Hardcore Warrior Class Overview (2024)

Last updated on May 14, 2023 at 12:00by Sellin1 comment

If you are curious about more general Hardcore tips that apply to notjust Warrior checkout our Hardcore Classic Overview that includes tips and tricks that willgreatly increase your chances of surviving.

In Classic World of Warcraft every race can be Warrior, though some arecertainly stronger than others, each has its own unique strengths.

• Gnome — Gnome has some of the worst starting stats for a Warrior, butthe Gnome racial, Escape Artist, removes root/slow effects and can get you outof an emergency situation you may not have forseen.
• Human — Human is the recommended race for Warrior due to their Sword Specialization and Mace Specialization racials which willincrease your ability to hit enemies while leveling if using a Sword or Mace.Warrior's greatest weakness is their inability to hit consistently and generate theirresource, Rage, so this helps alleviate the problem.
• Dwarf — Dwarf provides the unique racial Stoneform whichcauses immunity to bleeds, disease and poison effects while also granting 10% additional armor.This is a powerful defensive cooldown and can certainly help remove some of the peskier debuffsyou will encounter in Classic.
• Night Elf — Night Elf has the greatest chance to avoid damage due to their Elusiveness racial and the ability to stealth out of combat with Shadowmeld.There's not much else in the way of combat benefits this race offers outside of Dodgerating.

• Orc — Orc has one of the strongest DPS racials in all of Classic with Blood Fury,as well as having Axe Specialization which increases your Axe skill, giving you a greater chance to hitwhile using an Axe. Hardiness cannot be underestimated as it increases your chance to resist anykind of stunning ability by 25%.
• Troll — Troll comes in a close second to Orc in regard to strongest DPS racial in Berserkingand has its own strong set of complimentary racials to their main DPS cooldown. Regeneration allows youto continue to re-generate 10% of your total health while in combat.
• Tauren — Tauren is the tankiest of all possible starting races for Classic thanks to 5% increasedhealth from Endurance. They also are the only race that comes with a built in AoE stun in form of War Stompwhich can also act as a spell casting interrupt should you need it.
• Undead — Undead does not provide a ton of in the form of combat benefits other than some added Shadow Resistanceand the added Fear/Charm break ability Will of the Forsaken.

The Stat priority that you will be following for Classic Hardcore is very similar tooriginal Classic, but with a larger emphasis on Stamina, the added Health can at times be the differencebetween surviving an encounter with an enemy or not and is typically more reliable than gearing towardsjust damage. Even in a best case scenario gear wise you still have a significant chance of missing andleveling in Hardcore is all about removing variability.

For a more in-depth explanation of what stats you should be prioritizing and their benefits to yourleveling experience checkout our Warrior leveling guide listed below, specifically the Warrior Gear section.

While it may be tempting to consider leveling as Protection, as it isthe tankiest of the three possible specs, Arms is the perfect mix of killspeed and durability and the recommended spec. Arms utilizies two-handedweapons to help mitigate the hit penalty of using an off-hand weaponand in general will better optimize your rage spent per-damage.

For a detailed route on how to spend each of your talent points while leveling check outour Arms Warrior talent build guide specifically for leveling. This page also includes an Armsspecifically priority list of how to deal maximum damage while leveling.

Professions are a huge part of Hardcore leveling as they can provide you withconsumables that give considerable stat increases, items that can be used in case ofemergencies or the ability to craft gear that will last you for countless levels. BelowI will go in depth about the various professions combinations available in WoWClassic and their benefits specifically in a Hardcore context for Warrior.

Herbalism and Alchemy is a great pairing of professions as it will allow youto make consumable potions that not only give you a burst of health in an emergencysituation but also offer considerable stat increases and the occasionally solution toa niche situation. Warrior specifically will benefit greatly from the Free Action Potionas it removes and makes you immune to all stunning/slowing effects for 30 seconds, slows beingone of the Warriors greatest weaknesses. There are also countless potions that will offerbuffs to give temporary stat increases that will smooth out the leveling process by makingyou much stronger than you otherwise would be. The only downside to this profession being the timeyou must invest to harvest your own materials via Herbalism.

Engineering and Mining is a strong combo and while it offers less static increases than Alchemyand Herbalism it is still something you should consider as it offers quite a few extra buttons toget you out of a sticky situation. Target Dummy is a usable item that will instantly redirectthreat to it, causing mobs to stop attacking you for either 15 seconds or until it dies. You will also haveaccess to bombs that both deal AoE damage and incapacitate/stun whatever you are fighting which can sometimesbe the difference in surviving an encounter.

Mining and Blacksmithing are also a great way to utilize your characters profession slots. Blacksmithingwill allow you to create pieces of powerful armor and weapons while leveling. It can be difficult to plan aroundbuilding a specific item as some items in Classic have rather hefty material requirements, but this can be used toplug in any holes in your gear that you may find as you progress through leveling.

If you are curious about the most efficient way to level your professions, or would like a listof many of the useful items you can craft, make sure to check out our Classic Profession guides listed below.

Warrior is one of the most gear reliant and inconsistent classes while leveling. Thiswill lead to many situations where you are either just unlucky or have pulled more than you canhandle, requiring you to always have a plan in mind for how to handle every possible situation.

Warrior should focus on killing mobs 1-2 levels below the Warrior, this allows you to avoidmost leveling related hit penalties and will offer you a much more consistent experience fightingmobs so you are able to better gauge exactly how many you can kill between having to heal or eventhe possibility of pulling multiple mobs. You typically do not want to pull multiple mobs as a Warriorunless you have either Sweeping Strikes or Retaliation available. If at any pointyou pull three or more mobs your best choice is to run, your tools to escape are limited but they do existand can be utilized to improve your odds of surviving. Hamstring should be used when attemptingto disengage from a single mob that you have found is too powerful for you or if you're low health, Piercing Howlcan be used in the same fashion but will impact multiple mobs. Intimidating Shout is your primary emergencybutton and using it will fear up to five enemies around you, just be sure that this won't pull more mobs that mayfurther complicate your escape.

Utilizing thrown weapons to kite can be the difference in being able to kill an elite. This is a tactic that shouldonly be used against extremely dangerous enemies that you must kill, like Cyclonian for your Whirlwind axe quest.What you should be trying to do is utilize items in the terrain, like a fence the player can jump over,but the mob cannot due to pathing constraint, since the mob has no available direct path to follow you it willtake the shortest possible route which will cause them to run back and forth each time you jump across the object.

Warrior is also the most macro reliant class in the game due to their stances and the limitations on whatabilities can be used in what stance. The major difference between a good and a great Warrior is theirability to utilize all three of their stances. Listed below is a guide on some of the most useful Macrosthat will greatly simplify using your classes abilities to their fullest extent.

Many people are enjoying Classic Hardcore by duo leveling. Warrior is a class that shines when pairedwith another class that can heal to allow Warriors to fully utilize their abilities, as Rage generation ismuch less of an issue when you are able to freely pull multiple mobs. Included below is a list of the mostpopular/effective class duos and their strengths/weaknesses!