Cata-Warriory Things I'm Excited About

So I spent a month researching and writing the whole Arms Quirks thing and Blizzard goes and changes the whole damn thing!  You would think I'd know better.  So, scrap that...

That little frustration aside, though, I'm pretty excited about the changes they've shown so far for Arms Warriors in Cataclysm!  All still very beta, subject to massive change, and spoiler warnings for the remaining of this post, blah blah blah.

In some respects (you might have to use a little biased imagination here), Arms Warriors are becoming the model for most other specs and class.  What?  Sure!  Think of it this way:

Arms Warrior abilities have always been very proc-based. Because of this, you never really have a set, repeated rotation.  You might have an opening that sets you up for a better chance of getting those procs, but mostly it's a set of priorities that change pretty radically when something does proc.

This way of playing makes an Arms Warrior feel more like actually fighting. You maneuver for advantage and when it shows itself, you shove your pointy stick right up it's wazoo. Taking  advantage of split second opportunities (by chance or design) is what being a warrior in a fight is all about.

So far, it looks like Cataclysm is gonna bring that to a lot of classes.  Arms Warriors don't look like they'll change that much, in that regard, and seem to be getting a little fun love from the developers, as well!  Let's have a look where we're at so far.

Arms Quirks: Introduction

Is there really anything "bad" about being an Arms Warrior?!?

Of course not!

However, looking at those minor dings of imperfection couldn't hurt (much) and might just make us better Warriors. So, this isn't so much a QQ as it is a self improvement series.

As I'm sure is apparent by now, I'm not much of a gear-head. In fact, if the entire way gear was handled in WoW was changed to "what looks awesomesauce!" I'd be perfectly happy. I love my current armor, even if the pants have saddle bags (really?) and the shoulders and hat are a little too poky for my liking. Best looking set since the Grand Marshall stuff way back at 60. The Undead Slayer armor comes close, too, of course.

Anyhoo, I'm gonna focus mainly on abilities and how-to fighting for Arms in these posts. There's a few things about Arms that are tricky to pull off, and situations where you really, really need to be able to compensate for the dings in your armor.

We're gonna look at:

The Pretty Ballerina Bladestorm Nerf - Bladestorm can now be Disarmed. Really? I mean, really?

Stance Dancing - You still need macros to dance. Why? Good question but you still need them.

The Specialization Penalty - Why Arms Warriors are the only spec that gets "srprz! buttsecks!" every time you pick up a new shiny pointy stick.

Retaliation - The "Ha Ha right!" of Warrior abilities.

Interrupting - You don't have one, but you can get one for only $9.99 plus shipping and handling.

Gearing - Why is it so @$#%$ing hard to find a Trinket?!?


It takes a lot of work to be a good Arms Warrior. Let's get to it!

-Fri