This site makes extensive use of JavaScript.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser.
Live
PTR
10.1.7
PTR
10.2.0
Arms Warrior DPS Starter Guide - Shadowlands 9.2.5
By Archimtiros
Last Updated:
2022/11/28
Changelog
Patch: 10.1.7
Table of Contents
Rating: 4.7/5
(
11
Votes)
Guide Navigation
Rating: 4.7/5
(
11
Votes)
Welcome to our Arms Warrior starter guide, which covers everything you need to start playing a new character in Shadowlands. While our other guide pages go into more individual detail, this simple starter guide covers all the basics in one place, whether you're a new Arms Warrior, a returning player to Shadowlands, hardcore, or casual alike, it's the best place to get a beginners overview on the class. Included are basic talent builds, simplified rotations, stats, legendary recommendations, and more to get you started as quickly as possible.
Please keep in mind that this page is meant to get beginner players started quickly, and does not contain much in the way of detailed explanations, mechanics, competitive options, gearing, simulation comparisons, or nuance. For more in-depth information, including all those optimizations and more, check out the complete Arms Warrior Guide pages linked in the navigation on the left-hand side of the page, and if you're still leveling up in Shadowlands, you can take a look at our leveling tips.
About the Author
Archimtiros
is the Warrior class theorycrafter,
SimulationCraft
developer, and long time Mythic raider.
Say hi on
Twitter
or join
the Warrior class discord
to stay up to date with all things Warrior.
Best Arms Warrior Covenant
Each covenant excels in a different area of gameplay, although they remain viable in those they are not primarily suited for. Even if you're prioritizing raiding, Venthyr perform very well in Mythic+ and PvP, while Night Fae and Kyrian are only slightly behind in single target raid situations, giving Arms Warriors have a lot of flexibility in Covenant choice. Each offers its own special abilities, soulbinds, conduits, transmoggable armor sets, and other perks, so check out our Covenant pages for more information to help you decide which covenant to pledge to. Keep in mind, the choice also is not final and can be periodically changed.
The addition of the tier set or a second legendary does not have any major effect on covenant choice or balance.
Raid
Raid Soulbind
Mythic+
M+ Soulbind
Night Fae
Best
Dreamweaver
Second
Korayn
Kyrian
Second
Mikanikos
Best
Mikanikos
Necrolord
Third
Heirmir
Third
Emeni
Venthyr
Worst
Nadjia
Worst
Theotar
Single Target: Night Fae > Kyrian >> Necrolord > Venthyr
Multitarget: Kyrian > Night Fae >> Necrolord > Venthyr
Best Arms Warrior Covenant
Kyrian Arms Warrior GuideNecrolord Arms Warrior Guide
Night Fae Arms Warrior GuideVenthyr Arms Warrior Guide
Best Arms Warrior Legendaries
In Patch 9.2, all players will obtain
Unity
, which automatically switches between the appropriate covenant legendary power, allowing them to equip two legendaries at the same time. While this doesn't enable any particular build synergy, it is a significant power boost, and allows picking another legendary to use alongside the covenant power. For Arms Warriors, the best choices are fairly straight forward.
Enduring Blow
in raid.
Signet of Tormented Kings
for Mythic+ and multitarget encounters.
If you plan to make multiple legendaries, remember that you don't have to upgrade them at the same rate - upgrade currency can be hard to come by, but over time you will end up with more than enough, allowing you to make and upgrade whatever legendries you want. Take a look at our legendary guide to learn more about other items you can craft, or our crafting guide to find all the materials you need to craft them.
Arms Warrior Legendaries Guide
Best Arms Warrior Talents
Arms Warriors use the same talents for a lot of content, although a handful of talents stand out in particular areas. If you are still leveling,
Fresh Meat
and
Onslaught
perform very well together, while
Bladestorm
and
Anger Management
synergize very well in AoE heavy dungeons and Mythic+. This talent build is primarily focused on single target/raiding for players getting started with end game activities, but our Arms Warrior Talent Guide goes into more detail for each talent, as well as providing specific builds for questing, Mythic+, and Raids.
Arms Warrior Talents Guide
Arms Warrior Stat Priority
Unlike previous expansions, primary stats such as Strength are much more important than they used to be, and secondary stats are close enough together that item level is usually more important factor when it comes to choosing gear. You can find out more about how stats work, including sample stat weights and scaling plots in the Stats Guide, or get an overview of the best-in-slot gear to look for from dungeons and raids in the Arms Warrior Gear Guide.
Strength > Crit > Haste > Versatility ~= Mastery
Strength
: Increases all damage done by native class spells, abilities, and auto attacks. Previously one of the weakest stats, but now much more impactful, making raw item level much more important again.
Critical Strike
: Increases auto-attack rage generation, as well as damage done by abilities, auto attacks, and trinkets. It is the most important stat for reducing downtime in the rotation.
Haste
: Compresses the rotation by reducing both the GCD and the cooldown of the rotational abilities such as Mortal Strike, Skullsplitter, and Cleave. The stats value frequently fluctuates with that of Critical Strike.
Mastery
: Increases the damage to targets affected by Deep Wounds. It does not affect outside sources of damage such as trinkets, potions, or enchantments.
Versatility
: Increases damage done and reduces damage taken by half the amount. Unlike Mastery, however, it affects all damage done including trinkets, potions, and enchantments.
Arms Warrior Stats Guide
Arms Warrior Enchants and Consumables
Cloak
: Increase stamina and tertiary bonuses, which are largely interchangeable. When in doubt, choose extra stamina or avoidance.
Enchant Cloak - Fortified Avoidance
,
Enchant Cloak - Fortified Leech
,
Enchant Cloak - Fortified Speed
,
Enchant Cloak - Soul Vitality
Chest
: Strength -
Enchant Chest - Eternal Stats
Wrists
: Hearth cooldown -
Enchant Bracers - Shaded Hearthing
Gloves
: Increases Strength -
Enchant Gloves - Eternal Strength
Boots
: Reduced fall damage -
Enchant Boots - Soul Treads
Rings
: Increases Haste
Enchant Ring - Tenet of Critical Strike
Mainhand Weapon
: Stats -
Enchant Weapon - Celestial Guidance
Offhand Weapon
: Damage -
Enchant Weapon - Sinful Revelation
in Single Target or
Enchant Weapon - Lightless Force
in AoE
Arms Warrior Enchants Guide
Simple Arms Warrior Rotation
This is a simplified Arms Warrior DPS rotation, using the talents recommended above. More optimized rotations and notes on on cooldown use can be found in the Arms Warrior Rotation Guide.
Charge
to open combat or close distance to the target
Avatar
Conqueror's Banner
for Necrolords
Rend
Warbreaker
Mortal Strike
on cooldown
Overpower
Execute
, or
Condemn
for Venthyr
Ancient Aftershock
for Night Fae or
Spear of Bastion
for Kyrian
Bladestorm
when low on rage
Slam
as a filler
Arms Warrior Rotation Guide
Back to Top
Our Arms Warrior guides are always updated with the latest information from in-game experience, simulations, and logs; make sure to check our changelog to this page, by clicking on
View Changelog
at the top of the page. If you are interested in more in-depth Arms Warrior guides for , make sure to browse the
Navigation Bar
below, and our list of
Related Guides
just beneath the
Table of Contents
.
Would you like to quickly find this guide using Discord? You can do it easily using
Jeeves Bot
! Click
here to add Jeeves
to your Discord server.
Previous Page:
Overview
Feedback
Thanks for reading our class guides! If you have any feedback about the guides, feel free to leave a comment in the section below and we will reply as quickly as possible. If you'd like to talk with any of our writers directly you can do so by joining our
Discord Server
and finding them there!
Share your comments about this guide in our Warrior forum!
Get Wowhead
Premium
$2
A Month
Enjoy an ad-free experience, unlock premium features, & support the site!
