The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Transmogging for the warrior
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Care and Feeding of Warriors, the column dedicated to arms, fury and protection warriors. Despite repeated blows to the head from dragons, demons, Old Gods and whatever that thing over there was, Matthew Rossi will be your host.
Frankly, I wrote a serious post this week about tanking that you may want to read. As a result of that post, however, and previous week's posts for this column that were fairly weighty, I find myself desperately wanting to shift gears. While considering a beginner's guide to PVP and a beginner's guide to leveling as DPS, I realized that I've played this game for years and collected a lot of gear over that time. With the announcement of transmogrification in patch 4.3, it's finally time to discuss a few truths.
Warriors have had some of the best-looking gear in the game.
We're finally going to be able to use whichever pieces of gear we want.
I want to talk about sweet-looking gear.
By these forces combined, I am Captain Clotheshorse. So I've dusted out the ol' trusty model viewer and I'm going to talk about gear you may want for your warrior's transmog needs. Like, for instance, the Whirlwind Axe. One of three weapons awarded to a warrior for doing the pre-Cataclysm level 30 to 40 warrior quest chain, the one that ended with Death to Cyclonian. If you didn't roll your warrior before Cata or deleted the weapon, fret not; there are several weapons with the same model.
Of course, the armor I chose to go along with the Whirlwind Axe in the opening picture is the incredibly revealing Jade Breastplate and other Jade pieces of plate armor. I chose it because, frankly, I'm disappointed in how it looks on a male. Why, you ask?
What is that? The female character ends up in an armored bra, and we don't even get to see this dwarf's belly button? I demand equal skin. Let's get some plate belly shirts for the fellas. Still, for a green-quality set, this one holds up surprisingly well.
Now that we've covered how disappointingly clothed guys are in the Jade set, let's talk about sets and items I expect to see a lot of warriors in, starting with two-handers. I'm going to cover swords, axes and maces, since those are the most common warrior options; while we can use fists, daggers, polearms, and staves as well, those aren't usually itemized for us. And believe me, even limiting myself to swords, axes and maces ends up leaving me swimming in more good-looking options than I can possibly list here.
Two-handed swords
For two-handed sword options, these are some of my favorite models. Not all are going to be epics, and one is a green. Some are unique models while others share models, I'll link to the same model as where appropriate.
Dreadlord's Blade (It's a boat!)
Jin'rokh, The Great Apocalypse (Note that both this sword and its shared model are currently not in game; hopefully the Darkmoon Faire revamp will fix that.)
Lionheart Executioner (As far as I can tell, the BS trainers no longer teach how to make this sword or its predecessors, but if you already know the pattern, you can still make one.)
Decimation (Sadly an Alliance-only model; Fleshrender is the Horde equivalent.)
Some of these are for nostalgia value (the Barb Blade and Relentless Scythe were swords I used back in vanilla), and the Heavy Copper Broadsword because it's an extremely nice model of exceptional size, especially for an early/leveling green-quality item. To give you an idea of how big the sword is, here it is side by side with Ashkandi, one of the largest two-handed sword models in the entire game.
As you can see, it's very close to being as long. Now, I could sit here and talk about each of these weapons in turn, but in the end it would take up most of this column, and we have so much more to cover. If we're even to hope to cover both one-handed and two-handed weapons, we need to get started on it, so let's talk about main, one-handed and off-hand swords next.
One-handed swords
Sadly at the present time, legendaries are not intended to be eligible for transmogging, so no Thunderfury or Warglaives here. Still, there are quite a few beautiful swords. I'm extremely fond of quite a few older models here.
Blade of Infamy (matches warrior tier 5)
Quel'delar, Cunning of the Shadows (This model also comes in a two-handed version.)
The various Krol swords
Sword of Marshtide Watch (Alliance only)
Legionnaire's Sword (Horde only)
I will list excellent caster models out there, such as Fang of the Leviathan. This is one of the things that warriors have over just about any other class when it comes to transmogrification; we can use every weapon in the game except wands. Bows, guns, fists, daggers, staves, polearms ... While there are weapons we're more likely to use, like swords, axes and maces, we can just as easily use a caster mace or sword for purposes of transmogging our own gear. As a result, however, writing about the subject could easily spiral out of hand for warriors. Please, please, please don't take a caster item from someone who will actually use the item unless you've covered that before the item ever drops. (Example: if you are a level 85 going on a Black Temple run with the stated and agreed understanding that you're rolling on the Crystal Spire of Karabor, then it's cool.)
Two-handed axes
Now that we covered swords, let's look at axes. First up, two-handers -- and remember the Whirlwind Axe and its look-alikes from before.
Spinal Reaper (Pay special attention to Nightfall, as it's a lovely blood red color.)
Dual-Blade Butcher (Horde)/ Justicebringer (Alliance)
Shadow's Edge (At this time the Legendary version will not be transmoggable, but this epic version should be)
One-handed axes
Now let's take a look at one-handed axes. One weapon warriors should be on the lookout for is the Sickle of Unyielding Strength, a unique model from a quest line you'll most likely be able to solo in AQ-10 and -40. Since the item is warrior-only, only warriors will be able to use it for transmog purposes. There are so many excellent one-handed axe models, I know I'll be leaving your favorites out. Sorry about that. Here are the ones I like. (Please, in the case of the Eye of Purification, don't try and take this over a caster; just snag it if it's gonna get sharded.)
Wicked Edge of the Planes (Again, no longer trainable but can be made if you already trained it)
Seriously, please don't steal that caster axe from a pally or shammy who will actually use it.
Two-handed maces
Two-handed maces and I go back a long way. Luckily, while you can't use the original Sulfuras for transmogging, there's a new one that will be going on this list. So yay!
Stormherald (Sadly, you can no longer learn to make this, but if you have one banked or know the recipe from BC days, you're in good shape.)
Catastrophe (Alliance)/Grievance (Horde)
Malown's Slam (same model as the old Whirlwind Warhammer)
One-handed maces
For one-handed maces, as one-handed swords, there are quite a few spellpower options. Please, please, please don't take them from people who are actually going to use the item's stats. Edited to add: yes, I somehow missed the recent clarification on main hand items. I'll fix this as soon as I get time to do so, and I apologize.
Heartsmasher (Horde)/Heartcrusher (Alliance)
Dragonstrike (Another crafted that can no longer be learned but still made if you already know the pattern.)
Cookie's Tenderizer (note that this is the level 20 version)
These aren't meant to be complete lists, because how could they be? They lack such standouts as the old Alliance and Horde PVP weapons or even the Dreadforge Retaliator. I had to make choices based on what I think the most interesting, distinctive or awesome-looking items, and of course everyone's mileage may vary. Frankly, I'd love it if you guys spent some time throwing even more options for people into the comments. Bonereaver's Edge, the Crystal Spiked Maul, Grizzle's Skinner ... whatever model you think deserves recognition, I'd like to see them.
Next week, I probably will switch gears again. I will come back and do armor sets, from greens to epics, but first I think we need to cover PVP. (I admit, I've been teasing you for weeks with the prospect of it.)
At the center of the fury of battle stand the warriors: protection, arms and fury. Check out more strategies and tips especially for warriors, including Cataclysm 101 for DPS warriors, a guide to new reputation gear for warriors, and a look back at six years of warrior trends.
