Warriors have 2 DPS specs.  For a long time, though, people might argue they really didn’t.  When asked what spec to use for raiding DPS in the past, the answer was always simple:  Fury.  Going with an Arms build was an easy way to open yourself up to brilliant insults in the vein of “L2P.”  It was a cruel, cruel world for Arms warriors in PvE, forever relegated to the PvP spec.

When Wrath hit, people who loved the Arms play style had high hopes for the spec.  Fun new tools like Bladestorm and Sudden Death sounded like the perfect cure for a broken PvE spec.  Well, I can say from experience that Arms was huge, HUGE fun for the leveling game.  I wouldn’t take a warrior to 80 any other way.  In raiding though, it still took a backseat (way, way in the back) to a Fury spec.

3.1 hit, and everything changed.  Titan’s Grip took a mighty wallop from Ye Olde Nerf Bat.  At the same time, Arms got a healthy boost all around.  So now the question that hovers around the official boards and beyond is this:  Fury or Arms for raiding?

My simple answer is this:  Arms is better at lower gear levels, and Fury evens up and then pulls away as you approach BIS gear. 

For more details, let’s carry on and look at the strengths and weaknesses of each spec.

Arms Strengths

• Excellent single target DPS, some multi target DPS with Bladestorm and Sweeping Strikes
• Very, very active, many different “buttons to push” if you like that sort of thing
• You only need ONE uber two handed weapon
• Requires less expertise through gear to reach the cap

Arms Weaknesses

• Weaker (than fury) DPS in multi target situations
• Perhaps TOO active for some, long priority list (Rend, Execute, Overpower, Mortal Strike, Slam – in that order)
• You don’t look quite as cool with only ONE giant weapon

Fury Strengths

• Very, very good single target DPS – excellent multi target damage as well
• Active, but not quite as many things to keep track of (Whirlwind, Bloodthirst, Slam Proc, HS > 50 rage)
• Nothing looks quite as badass as a TG Fury Warrior with nice weapons

Fury Weaknesses

• Single target DPS less than Arms (at least at lower gear levels)
• Some consider the rotation boring
• Must gear and gem for more expertise
• Really need 2 excellent weapons to thrive

It’s like I said before, Arms, IMO, is better until you have some really nice gear for Fury.  If you’re just starting out raiding, or if you’re mostly wearing Naxx 10 gear or thereabouts, you’ll probably do better as an Arms warrior.  Arms spec relies a bit less on gear.  As gear improves, however, Fury catches up and eventually surpasses Arms.  Fury Warriors scale very, very well with gear, but it takes time to get there.  Let me give you a real world example.

Before 3.1, I out DPSd our Arms warrior every time.  Even when he had better gear, I out DPSd him.  Once I got better gear than him, it got even worse.  After 3.1, the story has changed.  Our gear right now is roughly equal, and he is almost always beating me.  You may look at my gear and say, “but you have some really nice gear.”  Yeah, I do, but one key piece is missing – a good off hand weapon. 

If my theory is correct, I should start to pass him again once I replace my crusty old Titansteel Destroyer. I believe that the real key to Fury Warrior DPS is how good BOTH your weapons are. The nerf, after all, was a direct hit to physical damage – and weapons have a HUGE impact on physical damage.

Try to take everything into account, however.  Arms and Fury are two very different playstyles.  As a Fury, I spend a lot more time waiting on cooldowns, where when I spec Arms, it’s everything I can to make sure I take advantage of every proc.  There is constantly some attack lit up that I could be using – it’s all about managing the GCD. 

Heck, there are quite a few raiding warriors that are actually using dual spec.  Some fights in Ulduar are more suited to Arms than Fury and vice versa.  If you really, really want to min/max, you too can go this route. 

Really, if you think about it, Blizzard did a nice job with these changes.  Arms is finally viable as a Raid DPS spec without totally destroying Fury.  Now we can actually choose a spec based on – wait for it – FUN!!

Before I get out of here, I believe I owe you guys a Power Auras setup export for Arms DPS.  Here it is – enjoy! It tracks your rend being up with a timer, and will let you know when Mortal Strike, Execute and Overpower are available. Thanks again to Drotara for teaching me the ways of Power Auras!

I love me some Power Auras.  If you don’t know what Power Auras is, it’s a mod that helps you keep track of things like skills being available, various procs and whatnot.  I picked up this mod awhile back, and finally have it set up to my liking.  I figure it would help to share with my readers my exact setup, as it has the convenient ability to import and export settings.  Hopefully this will give you that extra little edge.

First, download the mod itself here.  (I hate linking to Curse, but I just did!)  Power Auras is one of those mods that is very, very useful, but can also be very complex and difficult to get set up just right.  Well, thanks to Drotara at http://www.qqpewpew.com/, I finally got my setup all ironed out.  Without further adieu, let’s get to it.

Rather than give you the ugly strings of code this thing generates, I’ve uploaded a text file for you to download here. 

Now, get thee in WoW and open the mod by typing /powa.  Next, copy the text provided in any way you see fit, and then click the Import button.  Paste the text, hit ok, and voila!  I have mine set up to notify me of a few events and available skills.  You’ll get an icon for Bloodthirst, Whirlwind, and Execute when they are available when you are in combat.  You’ll also get a big flashy icon when Slam procs.  For raiding I also give icons for Death Wish and Recklessness availability. 

Here is a shot of what it looks like generally.  I tried my darndest to get as many of them as active at once as possible, but I’m just too darn tough nowadays.    You can see the icons for Bloodthirst and Whirlwind, as well as the Icon above my head for the Slam proc. 

Hello all.  Lot’s of happenings in the world of PTD, I have some upgrade stories, new levels of uberness, and a bit of a rant about my 10% less cool Fury Warrior.  Let’s get this started.

The Great Fury Warrior Nerf of 3.1

Titan’s Grip was one of the first "new" talents that sounded really freaking cool.  Be able to use TWO giant, badass 2-handers?  Sign me up!  Since it’s inception, though, it’s gone through a number of changes, tweaks, buffs and nerfs.  Blizzard just doesn’t seem to have a clue how to balance the talent.  I’m almost at the point where I wish they’d quit tinkering and just rework the 51 point fury talent completely. 

If you recall, when we first got to take this talent for a spin, it came with a hit penalty when wielding 2 two-handers.  It’s gone through quite a few iterations, and I’m not even sure where it started out.  I believe it was in the neighborhood of a 15% hit penalty for yellow (special) damage, then a straight 5% penalty to hit, and then finally it was removed completely.  Trying to actually remember the roadmap of changes to Titan’s Grip makes my head spin.

The newest change introduced in 3.1 gives Titan’s Grip a straight up 10% damage nerf. 

Should there be a penalty or nerf to Titan’s Grip?  If so is a straight damage nerf the best way to do that?

The answer to the first question is "yes," while whether a damage nerf was a good idea is more difficult.  If you look at the talent honestly, you would have to think that a penalty-less Titan’s Grip is an overpowered talent.  I think the difficulty, though, is determining just HOW overpowered it is.  You see, the Warrior class is, in my opinion, THE most gear dependent class in the game.  A poorly geared warrior can’t do anything, really, but that also means that we SCALE better than most with GOOD gear.

The issue is that if you looked at the TOP geared fury warriors in the game, they were often blowing other classes away on the damage meters.  Personally, I was consistently in the top 5 in 25 mans, and that was with sub-par weapons.  If I had a couple of BOH’s, I may have been leading the meters.  (Though at this point I’ll never know.) 

With this recent nerf, however, I’ve dropped a good 3 or 4 spots on the DPS hierarchy.  I still do solid DPS, and with some recent upgrades I’m sure to be climbing the meters again (more on those upgrades later.) 

My issue is this.  Were fury warriors nerfed based on the performance of the top geared warriors in WoW?  I’m a little afraid that just might be the case.

I’ve also heard the argument that warriors are a hybrid, and therefore should not be tops in damage.  Well, that makes sense, but where is the explanation for the Ret Pallys and Feral Druids I see at the top all the time post 3.1? 

Like I said, though, I’m happy with my damage output.  I guess I just don’t quite understand the reasoning, and in some ways feel a straight damage penalty was a lazy way to fix the problem.

Lucky Night With the RNG

On a lighter, happier note, my terribad luck with weapon drops came to a merciful end last week.  I was online doing some questing when a call went out for a DPS to fill Naxx 25, where they were on KT.  I had no plans to run it later that week, so I piped up and got ported in. 

It turned out to be the most profitable single, fill-in boss fight I’ve ever been a part of.    It was the first time that KT dropped the Betrayer of Humanity for our group, and guess who was on top of the SK list in that particular raid.  Wahooo!  It’s about freaking TIME I got rid of my crap Naxx 10 mace, Demise.

Now, I felt a tiny pang of guilt, having only gotten on for that one kill, but at the same time I had run Naxx many, many times with this group previously.  And we do use SK for a reason!  I am also a believer that if you took part in a boss kill, you have the right to roll on any loot that he should drop. 

And, just to make things even more profitable, I picked up my T 7.5 helm at the same time. 

80 Number 3

This is a testament to how much easier leveling is in Wrath than it was in BC.  I now have THREE, count them (3), level 80 toons.  My Druid, my Warrior, and now my Hunter.  Heck, it wasn’t until the tail end of BC’s reign that I got my 2nd level 70, and here I sit with 3 level 80s.  I know I could easily get more, as well!

But, as a more casual player, I’ve always been pretty heavily invested in alts.  If I only have a half hour, the best thing for me personally is to log on an alt and do a few quests.  I just can’t stand dailies, I’ve never been able to, and I’m not really an achievement junkie, either, so alts are it for me. 

This is another cross-post on Big Hit Box….check it out!

You’re here for info.  I’m here to try to help.  3.1 finally dawned on Azeroth, and there are a couple things I’d like to go over.  I won’t cover dual specs, tradeskills, or anything like that.  I’m cherry picking some stuff that I’m personally interested in, and hope you are too.

3.1 Fury Talents

First, let’s talk Fury specs.  Honestly, I don’t think a lot has changed.  The big, BIG thing to note, though, is the removal of Weapon Mastery from the fury tree.  For us Furies, it means it’s time to boost up that expertise.  In the old cap, you only had to get to 18 expertise, which equated to about 148 expertise rating.  Now, without the benefits of Weapon Mastery, you need to get to 26 expertise, which is 214 expertise rating.  That’s a sizable amount more of expertise you will need, and after getting hit capped for yellow damage, expertise is the next thing you want capped.

Seriously, cap expertise.  Do it now before you forget.

Anyhow, here is what I went with spec wise.  It’s pretty standard up and down.  You have a few play points here and there.  Like if you want to look cool on the trash DPS meters you could get Improved Cleave, but I didn’t bother.  Many of the points in arms are negotiable as well. 

Ulduar Weapon Drops

Now for the fun stuff!  I’ve been hurting a bit weapon wise.  I’ve had terrible luck in Naxx 25, and I’m still running around with Demise and the Titansteel Destroyer.

Thankfully, blizz has come to save the day with a handful of new weapons to shoot for, in both 10 and 25 man Ulduar.

10-Man Drops

Ironsoul – Drops from the Flame Leviathan

Very nice weapon, available from what I believe is the first boss in Ulduar.  Strength has always been a great stat for fury, but now that zerker stance boosts str and not AP, it’s even sweeter.  Armor penetration got a big boost in 3.1 as well, so this is another good side stat to shoot for.  The crit is also nice, and it’s overall DPS is even higher than Death’s Bite from Naxx 10.  I will be gunning for this from the start.  Fury DPS LFG Uld 10.

Stormedge – Drops from Hodir

Another solid weapon from Ulduar 10.  The hit is ok, but again we find a good amount of strength and some Armor Pen as a bonus.  The DPS is also solid.  This may be itemized more for an Arms warrior, but still a good weapon nonetheless.  Especially if you have been unlucky like I have. 

25-Man Drops

Worldcarver – Drops from Ignis the Furnace Master

Here we have our first weapon on the ?next level? in terms of DPS.  232.5 DPS is higher than the previous BIS, the Betrayer of Humanity.  Now, the stats make it more of a DK tanking weapon.  I don’t know a whole lot about that class/spec, but the stamina budget, expertise and haste scream out tank to me.  Still an excellent choice for a Fury Warrior if you’re still carting around old 186 DPS weapons like me.  I would probably pass it to a DK tank, but I’d roll about anyone else for it.  Strength again, some expertise to help us cap out, and some haste, which isn’t bad.

Rune Edge – Drops from the Iron Council

Another big 232.5 DPS.  If this had strength rather than agility, I would be MUCH more excited, but it’s still a great, great weapon.  (Hell, the Betrayer had agi and not str too!)  Crit, AP and Armor Pen are all high and very welcome.  Beware of hunters if this drops, try to distract or confuse them if possible.  Use the ?hey, wait for a spear? argument if necessary.

Voldrethar, Dark Blade of Oblivion – Drops from General Vezax

This is the present King of the Fury Hill in terms of weapons.  244.7 DPS, 999 max damage ? I think my head is about to explode.  Strength, 2 sockets, crit, armor pen – it’s a dream come true.  Expect to have lots of competition for this sword, it’s the bee’s knees.  Excuse me a second while I wipe the drool off my keyboard.

So there you have your new weapons to shoot for.  I think Blizz did a much better job of itemizing weapons this time around, the choices in Naxx just seemed a little too limited.  Keep in mind this list does not include loot from the last 2 bosses.  They are still a mystery to all.  I’m sure there’s a big nasty axe in there somewhere, with a DPS number over 250. 

WoW Matrix

To wrap things up, a big BOO to Curse and WoW Interface for blocking WoW Matrix.  Now, I understand there is money involved and whatnot, but can’t they work with WoW matrix in some way?  It really was by far the best updater.  Now I have to use the invasive Curse client, and then manually install my outlier addons that aren’t available on Curse.  I know it’s no HUGE deal, but I have a lot of addons.  WoW Matrix made everything cake, and Curse and WoW Interface have taken that away. 

So Boo to you Curse and WoW Interface!  A Pox on you and both your houses!

That’s all for now ? shouldn’t you be in Ulduar right now?

Yeah, I know.  It’s been awhile.  But you see I promised myself something when I first began writing this blog:  I will try my best NOT to write posts JUST to write posts.  It’s not like I have to clock in or whatnot, this is no job.  I write when I have something worthwhile to talk about, or at least I hope so.  Please don’t now inundate me with examples of crap posts from the past, as I’m sure I have many out there.   

With that out of the way, I can tell you that I indeed have something to talk about.  A couple of things, really. 

Bye Bye Maly

For starters, I’ve beaten WoW.  (Save the accolades for later, really.)  I’ve been raiding once a week for the past couple of months, and Friday night we finally accomplished the last real thing I had to accomplish, downing Malygos in 25 man.  Now I know there are things I have not done on my warrior, like OS25 for instance, but between my warrior and druid I’ve really done it all.  I’m itching for Ulduar now just like many of you are.  But I’ll get back to that in the second part of this post.

Back to Malygos – it took us a long time, and a lot of tries.  Overall the fight really isn’t that difficult.  It wasn’t long before we had phases 1 and 2 pegged.  Anyone who’s done Maly knows, however, that phase 3 is the rub. 

Individually, it’s not all that difficult.  Just keep your stack up, and stack as many as you can.  In a way I have some advantages in this area due to my experience with Resto Druiding.  For a long time I made my living on proper stack/HOT management. 

The problem is you have to get SO MANY people doing the same thing.  In other phases, in other fights, you can carry some people through who aren’t performing like everyone else.  In Maly your room for error is marginal at best.  You need most everyone to be handling their stacks RIGHT. 

In a way, it’s reminiscent of the Teron Gorefiend fight from Black Temple.  To take down Gorefiend, you had to play this itty bitty mini-game that Blizz had thrown in, and you needed everyone to be able to play it.  The same thing goes for Malygos.  At least here Blizz had the foresight to institute some in game training.  There is a daily quest near Transitus Shield, Aces High, that shows you how the drakes you will have to use for Maly work. 

I can’t say I’m a fan of that kind of boss fight, but it was very satisfying when we got it done.  Pics or it didn’t happen, I know?

There you go, proof.  Are you happy?  My apologies for the fairly crappy shot, it’s hard to get anything decent with 20+ drakes in the air and whatnot.  Don’t even get me started on the horrors of trying to loot the stupid chest thingy afterwards.  Ugh.  (On a side note, can we have a moratorium on any loot “boxes”?  I’d much rather always have a big old corpse to click on, where we can ALL get in!)

So goodnight Maly, it was fun?.ish.

Razor Thin Layers of Progression

My Fury Warrior (who is my present main, in case you haven’t heard) has pretty dang spiffy gear.  I finally got done with the dreaded Nobles Deck to get the Darkmoon Card: Greatness, I have several pieces of near BIS gear from 25 man Naxx, and I’m capped in everything useful and sport over 4k unbuffed AP.  But still, I have a pretty big problem. 

My frigging weapons.

I have Demise from 10 man Naxx and the Titansteel Destroyer.  Good weapons, sure, but overall they are really holding me back. 

The problem is that there are very few upgrades in this area.  There are four I’m looking at, to be exact, and to date I’ve only seen one of them drop, and that only once.  In case you are wondering, the four weapons are The Jawbone, Armageddon, Death’s Bite and the Betrayer of Humanity.  3 of them only come from 25 man Naxx, and the last comes from 10 man Naxx.  I can only raid once a week, and I do 25 man Naxx on that one day, and to this day I’ve only seen Armageddon drop, and that only once.  To add to the futility of trying to upgrade my weapons is the fact that I really need TWO in the long run, and there are usually 4 other people in each raid that would like the same drops.

Ugh.

So here I find myself on the narrowest of upgrade paths, and it’s disheartening.  This is why PTD gets bored, and why I find myself wondering what alt to level next.  It gets tough as you approach the upper echelons of gear, and fewer and fewer upgrades are appealing.  I need nothing from heroism badge gear (unless I start looking at tanking gear), and there aren’t many drops left in Naxx 25 that I’m interested in anymore.  I just want a new stinking weapon.  And then one more to boot.

So I keep on heading into Naxx 25, and hope every time that I get lucky.  I do my job, put out very good DPS, and approach most boss lootings as uneventful.

So why are there no good badge weapons?  Back in the BC days, there were some VERY nice weapons you could get with badges.  Now I see nothing at all.  Does Blizz have something against those of us who wield two-handers?  And then, just for kicks, did they say “hey, maybe we should make a class able to use TWO two-handers, and thereby magnify their frustration tenfold!”  I sure hope not. 

Thankfully, there look to be some good choices coming along in Ulduar.  Now where the heck is 3.1??