Arms Warrior DPS Rotation & Cooldowns

DPS Rotation & Cooldowns

This rotation offers a general priority list for Arms Warrior abilities, along with key cooldowns at the bottom. It's based on a standard build and is here to help while we work on a smarter, build-aware system. If you are very new to the game or this class, we added info on the new assisted rotation features at the bottom of this guide. Updated for the latest patch in World of Warcraft: The War Within (11.1.7).

Single Target

Ensure Battle Stance is active before engaging.

Apply or refresh if < 4 seconds remaining.
Use before Colossus Smash/Warbreaker.
Use with or just before Colossus Smash/Warbreaker.
Use with Opportunist active.
Use on cooldown.
Use with 3 stacks of Marked For Execution.
Use to consume Sudden Death procs.
Use as a filler.

Maintain Rend and prioritize Mortal Strike on cooldown. Use Thunderous Roar, Ravager, and Avatar to enhance damage windows. Fill with Overpower and Slam as needed.

AoE

Apply or refresh Deep Wounds if < 4 seconds remaining.
Apply or refresh Rend if < 4 seconds remaining.
Use to cleave attacks onto a secondary target.
Use with < 3 stacks of Imminent Demise.
Use during Sweeping Strikes.
Use with 2 stacks of Executioners Precision.
Use during Sweeping Strikes.
Use as a filler.

For AoE, maintain Deep Wounds with Cleave and Rend via Thunder Clap. Use Sweeping Strikes for cleave and prioritize Bladestorm, Ravager, and Warbreaker for burst damage.

Cooldowns

Use with Colossus Smash or Warbreaker for burst.
Best for AoE or Rage generation.
Use for AoE or single-target burst.
Use to enhance Rend and Deep Wounds ticks.
Use for survivability against physical damage.
Use as a group defensive cooldown.

Align Avatar with Colossus Smash for burst. Use Ravager and Bladestorm for AoE, and Skullsplitter to amplify DoTs. Defensively, rely on Die By The Sword and Rallying Cry as needed.

New to Class? Try Assisted Rotation

Patch 11.1.7 introduced new features that make it eaiser to pick and play new characters. These new settings can be enabled from settings » gameplay enhancements:

Single-Button Assistant
Assisted Highlight
Cooldown Manager

If you are new to World of Warcraft or a certain class, enabling Assisted Highlight and Cooldown Manager can help you learn which abilities to prioritize and use.

While the Single-Button Assistant can be a much easier and more accessible way to play the game, it does come with a slight performance hit due to a small GCD penalty, as you will have to wait 25% longer in between spells and abilities.

To see which specs are best with the Single-Button Assistant feature, you can check out our DPS Rankings which uses SimC to sim every class using this feature.