The balanced WoW warrior

[Soria]

Okay, My sister and I are finally getting back into WoW, one of our discs broke so we had to buy a new one. Anyway I know I'm going to have a warrior main, but I'm not sure what I want with it. I know I'll do raids and the like, but I'm not sure about battles grounds. But I would like to join one if I decide to so my question is.. How to I make a balanced Warrior?

[Iconorast]

Full protection is basically your only choice if you want to raid at all. Sorry. Usually warriors raid until they've got good gear, respec then PVP.

[Soria]

Thanks.

[DemonMage]

If you wanna raid, make sure not to get protection too high, most guilds don't think too highly of people with more than 15~ or so in protection. Then decide if you want to dual wield or 2h for your DPS, and take it towards Fury or Arms from there.

[Soria]

... Hmmm It'll depend what I can find for weapons.. thanks again.

[Shinma]

Unless you find a new server, or a guild with a bunch of people your level, go Arms/Fury until you get to higher level. It will make your PvE and PvP life much easier while leveling.

[Jandau]

Bear in mind that guilds usually wave some fury / arms warriors on DPS duty, not everybody is forced to be prot gimps, and even if they are, it's only for some 15-20 points.

As for the fury VS arms choice, ask yourself what you like better: doing tons of fast strikes or doing fewer strikes that kick like a mule. Both options are viable and you'll find gear for both.

[Wolf]

My favorite character was my Fury warrior. I would really suggest dual wielding over 2h at least until 60 if you get an epic weapon and here is why.

If you spec Fury you just do amazing damage with Dual Wield. How amazing? Well the level 30 warrior quest gives you a choice of 3 weapons, everyone usually chooses the Whirlwind Axe. Now, this quest is hard because it involves killing a bunch of level 36-38 (something like that) mobs to get these items. Since I was leveling my warrior with my warrior friend, and we both had high levels, we helped eachother with the quest right at level 30. Sometimes I even see people at 39 in BG's still using this axe, but at the time when I got the axe, my generic (green) dual wielding dps was more than with the axe.

Also in the upper 30's you will be able to dual wield 2 30dps swords (not sure if you're Horde, I know there is an equivilant to the Sword of Serenity though, not sure where to get it). You will get the Sword of Serenity from the SM quest, acquired in the chapel in Stormwind, and then The Vanquisher from the Razorfen Downs quest. To compare to 2h weapons, my level 49 Druid uses a 2h mace (green) that only has something around 38dps or something like that. Now if you're Fury Spec'd, your offhand will do 50 percent of its base dps I believe. That means 45dps compared to 38dps and my druid was 10 levels above my Warrior.

I'd say go Fury before 60 because you'll do a lot more damage and be more than just a meat shield when you solo.

Also, more simply, you will only need to cary around a shield, instead of a 1h weapon and a shield. If you dual wield, you will already have a badass 1h weapon and not have to worry about buying an overpriced one in the AH.

I tanked fine as Fury speced, even in berserker stance, although I don't suggest that unless you have a healer who is well aware and is fine with it. Just be sure you know when to dual wield and when to have a shield in a group and you'll be fine.