Anyone remember the warrior quest at level 30ish I believe for the whirlwind weapons? I think you had the choice between axe, sword or polearm if I remember correctly, but all arms warriors chose the axe and used it probably until level 50ish.
If I remember right, everyone chose the axe due to the slow weapon speed which was the primary contributor to dps for arms warriors through mortal strikes and heroic strikes…
I assume these class specific quests will be in Vanilla, looking forward to it!
Yes, you are correct.
Much like the other early class quests, it was also nearly impossible to do without significant help, especially at the minimum level which you can acquire the quest.
This is why speed levelers always skip the class quests unless it gives some necessary ability.
Side note, if you are a human warrior please take the mace. It is a net gain from the weapon skill bonus.
Or you could’ve been me and chose the sword cuz you thought it looked cooler. I wasn’t very smart back then.
I always took the mace because the axe is just so fugly. The sword though… so fast 
Yusssssssssssss, I loved that quest line (along with the ones to open up your stances)
Axe, sword and hammer.
3.6 attack speed, highest topend, axe specialty gave 5% crit at 5/5 talent points.
Aye!
I have both the Whirlwind Sword/Axe Tmogs still and Furen’s Shield/Chest(level 20 quest) and the level 50 helmet (Fury Visor) and the trinket on another warrior somewhere.
The Axe is phenomenal on Horde side. Having tested my actual DPS on 2 Orc Warriors it easily outperforms Stoneslayer and The Rockpounder from Uldaman, both of which do anywhere from 30-40 more top end, and more DPS. You literally won’t find another weapon that is better until Twig of the World Tree in the low 50s.
The bulk of the quest can be done solo, but it is very difficult. You have to hamstring kite the water and fire elementals, both of which are going to be orange or red at 30. The Bloodscalp tusks are not hard, they’re just a bit taxing because you need quite a few, and there is generally a lot of both faction killing them for quests.
The air elementals however, will require help at 30. They’re level 38, hit pretty hard, are packed together much tighter, and cast from range.
But I’ve done it with 3 level 30 Warriors. We even killed Cyclonian rotating cooldowns and taunts. It took us 6 hours total to farm all the charms during the PvP in Arathi coupled with low drop rates. It took another hour for Bloodscalp tusks, and we all went to the AH for the life root. Cyclonian took a few minutes. So a bit under 8 hours as a level 30 if you aren’t being babysat by a high level. You’ll still need help with Cyclonian at any point though.
If you are a bit slower leveling, just do a /who Warrior 50+ and find one nearby. Be polite and ask them as a Warrior brother to help you join the family. Usually works.
You choose the axe (even as a human) because the specialization for it was crit and crit was very hard to get pre60. Same reason why you grab cruelty early. As you know crit heavily builds into deep wounds and the impale ability. Having 10% crit while leveling just from talents was great.
Not sure what spec you’re referring to here, but the earliest possible you can get +10 crit would be deep arms at 39 with axe specialization and +5 in cruelty. Not exactly early in leveling and not a very good leveling build, but you could get cruelty after MS anyway, but that would be lvl 45. although arms isn’t bad or anything, fury is better after they fixed the talent tree.
Given the mass overpopulation of warriors in classic, selling liferoot ( needed for this quest chain) on the auction house will pay for a mount or three.
Arms for life. Cruelty first, respec at 40 for MS
If I remember right, levels 54-60 I was mining while grinding and saving up for the Arcanite Reaper to replace the Whirlwind axe. Had the same slow speed but was the best 2H weapon until you could get MC loot. I don’t think I got the WW axe at 30 though, probably did the quest line well into the 40’s a little at a time.
TUF was a pretty easy to get upgrade over Arcanite Reaper. Depending on how long it takes for phase 2 to come out, I doubt we’ll be seeing too many people taking the time to craft AR.
Also the Ice Barbed spear just required a single AV win and could be gotten at 51 w/ 51 DPS and 3.6 swing speed.
Agreed, TUF wasn’t bad grinding out the AV rep, I just never did lol. I don’t think I became exalted with AV until some time into BC, which is odd because I do feel like I spent a good amount of time in AV during Vanilla.
Also agreed on the time spent to craft AR, though if you mine during your “no quests left” 50-60 grind you get a decent amount of arcane crystals for the 20x arcane bars. It is then just getting someone to transmute them, and then finding someone else with max level blacksmithing with the rare drop recipe to craft it!
It is proven science that looking badass increases your dps by at least 20%
Good point! Tiny bit smaller on top damage but for some reason (I can’t remember) I thought the axe as a better pick at the time. I know I was deep in the talent tree as being axe specced due to using the WW axe, so that may have been part of my decision making at the time.
I’m gonna chime in here to validate Cheater a bit and elaborate a bit more. Crit is flat out your best stat weight on a Warrior. Level 1, in Rank 14 premades, and when you’re crushing Naxxramas. Yes, even on a Human Warrior, you should be utilizing WW Axe and Axe specialization. The entire potential of a Warrior revolves around using your abilities which are dictated by your rage. Crit gives you the best chance of maximizing the amount of rage you’re going to have available, and gives you the best potential damage output. It’s been thoroughly tested.
There are a ton of ways to play Warrior, and I won’t fault anyone for playing the way they want. But if you want to stretch and exceed your capabilities, roll with the Axe.
Once you hit 44 and are lucky enough to get Stoneslayer, that will usurp WW Axe on a Human Warrior. On an Orc Warrior, and every other race, WW-axe outperforms everything. Even Sulthraze @ 50 and Gatorbite Axe. AV might not be out immediately, so there goes your opportunity to use an Ice Barbed Spear. The next upgrade is Twig of the World Tree from a world drop or the AH. Then, The Nicker, Warblade of Caer Darrow, Barbarous Blade, and Blackhand Doomsaw. After that you’re talking Arcanite Reaper and raid weapons.
Awesome list, thanks!