The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Arms tears off limbs in 4.1
by Matthew Rossi 
Apr 30th 2011 at 4:00PM
I promised it last week. This week, I deliver: How is arms doing in patch 4.1?
Pretty darn well. I raided as arms Tuesday night and did respectable DPS (I was third for the evening, spiking between 17k and 19k DPS, depending on the pull), although I still fell short of my fury DPS. (I even managed about 17k DPS in a ZA run that same night.) For a 10-man raid, it was certainly a valid showing. On a dummy, arms seems also to come in second, but a close second to fury for me, with averages of around 14 to 15k.
What does this all mean? Well, it means if you're more comfortable as fury (which I am), you'll probably want to stick to it. But if someone who does not fully feel at ease with arms and the rotation can still put out valid raid and heroics DPS numbers, then for those of you who prefer the arms playstyle, I can't see a reason you shouldn't be able to do better. This means to me that arms is definitely raid-viable in patch 4.1 as of right now.
Small but important changes
The actual changes to arms in this patch were very small. Let's take a quick look.
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Arms
- Improved Hamstring now reduces the global cooldown on Hamstring by 0.25/0.5 seconds in addition to its current effects.
- Juggernaut no longer adds 2 seconds to the Charge stun, but instead lowers the cooldown of Charge by 2 seconds (to 13 seconds total without the glyph).
- Lambs to the Slaughter now causes Mortal Strike to refresh Rend in addition to its current effects.
- Strikes of Opportunity value per point of mastery has been increased by 10%.
For pure PvE damage, only the Lambs to the Slaughter and Strikes of Opportunity changes really matter right now. The Lambs change is marvelous because between that and Blood and Thunder over in prot, an arms warrior can now keep Rend up indefinitely. This means that you'll almost never have to refresh it, making it much easier to keep Overpower going. With Taste for Blood giving you nearly 75% crit on your Overpowers, you'll be keeping Deep Wounds up all the time, and between that and Rend, you'll be getting lots of extra rage from Blood Frenzy.
Frankly, arms is in a good place now because it's got really good talent synergy. Even a non-optimal arms build like this one (the one I'm using at the moment) can put out solid numbers. I probably would be better off with full Booming Voice, but I just can't say no to Executioner. I'm weak.
Arms is still a fairly busy rotation right now. For single targets, you'll hit Rend once and then rely on Mortal Strike to refresh it, hitting Overpower as it lights up, using MS on cooldown and using Slam as your rage dump now that HS is so expensive. Colossus Smash you'll use on cooldown or whenever it resets thanks to Sudden Death. While it's hardly the PvP monster it was in 4.0.6 (thanks to its going down to a 50% armor reduction against players), in PvE it's still 100% and still very much worth using. With Overpower being very predictable as long as you keep Rend up with MS, you won't have much trouble getting in Colossus Smash or Slam. CS should be your first priority, although with MS now also resetting Rend, if you think it's going to fall off I'd get that MS up.
While the change to LttS that lets MS refresh Rend was more of a quality of life change (it does improve DPS, but mostly via allowing you not to burn rage to merely refresh Rend), the change to how Strikes of Opportunity values mastery per point just flat out increases damage. I'd probably still put crit ahead of mastery, but with expertise not so important for arms and hit easily capped, mastery shines and might even overtake crit in the right circumstances.
For multiple-target DPS, you're still going to want to use Thunder Clap to spread Rend around, and Sweeping Strikes, Bladestorm and Raging Calm or Inner Rage (depending on if you're low or high when the adds come out) combined with Cleave spam will become useful.
So, how about PvP?
Having done quite a few rated BGs, a ton of Tol Barad, and a few randoms along the way, I'll say that arms still works pretty viably for PvP. Improved Hamstring is a must now, and you'll be using it to maintain pressure. Colossus Smash just doesn't provide the force it used to, but at least with LttS and Juggernaut/Rapid Charge glyph giving us Charge every 12 seconds, it's possible to keep roughly 50 to 60% uptime and regain it fairly often. Frankly, with healing and resilience as effective as they currently are in PvP, I think we need to see the MS debuff creep back up or the Colossus Smash nerf rebalanced to 75%, because it can be nightmarish to try and lock down a properly prepared caster nowadays, much less kill one. You're gonna need Throwdown; don't even consider PvPing without it as arms. Luckily, it won't diminish Charge or Intercept stuns anymore.
Arms PvP isn't bad, and if you're a skilled and experienced arms PvP player, I doubt you'll suddenly find yourself unable to compete. But the Colossus Smash change really is going to mess up the chance for an average player to apply pressure when needed.
With the Maelstrom Crystal prices having dropped due to new epics from ZG/ZA and the justice/honor point purchase option, I'd recommend getting Landslide over Hurricane if you haven't already as arms. Haste just doesn't scale as well for arms, and 1,000 AP for 12 seconds just seems more attractive overall for the spec, especially for PvP where you may have to make the most of those 12 seconds. A weapon chain is also attractive, depending on how often you find yourself being disarmed. For PvE arms, Landslide all the way.
The end run
I'm not going to tell you that you can't get more damage out of SMF or TG fury, depending on the situation, skill level, gear level, etc., etc. What I am going to tell you is that for the first time since Wrath launched, we're in a situation where you should actually look at your skill at playing the various DPS specs before you pick one.
Are you long experienced in arms? Well, I'd definitely raid with it over fury, then. The difference in maximum potential DPS for the best of the best geared and skilled players might be as high as 2k or 3k DPS, but for most players, it's much smaller. As long as you remember that you only need 8% hit (about 960 hit rating at level 85) and 26 expertise, you can gear effectively for arms. It's actually easier than either fury DPS spec.
If you're terrible at the arms rotation, don't switch to it; stay fury. But if you'd rather raid as arms and you've felt pressured to go fury for maximum DPS, don't feel that way anymore. The numbers are close enough now that you'll be better off going with what you're better at.
At the center of the dury of battle stand the warriors: protection, arms and fury. Check out more strategies and tips especially for warriors, including Cataclysm 101 for DPS warriors, a guide to new reputation gear for warriors, and a look back at six years of warrior trends.
Filed under: Warrior, Analysis / Opinion, (Warrior) The Care and Feeding of Warriors, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nahto Apr 30th 2011 4:05PM
I have to applaud this article - my main is an arms warrior, first and foremost. Never liked fury, and I doubt I ever will. I really did not like the fact I was being turned down for guilds and sat because I was arms - despite the fact I was doing reasonable DPS. (16k->23k).
Hopefully, raid leaders everywhere will come to realize arms *is* very viable now and stop this spec cock-blockery.
vocenoctum Apr 30th 2011 4:47PM
I'm not sure why Fury never appealed to me, like demonology warlock though, when I've tried it I quickly respec'd back to what I had. I love prot and arms is great fun. I'm not in the situation whereby I'd feel "pressured" at all anymore (had to change my lock from Affliction to Destruction long ago, and Disc over Holy at some point, but my warrior is MY warrior!), but it's good to know that the choice of spec's can be your choice. :)
Revnah Apr 30th 2011 6:36PM
You sound a lot like me: I love my holy priest and my affli lock, and I ADORE my prot/arms warrior :-) *high-five*
Right now I'm focusing on arms and this patch is a godsend. Loved my damage in the new Troll heroics today. I can't wait to try it out in a raid!
Natsumi Apr 30th 2011 7:46PM
ARMS FOR LIFE!!
I'd still put Mastery ahead of crit until you hit the 30% mark, and start reforging mastery to crit at the 35% mark. I'm not saying reforge crit to mastery or avoid crit until you hit 30%, just saying that mastery is going to give you a bigger DPS increase per point until that 30% is reached (I actually got a huge DPS increase when I went from 25% to 30% and another big increase right after the patch, something along the lines of 2k DPS after the patch). I'm going to be reforging Mastery to crit as I can now though, as crit's value per point is significantly higher now that I've hit the 1/3 mark with SoO. Haste is still a terrible stat.
As a side note, there is a new JC crafted ring (Punisher's Band) that has both crit and Mastery on it, as well as a red socket and +10 Mastery socket bonus. It's like it was designed with Arms in mind. :D
Aedilhild Apr 30th 2011 10:13PM
Critical strikes make Arms' world go round — they activate Wrecking Crew, Incite and Battle Trance Mastery; are rewarded by Impale; and drive Deep Wounds. Adjustments to Level 85 stats mean its value levels off at even greater amounts. The math is inarguable: Mastery, even after 4.1, is never worth more than Crit.
Natsumi May 6th 2011 11:18PM
1) You should NEVER be running Arms with Incite. HS is not a good button to hit unless Deadly Calm or Battle Trance are up, or if you need to dump Rage (which doesn't happen often) and even then I'd rather hit Slam as it does significantly more DPR and DPS.
2) You need less crit if you are doing what you are supposed to be doing in the first place and you are specced properly. Use Charge when you switch targets and learn to hop back and Charge on static fights. Arms is for SKILLED players that utilize all their toolkit, if you can't do simple things, go play Fury.
3) Impale only works on MS, Slam, and OP. Since ALL of these strikes have an increased chance to crit through Talents or Glyphs it reduces the amount of crit needed to keep Deep Wounds rolling and Blood Frenzy and Wrecking Crew up.
I think you need to take another look at how you play the class before you criticize others that may know what they are talking about.
ElrithCC May 1st 2011 1:44AM
I've been rocking arms since December of 2004. It's like a dream come true to actually be this viable. Throughout the years I've felt like a 5th redundant wheel, a middle child, a step child, forgotten, a token bone thrown to me,.... but now we feel like we're finally being given a place among the other classes. I love it!
The "guy with a sword" archtype has always been my favorite in fantasy.
JaydsterC2 Apr 30th 2011 11:54PM
"A weapon chain is also attractive, depending on how often you find yourself being disarmed."
Why wouldn't you have 4pc pvp set bonus?
JaydsterC2 Apr 30th 2011 11:56PM
Good article though. Forgot to say that.
Steffan May 1st 2011 1:04AM
Somewhat off topic, but is 17k to 19k the expected DPS for most dps-ers? 'Cuz, I ran one of the new dungeons, and the tank I had said no one in the group was pulling more than 10k.
Killik May 1st 2011 6:25AM
I'd say about 7-8k dps is roughly the expected amount in a standard Cataclysm heroic. That's if you're using CC and going carefully, rather than storm through burning stuff down. 10k is about average, from what I see in PuGs. Not sure what it would be for one of the Zandalari dungeons - people aren't yet used to the mechanics.
Groshh May 1st 2011 5:50AM
@Matt you wouldn't take booming voice in your talent spec, mainly for the reason that Arms is GCD capped. There wasn't a lot of talk about how to use deadly calm(which is awesome). You didn't mention stance dancing which actually seems to make Arms pull ahead of fury. The information regarding expertise is also a little off, you want to cap that expertise even before crit. The reason being that if you receive a string of dodges, as wonderful as those cheap, often critting, overpowers are, your Lambs buff could fall off and so its a -30% dps loss. MS normal hits hit as hard as a crit overpower and slam hits even harder than MS on crit. Suggesting that overpower is anything more than a deep wounds refresher is an exaggeration.
The article is great as always and i realise Arms isn't your strong point, but if only to ask to fill in the gaps on your knowledge throw me a /w and ill get you pushing 24k+ single-target.
Xish May 3rd 2011 3:45PM
Matt,
It's been awhile since I thoroughly looked at the Arms warrior, but I was under the impression that Arms was to provide significant DPS, but also a few raid buffs that Fury couldn't provide.
Keeping this in mind, you compared YOUR Arms output to YOUR Fury output, but did you look at the greater picture? Were other DPS'ers pulling higher than typical dps b/c of the Arms boons? During phases in fights that required more movement, were your bleed abilities able to provide more DPS during that phase than Fury? I think there could be a significant advantage to Arms that isn't directly shown in the overall numbers. Perhaps you do LESS dps, but you cause the raid as a whole to do more? Maybe Arms warriors as a collective could investigate some of this further and then be able to show perspective guilds/raids/groups the true boons of the Arms spec. Just my thoughts.
-Xish
jason_1975 May 4th 2011 5:09PM
Arms picks up even more dps if you throw the extra points into blitz and use charge on CD for the bosses with multiple hit boxes. EJ estimates as much as 2k in BiS gear.
Also, if you can stay on the boss for a long enough period of time, there's nothing keeping you from switching over to berserker stance once you get that initial rend up (though I have yet to try this).
My main is prot, and i like to PVP, so my offspec ends up being Arms. My co-tank is too lazy to have a dps spec, so in all the single tank fights I go arms (I respec before raid time and switch some points/abilities around). I end up usually #1-#3 on the meters, with our better geared (and very good) fury warrior barely beating me (thus far in 4.1, all of 2 weeks :-) ).