Here’s the discord link. Was going to edit it into my last post but wanted to make sure you got it
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That’s very helpful, thank you!
I still use icy-veins for most of my guides.
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WoWhead will help you out with rotation, gearing, etc.
Hekili can be a useful tool if you’re starting a new spec (if nothing else, it’ll remind you of your cooldowns and when your self-buffs drop).
Class discords can be amazing and hold a wealth of information (Warrior one is atleast). Class guide writers for icy veins and wowhead generally compile a list that perfect for beginners but rarely go past that.
A guide or a list can tell you the what - class discords can explain in depth the ‘why’. This is the next step. Understanding the why something is the way it is will have you averaging higher and higher performance because it gives you the tools to understand it. Logging your runs via warcraftlogs and learning what/how to understand them will be a key component in this understanding.
Another huge part of improvement is addons and weak auras, custom ui seetting all specifically built for you and the informatrion you need to track. Entire pre built class weak auras are also easy to find. Luxthos weak aura packages i find are amazing - just google them.
There is a collective set of information that spans the entire life of wow, usually inside the class discord. Just search wowhead or icy veins for infomation about them or links to join them.
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This is the part I have been struggling with, I’ve been feral druid since 2005 and like… I understand the rotation and when to use certain procs and cooldowns because I understand how talents interact. But I learned all that as the game changed, and in the past my raiding teams would go out of their way to run dungeons with me and try and make adjustments to my priorities and stuff.
But without that human element or a natural progression in learning I haven’t really been as good at any other class.
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Im the same when it comes to arms warrior. I spend each season or xpac attempting to learn a new class or spec as a side project.
Brew monk shadowlands S4, ret pal DF s1, bdk df s2 (and benched arms warr for aug), boomy last season. Currently peak of serenity discord is the closest thing to Skyhold (warrior discord) in terms of information and players willing to help. Its a case of understanding that you need to learn thee ‘why’ behind something - ill try diff talents, builds, content, stats, simming and track it alongside guides/logs etc to compare. I like to find the nitty gritty inside why certain things are not chosen instead of just blindly following a class guide and bis gear list.
Streamers for various different forms of content and their audiences are another great way to find the human element. You need to sift through the elitest jerks and the toxic players tho. Find players that generally enjoy their class/spec and are willing to help others understand it because thats what they enjoy.
Relying on youtube videos is a mistake, as you can’t just copy what those guys do without first being experienced with the class.
The first thing you should do is read each spell on your spellbook, carefully making note of what your strongest attacks are and what your filler attacks are.
The second thing you should do is go to Wowhead and read every page for your spec. More specifically what stat priority to use for gear and rotations. Also make use of their macros.
The final thing you should do is simulate your character with raidbots, use a weakaura for your class instead of spell buttons, and join a class discord.
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Arms warrior is incredibly strong right now and only takes like 5 buttons to play.
My experience as a very low level new player trying to figure out a rotation and keybinds:
- No idea where to start. When and why I should choose this new ability over that? Received recommendation to go to icy-veins.
- Step 1: get your mythic 4pc and raid trinkets.
- Step 2: a 12 step list of “if this procs, do that until the other thing happens”. None of these procs or spells were anything I had.
Icy-veins now has a leveling guide a player can set at their own level. So that’s an improvement.
Well, darn. Just switched to fury because a double Scythe of the Unmaker looks cooler than one.
Sure. Would you like the info on the prio of those 5 abilities? The 3 most common builds for raid/st/2t cleave and full aoe? The actual breakdown of current rage use?
Wowhead will say = MS > SD > OPx2 > WW > TC > Slam
I explain to new players in the arms discord that ask what the rotation is because they couldnt understand it on wowhead: Arms warrior has a priority rotation
Mortal Strike
Sudden Death (causes mortal strike to deal additional damage via the executioners precision talent)
Overpower (causes mortal strike to deal additional damage via the martial prowess talent) it has 2 charges when using the dreadnaught talent
Whirlwind spends 60 rage (storm of swords talent) causing a 100% chance for overpower to reset via tactician
Thunderclap also causes overpower to reset via tactician while also applying rend when using the blood and thunder talent
Slam - if you every get to this point you made a mistake or were extremely unlucky (sims will cast slam twice over a 5 min fight)
Collossus Smash usage and windows with test of might. The basic idea within these 2 abilities is to spend as much rage as possible within the initial 13 second window to buff your strength for the 15 seconds outside of cs. This is easily achievable by modifying your rotation going into cs by holding ww and using it twice inside that 13 second window.
Execute phase follows a completely different prio and becomes the only time rage management is a thing - MS > 3 globals > MS - These 3 globals will be execute x3 or execute x2 and opx1 folowing the rule of if rage over 40, execute, rage under 40, overpower.
I can go on for days about arms rotation, but the point i was trying to show is that all the additional info is a means to allow others to learn beyong what any guide can give you.
Shadow Guide Writer here! o/
I know it looks like a lot, and you mentioned not being able to grasp why things are in the order that they are. I know this isn’t specific to Shadow but here’s some of the underlying logic behind building a rotation in WoW. It should be mostly transferrable from DPS spec to DPS spec, though I know it’s applicable to Shadow.
Almost all rotations have the following few things in common.
1: Don’t let your resource bar(s) hit max
2: Don’t leave core spells off cooldown too long*
3: Don’t let procs time out
4: Don’t let buffs / debuffs fall off
5: Overlap as many cooldowns that increase damage as possible at once
*Number 2 can be a tricky one because usually something has to sit off cd for some amount of time even in a perfectly executed rotation. A very basic rule of thumb is that the goal is to cast things as often as possible, this means the shorter something’s cd is the more likely waiting to use it will mean losing out on a use across a fight. We try to put short cd things on cd before we cast big cd things, unless those big cd things specifically buff the short cd things.
Openers:
The opener can look complicated but really it’s just the most efficient compromise that fulfils the 5 goals above. Take Shadow’s Single Target Opener for example.
1: Pre build 25 insanity
2: Vampiric touch
3: Mind Blast
4: Shadowfiend
5: Void Eruption
6: Void Bolt + Power Infusion
7: Devouring Plague
8: Mind Blast
9: Void Torrent
We get as much insanity as we can for free before the boss fight starts, then we apply dots and start putting things on cooldown one by one. First blast because voidform will give us a charge, then Shadowfiend, then voidform to buff all of our damage. Then bolt is available so we press it, plus PI to increase the rest of our damage. Now we have a bunch of insanity we need to spend so we cast our first plague, buffing subsequent damage while it’s active. Then we put blast on cd, and finally with all CDs active DP up, and blast and bolt both on cd we cast Void Torrent.
As for talent interactions. There’s one which buffs the damage of mind blast and Void Torrent when all 3 DoTs are active, which is the main reason we wait with blast / torrent in CDs until plague is up and running.
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Looking cool with great transmog is vastly more important than max damage in all content outside of mythic raid RWF and the highest keys being pushed.
Arms does outperform fury in these catagories but play what you enjoy. Critcake showcased the power of fury warrior in a key after a cheeky message.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/292545107490504704/1248615671647047741/image.png?ex=66644f76&is=6662fdf6&hm=4b0230f0d58a2324762f89a174bc20d58de1d6a0acecd2497530b65423ddd41c&
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/292545107490504704/1248615556945547407/image.png?ex=66644f5a&is=6662fdda&hm=bfc724b94e09de2f6a6bcc3e430acae0ae6448f15e9ac9f18411e642af37f6a4&
Join Skyhold, the warrior discord and ask away in the fury channel.
https://discord.gg/Skyhold
Hard (fixed) Rotations virtually do not exist in the game and have not for awhile. You are never going to have something like:
“Pyroblast > Combustion > Fireblast > Pyroblast > Fireblast > Pyroblast > etc”
That you will perform consistently. The buttons you press are never ever going to be in the same order because:
- Procs usually take priority over other spells
- Modifiers are where you need to fit in your biggest damaging spells
- Positioning is much more important than it was in the past
- Timing and situational awareness rule out everything
It is tough to give a one size fits all guide for DPS because builder/spender specs just play different than others. In general you should be looking at pressing buttons as they become available and (usually)never holding anything back
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To clarify, this is hard meaning fixed not hard meaning difficult.
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Go to your class discord. Look up wowhead single target and cleave rotation. And check what you’re doing wrong. Most classes often have on e thing that not doing it 100% will make em do much less DPS.
Warriors over capping
Rogues not using combo points correctly
Hunters not managing focus right
And so on.
There’s obv more and these are basic
examples.
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Fury warriors worry about overcapping, arms warrior laugh in cosmetic rage bar!
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What is your /played?
Double it. Go hit the target dummies for 15 minutes. non-stop.
Work on your muscle memory.
This is another big thing but best to focus on working out what you’re supposed to be doing and why for now.
It’s one thing to know what buttons to push, to do it without thinking is another entirely.
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