Warrior • Arms • PVE
Arms Warrior (PVE)
PvP-first spec with Mortal Strike utility
Talents
The primary reason to play Arms in PvE is access to [Blood Frenzy], a powerful raid debuff deep in the Arms tree that increases all physical damage taken by the target. Reaching Blood Frenzy requires a 33-point investment into Arms, after which remaining points are spent in Fury to pick up core DPS talents like [Weapon Mastery], [Improved Slam], and [Flurry]. This build offers very little flexibility, as most points are required to reach essential talents in both trees. One of the major strengths of this setup is access to both [Death Wish] and [Sweeping Strikes], which were repositioned in TBC and can now be taken together. This is the standard PvE Arms Warrior build used in raids.
Build Notes
This build prioritizes raid utility through [Blood Frenzy] while maintaining strong personal DPS. While some filler points can be adjusted, the core structure of the build remains the same across all PvE Arms setups. If your raid does not have another Warrior with [Improved Demoralizing Shout] or a Feral Druid with [Feral Aggression], you may be asked to take [Improved Demoralizing Shout] yourself.
Key Talents
Blood Frenzy
Your most important raid contribution. [Blood Frenzy] causes [Rend] or [Deep Wounds] to apply a debuff that increases all physical damage taken by the target by 4%, with nearly 100% uptime.
Death Wish
A powerful DPS cooldown that increases damage dealt for a short duration. In TBC, Death Wish is located in the Arms tree, making it accessible in this build.
Impale
Significantly increases the critical strike damage of your abilities in all stances, making it one of the strongest DPS talents in the Arms tree.
Improved Slam
Reduces the cooldown of [Slam] to 0.5 seconds, greatly improving its efficiency and making it a core part of the Arms rotation.
Sweeping Strikes
Provides limited but valuable cleave damage by allowing attacks to hit an additional nearby target. Especially strong when paired with [Whirlwind].
Flexible Talent Points
Weapon Specializations
Depending on your weapon choice, points can be moved between [Sword Specialization], [Mace Specialization], or [Poleaxe Specialization]. Swords are generally preferred due to weapon availability.
Improved Demoralizing Shout
Only required if no other Warrior or Feral Druid is covering the debuff. These points can otherwise be placed into talents like [Unbridled Wrath].
Unbridled Wrath
A filler Rage-generation talent that can be taken when [Improved Demoralizing Shout] is not required by your raid composition.