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Beta, level cap 30 · data read 13 Oct

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Arms Warrior guide

Melee DPS · our guide of 13 Oct 2026 Recommendation

Talent trees, every tier list's rating and the sim: the Arms tab.

In short

  • A melee damage dealer with a two-handed weapon, built around Mortal Strike: it makes healing on its target 50% less effective for 10 sec. Sourced: Talent database
  • Number 5 of 20 damage specs in our newest sim run, at 741 DPS. Sourced: Sim · 11 Oct run
  • Any weapon type works at 60: Weaponmaster gives axes and polearms more crit chance, makes maces and staves ignore part of the target's armor, and gives swords a chance of an extra attack. Sourced: Talent database
  • Weak spot while leveling: Mortal Strike sits at the bottom of the tree, behind Sweeping Strikes, so Arms has no healing cut until well past level 30.

How it plays

Up to level 30. Charge in, put Rend on the target, and use Overpower whenever it lights up; Improved Overpower adds 50% to its crit chance. Slam right after a melee swing (its cooldown is 18 sec since 24 Sep), Victory Rush after a kill, and Heroic Strike only with spare Rage. Improved Rend, Improved Charge, Improved Overpower and Improved Tactical Mastery come first. Deep Wounds, which needs Improved Rend 3 of 3, makes your crits start a 12 sec bleed, and Anger Management, which needs Improved Tactical Mastery 5 of 5, gives you 1 Rage every 3 sec in combat. Your 21st point buys Sweeping Strikes: use it so your next 5 melee attacks also hit one more enemy close by.

Sourced: Guide · 2 Oct, Dev notes · 24 Sep, Talent database

At level 60. Theory Rend on every target, Mortal Strike on cooldown, Overpower when it lights up, Slam after a swing, and Execute when the target is low; Heroic Strike spends spare Rage. Impale makes the crit damage bonus of your abilities 20% higher. In PvP, Mortal Strike goes on the target the enemy healer is keeping alive; Improved Hamstring gives Hamstring a 15% chance to root for 5 sec, and Piercing Howl makes every enemy within 10 yards move 50% slower for 6 sec. Since the 2 Oct hotfix a crit generates 100% extra Rage, so a slow two-hander with a high crit chance is the weapon to look for.

Sourced: Talent database, Dev notes · 1 Oct

Talents at a glance

  • Level 20: Improved Rend 3, Deflection 2, Improved Charge 2, Improved Overpower 2, Improved Tactical Mastery 2

    Improved Rend + Improved Overpower + Improved Charge: Rend feeds Bloodthrill, which procs Overpower; Charge stun opener.

    Recommendation · See the trees · Open in the calculator

  • Level 30: Improved Rend 3, Deflection 2, Improved Charge 2, Improved Overpower 2, Improved Tactical Mastery 5, Deep Wounds 3, Anger Management 1, Two-Handed Weapon Specialization 2, Sweeping Strikes 1

    Deep Wounds requires Improved Rend 3/3; Anger Management requires Improved Tactical Mastery 5/5 — both paid. Sweeping Strikes with the 21st point (row 5 at 20).

    Recommendation · See the trees · Open in the calculator

  • Level 60: Improved Rend 3, Deflection 2, Improved Charge 2, Improved Tactical Mastery 5, Improved Overpower 2, Anger Management 1, Deep Wounds 3, Two-Handed Weapon Specialization 3, Impale 2, Sweeping Strikes 1, Weaponmaster 5, Improved Hamstring 3, Mortal Strike 1, Cruelty 5, Unbridled Wrath 5, Piercing Howl 1, Blood Craze 3, Furious Precision 1, Enrage 3

    Mortal Strike requires Sweeping Strikes; Weaponmaster 5/5 (any weapon type); Improved Hamstring for the proc-root. Fury: Cruelty, Unbridled Wrath, Piercing Howl, Blood Craze, one Furious Precision, Enrage 3. Iron Will moved to the Protection tree on 1 Oct — no longer reachable for an Arms build.

    Theory · See the trees · Open in the calculator

Rotation at level 30

Recommendation

Single target

Open with Charge, Rend, Thunder Clap on packs.

  1. Rend first — Bloodthrill isn't here yet, but Deep Wounds is
  2. Overpower on every dodge
  3. Slam after a swing
  4. Victory Rush after kills
  5. Heroic Strike above ~50 Rage

Groups

  • Sweeping Strikes (row 5): level 31 in the leveling order, level 30 in the PvP build
  • Thunder Clap
  • Cleave

Tips

Improved Tactical Mastery lets you swap to Defensive for Revenge/Shield Bash without losing all Rage.

Execute below 20% (trained at 24).

Stats

Each guide's stat order as it gives it, the sim's stat weights, then ours. Guides dated before the last big tuning are shown but not counted.

Guides agreeSame order on 2 guides.

WhereStat order
Guide · 2 Oct PvE, level 30 · read 12 OctWeapon damage › Hit › Crit › Strength › Agility › Stamina
Guide · 1 Oct PvE, level 20 · read 12 OctWeapon damage › Hit › Crit › Strength › Agility › Stamina
Guide · 9 Oct leveling, level 30 · read 12 OctNot ranked
Sim · stat weights level 60 · run 12 Oct, 5,000 iterations

Per 1%: Attack speed 7.25 tied with Crit 6.66 › Expertise 4.31

Per point: Main-hand weapon DPS 3.19 › Strength 0.427 › Agility 0.352 › Attack power 0.194 › Armour penetration 0.0891

No DPS change in this run: Hit, Off-hand weapon DPS.

The DPS each stat adds, for a level-60 character on the engine's preset gear in a 2-minute fight on a beta engine: a direction, not a verdict. = marks a tie: stats within each other's margin. Not counted toward "Guides agree".

Where they differ: the sim measured no DPS change from Hit.

Ours RecommendationWeapon damage (slow two-hander) › Hit › Crit › Strength or attack power › Expertise › Agility › Stamina

Ours adds Expertise, which neither guide lists.

Our order matches the guides' wherever they all agree.

Race

Each guide's race picks for Arms, then our pick for the Warrior.

Alliance

Guides differNight Elf on one guide, Gnome on another.

Horde

Guides agreeOrc on 2 guides.

Professions

Guides agreeThe same professions on 2 guides.

  • Guide · 2 Oct PvE, level 30 · read 12 OctMining, Blacksmithing, Engineering
  • Guide · 1 Oct PvE, level 20 · read 12 OctMining, Blacksmithing, Engineering
  • Guide · 9 Oct leveling, level 30 · read 12 OctNot given
  • Ours, for the Warrior RecommendationMining + Blacksmithing; or Mining + Engineering

What changed for Arms

  • 8 Oct: Rage from damage taken reworked, so expect more Rage when hit. It is now tuned for 20–40% armor (was 50%), no longer drops with more Stamina, counts crits and crushing blows, and ignores absorbs.

    Sourced: Dev notes · 8 Oct

  • Arms: Impale requires Deep Wounds again; Deep Wounds no longer scales with off-hand attack power.

    Sourced: Dev notes · 8 Oct

  • 1 Oct: crits generate 75% extra Rage, raised to 100% (hotfixed 2 Oct); Rend and Sunder Armor instantly tap enemies; Berserker Rage at 30 (was 32); Bloodthirst 45% AP (was 35%); Booming Voice adds 5–25% Rage cost reduction.

    Sourced: Dev notes · 1 Oct

  • Arms: Bloodthrill proc chance 4/8/12/16/20% (was 2–10%), main-hand only (includes Cleave/Heroic Strike); Slam cooldown 18 sec (was 15 sec); Improved Slam −1.5/3 sec.

    Sourced: Dev notes · 24 Sep

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