Overview
Warriors meet the enemy head-on and let blows bounce off their heavy armor. Some stand at the front with a shield and hold enemies in place while the group fights from behind; others drop the shield and pour their rage into big two-handed weapons or a weapon in each hand.
Almost all warrior damage is done in melee. A few attacks such as Heroic Throw and Storm Bolt reach further, but most of the kit needs you next to the target. Warriors are known for mobility: Charge rushes to an enemy and stuns it, Heroic Leap jumps into (or out of) a fight, and Intervene leaps to protect an ally.
They are also famous for shouts: Battle Shout strengthens the group, Rallying Cry can save it at the right moment, and Intimidating Shout scares enemies away.
Rage and stances
Rage is the warrior's resource. The bar starts empty, fills as you deal and take damage, and drains slowly once you leave combat. It caps at 100. The longer a fight lasts, the more rage you build, so warriors often fill up on a weak enemy and then unload it on a stronger one.
| Stance | Effect |
|---|---|
| Battle Stance | Balanced; raises the critical strike chance of your abilities |
| Berserker Stance | Replaces Battle Stance; more auto-attack damage |
| Defensive Stance | Lowers all damage you take and all damage you deal |
Specializations
| Spec | Role | Style | Preferred weapons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arms | Melee damage | Patient burst: mobility and crushing blows such as Mortal Strike and Bladestorm | One two-handed axe, mace or sword |
| Fury | Melee damage | Dual-wielding berserker with a fast flurry of attacks (Bloodthirst, Recklessness) | Two two-handed axes, maces or swords |
| Protection | Tank | Shield wall that soaks up hits and protects the group (Shield Slam, Shield Wall) | One-handed axe, mace or sword and a shield |
At higher levels each spec picks one of two hero talent trees: Colossus (Arms and Protection), Mountain Thane (Fury and Protection) or Slayer (Arms and Fury). Read more in Specializations.
Gear and races
Warriors wear plate and can carry shields. The official class page lists daggers, fist weapons, axes, maces, swords, polearms and staves as their weapons. Their main stats are Strength, and Stamina for tanks. Since patch 7.0.3 (2016) a new warrior starts in plate at level 1.
Every playable race can be a warrior, on both the Alliance and the Horde side. Warriors were the only class open to all races before The Burning Crusade, and again from Cataclysm until Legion, when Hunters joined them. See Playable Races.
Sources
Game pictures: © Blizzard Entertainment · worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com
