Post by Kramp
IntroductionWith arena season #8, It seems that the PvP and the warrior boards are filled with questions regarding the 2 core stats for a PvP warrior: Armor Penetration and Strenght.
I saw a lot of discussions trying to quickly give the best answer without having to dump a wall of text.
Well, I finally dumped that wall of text.
In this guide, I am going to present all the gear options, their advantages and disadvantages, wich items you should look for and and so on.
First, a few words about resilience and hitBefore you choose which kind of stats you'll choose, you must remember that you need the Hit cap and a healthy amount of resilience before you start gearing and gemming toward ArP/Strenght.
The hit cap is 5% or 165 hit rating.
YOU WON'T SUCCEED IN PVP WITHOUT THE HIT CAP. PERIOD. Missing a Mortal Strike or a Pummel can cost you arena matches. With 5%, you'll never miss a target on normal circumstances.
Certain
racials and some
talents can increase the amount of hit needed to make sure you'll never miss but in my experience, I never found them needed to maximise hit to that level. In theory, you'll need 10 % to reach the PvP hit hardcap but the talents affecting hit are impopular in PvP due to RNG issues ( I rarely saw a frost mage with Arctic Winds ). If you want, get 7% hit to negate the Night Elf racial but don't go over that cap.
Second, Resilience. It's well known that you can't succeed in PvP without a decent amount of resilience. Even classes designed to avoid damage like mages won't survive for long in full PvE gear.
It's also a fact that PvP warriors scale huge with PvE gear. The key is to get keep the balance. As you gear up your new warrior, aim for 800 resilience then look for offensive stats. Eventually, experience will tell you if you need more. ( I personally would'nt step inside an arena or in a battleground without at least 1000 resilience. )
Wich stat to chooseApparently, calculations have proved ( I searched the web but did'nt fund the numbers, I'll update if I found them ) that ArP ( if stacked to a certain level. I'll detail that in a moment ) is a better offensive stat than Strenght over every possible PvP targets besides mages without
Ice Armor. So technically, ArP is the stat to go but read the whole guide to make a wise decision
Armor PenetrationYes, Armor Penetration is usually the best choice but, like I said, you won't get the maximum potential of this stat without reaching one of the caps. To reach this caps, PvE gear ( And by PvE gear, I mean frost badges/ICC/ToC 25/Primal Saronite gear ), professions like Blacksmithing or Jewelcrafting and Mace Spec ( could be a problem before you reach 1800 since you'll probably have different weapons with different damage range ) will help a lot.
There's 3 ways to gear with ArP: Softcap, Midcap and Hardcap.
SoftcapIt was the standard during season 6 and season 7. The core item of this gear set is an ArP proc trinket. Those trinkets are
Grim Toll,
Mjolnir Runestone and
Needle-Encrusted Scorpion.
You'll note that Grim Toll and Mjolnir Runestone proc on hits and Needle-Encrusted Scorpion proc on crits. In a PvP situation, the last trinket can be problematic since his proc rate will be really lowered. Of course, NES is a lot easier to obtain ( especially since 25 naxx and 10 uld became quite unpopular ). If you are lucky to enter a 25 naxx or if you guild wanna come back to Uld ( to get the
drake maybe ), be ready ( with gold or solid arguments ) to put your hands on those beauties.
If you can't get MR or GT, NES will work but keep looking for opportunities to get one of the others, you'll see a huge difference.
Once you got a trinket, your goal is to obtain 100% Arp in battle stance when your trinket proc.
- Grim Toll's proc gives 43.72% ArP
- Mjolnir Runestone's proc gives 47.51% ArP
- Needle-Incrusted Scorpion's proc gives 48.44% ArP
Conclusion, you need...
- 46.28% or 648 ArP from your gear set-up to reach soft cap with Grim Toll.
- 42.49% or 595 ArP from your gear set-up to reach soft cap with Mjolnir Runestone.
- 41.46% or 582 ArP from your gear set-up to reach soft cap with Needle-Encruster Scorpion.
Of course, don't force yourself to get
exactly 100%. You won't see the difference between 100% and 98%
But if you are really over Soft cap ( ex: 110% ArP when your trinket procs ). Change a few ArP gems with Strenght gems. If you are over 115% ArP with trinket proc but you use Mace spec, consider switching to Axe Spec before changing your gear or items.
This gear set-up is the easier to create. With the lower amout of ArP needed, you can decide to more more Strenght or more Resilience depending on your playstyle.
But your burst relies on a trinket proc, wich can be problematic sometimes. If you can lock a target on a Bladestorm with a MS and a trinket proc, you can cause some serious pain but this gear set-up requires you to react on this activation of your trinket instead of setting a kill when you want it ( When your CCs or ready or when you got a Unrelenting Assault debuff on the opposite healer ).
MidcapThis appear to be the new standard for Arena warriors.
On this gear set-up, your goal is to reach a high amount of ArP ( usually between 65% and 80 % ) in battle stance.
This gear set-up will give you excellent damage, both sustained AND burst. You can also stack a high amount of resilience with this gear choice if you have access to high PvE gear.
HardcapOn this gear set-up, your goal is to reach 100% ArP in battle stance. This gear-set-up is nearly impossible without Mace Spec ( or Shadowmourne ), BS, JC and excellent PvE gear ( ICC 25 or Hard mode ).
This gear set-up will gives you MONSTROUS damage but, even if you got every cards in your hands to stack ArP, your resillience will be lower than most warriors ( and if you got that kind of gear set-up, something tells me you are at a serious arena level ).
StrengthIf you feel that you can't reach one of the 3 ArP caps, you can still choose Strength.
What you must know:Your damage on high armored targets ( DKs, Paladins and other warriors )
WILL BE LOW. So, if you plan to do 2v2 arenas or if you plan to do 3s in a comp where your team need huge burst ( like DK/Warrior/Paladin ), I really recommend you to try your hardest and get an ArP cap.
If you plan to do 3s in a set-up where the warriors are choosed more for their utility ( Like Affli lock/War/Druid ) or if you plan to stick with battlegrounds. Strength can be a valid choice.
The advantages of Strength- Strength stacks with buffs/talents like
Kings or
Strength of Arms.
- Strength works well with massive PvP gear. You can create a very tough warrior.
- Strength is really easy to gear up. You don't need to look for caps and so on. Just stack to the sky.
- Your bleeds will tick way harder.
Gear wishlistsHere's a selection of a few items you can look for to complete with your core PvP gear.
They contain some armor set pieces ( t9 and t10 ). I recommend to not try to get a 2 pieces set-bonus. The t9 set-bonus will help with ArP stacking and the t10's proc can offer more burst but the tactical value of - 5 seconds on Intercept is too important in my opinion. I also didn't linked the items obtained in heroic mode.
Those items contains no wasted stats like Agility, Haste or Expertise. ( There will be exceptions for outstanding items )
ArP wishlistsI also did'nt linked PvE gear with Ilvl lower than 10 TOC. With Wrathful off-set and Relentless gear easily obtained, Using a low PvE ArP or a Str piece would'nt be better than his PvP alternative.
Head:
Sanctified Ymirjar Lord's Helmet ( Frost Emblems ),
Helmet of Wrath ( Onyxia 10/25 ),
Helm of Thunderous Rampage ( Emblems of Triumph )
Neck:
Wrathful Gladiator's Pendant of SunderingShoulders:
Scalpel-Sharpening Shoulderguards ( Professor Putricide 10 ),
Ymirjar Lord's Shoulderplates ( Emblems of Frost ),
Hellscream's Shoulderplates of Triumph ( Emblems of Triumph )
Cloak:
Recovered Scarlet Onslaught Cape ( Emblems of Frost. *Try to avoid items with agility. I linked this cloak because ArP is quite rare on cloaks* ),
Titan-Forged Cloak of Victory ( Wintergrasp Vendor )
Chest:
Castle Breaker's Battleplate ( Emblems of Frost ),
Ymirjar Lord's Battleplate ( Emblems of Frost ),
Hellscream's Battleplate of Triumph ( Emblems of triumph ).
Wrist:
Toskk's Maximized Wristguards ( Saurfang 25. Yes it's leather and yes, it got agility but for ArP stacking, these bracers are incredible. 80 arp worth a little amor loss ),
Titanium Spikeguards ( Blacksmithing ),
Armplates of the Nether Lord ( 10 ToC ).
Gloves: Don't use a PvE piece. Use the gladiator gloves for the hamstring rage cost reduction.
Waist:
Flesh-Shaper's Gurney Strap ( Rotface 10 ),
Coldwraith Link ( Valithria Dreamwalker 25 ).
Legs:
Legplates of Painful Death ( Blacksmithing ),
Legplates of Aetheric Strife ( Sindragosa 10 ),
Legplates of the Silver Hand ( Anub'arak 10 ).
Feet:
Hellfrozen Bonegrinders ( Blacksmithing ),
Blood-Soaked Saronite ( Stompers ( Lady Deathwhisper 25 ).
Rings:
Ashen Band of Endless Vengeance ( Ashen Verdict reputation. Once you obtained the revered version, that ring became Best in Slot ),
Might of Blight ( Festergut 25 ).
Trinkets:
Deathbringer's Will ( Saurfang 25. Even if it's a procing trinket, I would highly recommend it for Midcap and Hardcap. The ArP on it is purely insane and since the proc is quite long, you have plenty of time to set up a kill. )
Strength wishlistHead:
Landsoul's Horned Greathelm ( Prince Valanar 25 ),
Hellscream's Helmet of Triumph ( Emblems of Triumph ).
Neck:
Ahn'kahar Onyx Neckguard ( Lady Deathwhisper 25 ),
The Executioner's Vice ( Fjola Lightbane 25 ).
Shoulders:
Titan-Forged Shoulderplates of Triumph ( WG vendor )
Cloak:
Might of the Nerub ( Anub'arak 25 ).
Chest:
Gendarme's Cuirass ( Lord Marrowgar 25 ).
Wrist:
Polar Bear Claw Bracers ( Gunship 25 ).
Gloves: Don't use a PvE piece. Use the gladiator gloves for the hamstring rage cost reduction.
Waist:
Malevolent Girdle ( Emblems of Frost ).
Legs: Nothing really interesting.
Feet: Nothing really interesting.
Rings:
Ashen Band of Endless Might ( Ashen Verdict reputation. Once you obtained the revered version, that ring became Best in Slot ),
Ring of Rotting Sinew ( ICC trash drop BoE ),
Bloodshed Band ( Emblems of Triumph ).
Trinkets:
Death's Verdict ( Fjola Lightbane 25 ),
Whispering Fanged Skull ( Lady Deathwhisper 10 ).
CONCLUSIONThat's all folks.
I hope this guide will help new warriors in PvP and I hope this will help old members who are tired of explaining this every time that question is asked on our boards.
Post by Kramp
*Major Update*( Sadly, I ran out of space on my previous posts so I need to put that update here ).
Gear Set-upsThis section will be divided in 2 major category: beginner gear set-ups and advanced gear set-ups. They are not perfect, there's hundreds of gear tweaking possibilities but they offer guide lines to create the perfect pvp gear.
Beginner Gear Set-upsAfter you decided to take the Strength or the ArP path, it's time to gear your warrior. These armories are created with gear quite easy to obtain ( heroics, battlegrounds and cheap crafts ). They should be perfect to start arenas.
They also both used the
Tyrannical Beheader, a weapon quite easy to obtain ( last boss in H Pit of Saron ).
Also, those set-ups don't need Blacksmithing or Jewel-crafting but if you really like your warrior, offer him/her one ( or both ) of these professions. You won't regret it, especially if you choose to go Armore Penetration.
Beginner gear set-up with strength.Beginner gear set-up with armor penetration. You don't have the ArP soft cap with this gear but you'll still have around 90% arp when your trinket will proc, wich is more than enough to begin.
Advanced Gear Set-upsThese set-ups are made for once you reach 1800 rating and your t1 weapon. Since you can now choose wich kind of weapon you wanna use, it is now possible to create more flexible armories. Also, at this point, some of the gear set-ups will require higher PvE gear ( ICC, frost emblems, primal saronite, ToC 25 ).
Advanced Soft cap with MaceThis is the easiest gear set-up to complete. The only problematic piece would be the
Ashen Band of Endless Vengeance but it can easily be obtained with ICC reputation runs ( Get in, clear trash before 1st boss, reset, repeat ). As you can see, some of the sockets are filled with Strength because if we had used 100% arp gems, this set-up would be way over soft cap.
Advanced StrengthHere's the Advanced gear for Strength user. Since Str stacks so well with bleeds, Axe is by far, the best weapon spec for this build. Quite easy to complete, the only rare piece is the
Death's Choice. Don't be afraid to look for Gold DKP runs or, at least, bring a large pot of gold when your PuG ToC 25.
The next gear set-ups requires Blacksmithing AND Jewelcrafting. They also requires higher PvE gear.Advanced Soft cap with AxePretty much as the mace soft cap, this gear however requires the
Flesh-Shaper's Gurney Strap wich could be a problem since some ICC PuGs have troubles to go past the first 4 bosses.
Mid CapFor excellent sustained damage while keeping decent resilience.
Hard CapThis is getting serious, this set-ups requires a huge amount of PvE ( some of them will requires to go back in old raids like Ulduar or ToGC 10 ). But it allows you to get the mythic hard cap while keeping a decent amount of resilience.
( It's "possible" to hit hardcap with Axe Spec ( Shadow Edge/Shadowmourne ) but these gear set-ups requires monstrous PvE gear and still finish with a resilience way too low to run any comps besides double healer/warrior ).