PvE Arms Warrior Stat Priority

Author: Kurathis
Date: June 27, 2021
Updated: June 27, 2021
Expansion: TBC Classic

PvE Arms Warrior Guide

Stat Priority

Talents & Builds

Gear & Best In Slot (BiS)

Gems, Enchants, & Consumables

Rotation, Cooldowns, & Abilities

Stat Conversions

1 Stamina = 10 Health
1 Strength = 2 Attack Power (Both Melee and Ranged)
1 Agility = 0.03% Critical Strike / 2 Armor / 0.03% Dodge Chance
22.08 Critical Strike Rating = 1% Critical Strike Chance
3.94 Expertise Rating = 1 Expertise Skill
15.77 Hit Rating = 1% Hit Chance

Below you will find the stat priority list for Arms Warriors in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Classic.

Hit Rating (Aim for 9% – this reduces our dependency on other players like Druids for Improved Faerie Fire)
As future phases are released, Expertise will become more common on gear
Critical Strike Rating
Strength and Attack Power
Agility
Haste

As a general rule for all DPS, it’s vital that you reach your designated hit cap as soon as possible so as to limit the amount of DPS loss you potentially face through misses. Unlike Fury Warriors, but similar to Protection Warriors, Arms Warriors must reach 9% Hit Chance – 142 Hit Rating – to avoid missing their target. While it is possible to have a Balance Druid use Improved Faerie Fire, it’s not recommended to rely on this since there may be times that your regular Balance Druid cannot attend the raid, or if they die before the fight is over, unable to maintain the debuff, you will see a DPS loss.

While Expertise is not commonly found on items in Phase 1, it’s still an important stat to look out for and if you are able to, accommodate the inclusion of certain pieces of gear with it on them. Similar to the concept of Hit Rating, Expertise reduces the likelihood that your attacks will be either dodged or parried. Realistically speaking, we should be attacking most bosses (save for some exceptions like Nightbane, for example) from behind, allowing our attacks to never be parried since bosses cannot parry attacks from behind. Because of this, we would be aiming to reduce or remove the chance of the boss dodging our attacks by having a total of 4.5% Expertise (18 Expertise Skill) thanks to Weapon Mastery in our talent tree.

Critically striking your target has various benefits for you, and your raid, as well. In the Arms talent tree, we pick up Deep Wounds, which relies on your critical strikes to trigger. In the Fury tree, we’ll grab Flurry, which also relies on you landing a critical strike. Thanks to Cruelty in the Fury tree, we have an increased critical strike chance by 5% by only spending 5 talent points. Critically striking your target will also increase your rage gained for that attack.

Strength and Attack Power both provide a direct increase to your damage output.

Similar to Classic WoW, you may find yourself wearing Leather or Mail items in combination with your Plate gear. These pieces may have Agility on them by default, which is great since it increases our Critical Strike Chance, while also increasing our chance to dodge attacks which is immensely beneficial if you happen to pull aggro or be in range for a cleave ability – affording you a higher chance of not being hit.

New to The Burning Crusade, Haste Rating essentially speeds up your attacks by reducing the cast time and global cooldowns.