Build Shop: Warrior 17/41/3
by Eliah Hecht 
Apr 24th 2007 at 7:46PM
Since Build Shop debuted, I've probably gotten more Fury Warrior builds than any other specific tree. So let's look at one. Thirx, of Eldre'Thalas, wearies of his current "hohum MS/ot build," and tossed me this gem, along with a MS/Flurry build that I won't be posting, since I only have space for one build, and I like Fury better. This build is for PvE damage, according to the author's description. Let's see what we can find.
Due to Blizzard's decision to put the remnants of Tactical Mastery in the Protection tree, this particular distribution of talents -- 17 in Arms, 41 in Fury, and 3 in Prot -- is pretty much a given for any deep-Fury build. A point or two may move from Arms to Fury, but in general, Rampage is too good to pass up, TM is still a necessity (even though it's partially trainable), and that just leaves 17 for Arms.
Looking at Arms first, we start out with 5/5 Deflection. Not only is more parry always handy (1% less incoming damage per talent point), but as Thirx points out, "Imp rend is nigh useless (so many bleed immune mobs) and I don't use heroic strike much because it's not an instant and steals rage away." 6 more rage from Imp Charge is nice, though 3 rage points per charge per talent point seems kind of weak -- I might be tempted to go 5/5 Iron Will and 1/2 Imp Charge instead, or even move that one point up to Imp HS.
Deep Wounds is decent by itself, although not as nice as it is with a big 2h. It's also a requirement for Impale, so it makes sense to take it here. And I suppose Anger Management is nice for more rage all the time, although not ever having taken it on my Warrior (who's only in the 40s somewhere), this is one talent that I have no idea how much impact it actually has. Still, it's not like there's very much competition in this area of the talent trees.
And since we're cutting Arms short due to TM in Prot, we end Arms with 2/2 Impale. This is a very nice talent these days (I seem to remember it being not nearly so good a few revisions back); 220% damage crits are nice indeed (and overcharged crits are something this build shares with last week's Mage build).
I'm going to skip over to Prot now, so we can save the bulk of this build for last. Prot's simple enough: 3/3 Tactical Mastery. In soloing, this lets us keep all the rage we get from charging when we switch from Battle to Berserker stance, which is pretty big. Even if you only switch stances once per fight, this talent saves up to 5 rage per talent point. Handy indeed. And stance-dancing is often necessary when things go wrong, whether soloing or in groups, to get off that Thunderclap or Disarm or whatever.
Honestly, even though I'm fairly committed to leveling my Warrior as full Fury until Rampage, I do feel a little gimped without TM. The devs have said that they basically put TM in Prot in order to nerf MS/Flurry builds, even though it's totally out of place in that tree; I wish they'd left TM alone in Arms and nerfed Flurry instead (which they ended up doing in 2.1 anyway). And really, if they were going to move TM, Fury is the natural place for it, the tree that deals with rage generation. Ah well, I doubt TM is moving back or becoming completely trainable any time soon. (On the other hand, I would have said the same thing about Imp Sap before I saw the 2.1 notes.)
Alright then. Whining about TM over, time to move on to Fury, full of nice and vicious talents. Starting out strong with Cruelty -- you'd have to be crazy to skip this if you were putting any points in Fury. Unbridled Wrath for more and more Rage, which we will put to good use later; it's not a huge boost, but Imp. Demo. Shout is ridiculously weak. Then we finally have some real choices to make: Commanding Presence, Blood Craze, and Piercing Howl (Cleave is not going to be used much for a Fury build, so Imp Cleave isn't really in the running).
Piercing Howl is nice, but more of a PvP thing (it is also very handy for the Big Bad Wolf in Karazhan). Blood Craze looks decent on the face of things -- health loss is a Warrior's only downside in solo PvE, and this helps offset that -- but pales when you realize that one doesn't get crit all too often by mobs, and the regeneration is extremely low. Assuming mobs have a crit rate of 5% and an attack speed of 2.0, and you don't have any defense or resilience gear on so that isn't reduced by anything, Blood Craze regenerates 1.5% of your health per point per minute. Iffy at best. (This talent would shine, on the other hand, in PvP, I reckon.)
So Commanding Presence it is then. With max rank Battle Shout, the bonus for 5/5 Commanding Presence is 76.25 AP, which works out to around 5.4 DPS -- about 1 DPS per talent point to white damage, and various boosts to yellow damage as well. Specifically, you'll get an extra 34 to your Bloodthirst, and if you hit that every time it's up as I imagine you would, that's 5.7 more DPS or another 1 or so per talent point, for a sum of a bit over 2 DPS per point. Not too shabby, and much better than it seems at first once you take into account that Bloodthirst is directly based on AP.
The next talent choices are easy. Enrage isn't great, suffering from Blood Craze's weakness of only activating when you get crit, but it's a requirement for Flurry, so there's no question about taking it. Flurry is undoubtedly the centerpiece of the Fury tree. And Dual Wield Spec, while not as powerful as the Rogue version (the Rogue version is overpowered, honestly), is still pretty decent.
In case you don't believe me, some hypothetical numbers ensue. About 50% of your damage is white damage, probably. Since the off-hand does half the damage of the main hand, assuming you have equal DPS weapons in each hand, the off-hand will represent a third of your white damage. DW Spec boosts that by 5% per talent point. 50% * 33% * 5% = 0.825% increase in DPS per talent point, which is close enough for me. And besides, Imp Execute is only okay.
The next tier is again a no-brainer; Death Wish is required for Bloodthirst and Rampage, and not half bad besides (especially in a group DPS position where you won't be taking much damage). And then we get to Flurry, yay! Modeling exactly how much of a damage boost Flurry gives is a little beyond me. Fortunately, I have it on good information that most Fury Warriors have Flurry up almost all the time, which makes it very easy to model: a 6% increase in white damage per talent point (nerfed to 5% per point in 2.1). 3% (or 2.5%) more DPS per talent point
is great in anyone's book.
Blood Thirst, formerly the pinnacle of Fury, is still a rather nice talent (unlike many other 31 point talents, which look much weaker now in comparison to new talents). Another instant attack in a Fury Warrior's arsenal is nice, since at this point you'll probably have more rage than you know what to do with, and this one is rage-efficient enough to become, as Thirx points out, "the bread and butter attack used to deal damage with this spec." The small heal afterwards is just icing.
3/3 Precision because no-one likes to miss; this should help raise the crit cap as well, I believe. Imp Berserker Stance is a nice talent in this position, a straight boost to what a Fury Warrior is all about: damage. At 1200 AP, 2% per point nets you 24 AP per talent point, a much bigger boost than Commanding Presence (1.7 more white DPS, and 10.8 more point to your BT, which is another 1.8 dps). Solid.
And finally, Rampage is a talent I don't have much personal experience with, but it looks like it should synergize well with Flurry: get a crit, gain AP as well as attack speed, hit faster and harder. Sounds good, and most Fury warriors seem to take it, so I'll assume it's worthwhile in its current state (it's been buffed considerably since its introduction).
Well, that's about the size of it. Looks like a nice straightforward build to me, although I have some doubts about whether Imp Execute or Imp Whirlwind might have been worth taking, as well as Imp HS. However, I don't have enough experience, as I've said, with Warriors' special attacks to really be able to tell. Thanks to Thirx for sending in this one, and do remember to mail your builds to buildshop@wow.com (Wowhead or Armory links, and be sure to include a description of your goals with the build, as well as rationale if you so desire). Anyway, it's not all about me. Since I got so many Fury builds, I know there must be a few of you Fury Warriors out there -- what do you think of this build?
Filed under: Warrior, Features, Talents, Build Shop
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tibbsy Apr 24th 2007 8:56PM
This is a very standard fury build for pve damage. Some fury warriors, particularly raid dps warriors, often wanted to take the Impale line because it offered substantial crit bonus damage, but they were forced not to by their guilds because Deep Wounds took up a valuable debuff slot on raid mobs.
The choice to max out Imp Charge, to me, is viable because rage generation off the bat can make the difference between getting certain attacks off or not: consider the MS build, where a warrior needs 30 rage to use it. The 6 rage that Imp Charge generates goes a long way, especially if you miss your first hit. The lack of MS makes it less viable for arena pvp (where mitigating healer abilities while nuking is key), but it's still very strong in world pvp.
In the Fury tree, there's some flexibility after the 10 point mark. Cruelty and Unbridled Wrath are typically no-brainers for dual-wielding warriors. After that, it's a bit of a toss-up depending on what weapons you prefer: Piercing Howl and 4 in Commanding Presence for dual-wielders, and Piercing Howl, full Imp Cleave and the difference in Commanding Presence for 2h-fury. Piercing Howl is more for pvp, but there are many instances where an AoE snare provides valuable time for the caster zone or squishies to increase distance in instances. Imp Cleave has solid pve usage especially when combined with Sweeping Strikes from the Arms tree. Enrage is a no-brainer here: it's a key component to the Fury tree, despite the nerf that it's receiving in 2.1 (Enrage/Death Wish no longer stacking). The next 5 points are actually more preference. Improved Intercept is extremely valuable and worth the 2 points, as it will cut the cooldown time by 33%: that IS significant no matter how you cut it, whether in world pvp, arena pvp or even instances when you get aggro-wiped by a mob. 2h fury overlook this talent all the time, but Imp Slam IS very much worth the points - I've used it in pvp and in pve and it's amazing. Yes Slam has a casting time of 1.5 sec. No it cannot be interrupted. And no mobs do not run away from you while you're casting it. What does that add up to? Your 2hander - mine has a 3.7 sec attack speed - is now mashing the guy every 1.5 sec. That's huge for rage-dumping. For my warr, that Slam crits for over 2k when I'm enraged. All that said, DW spec will still serve dual-wielding warrs very well. The rest of the tree is largely no-brainer. Death Wish and then filling out Flurry, then filling out Precision for DWers or Imp Whirlwind for 2h Fury. Imp zerker stance is another solid talent for any fury warrior. Finally, Rampage: well, you wouldn't go this far down the fury tree and NOT take it.
Tactical mastery adds flexibility to the warrior and is also very common in most pvp builds, where stance dancing is vital to using various abilities at the right opportunities.
I like this build and it would be one of my first choices if I were going the dual-wield dps route.
Hoss Apr 24th 2007 9:00PM
I am a bit puzzled by your logic. I got only half way through reading your post and immediately knew you have never end game raided.
Though the build is okay for Fury DPS, the only thing in the Arms tree that you are going to benefit from is Impale, and since you have to go 17 points deep in it, it really doesn’t matter where you put the points. Because in terms of DPS, there isn’t a single thing there that will benefit you.
I would recommend taking points out of Iron Will and placing them in Imp Thunder Clap. Why? Because you will never use Iron Will in PvE and heck, being able to keep thunder clap down for the tank used to be your roll as a DPS warrior, but now it is just a courtesy. It’s utility, plain and simple.
Why the points in Imp Charge? Seriously, 9/10 you will be put in combat after the pull anyways, and you have to let the tank get aggro before you go balls outs. I don’t even bother. I just approach the mob in zerker stance after the tank has secured aggro and pop bloodrage and begin to DPS. Walla, theres your extra rage!
Like you I will save fury for last. Why the imp TM? Seriously, I am netting close to 15-20 rage per swing. Why in the world will I ever need to stance dance out of zerker stance? To over power? Come on, you don’t even have Imp Over Power. Worthless. Not that I am suggesting putting points in it, but rather never dance out of zerker stance when DPS. That simple. Again, Imp TM is not required at all. You rage generation is far too good already to even think about dancing.
On to Fury. I love how you talk yourself out of the other talents on the same tier as Commanding Presence. Seriously, if you don’t get this as a fury dps warrior then you should delete your toon. There is no other option. Blood Craze has always been a lack luster talent that I think no build should ever have. Piercing howl is a wonderful talent, and one I am always trying to fit in my builds. Again, this is utility and a damn fine snare. For 1 point, I would be willing to sacrifice a point in precision. On the same tier I don’t understand why you don’t get Imp Cleave. The bonus dmg puts it on par if not better than Heroic Strike. You mentioned that On-Next-Attack abilities were shun from because they do not produce rage. Well, how the heck do you rage dump when you are at 100 rage, BT and WW are on cool down and your hamstring spamming? Heroic Strike? No! Too much threat gets generated by HS and as a warrior we have no aggro dropping abilities. This leaves Cleave, and a very powerful rage dump ability at that. Get it, use it wisely and never look back.
The last thing that I will mention that drove me up the wall is when you mentioned that "Imp Execute is only okay.". Are you mad? This is one of the best talents in the whole tree. Being able to spam execute every time it is up yields insane dps. I just can’t emphasize how wonderful of a talent this is and how much more dmg you will be generating with this. The one thing you have to understand about fury warriors is that we absolutely cannot wait for the boss to get to 20%. Popping reck, deathwish, and what ever else we have to maximize our dmg to spam execute gives us tingles all over. Bottom line, you NEED imp execute for serious raiding.
Other optional talents that I am very fond of are Imp Blood Rage and Imp Zerker Rage. Both very nice for when you have rage dry spells.
Personally, I run with a 0/47/14 build. I am usually always the off tank and always in the top 2 for dps. Let me tell you what you are getting for 17 points in Arms, Impale. Let me tell you what you could do with those 17 points. Get more DPS, and utility/survivability. Here is the build.
Fury PvE DPS/Off Tank Build
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=pZVVdVgxoidVobht0h
If you use this build to its fullest potential, it will yeild higher numbers.
Eliah Hecht Apr 24th 2007 9:17PM
Hoss: Yes, I certainly have never raided with a Warrior. I put in somewhere that my Warrior is 40-something. I'm going on pure theory a lot here, which is why I ask people like you who know what you're doing to give some actual data ^_^
As far as Imp Execute...I'm still going to conclude that it's nice in groups, but fairly worthless for solo play, and I read this build as somewhat solo-oriented (though that may not be an accurate reading).
Scalin Apr 24th 2007 10:35PM
I don't know why it displays me as Scalin when I use the password this site gave me, but it's Thirx, the one and only, author of this build.
@ Hoss.
Yes, arms to Impale is nice for a dps build, including the great 20/31 fury builds of old that'd get Impale. Imp TC? Umm, ok, if you want to be useful for other people but useless for solo'ing. Iron Will is mainly a PvP talent, I realize, but I'd rather dump points into something that could help me. TC now causes extra threat, so usually the tank should be the one spamming it. Imp Charge and TM? For playing SOLO. You don't spend all your time in this game on end-game raids. There's the fun fun real-world rep farming, mat grinding, so on and so forth. I'd rather have 16 rage when I dance over to zerker stance, and be able to keep all 16 than just 10.
On to fury. Piercing Howl? In zerker stance, you have hamstring, and if it's your job to keep all of the mobs from running, you need to go up and bonk a warlock on the head (amazing how many of them forget they have Curse of Recklessness that stops mobs from fleeing). It's mainly used for PvP, and the other build I submitted (31/30 arms/fury, for PvP) did have it. It's sort of a waste as is for PvE content. I'd rather max out precision, at least for now, so I can concentrate on +crit gear (getting to +12% hit is hard to do if you still want to be able to do damage). I can almost see taking 1 point out of it for Piercing Howl, but trading a PvE talent for a PvP one...in a PvE build...seems contradictory. Imp Cleave? I'd rather sit on extra rage while waiting for cooldowns than spend points here. Or, hell, if I'm really wanting to rage dump anyway, I can spam it untalented to nearly the same results.
I'll say it again: Imp Execute is only "ok". 5 less rage means an extra 105 damage, or 210 added onto a crit. Nice, sure, but DW spec adds more over all damage. If I were worried about burst (that's what Execute is, megaburst), I'd stay MS. It has extra damage, sure, but that's only if you're in a group/raid setting. Truth be told, I never execute while solo'ing, because I'd rather save that rage to refresh my BS.
Now, on to your build. You're usually the offtank, without 5% parry? Umm, ok. OT without 5% block? Must be a mana sponge. Improve Zerker rage/bloodrage? Didn't you say that you never had a problem with rage (in your reason why behind TM was useless)? Why would you need that if rage is so forthcoming?
Now the thing I really have a problem with. Top 2, in dps? Are there no rogues or mages? I can understand a very well geared warrior doing more than a lock, maybe even a feral druid, but mages, even moreso those fun PoM/pyro mages, can put out so much damage, and right out of the gate. Think in order to believe this, I'm gonna have to see an Armory link.
Brad Apr 24th 2007 11:14PM
wooo hooo!!! hey guys can i join this penis waving contest as well and make a long drawn out post about how my way of doing things is better and if you don't agree with me your a child hungry pedophile.
syco Apr 25th 2007 6:21PM
I have a number of problems with this build, but most are personal preferance, so all i'll say is that tactical mastery really isnt that usfull for a pure raid dps spec, but if you do really wanna get it for whatever reason, it makes no sence whatsoever to not get imp overpower.
Matt Rossi Apr 25th 2007 1:29AM
People are forgetting the real utility of Imp Thunderclap is for tanking/offtanking multiple mobs. 20% slow? Yes please. Basically, Imp TC is a tanking talent, and if you ever do any tanking with an off spec like this one, a damn important one as it will considerably lower the damage you take: if you don't have a lot of protection talents, anything that simultaneously generates agg for you and lowers the damage you take is a beautiful thing.
My fury warrior is level 68 (I have a level 70 human protection spec and a level 70 tauren arms spec) and he HAS rampage, but I don't like it so far: my tauren can often put out just as much if not more DPS with impale, deep wounds and blood frenzy. I generally go with 2h weapons over DW, though, just a personal perference.
In general this isn't a spec I would take myself, but it's an interesting one to look at. I tend to think that any warrior should be a competent tank at the bare minimum, and I like to try and get defiance and last stand no matter what my build is. But if you're going for pure DPS, this isn't a bad one.
nea Apr 25th 2007 3:50AM
"And really, if they were going to move TM, Fury is the natural place for it, the tree that deals with rage generation."
Fury a natural place for tactical mastery? What does have FURY, going out as a BERSERKER, MINDLESS smashing things have in common with TACTICS? And no, Fury is not the tree that deals with rage generation, both arms (anger management, second wind and, erm, ENDLESS RAGE maybe?) and prot have their own rage generating talents.
Just my 2 cents.
ysona Apr 25th 2007 5:25AM
hoss speaks the truth. pretty much sums up my response...
if you want to be fury dps, you gotta have all your talents point to just that... otherwise you will never compete for a dps raid spot with other ''more suited'' classes.
its challenging to be at the top as a fury warrior - and the starting point for this is your spec
Calgar Apr 25th 2007 9:25AM
Agreed with Hoss as well. As a DPS warrior you have to work your butt off to justify your raid spot (I should know...18/43/0 for months now...topping the damage meters barring a good rogue performance).
If you want to raid as a DPS warrior here's some tips.
1. Learn to tank. Sad but true. Too many warriors just want to DPS because they are terrible at tanking. DPS IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM RESPONSIBILTY!! Your tanking gear should be as good as your DPS gear, as you WILL be called on to tank frequently.
2. Forget about PvP. There's no room in a PvE DPS spec for PvP considerations if you want to justify your spot in a min/max raid.
3. Talents;
- Iron will; worthless
- Imp charge/heroic strike/overpower; all poor talents for a DPS spec. That said, you have to put points in somewhere to get deeper in the tree. I like imp overpower personally. Start a fight in battle stance, put up battle shout, demo shout, Tclap and use overpower to get rampage up. It's an excellent way to help the tank get setup without generating a heap of early agro.
- Imp Thunderclap; Talk to your MT, if he has it, put the points in imp heroic strike. Imp Thunderclap proves more melee mitigation then wearing a shield generally!
- Piercing Howl; You can make a case for it, but i don't like it personally. Earthbind/frostnova/frost trap does a better job in a group setting IMO.
- Imp cleave; Meh, better spot for points elsewhere IMO.
- Imp execute; I went a long time without this and just picked it up about 3 weeks ago. It's good, there's no arguing that, but it's almost TOO good. Reck/death wish/execute spam is insane agro. It's like a 20 second burst of 2000+ dps and often results with me dying at 3-5%.
- Imp bloodrage/intercept/whirlwind; if only i had the points to spare. Better spent elsewhere IMO. Rage is never an issue, you aren't going to waste points on intercept generally and the whirlwind improvement, while nice, doesn't justify the points.
- Rampage; You are already 40 points in the tree, why not get it? Weak ability though.
- Tactical Mastery; Had it FOREVER, and dumped it 3 weeks ago. I don't miss it at all. Rage generation ATM is enough to overcome the lost rage in under 2 seconds, and you aren't coming out of berserk stance ever anyways.
4. Group composition; Adds more to your DPS then almost any other class in the game. Windfury + Improved leader of the pack = HUGE dps increase. I mean HUGE, like 30%+ huge.
5. Buff yourself; Bring str/agility pots and sharpening stones for your off-hand. You will need them to remain competitive with other DPS.
6. Don't SUCK; Hardest one to manage here IMO.
Don't pull agro....EVER.
Don't stand in AoE
Bring Bandages
Don't Fear mobs into more mobs
etc.
When an angry raid leader is looking to replace people to class balance out the raid for an encounter a DPS warrior will be first on the list...don't give him any more reasons then necessary to cut you.
Elbows Apr 25th 2007 9:32AM
#2 is pretty much spot on, assuming that this is supposed to be a PVE dps build. Imp charge and iron will are pretty much useless, so is tactical mastery. Imp Execute is a must. The only difference of opinion that I have is that at this point I would say imp slam is the way to go for a rage dump over imp cleave.
Zinger Apr 25th 2007 9:41AM
Please never do a Build Shop featuring warriors again. Who the hell wants to read the multiple walls of text. Booooooooring!
To the warriors: Get each other's email addresses and keep your lame comments to yourselves.
PS...I'm the best warrior in the game and FYI, it's 14.6 inches.
Big.Daddy Apr 25th 2007 10:07AM
LOL @ 11
(Pics please!!1!!11one!)
I refuse to play a warrior after tanking for 2 years in City of Heroes. Not the same for sure, but I just can't bring myself to go back to that role.
Michael Nielsen Apr 25th 2007 10:20AM
Very interesting debate, since I'm currently making a warrior, and was thinking about going as dps warrior / ot. Do u guys know any guides for that?
Matt Rossi Apr 25th 2007 10:48AM
Yes, the long walls of text about warrior builds are so trying. God, who would expect long discussions of builds in a feature called Build Shop?
And I'm sure it's better to read long walls of text about, say, Shaman or Mage builds. It's not boring THEN.
Finally, no one asked how tall you were.
Eliah Hecht Apr 25th 2007 11:54AM
Just to add fuel to the fire...Ysona claimed if you want to fury DPS viably, all your talents need to add to damage. I regularly raid Karazhan with a Warrior specced 0/31/30, and he's almost always on top of the damage charts. By a lot.
Viet Apr 25th 2007 12:35PM
@11
Don't read it if it bores you. I'm a war and I love reading discussions/rants on war builds. I am 31/29/1 and have yet to decide on its viability in PVE (its a pvp/pve mix). You don't have to be maxed for DPS to be useable in PVE. An OT that can do DPS similar to other DPS classes is a very useful addition to a raid, especially 10 mans.
fatforprom Apr 25th 2007 12:49PM
The results are in.
Hoss is right,
Calgar is not as right as Hoss,
Thrix is a noob and should L2P.
Also, I think the whole idea of Build Shop needs work. What's the use reading a Wall of Text if it all comes from someone who acknowledges they know very little about the class? I love the discussion, I love the idea that it could help people improve as players. But the format leaves something to be desired.
Artaz Apr 25th 2007 9:11PM
In general - Hoss has it right and Clagar sums it up nicely as well. A few extra things I would add:
If your just starting or leveling a warrior, Mortal Strike is just as good as Fury for leveling. However, until you get to Outlands, mortal strike is easier to gear for as you don't need to worry about %to hit unless you are going 2handed fury which is fine.
Fury is all about AP. Eliah suggests about 50% of your damage is white; actually, its alot higher, more like 75%. This is vital to remember when choosing weapons. DPS is > weapon SPD - always. While different people prefer different speed weapons, the only attack that goes of your weapon's damage range (ie speed) is whirlwind and its a cooldown based rage dump anyways.
If your dual wielding, your base miss rate is 24%. Every 1% to hit is effectively 1% more DPS. Against a raid boss (or any mob labeled "boss" or is a "skull"), due to the way the table is layed out, if you have no to hit gear, you maximum chance to crit is 18% (rounded down for ease of use). Even if your gear gives you 80% crit rate, the table is only big enough to allow 18% of it to work. Every 1% to hit you add allows an extra 1% to crit to work. To this end, your crit rate should should never be > your %to hit + 18. Then again, to hit and AP are always better than crit anyways.
If you intend to raid you help guarantee your spot by providing utility. Improved Thunderclap and Improved Demoralising Shout provide this. Even if your tank is spec'ed for IMP thunderclap, against a boss, initially they will be using a host of other moves instead. Laying down the thunderclap early for them provides good mitigation.
Improved Cleave is an awesome rage dump as once spec'ed it does more damage than heroic strike but generates less threat. Imp Whirlwind is a bad rage dump, though still strong for 2handed Fury, which should also take Imp slam.
Improved Execute is much better than Thirx thinks. "I'll say it again: Imp Execute is only "ok". 5 less rage means an extra 105 damage, or 210 added onto a crit." is the wrong way to look at it. Execute is a fixed amount of damage. How many executes can Thirx do with 30 rage? 2. How many can you do with Improved Execute? 3. Of course that is an over simplification, but that is how it works. An improved execute warrior will do many more executes than one who isn't spec'ed such and thus markedly more DPS. Far more than adding 12.5% damage to your offhand.
If you want to PvP, go mortal strike. Yes you can do well as fury, but even a scrub mortal strike warrior is better to have around. If you just solo pve and mix in world/bg pvp - all specs are fine as its just your fun. If your going to raid, you are a tank before you're DPS. Your better spending your extra points in protection to allow some offtank capacity than going heavy into arms (with defiance a priority). Of course this last is based on guild makeup more than anything.
Hope that helps
Gandelin Apr 26th 2007 9:55AM
Good Spec for the most part, I'm just wondering why you would put any points into improved charge... I mean most of the time you'll be in beserker stance.. thus no charge..