I feel you. I have a prot warrior, and it does get annoying when I'm out questing and it takes forever to kill something. I have no advice to give, as I am not remotely an expert (I'm up to 70, but I mostly button mash). I'm surprised that you don't do dungeons, because I chose prot (and warrior) purely so that I could tank so queues wouldn't take nearly as long as DPS queues. I don't think prot is very good for questing. Yes, it's cool to not have to worry too much about life, and to be able to tackle guys higher or elite, and to not freak out if I'm going after one guy and two more jump on me that I didn't see... but it is kind of slow. My off spec is fury, because I like the two-hander thing, and even now that I have it, I don't use it, but that's because I get confused enough with stats as it is, trying to switch between two whole sets of weapons/armor/configuration would probably not be good. My current plan is to level my warrior to 85, probably with prot, and then move on to another character.
I button mash, as well. After the first three or four in my rotation, it's anyone's guess as to what's next. So far, it's worked, but I still feel like such a noob. :(
I also hate the thought of having to keep on hand (and keep buying) two sets of armor/weapons every few levels.
I don't do dungeons primarily because I'm so used to solo questing, I wouldn't even know where to start. I've never raided, done any battlegrounds, or any dungeon runs, ever. Part of that has to do with how I started out - I was on satellite internet, and my latency was 1200 on a good day, so I never bothered; the delay was just too much. Now, even though I've got true high-speed and my latency is fine, I'm terrified of even trying. I've heard too many horror stories of people getting cussed out, kicked, and insulted when they don't just walk into a group and know exactly what to do. Since I still consider myself to be a clueless noob, the confidence just isn't there. :(
Ohhhh, Arms has changed, as far as I know. I'd say it's the least rage starved spec. I never had a problem with rage since the second I specced it at level ten. My Arms/Fury warrior is currently level 85 and the rage is with him.
Arms is insanely quick. I never did Fury or Prot while leveling but I never had an issue taking on large groups as Arms. Kill one > Victory rush (glyph it!) > Kill next > Victory rush > etc. I'd end up with near full health after 4-6 mobs. I leveled a Blood DK and while that was fast, I found Arms even faster. It's probably the fastest spec/class I've leveled, even hunter.
You'll be fine leveling as a dps spec, that's what they're there for for hybrids! :D You'll kill things way too fast for damage to matter.
Good to know. It's hard to tell what's what now, since all the 'new' Warrior content on the web usually deals with level 80-85. It's hard to find stuff that pertains to lower levels. The stuff I could find was old (c. 2009-ish), and there was a lot of mention of Arms being rage-starved.
So, it kind of scared me off. Hearing your story is making me reconsider. I'll probably still keep Prot, but I definitely want to give Arms a shot.
As a basic rule, I do the "rotation" that's offered for higher levels, sans what I don't have yet. Unless you're dealing with a very complex spec or rotation (Marksmenship hunter comes to mind) the 85~ rotation minus the bits you don't have should down things nicely. At least for classes with resource management like Warriors, so you can keep the rage coming.
It does help to switch things up every so often. I had to go frost on my DK in the 80-85 stretch because with a low gear level killing things as a tank was just terrible.
At your level... For Arms I'd suggest: Rend > Mortal Strike > Overpower > Heroic strike with lots of rage. With charge and thunderclap to taste.
I leveled fury and death is basically never an issue. You can charge into a zillion mobs, WW + cleave away, bloodthirst heals you, fury does a ton of damage, and the second something dies, victory rush will basically heal you to full.
My advice for questing while prot is to take on as many mobs as you can handle without carking it. The reason being is that while one mob goes down frustratingly slow, 3,4,5 go down reasonably quickly and you'll have plenty of rage for cleaves. You've got devastate now so you should be using that instead of sunder armor, sunder armor goes in the bin now. You also haven't mentioned revenge in your rotation, you've got one point in improved revenge though, it should be hitting reasonably hard. You mention using overpower and execute, are you stance dancing for some reason? For gear I recommend doing dungeons. If you don't want to tank most of the gear you get while in your fury offspec can also be used for your prot leveling.
I actually tried to edit my post to throw Devastate in there, and the edit didn't take for some reason. Not in front of my desktop at the moment, and I was going strictly on memory and fatigue, but I use whatever I've got (about ten different abilities). And yes, Devastate comes after Shield Slam in my rotation.
Revenge is used in Defensive stance, correct? I've been in Battle Stance since the beginning and I don't switch; what's scared me is that I lose my rage when switching stances, correct? I know it doesn't take long to build it back up, but I just hate losing what I've got, especially in the heat of battle. :( I keep meaning to try switching stances, but I never seem to get around to it.
Overpower and Execute are both used in Battle Stance; they're there, I use them.
I try to take on as many mobs as I can, but sometimes, you just can't. They're either too far apart, or not plentiful enough. Trust me, I love taking on three or four mobs, because it gets the job done quicker. But, today, it just wasn't happening.
Hmmm, well perhaps someone knows better but I'm not sure it's as effective to be a prot warrior in battle stance? I know it has the damage penalty but some of your signature moves like revenge require you to be in that stance. With improved revenge I find it takes about half the healthy of any mob I'm attacking while questing.
If you're leveling Prot, you may as well stick (for the most part) to defensive stance. You get more benefits, including reduced damage taken, and increased threat. Especially since you can now use charge in either stance. Revenge is really one of the bread and butter of prot warriors now in the ability area, so you might want to try it out and see if it works for you. :)
I leveled prot until about 40 and the slow mob death was hugely frustrating to me. I switched to fury and frankly, never looked back. By the time you get to 85, what with heroic leap and intervene to charge your mobs with, bloodthirst, victory rush and enraged regeneration to heal you back up, and plenty of whirlwind/cleave to take all the bad guys down, I take on 4-5 mobs on at a time and kill kill with my 2-handed weapons of stabbity death. I LOVE it. Even while leveling I could take on 3-4 at a time, and rush right back into the next group. Just keep your gear up relatively well and you should be good. :) (I only say this because I am currently dungeon leveling my hunter in heroics and while it goes FAST, I had some crap DPS, only to realize half my gear was will in level 60 range --- and he's 79!! ;))
Comments 21
Reply
I also hate the thought of having to keep on hand (and keep buying) two sets of armor/weapons every few levels.
I don't do dungeons primarily because I'm so used to solo questing, I wouldn't even know where to start. I've never raided, done any battlegrounds, or any dungeon runs, ever. Part of that has to do with how I started out - I was on satellite internet, and my latency was 1200 on a good day, so I never bothered; the delay was just too much. Now, even though I've got true high-speed and my latency is fine, I'm terrified of even trying. I've heard too many horror stories of people getting cussed out, kicked, and insulted when they don't just walk into a group and know exactly what to do. Since I still consider myself to be a clueless noob, the confidence just isn't there. :(
Reply
Arms is insanely quick. I never did Fury or Prot while leveling but I never had an issue taking on large groups as Arms. Kill one > Victory rush (glyph it!) > Kill next > Victory rush > etc. I'd end up with near full health after 4-6 mobs. I leveled a Blood DK and while that was fast, I found Arms even faster. It's probably the fastest spec/class I've leveled, even hunter.
You'll be fine leveling as a dps spec, that's what they're there for for hybrids! :D You'll kill things way too fast for damage to matter.
Reply
So, it kind of scared me off. Hearing your story is making me reconsider. I'll probably still keep Prot, but I definitely want to give Arms a shot.
Reply
It does help to switch things up every so often. I had to go frost on my DK in the 80-85 stretch because with a low gear level killing things as a tank was just terrible.
At your level... For Arms I'd suggest: Rend > Mortal Strike > Overpower > Heroic strike with lots of rage. With charge and thunderclap to taste.
Reply
Reply
Getting lots of good input, thanks. :)
Reply
You've got devastate now so you should be using that instead of sunder armor, sunder armor goes in the bin now. You also haven't mentioned revenge in your rotation, you've got one point in improved revenge though, it should be hitting reasonably hard. You mention using overpower and execute, are you stance dancing for some reason?
For gear I recommend doing dungeons. If you don't want to tank most of the gear you get while in your fury offspec can also be used for your prot leveling.
Reply
Revenge is used in Defensive stance, correct? I've been in Battle Stance since the beginning and I don't switch; what's scared me is that I lose my rage when switching stances, correct? I know it doesn't take long to build it back up, but I just hate losing what I've got, especially in the heat of battle. :( I keep meaning to try switching stances, but I never seem to get around to it.
Overpower and Execute are both used in Battle Stance; they're there, I use them.
I try to take on as many mobs as I can, but sometimes, you just can't. They're either too far apart, or not plentiful enough. Trust me, I love taking on three or four mobs, because it gets the job done quicker. But, today, it just wasn't happening.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment