Overview
Arms Warriors in Mists of Pandaria Classic deliver some of the most satisfying melee combat in the expansion. You'll smash enemies with brutal weapon strikes while providing crucial support to your raid team. This spec shines in both single-target fights and chaotic multi-enemy encounters, making it a solid choice for players who want reliable damage output with meaningful utility.
What Arms Warriors Do Well
- Devastate groups of enemies with superior AoE damage
- Support your raid with game-changing utility cooldowns like Skull Banner and Vigilance
- Stay mobile with multiple gap-closing abilities
- Follow clear, logical rotation priorities that make sense
- Survive dangerous situations with strong defensive tools
- Single-target burst falls behind other melee specs
- Rage management can get tricky, especially during AoE fights
- Gear scaling hits a wall compared to Fury warriors later on
- Melee positioning demands can be punishing
Major Changes from Cataclysm
Mists of Pandaria transforms Arms Warriors in several important ways:
Mortal Strike now generates 10 rage instead of draining it, making this your go-to ability. Overpower works on charges now with a faster global cooldown, and each Mortal Strike gives you 2 charges to work with. Slam becomes instant and hits 10% harder during Colossus Smash windows.
Recklessness no longer makes you take extra damage while boosting your crit chance by 30%. You'll spend almost all your time in Battle Stance since stance dancing is gone. Three new Banner abilities give you powerful raid-wide effects, and Deep Wounds replaces Rend as your main bleed.
Talent Builds and Glyphs
Level 15: Pick Juggernaut for consistent Charge cooldown reduction, or grab Double Time if you need positioning flexibility
Level 30: Enraged Regeneration gives you reliable self-healing
Level 45: Disrupting Shout provides valuable AoE interrupts
Level 60: Dragon Roar for single bosses, Bladestorm when fighting multiple enemies
Level 75: Vigilance offers one of the best tank external cooldowns in the game
Level 90: Bloodbath for sustained fights, Avatar for shorter burst windows
Major Glyph Priorities
Start with Glyph of Unending Rage since it increases your max rage to 120 and you'll want it in every situation. Glyph of Bull Rush makes Charge generate 15 extra rage, which becomes incredibly valuable with Charge's new flexibility.
Your third glyph depends on the fight. Glyph of Sweeping Strikes works great for AoE situations, Glyph of Rude Interruption gives you 6% more damage for 20 seconds after successful interrupts, and Glyph of Death From Above reduces Heroic Leap's cooldown by 15 seconds.
Stats and Gearing
Accuracy Requirements
Both Hit and Expertise need 7.5% (2550 rating each) to prevent your abilities from missing or getting dodged by raid bosses. Some racial bonuses reduce these requirements slightly.
Rotation Fundamentals
Single-Target Priority
When Colossus Smash isn't active:
- Apply Colossus Smash if the debuff is missing
- Cast Mortal Strike whenever it's available
- Use Overpower charges as you get them
- Cast Slam when you have 80+ rage
- Use Heroic Strike only if you're about to cap rage
During Colossus Smash windows:
Focus on dumping rage with Slam since it hits 10% harder. Keep using Mortal Strike on cooldown and spend Overpower charges. Stack your damage cooldowns during these windows for maximum impact.
Execute Phase (below 20% health):
Replace Slam with Execute as your main rage spender. Use Execute during Colossus Smash, and outside those windows only when you have 90+ rage. Continue your normal Mortal Strike and Overpower usage.
Multi-Target Situations
Two enemies:
Keep Sweeping Strikes running constantly and maintain Deep Wounds on both targets using Thunder Clap or alternating Mortal Strikes. Follow your single-target rotation while benefiting from cleave damage.
Three or more enemies:
Apply Deep Wounds to everything with Thunder Clap, maintain Sweeping Strikes, and use Bladestorm with your damage cooldowns. Prioritize one target for Colossus Smash, then dump rage with Slam during the vulnerability window. Use Cleave if you're capping rage too quickly.
Opening Sequence
Pre-pot with Potion of Mogu Power one second before engaging. Cast Shattering Throw half a second before the pull starts. Charge immediately, pop Recklessness and Skull Banner together, then hit Mortal Strike followed by Colossus Smash. Use Berserker Rage if you're not Enraged, then spam Slam throughout the Colossus Smash duration.
Cooldown Management
Damage Cooldowns
Skull Banner increases everyone's critical damage by 20% for 10 seconds on a 3-minute cooldown. Coordinate with other Warriors to avoid wasting overlaps.
Recklessness gives you 30% crit chance and pairs perfectly with your other damage amplifiers. Use it every 3 minutes, ideally stacked with other cooldowns.
Bloodbath makes your special attacks apply a 30% damage bleed for 6 seconds. Pop it every minute in most situations since the short cooldown lets you use it frequently.
Avatar boosts all damage by 20% for 24 seconds. Save this for major burn phases or stack it with Bloodlust and other raid cooldowns.
Dragon Roar always crits and ignores armor. Use it on cooldown but try to cast it outside Colossus Smash windows since it doesn't benefit from the armor reduction.
Defensive and Utility Tools
Vigilance reduces an ally's damage by 30% for 12 seconds - one of the strongest tank externals available. Die by the Sword gives you 100% parry chance and 20% damage reduction for 8 seconds. Shield Wall provides 40% damage reduction for 12 seconds on a longer cooldown.
Rallying Cry increases everyone's max health by 20% for 10 seconds, effectively giving your whole raid a temporary health buffer.
Gear Priorities
Pre-Raid Targets
Focus on Mogu'Dar, Blade of the Thousand Slaves from Mogu'shan Palace or the Masterwork Spiritblade Decimator from Blacksmithing for weapons.
For trinkets, Relic of Xuen from Inscription crafting provides the best option, followed by Zen Alchemist Stone if you're an Alchemist. Lei Shen's Final Orders becomes available from Celestial Dungeons later.
Serves as the ultimate weapon upgrade for the tier from Terrace of Endless Spring.
Tier Set Considerations
The Tier 14 2-piece bonus increases Mortal Strike damage by 25% and represents a major upgrade. The 4-piece reduces Recklessness cooldown by 90 seconds, which has situational value depending on fight length and your raid's cooldown coordination.
Gemming Strategy
Use Reverberating Primal Diamond in your meta socket. Fill red sockets with Bold Primordial Ruby for pure Strength. Yellow sockets get Inscribed Vermilion Onyx for Strength/Crit combinations. Blue sockets take Etched Imperial Amethyst or Rigid River's Heart if you need Hit rating.
Socket bonuses are usually worth meeting when they provide useful stats.
Enchants and Consumables
Critical Enchants
| Slot | Enchant | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Dancing Steel | Biggest damage boost |
| Chest | Glorious Stats | Well-rounded benefits |
| Gloves | Super Strength | Direct stat boost |
| Bracers | Exceptional Strength | Primary stat increase |
| Boots | Pandaren's Step | Useful agility addition |
Profession Bonuses
Engineering provides Synapse Springs on gloves - 1920 Strength for 10 seconds that you control completely. Blacksmithing adds extra gem sockets through Socket Bracer and Socket Gloves. Leatherworking gives Fur Lining - Strength on bracers.
Consumables Setup
Flask of Winter's Bite provides 1000 Strength for the entire raid. Black Pepper Ribs and Shrimp adds 300 Strength from food. Potion of Mogu Power delivers 4000 Strength for 25 seconds during combat, so save it for your biggest damage windows.
Race and Profession Choices
Best Horde Races
Orcs dominate for Arms Warriors. Blood Fury gives on-demand Attack Power, and Axe Specialization provides 1% Expertise with axes (which includes most of your best weapons).
Trolls offer Berserking for attack speed and Beast Slaying for 5% extra damage against beast enemies, though this situational bonus rarely applies.
Alliance Options
Worgen take the top spot with Viciousness providing 1% crit chance, which directly improves your Enrage uptime.
Draenei offer Heroic Presence for 1% Hit, reducing your gear requirements slightly.
Profession Recommendations
Engineering is mandatory for serious players. Synapse Springs provides controlled burst damage that aligns perfectly with your rotation, and Nitro Boosts offers emergency mobility.
Blacksmithing works as your second profession. Extra gem sockets become increasingly valuable as Critical Strike gems provide better returns than Strength gems at higher gear levels.
Alchemy provides the Zen Alchemist Stone trinket and Mixology bonuses. Inscription crafts Relic of Xuen and improves shoulder enchants.
Advanced Techniques
Charge Weaving
Generate extra rage by leaving melee range and charging back in. Position yourself at maximum melee range, wait until you have over 1 second before your next auto-attack, run out after using a global cooldown ability, then charge back before your next GCD becomes available.
Cooldown Stacking
Combine Skull Banner with Recklessness and your other major damage cooldowns. Time Synapse Springs during peak damage windows. Coordinate with raid damage phases but avoid diminishing returns from too many overlapping effects.
Common Mistakes
Poor Cooldown Timing: Using damage cooldowns separately wastes their potential. Stack them together and coordinate with raid burn phases for maximum impact.
Execute Phase Errors: Don't waste rage on Slam when enemies drop below 20% health. Execute becomes your primary rage spender and deals significantly more damage.
Wrong Stance Usage: Stay in Battle Stance for optimal rage generation from auto-attacks. Only switch to Defensive Stance with the minor glyph when you need damage reduction without threat.
Final Thoughts
Arms Warriors offer straightforward gameplay with meaningful depth. Master rage management and cooldown timing to excel. The spec's combination of solid damage and valuable utility ensures you'll always have a place in raid groups.
Focus on hitting your accuracy caps first, then stack Critical Strike for better Enrage uptime. Coordinate your burst windows with raid damage phases, and don't forget that your utility abilities often matter as much as your damage output.