Classic Warrior DPS Guide

Warriors are, for the most part, topping WoW Classic DPS meters. While the leveling part is very tough, due to the lack of end game gear and weak early skills (which lead to constant starvation of their main resource: Rage), Warriors are more than compensated at max level, with the best scaling DPS and gear loop in the game. Better gear makes Warriors generate more Rage, which in turn allows them to land more special attacks, which also hit harder due to the better gear.

Find our new guides for Warrior in WoW Classic Season of Discovery below! The new game mode will have players find and utilize Runes that can then be engraved onto their gear to provide them special bonuses that augment already existing abilities or allow the class to use entirely new spells.

Warrior can function as both a DPS and a Tank, and while that isn't changing, the Season of Discovery will make new builds possible, and increase the power of already existing builds.

Strengths

• Highest damage potential in game when geared due to great scaling.
• Can become an off-tank on some fights with little effort.
• Due to the way Rage works, you will never run out of resources, and the more damage you take, the more Rage you get to deal damage with.

Weaknesses

• Can be squishy against non-Physical damage, as many of the core abilities require taking extra damage ( Berserker Stance, Recklessness, and Death Wish).
• Gearing can be difficult, due to the high popularity of Warriors in groups.
• Solo leveling is slow and dangerous; dying is a constant possibility and dropping combat can be hard.

Warriors are the only class that can be played by any race in WoW Classic. While racials are important, look and feel is even more important for many players. These should be your main consideration when picking a race!

Human is the best race for PvE. Gnome and Dwarf are the best races for PvP. Night Elf is slightly behind, but has its own perks, which you can read about below.

• The Human Spirit increases your Spirit by 5%.
• Diplomacy increases your reputation earned by 10%.
• Sword Specialization increases your skill with Swords by 5.
• Mace Specialization increases your skill with Maces by 5.
• Perception is a 3-minute cooldown that greatly increases your Stealth detection for 20 seconds when used.

Human is the best race for PvE, as the extra weapon skill from Sword Specialization and Mace Specialization is a huge damage increase, leading to more Rage to use on abilities.

• Expansive Mind increases your Intellect by 5%.
• Escape Artist is a 1-minute cooldown that lets you escape any root, snare, or slow when used.
• Engineering Specialization increases your Engineering skill by 15.
• Arcane Resistance increases your arcane resistance by 10.

Gnome is the best race for PvP alongside Dwarf, due to Escape Artist, which is a deal breaker in PvP, where rooting effects are the bane of Warriors. They also have Engineering Specialization, which is quite useful in WoW Classic, due to the power of this profession.

• Find Treasure allows you to sense nearby treasure (chests mainly), making it appear on the minimap.
• Frost Resistance increases your Frost Resistance by 10.
• Gun Specialization increases your skill with Guns by 5, which increases your chance to hit with a gun.
• Stoneform makes you immune to all bleed, poison, and disease effects, and instantly removes them, which is great against Blind! Is also increases your armor for 8 seconds, on a 3-minute cooldown.

Dwarf are also amazing for PvP, as Stoneform breaks Blind and the other Rogue poisons, allowing you to dominate them. Dwarf's starting stats are also very strong for Warriors, but this starter advantage is quickly diluted as your level and overall stats increase.

• Nature Resistance increases your Nature Resistance by 10.
• Quickness increases your Dodge Chance by 1%.
• Shadowmeld is an ability that allows you to become stealthed while standing still when used, on a 10 second cooldown. This cannot be used in combat.
• Wisp Spirit causes you to transform into a wisp upon death, increasing your movement speed by 50% while dead.

Night Elf has Quickness for slightly increased dodge chance, and Shadowmeld, which has its uses, especially in PvP where you can sometimes surprise enemy players with it.

Orc is the best race for PvE and PvP. Tauren have a range advantage that makes them great for PvP. Troll and Undead are slightly behind, but both have their own unique perks, which you can read about below.

• Axe Specialization increases your skill with axes by 5, which increases your chance to land a blow on a target with axes.
• Blood Fury is a 2-minute cooldown that increases your base melee attack power by 25% for 15 seconds and reduces healing effects on you by 50% for 25 seconds.
• Command increases your pet damage by 5%.
• Hardiness increases your chance to resist stuns by 25%.

Orc Warrior has the best PvE DPS potential out of all race / class combinations in game, due to Axe Specialization, Blood Fury and Windfury Totem. They are also great for PvP due to Hardiness providing a strong chance to fully resist stuns, which will often allow you to bypass being crowd-controlled altogether.

• Cultivation increases your Herbalism skill by 15.
• Endurance increases your total health by 5%.
• Nature Resistance increases your Nature Resistance by 10.
• War Stomp is a 2-minute cooldown that stuns up to 5 enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds, with a 0.5 second cast time.
• Due to their large sizes, Tauren have a larger hitbox than other races, which allows you to hit, and be hit from further afar. This can be great when trying to chase a target or problematic when trying to flee from melee enemies.

Tauren has extra health from Endurance, and a useful stun in War Stomp, making it a solid choice for PvP. Due to their large hitbox, Taurens (especially males) can hit, and be hit, from greater distances than other races. Spells can also target Taurens from greater distances due to this, but area of effect spells such as Frost Nova will not hit from further afar than usual, which is a huge PvP benefit for Taurens.

• Beast Slaying gives a 5% damage bonus against Beasts.
• Berserking is a 3-minute cooldown that gives you between 10-30% increased attack and casting speed depending on your health, with the effect being greater the more hurt you are.
• Bow Specialization increases your skill with Bows by 5, which increases your chance to hit with a bow.
• Regeneration gives +10% passive health regeneration and allows you to regenerate 10% of your total health regeneration during combat.

Troll has the potential to do even more damage than Orc in PvE, but only on a fight that lasts 30 seconds or less, allowing Berserking to overcome an Orc's superior sustained damage. Since this type of situation is mostly likely to occur when heavily overgearing an encounter, we cannot rate Troll highly for progression scenarios.

• Will of the Forsaken is a 2-minute cooldown that makes your immune to all Fear, Sleep, and Charm effects for 5 seconds. This will also break you out of any current effects.
• Cannibalize is a 2-minute cooldown that lets you channel to consume a nearby corpse, regenerating 7% of your total health every 2 seconds for 10 seconds for a total of 35% health.
• Underwater Breathing allows you to breath underwater for 300% longer than normal.
• Shadow Resistance increases your shadow resistance by 10.

Undead is a good PvP race, with Will of the Forsaken providing an extra way to break out of crowd control effects. Still, a Warrior can use other means to break fear (the most common crowd control besides roots), such as Berserker Rage.

We started this guide by stating that DPS Warriors are the top dogs on the damage meters. The best way to ensure that you never leave the top is to spam as many Engineering crafts as you can afford. Take Mining along with it because, otherwise, you will be running out of gold very fast!

If mining the world to feed your insatiable need for more explosions is not your cup of tea, feel free to investigate our profession guides in order to understand what the other professions are capable of.