WotLK Prot or Arms levelling?

[taralej]

Lol, don't apologize, man :D You're asking and we're answering, that's what we're here for :) What are you apologizing for?

And yeah, Slam is an ability which pauses your swing for 20 rage and deals weapon damage+, whereas HS takes up your next swing for 15 rage for some extra damage, negating the rage gain from the otherwise auto-attack. By all means, Slam > HS when talented and when used correctly (like, don't use it recklessly risking to rage-starve for the next Mortal Strike for example).

Now @utarax - HS is like really really only good when you have nothing else to spend your rage on - Mortal Strike on CD, Rend up, Overpower not available, Battle Shout up, Sudden Death not available, you're casting Slam but still have more than enough rage to queue a HS in there - and these are a lot of requirements. Think of it like this - Slam is a filler, whereas HS is an extra filler if your filler isn't enough to dump all of your rage. But this is around 50-70 rage in total for all of those things and in leveling you barely get over 35-40 because of mobs hitting too weak and your whites also being kinda meh. So in conclusion, you will be using HS early on as there simply won't be any other options (still no Mortal Strike, Slam, Sudden Death, Taste for Blood), but as you reach these options you will find HS more and more lackluster compared to them to a point where you will only use it as your last-resort rage dump.

HS is a real gain for Fury, on the other hand, because as Fury you get a %miss penalty on your whites for dual-wielding. HS turns your white into an ability and thus applies the ability %hit instead of the white %hit. So instead of having 24% miss chance on that main-hand auto-attack, you'll only have 5%. But Fury on the other hand has to keep Bloodthirst and Whirlwind on cooldown as its highest damage source, and to use the Slam procs from Bloodsurge as priority above HS, both of which cost quite a bit of rage so this balances HS not to be strictly better for one spec.

I hope this satisfied your thirst for knowledge regarding warriors a bit :D That's quite a lot of information which even most warrior players don't know.

And back on the point regarding leveling, I've been leveling a Warr on Lordaeron (slowly, might I say) and I recently got the Corpsemaker, so at 27lvl (at which point I can also get 3/3 Taste for Blood) I am definitely respeccing to Arms, sorry :D I just love this axe too much - I've always gotten it on all of my warriors.

[Allofmykeks]

Holy crap I linked the wrong spec D:

I meant that http://rpgworld.altervista.org/335/w...12521330113321

My apologies, I didn't mean to level up speccing into arms tbh, I'm loving being a prot warrior :D

[jendah]

Holy crap I linked the wrong spec D:

I meant that http://rpgworld.altervista.org/335/w...12521330113321

My apologies, I didn't mean to level up speccing into arms tbh, I'm loving being a prot warrior :D

It would work just fine. I would change a few minor things for leveling though:

I would get "Improved Thunder Clap" (more aoe dmg -> faster leveling) and "Last Stand" (cause livesaver when you mess up). And skip toughness (low armor during leveling - absolutely a must have 5/5 at max lvl)/improved spell reflection (rather more dmg). Also "Vigilance" will not help you much untill dungeons/raids with geared ppl.

[Allofmykeks]

It would work just fine. I would change a few minor things for leveling though:

I would get "Improved Thunder Clap" (more aoe dmg -> faster leveling) and "Last Stand" (cause livesaver when you mess up). And skip toughness (low armor during leveling - absolutely a must have 5/5 at max lvl)/improved spell reflection (rather more dmg). Also "Vigilance" will not help you much untill dungeons/raids with geared ppl.

I completely forgot about Last Stand, will do.
Is Improved Thunder Clap worth its points at low levels? 30% more damage seems a bit low for 3 whole points tbh.
I put points in toughness because I needed some kind of filler, else I can't go down the tree.
Improved spell reflection seemed really inviting, especially because caster mobs hit really hard and I won't have intercept/charge while in defensive stance for a lot of time, so I am bound to suck up a lot of spell damage until I find some way to deal with casters.
Vigilance just seemed nice in dungeons, but I can see it being only marginally useful.

[jendah]

Is Improved Thunder Clap worth its points at low levels? 30% more damage seems a bit low for 3 whole points tbh.
I put points in toughness because I needed some kind of filler, else I can't go down the tree.

Its a slightly better filler than toughness imho.

Improved spell reflection seemed really inviting, especially because caster mobs hit really hard and I won't have intercept/charge while in defensive stance for a lot of time, so I am bound to suck up a lot of spell damage until I find some way to deal with casters.

That is a good point. I dont like how unreliable it is though. Btw you can try to Line of Sight them (hide behind houses/big trees/terain...) so they are unable to cast.

[taralej]

Thunder Clap is a big source of damage for a prot warr, so yeah - that's a no-brainer, just get it. Toughness has very little value while leveling as your gear is weak during that time. Improved Spell Reflection too - most of the mobs you're fighting are melee and you only get Spell Reflection at around 70lvl. As jendah said, just LoS caster mobs and they'll run to you. These TPs are just better off somewhere else. Armored to the Teeth is also a weak talent for leveling, as I explained above. It's much better to get Deflection maxed for more Revenge procs outside of Shield Block.

[Allofmykeks]

Thunder Clap is a big source of damage for a prot warr, so yeah - that's a no-brainer, just get it. Toughness has very little value while leveling as your gear is weak during that time. Improved Spell Reflection too - most of the mobs you're fighting are melee and you only get Spell Reflection at around 70lvl. As jendah said, just LoS caster mobs and they'll run to you. These TPs are just better off somewhere else. Armored to the Teeth is also a weak talent for leveling, as I explained above. It's much better to get Deflection maxed for more Revenge procs outside of Shield Block.

Then I guess that this build http://rpgworld.altervista.org/335/w...12521330113321 will be what I'll be using to level, I guess that the best I can go with.

Btw, really thanks a lot for you help, it's really appreciated :D

[Offbeat]

Honestly, prot only really starts to pick up at lvl 50 when you get devastate. Before that Arms just does so much more damage, plus you can tank anything up to 80 as arms anyway.

[Allofmykeks]

Honestly, prot only really starts to pick up at lvl 50 when you get devastate. Before that Arms just does so much more damage, plus you can tank anything up to 80 as arms anyway.

I know, but you also need to consider that I have 0 gear (I'm playing on Lordaeron, so I don't have heirlooms).

Also, I wanted to try something different. I never levelled from scratch with a tank spec :D

[taralej]

Nah, not having heirlooms doesn't mean you won't have gear. As a tank, you'll get groups constantly, and I really mean all the time. Most of your gear will either be blue from dungeons or be green for your level. Prot can easily handle mobs way above its level because Revenge's damage is obscene and it cannot be avoided - only missed, same as Overpower. To be honest, Devastate isn't much of a game changer - you only use Devastate after Shield Slam and Revenge are both on cooldown, which is a lot of rage for Shield Slam. Yeah, true that Devastate can proc Sword and Board, but this still doesn't take it higher on the priority list than Shield Slam, unless you've talented Puncture and Focused Rage, and maybe even taken Glyph of Sunder Armor and/or Devastate.

My point is - don't pick up Prot only because you think you won't have gear while leveling. There's plenty of gear to pick up - group quests, which you can solo, dungeons, low lvl PvP... Currently I kill an NPC of my level within seconds - shortly after my first Overpower. I'm 28lvl with Corpsemaker, gear from dungeons, PvP & Blacksmithing. Not complaining at all.

[utarax]

...

My point is - don't pick up Prot only because you think you won't have gear while leveling. There's plenty of gear to pick up - group quests, which you can solo, dungeons, low lvl PvP... Currently I kill an NPC of my level within seconds - shortly after my first Overpower. I'm 28lvl with Corpsemaker, gear from dungeons, PvP & Blacksmithing. Not complaining at all.

Hmm.. I take arms, still level 15 (with 1 our/day playtime), ahahahaha
and at level 13 i lost duel with arm lvl 14, ever think that if at that time I change to difensive stance and use revenge may be I have a greater chance to win.

btw, is there any add on to track OP proc from enemy dodge and parry (glyph), since i already take "event alert" for 3.3.5 but nothing pop up/ding up while it proc.
so I often miss my OP.

and Taralej, is level up blacksmith is applicable for first char on low rate server? since I already pick First aid and cooking, and hmm.. it seems costly for level up other profesion, especially crafting profesion.

oh...warrior, fun, but need to learn retreat alot, since some times the grave is far from corpse location, ahahahaha.
thanks

[jendah]

and Taralej, is level up blacksmith is applicable for first char on low rate server? since I already pick First aid and cooking, and hmm.. it seems costly for level up other profesion, especially crafting profesion.

Crafting proffesions are either gold or time consuming. You would have to take mining as well and get your own mats for bs. You could also mine extra and sell it for gold income. I would say its highly advisable to take fishing as well if you are going to lvl-up cooking.

[taralej]

I goddamn hate fishing in WoW and for most of my chars I've leveled cooking without it. Once I used Fishbot for it but Warmane started banning for it so ever since I haven't leveled fishing on any char whatsoever. Talk about time consuming, while with other professions you get to level them halfway just by normal questing, with fishing you just have to completely drop everything, go to that damn pond and sit there for a good 1 hour straight. And you have to do this every 10-15 levels or so. And what you get in return is, well, fish which you cook and then vendor. Absolutely dumb, thank you Blizzard.

From my experience the most gold consuming profession combination in the game is tailoring + enchanting. Do not ever get that on your first character or you will suffer greatly, trust me. You will be limited to leveling in humanoid-based zones, all of your cloth will have to go into tailoring, all of the greens you find will have to be disenchanted, and every once in a while you'll have to cough up 20-50 gold for a new enchanting rod. And then there are the pearls needed for the rod. Oh, my most hated of items in the game - Black Pearl... How I shudder every time when I reach that point...

I usually level Mining + BS on all of my Warrior/Pala characters. It can get time consuming, but it's not gold consuming at all - on the contrary, I make money by selling the stuff I craft, especially enchanting rods. And it makes me happy that I craft my own gear and I keep it updated throughout the leveling process. Brings a sense of self-satisfaction, so to say. Unless you're picking engineering or tailoring, First Aid is a must for warriors & rogues, because they simply don't have any other means to self-heal through leveling. Cooking is, well, good but not mandatory, let's say. Stopping your leveling just because you have to go and slaughter several dozens of turtles to become a better cook isn't fun. I guess you understand why I hate fishing now, heh...

[Allofmykeks]

Nah, not having heirlooms doesn't mean you won't have gear. As a tank, you'll get groups constantly, and I really mean all the time. Most of your gear will either be blue from dungeons or be green for your level. Prot can easily handle mobs way above its level because Revenge's damage is obscene and it cannot be avoided - only missed, same as Overpower. To be honest, Devastate isn't much of a game changer - you only use Devastate after Shield Slam and Revenge are both on cooldown, which is a lot of rage for Shield Slam. Yeah, true that Devastate can proc Sword and Board, but this still doesn't take it higher on the priority list than Shield Slam, unless you've talented Puncture and Focused Rage, and maybe even taken Glyph of Sunder Armor and/or Devastate.

My point is - don't pick up Prot only because you think you won't have gear while leveling. There's plenty of gear to pick up - group quests, which you can solo, dungeons, low lvl PvP... Currently I kill an NPC of my level within seconds - shortly after my first Overpower. I'm 28lvl with Corpsemaker, gear from dungeons, PvP & Blacksmithing. Not complaining at all.

You are completely right, but I rarely have the time necessary to run most vanilla dungeons from start to end, that's why I'm considering low gear. Still, I didn't really think about doing some PvP, maybe I could buy something nice with a couple BGs (even though I'm really gonna suck, at low lvl we all know that warriors are beyond terrible).

Still, I really love playing as prot, I intended playing prot straight from the start, I wanted to know if it could work (it does, thank goodness)

BTW, what's your ingame name on lordaeron? I'd like to play with you sometime.

[taralej]

Oh, yes absolutely. After you get Revenge and you talent it Prot becomes a walk in the park and you can and should pick 3-5 mobs regularly because of Revenge's cleaving and the Thunder Clap spamming. It becomes even better once you get Shockwave and you can also decide to pick up Glyph of Cleaving.

My Warrior's name is Krogar, Orc, 27lvl, Arms, but I rarely play it because of IRL priorities and also lately prefering LoL.