Arms Warrior Guide — Class Guides · WoW Classic

Two-handed weapon damage built around Mortal Strike, which also reduces the healing its target receives. The usual leveling and player-versus-player tree.

A plate-wearing melee fighter who builds Rage by dealing and taking damage and spends it on attacks, shouts and stances. Warriors tank with a shield in Defensive Stance or deal melee damage with two-handed or dual-wielded weapons. More about the warrior

Class: Warrior
Roles: Damage
Used for: Player versus player, Leveling
Top talent: Mortal Strike
Popular builds: 2
Version: WoW Classic

How to play

Arms is the two-handed tree. Mortal Strike hits hard and halves the healing its target receives, Deep Wounds and Impale turn critical strikes into bleeds and bigger crits, and Sweeping Strikes makes your next attacks also hit a second enemy. It is the standard tree for leveling and for player-versus-player fights, where Mortal Strike's healing cut decides who wins.

Open with Charge and spend Rage on Mortal Strike every time it is ready. Overpower becomes usable when the target dodges; in Battle Stance it is cheap and Improved Overpower gives it a high critical strike chance. Below 20% health, Execute takes over. Rend is worth putting on rogues and druids, since a bleed keeps them from slipping back into stealth.

Arms gives up raw raid damage to Fury, but its healing cut, Improved Hamstring's root and its strong single kills while leveling make it the most played warrior tree outside raids.

At a glance

Single-target damage
Damage to groups
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Classic.

Rotation and priorities

1Open with Charge in Battle Stance; add Bloodrage if you need Rage at once.
2Mortal Strike whenever it is ready.
3Overpower whenever the target dodges.
4Whirlwind in Berserker Stance when you have Rage to spare and two or more enemies nearby.
5Hamstring targets that try to run or kite you.
6Execute once the target is below 20% health.
7Heroic Strike only to spend Rage that would otherwise cap.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Mortal Strike halves the target's healing: the key to winning player-versus-player fights.
Big hits from slow two-handed weapons and critical strikes.
Sweeping Strikes and Whirlwind handle pairs of enemies while leveling.
Improved Hamstring can root a target in place.

Weaknesses

Lower sustained raid damage than Fury.
Depends on a slow, hard-hitting two-hander.
No escapes: casters and hunters can kite you.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

1
Weapon damageslow two-handers, 3.5 speed or more
2
Hitto 9%, or 6% with +5 weapon skill
3
Critical strike
4
Strength2 attack power each
5
Agilitycrit and armour
6
Staminamore in player-versus-player play

What to look for

The slowest, hardest-hitting two-hander you can find: Mortal Strike, Overpower and Whirlwind add their bonus to a weapon swing, so a 3.8-speed weapon beats a faster one with the same damage per second.
Match your talents to the weapon: Axe and Polearm Specialization add crit, Sword Specialization extra attacks, Mace Specialization stuns.
Plate with Strength, crit and hit; for player-versus-player play, trade some damage for Stamina.
Crusader on the weapon, or an Iron Counterweight for a little extra speed.

Items worth chasing

Arcanite ReaperCrafted slow two-handed axe: the pre-raid standard.
Bonereaver's EdgeSlow two-handed sword whose hits strip the target's armour.
Lionheart HelmCrafted plate helm with Strength, crit and hit.
Hand of JusticeExtra attacks and attack power in a trinket slot.
Blackhand's BreadthA trinket of critical strike chance.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

Arms
Fury
Protection

Mortal Strike Duelist
DamagePvP
3120
31/20/0
Battleground Arms: Mortal Strike cuts healing, Improved Hamstring can pin a target in place and Axe Specialization adds crits, while Fury brings Piercing Howl and Enrage.
- Anger Management 1/1
- Axe Specialization 5/5
- Sweeping Strikes 1/1
- Improved Hamstring 3/3
- Mortal Strike 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting
Sweeping Strikes Wanderer
DamageLeveling
3120
31/20/0
The classic road to 60: Tactical Mastery and Anger Management for Rage, Sweeping Strikes for double pulls and Mortal Strike to finish quests faster.
- Anger Management 1/1
- Two-Handed Weapon Specialization 5/5
- Axe Specialization 5/5
- Sweeping Strikes 1/1
- Mortal Strike 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level

Key talents

Mortal Strike · top talent, up to 1
A vicious strike that deals weapon damage plus 85 and wounds the target, reducing the effectiveness of any healing by 50% for 10 sec.
Improved Charge · tier 2, up to 2
Increases the amount of rage generated by your Charge ability by 6.
Improved Overpower · tier 3, up to 2
Increases the critical strike chance of your Overpower ability by 50%.
Anger Management · tier 3, up to 1
Increases the time required for your rage to decay while out of combat by 30%.
Deep Wounds · tier 3, up to 3
Your critical strikes cause the opponent to bleed, dealing 60% of your melee weapon's average damage over 12 sec.
Two-Handed Weapon Specialization · tier 4, up to 5
Increases the damage you deal with two-handed melee weapons by 5%.
Impale · tier 4, up to 2
Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your abilities in Battle, Defensive, and Berserker stance by 20%.
Axe Specialization · tier 5, up to 5
Increases your chance to get a critical strike with Axes by 5%.
Sweeping Strikes · tier 5, up to 1
Your next 5 melee attacks strike an additional nearby opponent.
Improved Hamstring · tier 6, up to 3
Gives your Hamstring ability a 15% chance to immobilize the target for 5 sec.

Arms abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.