Would 5.4 be a good Patch to start a Warrior, if...

[Sarevoc]

...1on1 PvP is what I care most about?

That doesn't mean that I don't play BGs, RBGs and Arenas, but I like 1on1 the most (duels, World PvP) and a good 1on1 performance also translates well into group PvP for me.

Warriors currently have a low representation among the teams positioned at the top of the arena ladder and historically they've always been a bad choice for 1on1, but they got buffed this time and there are probably more buffs to come.

I'm coming from a hunter main, and would like to try something else now.

So what do warrior "experts" think about their current and upcoming (5.4) 1on1 performance? Finally worth a try, or am I still gonna be the dude that sits in frost novas 24/7, unable to perform above average without a baby sitter?

[Kaosadvokit]

Finally worth a try, or am I still gonna be the dude that sits in frost novas 24/7

Firstly, if you see a warrior sitting in a frost nova constantly... they pretty much just have no idea what they are doing. Throw a banner down at your target and intervene it. (Intervene breaks roots)

That being said, warriors will still have a rough time.. due to the simple fact that they don't have much self healing to keep them up in a pinch.

[Baracuda]

Can beat just about anything except Blood DKs and good warlocks.

[Deleted]

...1on1 PvP is what I care most about?

Sorry but when was the last time we were really good at 1on1? Stunherald times? Maybe... but even then we only escalted with a windfury totem. We scale horribly with raiding gear and outside of instanced pvp having that is important.

We are utter sh*t when it comes to solo performance, we always needed a healer (nowadays more important: dispell/anti root) to keep going and they ditched our last promising 4 piece bonus (leap breaking roots) and gave it to all monks (glove bonus) instead, yay.

Firstly, if you see a warrior sitting in a frost nova constantly... they pretty much just have no idea what they are doing. Throw a banner down at your target and intervene it. (Intervene breaks roots)

Even a level 89 mage got all the tools he need to kite you for a long time (given they won't get crittet to death to be fair), (pet)nova/blink/block on top of deep freeze is just crippling us. You only have two banners at your disposal for the pure root break/movement purpose, but you can also use Avatar due to it's long duration. Wasting Skull Banner with block still avaible hurts a lot and up to 5.4 probably nobody is willing to use bladestorm. With buffed sweeping strikes (uninteresting for most 1on1) and it's cooldown reduced in half (90->60s) we might want to use it again, but giving away a 4 second aoe stun is a though choice.

[Sarevoc]

Sorry but when was the last time we were really good at 1on1?

The only time I remember was when the first PvP gear got released in WoW classic, high warlord / grand marshal items. I think warriors with Rank 14 weapons owned everything then.

Anyway, I thought I'd just ask here, before I would level the wrong class for my specific purpose.

Never really played a warrior yet, but looking at it from the outside, I have the impression that second wind is the most important ability they have, making them non viable for 1on1 if they don't take it. I just hope that I'm wrong, and that 5.4 will change a few things, because somehow this class fascinates me, I really wanna try it, but not if they are really sitting at the bottom of the 1on1 food chain.

There are 5.3 dueling videos on youtube, but the thing is, that you can find these videos for any class, where some dude shows you how he defeats ANY other class... so they are rather pointless, at least from a "class selection" perspective.

[Valech]

Warriors get some sweet buffs and fixes with 5.4. If it is really 1vs1 you care about, I think warriors are in a good spot. Second wind, thou nerfed, is still a nuisance for other players, especially because you can specc into a handfull of stuns. 5%? Np, Shockwave, Second wind will do the rest.

What warriors lack currently is burst. It´s true, that a good mage will kite you for a while. IMO that is why we should be able to smash skulls in the short periods you actually are at the target. With 5.4 things may change. Slam during CS got buffed. Hamstring is off gcd now. Spellreflect and shieldwall are now useable without cpmplex set swapping macros.

But that all comes from someone who only PvPs when he´s really bored. nevertheless, I´d give it a shot.