Arms Warrior leveling guide
Heavy swings with a two-handed weapon and a steady supply of Rage. How the Arms talents play from level 10 to 60.
On this page7 sections
At a glanceOur pickOpinion, not confirmed by BlizzardOur reading of the Arms talent text, not a tested rotation.
- Build at level 60
- 31/20/0 (31 Arms, 20 Fury)
- 16-point milestone
- Spearing Strike, level 25
- Last Arms talent
- Mortal Strike, level 40
- In a group
- Damage
- Our first choice for leveling a Warrior
- This tree
How Arms plays
- Arms is a two-handed weapon tree. This build fixes Rage first, then adds damage.
- A fight starts with Charge, which Improved Charge turns into 6 more Rage, and Anger Management then adds 1 Rage every 3 sec for as long as you stay in combat.
- The damage is Bleeds and critical strikes: Improved Rend raises the Bleed from Rend, Deep Wounds adds a second Bleed whenever you land a critical strike, and Improved Overpower gives Overpower 50% more critical strike chance.
- From Sweeping Strikes on, your next 5 melee attacks also hit a second enemy nearby, so pulling two at a time starts to pay.
- Mortal Strike, the last talent, is an instant strike on a 6 sec cooldown, worth saving Rage for.
What to press first
Most important first. Not a rotation.
- 1
Open every pull with Charge
Improved Charge adds 6 Rage to each Charge, so the first ability comes straight away.
- 2
Keep Rend on the target
Improved Rend raises the Bleed damage Rend does.
- 3
Lean on Overpower
Improved Overpower gives it 50% more critical strike chance, and from Deep Wounds on each critical strike starts another Bleed.
- 4
Keep Sweeping Strikes for a second enemy
Sweeping Strikes makes your next 5 melee attacks strike an additional nearby opponent, on a 30 sec cooldown.
- 5
Hold Spearing Strike for Giants, Dragonkin and mounted targets
Spearing Strike deals an additional 80% weapon damage against them.
- 6
Use Mortal Strike whenever it is ready
Mortal Strike is back every 6 sec and cuts healing on the target by 50% for 10 sec.
Talents that change how you play · 8
From Improved Charge at level 15 to Unbridled Wrath at 46.
The level is when our build first takes the talent.
- Levels 15–16
Charge gives more Rage, so each fight starts with something to spend.
- Level 22
Rage keeps arriving during a fight, and 30% less of it drains away between fights.
- Level 25
Spearing Strike16-point milestone
A new button: an instant strike on a 20 sec cooldown that hits hardest against Giants, Dragonkin and mounted targets.
- Levels 26–28
Critical strikes start leaving a Bleed, so critical strike chance is worth more from here.
- Level 31
Two enemies at once becomes the better pull.
- Levels 35–39
Your weapon's type starts to matter: an axe, a mace and a sword each get something different.
- Level 40
Mortal Strike becomes the strike you build Rage for.
- Levels 46–50
Unbridled WrathFury
Weapon hits start returning Rage as well, 2 Rage a time with a two-handed weapon.
Gear to look for
What the talents reward on items, and items that carry it.
- A two-handed weapon, from the first level to the last: Two-Handed Weapon Specialization raises its damage, and Unbridled Wrath's extra Rage is larger with one.
- Its type decides what Weaponmaster gives: critical strike chance for an axe or polearm, armor ignored for a mace or staff, a chance of an extra attack for a sword.
- Critical strike chance feeds two talents here, Deep Wounds and Impale.
Opinion, not confirmed by BlizzardItems that carry what these talents name.
Levels 10-20
Two-hand mace · 16 DPS, 4 Strength, 7 Stamina
Quest: Old Ironforge Incursion, choose 1 of 3 · The Hall of Thanes, levels 13-18 Alliance
Groups and dungeons
In a group: damage. New group talents before 3 dungeons.
In a group these talents support damage.
- The Arms talents in this build add damage and Rage. None of them mentions threat, so in a dungeon this is a damage build.
- Sweeping Strikes suits packs, and Mortal Strike's 50% cut to healing matters on enemies that heal themselves.
New group talents by the time each dungeon opens
Strengths and trade-offs
3 strengths, 2 trade-offs.
Strengths
- Rage is dealt with early: Improved Charge and Anger Management are both in the build by level 22.
- The whole build runs off one weapon, so there is one thing to upgrade.
- Two enemies at once is comfortable from Sweeping Strikes on.
Trade-offs
- None of the Arms talents this build takes adds health, armor or avoidance. The first self-healing is Blood Craze in Fury, from level 51.
- Five points go into Improved Tactical Mastery to open Anger Management, and the Rage it keeps only matters when you change stances.
Compare this build
Keep reading
Sources and what isn't confirmed
Unconfirmed: reported, not confirmed by Blizzard
- Per-rank values of Improved Rend, which the build takes at levels 10 to 12
- The Hall of Thanes being open to the Alliance only
- The items under Gear to look for, and their stats, as public coverage reports them
Not announced
- Stat weights
- A leveling talent order from Blizzard
Sources
- Beta 1.60.1 talent data: every sentence about how the tree plays is read from the Arms talent text. Nothing here is a published guide or a tested rotation
- Warcraft Tavern, 19 Sep 2026: the items under Gear to look for, and where each comes from
- Warcraft Tavern's Forever Warrior guide: which armor and weapons a Warrior can use, and from what level
Updated . Talent data: beta 1.60.1. Details can change in any later build or patch.