How to create and play a damage dealing, DPS, or powerhouse warrior.

Powerhouse warriors (also known as damage dealers or DPS warriors) are not the best choice if you plan to do a lot of endgame play. In raids and instance groups, powerhouses simply are not needed because there are many other much better damage dealers.

Though, if you like to solo, the powerhouse is for you. Many warriors spec as a powerhouse until they get to the higher endgame levels (level 55 and up), then re-spec to become a tank to make them more useful to groups and raids.

Since you start out with battle stance as your first stance, in the beginning of the game you will mostly be a powerhouse.

Building a Powerhouse

By now you already know that the powerhouse warrior’s fighting style revolves around arms and battle stance. This means that this spec requires the most points in your arms talents, very few in protection, and the rest in fury. The goal, by the time you get to level 60, is that you will have all of your arms talents fully in use, quite a few fury talents in use, and very few protection talents to round out your abilities

There is no exact number that you must put in protection and fury, but make sure that your arms is thoroughly being taken care of. The trick is, every time you get a point, check to see if you have a skill you really need in arms first, then check fury.

The only exception is if you want to specialize in duel wield. In this case, it may be better to spec more in fury than in arms. Here’s an example from a level 60 troll warrior:

Arms

5 Deflection points

5 Tactical Mastery points

2 Improved Heroic Strike points

3 Improved Rend points

1 Anger Management point

Fury

5 Cruelty points

5 Unbridled Wrath points

3 Improved Cleave points

1 Piercing Howl point

3 Blood Craze points

5 Dual Wield Specialization points

2 Improved Execute points

5 Enrage points

5 Flurry points

Okay, it doesn’t have any points in protection. To be a true powerhouse your points can be better spent in arms and fury. Remember, you’re probably not going to need abilities that deal with shields or weapons that you don’t plan on specializing. Focus more on abilities that help with dealing more damage, honing and retaining rage, and dodging blows. Because these can be found in all of the talents and stances, be sure to work on a range of abilities, not just one. Be careful not to stretch yourself too thin in the arms area though.

Here’s an example of a level 60 warrior focused on using two-handed weapons:

Arms

5 Deflection points

5 Tactical Mastery points

3 Improved Rend points

3 Deep Wound points

2 Impale points

1 Improved Charge point

1 Anger Management point

5 Two-Handed Weapon Specialization points

1 Sweeping Strikes point

2 Improved Hamstring point

1 Mortal Strike Point

Fury

5 Cruelty points

5 Improved Demoralizing Shout points

5 Enrage points

4 Improved Inner Rage points

1 Piercing Howl point

Why worry about what weapon to use? When getting armor and weapons, intend on getting as much dps (damage per second) as possible. This means finding equipment that adds to your chance to get a critical strike or adds to your agility. Learning duel wield, allowing you to use two weapons at once, is perfect for adding dps. A very slow two-handed weapon can also be very effective for the powerhouse.

The Abilities for Powerhouses

There are two major ability types that powerhouses use most: the damage dealers and the rage builders. For the most part, rend, sunder armor, and heroic strike will be your major damage dealing abilities. Your best rage builder will be charge for the beginning of an attack, followed up by bloodrage during the middle of the fight (as long as your health isn’t too low). Inner rage also generates a huge amount of rage that can be used just about any time in the battle.

Another important ability to keep handy is hamstring. This keeps your target from running at the end of the fight and aggro-ing allies.