Few can match the hard-hitting brutality of an Arms Warrior andWorld of Warcraft: Dragonflight gives the iconic battle master a fresh new coat of paint. The new talent trees offer a strong level of personalisation for your all-conquering executioner, by letting you specialise with tailored builds, depending on the situation. Whether you enjoy relentlessly hacking down a big enemy, or roleplaying as a living Beyblade via Bladestorm, Arms Warrior has got you covered.

RELATED: World Of Warcraft: Dragonflight - Protection Warrior Complete Guide

This guide will show you the fundamental aspects of playing Arms Warrior in PvE content. It will guide you through the best talents, races, rotation, and consumables for the spec, alongside suggesting why you might want to give the master-at-arms a try.

Why Arms Warrior?

The Warrior class has two DPS specialisations; Arms and Fury. Fury is centered around a quick rotation with low cooldown abilities, emphasising high Rage generation and a frantic playstyle. Arms plays much slower, preferring to rely on big hits and combinations. Both specs have strengths and weaknesses, and although one may be tuned higher than the other, you should play whichever you enjoy the most.

Pros

Cons

  • Fantastic Damage to Low Health Targets: A master of utilising the Execute ability, Arms Warriors excel when the fights reach their climax, giving them a strong role during raid progression
  • Great Burst AoE damage: With Bladestorm, you can effectively chunk down big groups of enemies, and Arms is effective in dealing with massive Dungeon pulls
  • High Mobility: Charge, Intervene, and Heroic Leap mean a good Warrior should rarely find themselves in a tight spot positionally
  • Decently Durable: Good defensives such as Defensive Stance allow an Arms Warrior to take big hits with relative ease
  • One Dimensional Builds: You are essentially required to specialise into single or multi-target, and your damage will be found lacking in the other area
  • Susceptible to Downtime: With no spammable filler, you may find yourself without a button to press, and the lack of a good ranged spell means you will struggle when out of melee range
  • Low Self-Healing: Very limited regeneration options mean you are reliant on your healers to top you up

Best Arms Races

Nearly every race in WoW can play as a Warrior, so you have a wide variety to select from. The standard advice is to go for whichever race you prefer visually, as the differences in performance are very minimal. Here are a few of the top options for Arms:

Race

Racial Skill

Effect

Human

The Human Spirit

Gain a 2% increase to all secondary stats

Orc

Blood Fury

Increases melee and ranged attack power for 15 seconds (2-minute cooldown)

Troll

Berserking

Grants 15% Haste for 10 seconds (3-minute cooldown)

Gnome

Expansive Mind Nimble Fingers

Maximum resource (Rage) increased by 5% Extra 1% Haste

Best Talents For Arms Warrior

Arms Warrior Class Talent Tree

Wowhead Build Link

Warrior Class Tree

Row One

Battle Stance

Your default combat stance as Arms, providing 3% critical strike and 10% reduced movement impairment

Defensive Stance

A stance that reduces damage taken by 20% but also reduces the damage you deal by 10%, use only as a quick defensive when taking big damage

Row Two

Impending Victory

Nice single target strike that heals you for a decent amount, good for solo leveling as it resets upon killing an enemy

War Machine

10% more Rage from autos and killing an enemy grants you Rage and 30% movement speed

Rallying Cry

Fantastic raid-wide defensive, increasing all members' temporary and maximum health by 15%

Row Three

Fast Footwork

Extra 5% movement speed

Spell Reflection

Amazing active that reflects the first spell cast on you and reduces Magic Damage taken by 20% for 5 seconds (25-second cooldown)

Leeching Strikes

Extra 5% Leech

Row Four

Frothing Berserker

Grants Mortal Strike and Cleave a 20% chance to refund 20% of their Rage cost

Heroic Leap

Core movement ability, allowing you to leap to a targeted location and deal a tiny amount of damage

Furious Blows

Extra 5% auto attack speed

Row Five

Crushing Force (2/2)

Extra Slam damage and chance to crit

Pain and Gain

Heal for a small amount of health when taking damage, on a 10-second cooldown

Storm Bolt (Mythic Plus Only)

Single target ranged stun, excellent for Mythic Plus and can even interrupt smaller enemies

Overwhelming Rage (2/2)

Increase to your maximum Rage

Sidearm

Chance for random AoE procs in front of you

Row Six

Reinforced Plates

20% increased Armor

Bounding Stride

Augments Heroic leap to be a shorter cooldown and provide a decent movement speed buff after use

Blood and Thunder (Mythic Plus Only)

A core talent for AoE, it augments Thunder Clap to automatically apply Rend to targets struck, as well as slightly buffing its damage and cost

Barbaric Training

Slam and Whirlwind deal more damage but also cost a bit more Rage

Row Seven

Double Time

Grants a second use of Charge, and reduces its cooldown

Seismic Reverberation (2/2) (Mythic Plus Only)

If Whirlwind hits 3 or more enemies it hits them again for 30% of the original damage

Row Eight

Armored to the Teeth (2/2)

Flat increase to your Strength proportional to 10% of your Armor

Wild Strikes (2/2)

2% Haste and an auto attack speed buff when critting with autos

Two-Handed Weapon Specialization

Basically 5% free damage

Cruel Strikes (2/2)

2% Crit chance and Execute's critical damage increased by 10%

Row Nine

Avatar

Core DPS cooldown, gives 20% increased damage, and causes you to take reduced damage, as well as removing roots and snares

Thunderous Roar

AoE Physical damage active that also applies a hard hitting bleed

Row Ten (Keystone Talents)

Warlord's Torment

Activating Avatar or Colossus Smash also casts Recklessness at a reduced effectiveness

Blademaster's Torment (Mythic Plus Only)

Activating Avatar or Bladestorm casts the other at reduced effectiveness

Thunderous Words

Longer Thunderous Roar bleed and 15% increased damage to all of your bleeds

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While they might look intimidating compared to the older versions, the Dragonflight talent trees are simple to learn once you begin to play around with them. On the left is the class tree, which is the same for all Warrior specialisations. On the right is the Arms tree, where you will find core abilities and the talents that really allow you to customise your build.

To progress down through the tree, a certain amount of points must be spent in the previous section. This stops you from just taking everything at the bottom, where the strongest talents are typically found.

There is a certain degree of change in your class tree when flexing between a single target and AoE build, so make sure you've selected the right talents when switching, or else you may miss out on powerful passives, such as Blood and Thunder.

Best Arms Warrior Raid Talent Build

Wowhead Build Link

Arms Warrior Talents (Raid)

Row One

  • Mortal Strike

Row Two

  • Overpower

Row Three

  • Martial Prowess
  • Die by the Sword
  • Improved Execute

Row Four

  • Bloodsurge
  • Fueled by Violence
  • Sudden Death

Row Five

  • Tactician
  • Colossus Smash
  • Impale

Row Six

  • Skullsplitter
  • Rend
  • Anger Management
  • Massacre

Row Seven

  • Tide of Blood
  • Bloodborne (2/2)
  • Test of Might
  • Blunt Instruments
  • Improved Mortal Strike

Row Eight

  • Deft Experience (2/2)
  • Critical Thinking (2/2)

Row Nine

  • Bloodletting
  • Sharpened Blades
  • Executioner's Precision

Row Ten (Keystone Talents)

  • Fatality
  • Juggernaut
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The Arms Warrior raid build focuses on improving your Execute damage as much as possible. A core spell for Arms, Execute brings amazing utility in the fact the majority of your damage comes towards the end of a boss encounter. This is typically the hardest part of the fight, so increased damage is welcome, in order to shorten the duration you spend in the end phases.

Talents such as Massacre and Juggernaut synergise excellently and mean you only hit your stride once you can start reliably Executing, on targets below 35% health.

  • A key addition to the standard Arms setup is the Skullsplitter and Tide of Blood combo. This causes your Deep Wounds and Rend bleeds to expire instantly when using Skullsplitter, meaning you will have to reapply them, but giving you a small burst of damage. Skullsplitter is quite a nice ability to use, as it generates 15 Rage and has a relatively low cooldown.

The focus on buffing these particular spells leaves the AoE potential of this build at an all-time low, and you will have very little damage on additional targets, so prioritise running this build on fights with few adds or if you need to focus on your boss damage.

Best Arms Warrior Dungeon Talent Build

Wowhead Build Link

Arms Warrior Talents (Dungeon)

Row One

  • Mortal Strike

Row Two

  • Overpower

Row Three

  • Martial Prowess
  • Die by the Sword
  • Improved Execute

Row Four

  • Bloodsurge
  • Fueled by Violence
  • Sudden Death

Row Five

  • Tactician
  • Colossus Smash
  • Impale

Row Six

  • Rend
  • Anger Management
  • Sweeping Strikes
  • Cleave

Row Seven

  • Bloodborne (2/2)
  • Dreadnaught
  • In For The Kill
  • Warbreaker
  • Storm of Swords
  • Reaping Swings

Row Eight

  • Deft Experience (2/2)
  • Valor in Victory (2/2)

Row Nine

  • Bloodletting
  • Bladestorm

Row Ten (Keystone Talents)

  • Hurricane
  • Merciless Bonegrinder
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The Arms dungeon build is focused around utilising three core talents:

  • Storm of Swords (stronger Whirlwinds)
  • Hurricane (stacking movement and Strength increase during Bladestorm)
  • Merciless Bonegrinder (empowers Whirlwind and Cleave after Bladestorm ends)

In combination, these three will allow for extremely high burst AoE damage, and Arms is highly effective at chunking down massive packs of enemies. Using the empowered Whirlwind and Cleave procs from Merciless Bonegrinder allows for strong up front damage, while your core AoE spells such as Thunder Clap and Cleave provide your consistent output.

Much like the Execute build, your dungeon talent set up comes with a severe weakness. The lack of investment into your single target means your boss damage will be very mediocre, and you will want to consider whether the AoE burst is worth the drop-off on bosses. Whether the Mythic Plus affix is Fortified or Tyrannical can be a good factor in deciding this.

How To Play The Rotation

The Basics

Your single target Arms Warrior rotation should look like this, after initiating combat with Charge.

Sequence

Ability

Explanation

1.

Rend

Keep Rend applied to your current target, and reapply with less than 4 seconds remaining, and just before your Avatar + Colossus Smash window

2.

Avatar + Colossus Smash

These are both of your big burst cooldowns, and should always be aligned

3.

Thunderous Roar

You will want to make sure you use this during your burst window

4.

Skullsplitter

Once again, make sure you use this during your Colossus Smash debuff

5.

Mortal Strike

To reapply Deep Wounds

6.

Execute

As a Rage spender and to consume Sudden Death procs

7.

Mortal Strike

Standard Rage spender

8.

Overpower

Good generator, don't waste Rage by using this when you are over 70 Rage

9.

Slam

Your filler, only used to avoid capping Rage and when you have nothing else to press

During the Execute Phase, Executing takes a much higher priority, as you will want to spend as much Rage as possible on getting them out.

  • Stop using Slam
  • Only use Mortal Strike to maintain Deep Wounds on the target.

When it comes to AoE, the rotation looks similar, although you will want to be applying your Rend with Thunder Clap instead. Instead of Mortal Strike, you will be using Cleave as your Rage spender, and Whirlwind when it comes off cooldown. As mentioned above, when running the dungeon build you should be making good use out of your Merciless Bonegrinder buff, and playing around Bladestorm is the key to good AoE output.

  • Sweeping Strikes is a 30-second cooldown that duplicates your single-target abilities onto another nearby target, use this when there less than four current targets, especially during an Execute Phase

Arms Warrior Macros

As a DPS, you should always be combining on-use trinkets with your damage cooldowns. This can be done by referencing the gear slot the trinket is currently equipped in, either slot 13 or 14. You will want to synergise your trinkets with Avatar when playing an Arms Warrior.

  • #showtooltip /cast Avatar /use 13

Having a low cooldown interrupt means you should be aware of the need to kick any enemy casts and setting them as your focus target will allow you to interrupt them at a greater speed than manually retargeting.

  • #showtooltip /cast [@focus,harm,nodead] [ ] Pummel

When casting a ground-targeted spell such as Heroic Leap, you can replace the need to click by macroing the targeting reticule to your cursor.

  • #showtooltip /cast [@cursor] Heroic Leap

RELATED: World Of Warcraft - How To Create Macros

Best Stats And Gear For Arms Warrior

Once you hit max level, you will probably find yourself with a variety of quest and dungeon gear. This will bring you up to roughly 320 item level, but to take part in end game content you should be focusing on improving this number, using a variety of methods.

Both Mythic Zero dungeons and the Renown pathways can give you some quick and easy gear, boosting you up to over 370 item level, where you are ready to either enter the Vault of the Incarnates raid, or start playing Mythic Plus Dungeons.

Your best items will typically feature the Critical Strike stat, but also include a high amount of Haste. Here are some suggested items for your Best in Slot Pre Raid gear.

Slot

Gear Name

Source

Boss

Head

Earthshaker's Steel Visor

Halls of Infusion

Khajin the Unyielding

Neck

Tuskarr Bone Necklace

Brackenhide Hollow

Gutshot

Shoulders

Nokhud Traditionalist's Pauldrons

The Nokhud Offensive

Balakar Khan

Back

Cloak of Lost Devotion

The Azure Vault

Azureblade

Chest

Cuirass of Irreparable Madness

The Azure Vault

Umbrelskul

Wrists

Reinforced Fisherman's Vambraces

Iskaara Tuskarr

Renown Level 14

Hands

Relic Handler's Gauntlets

Dragonscale Expedition

Renown Level 12

Waist

Illusion Breaker's Waistguard

The Azure Vault

Telash Greywing

Legs

Drake Hunter's Greaves

The Nokhud Offensive

Granyth

Feet

Ohn'ahran Plainswalker Boots

Maruuk Centaur

Renown Level 11

Ring

Eternal Sentry's Ring

Uldaman

Sentinal Talondras

Ring

Unstable Arcane Loop

The Azure Vault

Leymor

Trinket

Algeth'ar Puzzle Box

Algeth'ar Academy

Echo of Doragosa

Trinket

Idol of Trampling Hooves

The Nokhud Offensive

Teera

Weapon

Sargha's Smasher

Neltharus

Warlord Sargha

Your true pre-BiS gear will be plate items crafted from Blacksmithing. However, depending on supply, these could be extremely expensive to buy, so you might want to save up your resources for a certain item, such as a Weapon. Crafted items can be upgraded all the way up to 418 item level, so acquiring one or two strong pieces can be a good long-term investment.

Stat Priority

Your primary stat as an Arms Warrior is Strength, and this should be your major focus as it directly increases the damage of your abilities. As a DPS, you should be trying to gain as much damage as possible from your gear, and you don't have to deal with the extra concerns of tanks and healers, such as Stamina. Alongside Strength, you have four secondary stats to choose from:

  • Critical Strike, which increases the chance for extra effective attacks and heals.
  • Haste, which increases your attack speed and decreases certain cooldowns.
  • Mastery, which increases your damage to targets affected by your Deep Wounds,
  • Versatility, which increases damage and healing as well as reduces damage taken.

For damage output, your general stat priority should be:

  • Strength > Critical Strike > Haste > Versatility > Mastery

All secondaries are quite close together, and although you should prioritise a healthy mix of Crit and Haste, you should mainly be going for item level and the highest amount of stats overall.

Due to the nature of secondary stat relationships, you can find a more detailed breakdown by simming your character using external tools such as the Raidbots website. This will let you know which stats to aim for and will let you directly compare gear to find your best equipable set.

Gems, Enchants, And Consumables

As noted above, you will want to go for Strength followed by Crit when gemming.

Your best gems will be:

  • One Inscribed Illuminated Diamond (Strength and Crit)
  • Multiple Deadly/Crafty Alexstraszite (Crit and Haste)

Owing to gems possessing different qualities, you should socket the highest quality gems possible, which will result in more stats.

Your best enchants are:

Gear Slot

Enchant Name

Weapon

Frozen Devotion

Neck

Tiered Medallion Setting

Back

Graceful Avoidance

Chest

Waking Stats

Wrists

Devotion of Avoidance

Legs

Fierce Armor Kit

Boots

Watcher's Loam

Rings

Devotion of Critical Strike

Your list of the best consumables is :

  • Phial: Phial of Static Empowerment (Raid) / Phial of Glacial Fury (Dungeon)
  • Potion: Elemental Potion of Ultimate Power
  • Health Potion: Refreshing Healing Potion
  • Food: Grand Banquet of the Kalu'ak / Fated Fortune Cookie
  • Weapon Buff: Buzzing / Howling Rune

Try to procure the highest quality consumables from both work orders and the auction house, and don't forget to be well stocked up before taking on any end-game content.

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