Sponsor
Achievement Hunting
UPDATED FOR PATCH 8.0
General Overview0. Introduction
1. Play style
2. Races
3. Professions
4. Armor
5. Weapons
6. List of Armories
7. Conclusion
0. Introduction
Based from my level 10 warrior's (Sponsor) personal set-ups and one of my outdated Arms Warrior guide, I will give general tips and guidelines hoping to help new comers, friends, or veterans on the thought process of making a level 10 Arms Warrior for Pvp. In this guide you will find a discussion about different race selection, professions, armor and weapon selection.
This guide will provide the reader with a very short and concise way of gearing up a warrior in the most efficient way.
This guide will NOT make up for the skill you might or might not have
1. Play Style
Abilities:
As a level 10 Arms Warrior, you have a very restricted amount of abilities to use. Here is the list of level 10 abilities:
Mortal Strike - Your main damaging ability
Slam - Your secondary damaging ability - crits
Execute - Your finisher (only usable on targets below 20% hp)
Charge is both used for mobility and root. Use wisely.
Victory Rush is your heal. Try to avoid using it if you have 100% health.
Useful Macros:
Focus Target: Focuses current target
/focus
Focus Charge: Charges current target. If you hold down ALT it will charge focused target w/o losing current target.
#showtooltip
/cast [mod:alt, target=focus] Charge
/cast Charge
Fighting Tips:
As an Arms Warrior, you need to play offensively but not be afraid to pull off of your target when needed. This means you push hard and quick onto your opponent. On another note, avoid opening with Charge as you might end up needing it to either quickly move out of an engagement or Charge onto an opponent in Execute range.
Very importantly, know when and where to pick your fights. The last thing you want happening is rage starving when initiating a fight with an opponent. A good trick to prevent this is to always auto attack the pets/minions of mindless players that forget to recall them. Like that you will be able raise your rage and get your Victory Rush (killing pets enables it) before engaging the player.
In an ideal engagement, you would be running in with 100 rage and Victory Rush up. Using Mortal Strike first to apply the healing reduction, followed by consecutive Slams in between Mortal Strike's cool down will generally kill your opponent within 3-4 hits (oh yeah), without forgetting to use Victory Rush of course.
2. Races
Alliance
Human
The most popular race to select as an Alliance player. Having Every Man for Himself, it allows the user to have two "PvP trinket" use with a 90 second cooldown between the Pvp medal and this spell. Although this racial only removes Stuns as of patch 7.0.
Night Elf
These guys, if played correctly, can be a game changer in a 1v1. With their ability to vanish in the midst of battle, you might be able to pull of 1-2 ticks of bandage or even (if timed perfectly) absorb a whole hit.
Gnome
Their racial is an equivalent version of Every Man for Himself, as mentioned above but with gnome cuteness allowing to remove slows. Escape Artist does come to use a lot in this bracket as there are much more slows than stuns available at 10-19.
Worgen
Who let the dogs out? Their extreme mobility did. If you are looking for a race able to keep up with range dps, these beasts are the way to go. Darkflight being the only sprint ability available in this bracket (stacking with Swiftness potion), the warrior gains a huge advantage over their target (running speed-wise).
Dwarf
The preferred class for stam stacking, FCing, or survivability in general since Dwarfs have the highest base Stamina on Alliance and their Stoneform comes to great us in a variety of situations involving near death.
Draenei
A near extinct species in the twink-scene, and probably the least played race in WoW. These guys do not do anything good for Warriors apart from having a very weak heal.
Horde
Blood Elf
Being subjectively the ugliest race in WoW, their AoE Purge almost makes up for their rather "flamboyant" looks. This ability can negate/strip Priest bubbles or HoTs off of enemies, being potentially helpful for frontline pressure.
Orc
These guys will come in handy if you are all about pure damage. Their Blood Fury allows you to reach those higher crits and enhances your bursting. In addition, your stun duration is decreased by 20% thanks to their other racial, Hardiness.
Tauren
The ultimate ideal hairy Flag Carrier. With their 5% base health bonus, Taurens are the race to take if stamina is the only stat you have in mind. In addition, their AoE stun permits enormous opportunities and benefits in pvp situations. Additionally, their new passive Brawn has the potential of making Taurens one of the strongest hitting class for Warriors.
Troll
Everyone loves haste, Trolls get it easy. If you are one of those sneaky Warriors that just love having over 9000 haste (more like 65% in Bgs), Trolls are for you since their Berserking does exactly that for you! In addition, similar to Orcs, you get a 20% movement impairing duration decrease with their Da Voodoo Shuffle.
Goblin
Their starter zone provides the user with Grasps of Victory (which are great gloves for 10s). In addition to their race specific gloves, Goblins possess a fair amount of mobility with Rocket Jump.
Forsaken
Also known as the Undead, these skeletons will not back down to fears with their Will of the Forsaken, allowing you to save your PvP trink for another occasion! Also, Undeads come with a built in Lifestealing mechanism called Touch of the Grave, the only down side is that you do not have a purple glow around your body. My personal favourite taunting spell in WoW is both useful for provoking other players by eating their friends in their face, or actually healing you.
Neutral
Pandaren
Strategic use of the Quaking Palm ability opens the door to 2 full ticks of bandage and the possibility to chain CC with a stun grenade (discussed later in Professions). Also, since buffs is a key feature in low level twinking, Pandarens have an advantage with Epicurean passive ability to gain x2 the stats from buff foods.
3. Professions
Engineering (300):
As mentioned earlier, engineering adds a lot of opportunities in PvP and for that reason is a must have.
Grenades from engineering are multi purposed. They can help pop stealthies out of stealth, sleep a few opponents in an attempt to bandage/run away/silence, or even chain-up a CC following a charge/quaking palm. Right now there is a delay in the sleep effect, allowing you to squeeze in an extra attack in after the successful use of the grenade.
Engineering also gives us fancy equipment to play around with and customize our playstyle. Here are a few notable items:
- http://www.wowhead.com/item=10716/gnomish-shrink-ray
- http://www.wowhead.com/item=4397/gnomish-cloaking-device
- http://www.wowhead.com/item=10724/gnomish-rocket-boots
- http://www.wowhead.com/item=10720/gnomish-net-o-matic-projector
Alchemy (300):
Ability to craft your own potions without having to drop a huge amount of gold when purchasing them on the AH. Also is a nice way of making gold on your twink. Additionally gives us a BiS flask (+4 STR outside of BGs, and +8 inside BGs):
Jewelcrafting (300):
Ability to craft Heavy Stone Statue or higher, which heal the crafter until it is killed or its time runs out. If JC is not your thing, you can stack up on the stones and switch to a different professions, as they do not require JC to use.
4. Armor (BiS : Best in Slot)
Gear selection in relation to your performance in instanced pvp (Battlegrounds and Skirmishes) is entirely based off of stats as of 8.0. In other words: Ilvl does not matter anymore. It's worth noting that the list was made with items that are all currently available.
The Front-Line gear is a new addition from patch 7.0. It is obtained through looting Crates of Battlefield Goods earned from winning RANDOM Battlegrounds. @Maestus explains this process here. In order to do this you will need to queue up along side a level 15+ (you unlock random bgs at 15).
Their item levels are 14 (Uncommon quality), or 17 (Rare quality). Making the rare quality items Bis.
****This list does NOT include Fel Forged gear (as it is no longer obtainable). If you do have it, use it as it is BiS*****
Helmet
http://www.wowhead.com/item=16008/master-engineers-goggles (BiS)
http://www.wowhead.com/item=10504/green-lens Crit/Vers (alternative)
Necklace
http://www.wowhead.com/item=122667/eternal-emberfury-talisman&bonus=0 (BiS)
http://www.wowhead.com/item=122662/eternal-talisman-of-evasion&bonus=0 (alternative)
Various (alternative)
http://www.wowhead.com/item=128553/enchant-neck-mark-of-the-hidden-satyr (optional)
Shoulder
Polished Spaulders of Valor (BiS)
Greater Tiger Fang Inscription (optional)
Cloak
http://www.wowhead.com/item=122266/ripped-sandstorm-cloak&bonus=0 (BiS)
Worn Stoneskin Gargoyle (alternative)
http://www.wowhead.com/item=110652/enchant-cloak-gift-of-critical-strike (optional)
Chest
Front-Line Breastplate (BiS)
Polished Breastplate of Valor (alternative)
http://www.wowhead.com/item=74708/enchant-chest-glorious-stats (optional)
Bracers
Front-Line Armplates (BiS)
Ointment-Coated Bracers (alternative - Horde)
Jessera's Fungus Lined Bracers (alternative - Alliance)
http://www.wowhead.com/item=38898/enchant-bracer-stats (optional)
Gloves
Saldean's Working Gloves (BiS - Alliance)
Caravan Escort's Gloves (BiS - Horde)
Enchant Gloves - Super Strength (optional)
Belt
Silver Scaled Belt (BiS - Alliance)
Steel Thunder Belt (BiS - Horde)
Legs
Polished Legplates of Valor (BiS)
Draconic Leg Reinforcement (optional)
Boots
Front-Line Warboots (BiS)
Volunteer's Greaves (alternative - Horde only)
Wild Bark Boots (alternative - Alliance)
Enchant Boots - Minor Speed (optional)
Rings
Recruit's Signet (BiS)
http://www.wowhead.com/item=128172/captain-sanders-returned-band&bonus=0 (BiS)
Dread Pirate Ring (alternative)
Slayer's Band (alternative)
The 1 Ring (alternative)
http://www.wowhead.com/item=128541/enchant-ring-binding-of-critical-strike (optional)
Trinkets
http://www.wowhead.com/item=126948/defending-champion&bonus=0 (BiS)
Arena Grand Master (BiS)
Any Engineering trinket mentioned above (alternative)
Any other heirloom (alternative)
**WEAPON SECTION BELOW**
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