Warrior Leveling Guide

Warrior Guide

Warriors are one of the biggest stereotypes in any MMO. They are the class that stands by and takes the damage while the Mages and Hunters and Priests stand back and do their thing. So, most people don’t have the slightest clue how to level them. Trust me, I was one of those ignorant few. It’s not as hard as people want you to think it is though – these guys are not necessarily built just to stand around and take a beating.

To make things easier on you, here are a few tips to help outline exactly what it takes to build the ultimate Warrior – you know the one – that big, stoic master of the sword who everyone tippy toes around. Yeah, that will be you.

Introduction to Leveling a Warrior

So you want to be a warrior. That probably means you’re interested in being a tank when you reach level 80 and start playing around in end-game content. But, that doesn’t get you to Level 80. This is a class that can be dang hard to level if you don’t know how to spec, gear, and set up your character from step one on.

You need to have a grasp of the stances that your class should be using – are you up for a Battle, standing back, or just going apes%*t on your enemies for some major damage? Then you need to master the intricacies of AoE threat, all the cool attacks that can be done from just about any angle with a Warrior and how to incapacitate and ultimately destroy those enemies in just a few heavy swings. Do that and this class is going to be nearly unstoppable. You ready? Alright, let’s go.

Choosing a Race

The Warrior is one of the most open classes in the game when it comes to choosing a race. When Cataclysm hits, all 12 races will be able to play as this class, allowing anyone, regardless of size or demeanor to pick up the sword and board and tank for their class. For now, the numbers are only slightly less, leaving out the lonely Blood Elves from the Warrior Ranks.

As for picking a class that fits for your Warrior, there are a ton of options here. Personally, I steer away from a few select races that don’t really “fit” the Warrior, such as the Gnomes, Night Elves, and Forsaken. If you’re in need of some more direct guidance here are my thoughts on each faction.

Alliance

Alliance gets everyone – you can choose from all 5 races (soon to be 6) for this class. So which is best? Honestly, I’d say your best set with Humans or Dwarfs on this side. Just take a look at the direct bonuses you’re getting with a Human – mainly the Sword and Mace spec boost. You also get a pretty nifty PvP boost that can help detect Stealth characters. Dwarfs get the always awesome Stoneform to reduce Poison and Bleed Damage (and boost armor), though their resistances and gun spec is pretty useless. You can carry an extra ranged weapon, but why? Draenei are always good too because of Gift of the Naaru – a self-heal for a Warrior? Sign me up.

Horde

Let’s flip to the other faction and see who rocks on the Horde side. Blood Elves are out – at least for now. So that leaves Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, and Forsaken. Of the four, Orcs are by far the best – hands down. You get an Axe Spec that boosts expertise by 5, Hardiness to reduce stun duration and Blood Fury to ratchet up the Attack Power all the way to Level 80.

Of the other races, Trolls and Taurens can do well as Warriors too. Trolls have a nifty Berserking racial that boosts attack speed by 20% for 10 seconds and Regeneration is a huge boost to stay alive during PvP and boss fights. Forsaken are always good for pretty much any of the classes, because of Will of the Forsaken and Cannibalize (a nice  boon to speed up solo leveling).

The Early Levels

Starting with a Warrior kind of sucks. You can’t do much of anything in those first few vital levels, like most of the other classes. You have one stance, two attacks and no way to get away from the enemies you fight. So, when you’re not quite level 10 yet, you’d better get used to doing some serious damage with what you have and not picking fights that are going to get you sent on a corpse run (and there are a LOT of those to look out for).

Here’s the thing about Warriors though – you cannot get away with the lazy, quest only armor upgrades that pretty much every class uses. You need to get every skill and every armor upgrade as it becomes available because you are so highly dependent on those stats. If you fall more than 5 levels behind on gear or 3 levels behind on skills, good luck catching back up because you’re about to become a piñata for the mobs out there.

When you hit Level 20, you’re going to want to snag Dual Wield too – this is going to severely boost your rage generation and while the big critical are cut down, that rage will make your job much easier with all but the most obnoxious of mobs and bosses.

Gear and Weapons

Warriors only need a couple of really important stats. Ignore Intellect and Spirit, they don’t do anything for you. Ignore Agility and Spell Power. Instead, focus on Strength, Attack Power, and Critical Hit. These three stats are going to be the bread and butter of how you go from Level 1 to 80 in as little time as possible. Because we’re going to set you up in a spec that focuses on doing damage rather than avoiding it, your best bet is going to be to learn how to hit hard rather than stop the hitting.

Stamina is a good stat too, but for the most part any gear that caters to a warrior is already going to have plenty of this on it to start with, so you probably don’t need to worry much about going out to get more of it. I have a particular liking for getting those attack stats up myself and don’t worry about Stamina. The trade off of course is that you cannot take on five or six mobs and expect to live it down. You’re going to get pummeled. But, when you take on any single mob, you’ll spank that puppy back to Hades with the strength you build up.

Forget the shield and focus on getting your character a nice big 2H Sword, Mace or Axe that can hit for mega damage. You want the slowest, most powerful thing you can find for this purpose. Remember, less strokes that hit harder – that’s how to do this thing.

At level 40, make sure to upgrade any gear that has not yet been boosted to the appropriate level – you’ll probably have a couple of slots to think about. Otherwise, just farm away and you’ll be good.

Talent Specs

Fury is the way to go with a good Warrior. It focuses very intently on getting you as much possible damage as possible with a whole lot of criticals (even with dual wield) and a flurry buff all the way up to Titan’s Grip at Level 61. Here’s a build that is focused almost entirely on getting you to the point where no one will stand more than a few seconds when you get started (which is nice for everyone involved).

Warrior Leveling Guide Tips to Making Gold

I love gold as much as the next guy, but there are no specialties in the Warrior class to making gold – as much as I wish there were. Soloing high level content is tougher than nails because of your survivability issues and farming in the wild isn’t any easier than it is for anyone else.

So, for a good Warrior, the basics are the same as for any other class. Load up on farming professions like mining and herbalism and loot every node you see throughout the game as you go along. Hit the mountains and the plains whenever you go through and you’ll be able to keep your level up and eventually load up on some serious gold in the process.

I don’t have a whole lot more to add. Get some bag space early, tag an auction house alt and sell a LOT of ore and herbs – you’ll have plenty of gold just doing that to get you through to Level 80 content.

Top 10 Warrior Leveling Guide Tips and Tricks

1. Spec Properly

Warriors are an incredibly particular class, especially when it comes to your talent specialization. If you choose the wrong talent at any given point in time, it can become very hard to maintain your leveling speed all the way up to 80. Trust me on this one – stick to the plan. You’ll thank me later.

1. Don’t Take On Too Many at Once

I know the feeling – you want glory, and a whole lot of loot from that gaggle of mobs, but don’t do it. Don’t go running in headlong and expect to come out in piece because, unlike a Paladin, you can’t heal yourself all that well. You may have some fancy Plate armor with ridiculously high stats, but even then 10 low level mobs can scratch you into the dirt if you’re not careful.

1. Get the Right Gear

Pick up the right gear at the right levels. Every 5 levels or so, make sure every piece on you has been replaced. Warriors are super gear dependent (unfortunately), so this is a must.

1. Get Your Level 20 and Level 40 Mounts

Want to level faster? Get a mount to move around better. There are mounts available at Levels 20 and 40 for a decent price. Start saving early though because this is an expensive class in general.

1. Use All of Your Stances

There are three stances and while you may only need one most of the time, don’t forget about the other two. Some abilities will only show up in one stance – so it’s good to have a clear idea of how to rotate effectively.

1. Snag Some Good Glyphs

Glyphs are good, especially with a class that can pump out so much damage in the right conditions. Any glyph that boosts general attack power and your ability to slow down your enemy is a good one.

1. Use Your Crowd Control Often

You’ve got a few good attacks to slow down and incapacitate the enemy. Use them often. Use your hamstring and your Whirlwind to keep the enemy still and not doing all that much damage to you.

1. Aim for BIG Hits

The bigger the better. While you’ll be switching out for dual wielding at Level 20, you still want to maximize the damage, so get the slowest 1H swords you can find with the highest damage ranges. This way, you can take home the rage and the damage – the best of both worlds.

1. AoE Threat Will Keep You Alive

I love AoE, and while the Warrior is playing with fire by using it on purpose to manage the enemies, you can still get quite a bit of damage out there if you’re inundated by 3 or 4 mobs at once. Use it wisely and your character will thank you.

1. Have A LOT of Food on Hand

Downtime is the real killer when it comes to leveling a Warrior. With no self heal (unless you’re a Draenei), you’re stuck eating a lot of food. Make sure to have the stashes you need on hand to keep from running low on health (or worse – having to sit around and wait for regeneration).