Arms Warrior PVE Guide – Cataclysm

Welcome to the PVE Arms Warrior Guide for World of Warcraft Cataclysm!

This guide will teach you how to play an Arms Warrior in a raid. It covers talents, glyphs, gems, enchantments, rotation, and gameplay tips.

This talent build takes the standard Arms Warrior talents to maximize single target DPS.

Prime Glyphs

• Glyph of Mortal Strike
• Glyph of Overpower
• Glyph of Slam

Major Glyphs

• Glyph of Colossus Smash
• Glyph of Rapid Charge
• Glyph of Shield Wall

Minor Glyphs

• Glyph of Battle
• Glyph of Berserker Rage
• Glyph of Command

Gems are situational and depend on the build and equipment. They are used to reach the required stat caps.

• Meta – Reverberating Shadowspirit Diamond
• Prismatic/Red – Bold Queen’s Garnet, Bold Inferno Ruby, or Bold Chimera’s Eye (Jewelcrafting)
• Yelow
  • If Socket Bonus is not at least +20 Strength, Bold Queen’s Garnet, Bold Inferno Ruby
  • Otherwise, Inscribed Lava Coral or Inscribed Ember Topaz
• Blue
  • If Socket Bonus is not at least +20 Strength, Bold Queen’s Garnet, Bold Inferno Ruby
  • Otherwise, Etched Shadow Spinel or Etched Demonseye

• Head – Arcanum of the Wildhammer (Alliance) or Arcanum of the Dragonmaw (Horde)
• Shoulder – Greater Inscription of Jagged Stone or Lionsmane Inscription (Inscription)
• Cloak – Enchant Cloak – Greater Critical Strike or Swordguard Embroidery (Tailoring)
• Chest – Enchant Chest – Peerless Stats
• Bracers – Enchant Bracer – Major Strength or Enchant Bracer – Precision (cheaper) or Draconic Embossment – Strength (Leatherworking) with Socket Bracer (Blacksmithing)
• Gloves – Enchant Gloves – Mighty Strength with Synapse Springs (Engineering) or Socket Gloves (Blacksmithing)
• Waist – Grounded Plasma Shield (Engineering) or Ebonsteel Belt Buckle
• Legs – Dragonscale Leg Armor or Dragonbone Leg Reinforcements (Leatherworking)
• Boots – Enchant Boots – Lavawalker
• Weapon – Enchant Weapon – Landslide

Dodge and Parry should be kept at similar values.

• Strength
• Hit Rating (to 8% hit cap)
• Critical Strike
• Expertise (to 26 cap)
• Mastery
• Haste

Use Battle Stance while DPSing.

Single Target Rotation

• Use Rend and maintain (via Mortal Strike)
• Use Mortal Strike on cooldown
• Use Colossus Smash and use available damage abilities in the 6 seconds it allows you to bypass armor
• Use Overpower via Taste of Blood proc
• Use Heroic Strike if you have a Battle Trance proc or you cannot avoid max rage
• Use Slam as a rage dump or filler when Heroic Strike is on cooldown
  • Use Execute instead if enemy is below 20% HP

Multi Target Rotation

• 2 enemies
  • Use Sweeping Strikes
  • Use your Single Target rotation
    • If enemies remain, repeat, but use Cleave instead of Heroic Strike
• 3 enemies
  • Use Rend
  • Spread Rend via Thunder Clap (thanks to Blood and Thunder)
  • Use Bladestorm, optionally with Recklessness if situation requires the adds to die quickly
  • Use Sweeping Strike when Bladestorm ends
  • Use Thunder Clap on cooldown
  • Single Target rotation once Sweeping Strikes ends, but use Cleave instead of Heroic Strike
• 4+ enemies
  • Same as 3 enemies, but modify your single target rotation:
    • Replace Colossus Smash with Whirlwind, replace Heroic Strike with Cleave.

Cooldowns

• Use Deadly Calm and Recklessness on cooldown — note they cannot be used together.
• Use Inner Rage if you need to burn rage via Heroic Strike
• Use Retaliation if you are being targeted by enemies