Warriors keep Mortal Strike, Bloodthirst and Shield Slam in Forever, but the weapon specialization talents are gone and the racial weapon bonuses are gone: since Blizzard’s October 26 notes only the Human racial adds crit with any weapon (1%). This guide walks through whether the class suits you, its three specs, the road to 60 and the race for your weapon.
Official changes come from Blizzard's Deep Dive, What's Next and Found Photos panels; talent facts come from the same talent data as our calculator (where it comes from); hands-on reports are marked. Last reviewed: .
A Warrior is the class that gets the most out of its gear and the least out of its own toolkit: no self-heal beyond the new Victory Rush, no crowd control that lasts, a bow, gun or thrown weapon only for pulling, and Rage that comes mostly from hitting and being hit. In return it is the tank every group looks for and, geared, one of the hardest-hitting melee classes. Forever keeps that shape and sands off the parts that made Classic leveling slow.
You’ll enjoy it if
You like a resource that rewards aggression: Rage fills as you fight, so a good pull snowballs.
You want steadier Rage. Blizzard’s new rules: Rage from being hit ignores your armor and absorbs such as Power Word: Shield, Rage from your hits depends on weapon speed, and since the October 1 beta build a critical strike with a basic attack gives 100% more Rage.
You want to tank. Protection keeps Shield Slam, and Vanguard now lets you Charge without leaving Defensive Stance.
You enjoy picking a weapon and building around it: Weaponmaster gives axes and polearms, maces and staves, and swords a different bonus.
You want to be wanted: groups need a tank, and Battle Shout, Sunder Armor and Demoralizing Shout help every melee player in the party.
Think twice if
You hate downtime. Victory Rush and baseline Tactical Mastery help, but you still eat or bandage after most fights.
You want to solo elites or run from bad pulls. There is no Vanish, Blink or Feign Death; your way out is Hamstring and Intimidating Shout.
You play Hardcore and want the safest class: a Warrior that loses a fight rarely gets out of it, and nothing in Forever changes that.
You judge the class by the beta. Blizzard says Rage generation has bugs there and finding the cause may take a couple of weeks, and in early October it reworked the Fury and Protection trees by hotfix (new talents Lingering Rage, Furious Precision and Gore Drinker), so builds are still moving.
You want to tank huge pulls. Blizzard says tanks hold threat on only three or four enemies at once in Forever.
What groups want from you
A tank that can hold three or four enemies while the rest of the pull is crowd-controlled.
Sunder Armor stacks on the boss, for every physical damage dealer.
Battle Shout for the melee in your party, and Demoralizing Shout on the pull.
Mortal Strike on an enemy that heals, Hamstring on one that runs, Intimidating Shout when the healer is in trouble.
Solo play and gold
Solo, a Warrior levels on single pulls: Charge, Rend, then Heroic Strike or Mortal Strike until the enemy drops, and Victory Rush right after the kill to win back some health. Two enemies at once is a fight you can take with Thunder Clap and Demoralizing Shout; the developers say pulling 3 or more will probably get you killed, and that is truest for a class with no crowd control of its own.
Gold goes on food, bandages and repairs, because a Warrior takes every hit. Mining and Blacksmithing both have camp objects for melee: the Mining Lodestone and the Blacksmithing Sharpening Wheel add melee Attack Power and Strength at camp, and First Aid bandages are your cheapest healing between pulls.
02 Three ways to play a Warrior
All three Warrior trees keep their Classic 31-point talents, so the specs play the way Classic players remember. What changes is the middle of each tree: weapon specializations are gone, and each tree gets a talent that changes how it fights. The icons show the talents in the Warrior Talent Calculator; hover or tap one for its full tooltip.
Arms
Two-handed damage · the leveling spec
Arms is Mortal Strike with a big two-hander, and it is the natural leveling spec. Weaponmaster replaces the four separate weapon talents with one: critical strike with axes and polearms, armor ignored with maces and staves, extra attacks with swords. You no longer need a specific weapon type to get your talent points’ worth, so take whichever two-hander drops.
Bloodthrill ties Overpower to Rend: main-hand melee hits on a Rended target (Heroic Strike and Cleave included) have up to a 20% chance to light up Overpower, so Rend stays on every target instead of being skipped. Improved Tactical Mastery stacks on the Tactical Mastery every Warrior now learns at 14, for stance-dancing into Overpower, Intercept or Berserker Rage without losing your Rage. Spearing Strike hits hard against Giants, Dragonkin and mounted targets and knocks riders off their mounts.
Forever talents to know
Weaponmaster
Arms · tier 5 · max rank 5
Gives your melee weapon attacks a benefit depending on the weapon. Axe/Polearm: Increases your critical strike chance by 1%. Mace/Staff: Your attacks ignore 3% of your target's armor. Sword: Your successful melee attacks have a 1% chance to trigger an extra attack on the target.
Rank 5: Gives your melee weapon attacks a benefit depending on the weapon. Axe/Polearm: Increases your critical strike chance by 5%. Mace/Staff: Your attacks ignore 15% of your target's armor. Sword: Your successful melee attacks have a 5% chance to trigger an extra attack on the target.
Weaponmaster
Bloodthrill
Arms · tier 5 · max rank 5
★ New in Forever
Grants your Main Hand melee attacks against enemies afflicted by your Rend a 4% chance to allow an activation of Overpower.
Rank 5: Grants your Main Hand melee attacks against enemies afflicted by your Rend a 20% chance to allow an activation of Overpower.
Bloodthrill
Improved Tactical Mastery
Arms · tier 2 · max rank 5
Tactical Mastery lets you retain up to an additional 3 Rage when you change stances.
Rank 5: Tactical Mastery lets you retain up to an additional 15 Rage when you change stances.
Improved Tactical Mastery
Spearing Strike
Arms · tier 4 · max rank 1
★ New in Forever
A brutal attack that deals 40% weapon damage. Deals an additional 80% weapon damage against Giants, Dragonkin, and mounted targets. Mounted targets are dismounted.
Spearing Strike
Mortal Strike
Arms · tier 7 · max rank 1
A vicious strike that deals weapon damage plus 85 and wounds the target, reducing the effectiveness of any healing by 50% for 10 sec.
Mortal Strike
Fury
Dual-wield damage · raids and big fights
Fury is two one-handers and Bloodthirst, the Classic raid damage spec. Whirlwind now always strikes with both weapons, and Raging Blows takes 3 Rage off Whirlwind and Cleave, so Fury is the Warrior’s answer to several enemies at once. Gore Drinker makes your next three melee attacks heal you a little after Enrage, Berserker Rage, Bloodrage, Death Wish or Bloodthirst: a first bit of self-healing for a spec that leaned on a healer.
Furious Precision adds up to 10% hit chance to off-hand attacks, and hit on gear now counts for melee, ranged and spells alike, so every hit item is a Warrior item. Dual Wield Specialization is still in the tree and now adds off-hand damage and off-hand Rage. In Classic most Warriors leveled as Arms and switched to Fury at 60, because Fury leans on a healer and on two good weapons; Blizzard says its October rework is meant to give Fury more utility early in the tree for leveling, such as Lingering Rage, which keeps your Rage longer between pulls.
Forever talents to know
Raging Blows
Fury · tier 4 · max rank 1
★ New in Forever
Reduces the Rage cost of your Cleave and Whirlwind abilities by 3.
Raging Blows
Furious Precision
Fury · tier 3 · max rank 3
★ New in Forever
Increases your chance to hit with off-hand attacks by 4%.
Rank 3: Increases your chance to hit with off-hand attacks by 10%.
Furious Precision
Gore Drinker
Fury · tier 6 · max rank 2
★ New in Forever
Your Enrage, Berserker Rage, Bloodrage, Death Wish, and Bloodthirst abilities cause your next 3 melee attacks to restore 0.5% of your maximum Health.
Rank 2: Your Enrage, Berserker Rage, Bloodrage, Death Wish, and Bloodthirst abilities cause your next 3 melee attacks to restore 1% of your maximum Health.
Gore Drinker
Bloodthirst
Fury · tier 7 · max rank 1
Instantly attack the target causing damage equal to 45% of your Attack Power plus 30 and increasing your movement speed by 10% for 10 sec.
Bloodthirst
Protection
Shield tank · dungeons and raids
Protection keeps Shield Slam at the bottom of the tree and gets three talents that fix old tanking pains. Vanguard lets you Charge in Defensive Stance, so you open a pull without swapping stances. Master of Defense gives Rage when you dodge or parry with a shield, the moments when a Classic tank got nothing. Focused Rage cuts the Rage cost of your attacks.
Bastion raises all your damage while a shield is equipped, which makes a sword-and-board Warrior far less slow to level than in Classic. On paper you could level as Protection and tank dungeons on the way; nobody has tested it past the beta’s level cap yet.
Forever talents to know
Vanguard
Protection · tier 4 · max rank 1
★ New in Forever
Your Charge ability is now usable while in Defensive Stance.
Vanguard
Master of Defense
Protection · tier 3 · max rank 2
★ New in Forever
Grants you a 50% chance to generate 5 Rage when you Dodge or Parry while a shield is equipped.
Rank 2: Grants you a 100% chance to generate 5 Rage when you Dodge or Parry while a shield is equipped.
Master of Defense
Bastion
Protection · tier 6 · max rank 5
★ New in Forever
Increases all damage you deal by 2% while a shield is equipped.
Rank 5: Increases all damage you deal by 10% while a shield is equipped.
Bastion
Focused Rage
Protection · tier 5 · max rank 3
★ New in Forever
Reduces the Rage cost of your offensive abilities by 1.
Rank 3: Reduces the Rage cost of your offensive abilities by 3.
Focused Rage
Shield Slam
Protection · tier 7 · max rank 1
Slam the target with your shield, causing 421 to 439 damage, increased by your Block Value, and has a 50% chance of dispelling 1 magic effect on the target. Causes a very high amount of threat.
Shield Slam
Dual Specialization opens at level 40, Blizzard’s class deep dives say; you change talents at a class trainer in a major city.
Warrior talent trees at a glance
Each tree’s 31-point talent and how many talents changed. The full list, with every rank, is in the talent calculator.
Arms
Mortal Strike
Arms · tier 7 · max rank 1
A vicious strike that deals weapon damage plus 85 and wounds the target, reducing the effectiveness of any healing by 50% for 10 sec.
Mortal Strike
Same 31-point talent as Classic
2 new
2 renamed or reworked
0 removed
2 moved
Spearing Strike
Arms · tier 4 · max rank 1
★ New in Forever
A brutal attack that deals 40% weapon damage. Deals an additional 80% weapon damage against Giants, Dragonkin, and mounted targets. Mounted targets are dismounted.
Bloodthrill
Arms · tier 5 · max rank 5
★ New in Forever
Grants your Main Hand melee attacks against enemies afflicted by your Rend a 4% chance to allow an activation of Overpower.
Rank 5: Grants your Main Hand melee attacks against enemies afflicted by your Rend a 20% chance to allow an activation of Overpower.
Fury
Bloodthirst
Fury · tier 7 · max rank 1
Instantly attack the target causing damage equal to 45% of your Attack Power plus 30 and increasing your movement speed by 10% for 10 sec.
Bloodthirst
Same 31-point talent as Classic
4 new
1 removed
3 moved
Lingering Rage
Fury · tier 2 · max rank 5
★ New in Forever
Increases the time before your Rage begins to decay after leaving combat by 2 sec.
Rank 5: Increases the time before your Rage begins to decay after leaving combat by 10 sec.
Furious Precision
Fury · tier 3 · max rank 3
★ New in Forever
Increases your chance to hit with off-hand attacks by 4%.
Rank 3: Increases your chance to hit with off-hand attacks by 10%.
Raging Blows
Fury · tier 4 · max rank 1
★ New in Forever
Reduces the Rage cost of your Cleave and Whirlwind abilities by 3.
Gore Drinker
Fury · tier 6 · max rank 2
★ New in Forever
Your Enrage, Berserker Rage, Bloodrage, Death Wish, and Bloodthirst abilities cause your next 3 melee attacks to restore 0.5% of your maximum Health.
Rank 2: Your Enrage, Berserker Rage, Bloodrage, Death Wish, and Bloodthirst abilities cause your next 3 melee attacks to restore 1% of your maximum Health.
Protection
Shield Slam
Protection · tier 7 · max rank 1
Slam the target with your shield, causing 421 to 439 damage, increased by your Block Value, and has a 50% chance of dispelling 1 magic effect on the target. Causes a very high amount of threat.
Shield Slam
Same 31-point talent as Classic
4 new
2 removed
7 moved
Master of Defense
Protection · tier 3 · max rank 2
★ New in Forever
Grants you a 50% chance to generate 5 Rage when you Dodge or Parry while a shield is equipped.
Rank 2: Grants you a 100% chance to generate 5 Rage when you Dodge or Parry while a shield is equipped.
Vanguard
Protection · tier 4 · max rank 1
★ New in Forever
Your Charge ability is now usable while in Defensive Stance.
Focused Rage
Protection · tier 5 · max rank 3
★ New in Forever
Reduces the Rage cost of your offensive abilities by 1.
Rank 3: Reduces the Rage cost of your offensive abilities by 3.
Bastion
Protection · tier 6 · max rank 5
★ New in Forever
Increases all damage you deal by 2% while a shield is equipped.
Rank 5: Increases all damage you deal by 10% while a shield is equipped.
The first ten levels are Heroic Strike, Charge and Rend. From about level 10–15, the developers told MMORPG.com an enemy takes 10–15 seconds to kill, and a Warrior feels that more than anyone: every second in melee is health you will have to eat back. The experience needed to reach 60 is the same as in Classic: Wowhead retracted its datamine of a lower curve after Blizzard explained the file isn’t used by the game (see the WoW Forever leveling guide).
Dungeon enemies give much less experience in Forever and dungeon quests much more, so run each dungeon once with its quests. Mortal Strike, Bloodthirst and Shield Slam all arrive at level 40, with 31 points in their tree, so the spec you level in only settles there. A Warrior who tanks gets groups fast; the WoW Forever dungeons guide lists all 9 new ones by level.
Warrior key levels
The levels where the abilities in the table below arrive. Hover, focus or tap a level to see everything a Warrior trainer teaches that is new at it; every icon has its tooltip.
Charge
Charge
Rank 1 · level 4
Cast time instant
Cooldown 15 sec
Charge an enemy, generate 9 Rage, and Stun it for 1 sec. Cannot be used in combat.
Rend
Rend
New at level 4: 2
Charge
Charge
Rank 1 · level 4
Cast time instant
Cooldown 15 sec
Charge an enemy, generate 9 Rage, and Stun it for 1 sec. Cannot be used in combat.
Rend
Rend
Thunder Clap
Thunder Clap
Rank 1 · level 6
Cost 200 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 6 sec
Blasts nearby enemies, increasing the time between their attacks by 20% for 10 sec and doing 10 damage to them. Will affect up to 4 targets.
New at level 6: 1
Thunder Clap
Thunder Clap
Rank 1 · level 6
Cost 200 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 6 sec
Blasts nearby enemies, increasing the time between their attacks by 20% for 10 sec and doing 10 damage to them. Will affect up to 4 targets.
Sunder Armor
Sunder Armor
Taunt
Taunt
Level 10
Cast time instant
Cooldown 8 sec
Taunts the target to attack you, but has no effect if the target is already attacking you.
New at level 10: 4
Bloodrage
Bloodrage
Level 10
Cost 20% of health
Cast time instant
Cooldown 1 min
Generates 10 rage at the cost of health, and then generates an additional 10 rage over 10 sec.
Defensive Stance
Defensive Stance
Level 10
Cast time instant
Cooldown 1 sec
A defensive combat stance. Decreases damage taken by 10% and damage caused by 10%. Increases all threat generated by 30%.
Sunder Armor
Sunder Armor
Taunt
Taunt
Level 10
Cast time instant
Cooldown 8 sec
Taunts the target to attack you, but has no effect if the target is already attacking you.
Overpower
Overpower
New at level 12: 2
Overpower
Overpower
Shield Bash
Shield Bash
Tactical MasteryA talent in Classic
Tactical Mastery
Level 14
Cast time instant
You retain up to 10 Rage when you change Stances.
New at level 14: 3
Demoralizing Shout
Demoralizing Shout
Rank 1 · level 14
Cost 100 Rage
Cast time instant
Reduces the melee attack power of all enemies within 10 yards by 49 for 45 sec.
Revenge
Revenge
Rank 1 · level 14
Cost 50 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 5 sec
Instantly counterattack an enemy for 20 to 24 damage and a high amount of threat. Revenge must follow a block, dodge or parry.
Tactical MasteryA talent in Classic
Tactical Mastery
Level 14
Cast time instant
You retain up to 10 Rage when you change Stances.
Shield Block
Shield Block
Level 16
Cost 100 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 5 sec
Increases chance to block by 75% for 7 sec, but will only block 2 attacks.
New at level 16: 2
Mocking Blow
Mocking Blow
Shield Block
Shield Block
Level 16
Cost 100 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 5 sec
Increases chance to block by 75% for 7 sec, but will only block 2 attacks.
Slam
Slam
Rank 1 · level 20
Cost 150 Rage
Cast time 1.5 sec
Cooldown 18 sec
Slams the opponent, causing weapon damage plus 16.
Victory Rush
Victory Rush
Level 20
Cast time instant
Cooldown 30 sec
Instantly attack the target causing 1 damage and healing you for 10% of your maximum health. Only useable within 20 sec after you kill a non-trivial enemy.
New at level 20: 4
Cleave
Cleave
Rank 1 · level 20
Cost 200 Rage
Cast time instant
A sweeping attack that does your weapon damage plus 5 to the target and a second nearby enemy.
Retaliation
Retaliation
Level 20
Cast time instant
Cooldown 15 min
Instantly counterattack any enemy that strikes you in melee for 15 sec. Melee attacks made from behind cannot be counterattacked. A maximum of 30 attacks will cause retaliation.
Slam
Slam
Rank 1 · level 20
Cost 150 Rage
Cast time 1.5 sec
Cooldown 18 sec
Slams the opponent, causing weapon damage plus 16.
Victory Rush
Victory Rush
Level 20
Cast time instant
Cooldown 30 sec
Instantly attack the target causing 1 damage and healing you for 10% of your maximum health. Only useable within 20 sec after you kill a non-trivial enemy.
Execute
Execute
New at level 24: 1
Execute
Execute
Shield Wall
Shield Wall
Level 28
Cast time instant
Cooldown 15 min
Reduces the damage taken from all attacks by 60% for 12 sec.
New at level 28: 1
Shield Wall
Shield Wall
Level 28
Cast time instant
Cooldown 15 min
Reduces the damage taken from all attacks by 60% for 12 sec.
Berserker Stance
Berserker Stance
Level 30
Cast time instant
Cooldown 1 sec
An aggressive stance. Critical strike chance increased by 3% and all damage taken is increased by 10%.
New at level 30: 3
Berserker Rage
Berserker Rage
Level 30
Cast time instant
Cooldown 30 sec
The warrior enters a berserker rage, becoming immune to Fear and Incapacitate effects and generating extra rage when taking damage. Lasts 10 sec.
Berserker Stance
Berserker Stance
Level 30
Cast time instant
Cooldown 1 sec
An aggressive stance. Critical strike chance increased by 3% and all damage taken is increased by 10%.
Intercept
Intercept
Whirlwind
Whirlwind
Level 36
Cost 250 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 10 sec
In a whirlwind of steel you attack up to 4 enemies within 8 yards, causing weapon damage from both melee weapons to each enemy.
New at level 36: 1
Whirlwind
Whirlwind
Level 36
Cost 250 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 10 sec
In a whirlwind of steel you attack up to 4 enemies within 8 yards, causing weapon damage from both melee weapons to each enemy.
Recklessness
Recklessness
Level 50
Cast time instant
Cooldown 30 min
The warrior will gain 100% increased critical strike chance and will be immune to Fear effects for the next 15 sec, but all damage taken is increased by 20%.
New at level 50: 1
Recklessness
Recklessness
Level 50
Cast time instant
Cooldown 30 min
The warrior will gain 100% increased critical strike chance and will be immune to Fear effects for the next 15 sec, but all damage taken is increased by 20%.
New trainer abilities per level band
Each ability counted once, at the level its first rank is trained in the Forever beta client; abilities the beta removed are left out. Pick a bar to list them.
Every raceSome races only
New at levels 1–9: 7
Battle Shout
Battle Shout
Rank 1 · level 1
Cost 100 Rage
Cast time instant
The warrior shouts, increasing the melee attack power of all party or raid members within 20 yards by 9. Lasts 3 min.
Battle Stance
Battle Stance
Heroic Strike
Heroic Strike
Charge
Charge
Rank 1 · level 4
Cast time instant
Cooldown 15 sec
Charge an enemy, generate 9 Rage, and Stun it for 1 sec. Cannot be used in combat.
Rend
Rend
Thunder Clap
Thunder Clap
Rank 1 · level 6
Cost 200 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 6 sec
Blasts nearby enemies, increasing the time between their attacks by 20% for 10 sec and doing 10 damage to them. Will affect up to 4 targets.
Hamstring
Hamstring
New at levels 10–19: 12
Bloodrage
Bloodrage
Level 10
Cost 20% of health
Cast time instant
Cooldown 1 min
Generates 10 rage at the cost of health, and then generates an additional 10 rage over 10 sec.
Defensive Stance
Defensive Stance
Level 10
Cast time instant
Cooldown 1 sec
A defensive combat stance. Decreases damage taken by 10% and damage caused by 10%. Increases all threat generated by 30%.
Sunder Armor
Sunder Armor
Taunt
Taunt
Level 10
Cast time instant
Cooldown 8 sec
Taunts the target to attack you, but has no effect if the target is already attacking you.
Overpower
Overpower
Shield Bash
Shield Bash
Demoralizing Shout
Demoralizing Shout
Rank 1 · level 14
Cost 100 Rage
Cast time instant
Reduces the melee attack power of all enemies within 10 yards by 49 for 45 sec.
Revenge
Revenge
Rank 1 · level 14
Cost 50 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 5 sec
Instantly counterattack an enemy for 20 to 24 damage and a high amount of threat. Revenge must follow a block, dodge or parry.
Tactical MasteryA talent in Classic
Tactical Mastery
Level 14
Cast time instant
You retain up to 10 Rage when you change Stances.
Mocking Blow
Mocking Blow
Shield Block
Shield Block
Level 16
Cost 100 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 5 sec
Increases chance to block by 75% for 7 sec, but will only block 2 attacks.
Disarm
Disarm
New at levels 20–29: 8
Cleave
Cleave
Rank 1 · level 20
Cost 200 Rage
Cast time instant
A sweeping attack that does your weapon damage plus 5 to the target and a second nearby enemy.
Retaliation
Retaliation
Level 20
Cast time instant
Cooldown 15 min
Instantly counterattack any enemy that strikes you in melee for 15 sec. Melee attacks made from behind cannot be counterattacked. A maximum of 30 attacks will cause retaliation.
Slam
Slam
Rank 1 · level 20
Cost 150 Rage
Cast time 1.5 sec
Cooldown 18 sec
Slams the opponent, causing weapon damage plus 16.
Victory Rush
Victory Rush
Level 20
Cast time instant
Cooldown 30 sec
Instantly attack the target causing 1 damage and healing you for 10% of your maximum health. Only useable within 20 sec after you kill a non-trivial enemy.
Intimidating Shout
Intimidating Shout
Level 22
Cost 250 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 3 min
The warrior shouts, causing the targeted enemy to cower in fear. Up to 5 enemies within 8 yds will flee in fear. Lasts 8 sec.
Execute
Execute
Challenging Shout
Challenging Shout
Level 26
Cost 50 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 10 min
Forces all nearby enemies within 10 yards to focus attacks on you for 6 sec.
Shield Wall
Shield Wall
Level 28
Cast time instant
Cooldown 15 min
Reduces the damage taken from all attacks by 60% for 12 sec.
New at levels 30–39: 5
Berserker Rage
Berserker Rage
Level 30
Cast time instant
Cooldown 30 sec
The warrior enters a berserker rage, becoming immune to Fear and Incapacitate effects and generating extra rage when taking damage. Lasts 10 sec.
Berserker Stance
Berserker Stance
Level 30
Cast time instant
Cooldown 1 sec
An aggressive stance. Critical strike chance increased by 3% and all damage taken is increased by 10%.
Intercept
Intercept
Whirlwind
Whirlwind
Level 36
Cost 250 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 10 sec
In a whirlwind of steel you attack up to 4 enemies within 8 yards, causing weapon damage from both melee weapons to each enemy.
Pummel
Pummel
New at levels 40–49: 0
New at levels 50–60: 1
Recklessness
Recklessness
Level 50
Cast time instant
Cooldown 30 min
The warrior will gain 100% increased critical strike chance and will be immune to Fear effects for the next 15 sec, but all damage taken is increased by 20%.
Warrior abilities by level
The trainer abilities that shape a Warrior’s leveling, in the order you learn them. The middle column is read from the Forever beta client against Classic Era, so it can still change.
Ability
Learned
In the Forever beta
Why it matters
Charge
Charge
Rank 1 · level 4
Cast time instant
Cooldown 15 sec
Charge an enemy, generate 9 Rage, and Stun it for 1 sec. Cannot be used in combat.
Level 43 ranks, levels 4–46
Tooltip wording changed (3 ranks)
Opens every pull with Rage and a short stun. Out of combat only, as in Classic.
Rend
Rend
Level 47 ranks, levels 4–60
Unchanged
Bleed to keep on every target; with Bloodthrill (Arms) it also procs Overpower.
Thunder Clap
Thunder Clap
Rank 1 · level 6
Cost 200 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 6 sec
Blasts nearby enemies, increasing the time between their attacks by 20% for 10 sec and doing 10 damage to them. Will affect up to 4 targets.
Level 66 ranks, levels 6–58
Cooldown: 4 sec → 6 sec (6 ranks)
Tooltip numbers changed (6 ranks)
Slows the attacks of up to four enemies, the same number a Forever tank can hold.
Sunder Armor
Sunder Armor
Level 105 ranks, levels 10–58
Unchanged
Stack it on bosses for the whole group, and to hold threat before Shield Slam.
Taunt
Taunt
Level 10
Cast time instant
Cooldown 8 sec
Taunts the target to attack you, but has no effect if the target is already attacking you.
Level 10
Cooldown: 10 sec → 8 sec
The shorter cooldown takes the place of Improved Taunt, which is gone from Protection.
Overpower
Overpower
Level 124 ranks, levels 12–60
Unchanged
After a dodge, a hit that can’t be dodged. Bloodthrill makes it fire far more often.
Tactical MasteryA talent in Classic
Tactical Mastery
Level 14
Cast time instant
You retain up to 10 Rage when you change Stances.
Level 14
You retain up to 10 Rage when you change Stances.
Was a talent in Classic. Improved Tactical Mastery (Arms) adds more on top.
Shield Block
Shield Block
Level 16
Cost 100 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 5 sec
Increases chance to block by 75% for 7 sec, but will only block 2 attacks.
Level 16
Duration: 5 sec → 7 sec
Tooltip numbers changed
Lasts longer than in Classic, and Improved Shield Block is no longer a talent.
Slam
Slam
Rank 1 · level 20
Cost 150 Rage
Cast time 1.5 sec
Cooldown 18 sec
Slams the opponent, causing weapon damage plus 16.
Level 205 ranks, levels 20–54
Cooldown: none → 18 sec (4 ranks)
New rank at level 20
Now on a cooldown, so Classic’s Slam-spamming two-hander rotation doesn’t carry over.
Victory Rush
Victory Rush
Level 20
Cast time instant
Cooldown 30 sec
Instantly attack the target causing 1 damage and healing you for 10% of your maximum health. Only useable within 20 sec after you kill a non-trivial enemy.
Level 20
Instantly attack the target causing 1 damage and healing you for 10% of your maximum health. Only useable within 20 sec after you kill a non-trivial enemy.
New. Heals you after a kill: the biggest change to Warrior downtime.
Execute
Execute
Level 245 ranks, levels 24–56
Unchanged
Finishes anything below 20% health; spend the Rage you’ve banked.
Shield Wall
Shield Wall
Level 28
Cast time instant
Cooldown 15 min
Reduces the damage taken from all attacks by 60% for 12 sec.
Level 28
Cooldown: 30 min → 15 min
Duration: 10 sec → 12 sec
Tooltip numbers changed
Cooldown halved from 30 to 15 minutes, so you can use it in most dungeons, not once a run.
Berserker Stance
Berserker Stance
Level 30
Cast time instant
Cooldown 1 sec
An aggressive stance. Critical strike chance increased by 3% and all damage taken is increased by 10%.
Level 30
Tooltip wording changed
More critical strike, more damage taken. Fury lives here; Arms visits for Intercept.
Whirlwind
Whirlwind
Level 36
Cost 250 Rage
Cast time instant
Cooldown 10 sec
In a whirlwind of steel you attack up to 4 enemies within 8 yards, causing weapon damage from both melee weapons to each enemy.
Level 36
Tooltip wording changed
Always strikes with both weapons since the October hotfix; Raging Blows (Fury) takes 3 Rage off its cost.
Recklessness
Recklessness
Level 50
Cast time instant
Cooldown 30 min
The warrior will gain 100% increased critical strike chance and will be immune to Fear effects for the next 15 sec, but all damage taken is increased by 20%.
Level 50
Tooltip numbers changed
Keeps its Classic cooldown in the beta client, unlike Shield Wall and Retaliation.
Weapon racials used to add weapon skill, which in Classic decided raid weapons for Humans (swords, maces) and Orcs (axes). Since the October 15 beta build they are gone, and the October 26 notes keep them gone: Human Ruthless is 1% crit (was 2%), Orc Savage and Dwarf Earth Fury are removed, and Dwarves gain Artisan’s Precision (1% hit). Your race no longer picks your weapon.
Weaponmaster still rewards the weapon you hold: axes and polearms add crit, maces armor penetration, swords extra attacks, whatever your race. Beyond weapons, look at what you want to survive: Will to Survive (Human) breaks stuns, Hardiness (Orc) shortens them, Stoneform (Dwarf) removes bleeds and poisons, Will of the Forsaken (Undead) breaks fear, and the Tauren Endurance is 5% Health only. Gnomes are the odd one: Expansive Mind raises maximum Rage.
Races for Warriors
Every race that can be a Warrior in Forever and what it brings to the class.
New in ForeverWind Blessed Haste; Elemental Insight against Elementals.
05 Coming from Classic
Three changes matter most to a Classic Warrior. Weapon skill stops deciding your weapon, because racials give crit and gear gives less skill. Talents that every Warrior took are gone from the trees: Tactical Mastery is now learned from the trainer at 14, Improved Taunt and Improved Shield Block are baseline now, and so is Improved Battle Shout, whose benefit Blizzard’s deep dive says is baked into Battle Shout. And tanking changes shape: a Forever tank holds three or four enemies, not a whole pack, so Classic’s pull-everything dungeon runs give way to pulls with crowd control.
The practical upshot of the shorter Shield Wall and Retaliation cooldowns is that they become dungeon tools rather than once-a-night buttons; Recklessness stays a rare one. Every changed trainer ability, with Classic Era and Forever tooltips side by side, is in WoW Forever Warrior abilities.
What changes for Warriors
Game data
The Sword, Axe, Mace, Polearm and One-Handed Weapon Specialization talents are gone from the trees.
Blizzard
Racial weapon bonuses gave critical strike chance instead of weapon skill until the October 15 beta build, which replaced them with Ruthless, Earth Fury and Savage, tied to no weapon. The October 26 notes keep the weapon specializations gone: Ruthless is 1% crit, Earth Fury and Savage are removed. Gear gives less weapon skill than in Classic.
Blizzard
Melee, ranged and spell hit are one stat, and so is critical strike.
Blizzard
Tanks hold threat on only three or four enemies at once, so pulls lean on the group’s crowd control.
Blizzard
Improved Battle Shout is no longer a talent: Blizzard’s class deep dive says its benefit is baked into Battle Shout, whose attack power was lowered because both factions now have Shaman and Paladin buffs. In the beta client Battle Shout gives 139 attack power at rank 7 (232 in Classic) and lasts 3 minutes instead of 2.
Player reports
Players who tried the demo report Victory Rush and 30-minute cooldowns cut to 15 minutes.
Game data
The beta client bears part of that out: Victory Rush is a trainer ability at level 20, and Shield Wall and Retaliation are down to 15 minutes, but Recklessness is still 30 minutes. More in WoW Forever Warrior abilities.
Blizzard
Since the October 1 beta build a critical strike with a basic attack gives 100% more Rage, and Rend and Sunder Armor tap an enemy for you at once.
Blizzard
Spearing Strike no longer needs a two-handed weapon; it needs Battle Stance.
Blizzard
A server hotfix in early October brought the Fury and Protection rework of Blizzard’s October 1 notes to the beta: Lingering Rage, Furious Precision and Gore Drinker are new Fury talents, Toughness, Improved Cleave and Boundless Rage are removed, Iron Will moves to Protection, and Whirlwind always strikes with both weapons.
Blizzard
On the WoW Forever Podcast episode 2, the developers said Rage from taking damage was lower than intended because of a bug, which the October 8 beta build fixed, and that Recklessness stays on a 30-minute cooldown because it is the strongest personal cooldown in the game.
Blizzard
October 8 beta build: Blizzard fixed the Rage gained from taking damage, so a typical Warrior gets more of it. It no longer drops as you add Stamina, it counts the extra damage of critical strikes and crushing blows, and absorbed damage counts as if there were no shield. Rage gains are now balanced around 20% to 40% armor, depending on level, instead of a tank’s 50%. Impale needs Deep Wounds again, Demoralizing Shout causes threat, and you can swap several weapons within one global cooldown again, for example from a two-hander to sword and shield with a macro.
06 Before you log in
Pick the weapon before the race, or the race for the weapon. An Orc wants axes, a Human swords, a Dwarf maces; check the WoW Forever Talent Calculator for which Weaponmaster branch you’ll use.
Learn First Aid early. Bandages are the healing a Warrior can always count on; Victory Rush only works right after a kill.
Don’t spend Legacy Points on Reagent Economy. Blizzard used it as the example of a perk a Warrior doesn’t need: Warrior abilities have no reagents. The WoW Forever Legacy guide lists the rest.
Hardcore? With no Vanish or Feign Death to fall back on, a Warrior survives by choosing pulls: keep Intimidating Shout and a bandage for the fight that goes wrong. The WoW Forever Hardcore page has the ruleset.
PvP? Mortal Strike and Hamstring still define PvP Warriors; the new honor ranks and Darkspear Islands are on the WoW Forever PvP page.
WoW Forever Warrior FAQ
Do Warriors still have weapon specializations in WoW Forever?
Partly. Sword, Axe, Mace and Polearm Specialization are merged into Weaponmaster, which gives a separate bonus for axes and polearms, maces and staves, and swords; One-Handed Weapon Specialization is gone. Two-Handed Weapon Specialization and Dual Wield Specialization are still talents, and since the October 15 beta build no racial is tied to a weapon any more.
Is Battle Shout still improved by a talent?
No. Improved Battle Shout is baseline: Blizzard’s class deep dive says its benefit is baked into Battle Shout, while the shout’s attack power was lowered because both factions now have Shaman and Paladin buffs. In the beta client Battle Shout gives 139 attack power at rank 7 (232 in Classic) and lasts 3 minutes.
Which races can be a Warrior in WoW Forever?
Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome, Orc, Undead, Tauren, Troll, and Skyborne. Skyborne is new to the class in Forever.
What are the Warrior 31-point talents in WoW Forever?
Better than in Classic. Victory Rush heals you after a kill from level 20, Tactical Mastery is a trainer ability at 14, and Protection’s Bastion raises damage with a shield. Warriors still have no self-heal between fights and no real escape, so they level fastest on single pulls or with a healer.
What is the best race for a Warrior in WoW Forever?
For damage, the race whose weapon you’ll use: Orc with axes, Human with swords, Dwarf with maces, since the racial crit stacks with Weaponmaster. For tanking, Dwarf (Stoneform), Tauren (health and hit) and Night Elf (dodge) stand out. For PvP, Human, Orc and Undead have racials against stuns and fear.
Can Warriors tank big pulls in WoW Forever?
Not like in Classic. Blizzard says tanks hold threat on only three or four enemies at once, and Thunder Clap hits up to four in the beta client, so larger pulls need crowd control.
Still unconfirmed
Players who tried the demo report Victory Rush and 30-minute cooldowns cut to 15 minutes.
Final talent values: they can still change before launch
