Arms Warrior WotLK Guide

Arms is the slower, heavier-hitting Warrior. It uses a two-handed weapon, it has a harder rotation than Fury, and it is a real raiding spec, not a leveling choice. In lower gear it can even out-damage Fury, and in the best gear it stays close, while bringing two debuffs a raid values: Trauma for bleed damage and Blood Frenzy for physical damage.

This guide covers the priority you play, how to keep your swing timer clean, the cooldowns and stance tools, the talents and glyphs we run, the stats to reach and the mistakes that cost the most. It is written for Icecrown Citadel 25 and Ruby Sanctum on 3.3.5a. The short overview is in the class guide.

Arms is a proc-and-cooldown spec. You keep Rend on the target, you press Mortal Strike every time it comes back, and you react to two procs: Taste for Blood makes Overpower usable, and Sudden Death lets you use Execute outside the execute phase. Between them, Slam fills the gap, and Heroic Strike spends rage you would otherwise waste.

The part that separates good Arms Warriors from average ones is the swing timer. A Slam that lands right before your auto-attack resets that swing and costs you rage, so you learn to time it, with an addon or with a lot of practice. It sounds small, and it is not: it is the difference between an Arms Warrior who feels smooth and one who is always starving for rage.

1. RendKeep it up at all times. It also feeds your Taste for Blood procs.
2. Mortal StrikeOn cooldown. It comes before Overpower, except when a Taste for Blood proc is about to run out before your next global cooldown.
3. OverpowerEvery time the Taste for Blood proc is up.
4. ExecuteOn a Sudden Death proc, and in the execute phase. In the execute phase, do not spam it: it eats rage.
5. SlamThe filler, timed so it does not reset your swing.
6. Heroic StrikeOnly to spend rage when you are close to the cap. In AoE, use Cleave instead.

Bladestorm is an AoE tool, and it also works on adds and on trash. It is bad on a single boss: one auto-attack and your rage bar fills, so if you are starving for rage, just wait. For a longer AoE fight, alternate between Battle Stance for Thunder Clap and Berserker Stance for Whirlwind.

Arms has fewer personal damage cooldowns than Fury, but it has the tools of all three stances, which is more useful in a raid than it sounds.

Bladestorm1.5 min

Strong AoE damage, useful in add phases and on trash. On a single boss, use it only when you have nothing better to do and rage is not the problem.

Sweeping Strikes30 sec

Makes your next attacks hit a second target. Use it on cleave fights, together with Whirlwind and Cleave.

Shattering Throw5 min

Removes a part of a target's armor for a moment, for the whole raid. If a fight asks for it, coordinate with the other melee.

Bloodrage1 min

Gives you rage at the start of a fight, at the cost of some health. Press it just before the pull.

Shield Wall5 min

You can save the raid by switching to Defensive Stance for Shield Block, Shield Wall, Taunt and Enraged Regeneration in an emergency. Know where the keys are.

Intervene30 sec

Moves you to a raid member and takes a hit for them. Rare, but on some fights it is a raid save.

Our recommended Arms build is the 55/8/8 in the calculator. The Arms tree carries the spec: Bladestorm, Mortal Strike, Blood Frenzy, Trauma, Sudden Death and Wrecking Crew. As your gear gets better (around the Trial of the Crusader gear), the guides we read move points around to give Heroic Strike more priority above Slam when you have more than 70 rage.

The major glyphs are Mortal Strike, Rending and Execution, and those are clear damage gains. Other glyphs are much weaker: the Glyph of Bladestorm only pays on AoE-heavy fights, the Glyph of Overpower is useless once you are expertise capped, and the Glyph of Sweeping Strikes is a PvP glyph.

Bladestorm

Instantly Whirlwind up to 4 nearby targets and for the next 6 sec you will perform a whirlwind attack every 1 sec. While under the effects of Bladestorm, you can move but cannot perform any other abilities but you do not feel pity or remorse or fear and you cannot be stopped unless killed.

Mortal Strike

Requires Melee Weapon. A vicious strike that deals weapon damage plus 85 and wounds the target, reducing the effectiveness of any healing by 50% for 10 sec.

Blood Frenzy

Increases your attack speed by 10%. In addition your Rend and Deep Wound abilities also increase all physical damage caused to that target by 4%.

Trauma

Your melee critical strikes increase the effectiveness of Bleed effects on the target by 30% for 1 min.

Sudden Death

Your melee hits have a 9% chance of allowing the use of Execute regardless of the target's health state. In addition, you keep at least 10 rage after using Execute.

Wrecking Crew

Your melee critical hits Enrage you, increasing all damage caused by 10% for 12 sec. This effect does not stack with Enrage.

Glyph of Mortal Strike

Increases the damage of your Mortal Strike ability by 10%.

Glyph of Rending

Increases the duration of your Rend ability by 6 sec.

Glyph of Execution

Your Execute ability deals damage as if you had 10 additional rage.

The priority is hit, then expertise, then armor penetration, then strength, then critical strike, and haste last. Arms wants to use every single global cooldown, and a dodge or a parry on your Mortal Strike or Rend takes one away, which is why expertise is not optional. Critical strikes matter for Deep Wounds, Trauma and Wrecking Crew, but you do not gem for them.

Plate has a lot of haste on it in the lower tiers, and haste is almost a dead stat for Arms. Look for items with strength, hit, expertise and armor penetration. Your best-in-slot list is on the BiS page below.

Arms is at its best on fights with a long single target, and it brings debuffs the raid wants. Some specific notes:

Sindragosa

Stand behind the boss to avoid parries, and use your Defensive Stance tools when the breaths come if your raid asks for it.

Halion

Keep your damage on the target you are assigned, and watch the ground. See the Ruby Sanctum guide.

Adds and trash

Bladestorm and Sweeping Strikes with Whirlwind and Thunder Clap are your AoE tools. Use them on add phases like Lady Deathwhisper.

Lich King

Stay on the boss in phase 1 and 3, and use your stance tools if the tanks need help. See the Lich King guide.