PvE Arms Warrior Best-in-Slot (BiS) & Pre-Raid Gear

Fresh 80

As a fresh level 80, you have several choices for your shoulders slot. You can either choose to directly buy your shoulders from the Auction House, gaining a good initial item such as the Spaulders of Egotism and Trollwoven Spaulders or you may choose to farm reputation and gain an item such as the Spaulders of the Giant Lords. It is needless to say that each item has been arranged in the specific order of their DPS output, however, it is mandatory to say that depending on your current stats, these items may be swapped between each other for overall increased DPS. The Trollwoven Spaulders are a great initial choice due to the high Expertise Rating they offer, even if they are a leather item.

The Spaulders of Egotism are nearly the best item choice before entering a 25-man phase 1 raid, given the fact that they grant high baseline stats and Critical Strike Chance/Haste as secondary stats. Even if Haste is not one of our main stats, it will significantly amplify your damage.

If directly buying the items is not to your taste, you may choose the normal dungeon farming path and progressively gain upgrades. Heroes’ Dreadnaught Shoulderplates will be the best possible choice, not only due to their high baseline stats, but also because of the Critical Strike Chance/Armor Penetration combination of secondary stats.

Pre-Ulduar

Your Pre-Raid options will often be defined by the BiS items from the previous raid tiers, and any other new dungeons or raid BoE items that arrive with the new phase.

The best possible option for this slot during the Pre-Raid phase will be the Valorous Dreadnaught Shoulderplates due to its high baseline stats and Critical Strike Chance/Armor Penetration secondary stats combination. This item also grants you access to the tier set item bonus which will enhance your overall Slam Damage!

The next best option will be the Shoulderguards of Opportunity, an item that grants you similar stats to Valorous Dreadnaught Shoulderplates. The only difference is the lower overall stats and the lack of access to a set bonus.

Heroes’ Dreadnaught Shoulderplates is the normal version of Valorous Dreadnaught Shoulderplate, granting you exactly the same type of stats, only with lower values. The item itself is great, even for the beginning of Ulduar as it grants you a solid DPS output.

As valid alternatives, you can use either Spaulders of Egotism or Concealment Shoulderpads as valid options, however, the Concealment Shoulderpads will a way better option if your build severely lacks Expertise Rating. The Spaulders of Egotism can grant you a solid baseline DPS output due to their Critical Strike Chance/Haste secondary stats combination, however, it certainly won’t bring the best performance. You may want to get it early on since it is a BoE item but you will want to swap it as fast as possible.

Best-in-Slot

You’re going to want Conqueror’s Siegebreaker Shoulderplates in order to secure your 4 piece. If you are forced to exclude shoulders, or don’t yet have tier shoulders, consider using the below options.

The best possible choice for the shoulder slot outside of tier will be the Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch. It provides you with 2 sockets, a considerable amount of raw stats, Critical Strike Chance, and Armor Penetration. From a pure DPS output perspective, this item is far stronger than any of the possible alternatives, however, it may fall short if you severely lack Hit Rating or Expertise Rating.

Shoulderpads of the Intruder will be the next best choice, especially if you lack Hit Rating and Expertise Rating. Since our build requires overall Expertise Gems, this item can take Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch‘s place until you manage to gain the appropriate Expertise Rating.