[Mordok]

Added dps scores and Crusader proc data for level 52.

[Mordok]

Hey folks.

Patch 2.4 is upon us, and I'll be spending the next several days running various experiments which will include:

(1) DW dps with and without Crusader
(2) DW dps with same speed MH/OH vs different speed MH/OH
(3) Endless Rage builds for Arms
(4) Revisit of BT-opener vs traditional slam sequence. What is the dps vs healing tradeoff?
(5) Revisit of "rage efficient" grind vs "kill it quickly." What is the dps tradeoff, and how much additional dmg are the warriors taking by being "rage efficient?"
(6) Sunder opener in the warrior combat sequences.


If you have ideas on other dps experiments which you'd like to see for a level 52 warrior feel free to post them; I'll see if I can squeeze em in!

[phenk]

Hi Mordok,

This is an amazing guide, thanks so much for all the effort you put into the research and write-up. Lots of great information here.

-Phenk

[Amoklauf]

Great guide Mordok,

New to a warrior and this has been very helpful during leveling. Have gone DW Fury. Searched and may have missed in post, but what talents do you recommend from 50-70 for a DW Fury build Thanks....

[Rampart]

Refer to this thread.

Generally though, the 17/44/0 build is for max raid dps. I would switch to it once you actually do start raiding. Until then, I would recommend something like 5/41/15 so that you have a better ability to tank, since usually in 5 mans, dps warriors are not brought along. A build like this will make tanking less strenuous as well as allow you to complete dailies quickly and efficiently. Once you have the gear to raid, switch to the 17/44/0 build and have at it!

[Guardiangin]

Just wanted to say thankyou for a fantastic guide.
Cant start to imagine the time and effort it took to make this.
So refreshing to see people trying to benefit others from their knowledge as opposed to just trolling L2P everywhere.
just dinged 20 on my warrior and i'm going to swap to DW as soon as i get chance.
just one question though, is DW still a viable option if i dont stance dance? just i play on a laptop and i cant swap that quickly.
Thanks once again to Mordok and also to Ciderhelm

[Guardiangin]

forgot to ask another thing.
with the level progression being alot faster between 20 and 60 now what sort of level would you suggest forking out for the crusader enchants.
i have a main and cash isnt a massive problem but i dont want to waste too much on enchants if the weapon will be replaced in a few levels.

[mkramer]

Great work! I registered just to post that. I'm coming back to WOW after a few years absence, on a new server, with no main. My friends are there and I am leveling to catch up with them and get into their heroic group. Google lead me here, and I followed the basic recommendations of the guide regarding talents, skill sequencing, and gearing. The leveling has been fast! Albeit, I attribute a lot of this to the huge quest exp rewards that 20-60 quests give now, but I'm glad I went DW Fury. I'm sure I would have gone 2h Fury or Arms if I had listened to the conventional wisdom, and though I have no basis for comparison, I can attest that the mobs of my usually explode in front of me. Although my old twink rogue with remorseless/ambush leveled faster, I doubt I could have found a better way to level a warrior. Thanks for your scientific rigor, it's much appreciated!


Edit: How do you create wowhead item links? I want to do an alliance gear guide, because we don't have the same options that Mordok was using.

Edit: notes for later editing

Thrash blade [45 - Quest chain - stormwind]
Strength of the High Chief [52 - Quest chain - Winterspring]
Earthslag Shoulders [47 - BRD drop]
Ring from princess [50 - Maura Drop]
Fist of Reckoning [61 - BOE] - crusader
ST / Fallen Hero trinket [50 - Quest chain - swamp of sorrow]
Axe of Legion [63 - BOE] - crusader
Ravenguard Greaves of Battle [63 - BOE] - no replacement, best plate dps for a long time
Thorium Flight Blade [45ish - Quest - Uldaman]
Tenacious Defender [60 - Drop] - rigid golden draenitex2
Ironblade Gauntlets [61 - Drop] - rigid golden draenitex2
Jade Warrior Pauldrons [60 - Quest]
Sedai's Necklace [? - HH Quest]
Invader's Greathelm [? - HH Quest]
Perfectly Balanced Cape [? - HH Quest]
Amaan's Signet [? - HH Quest]
Spined Ring of the Soldier [59 - BOE]
Magistrate's Greaves [ ? - HH quest]
Greaves of the Iron Guardian [ 63 - Drop]


Talenting suggestion. These are the key fury talents. Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft. They are the ones that will really increase your dps, I recommend getting them all before leaving the tree. After that, I recommend

46-49 Tactical Mastery

Get TM because you need practice w/ stance dancing. With TM you can end a fight in zerker with a little rage, charge or imp charge and switch back to zerker to, e.g., pummel a caster. It makes the flow of grinding much faster and more efficient. In fact these three skill point will add the most rage of any three you take during solo grinding. Other uses for TM include shifting to battle and immediately mocking, shifting to defensive and immediately spell reflecting, shifting out of defensive to execute, etc.

Here's a macro that is hella useful for solo grinding. You can append to your in-game /path/to/wowfolder/WTF/Account/login/server/warriorname/macros-cache.txt file. (I think that works, otherwise recreate it in game).

MACRO 16777219 "B.Chg" INV_Misc_QuestionMark

#show Charge

/cast [nocombat,stance:1] Charge; [combat,nostance:3] Berserker Stance; [nocombat,nostance:1] Battle Stance; [combat,stance:3] Intercept

END
If you aren't in battle, but are in Battle Stance, it charges. If you aren't in battle, but aren't in Battle Stance, it switches you to Battle Stance. If you are in combat, but aren't in Zerker, it switches you to Zerker. If you are in Zerker, and are in battle, it Intercepts.

This is a great mashable button. I have it bound to Q across all my stances. Press it to A) Switch from zerk to battle after a fight is over, then mash it to B) Start the fight with Imp. Charge, C) immediately switch to zerk before your first weapon swing, thus switching with no rage loss. Finally, in battle, if something runs, mash it to intercept, if something starts casting a heal while pummel is down, back up and intercept. Extremely useful!

Skill @ 49 Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

[Painapple]

Just wanted to add my profound thanks for this.

I will add that, since leveling an alliance warrior, I have used some different weapons than the ones suggested for DW.

MH Weapons:

Lvl 28 [Protector's Sword]

Lvl 40 [Gryphon Rider's Stormhammer]

Lvl 58 [Foe Reaver]


OH weapons:

Lvl 22-34 [Crescent of Forlorn Spirits]

Lvl 34 [Sword of Serenity]

Lvl 58 [Shatterstone Pick]

Switched out [Soulrender] since the effort to aquire them vs the one for the weapons from outlands is too painful and time consuming.

[Surter]

Very interesting read. I am leveling a warrior at the moment. I'm not the fastest leveler in the world but not the slowest either. I started last thursday and he is 53 right now. Since I have been avoiding instances like a plague my gear is crap so I find killing mobs my level is being painfully slow (whirlwind axe at lvl 53 heh).

I've been playing with rampage a bit but find that rampage stacked with battle shout ( and possibly bom ) doesn't up my dps as much but I'm guessing thats due to my gear.

I think I might have to make a trip to the AH tonight or run an instance or two