[6.0.3] Quick Gladiator Guide - I can still Heroic Strike!

[ragebarr 153]

NOTE: Numbers and sims in this post were calculated using SimulationCraft 6.0.3 Release 16 (up to date as of December 9th, 2014)

 

Hello, and welcome to my short Gladiator guide. It is currently up to date for 6.0.3 to the best of my knowledge. If you notice anything that seems wrong or amiss, do not hesitate to let me know. I want to apologize to the people who I told my guide would be coming out quickly after the WoD release. I had way less time than anticipated due to personal reasons, but I'm glad I finally made this.

 

Table of contents:

 

0. Introduction

1. Talents and Glyphs

2. Rotation

3. Stats

4. Consumables

5. Closing notes

 

 

0. Introduction

 

Gladiator is a new way for warriors to DPS that has been introduced with Warlords of Draenor. It is a sub-part of the Protection spec, and as such, you will share many aspects, including parts or the rotation and gearing setup with Protection Warriors. Even though it shares a lot with Protection, Gladiator Warriors are also very reminiscent of the MIst of Pandaria's iteration of Fury Warriors, as the general idea behind the playstyle is the same: Save rage, spend it all during a short period of time.

 

Following down here will be a quick(-ish) guide for Gladiators, covering its strengths and weaknesses compared to the other Warrior specs and giving a bit of insight concerning the talent choices, rotation, stats and consumables. Keep in mind that this guide is written with Raiding in mind. Most of its content should still apply for all of PvE, but some things might not be 100% optimal for Dungeons, Challenge Modes, questing, or others.

 

0.1 Is Gladiator actually good?

 

Gladiator Warriors are currently decently competitive on both single target DPS and cleave fights. Sadly, as more and more targets are added, Gladiator starts to fall down. To better show the previous points, here are a couple simulations, comparing all 4 warrior DPS specs at T17 Heroic level.

 

Details of the sims for those who care about it:

1000 iterations

450s fight length, +/- 20%

All buffs

All debuffs

Low latency

Elite player skill

 

Now to the good part:

 

1 target:

 

2 targets cleave:

 

 

3 targets:

 

5 targets AoE:

 

 

As you can see, in single target, Gladiator does decent damage, but not enough to catch up to Fury. It's stronger on cleave, but not quite as good as Arms, and starts to fall down on pure AoE.

 

Remember that these simulations are modeling constant AoE. On burst AoE, Fury will surpass Arms, whereas constant AoE will slightly favor Arms and Gladiator, due to the fact that most of Glad's AoE comes from Deep Wounds, which takes time to get going.

 

0.2 Why should I not go Gladiator?

 

Despite Gladiator doing ok damage wise, there are a couple reasons why you might want to not go Glad. The first and foremost one, in my opinion, is the loss of Rallying Cry and Defensive Stance. Not having access to these abilities while raiding reduce by a ton your utility, and your survivability. You are getting Mocking Banner, of course, which you can turn into decent raid utility through Glyph of Mocking Banner, but it doesn't compare to the raidwide survivability gain of Rallying Cry. If this cooldown is needed for progression, or if you need more personal mitigation through Defensive Stance, you should consider not going Gladiator, if only for 1 fight.

 

Then, there is also the gear issue. While this is mostly irrelevant in Heroic Dungeons and LFR, you will run into the issue when running with groups not on personal loot that Gladiators share gear with tanks, as Bonus Armor is our best secondary stat. You can still do decent DPS without bonus armor on your gear, but the difference will be noticeable, as BA is worth about 30-40% more damage per point than your other secondary stats.

 

0.3 The verdict

 

Gladiator isn't currently the top damage spec for Warriors, but it offers a very enjoyable playstyle. If you don't enjoy Arms' and Fury's "rotation", if the loot sharing with tanks isn't an issue and if you don't mind the lack of raid utility, then Glad is the way to go. It is worth rementioning that Gladiator is a very solid and competitive choice on cleave fights like Brackenspore and Twin Ogrons, and the gap between Fury and the other specs is smaller at lower item levels.

 

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1. Talents and Glyphs

 

1.1 Tier 1

 

Juggernaut / Double Time / Warbringer

 

Your choice is hasn't changed from MoP or any of the other specs. It is completely up to you and what you currently need. Juggernaut offers lots of constant mobility, Double Time gives you a lot of burst, and Warbringer adds a bit of utility, though its usefulness in raids is probably inferior to the other 2 choices.

 

A thing to note here is that Charge doesn't give rage if used twice in a row on the same target, therefore on most raid fights, your choice should be made with mobility in mind over rage generation.

 

1.2 Tier 2

 

Enraged Regeneration / Second Wind / Impending Victory

 

The healing tier of our talents also hasn't changed much since 5.4. Second Wind now gives Leech, which means you need to keep attacking your target in order to receive the healing from it, and is therefore quite weak. Enraged Regeneration is a decent emergency cooldown, especially since it does not require you to be enraged anymore. Finally, Impending Victory provides a nice heal on a quick cooldown, however, considering you are already GCD locked as Gladiator, using it might prove to be tricky.

 

Overall, all 3 talents have their own nice, but for raiding I would recommend Enraged Regeneration.

 

1.3 Tier 3

 

Heavy Repercussions / Sudden Death / Unyielding Strikes

 

All of the tier 3 talents are viable, to an extend, for Gladiators. However, there are some things to take in consideration:

 

First of all, Execute does not interact with Shield Charge, and therefore, Sudden Death isn't as attractive when it pops during Shield Charge's window. On top of it, you rarely want to use Execute over any of your other spells since Shield Slam hits just as hard and gives rage, and Devastate can reset Shield Slam's cooldown.

 

Unyielding Strikes can be really awkward to get used to, especially since there's no visual cue on your interface to let you know when it reaches max stacks. It gets increased value over the other two on multiple target fights because of Glyph of Cleave.

 

Finally, Heavy Repercussions is the "set and forget" choice. Very simple to use, and gives OK results. Enough with the rambling however, and on with the numbers: I did 2 sims, one at pre-raid gear level and one at heroic gear level, to see how the T17 4pc (Increases Heroic Srike's damage by 20% while Shield Charge is active) would tip the balance between Unyielding Strikes and Heavy Repercussions. Both sims were only done on single target, for reasons explained below the results.

 

Pre-raid gear:

 

Heroic gear (T17 4pc):

 

As you can see, one talent really takes the lead. Sudden Death is always lagging behind for reasons stated above, and Heavy Repercussions is around its level. Unyielding Strikes seems to be the clear winner for single target encounters, no matter the gear level.

 

Heavy Repercussions and Sudden Death are still decent choices, however, if you are unable to manage Unyielding Strikes stacks and the slightly more awkward rotation they create. I would however strongly recommend you get used to Unyielding Strikes, since it is even more ahead of the other two on Cleave and AoE fights.

 

It is worth noting that the more movement there is to the fight, the better Heavy Repercussions gets, since the short duration of the Unyielding Strikes buff will often drop during movement. However, it will rarely, if ever, catch up to Unyielding Strikes.

 

However, because Glyph of Cleave is mandatory on multiple targets and Unyielding Strikes is the only talent affecting Heroic Strike, and because US is already the top talent for single target, it goes without saying that on cleave and AoE fights, US is the only viable choice.

 

TL;DR: Unyielding Strikes is best, in almost every situation.

 

1.4 Tier 4

 

Storm Bolt / Shockwave / Dragon Roar

 

Storm Bolt is the only sub-par choice in this tier, because its damage scales of your weapon damage, and Gladiators are using a 1 hander. In a vacuum, Dragon Roar is a better choice than Shockwave, but their damage is pretty close, so you shouldn't feel bad for taking Shockwave if you need the stun utility.

 

1.5 Tier 5

 

Mass Spell Reflection / Safeguard / Vigilance

 

The choices in this tier are the same as they were through MoP. Mass Spell Reflection is weaker than it used to since it now replaces your personal spell reflect. As in MoP, it is only ever going to be used in select and rare situations (à la Heroic Lei Shen). Safegard is a decent choice, but one I personally don't recomment. A 20% damage reduction on a 30 seconds CD is big, but you can rarely, if ever, use it on your tanks without getting yourself in danger, and it uses one of your mobility tools. Vigilance is as good as it ever was. The removed cooldown on taunt is probably never going to be used as a DPS, but having a mimic-Hand of Sacrifice as a Warrior is never a bad thing.

 

1.6 Tier 6

 

Avatar / Bloodbath / Bladestorm

 

As it has been since the current talent system was introduced, Avatar is lackluster in most PvE situation. Gladiators don't have any native cooldowns to stack Avatar with, and therefore its value diminishes even more than it does for Arms or Fury. It can still be decent when you need burst exactly every 3 minutes.

 

Bloodbath is, as usual, a solid single target choice, and also a very good choice for cleave and AoE.

 

Bladestorm is slightly less good for Gladiators than it is for Arms or Fury Warrior for the same reason Storm Bolt is: it scales off weapon damage. It is still the best choice for AoE burst, and becomes better than Bloodbath on constant AoE at 5 targets.

 

1.7 Tier 7

 

Anger Management / Ravager / Gladiator's Resolve

 

I hope you chose Gladiator's Resolve, otherwise all you've been reading so far has been for nothing.

 

1.8 Major Glyphs

 

Down here will follow a short description of what glyph are currently the most useful. Most of them are totally up to you, except Glyph of Cleave, which is 100% required.

 

Best glyph choices:

Glyph of Cleave: Mandatory if at any point in the encounter, 2 targets will be cleaveable.

Glyph of Unending Rage: Allows for more room for breathing in your rage management.

 

 

Situational glyph choices:

Glyph of Shield Slam: Having an offensive dispell in your rotation can be useful on some select encounters. It is a very solid glyph choice if nothing better is needed.

Glyph of Rude Interruption: Solid choice if you need to interrupt anything during a fight.

Glyph of Resonating Power: Since Thunder Clap is usually only used to apply Deep Wounds, this glyph equates to a ~2% DPS increase on AoE fights.

Glyph of Wind and Thunder: Useful if the AoE targets are not stacking.

 

Note:

Because I haven't covered a glyph here doesn't mean it is not useful. Most glyphs have their utlity, and to keep this to a somewhat reasonable length I preferred to only cover the glyph I personally use the most.

 

1.9 Minor Glyphs

 

Minor glyphs are completely up to you. There is simple a point I wanted to bring up with Glyph of the Blazing Trail however: It currently interacts in a weird way with Shield Charge, and may sometime lock your game up for a second or two, especially if you use it after a flight path, since Shield Charge will draw the trail from the last position where you used it to your current position. For instance, the first Shield Charge I cast while doing my dailies in Nagrand usually locks my game for ~1 second before drawing a Blazing Trail going all the way back to my Garrison. 

 

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2. Rotation

 

The Gladiator rotation will remind some, in a way, of how Fury used to play during MoP. The general intend of the rotation is the following: Generate rage through Shield Slam and Revenge, and spend it all during Shield Charge for massive damage. Gladiator has the advantage over the old Fury that rage income is extremely predictable, and therefore rage capping is rarely, if ever, and issue.

 

2.1 Single Target

 

Your single target priority is as follows:

 

1. Shield Charge (if at 2 charges OR if Shield Slam is about to come off cooldown)

2. Shield Slam

3. Heroic Strike (if Shield Charge is active) [HS is not on the GCD and therefore can be used at the same time as your other abilities]

4. Revenge

5. Devastate

6. Execute (See below for details)

7. Heroic Strike (if above 100 rage)

 

Cooldowns and other notes:

 

You should never delay Shield Slam for any reason. However, you can, and should, delay Shield Charge to use it right before Shield Slam (as you as doing so won't cap charges).

 

You can delay Shield Charge for a couple seconds in order to stack it with Bloodbath as long as you won't cap charges.

 

Bloobath should be used on cooldown. Make sure you have at least 70 rage before using it.

 

Berserker Rage should be used whenever Shield Slam doesn't crit to increase your enrage uptime. Save it if Bloodbath is going to be available in less than 30 seconds however, since it is going to be best used there.

 

Heroic Strike rage threshold to use outside of Shield Charge can be lowered if you find yourself capping rage too often or if you are not using Glyph of Unending Rage (obviously).

 

Ultimatum (Free Heroic Strike procs given by Shield Slam crits) should be used as fast as possible. 

 

Execute: 

 

Using Execute as Gladiator can be tricky but is worth it under certain circumstances. It should be noted that the DPS difference between executing or not is only around a couple hundred DPS.

 

Most of the time, Devastate is a better choice because it doesn't cost rage (which can then be spent on more Heroic Strikes during Shield Charge) and it has a chance to reset Shield Slam's cooldown (for even more rage and damage).

 

Despite all that, it is still a DPS increase to use Execute over Devastate when you have above 60 rage. However, there is a way to do even better:

 

If you add as a condition to only use Execute when Shield Slam as less than ~2 seconds remaining on its cooldown, you are only going to cast Execute when Devastate wouldn't have reset Shield Slam's CD anyway. By doing that, you are getting the best of both world.

 

TL;DR: Using Execute over Devastate if you have 60+ rage is a VERY SMALL DPS gain. If you're feeling fancy, only use execute if at 60+ rage and Shield Slam's CD is less than 2 seconds for a slightly bigger DPS gain.

 

Unyielding Strikes:

 

Using this talent changes slightly the way you use Heroic Strike. First of all, your rage threshold to use HS outside of Shield Charge needs to be much lower, as it is much easier to cap rage using this talent. I personally use 50 as mine. Also, you need to track the duration and stacks of the buff, since you can (and should) spam Heroic Strike when the buff has 5 or 6 stacks.

 

2.2 AoE

 

The AoE rotation from Gladiator doesn't change much, since their only AoE attack outside of talents is Thunder Clap. Revenge Goes up in priority because of its cleave, but the rest stays more or less the same.

 

Here is what Gladiator's AoE rotation looks like:

 

1. Shield Charge (if at 2 charges OR if Shield Slam is about to come off cooldown)

2. Heroic Strike (Same conditions as single target)

3. Revenge

4. Shield Slam

5. Dragon Roar (if Bloobath is up)

6. Thunder Clap (if Deep Wounds isn't applied or about to fall AND there are 4 or more enemies)

7. Devastate

 

Notes: 

 

Thunder Clap is worth using on cooldown if there are 6 or more enemies up.

Cycling through targets with Devastate to apply Deep Wounds is better than Thunder Clap is there is less than 4 targets.

 

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3. Stats

 

Stats for Gladiators are pretty straightforward. As usual, if you're in doubt concerning stat weights, you should import your character in SimulationCraft and test for yourself, as the exact value of each stat is related to your current gear.

 

In general, your stat priority will be as follows:

 

Strength > Bonus Armor > Haste (to 330 rating) > Crit > Haste >= Multistrike > Versatility >= Mastery

 

Strength, giving 1 Attack Power per point, is by far your best stat.

 

Bonus Armor very closely follows Strength, since it also gives 1 AP per point. It is only available on Necks, Cloaks, Rings and Trinkets and will be very coveted by tanks.

 

Crit increases all your damage through its usual effect, but also synergizes with your rotation because of Enrage.

 

Haste increases your damage by reducing the GCD and the cooldown of Shield Slam, allowing you to in turn generate more rage. There are Haste breakpoints existing for Gladiator warriors, when the GCD is reduced enough to allow 1 more ability to be used inside of Shield Charge. Most of these expcept the first one (at 330 haste rating) are not worth gearing for.

 

Multistrike increases your damage only through its normal effect. It also offers (negligible, but still worth mentioning) utility through Blood Craze.

 

Versatility increases all your damage by a flat percentage. It also offers half of that as damage reduction. It is a decent stat, but not as good as the previous ones.

 

Mastery, our attuned stat, is limping behind as Gladiator's worst stat. It offers a percent based increase of you attack power, and will therefore become more valuable as you get more AP, but in the first raiding tier of WoD, you'll want to avoid it as much as possible.

 

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4. Consumables

 

Only enchants, gems, flasks and potions are worth talking about, since Feasts will always give you your highest stat, no matter what.

 

Enchants and gems:

 

There is little hesitation to be had: Go for crit, unless you aren't at the 330 Haste breakpoint yet (in which case go for Haste until you reach it).

 

The best weapon enchant for Gladiators is Mark of the Thunderlord. (HOWEVER, Mark of the Shattered Hand is as good, or even better, at lower gear levels. I would suggest simming yourself to see when Thunderlord catches up. Current estimates show that it will be at around Mythic gear level).

 

Flasks:

 

Draenic Strength Flask or Greater Draenic Strength Flask

 

Potions:

 

Draenic Armor Potion (Remember that Armor gives 1 Attack Power per point, and that the Strength potions only give 1000 points. Therefore, this potion is 50% better than a Strength one for Gladiators)

 

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5. Closing notes

 

First of all, I would like to remind you all that this guide is correct only to the best of my knowledge. If you see something you think is wrong, unclear or out of date, let me know and I will update it.

 

If there is anything you would like me to add to the guide, once again let me know and I will do my best to add it.

 

Finally, I would like to thank @CollisionTD for his ever awesome work on keeping the Warrior module on SimCraft updated, and @Cyclonus_WOW for his Gladiator blog, and both of them (and a couple others) for doing some of the math I never have the time to do.

 

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[ragebarr 153]

Calling this a first attempt. WTB feedback.

[Skyren 0]

Thank you for this guide, especially the part about US/HR, cuz it was very unclear on some other guides which is the better choice.

[Somn 1]

The only thing I take issue with is not explicitly stating that you can pair Heroic Strike with Shield Slam, Revenge, and Devastate, even though most Warriors probably already know that from experience. Also Unrelenting Strikes is sorta meh in my opinion for high movement fights, regardless of having the best mobility in the game. 5 seconds feels a lot shorter than it is. Sure you still see benefit from it but I've found that with Heavy Repercussions, if you make smart use of shield charging and rage pooling/management, you can get far more benefit on high movement encounters. That's what I've noticed, at least.

 

Other than that it's down to typos and what have you.

 

Also jeez Cyclonus posted a blog about execute like 12 hours after mine with the same name. And here I was thinking I was clever...

[ragebarr 153]

Thank you for this guide, especially the part about US/HR, cuz it was very unclear on some other guides which is the better choice.

 

They're really close to each other, and as Somn said just below you, there are situations where HR becomes slightly better. In essence, they are close enough that you shouldn't feel bad by taking the one you feel the most comfortable playing with, with the caveat that US gains *a lot* of value on cleave and AoE fights.

 

The only thing I take issue with is not explicitly stating that you can pair Heroic Strike with Shield Slam, Revenge, and Devastate, even though most Warriors probably already know that from experience. Also Unrelenting Strikes is sorta meh in my opinion for high movement fights, regardless of having the best mobility in the game. 5 seconds feels a lot shorter than it is. Sure you still see benefit from it but I've found that with Heavy Repercussions, if you make smart use of shield charging and rage pooling/management, you can get far more benefit on high movement encounters. That's what I've noticed, at least.

 

Other than that it's down to typos and what have you.

 

I added a mention of HS being off the GCD. Didn't come to my mind since I've been playing with it as Fury all of MoP.

 

You are right about US being meh on movement fights, however, from the testing and sims I have done, HR only takes the lead on pure single target fights with movement. As I said to Skyren though, as soon as you get into cleave situations US becomes much better, and HR and US are close enough on single target that, either choice is valid, depending on which one you prefer. I added a comment about it in the talent section, however.

 

Concerning the typos, I'll try to correct them as I see them, but English being my 2nd language and all, I make no promises I can get them all.

[tuvarkz 0]

With the nerfbat that just hit Gladiator Warriors, I guess US is now the superior choice over HR, right?

[ragebarr 153]

The 20% nerf to Shield Slam and Revenge will probably push US slightly more ahead. I'll have to wait until the hotfixes are coded in SimCraft to check for sure since I'm not good enough with it yet to override spell data.

 

It's also going to bring Glad more in line with Arms & Fury.

[Estarriol 167]

Nerfed prot to nerf glad. /sigh

[Somn 1]

The nerf isn't a huge deal. It's only made it a little more interesting in your execute phase as it makes using execute more attractive. Overall Gladiators are still more than viable. It's a matter of the player. Did we get a nerf? Sure. Will that stop you from topping the meters? Nope.

[ragebarr 153]

I'm not saying here whether the nerf was right or wrong. Yes, Gladiators were really high, but then again so are Feral Druids, WW Monks and MM Hunters, and non of these classes got hit as hard as us. On top of that, I feel merging the Glad and Prot nerf is unwarranted. Nerfing Gladiator Stance or Shield Charge would have been a better idea, in my opinion.

 

(Going slightly off topic here, I really liked how Blizzard said the hotfixes were "Likely to be after Normal raids open. Need that raid data." only to make them happen right the following day)

[Estarriol 167]

 

I feel merging the Glad and Prot nerf is unwarranted.

 

Exactly my point. True Prot probably needed a nerf, but a heavy-handed 20% to both of our heaviest-hitting abilities? It's excessive, over-the-top, and totally a reaction to Gladiator.

[OptimusPenguin 0]

Thanks for all the info man! Been trying to find as many different opinions on Glad DPS as I can and this was one of the better displays out there!

[ragebarr 153]

UPDATED WITH 11/25 NERF (-20% Damage to Shield Slam and Revenge)

 

Not much as changed. Glad is still top on single target, though by a slightly smaller margin. Arms now beats Glad on 2 & 3 target cleave. Unyielding Strikes is now pretty much the only viable talent for T3.

 

I also added a small paragraph about Shield Slam and Shield Charge interaction.

 

Let me know if I've left any mistakes or inconsistencies in the guide.

[Rimfrost 0]

I guess they nerfed because we were too imba. This nerf is probably going to be just a test, as the initial Gladiator Stance was up until now. If they notice after this that Gladiator falls too much behind then they will probably buff us slightly. It will probably be a couple of weeks until we'll earliest see some change depending on how we fare generally after this nerf.

[ragebarr 153]

Glad is fine. Look at the numbers in the post if you don't believe me. Everyone (myself included) was overreacting when they saw the numbers on the hotfix.

[Cupofmilk 0]

I'm probably stupid but what do you mean by 330 haste? Mine shows it as a percentage. When i hover over it my haste is around 890.

[ragebarr 153]

330 haste is the rationg (whatever number shows when you mouse over the %). At 890 you're more than fine :)

 

I updated the guide to remove the ambiguity

[tuvarkz 0]

By the way, need help with trinket choice.

Solar Containment Unit seems to be the obvious choice for one slot, but how does Bonemaw's Big Toe perform against Munificent Soul of Compassion?

EDIT: Just saw that the trinket creating item could also make Munificent Bonds of Fury, which outdoes the Prot one. *Facepalm ensues*

Edited November 27, 2014 by tuvarkz

[ragebarr 153]

It's hard to say for sure, since bonus Armor is *really* good for Gladiator. Whenever you see "1 bonus armor" you could just read it as "1 Strength", and even though Versatility isn't our best stat, something with bonus armor on top of it could still be better.

 

I'll try to make a trinket ranking with at least all the raid ones this weekend (no promises though), but as you noted in your edit, in your case my guess would be that the bonds of fury are best.

 

As usual, still: When in doubt, Sim yourself with both setups and see what comes out ahead.

[Korrup 1]

I noticed (after the 20% nerf to slam and revenge) that Gladiator stance does not, at least with the numbers shown on the UI, increase the damage of Shield slam at all. Was it always that way? Is this intended? Slamming something with a shield seems like a physical ability to me. 

[Firetamer 0]

Great guide it was really useful to me

One thing that You can add is a note for people who can't handle unyelding strikes(like myself) is to macro it with shield slam and devastate, you can't control your rage this way but I noticed that it worked pretty well for me and increased my dps significantly.

[ragebarr 153]

I would argue against doing that, as learning proper rage management is crucial for understanding the spec. If you can't handle US, I'd rather suggest you take Heavy Repercussions, even though it's slightly sub-optimal.

[Wulfie 0]

Wanted to know how this would stack up against the comparable Strength flasks.. 

 

http://www.wowhead.com/item=76075/mantid-elixir

 

Edited December 2, 2014 by Wulfie

[ragebarr 153]

From what I remember Mantid Elixir gives actual Armor, and not the Bonus Armor stat. If I'm right, they wouldn't be worth much, but if I'm wrong they could be very good. I can't check right now because I'm in class, but the easiest way for you to see is to pop one and see if it increases your Attack Power by 256.

 

I'll try to test if I have time before raid when I get home later.

[Estarriol 167]

Mantid Elixer gives Bonus Armor.