Arms Warrior delivers disciplined, hard-hitting combat – the kind where every swing counts. In Season 2, Arms has been supercharged by big patch buffs and a powerful new tier set, bringing back its classic identity of colossal strikes and deadly execution phases.
If you enjoy a tactical playstyle: pooling Rage for massive burst, slicing through armor with Colossus Smash, and obliterating enemies when they’re low – Arms will feel incredibly rewarding. It’s slower paced than Fury, but every ability hits like a truck. This guide breaks down everything you need to master Arms in Mythic+ dungeons and the Liberation of Undermine Raid, covering things from talents and rotations to gear and gameplay tips!
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| Devastating Execute Phase | Severely Punished by Downtime |
| Awesome AoE & Cleave Tools | Lacks Burst for Short Fights/Adds |
| Excellent Mobility | Lower Self-Sustain & No Immunity |
| Strong Defensive Utility | Melee to its core |
Arms Warriors are great at finishing off low-health enemies due to their powerful execute damage, and they've gotten even better at handling groups of targets thanks to improved AoE abilities and versatile talent options. They can easily adapt their talents to handle single-target fights, cleave situations, or big groups, making them pretty flexible. Their mobility is also solid, with multiple ways to quickly close gaps or reposition, helping them stick to targets and keep damage up during fights.
On the downside, Arms Warriors heavily suffer from downtime since they have no ranged attacks or passive resource gain — any time spent away from melee drastically cuts their damage. They also struggle against short-lived enemies because their damage ramps up slowly rather than delivering quick bursts. Additionally, while they have decent defensive cooldowns, they lack strong self-healing or immunities, relying heavily on healers for survival during certain boss mechanics.
The War Within introduces Hero Talents – an extra talent tree where Warriors choose between two specialization-defining paths, that not just add visuals but also greately improve the way your spec plays.
For Arms, you’ll pick Slayer or Colossus:
Below we’ve compiled two Raid builds (one optimized for pure single-target DPS, and ther other for cleave encounters with lots of adds) and one Mythic+ build that balances AoE damage, personal defense, and party utility.
Slayer - Raid Single Target
Slayer - Raid Cleave
Colossus - Mythic+
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Each Arms Warrior build can also be adjusted depending on the situation. For example, in the Liberation of Undermine, most Arms Warriors will typically run a single-target setup for bosses, but they might swap a few talents to better handle add-heavy encounters or even switch to a Mythic+ build when facing fights with frequent multi-target scenarios.
Race in our days has only a minor impact on PvE DPS (usually well under 1%). So play what you like – but if you’re looking for any edge, a few races have perks that align nicely with what Arms has to offer.
Ultimately, race is a minor optimization. If you’re pushing the absolute limits in Mythic Raiding or very high Mythic+, Goblin and Orc on Horde or Night Elf and Void Elf on Alliance are strong choices for Arms. But any race can perform well – it’s far more important to master your gameplay, so let's talk about that now!
Arms Warrior’s rotation is all about priority and timing. The baseline ability usage is relatively straightforward, but maximizing DPS requires planning around Colossus Smash debuffs, managing procs, and pooling Rage for big spenders. Mess up the order or cap your Rage at the wrong time, and your damage will drop noticeably. Let’s break down the core rotation and then dive into some advanced tips for improving your Arms gameplay.
Single-Target
Execute Phase
At its core, the Arms Warrior single target rotation is about chaining your heavy hitters — like Mortal Strike and Execute — while weaving in Overpower to juice them up even more. It’s all about timing your burst windows, managing your Rage so you’re not capping out, and never letting your most important abilities or bleeds sit idle.
2-3 Targets
4+ Targets
In AoE, Arms Warriors excel by first applying powerful debuffs and then unleashing their strongest burst attacks. Typically, you'll start by using Warbreaker, quickly followed by Bladestorm. After this initial spike, the rotation revolves around maintaining consistent pressure with abilities like Whirlwind and Cleave. On smaller packs, Sweeping Strikes shines, letting the warrior cleave their strongest single-target hits onto additional enemies.
For Mythic+ opener on packs, you’d adjust slightly: Charge in, Warbreaker the pack, Avatar + Bladestorm to obliterate the group, then Thunder Clap, Cleave, etc. Always tailor the opener to whether you need AoE or single-target or 2-3 target cleaving.
Tip: In multi-target situations, always try to have Sweeping Strikes up before you Charge in (you can activate it ~1s pre-pull) so your initial Mortal Strike/Colossus Smash hits two targets right away without wasting a GCD.
Minimizing Downtime
Because Arms relies heavily on active auto-attacks and Rage generation, any time spent not hitting something is a direct DPS loss. Take advantage of your mobility – if the boss moves or you have to reposition, use Heroic Leap and Charge proactively to stick to the target. If a mechanic forces everyone out, Arms should be the last to leave and the first to return thanks to these tools. Plan your movement so that you always have an ability hitting the boss unless absolutely impossible. This also means quickly swapping to available targets if your main target dies or is out of range – idle time is wasted time for Arms.
Rage Management
Arms has a maximum Rage (100 or 130). Wasting potential Rage by sitting at cap is a DPS loss. If you find yourself near cap (say 80+ Rage) and Mortal Strike is coming off CD soon, it’s often better to Slam or use a lower-priority ability now so that the Mortal Strike’s Rage spend won’t overflow. On the flip side, don’t be overly conservative – if you delay spending too long, you might waste passive Rage from auto-attacks. It’s a balance: aim to float enough Rage to always afford a Mortal Strike or Execute when it’s available, but not so much that you cap.
Colossus Smash Windows
A hallmark of skilled Arms play is pooling resources for big burst windows. Colossus Smash (and the tier set Winning Streak buff) greatly amplify your damage for a short time. You want to enter that window with high Rage and key ability charges ready. For example, if Colossus Smash is 5 seconds from cooldown, it can be wise to stop using Slam or other spenders and let your Rage build, so that once you Colossus Smash, you can immediately Mortal Strike. Similarly, if you run Avatar, try to align it with the nice 30% DPS bonus for compounded effect. Don’t waste Avatar in a moment where you have no Rage to spend or no Colossus Smash active. These kind of alignments can dramatically increase your burst damage!
Maintaining Bleeds & Buffs
Always maintain your Deep Wounds bleed uptime – check logs after fights; if your Deep Wounds uptime is anything less than ~95% on a single-target fight, you have room to improve. It usually means you delayed Mortal Strike too much or had downtime. Also, if you use Rend in a multitarget build, be sure you keep it up on primary targets (via Thunder Clap spreading, etc.). Bleeds are a significant portion of Arms’ damage, so also always keep an eye on strikes charges in multi-target; it has 2 charges, so try to have one active at all times in sustained 2-target cleave so you’re never doing single-target hits when you could be cleaving.
Use Defensive Stance Sparingly
Arms can talent Defensive Stance, which reduces damage taken by 15% but also your damage done by 10%. If you need to survive a mechanic or heavy damage phase, it’s okay to pop into Defensive Stance – living through a lethal burst is more important than squeezing out damage at that moment. But do not stay in Defensive Stance any longer than necessary in PvE. The damage penalty will significantly lower your DPS if left on. Think of it as a cooldown: toggle it on for a big hit (e.g. boss cast you can’t avoid), then immediately off. Good Arms Warriors mitigate damage with parry (Die by the Sword) or a quick Defensive Stance when needed, but otherwise remain in Battle Stance for full damage.
Summary: By focusing on these aspects – uptime, resource management, timing your bursts, and maintaining your effects – you’ll see your Arms Warrior performance climb. Arms might have a simpler button-press sequence than some specs, but it is punishing: small mistakes (capping Rage, missing an Overpower window, forgetting to refresh strikes) can cost a lot of damage. Review your logs, look for gaps (like low Deep Wounds uptime or Colossus Smash usage), and practice the discipline that Arms demands. Master that, and you’ll execute (pun intended) at a top level.
Properly equipping your Warrior is key to success in both Mythic+ and Raiding. Below we’ll cover Arms Warrior’s stat priorities and then list some of the Best-in-Slot (BiS) gear available in Season 2. We’ll also go over optimal enchants, consumables, and other gearing tips for Patch 11.1.
Explanation: Arms Warriors live and die by Strength, which boosts your Attack Power and makes every hit pack more punch. You should always prioritize higher item-level gear that increases Strength, since it’s the backbone of your damage. After that, both Crit and Haste are excellent stats for Arms: Crit not only yields bigger hits, but also generates extra Rage through auto-attacks, helping to smooth out your rotation. Meanwhile, Haste ramps up your attack speed and reduces global cooldowns, letting you chain attacks together faster and proc more Tactician resets.
Mastery still ranks high, as it amplifies both the bleed damage you deal and all damage against bleeding targets, but it’s slightly behind Crit and Haste in the current patch. Versatility is a consistent, all-rounder stat—giving you more damage while reducing incoming damage. It’s just not as potent for maximizing DPS unless you land a high item-level upgrade or you’ve already stacked Crit, Haste, and Mastery to comfortable levels. With that in mind, focus on Strength first, then weigh Crit and Haste about equally, followed by Mastery, and grab Vers if you need a decent filler with added survivability.
| Slot | Best Overall | Best Alternative |
| Mainhand Weapon | item | item |
| Off hand Weapon | item | item |
| Head | item | item |
| Neck | item | item |
| Shoulders | item | item |
| Back | item | item |
| Chest | item | item |
| Wrist | item | item |
| Hands | item | item |
| Waist | item | item |
| Legs | item | item |
| Feet | item | item |
| Ring 1 | item | item |
| Ring 2 | item | item |
| Trinket 1 | item | item |
| Trinket 2 | item | item |
Having the right enchants on your gear can provide significant stat boosts. Here are the top enchantments Arms Warriors should use in Season 2:
Consumables help squeeze out extra damage and sustain. As an Arms Warrior, you should come prepared with the following:
Gem choices should also follow our stat priority:
In TWW, professions don’t provide direct DPS increases like in older expansions, but they can still provide some advantages:
Ultimately, professions won’t make or break your DPS, but they can make your journey smoother. Choose what aligns with your goals (be it crafting your weapon, contributing utility, or saving gold on consumables).
Why Macros? Arms Warriors thrive on precise bursts of damage and resource management, making every split-second saving technique essential for maximizing performance. Macros can automate targeting (so you don’t lose focus mid-fight), combine multiple abilities into one button press, or let you quickly switch between different skills assigned to a single hotkey. This is especially important for maintaining control over your utility skills without constantly swapping targets. Below, we’ll explore several key macros that can elevate your gameplay.
With this you can swap stances while using only 1 keybind.
/cast [stance:2] Defensive Stance; stance:[3] Berserker Stance
Automatically leaps at your mouse cursor location. This saves you from the extra click normally needed for ground-target abilities.
/cast [@cursor] Heroic Leap
Charge your target, unless your mouse is over another enemy, then it targets that enemy and uses Charge.
/target [@mouseover, harm, nodead] /cast Charge
If your cursor is over an enemy that has 20% or below health points, pressing this macro will Execute that enemy. If no valid mouseover, it does nothing. This macro is especially great for things like killing an Explosive orb or finishing off an add while staying on the boss.
#showtooltip Execute /cast [@mouseover,harm,nodead] Execute
This macro casts Charge if you’re out of melee range and Victory Rush if you’re in melee range. It will also cancel Bladestorm to allow quick movement.
#showtooltip /cast Charge /cast Victory Rush /cancelaura Bladestorm
Presses all your burst abilities, trinkets and a racial to inflict an absolutely massive damage upon your foes.
#showtooltip Avatar /cast Avatar /use Blood Fury /use Berserking /use Ancestral Call /use 13 /use 14
By integrating these macros into your routine, you’ll notice a smoother flow during combat. For instance, you can interrupt casts without sacrificing your current target, seamlessly charge without missing a beat, and chain your cooldowns together at the press of a single button. Begin by adopting one or two macros to get familiar with how they work, and gradually expand your setup over time. Ultimately, macros are there to help you maintain maximum uptime and rapid responsiveness — vital factors in unleashing the full power of an Arms Warrior.
If you’re looking to smash your way into Season 2, this guide has you covered. Arms may have seen plenty of tweaks over the years, but the heart of building up Rage, slamming your foes, and unleashing crushing blows is still as thrilling as ever!
