Warrior Leveling Secrets of a Hardcore Underground Agent

Warrior Leveling Strengths & Weaknesses:

As a fighter the number one strength of class is in being tough melee, when the going gets bad you can pull out a sword and board and live where others would surely fail. However there is a common misconception that Warriors are the hardest targets on the battlefield, this is not the case, warriors thrive with the help of support classes. Strategic play is key, find a healer and protect them, learn how to prioritize targets and how to reduce damage to your allies. Even if you are playing as a damage dealing fighter you can still take steps to help control a fight like disarming the most dangerous foes or using intimating shout. In a pinch you can even run in and take a hit for a friend. The Warriors weakness, is that they fall pray easily when alone and fighting those who wield the powers of Magic.

Warrior Leveling 101: Talents.

There are a few different approaches you can use to level quickly as a warrior, the quickest is to pick a damage dealing focused talent build and to solo quest as well as grind occasionally. However for those who want to gain a true understanding of the classes potential then you might consider leveling as a tank; character who defends the group, taking the brunt of the enemies assault) tanking is by far the harder path, but you will make good friends and earn a positive reputation in ways that would elude other players.

If you choose the path of a damage dealing fighter then there is a clear choice as early as level 20 Arms (Based around tactical play and large two handed weapons) or Fury ( a rage fueled killing machine based on a savage unrelenting wall of attacks ). Each school of fighting philosophy has its strengths and failings. Arms is a balanced approach that will get you the highest damage singular blows possible, big numbers are always great for morale, it also allows for the frequent use of the overpower attack, which when glyphed becomes one of the best attacks available for quick experience gain.

Fury on the other hand while starting off in clearly weaker than arms grows quickly in popularity when you have enough talent points to get Bloodthirst, an attack which heals you and does good damage; with Bloodthirst glyphed it is possible to solo quest and grind without stopping to eat or bandage for hours, a fine choice for speedy leveling.

Choosing Equipment:

The Warrior is arguably the most equipment dependent of all classes in WoW, you live or die by the keenness of your blade and the thickness of your plate. When you are deciding on stats at early levels the priority looks something like, Strength, Stamina, Agility (Agil is replaced by Critical Strike rating in higher level gear) This is assuming you are leveling as a damage dealing warrior. As a Protection warrior Defense rating and Stamina, followed by Strength. When purchasing green quality leveling equipment look for plate (or mail before level 40) “of the Bear, or the Monkey” after level 60 look for items “of the Soldier”. For prot Warrior leveling at early levels “of the Bear” or just plain “of Stamina” are good choices, later on items “of the Champion” are perfectly balanced tanking items for leveling protection Warriors.

General Combat Tactics:

I won’t be telling you exactly what moves to use and in what order because soon, in the cataclysm expansion to WoW there will be massive changes including an overhaul of the rage mechanic, a bonus for reaching full rage, variable rage cost in attacks; it is impossible to predict what attack rotations will be used in the coming months and years. For now though there are some old tips that can be very helpful: Don’t overuse Heroic Strike!, right now this move has a hidden rage cost, not only does it use the default fifteen rage but it prevents you from gaining rage on your next attack; this hidden cost ads up thirty or more rage per Heroic Strike! Another thing is that even though you may be playing a damage dealing warrior doesn’t mean you can’t use pummel and interrupt hostile spells, or thunderclap and help non warrior tanks mitigate damage. Another tip is that even if you aren’t going to be a full time tank, always have a suitable one handed weapon and shield on hand, you never know when the main tank will have his hands full and you might need to take matters into your own hands and protect the healer. Make sure to be a team player!