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.
Let me interject here and say that if anyone has a beta key, please send it to me because I Want It. Thanks.
Heroic Leap was suppose to make it into Wrath, but got the axe. Apparently, Blizzard has tried again and might actually get it to work. At first, I thought this might be a fancy version of Charge. But oh no no no no. This is a real leap. You target a spot on the ground and WHAM! You leap over there. Heoroicly even! This has so many fun possibilities!
From the recent Twitter chat:
We're pretty happy with it so far. The version we have right now lets the warrior target where they want to leap, so they can use it as an escape tool as well. We all know paladins would never retreat from a battle, but warriors have been known to do so.
Retreat my ass! Jumpy little Belf Rogue trying to Sprint away? Heroic Leap. Land in front of him. Lop of his head. Fun! Blinky mage giving you fits? No problem! Heroic Leap. Land in front of him. Lop of his head. More Fun! Did the silly Shammy make the Bad Guy drop fire all around you, again? Heroic Leap-sauce! (And then lop off his head. Silly Shammy.) I like this ability already.
Throwdown is really just something they're messing with at this point, apparently. But it sure would be fun. The idea is an ability that would knock a Bad Guy to the ground for 5 seconds. Yes! Sure, we'll still have good old Pummel, but having something like this as an actual Arms Warrior ability would be wicked cool. Being able to knockemontheirass would be handy in both PvP and PvE. Win.One ability we are trying out for Arms is "Throwdown," which lets them knock an opponent to the ground for five seconds. Since it's usable in Battle Stance, they can also use it as a Pummel in a pinch.
So, that's a lotta fun right there. We also have the new talent tree for Arms.
We get Mortal Strike, Anger Management, and Two Handed Weapon Specialization right off the bat at Level 10. Yes, Mortal Strike!
It's not really the iconic Arms Warrior ability anymore now that many classes have basically the same thing. And it is watered down considerably. Still, we'll probably have it before any other class does, and it is still very much part of being an Arms Warrior.
War Academy has Heroic Strike attached to it, as do several Arms-reachable talents in the Fury and Prot trees. Pretty good indicator that the new Heroic Strike will be used a lot more than it is now.
What will it be? Dunno. Can't wait to find out, though. See, to other classes Mortal Strike is the iconic Arms Warrior ability. To a real Warrior, though, Heroic Strike is the thing. We start with it, it's with us all the time. It is THE Warrior ability. It would be nice to have our old friend back and useful again!
For the record, I have no problem at all with Heroic Strike being on a Swing Timer. I like it, in fact. It's a Warriory ability! It simulates that timing and patience a warrior should have to unload the big smashass at just the right moment! It's a unique Warrior thing to be able to "cast" an ability, do something else, and then have the "cast" go off as the coup de grace.Whatever they do to Heroic Strike, I hope they make it feel that way
The other fun thing I like so far is Field Dressing. So, combine that with Second Wind and, later, maybe Bloodcraze, and suddenly you've got a self-healing Warrior. It's not Pally-Power, mind you, but what caught my eye was how Field Dressing also improves all healing done.
So, PvP ability? Or.... drumroll.... Arms Tank?!?
I can see a build like this one being tuned to actually make an Arms Warrior tank-ish. With the right gear and stats. Maybe. It's interesting.
Just dreaming a little. :)
Regardless, it certainly looks like Blizz is giving Warriors a nice treatment in Cataclysm. Something different, but something distinctive that will, hopefully, continue the trend of making a Warrior feel like a Warrior.Let's see what's next... Bring It!
-Fri
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