Fury Warrior WotLK Guide

Fury is the Warrior that raid leaders ask for. It wields two two-handers with Titan's Grip, it has the simplest strong rotation of the melee specs, and it keeps up with the top of the damage meters when it is played well. It is also the spec that carries Shadowmourne in the best-in-slot lists.

This guide covers the priority, the cooldowns and when to use them, 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.

Fury is about keeping every global cooldown busy and spending rage on time. Bloodthirst and Whirlwind are your two main buttons, Slam becomes free damage when Bloodsurge procs, and Heroic Strike is queued whenever your rage allows it, so that a dual-wield penalty never wastes it.

The other half of the spec is pre-pull preparation. You use Bloodrage about ten seconds before the pull, Berserker Rage and your cooldowns at the start, and then you keep the rage bar working. Fury rewards planning more than it rewards fast fingers.

1. BloodthirstOn cooldown. It is your main attack and it also heals you.
2. WhirlwindOn cooldown, and it hits everything around you.
3. SlamOnly when Bloodsurge makes it instant. Never cast it with a cast time.
4. ExecuteIn the execute phase, below 20% health, in place of your normal filler.
5. Heroic StrikeQueue it whenever your rage is above the comfortable level, so rage never caps. In AoE, use Cleave.
6. OverpowerWhen the target dodges, as a cheap filler.

If your raid has no other armor debuff, you also keep Sunder Armor on the boss. Use Heroic Throw sparingly, right after your main-hand swing, so it does not delay your attacks. Stance-dancing loses your rage, so stay in Berserker Stance unless a fight asks otherwise.

Fury has the strongest burst of the melee specs, and using it well is what separates a good Fury from an average one.

Death Wish3 min

A big damage increase for a short time. Use it on cooldown, and line it up with Bloodlust and your trinkets.

Recklessness5 min

Extra critical strike chance for a short time. Use it together with Death Wish at the start of the fight, and again when it comes back.

Bloodrage1 min

Gives you rage. Use it about ten seconds before the pull.

Berserker Rage30 sec

Lets you ignore fears and gives rage when you take damage. Also useful right before the pull.

Shattering Throw5 min

Reduces a target's armor for a short time. A good raid tool, if the raid needs it.

Battle Shout

Attack power for the whole group. Keep it up if no Paladin or Shaman does the same.

Our recommended Fury build is the 18/53/0 in the calculator, built around Titan's Grip, Bloodsurge, Unending Fury, Flurry, Improved Berserker Stance and Death Wish. The 18 points in the Arms tree buy the usual utility, and a full 5/5 Enrage is a must; for 10-player content with no Feral Druid in the raid, move one point from Enrage into Rampage instead so you bring the 5% raid crit buff yourself.

The major glyphs are Whirlwind, Heroic Strike and Execution. A Draenei Warrior gets one percent hit from the Heroic Presence aura, which lets you take two points in Precision instead of three.

Titan's Grip

Allows you to equip two-handed axes, maces and swords in one hand. While you have a two-handed weapon equipped in one hand, your physical damage done is reduced by 10%.

Bloodsurge

Your Heroic Strike, Bloodthirst, and Whirlwind hits have a 20% chance of making your next Slam instant for 5 sec.

Unending Fury

Increases the damage done by your Slam, Whirlwind and Bloodthirst abilities by 10%.

Flurry

Increases your attack speed by 25% for your next 3 swings after dealing a melee critical strike.

Improved Berserker Stance

Increases Strength by 20% and reduces threat caused by 10% while in Berserker Stance.

Death Wish

When activated you become enraged, increasing your physical damage by 20% but increasing all damage taken by 5%. Lasts 30 sec.

Glyph of Whirlwind

Reduces the cooldown of your Whirlwind by 2 sec.

Glyph of Heroic Strike

You gain 10 rage when you critically strike with your Heroic Strike ability.

Glyph of Execution

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

Fury wants hit, then expertise, then armor penetration, then strength, attack power and haste. The hit cap is around eight percent, and expertise is a lower priority than attack power scaling, but do not ignore the parry chance of bosses in front of you.

Shadowmourne is the best weapon, with a second legendary-quality two-hander in the other hand in the best lists. Before that, look for the strong Trial of the Crusader and Icecrown weapons in the BiS list below.

1. Hit (to ability cap)
2. Expertise
3. Armor Penetration
4. Strength

Fury is strong on almost every fight. A few notes for Icecrown and Ruby Sanctum:

Lord Marrowgar

Open with Whirlwind while the Bone Spikes are around, and switch to a spike when your raid leader asks.

Rotface

Get the dispel on an ooze so the Enrage lands when you want it, and keep your damage on the target.

Blood Prince Council

Use your defensive cooldowns just before the burst phases.

Lich King

Keep your Deep Wounds on the ghouls for the Blood Drinkers buff, and avoid cleaving them in a way that gets you killed. See the Lich King guide.