04-16-2016, 10:53 AM
With your weapon in hands, you gaze upon the battlefield. As the enemy approaches, you stand ready, unbridled rage flowing through you, contemplating the carnage that is about to happen. That's right, you are a warrior, an unwavering beast waiting to be unleashed into continued massacre.
But as a wise master once said, information and strategy is crucial for winning many battles.
Glossary
swing: an auto attack or white hit
RNG: random number generator
CC: crowd control
MS: mortal strike
WW: whirlwind
BR: berzerker rage
PH: piercing howl
HS: heroic strike
FC: flag carrier
EFC: enemy flag carrier
EFR: enemy flag room
EROOF: enemy roof
CD: cooldown
GCD: global cooldown
proc: effect triggered by an attack, based on rng
Your talents
Arms
https://classicdb.ch/?talent#LMhxbAboxdE0zu0x
The objectively best pvp spec. For real this time. Except for Blood Craze which is optional I think, definitely neat against rogues. Booming Voice gives your demoralizing shout extra range to get rogues out of stealth. I'm a firm believer in the 2/3 Improved hamstring now that I know about it, and that my whole life is a lie for using 1/3 before 2018. In the rest of this guide I will assume this build is used.
Fury
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17/34 or 18/33. Keep in mind that the lack of mortal strike will make most encounters against healers a lot harder. Your burst relies heavily on gear, aim for high attack power to boost bloodthirst, lots of crit as well as hit%(I had around 14% in pve, I'm not sure if pvp is the same). You will need at least AQ40 level gear in order to do a bit of damage. Make use of your improved intercept to cc healers and peel your healers.
This spec, while not optimal, can be fun and challenging to play, even with lower gear than advised.
Protection
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9/11/31
Don't laugh yet. The idea is to distract enemies from objectives, be a pain in the ass to kill for physical damage classes, and an utter annoyance with concussion blow which is great to assist your team mates for killing an efc or anyone else.
Of course the effect is greater the better your gear is, but regular dps gear with lots of stam is fine too.
Protip: play with these two pieces to also piss off casters
https://db.valkyrie-wow.org/?item=22198
https://db.valkyrie-wow.org/?item=22196
Bonus
Use at your own risk.
The slammer
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The 3minute sweeper
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The old school
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Arms dual wielding(with 2 maces)
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Or 31/20 with 0/5 two hander specialization
What attributes you should focus on in pvp
stamina>crit%>attack power
For warriors, 1 agility equals to 0,05% crit, making 20agility 1% crit,
and 1 strength equals to 2 attack power. 1 stamina equals to 10hp.
Having a huge hp pool is crucial since you fight in melee range, very exposed to all kinds of damage in a lot of situations, and often taking 10% more of it. More hp means more swings before death, more opportunities to dump rage and to make use of the enrage talent. It also gives leeway for your potential healers to do their work.
Critical hits mean more damage with impale boosting your offensive abilities, but also more rage per white hit, leading to you being able to use more abilities, or use them sooner than without crit. It is what makes your burst damage, a warrior that doesn't crit will be almost useless.
Attack power is a nice plus, but you will prefer crit over it. EXCEPT when you have a master plan to use recklessness in the very near future, then you could swap to some gear maximizing AP.
The hit cap when using a two hander is 5%. Get it as soon as you can and make sure to keep it when changing gear.
About the +defense skill, it is also a nice plus against melee opponents. Note that you will need more hit% to hit the same amount against warriors wearing +def gear (I have no idea about the math on this, but 6% hit should do it if you encounter some).
Your race
In no particular order.
Troll
Regeneration stacks with spirit, so if you're a warrior it's about negligible.
Berserking can be useful when you have a spare gcd for an attack speed boost. It's tricky to exploit to it's fullest, since when you are low on health you don't always want to be offensive, but it can give you a nice payoff. It doesn't reduce heals on you by any% so consider using an hp potion right after it.
Human
+Weapon skill only matters in world pvp or duels, and is useless in battlegrounds(and the arena) where it follows a formula based on the character's level.
Perception works here, so you will be at a serious advantage against rogues and druids when you use it correctly. Use it preemptively when you know that a rogue is likely to be around, in midfights, helping his fc, or when a druid is likely to try picking your flag. In 1v1 you can use perception+bandage after a vanish.
Also something to remember about perception is that it will reveal stealthed targets that are in front of you. One application of this is, when a rogue is likely to follow you for any reason when you are moving, use perception and repeatedly jump facing the opposite direction in your jump, and you might see him.
Orc
I haven't played orc warrior with dedication yet, but As much as Blood Fury is awesome for buffing your damage, don't use it carelessly in long fights when you are relying on heals, since it reduces them by the same amount as mortal strike for 25 seconds, 10 seconds more than the attack power buff effect.
Hardiness reduces the chances of stun effects working on you by 25%, meaning that you will resist one fourth of all the stuns abilities and skills hitting you. This racial trait alone makes orc the best horde pvp race for warrior and probably other classes as well.
Gnome
Escape Artist cannot be resisted in vanilla and it's cooldown is only one minute. For warrior this trait is pretty much op since you are very vulnerable to immobilize and slow effects, often leaving you with the only option of watching your enemy get away or cast a deadly spell on you if you aren't engineer. As such, gnome is by far the best alliance warrior pvp race.
Their size is also a notable advantage in pvp, especially in huge crowds when clicking them can be a real chore, or -if you are like me- when you sometimes fail at the Tab button. Effect greatly enhanced by noggen elixir, which is free here.
Dwarf
Stoneform removes blind and other poison effects which is great against rogues, it also stops bleed effects making you able to use bandages when you shouldn't be, and gives you extra armor against physical damage classes. Situational, but can be very handy when you know that this rogue will instant blind you then try to leave with your flag.
Night Elf
Shadowmeld has several neat uses:
- when another warrior approaches you, use it to get the charge first;
- regen, then activate it so no one sees you eating;
- lose pursuers by disappearing behind corners;
- hide at the enemy base roof before efc gets there for sneak attacks or on flag spot for sneak repicks
- when out of combat, use shadowmeld right before a traveling spell hits you to make it void, do it when you fc too then repick;
- use it so other players stop targeting you, for example when you are about to pass an important corner and want to avoid charges/spells, or simply to throw them off.
And you get 1% dodge. Think about it.
Tauren
War Stomp hits 5 targets within 8 yards with a cooldown of only 2 minutes, and has a casting time requiring you to stand still for a very short time - you can exploit this when playing against them, look for a tauren suddently stop moving when he's likely to stun you and get away. It is great in combination with sweeping strikes combos (SS+War Stomp+WW for example), and in any situation when a stun is useful, meaning very often. You look like a cow, too.
Undead
Great animations, which is probably why they are so popular.
Other than that Will of the Forsaken will help you against lock's succubi, and give you freedom to stay in battle stance longer to reach the rage for sweeping strikes when you just charged a priest or warrior, and the freedom to pop berzerker rage for more rage income without thinking about having to remove a fear later. It isn't as useful as for other classes obviously, but it's something.
Cannibalize is good for long drawn fights giving you in combat regen. Always look for an occasion to use it, even for only a few ticks, just like bandage.
Your abilities
Charge
You want to begin most fights with this, as it will give you rage, place you in melee range of your target, and the 1 second stun helps for landing a first white hit with a melee ability. It will (I think) trigger diminishing returns, so when playing with for example a rogue, you want to keep it in mind.
Waiting to be out of combat to charge again is something most people know about, take it in consideration when trying to do it. Immediately swapping into berzerker stance after charge will save you from instant warrior/priest fears, and the farther you are from your target, the easier it is to do.
Hamstring
This should be applied to your target almost all the time. You can decide to use your gcds for offensive abilities instead when you are confident to be able to stay in range for long enough to finish the job. Expect rogues to dodge it, so hit them in the back when you can. Other than that, there isn't much else to say about hamstring. Except there is.
Hamstring is a melee ability, that is instant with no cooldown other than the global. It also costs little rage, and even less when you have the pvp gloves. This means you can use it for procs when you have extra rage, and when you know you will have enough in the long run.
-use it to trigger overpower on rogues
-spam for more dark edge/ashbringer/whatever procs
-spam for sword spec/hand of justice procs (using both can be devastating)
-spam for macestun
-spam for flurry
-spam for improved hamstring
Again, if you aren't receiving damage, you will need to gauge if your rage will be enough for using your other offensive abilities on cooldown, which takes priority. A high crit chance greatly helps.
Additionally, remember to manage your gcds well, you don't want to hamstring when it's already applied and delay your mortal strike that just became available.
Mortal Strike
Your main source of burst. Try to hit melee classes in the back with it to avoid dodge/parry. You want to use it on cooldown most of the time. Depending on the situation, you might want to use Whirlwind instead when you lack the rage for MS and you want to do instant damage.
The opposite is also true: you might want to wait for MS to be up again instead of using whirlwind. In fact, in situations when you lack rage, you will want to use only mortal strike because it is has a better dps/rage ratio, and maybe also for the debuff.
The debuff is op, and makes healing your target extremely hard. Any HP potion or bandage that your target uses will also be halved. In some situations you will be useful enough landing it.
Whirlwind
Another instant attack. You want to use it on cooldown in situations when you have a lot of rage. Be wary of crowd control effects around so you don't break them with it. Using WW in synergy with Sweeping Strikes, you can one shot several characters at the same time, even while not full purple.
It also has a decent range, so use it while kiting a rogue, or chasing a mage, etc.
I might be wrong, but I think rogues can dodge it in stealth. Confirmation would be appreciated.
Sweeping Strikes
I don't see many warriors use it here. Sometimes you will prefer using your rage directly in instant attacks, but the disaster you can create with this is massive. Use with WW, Cleave when you have lots of rage or know you will have in the next few seconds. Try to stack your enemies and keep them close with piercing howl.
On retro, I believe extra attacks are dealt as raw damage the same amount as the first attack, and can't be dodged parried or crit. If the original attack was a crit however, then extra attacks will not count as crits but will still have the same damage value as the original.
Berzerker rage
Use in the following situations:
- right before charging, judgment is your best ally to foresee the need to break fear/gouge in the long run, wait for the gcd to end before the charge to have an easier time landing hamstring, this will prevent you from sneaky sap attempts and give you extra rage from damage taken without having to waste a gcd for it into the fight
- to remove a fear effect(or disorient) or in anticipation of a fear effect, especially when trying to repick from your dying flag carrier
- when there is nothing else to do, and you are taking damage with little risk of fear/gouge effects later on, going after the extra rage property
Don't use it if you could be using hamstring first, or any instant attack if you have the rage already. You don't want to see a mage run away from you using the pvp trinket because you wasted your gcd on BR instead of being ready to hamstring. This also applies to other abilities like battle shout, manage your gcds well.
Depending on the situation, you might want to sit through a rogue sap. See if he will open your team mate, then use BR to remove it and charge.
Piercing howl
Awesome ability. Slow huge crowds going after your fc, catch anyone fleeing, mages kiting... Sometimes you will want to use demoralizing shout instead to spot rogues with booming voice's extra range, which doesn't apply to PH.
Demoralizing shout
When I know there are rogues in the opposite team, depending on the situation I'll use this right after a charge, sometimes more than once to unstealth them, and it works pretty damn fine. Needless to say it is awesome in duels against them too. Otherwise I only use it if there is nothing else to do and I want to survive or help a team mate survive melee dps.
Intercept
Charge in combat. In 1v1 use it for the 3 sec stun on physical dmg classes to avoid dodge/parry. Since it deals damage, it will break cc effects(Charge doesn't, try Charge+Esc on sheeped targets).
It has a fairly long cd, 30 sec, reduced to 25 with the 3/6 pvp set bonus(15 with the improved intercept talent). Books could be written on how to not waste your intercept, or intercepting the right target, and I'm far from perfect in this aspect.
One thing however, be aware. Look around you in a fight. Is a squishier or more threatening target to you or your healer nearby? A nax geared lock or mage casting? A shaman getting ready to instant heal efc? Anyone attacking your healer, especially a rogue? Is that priest running to your team ready to fear them? All kinds of information to take into account for intercepting, or even just switching targets. If you aren't paying attention, you aren't playing this class to your fullest in pvp, or any class for that matter.
Rend
The most OP ability of warriors. Not. It doesn't scale with anything in vanilla except the talent, so the damage is pretty much negligible. Use it when charging an unstealthed rogue who is likely to try and vanish away instantly. I never actually did this but if you know a druid fan or restealthing, same thing...
You could also use it in actual 1v1 against rogues. I tend not to rely on it but it isn't terrible if you have nothing else to do. It will prevent the rogue to cripple dance you into vanishing/restealthing in the opposite direction, he'll have to go in or be exposed; and he will have to time his restealth carefully. It will also prevent first aid.
If fear gets fixed, rend will break it, preventing you from fear+bandaging.
Intimidating shout
The fear bug is still around, so right now, my observation is that fear effects last around one second or two then the character can move again but not use abilities for the rest of the duration. If this were retail, you would want to fear another target than the one you wish to take down, because for the target, the effect breaks if hit by any source of damage.
But this isn't retail, and the aoe fear effect makes characters teleport around, not exactly convenient for killing an efc.
It is still great to bring chaos into an enemy team like the priest fear, and also great as a tool for interrupting casters. You can also fear warriors right after they charge you when they take time going into berzerker stance.
Thunder Clap
Use when you want to survive longer against melee dps, if you have the flag for example. In most situations, you will want to use offensive abilities instead, but remember that the damage of TC can't be dodged/parry and as such you can use it to finish rogues using evasion who have very little hp left, potentially hunters. I never tried it, but the full set T2.5 boosts the damage and attack speed reduction of TC.
Disarm
Remember who has a weapon chain and who doesn't have one. If you can, you want to use this ability in the back of your oponent to avoid dodge/parry. It is always a great move to use on a rogue with evasion attacking your fc if you manage to land it.
I never see anyone do this, but disarming hunters after they already wasted their trap and scatter shot will win you A LOT of encounters against them, because they can't kite you anymore with wing clip. Of course try to do it before they land wing clip.
Shield block
A very under rated ability in pvp. When you want to survive against melee dps, you will last a lot longer using this on cooldown. Remember that as many abilities you want to hit in the back of your target, you want to be facing melee oponents, be in front of them, as much as possible, and even more when you plan to win time and survive since you can't block/dodge/parry attacks done in your back. Don't hesistate to spam jump+turning towards opponents to keep going to the direction you want, say, your graveyard expecting support from your rezzing mates.
As a side note, when purely trying to survive, don't hit warriors unless they are almost dead, you will only give them more rage. Attack other classes instead, or don't attack at all(use Esc).
Heroic Strike
HS can be a great move or a terrible one depending on the situation. First of all, HS hits on your next white hit, and replaces it. This means you won't get any rage from that swing, and will even lose some. Therefore, in most situations you want to get rage from your white hits instead.
You can use it when you have a lot of rage (almost full) and want to burst, or if you know you will have a lot of rage in the next few seconds, because of the focus you get from opponents. It is important to make use of your rage as much as you can, you will be able to do it more with a big hp pool, and when getting support and heals.
Also an important note is that HS will eat your sword spec procs and Hand of Justice procs. These procs first show a specific animation when you attack, then take effect on your next white hit, giving you two of them at the same time. Try to wait for a sword proc, then use HS, you will see that only your heroic strike's damage is applied, with no extra white hit, even to your next swing. I don't know if this is blizzlike, but you want to keep this in mind if you play with these procs. I haven't tested yet, but I assume Cleave works the same way.
It seems like sword procs are now fixed, the procs will now trigger the additionnal attack instantly, without having to wait for the next swing. I am not sure, but it seems to proc off heroic strikes and instant attacks as well as swings. It will even proc when you swap stance, even when you aren't attacking in melee at all, I get the animation while mounted too.
Note that sword procs and hand of justice procs seem to work the same way, and they can proc on top of each other. This means that you may get two extra attacks on the same swing/instant ability. This is a pretty huge buff of these procs overall.
Cleave
Use it when getting endless supply of rage (heals and lots of hp greatly help). I am convinced that SS+Cleave and WW at the same time under enrage is the most deadly combo of this class into a pack of enemies. Add the berzerker buff from bgs and you will pretty much tear anything apart.
When short on rage, you will prefer getting rage from white hits instead, same as for HS.
Challenging shout
I know that hunter pets could be taunted for breaking freezing trap in burning crusade, in vanilla I'm not sure. In any case it doesn't work here, I only use it as an actual taunt in pvp, like in fighting games. I'm not sure if people catch on though.
Overpower
Use when available, it's almost a guaranteed free crit scaling with impale at almost no rage cost. Remember to use berzerker rage against rogues to prevent gouge before swaping stances. Of course, depending on the situation you will ignore it to pummel a healing spell for example. Use your battle sense. I trust you for that.
You can use hamstring with the intent of making the enemy dodge to proc overpower. I recommend using an addon showing you overpower procs, because sometimes the "dodge" combat text takes time to show up on screen after the actual dodge has happened, making you swap stance and find out that it is too late to use it. I use WarriorHUD which works great for me.
Pummel
One word. Anticipation. Anticipate when a healer will start casting next to you and pummel him, don't wait to see the cast to do it. Also, anticipate shamans chain lightning, as letting one hit you will spell your death if they have enough gear. Anticipate the start of a cast and keep your global cooldown for it. Also, observe people with small size(noggen) effect and notice their casting animations.
One pummel can decide a whole fight, be ready to use it when you need to. A sheeped healer is a healer dead for 15 seconds.
Also, know that mages can take advantage of your global cooldown on hamstring to sheep you, robbing you of any opportunity to pummel them. Remember who does it, and anticipate it.
Sunder armor
Great tool to take down heavily armored targets, especially efcs. Most of the time though, you will prefer using offensive abilities instead.
Bloodrage
Be careful to not use it depending on how low your hp is. I usually do it for battle shout before any fight, to refresh the buff out of combat, and at the start of a bg. The cooldown is usually back up when I need it in fights, and even if I don't have it I prefer this instead of having to use a gcd for battle shout, or dealing less damage for a period of time.
Battle shout
Be buffed with it before fights and always have it on you. Use it after a fight with the rage you have left before mounting. The addon WarriorHUD will make the icon of the spell glow in your bars when you aren't buffed with it, it can help when you forget to refresh it.
Retaliation
You can use it for the lulz when many melees are focusing you but the animation gives it away instantly. It can make enemies reluctant to attack you, and in this aspect can be seen as a defensive cooldown that doesn't force you to wear a shield. Face your enemies, because you will not counter attacks done in your back. Situational at best.
Shield Wall
Survive burst (activate before pyro hits) when it matters, give healers time to top your health, aggro a group of players then use this after kiting them for two minutes... Great ability when you fc. Have it bound to a hotkey even though it's a 30min cooldown.
Recklessness
Have it keybound as well. Using this ability into a team fight will usually grant you sudden cc attempts, or heavy focus, often leading to a quick death because of the +20% damage received. The animation and distinctive sound are easy to notice. Consider using it when you are unlikely to get focused or interrupted in your actions for the duration of the buff.
Consider also using it this way: Berzerker rage+Recklessness+Charge, from an angle which makes it unlikely that you were spotted beforehand. You will charge into a group of enemies unaware that you are into your most dangerous state.
Lastly, try using free action pot+rocket boots with reck. It just sounds like a good idea.
Your stances
Battle stance
Be careful of possible fear effects/gouge around you when into battle stance(defensive too) or considering a swap into it. You might want to use berzerker rage before swapping. You don't have WW and have less crit% in this stance, so most of the time you want to play in...
Berzerker stance
Your main offensive stance. You should always be in this stance in the event of a sap that you have to break with BR. You have 3% more crit, but take 10% more damage, which is one of the reasons why you need a huge hp pool. These 10% are a huge amount of extra damage taken and should be taken into consideration, even if 99% of warriors don't, point I will further elaborate when talking about the...
Defensive stance
Here we are. The defensive stance has you deal 10% less damage, but receiving 10% less as well. Commonly, you use it to survive as a flag carrier, or just to disarm, but for me there is more to it.
You can swap in defensive stance not only when chasing someone as you receive damage, but between swings during the time you wait for your next attack. Stay in it around 1-2 seconds, time during which your enemy will likely attack you, then swap again into berzerker stance to land the swing.
Notice offensive casters launch spells on you and swap right before they hit you to reduce the damage, then back into berzerker.
It is tricky to know when to do it, as sometimes you will want to dump the rage you accumulated in berzerker stance, but the number of times I survived because I swapped in defensive just to eat one spell, and the number of mages I killed because I ate their pom pyro with it are countless.
Know that a spell taken in defensive stance deals 18(,181818...)% less damage than a spell taken in berzerker stance.
Explanation(skippable):
N is one damage value hitting your character. In berzerker stance, you receive N*1,1 damage, and in defensive N*0,9.
Thus, in defensive stance you will receive N*1,1-N*0,9=N*0,2 LESS damage than if you were in berzerker stance.
Now what is the percent of damage reduction from berzerker stance to defensive?
(N*0,2*100)/N*1,1 = N*20/N*1,1 = 20/1,1 = 200/11
And 200/11 = 18,181818...%
Example: in battle stance a fireball hits you for 1000, meaning 1100 in berzerker stance and 900 in defensive stance. 1100-900=200, and (200*100)/1100=200/11=18,181818...
More practically, this pom pyro that could have hit you for 4000 in berzerk dealt only around 3300 because you swapped in defensive right before it hit, allowing you to not fucking die, reach the mage and show him what the word hell truly means.
I don't hesistate to use MS and HS in defensive stance to deal damage the fastest way possible before he can finish me off with instant spells, but it is situational and you can prefer swapping into another stance for this if you have enough hp left.
Another useful way to use defensive stance is when the fight ends and you have dots on you. Dot damage ticks scale with it, so use it to save life and regen faster. I personnally swap in defensive after a fight even without dots on me for:
-limiting damage from a source I'm not seeing or unable to charge as I'm not out of combat yet
-indicate to other nearby players that my health is down, so they can heal me, especially players who tend to heal only occasionally, as experienced healers will do it regardless
1v1 class strategies
I don't see myself as a model for 1v1, I'll simply talk about how I play (or should play) and what works for me, with a few tips for battleground situations.
Mage
I tend to think that a good mage is pretty much impossible to kill. Regardless, here is some general advice against them.
- DON'T LET THE MAGE SHEEP YOU. Just don't. I tend to burn trinket on the first nova just to pummel sheep. Good mages WILL fakecast you, and unless you anticipate it you are as good as owned. Try to deal as much damage as you can before he lands it. Depending on the situation, you can even use a grenade or your fear to interrupt him.
If you get sheeped, you are at a disadvantage, especially if you didn't do any damage and only wasted cooldowns instead. Prepare to chase him desperately for a long time and make use of that big hp pool.
Some mages will try to sheep you before even using nova, expecting you to hamstring instead of pummeling. Anticipate it.
- Try intercept+Esc(disable auto attack)+piercing howl. If you do it at the right time, you won't be affected by frost armor while he will be slowed, giving you time to reach him after his blink. This assumes that the mage blinks your intercept as soon as he can.
- When he is low on HP, intercept him right as he uses fireblast. His gcd won't allow him to blink instantly so you can land a mortal strike and finish him off. Good mages know this, though, and won't use fireblast carelessly. This also works with nova and cone of cold, however it is more difficult to do for obvious reasons.
- Try to avoid his nova/cone of cold by stepping away when you think he is going to use it. Easier if you are not slowed.
- When you have used MS and WW on him and he has hamstring applied, you can eat his instant spells with defensive stance while you wait for your next swing.
- Bandage when he uses iceblock, and be ready to hamstring as soon as he interrupts it or the effect ends. Some mages might sheep you right as they get out of it though.
- Use fear as a gap closer and interrupt. Some mages will iceblock it, so be ready for it.
- Use the environment to LoS his spells, or intercept him when he is facing a nearby wall to limit his blink range.
- Run in the direction he is facing as soon as you intercept him.
- If you don't have the pvp trinket/reflector(s) ready and aren't a gnome, don't attack a mage 1v1 in BG unless you are prepared to die or are confident you can win regardless.
- In BG while mounted, bait their counterspell by approaching then stepping away.
- A mage who is flag carrying is a mage who is likely to use block+repick combo. Anticipate it and begin clicking when you expect him to do it.
- Finally, engineering, skull of impending doom, nifty's stopwatch and other items like consumables will help you greatly. PvP pots don't require reputation anymore, so take them.
Rogue
I am remaking this whole section because I now feel that it was complete drivel.
Against a rogue you want to begin the duel in berzerker stance with the pvp trinket up. When the rogue opens with a cheap shot use your pvp trinket right away then jump behind him and use any ability you can after your swing, so whirlwind if you have the rage or even mortal strike. Deal tons of damage before he can do the same to you.
At this point you always want to be blinded in berzerker stance, so you can break sap. Otherwise you will get blind+sap and the rogue will use first aid. It is not too bad because rogues are squishy and you will take less damage if you are in other stances on reopen but it is better to prevent this.
When the rogue kites between your melee and charge range, use piercing how+grenade then intercept him.
You can also use grenade when the rogue is in evasion and in melee range to use it as a stun for your next attack(no dodge while the grenade is in effect).
After a kidney shot use fear+bandage on yourself. If the rogue is undead do the same but swing+mortal strike him right after the fear. If you hit him when he is feared he cannot dodge it. If you can't then just wait for a good opportunity, fear when the rogue in is melee range and your swing will be up for example. Using fear offensively can yield excellent results.
For your second trinket use Burrower's Shell or tidal charm. Use tidal when the rogue is in melee range and you have a burst setup planned(e.g: swing+MS). Use Burrower's Shell at the start of the duel or in the middle, just as long as it is fully made use of.
That's about it. This is a very aggressive strat which works best with a good gear especially HP. If you are lacking gear compared to your opponent, you can try to kite the rogue after your trinket and intercept or charge again, or similar setups. However if it fails you have lost dps overall compared to him.
In case of several duels in a row, mindgames will be involved. If the rogue tries to get away after his first CS and restealth just break it with the trinket as usual and intercept him or just shred his fleeing arse on the spot.
Since I do this tactic I have won more rogue duels than lost. I can only hope the same for you.
One good counter for it however, is when the rogue saps you first, then CS, then gets away and restealth.
You cannot break the first CS because of the sap effect then, and the rogue as a 2 combo point advantage, which can tip the balance in his favor. It is still possible to win if you apply everything and play well though.
Paladin
I tend to disarm a lot of paladins with two handers right away especially if they have MoM, in which case I might not last ten seconds. Try to kite them into an intercept, and overall take their hp down as fast as you can to force bubble. When they bubble, step away in def stance and regen as much as you can(use LoS), reopen them with charge before they do. As this point use disarm if you haven't already, try to intercept, and pray for good rng.
When you know a paladin is going to reckbomb you, go into shield+def stance to limit the damage, and when you can't pummel hammer of wrath, eat it with defensive stance as well.
Taking down a healing paladin in midfights is only a good idea when they wear cloth or don't have a very good gear, and you can interrupt them before finishing them off to prevent bubble. Otherwise, pummel/cc them and focus something else. Mortal strike will help you kill targets regardless of heals, make use of that fact to take down threatening damage dealers. Nonetheless, sometimes you will want to go for the kill on T3 paladins who are already under pressure.
If you really have to kill a holy pal in 1v1, the advice for the two handing ones mostly applies.
Warrior
The best way to win against a warrior (and to some extent two handing paladins) is to get more swings, and hit him with more instant attacks than he does hit you with.
Charge will give you a good advantage, if you do it before he can. Follow up with hamstring, then get away from him and wait for your swing timer to end. You can use WW from a distance if you have the rage, then go in for a MS in his back, and in the event he doesn't slow you, get away and do it again.
If you do get charged, again, try to hit most of your attacks in his back. Debuffs are imo a bad move even when MS/WW are on CD, because you want to save your rage for HS or use hamstring for procs to deal actual damage. You can however use ranged debuffs while you are kiting.
Try to disarm your opponent when his rage is high, making him unable to use it. Try to trinket+intercept when you have a bit of rage to combo into the 3 second stun. You can also trinket another warrior's intercept into your own, a move you should expect your opponents to do as well. Be ready to use piercing howl. If hamstring somehow goes off from you, use it to your advantage to kite into a charge and hit in the back more easily.
Grenades can be a good move, but you can't use your abilities while you cast it. Don't waste an opportunity to execute by casting a panic grenade. Prefer using it when you are kiting. Tidal charm is a good trinket for getting ahead in damage dealt and doing hit and run.
Of course rng heavily influences these fights, but the above advice can give you the upper hand. A good ping also helps to get your charges first.
Warlock
Get the charge before he dots you and bash his face. Keep intercept for after death coil. If he opens you first and you don't have a shadow reflector, you are likely to end up dead.
Now that seduce actually works to some extent, use fear/grenade/pummel or even intercept on the succubus when appropriate.
Good locks will place their succubus in stand still mode away from them to prevent you aoe fearing it, in this situation you want to either be an undead engineer with tidal charm ready, or pray for your ass.
Lastly, as an undead expect locks to deathcoil your wotf into another seduce.
Priest
Against disc/holy priest priests, I tend to pummel the first mind blast, then lower his hp and use the second pummel on heals. Generally I want to endure some damage until I get some rage to work with, then combo him to death with pummel, intercept, grenades or even fear(dwarves are immune to it). Anticipate casts and intercept them, anticipate fakecasts if you know a player who does it. Good rage management is essential since you don't get any from hits absorbed by shield. Bandage between dot ticks can save you, shadow reflector into bandage is also a good move when the dot ends.
Other than that, rng is your friend.
Against shadow priests. To win, you need to get the charge, have a huge amount of hp, and an even greater amount of luck. Pummel the mind blast/mind flay as soon as you can. Good shadow priests will fakecast you, further lowering your chances of victory if there was any in the first place. Use your shadow reflector, use flasks and hp pots if one gives you trouble, sacrifice a goat for the heavens in exchange for more crits, less pummel and less intercept resists.
In general you want to avoid encountering them in bg as much as possible, it just isn't worth it.
Shaman
Pummel the chain lightning. Pummel it. Use hamstring on the fire nova totem as soon as you see it appear, but not if you will miss pummel. Elemental shamans are the hardest to deal with because of their huge burst damage. Trinket+intercept isn't a bad move as well to interrupt a cast.
Against healing shamans the same pretty much applies. Disarm the enhance shamans and faceroll them to death(except if you deal with Mainer, in which case the opposite tends to happen).
In general, you can take down gounding and windfury totems if you have a bit of time, same for aoe totems if you expect your ally rogue to reach that efc.
Hunter
What I tend to do is charge+hamstring them, then get away and see if they will waste scatter shot. This backfires if they already saw me, and I can't get away from the scatter/trap combo they were ready to do. Assuming I avoided scatter into trap, they usually drop their freezing trap regardless, that's when I want to use piercing howl and make use of the melee attack range to hit them while they go around the trap trying to make me hit it.
Things are a lot easier with frost reflector, if you have it you want to reflect the trap then disarm the hunter and continue hitting him in the back. Don't wait and look at him trapped even though it is funny because his cooldowns will come back. At this point, if he already used scatter, he is usually dead within a few seconds.
In general, when the trap isn't a threat you want to disarm the hunter before getting hit by wing clip. If you landed disarm but got slowed before, consider using the pvp trinket to close the gap. Grenades are very good gap closers against them as well.
With good gear, they might still survive your initial assault. If you know you will get trapped soon because their cooldown comes back, take a shield and use defensive stance. The rest is kind of straightforward imo.
Problems usually come from trap chains, massive dodge/parries preventing you to do any damage or land hamstrings, slow resists, or the huge burst you take when trapped and chasing them. Oh right, also when they kite beyond your charge range. This class is designed to kill warriors, an experienced hunter will be very hard to kill.
When attacking a hunter fc, be ready for the feint+trap+repick combo and begin clicking as soon as you charge or when you expect him to do it.
Druid
Kite the bear. With decent gear taking long trades against bear form isn't worth it so aim to burst him when he isn't shapeshifted. For that, use your pvp trinket and surprise him when he tries to cc you and heal. Against boomkin, try to LoS his spells by running through him multiple times(great against any class if you aren't slowed).
Against flag carriers, waiting for them in your flag room is a good way to shut them down. I don't usually trinket the bear stun because I want to keep it for nature's grasp if necessary, but I will do it if I'm confident I can finish him.
Outdoors, have your trinket ready for nature's grasp and have a good ping for spamming hamstring when he tries to get away. Make it so your hamstring lands on the travel form, instead of the druid form when he spams it to get away. Anticipate the bear stun if he has it and step away from it, but be ready to come back to interrupt spells. When his hp is low enough, intercept him and finish him off. Be ready for sudden root casts, especially if he has noggen.
Macros, hotkeys, addons
I don't use many macros, but these are essential. I haven't tested without, but you might need the addon Supermacro to make them work, which should be easy to find and is also a must have.
autoattack+ability
Place your "attack" ability from your spellbook general tab in the bottom most slot of the right most action bar(right action button 12 in your hotkey menu). Then try this on a dummy:
This macro will enable your auto attack and keep it enabled, and cast hamstring. It basically replaces hamstring on your bars. Change hamstring by any other single target melee ability, it becomes the new button for it.
Before I had only auto attack bound to a separate key combination, these macros made life so much easier. Try them and you will see the difference.
There will still be times when you will want to only enable auto attack but not use an ability at the same time, when you are waiting for a cast to pummel it for example. In that case this extra "only auto attack" key can be very useful. You can also use right click, but you might need to click somewhere else almost at the same time, both are good imo.
Weapon swap
Before I used only one macro to swap 2H--->1H+Shield--->2H... but I would become nervous in some fights and press the key too many times, messing up what I was trying to do. Now I use one key for the 2H(no macro) and another with:
and yet another for dual wield, which is the same with the offhand's name instead of the shield. Simple. If it doesn't work, install Supermacro, check your spelling if you typed names manually.
Make sure the lines are in this order or you will have to press the key two times.
For weapons which have a comma in their name (Gressil, Sulfuras, etc) you need to put a "%" without the quotes right before the comma like this:
or the macro won't work.
Help me where do I bind stances
The mouse wheel and/or buttons seem to be a popular option. I use mouse buttons myself.
Some people use 3 keys, but you only need 2:
- Key 1 will swap into the most offensive stance available
- Key 2 will swap into the least offensive stance available
These take two of my main action bar slots. The above translates to this in your bar:
In Battle Stance: Action Button 1 = Berzerker Stance ; Action button 2 = Defensive Stance
In Defensive Stance: Action Button 1 = Berzerker Stance ; Action button 2 = Battle Stance
In Berzerker Stance: Action Button 1 = Battle Stance ; Action button 2 = Defensive Stance
Of course there is also a number of ways to go about it, this is just one.
A few addons
Samuel (or any swing timer addon)
Try to find a swing timer addon you like. For me it's Samuel. This little filling bar is very clean, small and unobtrusive.
I recently found swing timer addons to be a game changer for arms warrior. For example, you will know exactly how long to kite your opponent before you can go back and hit the next swing. Just try and you will know what I mean.
Itemrack and Trinketmenu
If you don't have those and often swap gear and trinkets, do yourself a favor and install them. Make an always visible window for trinkets for laintime/wedding effect, I also use another window with itemrack to swap activable gear such as rocket boots. Both addons include dedicated hotkeys, you don't need to put gear in your bars anymore.
Itemrack also allows you to create sets and easily swap between them.
Classic Snowfall
Makes all your hotkeys activate on key press instead of key release, giving you more speed.
WarriorHUD
Has several uses, I use it mainly for it's overpower alert. It can also make your battleshout button glow when you aren't buffed with it.
Lazypig
Has several uses such as auto accept group invite, but I only use it for the dismount on ability key press, a bit like how it became in TBC. It will dismount even if you don't have the rage to use said ability, so you'll have to be careful if you don't want to dismount by mistake sometimes.
Warsong Gulch in pug
Here is how I currently play warsong gulch without a premade group. This part is very subjective, and I don't mean to advise people to play like this, but it can give you ideas.
In any game, I begin by going to the left to grab the berzerker buff. This way the other team won't have it, and I can always dispel it if I don't need it.
The second thing I will always do is try to get the enemy team/bus to dismount and attack me.
What I'm aiming for here is to distract them from the objective, which works a lot of the time especially if my team takes part. Of course I just simply like doing it.
If one player tries to take our flag, I'm usually waiting for him after my first death and ready to kill him/report.
Doing this, my team will get a head start if any of them want to flag carry. If they don't, that's fine too, I will fight for midcontrol and go after the efc as soon as there is one.
If we can control mid, flag carrying becomes very easy and I'll usually do it.
When there are a lot of enemy attempts at taking the flag, or when I know a specific player who will go for it, I usually play defensive directly in my team's flag room, and call for more defense if needed.
For any class, reporting the efc's location as soon as you see him and know where he goes is crucial, and not many people do it.
Depending on the time it takes for my team to run the flag when we don't have total mid control, I might fc myself, but as a warrior I don't have many tools for that compared to other classes and a healer greatly helps, which I don't always have around, so I prefer other roles in general.
I will suggest a turtle if my team truly can't win over middle. This gets me more HKs, but also a chance to win if the turtle holds. In that case, I will eventually suggest that someone fcs when the opposite team is busy fighting us, or I will try it myself.
When both teams fc's are in their respective bases, you want to spot efc as fast as possible, then either take him down or call for backup if you know you can't win alone. The addon Targetfc will give you macros to target fc or efc. Spam the target efc macro until it works then search. Your mouse pointer will reveal enemies hiding behind some walls or game objects such as the wagons and towers behind the horde gy or both structures found at the horde and alliance roofs that you can go around. Check efr first before checking enemy roof, especially the flag spot. Have a look at your fc's health, and use it to anticipate repicking.
When flag carrying, never go tunnel unless your team has the advantage in mid, or your whole team is with you. In your base, run in circles between your roof, your fence, your tun, then back to roof to kite attackers. Be positioned so you can see how many enemies arrive from below. Be aware of rogues, of the fights you can win, and the fights you should avoid. Remember that taking a fight means giving an opportunity for more attackers to eventually reach you during it and finish you off. If you engage one attacking player alone while not knowing how many others there are behind him, or in stealth, you are taking a risk. Take enemies down fast when you choose to. Just as Flex said, as an fc peeler you want to engage attackers before they get to your fc and control/kill them.
You can also want to actually hide instead of running in circles sometimes, for example when your base starts getting crowded with enemies. Be careful of hunters and druids in the opposite team when you do it. For hiding locations there are many spots in either base or in the middle, use your imagination. Also, use noggen's small size effect so the enemy team has a harder time clicking you and spotting you.
Great magic words you can say in bg when you carry the flag
/bg HELP ME WEST/EAST(whatever your location is)
while you cross mid and the enemy team is around: /w competentplayer distract them /bg distract them pls
/bg need one support our roof pls rest go efc
/w peeler/healer I'll run to gy if too many come, be ready
Closing thoughts and videos
Since I didn't see a warrior pvp guide here, and I liked the idea of making one, here we are.
I ended up saying a lot more than I thought I would. English isn't my native tongue, so I'm sorry if there are mistakes around or words that I invented.
Most of this guide is very subjective, mainly talking about my own experience over the years.
If you think that something is inaccurate or wrong, have remarks or things that I could add, or think I'm terrible at math (which might well be true), feel free to comment. Please try to be constructive so I can maybe improve this guide.
Thanks to Lavz, Oprah, Sapphire, Gnawbone and Flex, whose guides helped me to plan my own, and the admins/gms for running and updating this great server that is retro.
I'll leave you with some essential vanilla warrior pvp videos.
Check the channels too, you won't regret it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OR9BvaetUc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23MOz4cc0Uk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw0xmg4f...McZg-ZeAq_
Cheers.
But as a wise master once said, information and strategy is crucial for winning many battles.
Glossary
swing: an auto attack or white hit
RNG: random number generator
CC: crowd control
MS: mortal strike
WW: whirlwind
BR: berzerker rage
PH: piercing howl
HS: heroic strike
FC: flag carrier
EFC: enemy flag carrier
EFR: enemy flag room
EROOF: enemy roof
CD: cooldown
GCD: global cooldown
proc: effect triggered by an attack, based on rng
Your talents
Arms
https://classicdb.ch/?talent#LMhxbAboxdE0zu0x
The objectively best pvp spec. For real this time. Except for Blood Craze which is optional I think, definitely neat against rogues. Booming Voice gives your demoralizing shout extra range to get rogues out of stealth. I'm a firm believer in the 2/3 Improved hamstring now that I know about it, and that my whole life is a lie for using 1/3 before 2018. In the rest of this guide I will assume this build is used.
Fury
*Auto Spam Replacement*://db.vanillagaming.org/?talent#LMhxbhbZE0zmxxRVo
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17/34 or 18/33. Keep in mind that the lack of mortal strike will make most encounters against healers a lot harder. Your burst relies heavily on gear, aim for high attack power to boost bloodthirst, lots of crit as well as hit%(I had around 14% in pve, I'm not sure if pvp is the same). You will need at least AQ40 level gear in order to do a bit of damage. Make use of your improved intercept to cc healers and peel your healers.
This spec, while not optimal, can be fun and challenging to play, even with lower gear than advised.
Protection
*Auto Spam Replacement*://db.vanillagaming.org/?talent#LV0LZE0zZEits00zbo
9/11/31
Don't laugh yet. The idea is to distract enemies from objectives, be a pain in the ass to kill for physical damage classes, and an utter annoyance with concussion blow which is great to assist your team mates for killing an efc or anyone else.
Of course the effect is greater the better your gear is, but regular dps gear with lots of stam is fine too.
Protip: play with these two pieces to also piss off casters
https://db.valkyrie-wow.org/?item=22198
https://db.valkyrie-wow.org/?item=22196
Bonus
Use at your own risk.
The slammer
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The 3minute sweeper
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The old school
*Auto Spam Replacement*://db.vanillagaming.org/?talent#LMhxdAio0uVZVbt
Arms dual wielding(with 2 maces)
*Auto Spam Replacement*://db.vanillagaming.org/?talent#LmhxdhbVZEzzV0xRz
Or 31/20 with 0/5 two hander specialization
What attributes you should focus on in pvp
stamina>crit%>attack power
For warriors, 1 agility equals to 0,05% crit, making 20agility 1% crit,
and 1 strength equals to 2 attack power. 1 stamina equals to 10hp.
Having a huge hp pool is crucial since you fight in melee range, very exposed to all kinds of damage in a lot of situations, and often taking 10% more of it. More hp means more swings before death, more opportunities to dump rage and to make use of the enrage talent. It also gives leeway for your potential healers to do their work.
Critical hits mean more damage with impale boosting your offensive abilities, but also more rage per white hit, leading to you being able to use more abilities, or use them sooner than without crit. It is what makes your burst damage, a warrior that doesn't crit will be almost useless.
Attack power is a nice plus, but you will prefer crit over it. EXCEPT when you have a master plan to use recklessness in the very near future, then you could swap to some gear maximizing AP.
The hit cap when using a two hander is 5%. Get it as soon as you can and make sure to keep it when changing gear.
About the +defense skill, it is also a nice plus against melee opponents. Note that you will need more hit% to hit the same amount against warriors wearing +def gear (I have no idea about the math on this, but 6% hit should do it if you encounter some).
Your race
In no particular order.
Troll
Regeneration stacks with spirit, so if you're a warrior it's about negligible.
Berserking can be useful when you have a spare gcd for an attack speed boost. It's tricky to exploit to it's fullest, since when you are low on health you don't always want to be offensive, but it can give you a nice payoff. It doesn't reduce heals on you by any% so consider using an hp potion right after it.
Human
+Weapon skill only matters in world pvp or duels, and is useless in battlegrounds(and the arena) where it follows a formula based on the character's level.
Perception works here, so you will be at a serious advantage against rogues and druids when you use it correctly. Use it preemptively when you know that a rogue is likely to be around, in midfights, helping his fc, or when a druid is likely to try picking your flag. In 1v1 you can use perception+bandage after a vanish.
Also something to remember about perception is that it will reveal stealthed targets that are in front of you. One application of this is, when a rogue is likely to follow you for any reason when you are moving, use perception and repeatedly jump facing the opposite direction in your jump, and you might see him.
Orc
I haven't played orc warrior with dedication yet, but As much as Blood Fury is awesome for buffing your damage, don't use it carelessly in long fights when you are relying on heals, since it reduces them by the same amount as mortal strike for 25 seconds, 10 seconds more than the attack power buff effect.
Hardiness reduces the chances of stun effects working on you by 25%, meaning that you will resist one fourth of all the stuns abilities and skills hitting you. This racial trait alone makes orc the best horde pvp race for warrior and probably other classes as well.
Gnome
Escape Artist cannot be resisted in vanilla and it's cooldown is only one minute. For warrior this trait is pretty much op since you are very vulnerable to immobilize and slow effects, often leaving you with the only option of watching your enemy get away or cast a deadly spell on you if you aren't engineer. As such, gnome is by far the best alliance warrior pvp race.
Their size is also a notable advantage in pvp, especially in huge crowds when clicking them can be a real chore, or -if you are like me- when you sometimes fail at the Tab button. Effect greatly enhanced by noggen elixir, which is free here.
Dwarf
Stoneform removes blind and other poison effects which is great against rogues, it also stops bleed effects making you able to use bandages when you shouldn't be, and gives you extra armor against physical damage classes. Situational, but can be very handy when you know that this rogue will instant blind you then try to leave with your flag.
Night Elf
Shadowmeld has several neat uses:
- when another warrior approaches you, use it to get the charge first;
- regen, then activate it so no one sees you eating;
- lose pursuers by disappearing behind corners;
- hide at the enemy base roof before efc gets there for sneak attacks or on flag spot for sneak repicks
- when out of combat, use shadowmeld right before a traveling spell hits you to make it void, do it when you fc too then repick;
- use it so other players stop targeting you, for example when you are about to pass an important corner and want to avoid charges/spells, or simply to throw them off.
And you get 1% dodge. Think about it.
Tauren
War Stomp hits 5 targets within 8 yards with a cooldown of only 2 minutes, and has a casting time requiring you to stand still for a very short time - you can exploit this when playing against them, look for a tauren suddently stop moving when he's likely to stun you and get away. It is great in combination with sweeping strikes combos (SS+War Stomp+WW for example), and in any situation when a stun is useful, meaning very often. You look like a cow, too.
Undead
Great animations, which is probably why they are so popular.
Other than that Will of the Forsaken will help you against lock's succubi, and give you freedom to stay in battle stance longer to reach the rage for sweeping strikes when you just charged a priest or warrior, and the freedom to pop berzerker rage for more rage income without thinking about having to remove a fear later. It isn't as useful as for other classes obviously, but it's something.
Cannibalize is good for long drawn fights giving you in combat regen. Always look for an occasion to use it, even for only a few ticks, just like bandage.
Your abilities
Charge
You want to begin most fights with this, as it will give you rage, place you in melee range of your target, and the 1 second stun helps for landing a first white hit with a melee ability. It will (I think) trigger diminishing returns, so when playing with for example a rogue, you want to keep it in mind.
Waiting to be out of combat to charge again is something most people know about, take it in consideration when trying to do it. Immediately swapping into berzerker stance after charge will save you from instant warrior/priest fears, and the farther you are from your target, the easier it is to do.
Hamstring
This should be applied to your target almost all the time. You can decide to use your gcds for offensive abilities instead when you are confident to be able to stay in range for long enough to finish the job. Expect rogues to dodge it, so hit them in the back when you can. Other than that, there isn't much else to say about hamstring. Except there is.
Hamstring is a melee ability, that is instant with no cooldown other than the global. It also costs little rage, and even less when you have the pvp gloves. This means you can use it for procs when you have extra rage, and when you know you will have enough in the long run.
-use it to trigger overpower on rogues
-spam for more dark edge/ashbringer/whatever procs
-spam for sword spec/hand of justice procs (using both can be devastating)
-spam for macestun
-spam for flurry
-spam for improved hamstring
Again, if you aren't receiving damage, you will need to gauge if your rage will be enough for using your other offensive abilities on cooldown, which takes priority. A high crit chance greatly helps.
Additionally, remember to manage your gcds well, you don't want to hamstring when it's already applied and delay your mortal strike that just became available.
Mortal Strike
Your main source of burst. Try to hit melee classes in the back with it to avoid dodge/parry. You want to use it on cooldown most of the time. Depending on the situation, you might want to use Whirlwind instead when you lack the rage for MS and you want to do instant damage.
The opposite is also true: you might want to wait for MS to be up again instead of using whirlwind. In fact, in situations when you lack rage, you will want to use only mortal strike because it is has a better dps/rage ratio, and maybe also for the debuff.
The debuff is op, and makes healing your target extremely hard. Any HP potion or bandage that your target uses will also be halved. In some situations you will be useful enough landing it.
Whirlwind
Another instant attack. You want to use it on cooldown in situations when you have a lot of rage. Be wary of crowd control effects around so you don't break them with it. Using WW in synergy with Sweeping Strikes, you can one shot several characters at the same time, even while not full purple.
It also has a decent range, so use it while kiting a rogue, or chasing a mage, etc.
I might be wrong, but I think rogues can dodge it in stealth. Confirmation would be appreciated.
Sweeping Strikes
I don't see many warriors use it here. Sometimes you will prefer using your rage directly in instant attacks, but the disaster you can create with this is massive. Use with WW, Cleave when you have lots of rage or know you will have in the next few seconds. Try to stack your enemies and keep them close with piercing howl.
On retro, I believe extra attacks are dealt as raw damage the same amount as the first attack, and can't be dodged parried or crit. If the original attack was a crit however, then extra attacks will not count as crits but will still have the same damage value as the original.
Berzerker rage
Use in the following situations:
- right before charging, judgment is your best ally to foresee the need to break fear/gouge in the long run, wait for the gcd to end before the charge to have an easier time landing hamstring, this will prevent you from sneaky sap attempts and give you extra rage from damage taken without having to waste a gcd for it into the fight
- to remove a fear effect(or disorient) or in anticipation of a fear effect, especially when trying to repick from your dying flag carrier
- when there is nothing else to do, and you are taking damage with little risk of fear/gouge effects later on, going after the extra rage property
Don't use it if you could be using hamstring first, or any instant attack if you have the rage already. You don't want to see a mage run away from you using the pvp trinket because you wasted your gcd on BR instead of being ready to hamstring. This also applies to other abilities like battle shout, manage your gcds well.
Depending on the situation, you might want to sit through a rogue sap. See if he will open your team mate, then use BR to remove it and charge.
Piercing howl
Awesome ability. Slow huge crowds going after your fc, catch anyone fleeing, mages kiting... Sometimes you will want to use demoralizing shout instead to spot rogues with booming voice's extra range, which doesn't apply to PH.
Demoralizing shout
When I know there are rogues in the opposite team, depending on the situation I'll use this right after a charge, sometimes more than once to unstealth them, and it works pretty damn fine. Needless to say it is awesome in duels against them too. Otherwise I only use it if there is nothing else to do and I want to survive or help a team mate survive melee dps.
Intercept
Charge in combat. In 1v1 use it for the 3 sec stun on physical dmg classes to avoid dodge/parry. Since it deals damage, it will break cc effects(Charge doesn't, try Charge+Esc on sheeped targets).
It has a fairly long cd, 30 sec, reduced to 25 with the 3/6 pvp set bonus(15 with the improved intercept talent). Books could be written on how to not waste your intercept, or intercepting the right target, and I'm far from perfect in this aspect.
One thing however, be aware. Look around you in a fight. Is a squishier or more threatening target to you or your healer nearby? A nax geared lock or mage casting? A shaman getting ready to instant heal efc? Anyone attacking your healer, especially a rogue? Is that priest running to your team ready to fear them? All kinds of information to take into account for intercepting, or even just switching targets. If you aren't paying attention, you aren't playing this class to your fullest in pvp, or any class for that matter.
Rend
The most OP ability of warriors. Not. It doesn't scale with anything in vanilla except the talent, so the damage is pretty much negligible. Use it when charging an unstealthed rogue who is likely to try and vanish away instantly. I never actually did this but if you know a druid fan or restealthing, same thing...
You could also use it in actual 1v1 against rogues. I tend not to rely on it but it isn't terrible if you have nothing else to do. It will prevent the rogue to cripple dance you into vanishing/restealthing in the opposite direction, he'll have to go in or be exposed; and he will have to time his restealth carefully. It will also prevent first aid.
If fear gets fixed, rend will break it, preventing you from fear+bandaging.
Intimidating shout
The fear bug is still around, so right now, my observation is that fear effects last around one second or two then the character can move again but not use abilities for the rest of the duration. If this were retail, you would want to fear another target than the one you wish to take down, because for the target, the effect breaks if hit by any source of damage.
But this isn't retail, and the aoe fear effect makes characters teleport around, not exactly convenient for killing an efc.
It is still great to bring chaos into an enemy team like the priest fear, and also great as a tool for interrupting casters. You can also fear warriors right after they charge you when they take time going into berzerker stance.
Thunder Clap
Use when you want to survive longer against melee dps, if you have the flag for example. In most situations, you will want to use offensive abilities instead, but remember that the damage of TC can't be dodged/parry and as such you can use it to finish rogues using evasion who have very little hp left, potentially hunters. I never tried it, but the full set T2.5 boosts the damage and attack speed reduction of TC.
Disarm
Remember who has a weapon chain and who doesn't have one. If you can, you want to use this ability in the back of your oponent to avoid dodge/parry. It is always a great move to use on a rogue with evasion attacking your fc if you manage to land it.
I never see anyone do this, but disarming hunters after they already wasted their trap and scatter shot will win you A LOT of encounters against them, because they can't kite you anymore with wing clip. Of course try to do it before they land wing clip.
Shield block
A very under rated ability in pvp. When you want to survive against melee dps, you will last a lot longer using this on cooldown. Remember that as many abilities you want to hit in the back of your target, you want to be facing melee oponents, be in front of them, as much as possible, and even more when you plan to win time and survive since you can't block/dodge/parry attacks done in your back. Don't hesistate to spam jump+turning towards opponents to keep going to the direction you want, say, your graveyard expecting support from your rezzing mates.
As a side note, when purely trying to survive, don't hit warriors unless they are almost dead, you will only give them more rage. Attack other classes instead, or don't attack at all(use Esc).
Heroic Strike
HS can be a great move or a terrible one depending on the situation. First of all, HS hits on your next white hit, and replaces it. This means you won't get any rage from that swing, and will even lose some. Therefore, in most situations you want to get rage from your white hits instead.
You can use it when you have a lot of rage (almost full) and want to burst, or if you know you will have a lot of rage in the next few seconds, because of the focus you get from opponents. It is important to make use of your rage as much as you can, you will be able to do it more with a big hp pool, and when getting support and heals.
Also an important note is that HS will eat your sword spec procs and Hand of Justice procs. These procs first show a specific animation when you attack, then take effect on your next white hit, giving you two of them at the same time. Try to wait for a sword proc, then use HS, you will see that only your heroic strike's damage is applied, with no extra white hit, even to your next swing. I don't know if this is blizzlike, but you want to keep this in mind if you play with these procs. I haven't tested yet, but I assume Cleave works the same way.
It seems like sword procs are now fixed, the procs will now trigger the additionnal attack instantly, without having to wait for the next swing. I am not sure, but it seems to proc off heroic strikes and instant attacks as well as swings. It will even proc when you swap stance, even when you aren't attacking in melee at all, I get the animation while mounted too.
Note that sword procs and hand of justice procs seem to work the same way, and they can proc on top of each other. This means that you may get two extra attacks on the same swing/instant ability. This is a pretty huge buff of these procs overall.
Cleave
Use it when getting endless supply of rage (heals and lots of hp greatly help). I am convinced that SS+Cleave and WW at the same time under enrage is the most deadly combo of this class into a pack of enemies. Add the berzerker buff from bgs and you will pretty much tear anything apart.
When short on rage, you will prefer getting rage from white hits instead, same as for HS.
Challenging shout
I know that hunter pets could be taunted for breaking freezing trap in burning crusade, in vanilla I'm not sure. In any case it doesn't work here, I only use it as an actual taunt in pvp, like in fighting games. I'm not sure if people catch on though.
Overpower
Use when available, it's almost a guaranteed free crit scaling with impale at almost no rage cost. Remember to use berzerker rage against rogues to prevent gouge before swaping stances. Of course, depending on the situation you will ignore it to pummel a healing spell for example. Use your battle sense. I trust you for that.
You can use hamstring with the intent of making the enemy dodge to proc overpower. I recommend using an addon showing you overpower procs, because sometimes the "dodge" combat text takes time to show up on screen after the actual dodge has happened, making you swap stance and find out that it is too late to use it. I use WarriorHUD which works great for me.
Pummel
One word. Anticipation. Anticipate when a healer will start casting next to you and pummel him, don't wait to see the cast to do it. Also, anticipate shamans chain lightning, as letting one hit you will spell your death if they have enough gear. Anticipate the start of a cast and keep your global cooldown for it. Also, observe people with small size(noggen) effect and notice their casting animations.
One pummel can decide a whole fight, be ready to use it when you need to. A sheeped healer is a healer dead for 15 seconds.
Also, know that mages can take advantage of your global cooldown on hamstring to sheep you, robbing you of any opportunity to pummel them. Remember who does it, and anticipate it.
Sunder armor
Great tool to take down heavily armored targets, especially efcs. Most of the time though, you will prefer using offensive abilities instead.
Bloodrage
Be careful to not use it depending on how low your hp is. I usually do it for battle shout before any fight, to refresh the buff out of combat, and at the start of a bg. The cooldown is usually back up when I need it in fights, and even if I don't have it I prefer this instead of having to use a gcd for battle shout, or dealing less damage for a period of time.
Battle shout
Be buffed with it before fights and always have it on you. Use it after a fight with the rage you have left before mounting. The addon WarriorHUD will make the icon of the spell glow in your bars when you aren't buffed with it, it can help when you forget to refresh it.
Retaliation
You can use it for the lulz when many melees are focusing you but the animation gives it away instantly. It can make enemies reluctant to attack you, and in this aspect can be seen as a defensive cooldown that doesn't force you to wear a shield. Face your enemies, because you will not counter attacks done in your back. Situational at best.
Shield Wall
Survive burst (activate before pyro hits) when it matters, give healers time to top your health, aggro a group of players then use this after kiting them for two minutes... Great ability when you fc. Have it bound to a hotkey even though it's a 30min cooldown.
Recklessness
Have it keybound as well. Using this ability into a team fight will usually grant you sudden cc attempts, or heavy focus, often leading to a quick death because of the +20% damage received. The animation and distinctive sound are easy to notice. Consider using it when you are unlikely to get focused or interrupted in your actions for the duration of the buff.
Consider also using it this way: Berzerker rage+Recklessness+Charge, from an angle which makes it unlikely that you were spotted beforehand. You will charge into a group of enemies unaware that you are into your most dangerous state.
Lastly, try using free action pot+rocket boots with reck. It just sounds like a good idea.
Your stances
Battle stance
Be careful of possible fear effects/gouge around you when into battle stance(defensive too) or considering a swap into it. You might want to use berzerker rage before swapping. You don't have WW and have less crit% in this stance, so most of the time you want to play in...
Berzerker stance
Your main offensive stance. You should always be in this stance in the event of a sap that you have to break with BR. You have 3% more crit, but take 10% more damage, which is one of the reasons why you need a huge hp pool. These 10% are a huge amount of extra damage taken and should be taken into consideration, even if 99% of warriors don't, point I will further elaborate when talking about the...
Defensive stance
Here we are. The defensive stance has you deal 10% less damage, but receiving 10% less as well. Commonly, you use it to survive as a flag carrier, or just to disarm, but for me there is more to it.
You can swap in defensive stance not only when chasing someone as you receive damage, but between swings during the time you wait for your next attack. Stay in it around 1-2 seconds, time during which your enemy will likely attack you, then swap again into berzerker stance to land the swing.
Notice offensive casters launch spells on you and swap right before they hit you to reduce the damage, then back into berzerker.
It is tricky to know when to do it, as sometimes you will want to dump the rage you accumulated in berzerker stance, but the number of times I survived because I swapped in defensive just to eat one spell, and the number of mages I killed because I ate their pom pyro with it are countless.
Know that a spell taken in defensive stance deals 18(,181818...)% less damage than a spell taken in berzerker stance.
Explanation(skippable):
N is one damage value hitting your character. In berzerker stance, you receive N*1,1 damage, and in defensive N*0,9.
Thus, in defensive stance you will receive N*1,1-N*0,9=N*0,2 LESS damage than if you were in berzerker stance.
Now what is the percent of damage reduction from berzerker stance to defensive?
(N*0,2*100)/N*1,1 = N*20/N*1,1 = 20/1,1 = 200/11
And 200/11 = 18,181818...%
Example: in battle stance a fireball hits you for 1000, meaning 1100 in berzerker stance and 900 in defensive stance. 1100-900=200, and (200*100)/1100=200/11=18,181818...
More practically, this pom pyro that could have hit you for 4000 in berzerk dealt only around 3300 because you swapped in defensive right before it hit, allowing you to not fucking die, reach the mage and show him what the word hell truly means.
I don't hesistate to use MS and HS in defensive stance to deal damage the fastest way possible before he can finish me off with instant spells, but it is situational and you can prefer swapping into another stance for this if you have enough hp left.
Another useful way to use defensive stance is when the fight ends and you have dots on you. Dot damage ticks scale with it, so use it to save life and regen faster. I personnally swap in defensive after a fight even without dots on me for:
-limiting damage from a source I'm not seeing or unable to charge as I'm not out of combat yet
-indicate to other nearby players that my health is down, so they can heal me, especially players who tend to heal only occasionally, as experienced healers will do it regardless
1v1 class strategies
I don't see myself as a model for 1v1, I'll simply talk about how I play (or should play) and what works for me, with a few tips for battleground situations.
Mage
I tend to think that a good mage is pretty much impossible to kill. Regardless, here is some general advice against them.
- DON'T LET THE MAGE SHEEP YOU. Just don't. I tend to burn trinket on the first nova just to pummel sheep. Good mages WILL fakecast you, and unless you anticipate it you are as good as owned. Try to deal as much damage as you can before he lands it. Depending on the situation, you can even use a grenade or your fear to interrupt him.
If you get sheeped, you are at a disadvantage, especially if you didn't do any damage and only wasted cooldowns instead. Prepare to chase him desperately for a long time and make use of that big hp pool.
Some mages will try to sheep you before even using nova, expecting you to hamstring instead of pummeling. Anticipate it.
- Try intercept+Esc(disable auto attack)+piercing howl. If you do it at the right time, you won't be affected by frost armor while he will be slowed, giving you time to reach him after his blink. This assumes that the mage blinks your intercept as soon as he can.
- When he is low on HP, intercept him right as he uses fireblast. His gcd won't allow him to blink instantly so you can land a mortal strike and finish him off. Good mages know this, though, and won't use fireblast carelessly. This also works with nova and cone of cold, however it is more difficult to do for obvious reasons.
- Try to avoid his nova/cone of cold by stepping away when you think he is going to use it. Easier if you are not slowed.
- When you have used MS and WW on him and he has hamstring applied, you can eat his instant spells with defensive stance while you wait for your next swing.
- Bandage when he uses iceblock, and be ready to hamstring as soon as he interrupts it or the effect ends. Some mages might sheep you right as they get out of it though.
- Use fear as a gap closer and interrupt. Some mages will iceblock it, so be ready for it.
- Use the environment to LoS his spells, or intercept him when he is facing a nearby wall to limit his blink range.
- Run in the direction he is facing as soon as you intercept him.
- If you don't have the pvp trinket/reflector(s) ready and aren't a gnome, don't attack a mage 1v1 in BG unless you are prepared to die or are confident you can win regardless.
- In BG while mounted, bait their counterspell by approaching then stepping away.
- A mage who is flag carrying is a mage who is likely to use block+repick combo. Anticipate it and begin clicking when you expect him to do it.
- Finally, engineering, skull of impending doom, nifty's stopwatch and other items like consumables will help you greatly. PvP pots don't require reputation anymore, so take them.
Rogue
I am remaking this whole section because I now feel that it was complete drivel.
Against a rogue you want to begin the duel in berzerker stance with the pvp trinket up. When the rogue opens with a cheap shot use your pvp trinket right away then jump behind him and use any ability you can after your swing, so whirlwind if you have the rage or even mortal strike. Deal tons of damage before he can do the same to you.
At this point you always want to be blinded in berzerker stance, so you can break sap. Otherwise you will get blind+sap and the rogue will use first aid. It is not too bad because rogues are squishy and you will take less damage if you are in other stances on reopen but it is better to prevent this.
When the rogue kites between your melee and charge range, use piercing how+grenade then intercept him.
You can also use grenade when the rogue is in evasion and in melee range to use it as a stun for your next attack(no dodge while the grenade is in effect).
After a kidney shot use fear+bandage on yourself. If the rogue is undead do the same but swing+mortal strike him right after the fear. If you hit him when he is feared he cannot dodge it. If you can't then just wait for a good opportunity, fear when the rogue in is melee range and your swing will be up for example. Using fear offensively can yield excellent results.
For your second trinket use Burrower's Shell or tidal charm. Use tidal when the rogue is in melee range and you have a burst setup planned(e.g: swing+MS). Use Burrower's Shell at the start of the duel or in the middle, just as long as it is fully made use of.
That's about it. This is a very aggressive strat which works best with a good gear especially HP. If you are lacking gear compared to your opponent, you can try to kite the rogue after your trinket and intercept or charge again, or similar setups. However if it fails you have lost dps overall compared to him.
In case of several duels in a row, mindgames will be involved. If the rogue tries to get away after his first CS and restealth just break it with the trinket as usual and intercept him or just shred his fleeing arse on the spot.
Since I do this tactic I have won more rogue duels than lost. I can only hope the same for you.
One good counter for it however, is when the rogue saps you first, then CS, then gets away and restealth.
You cannot break the first CS because of the sap effect then, and the rogue as a 2 combo point advantage, which can tip the balance in his favor. It is still possible to win if you apply everything and play well though.
Paladin
I tend to disarm a lot of paladins with two handers right away especially if they have MoM, in which case I might not last ten seconds. Try to kite them into an intercept, and overall take their hp down as fast as you can to force bubble. When they bubble, step away in def stance and regen as much as you can(use LoS), reopen them with charge before they do. As this point use disarm if you haven't already, try to intercept, and pray for good rng.
When you know a paladin is going to reckbomb you, go into shield+def stance to limit the damage, and when you can't pummel hammer of wrath, eat it with defensive stance as well.
Taking down a healing paladin in midfights is only a good idea when they wear cloth or don't have a very good gear, and you can interrupt them before finishing them off to prevent bubble. Otherwise, pummel/cc them and focus something else. Mortal strike will help you kill targets regardless of heals, make use of that fact to take down threatening damage dealers. Nonetheless, sometimes you will want to go for the kill on T3 paladins who are already under pressure.
If you really have to kill a holy pal in 1v1, the advice for the two handing ones mostly applies.
Warrior
The best way to win against a warrior (and to some extent two handing paladins) is to get more swings, and hit him with more instant attacks than he does hit you with.
Charge will give you a good advantage, if you do it before he can. Follow up with hamstring, then get away from him and wait for your swing timer to end. You can use WW from a distance if you have the rage, then go in for a MS in his back, and in the event he doesn't slow you, get away and do it again.
If you do get charged, again, try to hit most of your attacks in his back. Debuffs are imo a bad move even when MS/WW are on CD, because you want to save your rage for HS or use hamstring for procs to deal actual damage. You can however use ranged debuffs while you are kiting.
Try to disarm your opponent when his rage is high, making him unable to use it. Try to trinket+intercept when you have a bit of rage to combo into the 3 second stun. You can also trinket another warrior's intercept into your own, a move you should expect your opponents to do as well. Be ready to use piercing howl. If hamstring somehow goes off from you, use it to your advantage to kite into a charge and hit in the back more easily.
Grenades can be a good move, but you can't use your abilities while you cast it. Don't waste an opportunity to execute by casting a panic grenade. Prefer using it when you are kiting. Tidal charm is a good trinket for getting ahead in damage dealt and doing hit and run.
Of course rng heavily influences these fights, but the above advice can give you the upper hand. A good ping also helps to get your charges first.
Warlock
Get the charge before he dots you and bash his face. Keep intercept for after death coil. If he opens you first and you don't have a shadow reflector, you are likely to end up dead.
Now that seduce actually works to some extent, use fear/grenade/pummel or even intercept on the succubus when appropriate.
Good locks will place their succubus in stand still mode away from them to prevent you aoe fearing it, in this situation you want to either be an undead engineer with tidal charm ready, or pray for your ass.
Lastly, as an undead expect locks to deathcoil your wotf into another seduce.
Priest
Against disc/holy priest priests, I tend to pummel the first mind blast, then lower his hp and use the second pummel on heals. Generally I want to endure some damage until I get some rage to work with, then combo him to death with pummel, intercept, grenades or even fear(dwarves are immune to it). Anticipate casts and intercept them, anticipate fakecasts if you know a player who does it. Good rage management is essential since you don't get any from hits absorbed by shield. Bandage between dot ticks can save you, shadow reflector into bandage is also a good move when the dot ends.
Other than that, rng is your friend.
Against shadow priests. To win, you need to get the charge, have a huge amount of hp, and an even greater amount of luck. Pummel the mind blast/mind flay as soon as you can. Good shadow priests will fakecast you, further lowering your chances of victory if there was any in the first place. Use your shadow reflector, use flasks and hp pots if one gives you trouble, sacrifice a goat for the heavens in exchange for more crits, less pummel and less intercept resists.
In general you want to avoid encountering them in bg as much as possible, it just isn't worth it.
Shaman
Pummel the chain lightning. Pummel it. Use hamstring on the fire nova totem as soon as you see it appear, but not if you will miss pummel. Elemental shamans are the hardest to deal with because of their huge burst damage. Trinket+intercept isn't a bad move as well to interrupt a cast.
Against healing shamans the same pretty much applies. Disarm the enhance shamans and faceroll them to death(except if you deal with Mainer, in which case the opposite tends to happen).
In general, you can take down gounding and windfury totems if you have a bit of time, same for aoe totems if you expect your ally rogue to reach that efc.
Hunter
What I tend to do is charge+hamstring them, then get away and see if they will waste scatter shot. This backfires if they already saw me, and I can't get away from the scatter/trap combo they were ready to do. Assuming I avoided scatter into trap, they usually drop their freezing trap regardless, that's when I want to use piercing howl and make use of the melee attack range to hit them while they go around the trap trying to make me hit it.
Things are a lot easier with frost reflector, if you have it you want to reflect the trap then disarm the hunter and continue hitting him in the back. Don't wait and look at him trapped even though it is funny because his cooldowns will come back. At this point, if he already used scatter, he is usually dead within a few seconds.
In general, when the trap isn't a threat you want to disarm the hunter before getting hit by wing clip. If you landed disarm but got slowed before, consider using the pvp trinket to close the gap. Grenades are very good gap closers against them as well.
With good gear, they might still survive your initial assault. If you know you will get trapped soon because their cooldown comes back, take a shield and use defensive stance. The rest is kind of straightforward imo.
Problems usually come from trap chains, massive dodge/parries preventing you to do any damage or land hamstrings, slow resists, or the huge burst you take when trapped and chasing them. Oh right, also when they kite beyond your charge range. This class is designed to kill warriors, an experienced hunter will be very hard to kill.
When attacking a hunter fc, be ready for the feint+trap+repick combo and begin clicking as soon as you charge or when you expect him to do it.
Druid
Kite the bear. With decent gear taking long trades against bear form isn't worth it so aim to burst him when he isn't shapeshifted. For that, use your pvp trinket and surprise him when he tries to cc you and heal. Against boomkin, try to LoS his spells by running through him multiple times(great against any class if you aren't slowed).
Against flag carriers, waiting for them in your flag room is a good way to shut them down. I don't usually trinket the bear stun because I want to keep it for nature's grasp if necessary, but I will do it if I'm confident I can finish him.
Outdoors, have your trinket ready for nature's grasp and have a good ping for spamming hamstring when he tries to get away. Make it so your hamstring lands on the travel form, instead of the druid form when he spams it to get away. Anticipate the bear stun if he has it and step away from it, but be ready to come back to interrupt spells. When his hp is low enough, intercept him and finish him off. Be ready for sudden root casts, especially if he has noggen.
Macros, hotkeys, addons
I don't use many macros, but these are essential. I haven't tested without, but you might need the addon Supermacro to make them work, which should be easy to find and is also a must have.
autoattack+ability
Place your "attack" ability from your spellbook general tab in the bottom most slot of the right most action bar(right action button 12 in your hotkey menu). Then try this on a dummy:
Code:
/script if not IsCurrentAction(36) then UseAction(36) end;
/cast Hamstring(Rank 3)
This macro will enable your auto attack and keep it enabled, and cast hamstring. It basically replaces hamstring on your bars. Change hamstring by any other single target melee ability, it becomes the new button for it.
Before I had only auto attack bound to a separate key combination, these macros made life so much easier. Try them and you will see the difference.
There will still be times when you will want to only enable auto attack but not use an ability at the same time, when you are waiting for a cast to pummel it for example. In that case this extra "only auto attack" key can be very useful. You can also use right click, but you might need to click somewhere else almost at the same time, both are good imo.
Weapon swap
Before I used only one macro to swap 2H--->1H+Shield--->2H... but I would become nervous in some fights and press the key too many times, messing up what I was trying to do. Now I use one key for the 2H(no macro) and another with:
Code:
/equip [your main hand]
/equipoff [your shield]
and yet another for dual wield, which is the same with the offhand's name instead of the shield. Simple. If it doesn't work, install Supermacro, check your spelling if you typed names manually.
Make sure the lines are in this order or you will have to press the key two times.
For weapons which have a comma in their name (Gressil, Sulfuras, etc) you need to put a "%" without the quotes right before the comma like this:
Code:
/equip Gressil%, Dawn of Ruin
Help me where do I bind stances
The mouse wheel and/or buttons seem to be a popular option. I use mouse buttons myself.
Some people use 3 keys, but you only need 2:
- Key 1 will swap into the most offensive stance available
- Key 2 will swap into the least offensive stance available
These take two of my main action bar slots. The above translates to this in your bar:
In Battle Stance: Action Button 1 = Berzerker Stance ; Action button 2 = Defensive Stance
In Defensive Stance: Action Button 1 = Berzerker Stance ; Action button 2 = Battle Stance
In Berzerker Stance: Action Button 1 = Battle Stance ; Action button 2 = Defensive Stance
Of course there is also a number of ways to go about it, this is just one.
A few addons
Samuel (or any swing timer addon)
Try to find a swing timer addon you like. For me it's Samuel. This little filling bar is very clean, small and unobtrusive.
I recently found swing timer addons to be a game changer for arms warrior. For example, you will know exactly how long to kite your opponent before you can go back and hit the next swing. Just try and you will know what I mean.
Itemrack and Trinketmenu
If you don't have those and often swap gear and trinkets, do yourself a favor and install them. Make an always visible window for trinkets for laintime/wedding effect, I also use another window with itemrack to swap activable gear such as rocket boots. Both addons include dedicated hotkeys, you don't need to put gear in your bars anymore.
Itemrack also allows you to create sets and easily swap between them.
Classic Snowfall
Makes all your hotkeys activate on key press instead of key release, giving you more speed.
WarriorHUD
Has several uses, I use it mainly for it's overpower alert. It can also make your battleshout button glow when you aren't buffed with it.
Lazypig
Has several uses such as auto accept group invite, but I only use it for the dismount on ability key press, a bit like how it became in TBC. It will dismount even if you don't have the rage to use said ability, so you'll have to be careful if you don't want to dismount by mistake sometimes.
Warsong Gulch in pug
Here is how I currently play warsong gulch without a premade group. This part is very subjective, and I don't mean to advise people to play like this, but it can give you ideas.
In any game, I begin by going to the left to grab the berzerker buff. This way the other team won't have it, and I can always dispel it if I don't need it.
The second thing I will always do is try to get the enemy team/bus to dismount and attack me.
What I'm aiming for here is to distract them from the objective, which works a lot of the time especially if my team takes part. Of course I just simply like doing it.
If one player tries to take our flag, I'm usually waiting for him after my first death and ready to kill him/report.
Doing this, my team will get a head start if any of them want to flag carry. If they don't, that's fine too, I will fight for midcontrol and go after the efc as soon as there is one.
If we can control mid, flag carrying becomes very easy and I'll usually do it.
When there are a lot of enemy attempts at taking the flag, or when I know a specific player who will go for it, I usually play defensive directly in my team's flag room, and call for more defense if needed.
For any class, reporting the efc's location as soon as you see him and know where he goes is crucial, and not many people do it.
Depending on the time it takes for my team to run the flag when we don't have total mid control, I might fc myself, but as a warrior I don't have many tools for that compared to other classes and a healer greatly helps, which I don't always have around, so I prefer other roles in general.
I will suggest a turtle if my team truly can't win over middle. This gets me more HKs, but also a chance to win if the turtle holds. In that case, I will eventually suggest that someone fcs when the opposite team is busy fighting us, or I will try it myself.
When both teams fc's are in their respective bases, you want to spot efc as fast as possible, then either take him down or call for backup if you know you can't win alone. The addon Targetfc will give you macros to target fc or efc. Spam the target efc macro until it works then search. Your mouse pointer will reveal enemies hiding behind some walls or game objects such as the wagons and towers behind the horde gy or both structures found at the horde and alliance roofs that you can go around. Check efr first before checking enemy roof, especially the flag spot. Have a look at your fc's health, and use it to anticipate repicking.
When flag carrying, never go tunnel unless your team has the advantage in mid, or your whole team is with you. In your base, run in circles between your roof, your fence, your tun, then back to roof to kite attackers. Be positioned so you can see how many enemies arrive from below. Be aware of rogues, of the fights you can win, and the fights you should avoid. Remember that taking a fight means giving an opportunity for more attackers to eventually reach you during it and finish you off. If you engage one attacking player alone while not knowing how many others there are behind him, or in stealth, you are taking a risk. Take enemies down fast when you choose to. Just as Flex said, as an fc peeler you want to engage attackers before they get to your fc and control/kill them.
You can also want to actually hide instead of running in circles sometimes, for example when your base starts getting crowded with enemies. Be careful of hunters and druids in the opposite team when you do it. For hiding locations there are many spots in either base or in the middle, use your imagination. Also, use noggen's small size effect so the enemy team has a harder time clicking you and spotting you.
Great magic words you can say in bg when you carry the flag
/bg HELP ME WEST/EAST(whatever your location is)
while you cross mid and the enemy team is around: /w competentplayer distract them /bg distract them pls
/bg need one support our roof pls rest go efc
/w peeler/healer I'll run to gy if too many come, be ready
Closing thoughts and videos
Since I didn't see a warrior pvp guide here, and I liked the idea of making one, here we are.
I ended up saying a lot more than I thought I would. English isn't my native tongue, so I'm sorry if there are mistakes around or words that I invented.
Most of this guide is very subjective, mainly talking about my own experience over the years.
If you think that something is inaccurate or wrong, have remarks or things that I could add, or think I'm terrible at math (which might well be true), feel free to comment. Please try to be constructive so I can maybe improve this guide.
Thanks to Lavz, Oprah, Sapphire, Gnawbone and Flex, whose guides helped me to plan my own, and the admins/gms for running and updating this great server that is retro.
I'll leave you with some essential vanilla warrior pvp videos.
Check the channels too, you won't regret it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OR9BvaetUc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23MOz4cc0Uk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw0xmg4f...McZg-ZeAq_
Cheers.