How To Play A Warrior

Player Vs. Environment

Now that you know what kind of warrior your going to be, you now need to know the basics of how to play. I will first start off with Player Vs. Environment.

Solo

When going solo use a two-hand weapon so you can do the most damage you can. It takes longer with a one-hand weapon and shield and the extra armor of the shield does not offset the lower damage of the one-hand weapon.

In a group the Mage, Warlock, or Rogue will be your weapon and they will offset the lower damage of your one-hand weapon and you will offset their cloth or leather armor.

Fight enemies two levels lower than you. You will still gain good experience and should not need to stop for healing.

You will mostly use Battle or Berserker stance when soloing.

Try to start a fight with a charge. If you can't because it will aggro too many other enemies then use a thrown weapon to try to pull one or a few of them instead of the whole group.

Why a thrown weapon you ask? Because a bow or gun requires you to give up a bag for an ammo pouch or quiver where as thrown weapons don't.

Even though a gun, bow, or crossbow does more damage than thrown weapons it really does not offset the loss of a bag, more so when soloing.

Next use Rend. It works great on enemies who last long enough for the Rend to do it's magic. If the enemies are dropping like flies then Rend is not worth it. This should not be the case when fighting enemies two levels below you so Rend will be well used.

Next get in a Battle Shout if it's not up already. Make sure Battle Shout never goes down during a battle.

If you aggroed more than one enemy then you will need to use Demoralizing Shout before building rage. You may also need to use a Demoralizing Shout when fighting enemies of your same level and more so when they are of a higher level than you. When solo you have only potions to heal you so stopping damage is key to staying alive when fighting higher level enemies.

Bandages can be used during combat but if you get hit it will break the healing so they are not very good for a Warrior and more so when soloing during combat.

Now do a few normal swings until you have 50% or more rage.

Now use a Heroic Strike or Mortal Strike (if you have it). The enemy should be low on health now. If the enemy is a humanoid then they will normally run about now so Hamstring them when they have about 20% health.

Every fight will be different and this is just a basic guide to how a fight with an enemy two levels lower than you will go. Only time will give you the skill to know what to do in every fight.

Enemies who run are better handled by front loading damage. They will run sooner and do less damage to you because they are running away and not fighting you. Just remember to Hamstring them and they are doomed.

On the other hand enemies who use abilities when their health is low, mid to high level Ogers for example who have Enrage, are better handled by dumping all your damage at the end of the fight before their Enrage abilities can do much damage to you.

Group

In group PvE the Warrior is “meat shield”. Your job is to fight the enemy and keep the enemy on you so that others like the Priest, Warlock, and Mage don't get killed. They only have “paper armor” of cloth and cannot take very many hits before they die.

When grouping with others you will want a well balanced group if possible. You will want a tank (that's you), a healer/rezzer (a Priest or Druid), a damage dealer (a Mage, Warlock, or Rogue), and the last needed is an off-tank (a Paladin, Shaman, or another Warrior). The last slot can be taken by any class but Hunters make for very good pullers if they have the skill.

As the main tank you will need a one-hand weapon and a shield. Don't forget food buffs as they supply extra Stamina. Cooking is not just for sissy Mages and Priests.

Keep extra rage at all times. I would never let it fall below 10%. You never know when a Priest, Mage or Warlock will do a critical and gain aggro. Use the extra rage to do a Mocking Blow, Taunt or Challenging Shout to get aggro back.

You don't really have time for a swing or two to build the rage necessary to use an instant aggro skill. By the time you get a swing or two off and get the rage needed the cloth wearing class will almost be dead or the Priest will have to have used up mana to keep them from dying.

Also you want the extra rage for the end of a fight if the enemy runs, you can then Hamstring them.

After loosing aggro and getting it back, use a high threat attack like Sunder Armor to keep the enemy on you.

But how does aggro work you say? As best as can be figured a monster will attack a target until another player does 10% more damage to it. So if a Mage does 100 damage then stops attacking the monster will stay on the Mage until someone else does a total of 110 damage to it.

Warriors get a boost to their threat. In Battle Stance and Berserker Stance, all threat from a Warrior is multiplied by 80%. In defensive stance, the multiplier is 130%. With Defiance, it is 145%.

From what people can tell threat does not decay. You can hit an enemy for 100 damage and it will stay on you until the server goes down, you run away, or someone does 10% more damage to it than you did.

For each point of damage done by a Warrior a healer must heal four points of health to gain aggro as best as can be figured.

If you can, try to always start a fight with a charge. If your not the puller then let the puller pull a target while you back away from the group a bit. When the enemy starts running for the puller wait until it is two or three feet from the puller then charge.

Try to keep the enemy at least 30 yards away from any other enemies. If they run and you can't stop them for some reason you want room enough to kill them before they reach help.

Do no special attacks until you build up at least 50% rage. If you have a good weapon that should not take long.

Rend is good if the fight will last a while and the enemy does not drop fast.

Demoralizing Shout would be the next thing to do as it will really help lower the amount of damage they do to you. The healer will thank you. Also if there are more than one enemy it will get aggro on all of them.

A Thunder Clap helps if you have two or more enemies on you after the Demoralizing Shout. Don't use Thunder Clap if a Mage has Polymorphed the second enemy.

Use defensive stance as much as possible to help keep your health up.

If you see that your going to die then try to move to an area with no enemies so that you can be rezed in a safe area or can run back to your body and rez without aggroing.

If you are the second Warrior in the group and there are no Paladins or Shamans then you will be the off-tank. The off-tank will help the main tank when there is just one enemy. When there are two enemies the off-tank will fight the second enemy. This is where Sweeping Strikes is good, you can fight the second enemy while still helping the main tank.

At all times your main job is TO PROTECT THE HEALER! No matter what happens you are to stop any and all enemies from attacking the healer. If three enemies attack the party and two go for the tank and one goes for the healer, don't help the tank with the second enemy, go after the one that's attacking the healer.

As the off-tank you are third in line to be healed and are expendable. The first in line is the main tank, the second is the healer themselves then you (normally). Because of their healing abilities Paladins and Shamans make great off-tanks.

The higher level Warrior should be the main tank and the lower level Warrior should be the off-tank if there are two Warriors in a group.

When going solo use a two-hand weapon and when off-tanking.

Always carry a shield, one-hand weapon and a two-hand weapon that's within five levels of your level unless it's blue or purple then it can go a bit longer, because you never know when you will be the main tank or the off-tank.
http://www.marsgamer.com/freeguides/warrior_guide.html

When going solo use a two-hand weapon so you can do the most damage you can. It takes longer with a one-hand weapon and shield and the extra armor of the shield does not offset the lower damage of the one-hand weapon.

In a group the Mage, Warlock, or Rogue will be your weapon and they will offset the lower damage of your one-hand weapon and you will offset their cloth or leather armor.