WoW Classic Warrior Guide - Deal damage and take damage like man!

WoW Classic Warrior Guide
p3ter 10.06.2019 0

Now that the launch of official Vanilla server was announced by Blizzard, classic World of Warcraft enthusiasts are more than excited to go back to the times before patch 1.2, when their beloved game got updated. The popularity of Nostalrius and Elysium couldn’t come by unnoticed. Things were different back then, but so interesting, that it’s worth bringing back some memories. And this time we’re reminiscing the OG Warrior class.


What is Warrior class in Classic World of Warcraft

Warrior is almost a synonym of Warcraft. Wherever the war is being waged, there are warrior. These are the primary fighters right in the center of the battle, either taking or dealing damage. Every major video game has its own version of hard to kill melee dps monsters. We’d even risk a statement that in the very beginning of World of Warcraft Warrior was the most popular class. And perhaps even still is.


Warrior is one of the most recognizable classes in the Vanilla version of World of Warcraft. These heavy plated killing machines were known for their damage and tanking potential. As Death Knight class is absent in Vanilla, it’s not even close in terms of tanking prowess. Although they are remembered as one of the best classes to play during Classic World of Warcraft days it is not as obvious class choice as many may think. In this Wow Classic Warrior Guide class in Vanilla World of Warcraft will be precisely talked about. This article will help you determine if you want to play him or not, what race to choose, which build will be best and other details.


General abilities:

- Block,

- Dodge,

- Parry,

- Plate Mail.


Warrior Stances

What differs Warriors from other classes in Vanilla, are stances. There are three of them:

- Battle stance, 

- Defensive Stance,

- Berserker Stance.

Each one of them is unique and offers various features, but no other race has such abilities.


Battle stance - initial stance at the very beginning; you'll be using it from level 1 to deal damage. Battle stance abilities:

- Charge - it is recommended to initiate with this ability to generate some Rage at the beginning. Your character will quickly dash to the mob's position. The ability also gives a chance to stun the enemy for a brief moment. To use Charge the user can't be engaged in a combat and must stand within the range. 

- Thunder Clap - a short range ability to clap your enemies. All foes affected by Thunder Clap take a little damage and have their attack speed slowed for a short duration.

- Overpower - immediate attack dealing weapon damage increased by an additional damage from the ability based on its rank. You can use it only after target dodges. This ability cannot be blocked, dodged or parried.

- Mocking Blow - makes your attack deal extra damage and force the enemy to attack you. Perfect for saving party member who gets focused by enemies. It has a long cooldown so spamming it without a good reason is a waste.


Defensive Stance - available at lvl 10 through a questline, designed for tanking, increasing durability and survivability. It's abilities are:

- Shield Block - gives you a huge buff to block chance, but it can block only one incoming attack. On top of that it also sets up the Revenge counter-attack combo.

- Disarm - given that opponent is using a weapon, this ability will significantly reduce his damage output. It has relatively long cooldown.

- Taunt - instantly taunts the enemy. Correct use will pull opponent's aggro onto you, similar to Mocking Blow. Works perfectly when Warrior is paired with Healers. Taunt keeps the enemies off of Healer, should he get into trouble, and Healer keeps Warrior alive while he's tanking all the mobs in the world.

- Revenge - instantly cast counter attack that deals additional damage. Synergizes well with Shield Block active.


Berserker Stance - you can use this one from lvl 30 onwards. It boosts your crit chance at a cost of increased damage taken. It's abilities are:

- Berserker Rage - player enters a state of madness, becoming immune to fear and other knockout effects. Taking damage generates additional rage. The duration is based on rank.

- Recklessness - increases crit chance and grants immunity to fear effects for certain amount of time, with damage taken being increased.

- Whirlwind - warrior whirls dealing AoE damage up to certain number of enemies within certain distance.

- Pummel - an attack that deals damage and breaks spellcasting for a short period of time.


Other abilities:

- Heroic Strike - empowers next attack to deal extra damage. Heroic Strike is one of the core abilities of Warrior class,

- Cleave - sweeping attack dealing weapon damage to the target and his closest ally,

- Execute - an attempt to finish up a crippled enemy using Rage to deal more damage. Can be used on foes with less than 20% HP,

- Slam - slamming attack. Deals damage + weapon damage,

- Battle Shout - increases melee attack power in the whole team within certain radius,

- Sunder Armor - sunders the enemy armor, reducing it by certain amount depending on ability rank. Can be applied max five times.,

- Hamstring - bread and butter in leveling. Wounds the foe, dealing damage and reducing his movement speed. Great tool for kiting when your auto attack is on cooldown,

- Demoralizing Shout - decreases melee attack power of all nearby enemies for a period of time,

- Rend - maims the target, causing him to bleed (damage over time),

- Intercept - charging at an enemy, dealing damage and stunning,

- Bloodthirst - deals instant damage based on attack power and gives life steal on next basic attacks.


Stance dance

Since different stances offer different gamut of abilities, there has been created a tactic that involves frequent stances swap to make the most out of Warrior’s kit. 


Stance Mastery skill will allow you to regain maximum of 10 Rage when changing stances. Combined with Tactical Mastery in Arms spec tree can retain a total of 25 rage when changing stances.


Rage bar

Rage is essentially the red resource bar for Warrior and Bear Form Druid adequate to caster's Mana or Rogue' Energy, although it works in different way. It is required for executing the abilities, however standard attacks do not depend on it. In the beginning the rage bar is always empty, it fills only by attacking and taking damage. It falls off out of the combat. Its size and degeneration rate are constant and do not scale with lvl, stats or gear.


Few talents can make your abilities cost less Rage.


Warrior race overview

A discord between Horde and Alliance does not influence race choice for this class. Warrior has the widest variety of races available. Players who choose to play this class can pick one of eight available races. It basically means that there and no restrictions on choosing a race.


It shouldn’t be a surprise by any means, that some races are better for one class, and some not. It doesn’t mean that certain race can’t choose particular class - it’s just that another race are better. 


It also depends on a build you choose. There are three talent trees, each excelling in different playstyle. Which specialization tree looks the most appealing to you? Which one does your guild need? If you want to go damage, you’ll probably want to select Fury or Arms, for tanking you’d take Protection. There is a never ending discussion over this topic.


So which one to choose? There are two most important aspects to choosing a race. First one is putting racial abilities into consideration. Some of them are extremely useful in PvE, others work nicely in PvP situations and some of them are quite useless. If you want to gain a slight advantage in your open world, arena and battleground duels the best race would be Orcs, Undead, Dwarves and Taurens.

vanilla orc

Orc - With Blood Fury they can increase their Attack Power by 25% for 15 seconds. This comes with a cost of 50% healing reduction and a 2-minute cooldown. They also have the greatest PvP talent called Hardiness. It gives Orcs 25% chance to resist stun effects which obviously can change the course of the battle. Axe Specialization also improves their mastery with those weapons by 5 points.


vanilla undead

Undead - With Will of the Forsaken they can break from Charm, Fear and Sleep effects once every 2 minutes while also gaining immunity to those effects for 5 seconds. Additionally, they have a small bonus to Shadow Resistance, can regain some health out of combat with Cannibalize and stay longer underwater duo to Underwater Breathing.


Troll - Their Berserking racial improves attack and cast speed of Trolls by 10-25% depending on their health missing for 10 seconds. They also have Regeneration increased by 10%, Beast Slaying damage by 5% and Bow Specialization by 5.


Tauren - By using War Stomp ability they can stun up to 5 enemies around them for 2 seconds. This ability has 2-minute cooldown. Taurens also have increased health pool thanks to Endurance by 5%, Nature Resistance by 10 and they have a much longer range of attacks than other races for a price of bigger hitbox.


War stomp is good in PvP because of its utility versus Rogues. You should use it immediately after the enemy disappears, as he should be still in range. Also CC is very important in PvP, you can die within the stun. Nice for dungeon, but bad for raid, since bosses are immune to crowd control.


There is a psychological disadvantage for Taurens and advantage for e. g. Gnomes. It's common that when someones sees a war party, one considers the biggest enemy as the biggest threat. This being said, as Tauren you are quite beefy and you'll surely drag focus.


Dwarf - Stone Form ability lets Dwarves remove all poison, disease, curse, magic and bleed effects. While this effect is active they take damage reduced by 10% for 8 seconds. It comes with 3 minutes cooldown. Additionally, they have a small bonus to Frost Resistance.


Human - With Diplomacy trait they gain increased reputation by 10%. Human Spirit increases their Spirit attribute amount by 5%. Mace and Sword Spec adds 5 points into weapon skills and Perception improves their stealth detection for 20 seconds. 

night elf

Night Elf - Has Shadowmeld which lets him become invisible if not moving. Quickness increases Dodge chance by 1%. Nature Resistance improves this stat by 10 and Wisp Spirit lets them move at increased speed by 50% when dead.


Gnome - Are known for their Escape Artist ability which lets them remove roots and slows ever one minute. They have increased intellect by 5% with Expansive Mind, Arcane Resistance by 10 and Engineering Spec by 15.

However, if you aren’t interested in PvP and you want to focus your game on PvE aspect then Trolls and Humans can be great choices as well. Berserking ability give Trolls additional 10-25% attack speed and Regeneration improves their passive health regen by 10%. Humans, on the other hand, have increased reputation gains by 10% which comes in handy at times. Their Mace and Sword spec also improve their attack abilities by a tiny bit.


The second important aspect to choosing a race is its appearance. You may find it funny but it is actually quite important to take a race which you find appealing to look at. Vanilla is nothing like a retail version of this video game. Leveling one character will take weeks, months or even years so there won’t be as much room for alts and different characters. People often take their main for a very long time or even forever. There is also no option to swap the race after its chosen. That being said you will spend a lot of time with a character that you will choose so make a decision wisely and never regret it. 


Best professions for Vanilla Warrior - overview

Imagine yourself there is a giant, muscular orc sitting on a river bank with a fishing rod waiting for some catfish to gobble up the bait. He has impressive plate armor, huge two-handed axe, tattoos and looks scary in general. Seems awkward? Maybe. But who knows? Maybe it’s his profession and a way of relaxing after PvP battle, huh? You shouldn’t judge.


According to class guides each class and each race can go for either profession, but there are synergies that at the higher level of end game are unskippable. For example Tauren’s Herbalism racial boost makes them perfect farmers, and Gnomes Escape Artist works amazing for Rogue Class. It’s not a destiny, it’s more like an added benefit.


The only profession highly praised in Warrior class guides is Blacksmithing. In Vanilla World of Warcraft Smiths can create various weaponry and armory for plate users. As Warrior is a class that relies heavily on their gear - skilling this profession might be a good move. By creating BoP and BoE items you can increase your character’s damage and therefore increase the amount of experience gained per hour during leveling. Without a doubt, it is a good one to pick but since it requires materials it should always be combined with Mining. By getting both of these you will be able to search for ores on your own and make powerful gear for you to equip. This might increase your character power by quite a bit so take that into account.


Not to mention that gold making in Vanilla is not nearly as easy as it was in Warlords of Draenor, so if you don’t want to invest in bots, sustainable, stable source of income is welcome.


The other school says that it is best to take two gathering professions like Skinning and Herbalism right away at the beginning of the adventure. By doing this you maximize your profits gained from exping. Skinning lets you get additional loot from monsters in form of various claws, bones, and skins. Those can be sold to the vendors for some instant cash. On the other hand, Herbalism lets you collect various flora from Azeroth. These items are necessary for any Alchemist so selling them on Auction House can grant you a fair profit. 


There are more professions that might be useful so it is quite important to know them better. You can read about all of them in Professions Guide


Pros and cons - What’s best and worst in Warrior

Although Warrior shines in many aspects just like every class it has its ups and downs. Many players glorify Warrior for their amazing PvP abilities but the truth is that they are not so great when played alone. They indeed do shine when paired with experienced healers who can effectively dispel crowd control from them and heal back their missing health. They are also best tanks in Vanilla but their DPS specs aren’t as amazing on PvE. Here is list of Warrior pros and cons:



-They can be fun to play when geared and in the party.

-Warrior is engaging to play, you won’t be sitting and clicking one button.

-They are easy to play but hard to master. It’s tough to be a good Warrior.

-Can tank dungeons with every spec 

-Prot Warrior is best main tank in Vanilla

-Can use pretty much every weapon and armor



-They lack mobility

-Warriors are extremely gear dependent - without good equipment, they lack everything

-Sustained damage is not as good as with other classes

-Extremely slow and painful leveling - especially while playing solo

-Vulnerable in PvP when played solo - can be easily kited by ranged classes

-Repairs cost a lot


As mentioned before Warrior shine as best PvP Class when paired with a competent healer. They can be amazing but they require patience during leveling stages, healer to help them in PvP, gear because without it they are quite bad and most importantly experience. A competent Warrior is one of the most dangerous so even when they are without healers - keep an eye for Warrior.


Vanilla Warrior Leveling guide

Warrior in World of Warcraft Classic in all leveling guides is described as a hard time leveling class. This is the area where power leveling is more than desired.


Leveling up as Warrior in Vanilla has became legendary, comparable only with that of Paladin. In spite of the fact, that it is one of the most wanted PvP and PvE class, getting to the desired level may be hard and frustrating. However the profits and satisfaction later on totally compensates.


Because of the fact that most of the times the travel time during questing is long, you should always look to kill enemies close to your lvl as you go. If your health bar is full, it usually means you're not fighting enough and not using the full potential. Don't engage on enemies lower level than you; it's not worth it, since they will be giving less XP and paradoxically they may be hard to kill due to Glancing Blows mechanic. Also don't go after enemies with higher lvl than you, because most likely you'll get a whopping.


You want your mount right after you hit level 40, so don't spend money on things you don't need. Mount will allow you to save a lot of time, and time is something that you can't buy.


As mentioned, leveling in early stages, especially as a Warrior, can be hard. Feel free do team up with others (druid hunter mage classes) who are exactly in the same situation. Warrior excel in leveling when paired with healers (druid paladin priest). Who knows, maybe one day you will create the most powerful guild in the realm? One way or another, if you're not planning on guilding early on, just use others for your own purpose, should the opportunity arrive.


During leveling the most important thing is to use high damage weapons. The best and most useful Warrior abilities scale off of the pure weapon damage. It means that slower weapon will be better overall, allowing you to use the Hamstring kiting method more effectively.


Generally for leveling we recommend Arms build, as it's more consistent and versatile than other two. If you don't mind random nature of Flurry and Enrage, you can also go for Fury path. Protection is the slowest and the hardest of all three because of the lower damage output, but it's generally used with group playing in mind, so it should not be a problem at the end of the day.


Hamstring Method

After acquiring your first rank in Hamstring skill at lvl 8 you are able to utilize Hamstring Method. As most of the monsters in Azeroth attack and move faster than typical Warrior you will be losing health faster than dealing damage most of the times. It can be avoided by trading blow 1 for 1 while utilizing Hamstring skill:


1) Perform Auto Attack and use Hamstring ability.

2) Strafe out of enemy attack range by going through it when your Auto Attack regenerates

3) When you are ready use Auto Attack and Ability again

4) Keep using Hamstring when debuff wears off.


Whirlwind Axe

This is something you just can't skip over while leveling as Warrior. Whirlwind Axe is to date the god tier weapon that you can wield from level 30 onwards. Level 30 is required because it's when the quest becomes available. The obvious downside is that you will have to face enemies with higher lvl than you, so it's not gonna be a walk in the park, especially solo. Engineering pets are strongly advised if you lack support. The closer you are to level 40, the easier it becomes, but it lowers the true value of the weapon. Thus it's worth doing earlier.


To go for it, you must have the Berserker Stance quest finished. Head over to Bath'rah the Windwatcher and accept the 'Cyclonian' quest. It requires you to gather:

- 8 Liferoot - buy it from other players or simply collect with Herbalism,

- 30 Bloodscalp Tusk - you will find them on Bloodscalp Trolls, residing north west of Stranglethorn Valley,

- 1 Essence of the Exile - you can get it through the cauldron next to Bath'rah the Windwatcher after collecting 8 Thundering Charm, 8 Burning Charm and 8 Crestin Charm.


Finally after gathering duty is done you can go for a fight with Cyclonian. Remember, doing it solo is not worth it, so better have someone with you. Upon completion you will be offered three Whirlwind weapons as a reward. There is no need to tell you which one should you choose.

Whirlwind Axe is so powerful and efficient weapon, you can carry it up until your march to Alterac Valley.


Warrior Gold Making guide

Earning in World of Warcraft is crucial in terms of succeeding, as you will need better and better gear, mounts, potions, flasks and most of all a Token. You should establish a stable, sustainable and convenient source of income once you hit level 60 cap, or even before that.


Since you've picked a Warrrior class, you've automatically made it a little hard for yourself. If you went tank, your damage output will be too low especially when playing solo. If you went for DPS on the other hand, you will lack sustain. But have no worries - there are ways to come out on top.



Professions in Vanilla do not grant passive combat bonuses, which means you are free to pick whatever profession you like. But still your choice shouldn't be random, as some professions may be more useful than others.


Gathering professions

In the very beginning everything will be darn expensive, especially herbs, minerals and skins and you will be short of money. Herbalism, Mining, Fishing and Skinning are nice choice for making gold, and you should be learning them early during the leveling phase. This way you will never need to return to low level areas to increase the skill.


Remember that having Herbalism and Mining skill level relevant will make you spend more time in an area, which is suboptimal in terms of leveling. Gathering materials before reaching the level cap will help you improve crafting professions that use them.


If you wanna go for gathering professions, then Tauren should be your choice. He has the racial bonus +15 to Herbalism, and believe us - there is not many more infuriating situation than a failed attempt to collect a herb.


Crafting professions

In theory each of them can be profitable if you skill them up early and search for rare recipes. Blacksmithing, Tailoring and Leatherworking can serve the purpose of crafting decent gear, some of it may be Best in Slot. Alchemy and Enchanting on the other hand can be used to make consumables so much needed for raids and PvP.


Typically Leatherworking synergizes with Skinning, and Blacksmithing synergizes with Mining.


Tank for rent

Since tanking is by many considered boring and disparaging there are far more damage dealers than 'team player' and tanks. And at some point of the game those damage dealers realize that sure, they dish out tons of DPS, but they need some protection. This is where tanks come in.


You are free to offer your services as a meat shield or seek someone who's looking for one. There will be more than enough players willing to hire you as their defense in dungeons.


DPS Warrior

You are not able to soak up damage as effective as your beefy class counterpart, but you can kill a thing or two since your damage output is bigger. However, your self-sustainability is insufficient and you will not have a pet to tank like Hunter or Warlock. Thus, it’s nice to pair up with some Healer, who has good healing abilities, but not enough damage to farm on his own.


Decent farming locations will be:

- Eastern Plagueland Plaguebats,

- Tyr’s Hand - Scarlet Crusade,

- Arathi Highlands Elementals,

- Furbolgs in Winterfall,

- Felwood and Azshara Satyrs,

- Scarlet Spellbinders in Western Plaguelands; these are worth elaborating, since they can drop Formula: Enchant Weapon - Crusader which is really a good thing to have.



This is a method based more on luck than actual skill or knowledge, since vendors’ stock is usually pretty random. Yet sometimes RNG Gods will bless you with a good trade, which can make you an additional coin or two.


General Tips for Warriors

As a Warrior during leveling stages, you are very vulnerable. Your attacks bring quite low damage, you get hit a lot and you don’t have mechanics to bring your health back without consumables. There is no real way around it so you have to make sure that you use every mechanic that you get to the peak of its potential. By doing this you are sure to make the progress with your character on the highest efficiency. These tips will help you do so.


-Make sure that you are never on full hp. If you are it means that you were not fighting enough.

-Don’t attack mobs with a higher lvl than yours - aim for monsters with similar lvl or a little bit lower so they won’t hit you as hard and they will take less time to kill

-Make a plan for your future Weapons. You should know where you can get your next weapon beforehand.

-Use First Aid to fullest

-Don’t overkill. Spend as much Rage as you need to kill and save rest for the next mob.

-Ask mages for food. If they help you make sure to give them something in return.

-Keep your shield ready in inventory so you can shield bash when needed.

-Don’t take every skill right away. Cleave, Overpower, Thunderclap and Shield bash at Rank 1 is all you need from Prot spec.


Beginning of your journey as Warrior

During early levels as a leveling Warrior, you want to focus on saving as much money as you can. Pick up everything from mobs and make good use of it. You can train skinning for some early profits or take other gathering professions. Make sure to pick up First Aid as it will be necessary for your leveling. Remember to be efficient at everything you do. Don’t spend too much rage and don’t let it wear off. Use highest DPS weapons that you can find (doesn’t matter if its a sword or a staff), if you have enough currency you may think about buying it from vendors. A warrior without a good weapon is extremely painful to play so invest in that. Complete defensive stance through questing. 


Talent build

There are several builds warrior class can use in Vanilla.


In general, you want to get started as a 2H Fury up to 36 level to unlock Whirlwind or up to 40. Then you want to respect into Arms to get Mortal Strike and going back to Fury tree for 5/5 Enrage.

Fury Warrior Path:

5/5 Cruelty + 5/5 Booming Voice + 1/1 Piercing Howl + 3/3 Blood Craze + 1/5 Improved Battle Shout + 5/5 Enrage + 1/1 Death Wish + 2/2 Execute + 3/5 Improved Battle Shout + 5/5 Flurry > After that respec into Arms


Arms Warrior Path:

3/3 Improved Rend + 2/5 Deflection + 5/5 Tactical Mastery + 1/1 Anger Management + 3/3 Deep Wounds + 1/2 Overpower + 2/2 Impale + 2/2 Overpower + 2/5 2H Weapon Spec + 1/1 Sweeping Strikes + 5/5 Axe Spec + 4/5 2h Weapon Spec + 2/2 Improved Charge + 1/1 Mortal Strike > Don’t respec and finish build with Fury tree


Fury Warrior Path:


fury warrior build

As opposed to Arms Fury Warrior Path should look like this in Talent Calculator.


Protection Warrior path


Viable Race:



- Night Elf - 1% Dodge + higher Agility,

- Human - weapon skill matter in terms of Threat generation,

- Dwarf - Stoneform ability.



- Tauren - increased HP and War Stomp AoE stun,

- Orc - increased weapon skills and Hardiness.


Talent tree in Talent Calculator should look like this:


protection warrior build

Same as Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior is able to have a Dual Wielding ability, but there is a vast discussion about its utility. If you decide to go for it then Thrash Blade 


Class specific add-ons

The most important enhancement when it comes to Warrior Addons is called Swing Timer. It lets you see the precise timing of your swing and with that information, you are able to use your Abilities and move freely without interrupting your natural auto-attack cycle. It is a crucial thing to use as Hamstring Method will be important to you while leveling. Another crucial tool not only for Warrior but pretty much for every World of Warcraft player is DPS meter like Skada or Recount which lets you track DPS, healing, interrupts and more statistics of you and your party members. On top of that addons like Xp/Hr Tracker can make your life easier.


Stat priority 

The most important part of gearing your character is checking stats on pieces of equipment. Ideally, you want to wear only stats that can boost your character’s damage potential the most. Although other statistics are handy at times too, Warrior is in extreme need of increasing his attack power. Since this class has no real reliable tools to mitigate damage and heal it back quickly, it is important to finish fights as soon as possible - this is exactly why Warrior need to invest in good weapons and damage. Here is the list of most important stats to Warrior.



-Increases melee attack power by 2 for every point

-Increases amount of damage that you can block with shield



-Improves armor rating by 2 for every point

-Increases ranged attack power by 2 for every point

-Around 20 points in Agility increase Critical and Dodge chances by 1%.


Attack Power

-Increases Damage per Second by 1 for every 14 AP.


When it comes to stats there are many valuable things to look at like weapon DPS and weapon attack speed - these stats are most important. However, when it comes down to basic stats you should choose which ones are best for you based on your character progression. Before level 40 you want to focus on survivability as Warrior is very Vulnerable early on. After getting past the lvl 40 bracket you can focus more on maximizing your damage output. This is basic stat priority for Warrior in Vanilla:


Before 40: Spirit > Strength > Agility > Stamina > Intellect

Past 40: Agility > Strength > Stamina > Spirit > Intellect



Have you decided already? Do you want to be the scary big guy with even bigger axe slashing mobs left and right? Or maybe you wanna do something for the people and take a hit or two? Are you scared to of hard time gaining experience? Did we shed some light at Vanilla Warrior class?


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