful as it increases your main stat, in this case, Strength, by 4, stacking up to 10 times. In a game that is so reliant on main stats, this is one of the go-to’s.
Lastly, Dwarves’ Might of the Mountain is a nice Racial Passive that gives 2% Critical Strike damage, maybe not as comparable as the previous two but still something to consider as Arms is heavily reliant on Critical Strikes.
Horde:
- Orc
- Troll
Both Orc and Troll are very similar in standings as they each have their own Racial that is a boon to use, especially when paired up with cooldowns. First up, Orcs’ Blood Fury, with an increase of Attack Power by 52 for 15 sec, is a nice way to increase the damage of your bursts. There are also the likes of the Racial Passive, Hardiness, which reduces the effect of stuns by 20%, which is a nice little bonus.
On the other hand, Troll’s Berserking although it doesn’t increase your damage directly like Orc’s Blood Fury, it still does indirectly. With its 10% Haste increase over 12 sec, the ability to get more rage from autos more quickly and reduce your overall GDC is a great boon. And like Orcs, they have a nice little bonus Racial Passive, Regeneration, that increases health regeneration rate by 10% and may continue during combat.
Best Talents for Arms Warrior
As you progress through your WoW journey, you’ll quickly start acquiring new talents. In Arms Warrior’s case, the talent path you’d be choosing is pretty set and stone outside of one or two minor alterations.
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This is what we’ve found to be the best talent path for Arms Warriors:
| Talent | Level Acquired | Description |
| Sudden Death | 15 | Your attacks have a chance to make your next Execute cost no Rage, be usable on any target regardless of their health, and deal damage as if you spent 40 Rage. |
| Double Time | 25 | Increase the maximum number on Charge by 1, and reduces its cooldown by 3 sec. |
| Rend | 30 | Wounds the target, causing (32.1% of Attack Power) Physical damage instant and an additional (133% of Attack Power) Bleed damage over 15 sec.
Increases critical damage you deal to the enemy by 10%. |
| Bounding Stride | 35 | Reduces the cooldown on Heroic Leap by 15 sec, and Heroic Leap now also increases your run speed by 70% for 3 sec. |
| Warbreaker | 40 | Smash the ground and shatter the armor of all enemies within 8 yds, dealing (181.5% of Attack Power) Physical damage ad increasing damage you deal to them by 30% for 10 sec. |
| Avatar | 45 | Transform into a colossus for 20 sec, causing you to deal 20% increase damage and removing all roots and snares.
Generates 20 Rage. |
| Dreadnaught | 50 | Overpower has 2 charges and causes a seismic wave, dealing (46% of Attack Power) damage to all enemies in a 10 yd line. Deals reduced damage beyond 5 Targets. |
Although pretty cookie-cutter in its build, there are a handful of swaps that can be made depending on the situation and preference, this would be mainly on the level 35 and 40 talents. Bounding Stride can be swapped for Defensive Stance if you’re wanting to mitigate damage at specific points while Warbreaker can be swapped out for Cleave, but we wouldn’t recommend it as Warbreaker gives you more bang for your buck overall.
Arms Warriors: Best Stats to level
As you keep progressing as an Arms Warrior you’ll inevitably get stronger. Part of this comes from the gear you acquire along the way.
When it comes to Arms Warriors, the stats you’d be focusing on would be Strength above all else as it’s your main stat, then Critical Strike, Mastery, Versatility, and Haste.
Critical Strike increases auto-attack rage generation, as well as damage done by abilities, auto-attacks, and trinkets making it too good to pass up. It is the most important stat for reducing downtime in a class that at times gets left twiddling their thumbs waiting for their spell cooldowns to finish.
Following it up would be Mastery, which is Deep Wounds. Not only does it give affected targets a bleed for over 12 sec, but it also increases the damage they take from you. Outside Critical Strike, this is a must-have stat due to its strength in increasing your damage.
Versatility, increases the overall damage you do, meaning that the more Versatility you have, the more damage you’ll do. It also has the added bonus of doing the same but for damage taken, to a lesser degree.
Lastly, would be Haste. Even though we’ve touched on it with the likes of Troll’s Berserking, Haste as an overall stat is not the strongest for an Arms Warrior. It does compress a sometimes dull rotation by reducing the GCD and cooldown of rotational abilities such as Mortal Strike, but as a stat, it fluctuates with that of Critical Strike. At this moment, Critical Strike is better and more consistent.
Arms Warrior: best Covenant in WoW Shadowlands
Shadowlands released signified the joining of the Covenant system, the expansion’s power. Each class is forced to select one out of the game’s four different choices with each giving their own benefits and abilities.
For Arms Warriors, the two Covenants you’d be looking to join would be Night Fae and Necrolord, but an honorable mention to goes to Kyrian.
- Night Fae Arms Warrior ability: Ancient Aftershock – Unleash a wave of anima, dealing (220% of Attack Power) Nature damage to up to 5 enemies and knocking them for 1.5 sec. The ground will continue to expel anima, dealing (140% of Attack Power) Nature damage to up to 5 enemies and generating 16 Rage per enemy over 12 sec. Every 3 sec, targets are briefly knocked down.
- Necrolord Arms Warrior ability: Conqueror’s Banner – Brandish the Conqueror’s Banner, granting 400 Mastery and 30% increased movement speed to you and your 2 nearest allies, and preventing movement speed from being reduced below 100%. Lasts 15 sec
- Kyrian Arms Warrior ability: Spear of Bastion – Throw a Kyrian spear at the target location, dealing (110% of Attack Power) Arcane damage instantly and an additional (120% of Attack Power) damage over 4 sec. Deals reduced damage beyond 5 targets. Enemies hit are tethered to Spear of Bastion’s location for the duration. Generates 25 Rage.
Of these three, we recommend the Night Fae Covenant even though Necrolord’s 400 Mastery and Kyrian’s ability to generate 25 rage and damage on the spot are seemingly too good to pass up. Night Fae’s ability to generate Rage on multiplying targets is near incomparable even with its drawback of lengthy ground targeting effect period.
So that’s our Arms Warrior guide! If you’re looking to begin your adventures as an undying fighter who is extremely capable with any weapon in their hands, then this is the guide for you.
For more tips and tricks to help you become the best adventurer Azeroth has ever seen, check out our other class guides:
Elemental Shaman guide | Resto Druid guide | Shadow Priest guide | Fire Mage guide | Havoc Demon Hunter guide