Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsThe Care and Feeding of Warriors: Fury demolishes entire cities in 4.0.1
by Matthew Rossi 
Oct 29th 2010 at 9:00AM
Forget Deathwing. After the horrible start fury got in 4.0.1, it saw some buffs that have made it an extremely beefy DPS spec again. While we may not be topping the meters in all fights, we're certainly putting out some very solid DPS numbers. "Solid" depends on your gear, of course, but my mixed-geared night elf can easily push out 9-11k in a heroic, and my much better-geared draenei can easily put out more if the boss stays alive long enough. With the ICC buff, fury is once again competitive for the top spot (although much less likely to own it) and is no longer a hindrance to your raid. And if you're not a raiding fury warrior, with the change to the justice point system and the removal of ratings on PvP gear, it's never been easier to get solid DPS gear (like I did for my night elf, above).
The gearing requirements are different now, the rotation has changed and we have new glyphs to consider, so while the damage is solid again, there are some real differences to consider.
To gear a fury redux
One thing to note for fury DPS in this last month of Wrath of the Lich King is that certain truths that have held for the entire expansion do so no longer. Not only is armor penetration dead, but hit rating, a formerly despised stat, is now a very welcome one. With the removal of the old Heroic Strike, you want to get as close to 27 percent hit as possible, which is 738 hit rating for a fury warrior (we get 3 percent free from our talent specialization Precision; otherwise, it would be 830 hit rating) in order to ensure your attacks land. Even with rage normalization, a white attack has to land in order for you to generate rage from it; the amount is just fixed and can't go up with a crit or more damage dealt.
As our hit rating needs are now far more stringent, a lot of DPS plate that once looked pretty substandard will now start to look a lot better. Landsoul's Horned Greathelm, for instance, is a very attractive offset piece. In fact, if you don't have four-piece tier 10 for whatever reason, the two-piece T10 bonus is so worthless for us fury warriors that you might as well not worry about wearing any for set bonuses, making off-set pieces like Gendarme's Cuirass and the Raging Behemoth's Shoulderplates far more attractive. However, the four-piece set bonus, a flat 5 percent more damage dealt, is very attractive -- so much so that my draenei, who has a full set of off-set i277 DPS pieces, still wears four of the 264 Ymirjar for that 5 percent boost, and then uses the i277 pieces for other slots.
Those glittering gems
Frankly, with all the old armor pen gems converting to crit, I found crit the easiest stat to reforge off of my gear for hit or mastery. If I'd been inclined to entirely regem my gear, I probably would have stacked strength or mastery gems and reforged more haste along with crit for hit, but either way seems to work. (My draenei has more standing-around money, so he went with more strength gems than my night elf, who is instead relying more on reforging.) Either way, once you have enough hit to ensure steady rage generation and a handle on the rotation, high DPS once again becomes possible, even likely.
Those glittering gems
Frankly, with all the old armor pen gems converting to crit, I found crit the easiest stat to reforge off of my gear for hit or mastery. If I'd been inclined to entirely regem my gear, I probably would have stacked strength or mastery gems and reforged more haste along with crit for hit, but either way seems to work. (My draenei has more standing-around money, so he went with more strength gems than my night elf, who is instead relying more on reforging.) Either way, once you have enough hit to ensure steady rage generation and a handle on the rotation, high DPS once again becomes possible, even likely.
The rotation itself is, to be kind to it, not terribly interesting. Some people have reported binding it to their mouse wheel with macros and putting out high DPS with it. I suspect this would work on a dummy, but not as well in a dungeon or raid where you have to move around. Nevertheless, it's worth mentioning that as of right now, you spend a lot of time hitting Bloodthirst or Heroic Strike while waiting for either Raging Blow or Slam to light up, and that can get kind of monotonous. I'd personally rather have a boring rotation that works than an exciting one that doesn't, but I'd prefer an exciting one that works to either of those, so we'll see how things look once we can slide in an occasional Colossus Smash at 81+. Without the ability arms has to reset its CS, fury will need to learn how to time it for maximum use of that 6-second window, but for now, this is not a concern.
Engraved on our hearts
Glyph choices for fury are relatively simple. The build and glyphs I'm currently using for level 80 more or less hit the highlights. I unfortunately find myself in agreement with Sleutel's analysis from last week, after taking my 1H weapons for a spin with a SMF build this week. While her assessment of the lack of strength on most ICC weapons is part of the issue, I also feel that the SMF damage buff doesn't quite overcome the raw statistics available through dual wielding 2H weapons yet. Still, if the best weapons you have are a Black Bruise and Keleseth's Seducer (better than what I have, an Abomination's Knuckles and Scourgeborn Waraxe), you may see better results. Furthermore, while SMF isn't performing as well as TG, that doesn't mean it is bad in any way, shape or form. It's just not as good as TG given equivalent gear. If your 1H weapons are i264 and your 2H are i245, obviously, go with SMF.
Engraved on our hearts
Glyph choices for fury are relatively simple. The build and glyphs I'm currently using for level 80 more or less hit the highlights. I unfortunately find myself in agreement with Sleutel's analysis from last week, after taking my 1H weapons for a spin with a SMF build this week. While her assessment of the lack of strength on most ICC weapons is part of the issue, I also feel that the SMF damage buff doesn't quite overcome the raw statistics available through dual wielding 2H weapons yet. Still, if the best weapons you have are a Black Bruise and Keleseth's Seducer (better than what I have, an Abomination's Knuckles and Scourgeborn Waraxe), you may see better results. Furthermore, while SMF isn't performing as well as TG, that doesn't mean it is bad in any way, shape or form. It's just not as good as TG given equivalent gear. If your 1H weapons are i264 and your 2H are i245, obviously, go with SMF.
To sum it all up: Fury is performing very well, better in 5-mans than it did before 4.0.1 and the adjustments. It's not as good in raids as it was, but we expected that. It's still very, very gear-dependent with a very high hit cap, and you'll probably need to do some reforging or regemming to get the stats you need. Your glyph choices are fairly boring. The rotation itself is reasonably boring but effective. And it's pretty easy to get an i264 weapon or two to test out with the changes to PvP gear, if you're interested in playing with the spec.
Next week, how did tanking come through, and is Mortal Strike (and all other healing debuffs) really being reduced to a 10 percent healing debuff on the beta? (Yes, it is.) If so, what's the point of even having healing debuffs? (None.) Why not just take them all out and give us some more damage? (No idea.)
Next week, how did tanking come through, and is Mortal Strike (and all other healing debuffs) really being reduced to a 10 percent healing debuff on the beta? (Yes, it is.) If so, what's the point of even having healing debuffs? (None.) Why not just take them all out and give us some more damage? (No idea.)
Check out more strategies and tips for warriors of all specs in Matthew Rossi's weekly class column, The Care and Feeding of Warriors.Filed under: Warrior, Analysis / Opinion, (Warrior) The Care and Feeding of Warriors, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 5)
Pyromelter Oct 29th 2010 8:34PM
Does anyone else find the change to victory rush as COMPLETELY FREAKING AWESOME?
I mean, a rage-generating, instant, 20% heal with decent damage on a mob, i basically keep myself up as dps in heroics.
And to the people asking about gemming mastery, yeah, rossi is a bit ahead of himself, no mastery gems in the game yet. ^_^
Mayhew Oct 30th 2010 3:23PM
Yeah, Victory Rush is amazing now. Absolutely wonderful, especially for soloing Wrath content. When you pair it with the fact that in heroics, Execute = KB, it makes Victory Rush just that much more awesome.
Fluffumz Oct 29th 2010 9:58PM
Now I did have a question as to your speccing Mr Rossi. Why with the Piercing Howl and Blood Craze over Booming Voice/Rude Interruption and Executioner?
Sleutel Oct 30th 2010 10:29AM
PH can be very useful on certain fights (Saurfang and Heroic LK). Personally, I'm more confused by Skirmisher and Furious Attacks. Overall, this looks like a build that's geared slightly toward PvP versus being 100% PvE-focused.
Sleutel Oct 30th 2010 10:31AM
Oh, and I agree on the 3/3 Blood Craze, which again to me says "PvP."
Something I've noticed about this column is that Rossi will often post builds that have both PvE and PvP utility. IMO, Rossi, if you're reading this (which I assume you are), it might be more helpful to suggest builds that are categorically PvE or PvP, and only then give ones that are hybrids for people who want a bit of both, or who want more survivability while soloing.
Fluffumz Oct 30th 2010 12:37PM
Spec he built is indeed a good survivability tree. So it would be a good leveling to 85 build. and FA is definitely a good thing to have in self healing fights like Saurfang, but beyond that, I dont see much use in it in a PVE environment. Blood craze is indeed useful in AoE damage fights, especially when you have a higher mastery rating, thus increasing the amount healed for, along with enraged regen, which with 18 mastery it restores around 50%ish if I remember correctly, but again, very situational. good stuff for togc anub maybe along with the bloodthirst heal, and maybe a fight like Dreamwalker so there is less healing focus on raid. Could possible get away with it easier if you ditch points from meat cleaver. Keeping the PH does have its advantages, but as it is with the rest of my rant, situational. Hate to use it in a situation I have encountered when you have "edumacated" Ranged dps on Saurfang. The definite good news is that the blood beast that isnt getting pulled off you cuz of the tiny amount of threat produced by PH shouldnt stay long cuz we no long have to rely on a cleave from WW being a mainstay in our DPS. So healer aggro is gonna over ride our own. :D
Mayhew Oct 30th 2010 4:45PM
Personally, I find Skirmisher to have some solid PvE utility for several ICC fights. Here are some of the examples I can think of off the top of my head:
* Traveling quickly to the various bone spike victims during heroic Marrowgar's bone storm
* Maximizing boss-damage time in phase 1 of heroic Deathwhisper
* Getting back to the oozes or gas clouds as quickly as possible on heroic Putricide
* Getting away from the tank during empowered shock vortex when you have glittering sparks on you and it isn't getting dispelled quickly enough, on heroic Blood Prince Council
* General mobility on Blood Queen Lanathel, in situations where you are getting hit with Pact of the Darkfallen or Swarming Shadows frequently
* General mobility on Dreamwalker, or getting where you need to after somebody missed a frost bolt interrupt
* Maximizing boss dps time in phase 3 of Sindragosa
It's true that those are all situational uses of the talent, but there are enough of them that I think that a strong case can be made for Skirmisher being a significant dps boost in ICC.
Fluffumz Oct 30th 2010 4:51PM
I do agree with the Skirmisher, I have that myself and do love it. That talent is indeed extremely useful in many situations. I have even used it to charge blood beasts, beat on them then charge saurfang again.
Sleutel Oct 30th 2010 10:20AM
1.) Holy shit, I got namedropped in a "Care and Feeding of Warriors." Also
Sleutel Oct 30th 2010 10:21AM
Argh, silly comment system, being confused by a less than three heart. Reposting:
1.) Holy shit, I got namedropped in a "Care and Feeding of Warriors." Also *less than three* for noticing at some point and remembering that I'm female. :D
2.) Why. Is there a photo. Of someone. With Bryntroll. In their OFFHAND? Proc weapons are *terrible* there. Looks like the mainhand is Cryptmaker, but still. I make a skeptical face. If you've got a better weapon for your MH than Bryntroll, forcing it to your offhand, you need to get a better offhand. Assuming that's the regular version, Shadow's Edge is pretty easily grindable* these days and superior in every way: buttload more Stam, slightly more Strength when you factor in the socket bonus (because it has two red gem slots and you should be gemming straight +Str), slower w/ more min/max damage, and Crit/Haste instead of a proc.
*Meaning that Primordial Saronites are cheap as hell on most servers, and if you can kill BPC to get Cryptmaker, you can kill Rot and Fester for the bloods, or get into a GDKP run and bid on them there.
Fluffumz Oct 30th 2010 12:23PM
Proc chance maybe be piss poor at best yes, but the question is, is the damage lost from lower proc chance worth the damage lost from your stronger weapon being in your main hand.
Sleutel Oct 30th 2010 12:28PM
@Fluffumz: My ultimate point was, get a better offhand.
Mayhew Oct 30th 2010 4:57PM
Okay, maybe you guys can clear this up for me now: does weapon speed matter, any more?
For a very long time, I was under the impression that slower was better, because it would make instant attacks hit harder. However, I recently recalled that back in the days when Arcanite Reaper was still being used, Blizz normalized instant attacks so that they assumed all 2-handed weapons were the same speed. Since HS and Cleave are now also instant attacks, and since we can't reach Deep Wounds currently and Rend is often a pain to work into a Fury rotation now, is there still a compelling reason to care about weapon speed?
If not, since Shadow's Edge and Bryn'troll both have the same dps (294.8), why would Shadow's Edge be considered a stronger weapon? I currently use the 264 Cryptmaker as my off hand and Shadow's Edge as my main hand, but I'm trying to decide if it would be worthwhile to replace Shadow's Edge with something like heroic Ramaladni's, heroic Citadel Enforcer's, or Bryn'troll, even though they're only 3.5 and 3.4 speed weapons.
What do you think? Is my understanding of the role weapon speed plays flawed?
Fluffumz Oct 30th 2010 5:10PM
Tis very true, Bryntroll is too fast for warriors in general, but ya gotta take what ya can get sometimes :D
Sleutel Oct 30th 2010 5:13PM
@Mayhew:
Weapon speed is an easy shorthand for maximum and minimum damage. A number of abilities are based off of weapon *damage*, not weapon *DPS*. So, while Bryntroll and Shadow's Edge have identical *DPS*, because Shadow's Edge is slower, it must therefore hit for more damage each time. So, accordingly, any instant attack that factors in weapon damage will also hit harder.
If all you're doing is auto-attacking, two weapons with identical stats and identical DPS will do identical damage. However, when you start factoring in special abilities, then weapon min/max damage matters more than DPS.
Fluffumz Oct 30th 2010 5:18PM
Weapon speed is indeed important, mainly because you would want a slower weapon for the weapon damage. So much of the warrior DPS is based off raw weapon damage as opposed to attack power. But the question is do you sacrifice higher damage weapons for a more rage producing set up? something I have been contemplating as of late and would be awesome to get other input on.
I mean there is balance somewhere, typically in when you can reach a 3.1 swing speed or faster, plus slam resetting the swing timer. and that in general is mmmazin for rage gen, if you can get a weapon like Shadow's edge down to sub 3 second swings, best of both worlds. I would figure at least.
Mayhew Oct 30th 2010 5:53PM
See, this is the part that's confusing me. Which warrior attacks take into account non-normalized weapon damage, now? I just double-checked my information at http://www.wowpedia.org/Normalization but I'm not sure if that is up-to-date or not. According to that list, MS, Overpower, Devastate, and Whirlwind, are all normalized and behave as if your 2-handed weapon is 3.3 speed, no matter what its actual weapon speed is. That same article lists Cleave, HS, Retaliation, Rend, and Slam as being non-normalized, but I don't know whether or not that information is correct in 4.0.1. On wowhead, the damage formula for HS is listed as (8 + $ap * 0.6), where $ap is your attack power. Cleave is listed as (6 + $ap * 0.45) damage. I don't see weapon damage referred to anywhere in that formula.
Right now, it seems to me that Raging Blow might be the only attack that makes weapon damage matter to fury warriors (and maybe Slam). But since I don't see Raging Blow mentioned at all in the article I linked, I can only *guess* that it's not normalized, because the wording for the talent seems very similar to what is being used for Sinister Strike.
Raging blow is an awesome ability. But it is it, all by itself, enough reason to care about actual weapon damage?
Fluffumz Oct 30th 2010 6:23PM
Well you must account for what the DPS break down really is. Roughly 50% of my damage is between white swings, raging blows and slam, which are all 3 based on weapon damage, and Mainstays in single target DPS. and the rest of it boils out to be from attack power based Bloodthirst and Heroic Strike. The real break downs is basically slower weapons are going to bring your damage up, and then modified by high attack power translated from high strength. Its really seeming to be a question that is the faster weapon going to generate your rage as you need.
It does also seem that the website itself is out of date as for its information.
Mayhew Nov 1st 2010 2:24PM
Well, the amount of white damage that you do is no longer affected by your weapon speed at all, since we no longer have any on-next-swing abilities. So it's really just Raging Blow and Slam, assuming that Slam is not normalized.
I think the normalization mechanic as a whole probably hasn't changed -- it's just a question of which abilities are excepted from it.
Since white swings are a major part of fury damage now, I'm guessing that your Raging Blows and Slam can't be making up more than 20% of your total damage done. So if we're talking about using a 3.4 speed weapon as opposed to a 3.7 speed weapon, that means the damage from the Raging Blows and Slams of the 3.4 speed weapon would be 91.9% of what it currently is (actually more than that, since slam is 100% of weapon dmg +249, a static modifier that wouldn't change with weapon speed). This means your overall damage done would be reduced by less than 1.6% when you switch from a 3.7 speed weapon to a 3.4 speed weapon. And that would be if you made the switch on both weapons. If only one weapon is being switched, it's going only have 2/3 the impact of switching both weapons (assuming it's the main hand), so less than 1.1% of your total damage done.
It seems to me that if the stats on the 3.4 speed weapon are substantially better than those on the 3.7 speed weapon, this might outweigh a potential 1.1% damage loss from the weapon speed change.
Tom Nov 6th 2010 5:34PM
I'm late to the thread, but I like to think Bryntroll was in the off-hand because the screenshot looks better that way. :P