Frogturtle
Veteran
Hello fellow warriors/people who are bored and decided to read about warriors. If you who don't know me on Classic WoW, I am Neebler. I exclusively play a warrior in the guild <No Hard Feelings> on Westfall Alliance.
For those of you looking to make a warrior, welcome to the club! I wanted to take a closer look at the three most viable races for the class across both factions and give you a better idea of what to choose. While there are obviously 8 races total, these three stand out significantly as good choices, and will be the focus of this guide.
Let's get rollin'.
ALLIANCE:
Your primary choices will be Gnome and Dwarf. Night Elf and Human are both hot garbage for this class so don't bother with them.
Dwarf:
Base stats:
Dwarf unquestionably has the best base stats for a warrior, with favorably high strength and stamina. The bonuses aren't huge, but it goes without saying that it's nice to passively just have better base stats than your friends.
Stone Form:
Grants 10% armor and removes bleeds/poisons/diseases. Instant cast, lasts 8 seconds, 3 minute CD.
10% armor is very nice on a warrior, particularly when front-lining or being kited by hunters. One of your greatest assets as a warrior is being extremely difficult to kill against physical damage classes, who generally do more damage than casters. Having an extra boost to armor on demand might make the difference in keeping you alive in a situation where you would otherwise die.
Most non-magic DoTs at 19 are effectively worthless damage-wise. However, being able to purge off something like Rend if another warrior tries to deny you a bandage can come in handy. Generally though, this aspect of the racial is highly situational and won't see a lot of value in games.
The CD is pretty long, and the benefits from pressing it aren't spectacular, but it's a nice boost to have on-demand. Decent racial overall.
+10 Frost Resistance
By far the best aspect of Dwarf, and arguably the second best resistance to have as a warrior, the first being Shadow (at least IMO, though I think most would agree.)
There are two specific reasons why this is good. The first and most obvious is that you have the chance to totally ignore frost spells - which are some of the most threatening to you as a warrior. Frost Nova, Frostbolt and Frost Shield all make your life worse as a warrior. If mages are running Permafrost as a talent, then that statement is even more true.
Secondly, you can partial-resist spells which reduces their damage - and most frost spells do damage. This partial-resist IS NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE with a full resist, meaning that a full resist will not be replaced by a partial resist and vice-versa.
Furthermore, the second best resistance racial on Alliance, Arcane Resistance on Gnome, doesn't really prevent damage because there are very few arcane spells at 19 - Arcane Shot being the most common one. Mages will almost never cast Arcane Missiles against you. Therefore, you're not really getting much damage prevention value out of Arcane Resistance in comparison to Frost Resistance, thus indirectly making Dwarves even tankier as a race.
Gnome:
+10 Arcane Resistance
While not as good as Frost or Shadow resistance, Arcane resistance is still a very useful stat to have baseline. Concussive Shot and Polymorph are the two big spells that Arcane Resistance can help mitigate. Concussive Shot in particular has a chance to stun, which is a very popular talent on a very popular class. Polymorph obviously is a nice spell to resist as well, even though it has a chance to randomly break on its own.
Yes, both of these spells can be dispelled. And most of the time, that will be what happens when they hit you. But dispels will not always be available to you in a variety of likely scenarios, so having some self-sufficiency in the CC denial department is very helpful.
I tend to argue in favor of running +5 All Resistances on cloak for Gnome, specifically because it has synergy with this racial. I'd rather have a higher chance to resist one spell type than an equally medium chance to resist two spell types, which is why I don't run +10 Shadow Resist. However, it is definitely still good to run +10 Shadow Resist to cloak if you choose to go that route.
+15 to Engineering:
Specifically, this racial is useful because it allows Gnomes to gain exclusive access to the Portable Bronze Mortar. All attributes of this item are identical to the Big Bronze Bomb, with one crucial difference of having a 0 second cast time. As a melee, you will be constantly subjected to kiting - and every single yard of ground you can cover is invaluable. Not having to lose those yards due to a stationary cast of a bomb is incredibly useful. Furthermore, it allows for on-demand instant interrupts, and generally is just good in a large variety of situations.
There was some controversy about whether or not bombs would be banned in organized play. However, from reading forums about establishing rules, the consensus seems to favor allowing bombs.
Jumper Cables appear to be banned and are therefore not worth discussing.
Escape Artist:
Removes all slow/snares after a .5 second cast time. 1 minute CD.
There are a few myths surrounding this racial that I would like to clear up.
1. Escape Artist is not good because against spammable, non-dispellable slows, a competent player will instantly reapply their slow after you break the first one.
Normally this is true. However, warrior specifically nullifies this problem due to their class PvP trinket obtained upon reaching Corporal rank - which breaks stuns, snares and slows. Because trinkets are off the GCD, you can break the first slow with EA, then instantly break the second with your trinket. If your target is, for example, a hunter or another warrior spamming Wing Clip/Hamstring respectively, they WILL NOT be able to reapply their slow before you get away. Just make sure you have slowed them with Hamstring before trying to get away so they can't match your speed.
You can also just like...instant bomb someone and then Escape Artist. That works too but it's a little more clunky and difficult to pull off.
2. Escape Artist isn't really that useful because most slows on you can be dispelled.
This is true provided that your healers are always in range, have mana, and are not CC'd at all times in the game, and that you will never, ever be tasked with any role that requires you to do things away from your healers.
In other words, this is a glorified hypothetical that isn't really valid in practice. There will likely be at minimum one scenario per game where having your own slow/snare breaker is invaluable.
3. Escape Artist isn't that great because it suffers pushback.
This is probably the most valid argument against Escape Artist. The pushback can be rough. However, it is not so rough that it makes Escape Artist anywhere near a subpar racial. Also, with some luck or careful timing, you can cast it just as an attack hits you and likely finish the cast before the next attack lands. Highly situational of course and unreliable against a lot of enemies.
---
There has been a significant amount of back-and-forth on which of these two races is objectively better for warrior. At first, Gnome was the obvious choice, and then a strong argument for Dwarf was made riding primarily on the better base stats and +10 Frost Resistance, which align nicely with the role of warrior as a bruiser/front-liner.
Ultimately, I'll say this: With the synergy between Escape Artist and PvP Trinket, in most practical situations I would choose Gnome every time. Frost Resistance won't realistically prevent enough damage/CC per game to make a massive impact. With a full set of Frost Resistance gear this may not be true, but you are then opening yourself up to get rolled by a bunch of other classes by sacrificing other stats. Maybe with some careful planning this could be worth it, but it seems highly situational and risky to pull off.
Getting away from a slow-spamming hunter or warrior as a Dwarf warrior is very clunky, since you have to cast a bomb and then trinket to escape. Gnome has the freedom to bomb (instantly, which is much smoother) and Escape Artist, bomb into trinket, or Escape Artist into trinket. Against hunter, this is ESPECIALLY useful because if you use bomb/EA to escape Wing Clip, you can then save another slow-breaker for concussive shot, whether it slows or stuns. Ideally the concussive shot follow-up will just be dispelled anyway, but as I said before, you shouldn't always expect a dispel depending on the situation.
Both races are good. I've shared my opinion and will let you, the reader, decide for yourself.
(But seriously, pick Gnome.)
HORDE:
Undead:
Fear (Warlock Fear/Priest Psychic Scream) is the most busted form of CC at 19, so having an instant fear break is probably the best racial in the game. Also, you have +10 to Shadow Resistance, the best possible resistance to have considering that a lot of spell/DoT/wand damage is shadow, AND Fear is shadow. With this in mind, if you aren't Undead already, you've made a terrible mistake. Oops.
---
Thanks for reading. Please feel free offer opinions/point out any mistakes you find. Tweaks and edits can still be made.
For those of you looking to make a warrior, welcome to the club! I wanted to take a closer look at the three most viable races for the class across both factions and give you a better idea of what to choose. While there are obviously 8 races total, these three stand out significantly as good choices, and will be the focus of this guide.
Let's get rollin'.
ALLIANCE:
Your primary choices will be Gnome and Dwarf. Night Elf and Human are both hot garbage for this class so don't bother with them.
Dwarf:
Base stats:
Dwarf unquestionably has the best base stats for a warrior, with favorably high strength and stamina. The bonuses aren't huge, but it goes without saying that it's nice to passively just have better base stats than your friends.
Stone Form:
Grants 10% armor and removes bleeds/poisons/diseases. Instant cast, lasts 8 seconds, 3 minute CD.
10% armor is very nice on a warrior, particularly when front-lining or being kited by hunters. One of your greatest assets as a warrior is being extremely difficult to kill against physical damage classes, who generally do more damage than casters. Having an extra boost to armor on demand might make the difference in keeping you alive in a situation where you would otherwise die.
Most non-magic DoTs at 19 are effectively worthless damage-wise. However, being able to purge off something like Rend if another warrior tries to deny you a bandage can come in handy. Generally though, this aspect of the racial is highly situational and won't see a lot of value in games.
The CD is pretty long, and the benefits from pressing it aren't spectacular, but it's a nice boost to have on-demand. Decent racial overall.
+10 Frost Resistance
By far the best aspect of Dwarf, and arguably the second best resistance to have as a warrior, the first being Shadow (at least IMO, though I think most would agree.)
There are two specific reasons why this is good. The first and most obvious is that you have the chance to totally ignore frost spells - which are some of the most threatening to you as a warrior. Frost Nova, Frostbolt and Frost Shield all make your life worse as a warrior. If mages are running Permafrost as a talent, then that statement is even more true.
Secondly, you can partial-resist spells which reduces their damage - and most frost spells do damage. This partial-resist IS NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE with a full resist, meaning that a full resist will not be replaced by a partial resist and vice-versa.
Furthermore, the second best resistance racial on Alliance, Arcane Resistance on Gnome, doesn't really prevent damage because there are very few arcane spells at 19 - Arcane Shot being the most common one. Mages will almost never cast Arcane Missiles against you. Therefore, you're not really getting much damage prevention value out of Arcane Resistance in comparison to Frost Resistance, thus indirectly making Dwarves even tankier as a race.
Gnome:
+10 Arcane Resistance
While not as good as Frost or Shadow resistance, Arcane resistance is still a very useful stat to have baseline. Concussive Shot and Polymorph are the two big spells that Arcane Resistance can help mitigate. Concussive Shot in particular has a chance to stun, which is a very popular talent on a very popular class. Polymorph obviously is a nice spell to resist as well, even though it has a chance to randomly break on its own.
Yes, both of these spells can be dispelled. And most of the time, that will be what happens when they hit you. But dispels will not always be available to you in a variety of likely scenarios, so having some self-sufficiency in the CC denial department is very helpful.
I tend to argue in favor of running +5 All Resistances on cloak for Gnome, specifically because it has synergy with this racial. I'd rather have a higher chance to resist one spell type than an equally medium chance to resist two spell types, which is why I don't run +10 Shadow Resist. However, it is definitely still good to run +10 Shadow Resist to cloak if you choose to go that route.
+15 to Engineering:
Specifically, this racial is useful because it allows Gnomes to gain exclusive access to the Portable Bronze Mortar. All attributes of this item are identical to the Big Bronze Bomb, with one crucial difference of having a 0 second cast time. As a melee, you will be constantly subjected to kiting - and every single yard of ground you can cover is invaluable. Not having to lose those yards due to a stationary cast of a bomb is incredibly useful. Furthermore, it allows for on-demand instant interrupts, and generally is just good in a large variety of situations.
There was some controversy about whether or not bombs would be banned in organized play. However, from reading forums about establishing rules, the consensus seems to favor allowing bombs.
Jumper Cables appear to be banned and are therefore not worth discussing.
Escape Artist:
Removes all slow/snares after a .5 second cast time. 1 minute CD.
There are a few myths surrounding this racial that I would like to clear up.
1. Escape Artist is not good because against spammable, non-dispellable slows, a competent player will instantly reapply their slow after you break the first one.
Normally this is true. However, warrior specifically nullifies this problem due to their class PvP trinket obtained upon reaching Corporal rank - which breaks stuns, snares and slows. Because trinkets are off the GCD, you can break the first slow with EA, then instantly break the second with your trinket. If your target is, for example, a hunter or another warrior spamming Wing Clip/Hamstring respectively, they WILL NOT be able to reapply their slow before you get away. Just make sure you have slowed them with Hamstring before trying to get away so they can't match your speed.
You can also just like...instant bomb someone and then Escape Artist. That works too but it's a little more clunky and difficult to pull off.
2. Escape Artist isn't really that useful because most slows on you can be dispelled.
This is true provided that your healers are always in range, have mana, and are not CC'd at all times in the game, and that you will never, ever be tasked with any role that requires you to do things away from your healers.
In other words, this is a glorified hypothetical that isn't really valid in practice. There will likely be at minimum one scenario per game where having your own slow/snare breaker is invaluable.
3. Escape Artist isn't that great because it suffers pushback.
This is probably the most valid argument against Escape Artist. The pushback can be rough. However, it is not so rough that it makes Escape Artist anywhere near a subpar racial. Also, with some luck or careful timing, you can cast it just as an attack hits you and likely finish the cast before the next attack lands. Highly situational of course and unreliable against a lot of enemies.
---
There has been a significant amount of back-and-forth on which of these two races is objectively better for warrior. At first, Gnome was the obvious choice, and then a strong argument for Dwarf was made riding primarily on the better base stats and +10 Frost Resistance, which align nicely with the role of warrior as a bruiser/front-liner.
Ultimately, I'll say this: With the synergy between Escape Artist and PvP Trinket, in most practical situations I would choose Gnome every time. Frost Resistance won't realistically prevent enough damage/CC per game to make a massive impact. With a full set of Frost Resistance gear this may not be true, but you are then opening yourself up to get rolled by a bunch of other classes by sacrificing other stats. Maybe with some careful planning this could be worth it, but it seems highly situational and risky to pull off.
Getting away from a slow-spamming hunter or warrior as a Dwarf warrior is very clunky, since you have to cast a bomb and then trinket to escape. Gnome has the freedom to bomb (instantly, which is much smoother) and Escape Artist, bomb into trinket, or Escape Artist into trinket. Against hunter, this is ESPECIALLY useful because if you use bomb/EA to escape Wing Clip, you can then save another slow-breaker for concussive shot, whether it slows or stuns. Ideally the concussive shot follow-up will just be dispelled anyway, but as I said before, you shouldn't always expect a dispel depending on the situation.
Both races are good. I've shared my opinion and will let you, the reader, decide for yourself.
(But seriously, pick Gnome.)
HORDE:
Undead:
Fear (Warlock Fear/Priest Psychic Scream) is the most busted form of CC at 19, so having an instant fear break is probably the best racial in the game. Also, you have +10 to Shadow Resistance, the best possible resistance to have considering that a lot of spell/DoT/wand damage is shadow, AND Fear is shadow. With this in mind, if you aren't Undead already, you've made a terrible mistake. Oops.
---
Thanks for reading. Please feel free offer opinions/point out any mistakes you find. Tweaks and edits can still be made.
Last edited:
