Cataclysm Classic Arms Warrior Stat Priority

The stat priority for Arms Warrior is as follows:

1. Strength
2. Hit Rating (8% Hit Cap)
3. Expertise Rating (6.5% – 26 Expertise Cap)
4. Critical Strike Rating
5. Mastery Rating
6. Haste Rating

Strength is the main stat for all plate wearing DPS classes, including Arms Warriors. Strength is now the only way to get Attack Power, converting 1 Strength into 2 Attack Power. Your Strength gets further increased by buffs like Blessing of Kings. This makes Strength your best stat by far, meaning you should prioritize it over all other stats whenever possible.

Your second stat priority will be to reach the Hit cap of 8%, which can be obtained through the Hit Rating stat. Reaching the Hit cap ensures that your auto-attacks and abilities can no longer miss your target, giving you the highest possible DPS increase out of any stat. Always cap your Hit Rating out anyway possible before looking at other stats. If you are playing as a Draenei, you only need to reach 7% Hit, as the racial Heroic Presence gives you 1% Hit automatically.

At Level 85:

• 120.1 Hit Rating = 1% Hit Chance

Next you will want to aim for Expertise Rating until you hit the 6.5% Expertise Cap, or 26 total Expertise. This will prevent bosses from Dodging your attacks, even when you are attacking behind. Since bosses can not parry targets that are behind them, if you are always hitting a target in their back you will only need to worry about reaching the 6.5% Expertise Cap.

Rating	Skill	Percent	Information
30.02	1	0.25%	1 Expertise Skill
691	23	5.75%	Dodge cap on bosses when racial is active: Sword Specialization, or Mace Specialization, or Axe Specialization.
781	26	6.5%	Dodge cap on bosses without racial

Critical Strike Rating is your best secondary stat after reaching the Hit and Expertise caps as it provides the most overall DPS increase out of the other three chocies. Crits scale with multiple talents as Arms, namely Deep Wounds and Wrecking Crew, giving it additional value beyond simply dealing extra damage when you Crit. Try to prioritize Crit over both Mastery and Haste, and do your best to not lose any Crit whenever possible to reach the Hit and Expertise caps.

At Level 85:

• 179.28 Crit Rating = 1% Crit

Mastery is the new stat added in during Cataclysm and provides a different, unique benefit for every single specialization in the game. For Arms Warriors, Mastery gives Strikes of Opportunity, giving you a chance for your melee attacks to trigger an additional white attack. While this might seem rather weak at first, Strikes of Opportunity can proc from both auto-attacks as well as abilities, giving you a lot of chances to gain an extra melee attack. Each point of Mastery increases the proc chance of Strikes of Opportunity by 2.2%.

At Level 85:

• 179.28 Mastery Rating = 1% Mastery

Despite Haste Rating receiving some buffs in Cataclysm, it still remains your weakest stat as it only provides additional auto-attacks. You will typically want to avoid gear with Haste Rating on it for other pieces with better secondary stats, but some gear will have Haste Rating on it and you will want to Reforge this stat into a higher priority stat.

At Level 85:

• 128.05 Haste Rating = 1% Haste