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Leveling Warriors – Specs, Gear, and Play-styles
By Lee Stetson | December 21, 2009
So you want to level a warrior, but don’t have a clue where to start? Too much conflicting advice out there on what you should be doing? Don’t worry, we’ll cut through all of that and lay down clear instructions on speccing, gearing, and playing your warrior through his first fo
The first thing every warrior needs to know ASAP is how to gear. Warriors are fairly easy to gear for: Hit, Strength, and AP are all you need to worry about until you get to BC gear at level 60. And even then, it’s mostly the same. Hit is the best stat until you have ~5% hit, at which point any more is literally worthless. And one point of Strength is worth about 2.25 AP as far as overall value while leveling goes.
So you know what to wear, now how should you spec? We’re going to ignore the conventional wisdom here, because these days it is wrong. So instead of a DW Fury spec, we’re going to go Prot and use a one-handed weapon and a shield, at least for these first forty levels. Not only is it the best questing spec, it is the best spec for taking advantage of the new DF System to run instances while you level.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#LZZi0trx0dV:bZc is our go-to spec for Protection leveling. Make sure to get key damage-improving talents like Improved Revenge and Concussion Blow as soon as you can. With this spec you will rarely drop below 80% health, and at these levels will be doing as much damage as any pure DPS build. Not to mention you have more to do, meaning it is more fun to play.
At 40 you can either continue to play Protection, or re-spec and start working towards an endgame-style DPS spec. This is when the DPS specs get their real damage-improving talents, and you should be wearing plate, which will handle the survivability issues these specs start with.
So, it’s time to discuss how to play your warrior. Protection is pretty simple as things go, but it is a step up from the Heroic Strike spam that Fury and Arms are doing at these levels. First thing to note is that except for the occasional foray into Battle for Charge and Victory Rush, you want to stick to Defensive stance. The damage loss is made up for by all the important abilities you gain access to.
Once you are on the mob, you should use a priority system; in other words, always use the best ability you can. If you don’t have an ability, obviously skip it until you get it. The order is as follows: Bloodrage>Shield Block>Concussion Blow>Revenge>Mocking Blow>Battle Shout(If down)>Heroic Strike. The only exception is if you want to save Shield Block for emergencies, or use Concussion Blow as an extra interrupt.
Now, obviously that list isn’t all you need to know about warrior. When things go bad or you have to pull multiple enemies, obviously things will change. Don’t forget to use cool-downs like Retaliation(Battle Stance), Shield Wall, and Last Stand. When damage gets too heavy, use Demoralizing Shout and Thunderclap. Don’t let Battle Shout drop off for long; use Bloodrage to start it up before you start fighting, if you need to.
Want to read more articles and guides from this author? Be sure to check out my blog, WoW Gold Spot, for all my latest tips and tricks for everything World of Warcraft related. To read about Warriors specifically, check out my farming guide for Warrior Gold.
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