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Build Shop: Warrior 28/33/0

chris jahosky
Updated ·6 min read


Every Tuesday, Chris Jahosky contributes Build Shop, which takes a look into one of the many talent specs available to players.

This week's build comes to you courtesy of reader James (who put this together anticipating the changes to the Fury tree coming in 2.4), so today I'm going to dissect his build. Fury heavy builds are quite strong and very popular for PvE encounters through the end game (the most famous perhaps being a variant of 17/44, sometimes called a RiP (Rogue in Plate), which is desirable for the high damage output).

However, this kind of hybrid build has started to see more use in other areas. While not as effective as a RiP build in PvE, these hybrid builds often pick up a weapon specialization from the Arms tree in addition to some utility talents, making them more adaptable in PvP and solo play. James' build is 28/33, and seems to be based off of the standard Fury/Weapon Spec build of 26/35. They have a good bit of variation, though -- James' focus seems to be on PvP, with talents like Iron Will and Improved Intercept, whereas the standard build focuses on damage output.

After the break, I'm diving into my thoughts on the build, but make sure to share your experience and suggestions with James in the comments!



Arms (28 points)

  • Improved Heroic Strike (3/3) - Lowers the cost of Heroic Strike by 3 rage points. HS will likely get a lot of use in this build, so making it more rage-efficient is a fine choice.

  • Deflection (5/5) - Increases your chance to Parry by 5%. A great physical damage mitigation talent that helps you avoid damage. I don't know that I personally would've put 5 points into it, but it's not a bad talent.

  • Iron Will (5/5) - Increases your chance to resist stun and charm effects by 15%. A great talent that stacks with any additional anti-stun effects (like the Orc racial). Very useful against rogues and any opponents who like to stun or charm.

  • Improved Overpower (1/2) - I love this talent when I'm using a two-handed weapon, but it's not bad here. You'll be switching into Battle stance every once in a while, so this one isn't bad to pick up but I see it as more of a filler talent.

  • Anger Management (1/1) - Generates 1 rage every 3 seconds. A solid talent, especially combined with Unbridled Wrath -- gaining rage quickly is a definite plus.

  • Deep Wounds (3/3) - Your crits cause your opponent to bleed for 60% of the average weapon damage over 12 seconds. A nice Bleed effect, prerequisite for Impale, and very helpful against rogues.

  • Impale (2/2) - Increases critical strike damage by 20%. A great talent that increases the damage you do when you crit. No reason not to take this -- this is the reason most Fury builds go into the Arms tree.

  • Deathwish (1/1) - Increases physical damage by 20% and makes you immune to fear, but increases all damage taken by 5% for 20 seconds. With a 3 minute cooldown, you'll likely use this a lot, and the fear immunity helps immensely in fights against Warlocks and Shadow Priests.

  • Mace/Sword/Poleaxe Specialization (5/5) - Looks like James uses Maces, so he went with Mace spec, which gives your melee attacks a chance to stun the target for 3 seconds (and generate 7 rage). If you're using axes or swords, take the appropriate talent.

  • Improved Intercept (2/2) - Decreases the cooldown of Intercept by 10 seconds. I love Intercept -- it's easily one of my favorite talents, so being able to use it more often is great. Aside from that, it's extremely awesome in PvP, as it can be used defensively to keep someone from kiting you, or offensively as a stun to stop casting.

Fury (33 points)

  • Cruelty (5/5) - Increases your chance to crit by 5%. No brainer -- don't pass this one up.

  • Unbridled Wrath (5/5) - Gives your successful melee attacks a chance to generate a rage point. Very useful for generating as much rage as possible.

  • Piercing Howl (1/1) - Causes all enemies near the Warrior to be dazed, reducing movement speed by 50% for 6 seconds. A perennial favorite for warriors who like to PvP -- if that sounds like you, don't pass this one up.

  • Commanding Presence (4/5) - Increases the effect of Battle Shout and Commanding Shout by 20%. You'll likely be using Commanding Shout if you're in the Arena for the extra health, and this talent boosts its effects even further. In PvE encounters, you'll probably use Battle Shout for the extra AP, and this helps out there too.

  • Dual Wield Specialization (5/5) - Increases the damage done by your offhand weapon by 25%. If you're dual wielding, this is a no brainer. Especially important ever since Whirlwind started using both of your weapons.

  • Enrage (5/5) - Gives you a 25% melee damage bonus for 12 seconds (or 12 swings, whichever comes first) after being crit. Also required for Flurry, but it does give you a nice damage boost after being crit.

  • Sweeping Strikes (1/1) - Your next 10 melee attacks strike an additional nearby opponent. Costs 30 rage, but only has a 30 second cooldown. When combined with Whirlwind, this can do a lot of AoE damage, and is also useful in almost any situation where you're dealing with more than one opponent at a time.

  • Flurry (5/5) - Increases attack speed by 25% after dealing a critical strike. A fantastic talent, as anything that increases your attack speed is very useful. Great for PvE and PvP.

  • Bloodthirst (1/1) - An instant attack that deals physical damage based on your attack power. Also, your next 5 attacks restore 30 health. Bloodthirst scales well with your gear, since it's based on your AP, and is also one of your main instant attacks with this build.

  • Improved Whirlwind (1/2) - Reduces the cooldown on Whirlwind by 1 second. A reduced cooldown means that you can use WW more often, and that means more DPS.

So there you have it. Fury isn't as popular as Arms is in the Arena, but it looks like James has a solid build that I could see working. It's got less burst damage than an Arms build, but does pick up Mace spec and some other PvP-centric talents. Thanks for submitting your build, James!

That wraps up this edition of Build Shop, but I'll be back again next week. What do you want to see on Build Shop? Send me an email with your questions, comments, or builds and we'll talk shop.