Welcome to Skill Capped’s Guide on the Best Gear & Stats for Arms Warriors in Cataclysm
All sections for Arms Warrior PvP have been divided into corresponding sections for the most optimal race, talents, glyphs, gear, professions and macros. This will help you have a good understanding on Arms Warrior in PvP for Cataclysm and the strengths and weaknesses associated with this specialization. This section will go into more depth on the best PvP gear and stats that are available for Arms Warrior in Cataclysm Season 9.
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Table of Contents
This section will cover your pre-BiS gear, which will not include any Conquest or Raid specific items. Use the gear provided below to have a competitive advantage against your enemies before stepping into rated PvP content.
Pre-BiS Arms Warrior PvP Gear
Main Pieces
- Head: Bloodthirsty Gladiator’s Plate Helm
- Shoulders: Bloodthirsty Gladiator’s Plate Shoulders
- Chest: Bloodthirsty Gladiator’s Plate Chestpiece
- Gloves: Bloodthirsty Gladiator’s Plate Gauntlets
- Legs: Bloodthirsty Gladiator’s Plate Legguards
Off-Pieces
- Back: Bloodthirsty Gladiator’s Cloak of Alacrity
- Belt: Bloodthirsty Gladiator’s Girdle of Cruelty
- Bracers: Bloodthirsty Gladiator’s Armplates of Proficiency
- Boots: Bloodthirsty Gladiator’s Warboots of Cruelty
Jewelry
- Neck: Bloodthirsty Gladiator’s Choker of Proficiency
- Ring 1: Bloodthirsty Gladiator’s Signet of Accuracy
- Ring 2: Bloodthirsty Gladiator’s Signet of Cruelty
Weapons
- Main Hand: Blade of the Fearless
- Ranged: Amber Messenger
Trinkets
- Trinket 1: Bloodthirsty Gladiator’s Medallion of Tenacity if Horde, Right Eye of Rajh if Human.
- Trinket 2: Bloodthirsty Gladiator’s Badge of Victory
Most of the gear that is BiS for Cataclysm Season 9 will come from PvP. This section will cover all specific pieces from PvP, as well as PvE, that will put you in a competitive playing-field against other players in arena.
BiS Arms Warrior PvP Gear
Main Pieces
- Head: Vicious Gladiator’s Plate Helm
- Shoulders: Vicious Gladiator’s Plate Shoulders
- Chest: Vicious Gladiator’s Plate Chestpiece
- Gloves: Vicious Gladiator’s Plate Gauntlets
- Legs: Vicious Gladiator’s Plate Legguards
Off-Pieces
- Back: Vicious Gladiator’s Cloak of Alacrity
- Belt: Vicious Gladiator’s Girdle of Cruelty
- Bracers: Vicious Gladiator’s Armplates of Alacrity
- Boots: Vicious Gladiator’s Warboots of Cruelty
Jewelry
- Neck: Vicious Gladiator’s Choker of Proficiency
- Ring 1: Vicious Gladiator’s Signet of Accuracy
- Ring 2: Vicious Gladiator’s Signet of Cruelty
Weapons
- Main Hand: Reclaimed Ashkandi, Greatsword of the Brotherhood if Alliance, Shalug’doom, the Axe of the Unmaking if Horde.
- Ranged: Vicious Gladiator’s War Edge
Trinkets
- Trinket 1: Vicious Gladiator’s Medallion of Tenacity if Horde, Heart of Rage if Human.
- Trinket 2: Vicious Gladiator’s Badge of Victory
Arms Warrior Stat Priority
Strength > 5% Hit Rating > 20 Expertise > Resilience (3000) > Critical Strike > Mastery > Haste
Focus on getting as much Strength as possible. Strength gives your character additional Attack Power, making your spells more powerful. You will naturally gain Strength when equipping higher item level gear. Next, make sure your character has at least 5% Hit Cap first before focusing on your secondary stats. This makes sure that none of your abilities miss while attacking your opponent.
Followed by Strength and Hit Rating, it is important to gain 20 Expertise. Having this amount of Expertise will prevent your abilities from dodging and parrying to most specializations. Expertise is important to have for Warrior, as it guarantees your Mortal Strike to hit the target. This ability is one of your strongest abilities given to Warrior, and if missed, you will lose out on a lot of burst damage and Mortal Wound being applied to the target. After reaching your Expertise cap, prioritize getting 3000 Resilience, as this will increase your survivability in PvP combat.
Now we look at our secondary stat priority. Our strongest secondary stat for Warrior is Critical Strike. This stat synergizes with many talents chosen for Warriors, especially from Impale, which gives your Mortal Strike and Overpower increased crit damage, and Wrecking Crew for higher sustain damage from Mortal Strike crits. There are other talents, like Cruelty, that assist increasing your Critical Strike to make your damage output optimal. After Critical Strike, Mastery is preferred over Haste. More Mastery on your character will increase the proc of an additional auto hit on the target. This can do quite a bit of damage, but is not something that is preferred over Critical Strike.
When reforging, focus on sticking to your stats. Reforge any additional Hit Rating or Haste for additional Critical Strike.