Warrior

Classes
Starting a	Death Knight	Druid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
PvE	Death Knight	Druid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
PvP	Death Knight	Druid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Tactics	Death Knight	Druid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Class races	Death Knight	Druid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Abilities	Death Knight	Druid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Trainers	Death Knight	Druid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Talents	Death Knight	Druid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Glyphs	Death Knight	Druid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Talent builds	Death Knight	Druid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Armor sets	Death Knight	Druid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Useful macros	Death Knight	Druid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior

Warriors are melee fighters highly trained in the arts of weaponry. They are strong and quick on the battlefield. As such they can deal large amounts of damage; they are also capable of withstanding large amounts of damage to protect other party members. Warrior abilities depend on rage generation. Rage is generated through damage being dealt to and by the warrior and is capped at 100. Warriors have many talents and abilities capable of aiding rage generation. Druids in [Bear Form] are much akin to warriors.

Warriors can change between three combat stances: Battle Stance, Defensive Stance and Berserker Stance. Many abilities have a stance requirement. However, stances give the class a fluid play style allowing the player a variety of responses to any given PvE or PvP situation. Warriors can wear any type of armor; plate armour becomes available at level 40. They are able to use shields and can wield any weapon with the exception of wands and relics.

The primary warrior attributes are strength and stamina. Agility is also useful while levelling as critical strike rating on gear is rare until later levels. Warrior-oriented gear found towards end-game provides a wider range of attributes. Gear oriented specifically to damage dealing warriors may include critical strike rating, or haste. Gear oriented to warrior tanks usually includes dodge rating and parry rating. Hit rating or expertise rating are also commonly found on gear and can be useful for warriors performing either role. It can be difficult to find rings or cloaks with the relevant attributes. As such warriors may improvise; for example, damage dealing warriors may seek "rogue" items that contain agility and attack power in place of elusive items containing strength.

Background

See also: List of warriors

A dwarf warrior as seen in-game.

As long as war is waged on Azeroth, there will be men and women who fight those wars. The warrior is no mere sword-swinger. Warriors are skilled combatants, combining strength of arm, knowledge of weaponry, and practiced maneuvers to slice or bludgeon their foes into little red bits. Warriors are the most versatile of the combat classes, and they supplement their fighting prowess with the ability to rally their allies and spur them to victory. Warriors charge into the heart of the battle, take several lives, and live to tell the tale. All races fight, and all races boast many warriors in their ranks. Warriors are common among dwarves, Forsaken, humans, and orcs, but are less so among the other races. Masters of swords, spears, and weapons of all kinds, warriors share a common way of life on Azeroth. Using their abilities to deal pain and cause bloodshed, warriors are deadly adversaries and welcome friends in violent times (which seem to be all the time in recent decades). Warriors have existed in every race, from the murlocs to the tauren. Anyone willing to take up arms to defend his or her people can be classed as a warrior. A knight is the warrior elite among humans.

Notable warriors

Horde

•   Kargath Bladefist
•   Lor'themar Theron
•   Cairne Bloodhoof
•   Baine Bloodhoof
•   Broxigar the Red
•   Varok Saurfang
•   Orgrim Doomhammer
•   Durotan
•   Grom Hellscream
•   Garrosh Hellscream
•   Dranosh Saurfang

Alliance

•   Sir Anduin Lothar
•   Danath Trollbane
•   King Varian Wrynn
•   Daelin Proudmoore
•   Muradin Bronzebeard

Other

•   Kur'talos Ravencrest

Races

Main article: Warrior races

Christopher the Devout, a human warrior.

Pappy Ironbane, a dwarf warrior.

Fillet, Kneecapper Extraordinaire, a gnome warrior.

Kavai the Wanderer, a night elf warrior.

Defender Nagalaas, a draenei warrior.

Warmaster Hork, an orc warrior.

A tauren warrior cleaving his foes.

The warrior class can be played by all available races:

Race		Strength	Agility	Stamina	Intellect	Spirit	Armor	Health
	Blood elf	20	22	20	24	19	?	?
	Forsaken	22	18	22	18	25	36	60
	Goblin	20	22	22	23	18	100	60
	Orc	26	17	23	17	22	34	70
	Tauren	28	16	23	16	22	32	71
	Troll	24	22	22	16	21	44	60
/	Pandaren	23	18	23	19	22	37	133
	Draenei	24	17	22	20	22	34	60
	Dwarf	28	16	23	19	19	32	70
	Gnome	18	22	22	24	20	44	60
	Human	23	20	22	20	20	40	60
	Night elf	19	24	22	20	20	48	60
	Worgen	26	22	22	16	19	98	60

Until the Cataclysm expansion came out, blood elf players were the only race that could not be warriors. Blood elf warriors are a standard class for blood elves in the RPG. Some blood elves become warriors (or scouts or hunters) — especially those seeking to be spell breakers, demon hunters, and rangers. In addition, there were High Elf Swordsmen in the Undead campaign in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, so Elven warriors have technically always been justified.

With the release of Cataclysm, warriors are the first non-hero class to be available to all races.

Racial advantages

Each race comes with unique special abilities or powers, known as racial traits, or simply racials. While each race has its advantages, certain racials are of particular benefit to certain classes. Players may wish to take these advantages into account when selecting which race/class combination to play. Some of the most useful racials for warriors are:

• Humans: [Sword Specialization] and [Mace Specialization] increase expertise with swords and maces by 3, reducing opponents' chance to dodge or parry by 0.75%. Humans also gain [Every Man for Himself], allowing the player to free himself from all effects that impair movement or cause loss of control every 2 minutes. This is a very useful ability for PvP, especially for melee classes such as warriors who rely on staying close to their targets in order to deal damage. This ability's 2 minute cooldown offers a significant advantage over the 5 minute cooldown offered by PvP trinkets up until level 80, as well as freeing the trinket slot usually reserved for them.

• Dwarves: [Stoneform] is a very useful 2-minute cooldown ability that removes all poison, disease and bleed effects, and reduces all damage taken by 10% for 8 seconds. Dwarves also gain [Frost Resistance] which is always useful. [Mace Specialization] increases expertise with maces by 3, reducing opponents' chance to dodge or parry by 0.75%.

• Gnomes: [Escape Artist] can be very useful, primarily in PvP situations, but also in PvE. Warriors being the prototypical tank often have to lead mobs and bosses away from the healers and ranged fighters, thus making Escape Artist very useful. Gnomes also benefit from increased [Arcane Resistance] which is always useful. Because of their small size, gnome warriors are useful in PvP environments, posing a difficulty to target. Inexperienced or careless opponents can be quickly hit by Hamstring, Thunder Clap, and Sunder Armor before they have any idea as to what happened. Gnomes also have [Shortblade Specialization], giving them 3 Expertise when using a one-handed sword, a popular tanking weapon type.

• Night elves: [Quickness] reduces the chance for night elves to be hit by melee or ranged attacks by 2%, improving tanking and overall survivability. [Nature Resistance] is also increased. [Shadowmeld] adds an interesting element to night elves, who can stealth to avoid mob detection (more useful for solo play). In addition, in PvP settings, Shadowmeld can be devastating. Stealth, Charge, Hamstring, Thunder Clap, etc., and Ta-da! You just became a rogue in heavy armor! An additional bonus to Shadowmeld is the ability to temporarily drop threat in combat, and possibly even save your life (if you're the last person standing).

• Draenei: [Gift of the Naaru] allows players to heal a target for 20% of their health over 15 seconds, every 3 minutes. This can act as a useful panic button and is one of the few healing abilities available to warriors, potentially adding 20% to their available health in most encounters, as well as reducing downtime for warriors who are soloing, and helping to conserve a group's mana. Increased [Shadow Resistance] is always welcomed. [Heroic Presence] increases chance to hit by 1%. For a DPS warrior, Heroic Presence will also reduce the amount of gear you need to dedicate to reaching hit caps.

• Worgen: [Darkflight] allows a warrior to increase his movement speed by 40% for 10 seconds every 2 minutes, which can be useful for staying close to your target and counteracting snares, or for escaping combat. [Viciousness] grants an extra 1% critical strike chance. [Aberration] increases both nature and shadow resistance, which is a nice bonus.

• Orcs: [Axe Specialization] increases expertise by 3 when wielding an axe or fist weapon, reducing the player's chance to be dodged/parried by 0.75%. [Hardiness] reduces stun duration by 15%, which can save a warrior in PvP settings, or save their group in PvE settings. [Blood Fury] temporarily increases the warrior's attack power, granting 1169 attack power at level 85.

• Trolls: [Berserking] can increase attack speed by 20% for 10 seconds every 3 minutes, useful for all warriors, particularly DPS warriors, but can also provide a marginal TPS buff to tanking warriors. [Regeneration] can help keep you alive during PvP fights, or boss battles, and the increased healing can reduce down time for soloing players. [Beast Slaying] grants 5% increased damage against beasts, which can be useful as beasts are located almost everywhere in the world. [Da Voodoo Shuffle] reduces the duration of movement impairing effects by 15%, providing a significant boost to a warrior's mobility, something which is of particular use in PvP.

• Undead: The increased [Shadow Resistance] is always useful, as is [Cannibalize], which can reduce down time while soloing, and save your healer's mana. The increased Underwater Breathing is also useful, especially when soloing, where a warrior might not have access to an alchemist or warlock. [Will of the Forsaken] is one of the best racials in game, and can be the difference between life and death in both PvP and PvE settings.

• Tauren: [War Stomp] is a useful form of crowd control. [Endurance] provides tauren with 5% extra base health, meaning tauren warriors can have the highest possible HP of any warrior tank. The additional [Nature Resistance] is always a plus.

• Blood elves: [Arcane Torrent] generates 15 rage, and is a great tanking utility. As an Area of Effect silence, It can be used to interrupt and silence the enemy for a while; good for stopping a heal or devastating attack. [Arcane Resistance] means less arcane damage is taken.

• Goblins: [Rocket Jump] is an ability used to escape combat in a dire situation or if used correctly can be used as a charge. [Rocket Barrage] is an ability that deals a little damage. [Time is Money] passively increases attack speed by 1%, increasing a warrior's DPS.

Rage

Main article: Rage

By default, a warrior's rage bar is empty. Warriors can gain rage by being struck in combat, dealing damage, drinking rage potions, or using certain abilities. Most of their abilities require a certain amount of rage in order to be activated - this makes rage the warrior's equivalent of mana, energy, focus, or runic power. When a warrior exits combat, any left-over rage slowly decays until the bar returns to empty. The rate at which rage decays can be controlled through talents. Below level 58, a warrior's rage bar will drop to 0 immediately if they switch their stance. At level 58, the passive ability [Stance Mastery] becomes available, allowing warriors to retain 25 rage through a stance change. The Tier 2 Arms talent [Tactical Mastery] increases this by a further 25/50 for a maximum of 75 rage retained.

Warriors need to be in combat or use a rage-generating ability to generate rage. The longer the battle, the more rage a warrior can accumulate. This often leads the warrior to the strategy of "filling up" their rage bar on a weaker foe before moving on to a more powerful enemy. A warrior with a full rage bar can quickly unload a large amount of damage.

Stances

Main article: Stance

The warrior has different stances for different situations. Which stance to use will also be determined by the warrior's talents.

• [Battle Stance]: The standard starting stance for all warriors. A balanced combat stance. Increases damage done by 5%. Decreases damage taken by 5%
• [Defensive Stance]: A defensive combat stance. Decreases damage taken by 10%. Increases Threat generated by 200%.
• [Berserker Stance]: An aggressive combat stance. Increases damage done by 10%.

Some warrior abilities are not available based on which stance you are in, so choose wisely! Remember that all your rage is depleted when you switch stances unless you have Tactical Mastery or Stance Mastery.

Abilities

Wimbly Tinkerton, another gnome warrior.

Main article: Warrior abilities

The warrior has various abilities, which are typically limited to certain stances.

• In Defensive Stance, the warrior can use abilities such as [Revenge] and [Taunt]. These abilities are useful for keeping aggro.
• In Battle Stance, the warrior can use a balanced array of abilities. Abilities such as [Overpower] and [Retaliation] are useful for dealing damage. Some abilities usable in Defensive and Berserker Stances are also usable in Battle Stance.
• In Berserker Stance, the warrior is focused on maximizing damage potential with abilities such as [Recklessness].

How stats affect the warrior

(Original can be seen at WoW: World of Warriors)

Normal stats

Stat	Effect
Strength	Increases the warrior's Attack Power, thereby increasing the warrior's damage. Strength also increases the warrior's chance to parry an attack. 1 Strength = 2 Attack Power 1 Strength = 0.25 Parry rating
Stamina	Increases health points. This is critical for warriors due to their melee range restriction and inability to significantly heal themselves while dealing damage, as well as to absorb the large amounts of damage mobs will try and cause against a party while tanking. 1 stamina = 10 health

DPS/ Threat boosters

Stat	Effect
Armor	Armor augments a character's health to a higher number (if the armor is positive), which represents the amount of physical damage a player can withstand. For instance, a character with 5000 health and 50% armor would be able to absorb 10000 damage before dying.
Dodge	The warrior moves out of the way of the enemy's attack, and takes no damage from it. It is extremely useful to have a trinket which increases dodge rating for a short time to help healers keep up with healing. (If you're not getting hit, you don't need heals.) A warrior can only dodge frontal attacks. Attacks from behind cannot be dodged.
Parry	The warrior parries the enemy's attack and takes no damage from it. Parrying attacks increases the warrior's melee haste rating, causing him to hit faster than normal. A warrior can only parry frontal attacks. Attacks from behind cannot be parried.
Block Rating	The warrior raises his shield and blocks the enemy's attack. Block rating increases a warrior's % chance to block. Unlike dodge and parry, blocking an attack only reduces the amount of damage done to the warrior. A warrior can only block frontal attacks. Attacks from behind cannot be blocked.

Stat	Effect
Hit Rating	Increases the chance for the warrior to hit his enemy. Hit rating requires 32.79 per 1% of hit for physical damage. Raid bosses require an additional 8% chance to hit for you to never miss.
Expertise	At level 80, every 8.2 points of expertise rating grants one point of expertise. One point of expertise decreases the chance that melee attacks made by the warrior will be dodged or parried by 0.25%. This stat is useful for tank and DPS warriors. When a warrior tank is parried, it may trigger a boss to begin to swing faster, causing burst damage. Raid bosses have a 6.5% chance to dodge your attacks, and approximately 15% chance to parry (varies).
Crit Rating	Increases the chance for the warrior to critically strike his enemy, dealing double damage. At level 80, 45.91 Critical Strike Rating is required to gain 1% melee crit chance.
Haste	Increases the autoattack speed of the warrior. More commonly used by fury warriors to improve their rage generation. This stat is largely panned by arms warriors as very little of their damage comes from their auto-attack. At level 80, a warrior requires 32.79 Haste Rating to gain a 1% increase in attack speed.

Talents

Galway Steamwhistle, another gnome warrior.

There are three Warrior specializations: Arms, Fury, and Protection. Below is a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of each tree. For a detailed list of the specialization bonuses and talents available to each, see Warrior talents, or visit The Official World of Warcraft Talent Calculator.

Arms

• Specialties: Strong bleeding skills, high burst damage with a two handed weapon. Can reduce healing on enemies with [Mortal Strike].
• Strengths: High rage gain ( [Anger Management]) and rage efficient abilities ( [Overpower]).
• Weaknesses: Must be played with skill and a fast reaction time to successfully compete with other damage dealers.

Arms warriors deal damage in large bursts, and are capable of dealing immense amounts of damage in a small space of time. They also have a number of crowd control options, with [Throwdown], [Improved Hamstring] and frequent improved stuns from their preferred lead-in [Charge], thanks to [Juggernaut] and [Blitz]. Arms warriors also have an abundance of rage, with [Anger Management], [Blood Frenzy] and [Second Wind] fuelling their attacks, while [Deadly Calm] allows for an intense 10-second burst of unlimited damage.

The arms tree consists of abilities which focus on slow two-handed burst coupled with heavy bleeding damage to better effect. The arms talent tree is capped by the [Bladestorm] ability, which when activated, whirlwinds every second for 6 seconds and causes the warrior to become unstoppable, unless killed, for the duration. Slow, heavy-hitting two-handed weapons are favored by arms warriors, with the [Two-Handed Weapon Specialization] bonus, and almost every arms skill being based on weapon damage, such as [Rend], [Overpower], [Deep Wounds] and [Mortal Strike]. Bleeding skills are enhanced as well with the talent [Trauma] and [Taste for Blood] allowing Rend to open up opportunities to use Overpower regardless of whether the the target has dodged your attacks.

Fury

Lord Benjamin Tremendouson, a dwarf fury-warrior.

• Specialties: Powerful sustained damage and can regenerate with [Bloodthirst] and [Blood Craze]. Can passively reduce healing on enemies with [Furious Attacks]. Able to wield two 2-handed weapons with [Titan's Grip] or two 1-handed weapons with [Single-Minded Fury].
• Strengths: Powerful sustained damage with dual wielding and capable of high burst damage with [Bloodsurge] and Bloodthirst. Small amount of self-healing through Bloodthirst.
• Weaknesses: Fury warriors have almost no crowd control and are less desired than other classes in situations that require it. Fury warriors generate very high threat and have no talents or abilities which reduce or drop threat (many players will joke that death is the fury warrior's threat dump).

The fury tree bolsters the use of dual wielding to dish out high damage. Critical strikes allow the fury warrior to proc [Flurry]. Bloodthirst has a chance to proc [Bloodsurge], which gives the warrior an instant-cast slam at no rage cost. The final point in the fury tree offers players a choice between Titan's Grip or Single-Minded Fury. Titan's Grip allows the warrior to dual wield 2-handed weapons, while Single-Minded Fury gives the warrior increased damage when dual wielding 1-handed weapons. It is possible to put a point in both of these talents at the same time, although there is very little practical reason to do so.

Protection

Vaerik Proudhoof, another tauren warrior.

• Specialties: Access to many stuns, such as [Concussion Blow] and [Shockwave]. An excellent tank spec proficient at both AoE tanking and singular tanking.
• Strengths: Excellent damage mitigation and threat generation. Powerful damage using the shield not just as a defensive tool, but a powerful offensive one as well. Able to take very high amounts of damage and dish out high amounts in return.
• Weaknesses: Technically rage-starved if not being hit, though speccing protection allows you to make your hits crit more often, still allowing you to deal burst damage without rage ( [Sword and Board]). No healing debuff to apply to enemies. Damage output very limited when not the focus of enemy attacks, due to key abilities dependent fully or partially on blocking (i.e. [Revenge], Sword and Board.)

The protection tree features the traditional one-handed weapon + shield combination with talents to improve its use. It is likely that one would think the overall damage is lower due to not using a "powerful two-hander" or "dual-wielding two weapons". But when facing a protection warrior, they need to consider the shield as well. With it protection warriors can crush anyone foolish enough to attack him/her in melee, and use it to harass and silence casters. Protection warriors now scale with attack power more so than they did in the past, causing them to do much more damage. The protection tree boosts overall survivability, but also offense with the kind of tools that prot warriors use, namely the one handed weapon and shield. And with that new offense comes higher aggro buildup, making them threat machines. Although lacking a healing debuff, protection is also a viable spec for PvP, with protection warriors focusing on stunning, crippling and harassing players with their high mobility talent [Warbringer].

Wrath of the Lich King changes

Karta Foultongue, another orc warrior.

Spells

Battle Shout and Commanding Shout will affect the raid, not just the party.

Talents

• [Titan's Grip] is a new fury talent and allows warriors to wield a two-hand weapon in one hand, thereby allowing two-handed dual wielding.
• Protection warriors have a new spell called [Shockwave] allowing them to damage and stun all the enemies in front of them.
• [Bladestorm] is a new arms talent whirlwinding 4 enemies in range every 1 second for 6 seconds.

Protection

Blizzard improved the protection spec so that it is more viable outside of tanking by increasing damage, with improvements to all damaging abilities, including [Concussion Blow]. Shield Slam will also be available to all warriors now.

Videos

Cataclysm Warrior by TGN on YouTube
Class Changes	Protection Tanking

DPS Rundown by TGN on YouTube
Arms	Fury

See also

• Warrior twinking guide for details on making a warrior twink.
• Warrior instance grouping guide for tips in Instances.
• Category:Warriors for more warrior-related content

Notes

• In the Warcraft RPG, warrior and fighter were separate classes. Warrior was an NPC class, while fighter was a core class. In the World of Warcraft RPG, the old warrior class was replaced with the soldier class, while fighter was replaced with a new warrior class for gameplay purposes.
• Warriors have the most widely available choices in permanent Legendary weapons, as most are designed (through use or through lore) as melee weapons, which is the warrior's forte. Ones that are never available to warriors are staff legendaries, which are meant for caster classes, like Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian and  [Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest]. Ones like  [Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings] and Fangs of the Father can theoretically be used by a warrior, though the fragments for Val'anyr can only be used by druids, shamans, priests, and paladins, and the Fangs are class-specific weapons, designed only for rogues.

Patch changes

• Patch 5.0.1 (Beta): Ranged slot is being removed. Warriors will now throw their main hand item for their Throw ability.
  

External links

Wikipedia 

• Tanking Tips Tankingtips.com is a great resource for information on warrior tanking.
• TankSpot Tankspot.com is pretty much "the" website for warrior tanking information and resources.
• Prot Warrior Tanking 100: Part 1 Part 2 A basic guide to tanking at early levels.
• Warrior Guides For advanced warrior topics (although some parts are outdated)

Icy Veins Arms, Fury, and Protection Warrior Raiding Guides (Cataclysm)