The Art of War(craft): Introductory guide to fighting warriors
Each week, Zach talks about his favorite thing to do in World of Warcraft -- PvP. That kind of makes him sort of one-dimensional. Like those folks from Flatland. Except, those guys were actually two dimensional. Come to think of it, being one-dimensional is a pretty groovy concept.
Finally, we arrive at the conclusion of our guides to fighting everything. Warriors. The most "basic" class that, at least in Cataclysm, will be available to all races (the selection was unavailable to blood elves for some unknown reason). Fighters are a fantasy staple. Big, burly guy with a sword or an axe. Maybe a shield. Everyone else is optional, really. Some generic magic user, sure. Throw in a dude with a bow and arrow for good measure. But a fantasy setting without a warrior? That's just wrong.
In PvP, warriors seem like a staple, too. They're central (or at least a warrior-like ability called Mortal Strike is) to a good number of arena team compositions. You could say Mortal Strike defined the PvP environment such that Blizzard had to dispense Mortal Strike-like abilities to other classes just so they'd be considered viable alternatives to a warrior. The good news is that Mortal Strike is actually a talent, so not every warrior will be walking around smiting every foe with it. The bad news is that even the fury tree has something like it. Not only that, when you're facing a warrior, you have quite a number of things to worry about aside from Mortal Strike or similar effects. After the break, let's take a look at warriors and the most common abilities you should expect on the battlefield.
Charge and Intercept
Warriors will Charge into battle. They have to. It's an ability that can't be used in combat and generates rage, making it kind of their default opener. Don't let them get it off, because the 15 rage (a whopping 25 with talents) goes a long way. That means if you have any sort of ranged ability and spot a warrior in the distance, engage them. Getting them into combat right away takes away their ability to Charge, taking away an opening stun and some bonus rage which would otherwise have translated into pounding you. I should probably point out that two out of three warriors can probably Charge in combat, thanks to Juggernaut and Warbringer, but better safe than sorry, right?
It is far less common to see Intercept used in the battlefield these days owing to the talents that improve Charge, which essentially takes its place. The only difference is the duration of the stun, which is at twice as long for Intercept at three seconds. Protection warriors in defensive stance will use the lower cooldown, rage-generating Charge. In any case, warriors have access to a pair of distance closers that enable them to keep their opponents within melee range as well as quick stuns that can even be used to interrupt spellcasting. Simply keep in mind that both abilities have a minimum range of 8 yards (they can't be used up close) and a relatively modest range of 25 yards, although some get the minor Glyph of Charge.
Intimidating Shout
You know what's cool about Intimidating Shout? It scares everyone (well, up to five of everyone, anyway) but the warrior's target. OK, the warrior's target is scared, too, but won't be able to move. That's pretty awesome. They get to whack away at their target without worrying about her friends. I list this down after Charge because it's a common opening move -- warrior charges into the enemy ranks and says, "Boo!" It costs 25 rage (see why heading Charge off kind of helps?) and has a two-minute cooldown. If you've got a PvP trinket, it should be fine to use it on this one. Note that the shout has a range of about 10 yards, so warriors can actually freeze their opponent in place even before they actually get into melee range.
Enraged Regeneration
Who says warriors can't heal? Enraged Regeneration allows warriors to recover lost health like a HoT, except that it's a physical effect and can't be dispelled. It also scales with a warrior's total health, so expect it to be used in conjunction with abilities like Commanding Shout or the Last Stand talent. There's really nothing you can do to stop it, except maybe remove the prerequisite enrage effect with something like Tranquilizing Shot, but realistically you shouldn't even bother. I'm just letting you know that warriors have means of recovering health aside from bandages, so don't be surprised if they start roaring back after you've counted them out (here's a tip: don't count them out).
Hamstring
Another popular PvP ability is Hamstring, a physical snare that can't be dispelled except by abilities that directly remove movement-impairing effects. It's relatively cheap at 10 rage, making it easy to reapply, so isn't always worth the bother of removing unless you're immediately able to create some distance from the warrior. It also requires Battle Stance or Berserker Stance, which means protection warriors won't have access to it unless they change stances, which they'll be loath to do. Have a little confidence, then, that the warrior pounding away at you with a sword and board won't usually Hamstring you.
The stances
The Hamstring example should give you an idea that warriors won't always have access to all their abilities; they need to be in a specific stance. Most of the time in PvP, warriors will be in Battle Stance, as this gives them the most flexibility with some offensive and defensive capabilities. At other times, on full offense, they will be in Berserker Stance, where they deal the most damage and have devastating attacks. In arenas, warriors are popular focus-fire targets because of the damage penalty Berserker Stance incurs. In the battlegrounds, it won't be as obvious, and warriors can get away with a lot of damage. Warriors switching to Berserker stance are great targets. You will be able to identify them easily by the abilities that can only be used during Berserker Stance, such as Intercept, Pummel, Recklessness and Whirlwind. Protection warriors will often be in Defensive Stance, as will warriors who are getting low on health, as it grants them access to their best mitigation talents such as Shield Wall. Every rogue should know by now not to Sap a warrior because of Berserker Rage, the same ability that keeps warlocks and their Fears at bay. All these abilities are stance-dependent. Some abilities can work in two stances.
Recklessness, Retaliation and Shield Wall
Blizzard gave warriors a big boost when they took the three stance-specific abilities off the same cooldown and lowered it to five minutes. This means that in a pinch, warriors can pop all three abilities and deal massive damage with Recklessness, take massive damage with Shield Wall and hit back at any opponent who hits them with Retaliation. The last ability is why warriors are so devastating to fast-hitting rogues. Understand that these abilities are all on long-ish five-minute cooldowns and that warriors need to change stances to activate them. Very often, warriors will hit Recklessness when picking on hapless clothies, Retaliation when faced off with fellow melee, and pop Shield Wall when they're caught with their pants down (or trying to withstand an opponent's cooldown-based assault). Sometimes they'll use Shield Wall to mitigate the extra damage coming in from Recklessness. Always watch these cooldowns, as warriors use these abilities to great effect.
Pummel, Spell Reflection and Shield Bash
Warriors have no shortage of solutions against casters. Regardless of stance, they will have access to an interrupt -- Shield Bash being usable in Battle and Defensive Stance (requiring a shield), and Pummel usable in Berserker Stance. Shield Bash has a longer school lockout but a longer cooldown. The trick is that neither interrupt is a silence, so warriors need to time their interrupts right. This makes juking spells against a warrior more rewarding, because a good juke can waste the ability -- unless they're protection warriors with Gag Order, in which case they can just silence their enemy. If you're a caster, be wary of warriors with shields. But also know that every warrior worth her salt has an equip shield and one-hander macro handy for Spell Reflection. Less adept warriors will pop it right away, giving you some time to use /stopcasting and avert disaster, while veterans can use at the last second -- possibly frying or sheeping you instead. They all have short, 10- to 12-second cooldowns, so keep track of them with addons such as Afflicted.
Disarm
Think of Disarm as being a warrior's interrupt or silence for melee. It has a one-minute cooldown (40 seconds with talents), but it requires no timing and essentially locks melee classes out of most special abilities. They will put on the most offensive pressure during a Disarm, so if you're a melee class, be prepared to create some distance or blow some defensive cooldowns.
