The Warrior in World of Warcraft is the ultimate front man in any battle. Whether the Warrior is tanking enemies or doing epic melee DPS, this is one class that is always deep in the thick of things. Resistant and tough, the Warrior is a very powerful class. Due to their ability to both deal damage and tank, players who choose the Warrior can easily experience two extremely different play styles.

While leading the charge into battle, Warriors rely on several terrifying shouts and intimidating banners . These things not only frighten enemies, but also bolster their allies. Combined with their natural prowess in battle, these things make the Warrior a venerable fighting machine.

Current Expansion: Warlords of Draenor

Choosing the Warrior

As mentioned above, the Warrior is always in the forefront of battle. Never a class to stand back or sit on the sidelines, the Warrior rushes headlong into whatever danger is in front of him or her. Due to the fact that they are often on the front lines, Warriors are very resilient to damage and often take on the task of tanking enemies to protect their friends. However, Warriors can also do some powerful damage. All melee, the Warrior uses brute force and their skill with weapons to smash through foes.

Players who choose the Warrior will find they have tons of race choices available to them. Races in World of Warcraft all prize and recognize the immense skills of the Warrior. Before the release of Cataclysm, Blood Elves could not be Warriors, however that has since changed. Now, every race in game has the option to become the Warrior class.

Warrior Core Abilities

Needing extra protection, Warriors can wear the heaviest Plate armor. However, this class can also wear Cloth, Leather, and Mail if they so choose. In order to best stay alive, most Warriors opt to use Plate. Rushing face first into enemies wearing Cloth, as Mages and Priests will tell you, is typically not the best idea.

When it comes to weapons, Warriors are masters of almost everything. Weapons able to be used by the Warrior include: Bows, Crossbows, Guns, Daggers, Fist Weapons, Staves, Polearms, One-handed Swords, Two-handed Swords, Axes, Maces, and Shields. The only weapon unavailable to the Warrior are Wands, which would probably be snapped in their iron grip.

Each Warrior comes with an innate set of abilities common to all Warriors, even those with different specializations. These abilities define the class. Examples of such abilities include: Commanding Shout, Cleave, Whirlwind, Mortal Strike, and Thunder Clap.

Warrior Rage

Warriors fuel their skills and abilities in combat with Rage. Warrior Rage starts out totally empty and must be generated by the player. Rage can be generated by the Warrior dealing damage and damage being done to the Warrior. Rage is currently capped at 100. The only other class that uses rage is the Bear Form Druid, making this resource quite unique.

Warrior Stances

In order to bolster their fighting skills, Warriors have three fighting stances they can change between. These stances are: Battle Stance, Defensive Stance, and Berserker Stance. Each stance provides the Warrior with different bonuses, making them useful in a variety of situations. Stances have a 3-second cooldown, not affected by the global cooldown. This means Warriors can jump in and out of any stance at the drop of a hat.

  • Battle Stance – A very aggressive battle stance. Generates huge amounts of rage from normal melee attacks.
  • Defensive Stance – The tanking stance. Decreases damage taken and increases threat generation.
  • Berserker Stance – A combat stance.

Warrior Specialization

Each Warrior will have the chance to choose between one of three specializations; Arms, Fury, or Protection. Arms will enhance the Warrior's DPS abilities with the use of two-handed weapons and skills to make their blows even mightier than before. Fury is another DPS spec for Warriors who prefer to take on enemies with dual-wielded weapons and quick strikes. Finally, Protection is just what it seems; the tanking spec.

Players can choose whichever spec best fits their personal play style. Every Warrior specialization is currently viable in game. Pick one or play them all to give yourself a bit of variety! With their impressive damage, battleshouts, and tanking abilities, Warriors are a welcome addition to almost every group.


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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Amunet, also fondly known as Memtron, is an organic life form best known for its ongoing obsession with Blizzard Entertainment's numerous properties. To that end, Amu has authored hundreds (thousands?) of the most popular World of Warcraft guides, editorials, and Top 10 lists on the planet. When not gaming and writing, Amu is busy chasing after her three children in a perpetual loop of ongoing disaster.

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