Arms Warrior Pre-Patch Guide for WotLK Classic

Arms Warrior in the pre-patch plays almost exactly the same way it does at Level 80 in Wrath of the Lich King. You are missing a few key talents, but they are mostly only a stat increase.

Taste for Blood is a key part of the spec, allowing you to use Overpower as a part of your rotation. Poleaxe Specialization is improved in WotLK, being your preferred weapon choices. Swap these points into another weapon specialization if you do not have an Axe or Polearm.

Trauma is a debuff, increasing the damage of bleeds on the target; you can drop these points if someone else is applying a similar debuff. Improved Slam is now part of the Arms tree instead of Fury. Juggernaut allows you to charge in combat, which is great for your mobility. Sudden Death gives your melee attacks a chance to let you use Execute at any time. Finally you get Bladestorm, giving you a very powerful AoE spell that decimates nearby enemies.

Glyphs are a new consumable of sorts introduced in Wrath of the Lich King. Glyphs greatly improve certain spells when you learn them, supporting and even enabling some builds. In the pre-patch of WotLK you only have access to two major glyphs, as the third slot requires Level 80 to unlock.

1. Glyph of Rending — This is one of your main glyphs that you will be using at Level 80, making it a great option to pick up early on.
2. Glyph of Heroic Strike — Is another one of your main glyphs. This one helps us maintain your Rage.
3. Glyph of Execution — Is your third main glyph that you use at Level 80. This is another great choice.
4. Glyph of Cleaving — Can be swapped out with Glyph of Heroic Strike for trash and bosses with multiple targets.

1. Glyph of Thunder Clap — Is great for a minor glyph, slightly increasing the range of your AoE ability.
2. Glyph of Charge — With Juggernaut allowing you to charge in combat, this glyph helps your mobility out slightly when you need to move.
3. Glyph of Bloodrage — The impact of this glyph is fairly minor overall, but it helps out your healers a bit and makes you generally a little bit safer.
4. Glyph of Battle — This glyph typically is not used, but is very nice while leveling or in general solo play to reduce how often you need to cast Battle Shout.

The list below is in order of your desired stats. Keep this in mind when looking at different gearing choices.

1. Hit Rating
2. Strength
3. Critical Strike Rating
4. Armor Penetration
5. Expertise Rating
6. Haste Rating

1. Sunder Armor — Nothing changes in Wrath of the Lich King. Sunder Armor remains your best opening ability on bosses, increasing all Physical damage taken. You do not need to do this if someone else, such as a Rogue, is applying an Armor reduction debuff.
2. Rend — You must always maintain an active Rend on a target to get Taste for Blood procs, allowing you to use Overpower.
3. Overpower — Be sure to use Overpower as often as possible to prevent a Taste for Blood proc from going to waste.
4. Bladestorm — This is your next priority as it deals high damage and you want to get it on cooldown as soon as possible. Ideally this would line up with your trinket procs or on-use trinkets.
5. Execute — Even with Execute being nerfed in WotLK, it remains a high priority. Use this with Sudden Death procs or if the target is below 20% health.
6. Mortal Strike — Now is the time to Mortal Strike since all of your procs have been managed at this point.
7. Slam — Slam deals about the same damage as Mortal Strike, but has a cast time and pauses your swing timer during it. You also can not use Slam while moving, making it slightly lower on the priority.
8. Heroic Strike — Finally you will start to use Heroic Strike whenever you have more than 60 Rage.

1. Rend — You still want to obtain Taste for Blood procs, so you will cast Rend on the target that will live the longest.
2. Sweeping Strikes — Doubles your next 5 attacks on a nearby enemy. Try to use this as much as possible in an AoE situation.
3. Overpower — You will still cast Overpower on cooldown as it does a very high amount of damage, especially when paired with Sweeping Strikes.
4. Thunder Clap — Low cooldown, high damage, hits all nearby enemies and procs Deep Wounds. This passes Overpower in priority when facing large AoE packs.
5. Bladestorm — This is a powerful cooldown for dealing AoE damage. It is slightly lower on the list as threat may be an issue early into the pull, and you want to be sure to have Rend up before casting Bladestorm, as well as Thunder Clap on cooldown to properly push your AoE damage as high as possible.
6. Cleave — Your last priority when AoEing, only use this when you have extra Rage. Ideally you will be using Glyph of Cleaving with this.
7. After this you will go back into your Single-Target rotation until a higher priority AoE ability is ready.

Your best in slot gear does not change much from Phase 5 of TBC, but ideally you can change a few pieces of gear. Below is a list of recommended best in slot gear, as well as some easy to obtain choices.

However, for newer players especially or if you are playing on one of the Fresh Servers, the gear listed below may not be realistic to obtain for most players in only a month. If you want the most efficient start possible, we would highly recommend farming Honor in the pre-patch through battlegrounds. This will allow you to buy the full "Brutal" PvP set, which is close in power to gear from Sunwell Plateau. While not BiS, it is the closest you will get within the short time frame, and you are guaranteed to obtain it with enough farming.

Your enchants mostly stay the same from TBC, not requiring much change. Check out our TBC enchants page for a list of available options.

Your consumables are mostly the same from TBC. You do not need nearly as many consumables as before, making this a very easy shopping list.

• Flask of Relentless Assault
• Roasted Clefthoof
• Insane Strength Potion