Warrior General/Mixed-Use Abilities

Heroic Strike
All Stances - 15 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: A strong attack that increases melee damage by 208 and causes a high amount of threat. Causes additional damage against Dazed targets.
Talent References: Improved Heroic Strike (Arms), Focused Rage (Protection)
Description: One of your first attacks, and one of the most versatile ones. It turns your next autoattack into a special (or ‘yellow damage’) attack that deals additional damage, as well as causing additional threat. Because it is a special attack, however, you will gain zero rage from that attack - and because it’s an on-hit ability, it effectively ‘consumes’ the next autoattacks rage generation, leaving this ability with a deceptively low rage cost compared to the actual cost of using the ability. After level 60, the new ranks of Heroic Strike will cause double bonus damage against Dazed targets (i.e. adds 416 instead of 208 at max rank).

Heroic Strike has two distinct uses, depending upon if you’re using a two-hand weapon, dual wielding or a sword and board. If you’re using a two-hand weapon, this ability… is as close to useless as you can possibly get. The only reason to use it with a two-hand weapon is when you don’t have anything better, which is a good description of your situation until you can get Mortal Strike (or Bloodthirst, or Slam, or… almost anything) or in a situation where Rage is absolutely unlimited (being focus fired in PvP).

With a dual wield setup you still gain no rage on the next attack - HOWEVER, because it is a special attack it bypasses the normal base miss rate of 24% while dual wielding, and instead uses the much more favorable 5% base miss rate for special attacks - leading it to create a much larger damage difference than appearances would lead you to believe.

Finally, while using a sword-and-board it’s a fairly effective threat generation ability that does NOT trigger the global cooldown - allowing you to help dump your rage in a high-damage tanking situation where you have more rage than you really know what to do with, which is a pretty good description of most multi-mob or boss tanking situations.

Cleave
All Stances - 20 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: A sweeping attack that does your weapon damage plus 70 to the target and his nearest ally.
Talent References: Improved Cleave, Focused Rage
Description: Much like Heroic Strike, Cleave is an on-next-hit ability that will increase the damage dealt (although not to the same degree as Heroic Strike will) with the same caveats, and it costs more Rage. So why use it? Because it will also make your next attack hit another target that is close to you. When you’re in an AoE situation this is… really, really useful since you’re doing slightly more than doubling your normal attack damage. Additionally, Cleave does cause some additional threat despite what the tooltip says, making it very useful for tanking multiple mobs. A very handy ability that should be used when possible for some nice double damage.

Battle Shout
All Stances - 10 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: The warrior shouts, increasing the melee attack power of all party members within 20 yards by 305. Lasts 2 minutes.
Talent References: Booming Voice, Improved Battle Shout
Description: Battle Shout is amazing. It gives your entire group massive amounts of melee attack power (with max talents, 381 AP - or increasing DPS by 27.2) for a paltry rage cost. It should be up ALL the time until you get Commanding Shout, and even then in most situations it will behoove you to keep using Battle Shout. (For a more detailed explanation of why, see below). A truly wonderful ability.

Commanding Shout
All Stances - 10 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: Increases total health of all party members within 20 yards by 730. Lasts 2 minutes.
Talent References: Booming Voice
Description: Commanding Shout is a very handy ability, although there are some factors that will prevent you from using it in all situations; namely, it precludes the use of Battle Shout, at least from the same Warrior (you can only have one shout up at the same time - two warriors in one group can keep both shouts active). Moreover, the benefits it provides aren’t as strong as Battle Shout’s - it provides the equivalent of 73 Stamina to the group, whereas Battle Shout provides the equivalent of 152.5 Strength.

Most useful in groups, where others may not benefit from Battle Shout’s attack power boost, or in tanking situations where the increased survivability outweighs the increased threat/damage from Battle Shout.

Thunderclap
Battle Stance - 20 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: Blasts nearby enemies with thunder slowing their attack speed by 10% for 30 seconds and doing 123 damage to them. Will affect up to 4 targets.
Talent References: Improved Thunderclap
Description: Thunderclap is one of the best Warrior abilities. At its base rank it deals some fairly middling damage to up to four targets within 8 yards and slows their attack speed by 10%. However, when combined with the Improved Thunderclap talent it becomes extremely strong - dealing some rather efficient damage and slowing all of the targets it hits by 20%, which significantly reduces the damage you’ll be taking from the mobs. It’s worth using in grinding even on solo mobs, but once you start getting more than one it’s always worth keeping up. As of 2.0.10, this ability has been useable in Defensive Stance, making it a truly fantastic AoE threat tool that Warriors otherwise lack. Imp. Thunderclap is a tanking and grinding necessity, and very nearly no build should be without it.

Bloodrage
All Stances - Generates 10 Rage, then 10 Rage over 10 Seconds
Max Rank Tooltip: Generates 10 rage at the cost of health, and then generates an additional 10 rage over 10 seconds. The warrior is considered in combat for the duration.
Talent References: Improved Bloodrage
Description: One of the few ways that a Warrior can generate Rage on demand (the others being Charge, Potions or the Improved Berserker Rage), this ability is especially handy while tanking where you may often be starved for rage and/or unable to Charge, usually because it will lead to you getting your ass handed to you by some irate mobs you didn’t REALLY mean to pull with that pack. Useful for soloing and PvP as well because… well, it’s additional Rage and the health cost isn’t extremely high. A very handy ability.

Intimidating Shout
All Stances - 25 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: The warrior shouts, causing the targeted enemy to cower in fear. Up to 5 total nearby enemies will flee in fear. Lasts 8 seconds.
Talent References: None
Description: A very, very, VERY useful ability that most people don’t know how to use properly. It will fear targets near you, but it also provides an Intimidating Shout effect to your current target that works the same way Gouge does. The target will stand there, unable to move or use any abilities, until they take damage of some kind (and yes, Rend/Deep Wounds will break the effect). So, what’s so useful about this?

Intimidating Shout has a 10 yard range. It’s a ranged gouge. Mage Frost Nova’d you then backed out of range? Intimidating Shout him and you can stroll over and smack him in the face once Frost Nova wears off. Hunter annoying you? Intimidating Shout his PET, then follow the Hunter around while the pet stands there looking like an idiot and you beat the crap out of his master (this also works with Warlocks or Mages with Frost Elementals!) Rogue trying to Rupture kite you? Zing, Intimidating Shout, ker-pow! (Yes, PvP really is like old Batman reruns). Moreover, because it’s a Gouge effect even against one target (assuming there’s no bleed effects) it can buy you some previous time… namely, enough time to use a full bandage (or close to a full bandage), which will help immensely when trying to kill difficult elite mobs.

Berserker Rage
Berserker Stance - Free
Max Rank Tooltip: The warrior enters a Berserker Rage, becoming immune to Fear and Incapacitate effects and generating extra rage when taking damage. Lasts 10 sec.
Talent References: Improved Berserker Rage
Description: A fantastic tool for PvE and PvP. Berserker Rage will make you immune (or remove any current) Fear or Disorient (sap, gouge) effects from you, which is… rather handy, for obvious reasons. Additionally, you generate more Rage from incoming damage while under the effects of Berserker Rage, giving you more damage tools to work with. This ability, more than anything else, is why as a Warrior you will be in Berserker stance 90% of the time in PvP - so as to have access to your fear break when needed. Moreover, it’s useful in PvE so as to fear-break against bosses that use that ability as well as to provide huge amounts of Rage when in an AoE situation. Get used to using this one, a lot.

Shield Bash
Battle and Defensive Stance - 5 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: Bashes the target with your shield for 63 damage. It also dazes the target and interrupts spellcasting, preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 6 seconds.
Talent References: Focused Rage, Improved Shield Bash
Description: Shield Bash is your only available interrupt until you receive Pummel, and thus very useful against casters. Unfortunately, the requirement for the shields makes it rather tricky to use when not tanking (read: PvP or solo grinding). It provides a long interrupt against that spell school (a full six seconds), although the longer cooldown than Pummel balances this out somewhat. (It’s worth noting that the cooldowns are indeed linked - but Pummel only has a 10 second cooldown, Shield Bash will trigger the full 12 second cooldown). Past level 60, Shield Bash will trigger a Daze effect on the target - increasing the damage done from some abilities (only Heroic Strike for Warriors) as well as providing a temporary snare.

Pummel
Berserker Stance - 10 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: Pummel the target for 50 damage. It also interrupts spellcasting and prevents any spell in that school from being cast for 4 sec.
Talent References: Focused Rage
Description: Pummel will be your primary interrupt from the moment you get it. It doesn’t require a shield, and thus is much more likely to be available for use in most situations. It has a shorter cooldown (and a shorter spell-school stoppage) than Shield Bash, and is far easier to use. And… well, it’s an interrupt - nothing more or less complicated than that.

Offensive Abilities
Charge
Battle Stance - Generates 15 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: Charge an enemy, generate 15 rage, and stun it for 1 seconds. Cannot be used in combat.
Talent References: Improved Charge (Arms)
Description: One of your best abilities, Charge will stun your current target for one second (in practice, just about long enough to actually travel to your target) and use the game’s admittedly often buggy pathing system to put you next to your target. Moreover, it will instantly get you started with fifteen rage to begin the fight with. The only downside to the ability is that you have to be out of combat in order to use it - which is less of a hinderance in PvE than it is in PvP, where you can be put into combat from well outside the range of your charge ability. Still, it’s one of the cornerstones of Warrior’s grinding, since it lets you get the fight started without having to wait to start using abilities.

Intercept
Berserker Stance - 10 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: Charge an enemy, causing 105 damage and stunning it for 3 seconds.
Talent References: Improved Intercept, Focused Rage
Description: One of the Warrior’s most useful abilities in PvP - it will bring you to your target, stun it for three seconds and deal some piddling damage. This stun is rather useful, as your target cannot dodge or parry while stunned, letting you open with some strong damage. This is also very useful for tough solo mobs (hamstring, back up, Intercept) and group play (intercept a mob heading for the healer or the overnuking mage).

Rend
Battle and Defensive Stance - 10 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: Wounds the target causing them to bleed for 182 damage plus an additional (.052 * Weapon Damage) over 21 seconds.
Talent References: Improved Rend, Focused Rage, Blood Frenzy
Description: Rend is rather useful in your lower levels, but its value becomes progressively worse and worse the higher in level you go. In the lower levels it will provide some significant damage relative to the rage cost - once you get past around level 40 or so, though, the damage starts to become so pitiful it’s not worth using. It does now scale - slightly - with your weapon damage, but as you can see from the formula the degree of scaling is absolutely terrible. It does still have its uses, however - in PvP it will prevent Rogues or Cat Druids from restealthing, as well as classes with effective crowd control (Hunters, Warlocks and Mages) from using some form of CC on you and then bandaging themselves because the DoT tick will interrupt it. If you have the Blood Frenzy talent and cannot seem to get a crit off, it will trigger that 4% bonus to all physical damage that you can otherwise get with Deep Wounds.

Hamstring
Battle and Berserker Stance - 10 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: Maims the enemy, causing 63 damage and slowing the enemy’s movement to 50% of normal speed for 15 seconds.
Talent References: Focused Rage, Improved Hamstring
Description: One of the Warrior’s most useful abilities in PvP, as well as being rather handy in PvE against tough targets or humanoids, which I’ll get to in a minute. It is, rather simply… a snare. It deals some small damage and snares your target, which makes it almost always the first ability you should use in PvP. It also has uses in solo PvE to slow down targets that run at low health (although Execute is typically your most effective weapon there) as well as to allow you to kite harder targets - Hamstring, run away and Intercept back in to get a free stun in on the target.

Hamstring also has use in high-end DPS because it can proc extra attacks (via Windfury or Sword Specialization, to name a few) as well as to proc Flurry should it crit, which makes it rather handy in situations where you have quite a large amount of rage but your other abilities are on cooldown. With enough chance to get an additional attack ( i.e. having Windfury), it can actually on average generate more rage than you put into the ability.

Execute
Battle and Berserker Stance - 15 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: Attempt to finish off a wounded foe, causing 925 damage and converting each extra point of rage into 21.0 additional damage. Only usable on enemies that have less than 20% health.
Talent References: Focused Rage, Improved Execute
Description: Ahh… one of the best Warrior abilities. Execute can be used on any target at 19% or lower health (’weakened’ opponent) and will turn all of your rage into pure damage. Execute can and does hit very, very hard, and will in most cases (if you have a little rage saved up) end a fight immediately. It’s… awesome, honestly. It’s also very good against bosses with huge amounts of HP, since it does massive amounts of damage for very little rage cost and you can ‘Execute spam’ until it dies, giving you quite a bit of DPS. Note, though, that your best bet for Execute is to use lots and lots of ’small executes’ rather than a few big executes - given that a 15 Rage Execute will hit for 925 but doubling that to 30 Rage will only make Execute hit for 1,240. If you’re going to use Execute against a boss, hit it as often as possible. Against weaker targets, you’ll probably just want to ensure you have enough rage to end the fight once they get low enough, rather than worrying about the spamability of Execute.

Overpower
Battle Stance - 5 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: Instantly overpower the enemy, causing weapon damage plus 35. Only useable after the target dodges. The Overpower cannot be blocked, dodged or parried.
Talent References: Improved Overpower, Focused Rage
Description: One of the Warrior’s most feared tools in PvP, and an absolutely superb grinding tool. Assuming that your hit rating is high enough to negate the standard miss chance (i.e. 5% versus an equal level opponent) it’s guaranteed damage - more importantly, with Improved Overpower it’s guaranteed-and-very-likely-to-crit damage. This will be your primary tool against Rogues (and, to a lesser extent, Hunters and Feral Druids) because it can punch through their evasion and deal some serious damage. It’s also incredibly useful when grinding, since it seems to light up nearly all the time (a factor of fighting higher level mobs for quests - higher dodge rates). A fantastic damage tool.

Slam
All Stances - 15 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: Slams the opponent, causing weapon damage plus 140.
Talent References: Focused Rage, Improved Slam
Description: A rather interesting ability, Slam. It, unlike nearly every other Warrior ability, has… a casting bar. And, more than that, it even resets your swing timer when used, which is rather unfortunate. It provides good damage, but because it DOES reset your swing timer you have to be careful in your use of it. Effective use of Slam requires you to use it immediately after a normal autoattack swing (use of a swing timer mod is highly recommended). Proper Slam play requires attention to detail and watching yet another bar in combat, which may not appeal to many, but when used properly Slam provides astounding DPS possibilities for a two-hand Warrior. When directly after an autoattack, it also provides the highest damage per rage conversion rate of any non-AoE Warrior ability.

Whirlwind
Berserker Stance - 25 Rage
Max Rank Tooltip: In a whirlwind of steel you attack up to 4 enemies within 8 yards, causing weapon damage to each enemy.
Talent References: Focused Rage, Improved Whirlwind
Description: A very handy Warrior ability, to be sure. Whirlwind is fairly effective against a single target, causing weapon damage - but the best use is against multiple targets, where the Whirlwind damage starts to really pick up. It provides mass amounts of DPS, is one of the few weapon-damage abilities available outside of talents, and… well, it hits hard and it doesn’t require all that much Rage to use. Use it often. It’s strong even when dual wielding, at least with a slower weapon, but when using a two-hand weapon the damage it puts out skyrockets.

Victory Rush
Battle or Berserker Stance - Free
Max Rank Tooltip: Instantly attack the target causing (AP * .35) damage. Can only be used within 15 sec after you kill an enemy that yields experience or honor. Damage is based on your attack power.
Talent References: None
Description: Victory Rush is one of the better TBC abilities, and it becomes ‘light up’ (active) whenever you get the killing blow on a mob or player that is green or higher to you. A simple grinding ability, although it can be hard to use depending upon how far you have to travel between mobs. It hits fairly hard (tooltip regardless - the actual damage is 35% of your Attack Power) although not excessively so… but best of all is that it’s free. Use it whenever you can for the free damage, but don’t worry about it excessively - if you have to bandage after a pull, doing so is likely to end better than trying to hit that mob and get that Victory Rush in.