The smoothest way to level a Warrior in World of Warcraft: Forever is as Arms with a two-handed weapon, swapping between Battle and Defensive Stance and using Victory Rush, now a baseline heal at level 20, to recover after each kill. Fury is the alternative if you want its new self-healing talents, and Protection is a real leveling option this time, because Blizzard moved a Rage-saving talent earlier in the tree to make tank leveling feel better.
Below is why we pick Arms, the talents to take first, when the key abilities arrive, the class quests and where to quest. Everything is checked against Blizzard’s Priest and Warrior class deep dive and its beta development notes up to the November 2 launch notes, as of November 7, three days after launch.
Which Spec to Level a Warrior As
Blizzard calls Warriors “the masters of melee combat,” but also says they “lack the tools to easily recover from taking too much damage.” Leveling is mostly about that second line: the spec that kills fastest and wastes the least time eating wins.
| Spec | Weapon | Why level as it | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arms (our pick) | Two-handed | Big hits, Two-Handed Weapon Specialization, Spearing Strike at 25 | No self-healing beyond Victory Rush |
| Fury | Two one-handers | New healing talents, Whirlwind hits with both weapons | Needs hit chance to stop off-hand misses |
| Protection | One-hander and shield | Safest pulls, Charge in Defensive Stance | Slowest kills until Shield Slam |
Arms is our pick because nearly every early Arms talent adds damage to the weapon you already have. Two-Handed Weapon Specialization now gives 2/4/6% more damage with a two-hander, and the new Weaponmaster talent restores the old weapon specializations in one place: axes and polearms get extra critical strike chance, maces and staves ignore some armor, and swords get a chance at an extra attack. That matters more now that the racial weapon bonuses are gone, as our best Warrior race guide explains.
Fury gained the healing Blizzard says Warriors lack. Gore Drinker makes your next three melee attacks restore 0.5 or 1% of your maximum Health after Enrage, Berserker Rage, Bloodrage, Death Wish or Bloodthirst, and Lingering Rage delays Rage decay by up to 10 seconds after combat, so a quick next pull starts with Rage in the bar. Bloodthirst no longer heals, though: it now gives 10% movement speed for 10 seconds.
Protection got a leveling fix of its own. Blizzard’s first beta notes moved Focused Rage up a row “to smooth out some of the feeling while leveling as Protection before obtaining Shield Slam,” and Thunder Clap can now be used in Defensive Stance. If you plan to tank dungeons on the way up, our best tank class guide compares the Warrior with the other tanks.
Warrior Talents to Take First
Talents start at level 10, and the milestone talents open at 11, 16, 21 and 31 points in one tree, which is levels 20, 25, 30 and 40 if every point goes into Arms. Here is the order we would follow, using only talents Blizzard has confirmed in Forever’s trees, plus two original-game talents its notes do not list as changed:
- Levels 10 to 19: Improved Tactical Mastery (3 points, keeps 5, 10 or 15 extra Rage when you change stance) and Improved Overpower, which moved up to the second row.
- Level 20: Deep Wounds, which Blizzard’s October 8 notes made a requirement for Impale again, and Anger Management, the original game’s 11-point Arms talent (Blizzard only clarified its tooltip).
- Level 25: Spearing Strike, the new 16-point talent. It costs 15 Rage, has a 20-second cooldown, needs Battle Stance and deals double damage to mounted targets, Dragons and Giants. It no longer requires a two-hander.
- Levels 26 to 34: Two-Handed Weapon Specialization and Impale, then Weaponmaster and Bloodthrill (2 points: your main-hand hits on a target with your Rend have a 10 or 20% chance to enable Overpower).
- Levels 35 to 40: Improved Slam (2 points), which cuts Slam’s cooldown and cast time and stops it delaying your swing, then the 31-point talent. In the original game that was Mortal Strike, and Blizzard’s notes do not list a change to it.
Fury players should aim for Lingering Rage, Furious Precision (off-hand hit), Raging Blows at 16 points, then Death Wish, which Bloodthirst now requires. Rearranging later costs gold at a class trainer, and our talent reset guide covers the fee.
Key Warrior Abilities by Level
These are the levels Blizzard has confirmed for Forever:
| Level | What you get |
|---|---|
| 10 | Your tanking stance (Blizzard’s launch notes say tanks get theirs at 10) and your first talent point |
| 14 | Tactical Mastery: keep 10 Rage when you change stance |
| 20 | Victory Rush: an instant attack that heals you for 10% of your maximum Health, usable for 20 seconds after you kill a worthwhile enemy (30-second cooldown) |
| 30 | Berserker Rage, moved down from 32 |
| 40 | Dual Specialization, plus riding |
Other launch changes worth knowing: Thunder Clap scales with Attack Power and has a 6-second cooldown, Rend now scales with Attack Power, Slam’s cooldown is 15 seconds, and Shield Wall and Retaliation dropped to 15-minute cooldowns that no longer share a timer with Recklessness.
Warrior Class Quests
Warrior class quests are still in Forever: Blizzard’s October 8 notes fixed the Mausoleum trigger in “Ulag the Cleaver,” which they file under Warrior quests. In the original game, each race’s level 10 Warrior quest taught Defensive Stance, and a level 30 chain taught Berserker Stance, with an optional follow-up that rewards a strong two-handed axe. Blizzard has not announced changes to those chains, so visit your Warrior trainer at 10 and at 30 and take whatever they offer.
Where to Level a Warrior
Every race can be a Warrior, so you start in your race’s zone and follow your faction’s usual route: Westfall, Loch Modan or Darkshore for the Alliance from level 10, or The Barrens or Silverpine Forest for the Horde, then the mid-20s zones on your side. Warriors shine in groups, so take every dungeon group you can. Forever adds new ones along the way, including the Hall of Thanes and Ruins of Lordaeron in the teens, though Blizzard halved the bonus experience on dungeon quests during the beta, so do not skip the open world entirely.
Warrior Leveling Tips
- Rage is more forgiving now. Rage from taking damage ignores your Armor, and Blizzard rebalanced it around questing gear in its October 8 notes. Critical strikes give 100% more Rage than normal hits.
- Train every time you can. Blizzard’s launch notes put the total cost of class training from 1 to 60 at about 206 to 207 gold for every class.
- Drag new abilities onto your bars. Since launch, learning a spell no longer adds it to your action bars, so open your spellbook after each training trip.
- Keep your weapon skill up. Our guide to where to train weapon skills helps when you swap to a new weapon type.
- Rest smart. A campfire stop gives rested experience and buffs, and Warriors eat more than most classes.
- Expect tuning. Blizzard plans class changes on Tuesdays when needed, starting November 10, and a large tuning pass once enough players are past level 30.
Every WoW Forever guide we have is on our World of Warcraft hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Warrior spec for leveling in WoW Forever? Arms with a two-handed weapon, in our view. Its early talents all add damage, and Spearing Strike arrives at level 25. Fury is close behind thanks to its new healing talents.
Can you level a Warrior as Protection in WoW Forever? Yes. Blizzard moved Focused Rage earlier in the Protection tree specifically to make leveling as Protection feel better, and Thunder Clap now works in Defensive Stance. Kills are slower, but pulls are safer.
What level do Warriors get Victory Rush? Level 20. It is now baseline, heals for 10% of your maximum Health and lights up for 20 seconds after you kill a worthwhile enemy.
When do Warriors get talents in WoW Forever? At level 10, with one point a level after that. The 16-point Spearing Strike lands at 25 if every point goes into Arms.
Can a Warrior have two specs? Yes. Dual Specialization unlocks at level 40, so you can keep a leveling build and a tanking build. Our dual spec guide covers how it works.