Cataclysm Class Preview: Warrior

[GNARW]

great changes for pve
nerfs for pvp :/

Whirlwind will hit an unlimited number of targets, but only for 50% of weapon damage

Bladestorm nerf by 50% ...

And how does the ragedump HS compile with Inner Rage ? Are we supposed to stack rage or are we supposed to quickly dump it?

Will BS, CS, DS share a cd? or should we change our buff constantly to get the rage?

Please clarify the MS nerf, will all classes (mage, rouge, shadow, hunter, warrior) have the 20% MS? you could just delete it completely, 50% of all classes have the same skill, homogenization ya know

Disarming Nature has diminishing returns with ... <- ?

Pummel <===> Battle Stance ? Will we still be forced to use stupid macros? Its not a challenge its just a matter of writing a macro to do the job for you...

Are you sure you want us to be the king of random again? The swordprocs + Arms mastery = GOD OF RANDOM!

just my 2 cents

[Sirsimeon]

These new ideas seem to be very radical -
Warriors jump-charge into battle, Shamans can cast while moving around...

Hence, I'm very interested in seeing what mages get - mages rarely get anything interesting.
If there is a God, please let it be the fly-spark ability from the Iron Council in Ulduar.

[Sephyan]

So... with the rage change, being that you gain 15% increased damage at max, what's the point of dumping rage again? It'll dump automatically due to the increased rage drain associated. Anyone else notice this?

There needs to be some trade-off I think, to make using HS worth it as a dump, other than means of a dump, since that will be passively accomplished.

The Heroic leap is really unsatisfying to see as well. Making it a glorified charge seems pretty weak. Why do you need another one that doesn't accomplish anything more than Charge? As other have said, it's really very watered down. Not being able to control your leap is very underwhelming.

[Neksol]

I havent had a single time that I've had problems with threat using charge>TC>Shockwave. I'm just dissapointed they couldn't come up with something creative and fresh, instead of combining old abilities into a new ability. And again, I'm sorry if I'm not into the looks of abilities, but more how useful it is.

Exactly my sentiment. I'm desperately hoping that they give a significant overhaul to HL, either baseline or by means of Warbringer.

[fxrs]

Seems like mix of reactions for us warriors, not happy on WW at all, but these are only a preview, hopefully some useful changes will spring up sooner or later.

Blizz forums are pretty much the same.

[agonyzt]

I hate you for stating that but unfortunately it seems very true.

With more CC'ing, there is no use to WW unless you want to f* up your raid.

And most ppl are just blinded by the reintroduction of Heroic Leap.... OMGG HEROIC LEAPPPPP, NOW I CAN FLYYYYY!!!

Yeah, you can fly but it will cost you: MS debuff 50%->20%, WW dmg 100%->50%, Sunder Armor 20%->12%. Good deal? I don't think so!

edit: oh and arms warrior, Bladestorm reduced to 50% damage too? And btw you just lost 5% crit and 5% crit damage bonus

[mulinexman]

Since all of you seem to not understand Heroic Leap read again:

Heroic Leap (Level 85): This ability makes the character leap at their target and apply the Thunder Clap ability to all enemies in the area when they land. Heroic Leap will be usable in Battle Stance and shares a cooldown with Charge, but the Juggernaut and Warbringer talents will allow Heroic Leap to be used in any stance and possibly while in combat. The cooldown for this ability might be longer than the Charge ability, but it will also apply a stun effect so you can make sure the target will still be there when you land.

It's not going to be the Heroic Leap from the WotLK Beta where you could leap to some imaginary point, nor you'll be able to select an area where to leap - if a rogue vanishes, you can't leap to that spot unless there's another target you could leap to.
This is nothing else than a charge with different optics and a combined thunder clap effect - nothing more. And that for a 85 talent. Poor.

[Elementology]

Ehh, man, I was all hyped up over what the warrior shit might be, having played a protection warrior since the beginning of time and I must say, I'm not impressed yet. I'll hold judgment until I see the pally preview rofl

Interesting but as I said, this is not impressive.

[Julex]

Heroic leap WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Now we get another fucking useless ability because THEY DONT EVEN KNOW IF THEY'LL LET US USE IT IN COMBAT

will allow Heroic Leap to be used in any stance and possibly while in combat.

Possibly sounds as 'most likely' in this post. Still love you Thuarr <3.

[Sirsimeon]

Since all of you seem to not understand Heroic Leap read again:

Heroic Leap (Level 85): This ability makes the character leap at their target and apply the Thunder Clap ability to all enemies in the area when they land. Heroic Leap will be usable in Battle Stance and shares a cooldown with Charge, but the Juggernaut and Warbringer talents will allow Heroic Leap to be used in any stance and possibly while in combat. The cooldown for this ability might be longer than the Charge ability, but it will also apply a stun effect so you can make sure the target will still be there when you land.

It's not going to be the Heroic Leap from the WotLK Beta where you could leap to some imaginary point, nor you'll be able to select an area where to leap - if a rogue vanishes, you can't leap to that spot unless there's another target you could leap to.
This is nothing else than a charge with different optics and a combined thunder clap effect - nothing more. And that for a 85 talent. Poor.

No dude, you don't understand.
It's heroic leap.

Heroic.
Leap.

a leap that is fucking heroic, it's like the king of all leaps!
WE CAN ATTACK PEOPLE FROM ABOVE LIKE A FURIOUS VULTURE AND RIP 'EM APART
WE CAN FLY, MAN.

Blizzard gave us wings.
Let's fly.

[Sormer]

Whirlwind damage goes from 100% to 50%. Currently hits 4 targets, will hit unlimited in the future. This will be a massive nerf, how often is there > 8 targets?

I can think of quite a lot of trash fights in raids and instances with 8+ targets. Which, with Cleave being changed to an instant attack, makes Whirlwind the attack to use to wrack up damage on large trash packs while Cleave is the sensible choice for the ~4 mob packs in, say, a heroic instance. You're actually gaining a tool, not losing one.

So, where are the buffs? Warriors virtually received NOTHING and lost many previous skills. The rage "boosts" are countered by the fact we no longer get rage based on our swings, but on an arbitrary number equal for all warriors.

I think a lot of people can agree that Warriors (and more comprehensively, the Rage in general) have needed to be adjusted mechanically at the most fundamental level for a long time now. They've gotten by this far with Blizzard's haphazard band-aid adjustments, but they really needed to go back to the drawing board. And that's what Blizzard has done.

You're looking at this whole thing the wrong way through a half-empty glass. Read over the preview again carefully, and try to resist the urge to focus solely on the negative and go straight for the QQ. Look for the changes like the example I just pointed out with WW and Cleave. Just because they're not slamming you over the head with new OMGWTFBBQ abilities doesn't mean the buffs aren't there.

[Sting]

So, will we be getting the protection notes later?

Underwhelming is the least that comes to mind here...

[Vehemence]

I knew Heroic Leap would be back. They said afteral they were planning to bring abandoned spells and abilities back because the lack of 'Technology' invested in the mechanics.

[Rukh]

Interesting, warriors build rage irl, not just in the game.



I was fully expecting heroic leap to return now that all the worlds will allow flying, but it looks like unfortunately they lobotomized it. Too bad because it would have been a _fun_ ability to have. Maybe a little too fun!

[Zookz25]

How the hell are they gonna make Single-Minded Fury work... They're getting rid of Attack Power in Cataclysm so Strength will be the only white stat that boost a warrior's DPS. This means they have to add one-handers with strength on it just to accommodate these 1H fury warriors which is rather stupid as no other DW class utilizes strength (unless you wanna count on resurrecting DW'ing frost DKs).

That's exactly what they are doing.

There will be 1H weapons with strength for fury warriors and frost DKs, and then there will be 1H weapons with agility for enh shamans and rogues. Large chances are that the rogue and shaman weapons will be axes, where the warrior and DK (aka rogues in plate) weapons will be swords.

Edit:

No dude, you don't understand.
It's heroic leap.

Heroic.
Leap.

a leap that is fucking heroic, it's like the king of all leaps!
WE CAN ATTACK PEOPLE FROM ABOVE LIKE A FURIOUS VULTURE AND RIP 'EM APART
WE CAN FLY, MAN.

Blizzard gave us wings.
Let's fly.

^This^

I don't care if it ends up being a replacement for charge at high levels, you're heroicly leaping at you target to pound his face into the ground, that's all it needs to be.

[nomad1206]

the most interesting thing ive seen in this preview its the whirlwind change i mean yeah its a nerf if u have only one target, but with more the damage will be awesome.

[andis35]

MS 20% == happy healers

[Xcruiser]

You don't have to work them into the rotation, their rage generation would be situational only as far as I can tell like horn of winter.

Heroic Strike has changed into an Execute between the 10 and 100 Rage, eating up to 30 Rage every time it is used for additional damage. If there is no CD on it, you can dump that Rage almost instantly coupled with Inner Rage proc'd, leading me to believe that working Shouts into your rotation may become mandatory.

Again, this is all pure speculation as the Rage generation in Cataclysm will differ from the way it has worked for years.

[Rukh]

That's exactly what they are doing.

There will be 1H weapons with strength for fury warriors and frost DKs, and then there will be 1H weapons with agility for enh shamans and rogues. Large chancesare that the rogue and shaman weapons will be axes, where the warrior and DK (aka rogues in plate) weapons will be swords.

Bah I hope not. I *hate* having to use axes on my rogue. Swords are much cooler. Axes are big hefty smash weapons, much more suited to warriors.

[Ceara]

Heroic Leap - Charge + Thunderclap.

I'm not seeing the difference except that one makes you jump and the other makes you run.