Gladiator Warrior

Gladiator Warriors are a variant of the Protection (tank) Warriors, designed to deal high damage while remaining a durable off-tank. Do not think of them as a tank, think of them as a high power DPS with the durability of a tank.

Disclaimer: this guide is written entirely from a PvE DPS point of view. I have not used this for tanking nor have I played PvP using this specific setup. If you wish to apply the information in this guide in any of these scenarios, feel free to do so but do note that you might have to change certain aspects to better suit them. Be creative, use your imagination, nothing is impossible is my motto. Please note that you cannot use taunt while in Gladiator stance, so it's very difficult to be an efficient tank. Consider yourself more of a backup or most durable DPS in the party.

My name is Jaclynn, I’m a member of the Guardians of Cenarius and I am here to teach you the ways of the Gladiator Warrior.

Stance
This entire guide focuses around the level 100 Warrior talent Gladiator’s Resolve. This improves the damage reduction on Defensive Stance by 5% and replaces Battle Stance with Gladiator Stance. This stance offers 5% increased damage, 50% increased Mastery and replaces Shield Block with Shield Charge (only while in Gladiator Stance). Shield Charge is the bread and butter for this setup, increasing the damage of all your main abilities by 25% on a short cooldown.

Understanding your stance is important to know how to use your kit. Which is why it is very important to note that you cannot use Taunt while in this stance, it will put you into Defensive Stance. This is not retail WoW, this is Firestorm, some things are scripted differently. You can leave your stance during combat but you cannot enter it again. You can only switch to Gladiator Stance outside of combat.

This makes tanking incredibly hard which is why I haven’t attempted it yet. Most fights require two tanks to swap because of debuffs, not having Taunt then poses a major problem.

Strengths
The most important thing about this playstyle is knowing your strengths and using them accordingly. Warriors have great AoE capability and especially Gladiators excel at this. Cleaving down multiple bosses or packs of mobs are their specialty and it is where they can truly shine.

This spec has no, and I mean absolutely NO downtime on abilities. Therefore you will need to constantly be paying attention and spamming buttons. This means that you will have very reliable and consistent damage.

Since you are technically a Protection Warrior you also have great survivability. Multiple options for damage mitigation and healing are available to you and can really help out your fellow raid members. Especially healers will thank you for making their jobs that much easier.

Main Spells
I mentioned great AoE capability. This comes down to three distinct spells: Revenge, Thunderclap (which also applies Deeps Wounds) and Heroic Strike (only when using Glyph of Cleave).

Revenge, along with Shield Slam, is your primary rage generator. Use this whenever possible, always keep it on cooldown. The cooldown also resets whenever you parry or dodge which is good for solo play.

Thunderclap is a spell that costs no rage, has a fairly short cooldown (reduced by Haste) and damages every mob around you and applies a DoT. When fighting multiple enemies use this whenever possible.

Heroic Strike is your primary rage spender. Do not use this carelessly. Stack a full bar of rage, use Shield Charge and then spam as many Heroic Strikes as you can as well as Shield Slam and Revenge. This will optimize your damage. Using Heroic Strike outside of Shield Charge will not perform as well. Note that Heroic Strike is not on Global Cooldown meaning you can use Shield Slam/Revenge/Devastate/Thunderclap at the same time. During your Shield Charge you should always be pressing at least two buttons.

Shield Slam is your other primary rage generator. This spell also resets frequently when using Devastate (30% chance). Use whenever possible.

Devastate is the spell that causes you to have no downtime on damage. It is an instant cast and has no cooldown other than Global Cooldown. Use when your Shield Slam and Revenge are on cooldown. This can reset Shield Slams cooldown, so keep an eye out for resets. Also applies Deep Wounds just like Thunderclap.

Execute is a good rage spender whenever your enemy is at low health. Do not use this during Shield Charge or when fighting multiple mobs as Heroic Strike will probably outperform it.

These spells cover your main rotations and can be endlessly chained with absolutely no pause in between. Your basic rotation should look something like this:


 * Shield Slam


 * Revenge


 * Thunderclap (when AOE is useful)


 * Devestate


 * Watch constantly for Shield Slam resets

Repeat this until you have maximum rage

Shield Charge

Heroic Strike + Shield Slam/Revenge/Thunderclap/Devastate at the same time (Heroic Strike is off the Global Cooldown)

Repeat until Shield Charge runs out and then start over from the beginning.

Cooldowns
Use your damage cooldowns when available or save them for the correct phase where you will need them. Warriors excel at cleaving down mobs. Using cooldowns like Bloodbath/Bladestorm/Dragon Roar (most warrior damage cooldowns are talents which I will discuss below) helps a lot with this and allows you to deal incredible AoE damage in short amounts of time.

Using Berserker rage to manually trigger Enrage can help as well.

If a difficult phase is coming up during a boss fight you may need to use cooldown to mitigate some damage so your healers can keep up. In general it is a good idea during raids to play as if there is no healer present. Using all your defensive cooldowns, removing yourself from hazards, and playing like every HP your character has is aligned with your irl lifeforce. Playing with this mindset will make you a better player.

Shield wall is your main source of damage reduction. 40% reduction (or 60% with the glyph).

Last Stand increases current and maximum health, allowing you to take more damage. Most raid mechanics are not percentage based when dealing damage so having 400K HP and taking a 100K raid effect is a lot. Increasing your HP by 30% to 520K means that same 100K raid effect will be less noticeable.

Demoralizing Shout reduces damage dealt to you by everything around you.

Intimidating Shout can cause mobs to be feared, good for keeping the damage your tanks take from mob packs down.

Talents
Level 15:


 * Juggernaut: lowers cooldown on charge to 12 sec


 * Double Time: Charge has two charges but only generates Rage every 12 sec, each Charge has 20 sec recharge time

When it comes down to rage generation, Juggernaut and Double Time have the same effect. When it comes to mobility, Double Time is vastly superior. Depending on the situation you might want to use charge twice in a row even if you don't gain that rage. Double Time provides more versatility and is therefore the better choice.
 * Warbringer: Charge stuns instead of roots

Warbringer is good for PvP.

Level 30:


 * Enraged Regeneration: Restore 10% max health instantly and 20% over 5 sec, 1 min cooldown


 * Second Wind: Gain 25% leech while under 35% max health, no internal cooldown


 * Impending Victory: Replaces Victory Rush, same effect and damage but has a 30 sec cooldown which resets on kills instead

I prefer Impending Victory over anything else here. Since you aren’t supposed to go below 35% health, Second Wind won’t be that good and using Enraged Regeneration is a bit clunky and slow. Impending Victory can restore 15% max health instantly every 30 seconds (or more when you kill mobs) which is immensely useful for helping your healers.

Second Wind can save you from dying on any boss fight, the lifesteal is incredibly strong. It can also save you from wiping. It is not uncommon that a raidgroup wipes when a boss is at 5% health or less. If you are the last person standing and you have Second Wind you can lifesteal your way to victory.

Level 45:


 * Heavy Repercussions: Shield Slam does 30% more damage during Shield Block or Shield Charge


 * Sudden Death: Periodically grants Execute at no rage cost and can be used at any health level


 * Unyielding Strikes: Every Devastate reduces the rage cost of Heroic Strike by 5 for 6 sec, stacks 6 times and does not refresh at 6 stacks

Here you should definitely go for Unyielding Strikes, it provides the best synergy with your other abilities. After 6 Devastates you can spam Heroic Strike for free for 6 seconds, this gives an immense boost in damage as it triggers quite often. Heavy Repercussions and Sudden Death don’t match up to the potential of Unyielding Strikes.

This talent also lets you use Shield Charge when not at full rage because the durations match up nicely. Shield Charge lasts 7 seconds and Unyielding Strikes last for 6 seconds at 6 stacks. Casting Shield Charge and Devastate while at 5 stacks of Unyielding Strikes will allow you to use Heroic Strike for free for 6 seconds while also having Shield Charge active. This means even more damage.

WIth the BRF 4p set, Heavy Repercussions may be the best option so both should be tested for optimal DPS and flow.

Level 60:


 * Storm Bolt: Single target stun, quadruple damage to targets immune to stuns, 30 sec cooldown


 * Shockwave: AoE stun, 40 sec cooldown, reduces cooldown to 20 sec when hitting three or more enemies


 * Dragon Roar: Knock all targets around you back and down, ignores all armor, always a crit, 1 min cooldown

I run Dragon Roar because it has the highest damage of the three, both at base and because of the armor ignore and constant crit. Shockwave is useful for keeping large packs of mobs cc’d but killing mobs is better than keeping them stunned. Storm Bolt is excellent during some fights like the Train Boss since warriors can then help kill the canons.

Level 75:


 * Mass Spell Reflection: Bugged on Firestorm


 * Safeguard: Replaces intervene and adds a 20% damage reduction effect for 6 sec, 30 sec cooldown


 * Vigilance: Protect a party or raid member, reducing their damage taken by 30% for 12  sec, 2 min cooldown

I use Vigilance to give tanks an extra damage reduction effect, your raid will thank you.

Safeguard is also good for the same reasons but the movement is annoying, it can really mess up certain fights where you need to stay in specific places. You would have to immediately Heroic Leap or Charge back to your spot which is just annoying.

Level 90:


 * Avatar: Increase damage by 20% for 20 sec, 90 sec cooldown


 * Bloodbath: For 12 sec all melee damage does 30% additional as a bleed over 6 sec, 1 min cooldown


 * Bladestorm: Become a bladestorm, deals high AoE damage, 1 min cooldown

Bloodbath for single target fights, Bladestorm for AoE fights. Bloodbath can also be used for AoE since it procs of off Thunderstorm, Revenge and Heroic Strike (and Glyph of Cleave).

Avatar is good for PvP since it removes roots and snares but I would still recommend Bloodbath instead.

Level 100 there is only choice obviously: Gladiators Resolve.

Major Glyphs
For everyday raiding I use the following setup:


 * Glyph of Cleave to make Heroic Strike more effective by hitting two targets.


 * Glyph of Resonating Power to make Thunderclap deal more damage, the increased cooldown allows you to use other spells more without triggering global cooldown with Thunderclap.


 * Glyph of Unending Rage increases your rage cap to 120, this makes it possible to use more Heroic Strikes during Shield Charge

Honorable mentions are:


 * Glyph of Bull Rush to get more rage from Charge


 * Glyph of Shield Wall to make Shield Wall a much heavier damage reduction but on a longer cooldown


 * Glyph of Rude Interruption grants 6% increased damage for 20 sec after interrupting a spell with Pummel, useful if you are on interrupt duty anyway.  Might be the most pro in BRF since so many abilities can be interrupted.  Near constant 6% damage buff for something you're already optimally doing.


 * Glyph of Mocking Banner to help out your tanks with pulling aggro from mob packs


 * Glyph of Shield Slam for PvP

Using any other major glyphs will end up costing you so I would recommend choosing from these. If you really need mobility maybe you can put in Glyph of Heroic Leap for the movement speed

Minor Glyphs
The only non-cosmetic glyphs here are:


 * Glyph of Intimidating Shout to make enemies tremble in place


 * Glyph of the Subtle Defender to remove threat gen from Defensive Stance


 * Glyph of the Watchful Eye to auto target with your Intervene

Any others are cosmetic and purely up to you, you don’t really need any of these glyphs to optimize your setup.

Stat Priority
Strength > Bonus Armor > Crit > Mastery > Haste > Versatility > Multistrike

Strength is your main stat and increases your attack power among other things. Strength and stamina (core main stats) should be increased whenever possible. While this isn't always true, aim you gear for the highest ilvl possible and go deep on secondary stats later. Example would be you shouldn't keep an optimal stat 650ilvl item when a 685ilvl item becomes available. The higher strength is a much higher priority. But having an optimal stat 685ilvl item and later getting a 691ilvl (warforged) with less optimal stats you should then consider your secondary stats carefully.

Bonus Armor: Gladiator Warriors benefit from Bonus Armor since they are Protection specs. Get as much of this stat as you can on your neck, cloak, rings and trinkets as well as your crafted weapons. Bonus Armor can reduce your inbound damage by 50% when stacked high enough. Keep in mind that crafted items in any slot can have Bonus Armor. This is unlike retail! This means you can be significantly stronger on Firestorm than on retail. Stack bonus armor as hard as you can. This stat takes priority over any other secondary stat because of a hidden passive every tank spec receives called Bladed Armor. It grants attack power equal to 100% of your Bonus Armor, effectively working like additional strength as well as reducing your damage taken. Typically Bonus Armor is present on trinkets, rings, cloaks, and necklaces. Critical Strike: Gladiators benefit a lot from crit because it opens up synergies between abilities. First of all, crits with Shield Slam or Devastate Enrage you, granting 10 rage and increasing your damage by 15% for 8 sec. Crits with Shield Slam additionally grant a free Heroic Strike that is a guaranteed crit.

With all these guaranteed crits the weapon enchantment "Mark of the Thunderlord" can extend a long duration.

Mastery: When raiding this acts as a pure percentage based attack power increase. The blocks will not trigger as much but for solo content they are also a very nice damage reduction. Gladiator Stance increases all mastery by 50% and Shield Mastery grants 5% more of the mastery stat from all sources.

Haste: This reduces the cooldowns on Shield Slam, Thunderclap and Heroic Strike as well as increase your attack speed. It is not a priority to me personally since the cooldown on Shield Slam and Thunderclap is already only 6 seconds at base and the reduction is very little. Devastate also resets Shield Slam quite often. Heroic Strike only has a 1.5 second cooldown.

Example of my current setup: 585 Haste to get 5.67 sec cd on Shield Slam and Thunderclap and 1.41 sec cd on Heroic Strike

Haste is a nice stat but you should not prioritize it.

Versatility: This is always a nice stat to have because it is also a percentage based increase to damage and damage reduction.

I wouldn't seek it out specifically in most scenarios, but it doesn't hurt anything. There's always the chance of having a pure versatility build for fun. Huge damage reduction and a passive dps increase. It won't be as strong as going deep on crit/mastery, but this is your game to enjoy so do what feels right. Simply put though it's a "weaker Bonus Armor".

Multistrike: Good for survivability since it triggers Blood Craze to regenerate 3% max health quickly but other than that it is not that powerful.

You will have a fair bit of multistrike simpy by the fact that Bonus Armor crafted items have Multistrike attached to them. So you'll have damage reduction + increase and then multistrike to heal you.

Gearing
Plate armor and a sword and shield are your go to gear. It is recommended to get the ilvl 705 crafted weapon and shield rolled to grant bonus armor and multistrike. The 705ilvl crafted shield is the best shield anyone has access to. Shield users can have four crafted items when others can only have three. Enchant these with more crit bonuses or experiment with mastery scaling to see what you hit hardest with. Or roll versatility/multistrike if you want to be a tough bruiser.

Farm Kazzak for his ilvl 705 trinket as with all other classes, it’s incredible.

All your crafted items should be Bonus Armor / Multistrike. Stack bonus armor on all of your other gear slots. The argument can be made that your trinkets could be the Kazzak trinkets (speed/leech and the stat-stick) since they provide so much utility and pure numbers. Typically every Kazzak item is best in slot for all classes. For tanks though the Kazzak bracers are underwhelming which makes bracers a contender for being a crafted slot.

Since you'll end up having the BRF 4p set there will often be a piece of gear with stats you don't necessarily want. Once you have a large collection of gear, sit down and look at all the stats of your available gear and begin fiddling for an optimal setup. There are five set pieces, and you'll only need four. Remember also that HFC first boss has loot (normal and heroic mode) so you can get 690/710ilvl items from that raid. Aim to get a large collection of gear options and then make the best possible set.

Macros
I run with some macros that make life a bit easier:

I use a macro for Dragon Roar/Bloodbath, they don’t share a global cooldown so you can trigger them together with a single button. Note that Dragon Roar can be put on global cooldown by other abilities so pay attention if you successfully trigger both spells, otherwise just hit the macro again after a global cooldown has passed to make sure.

Simply open a macro and type /cast Bloodbath in one line and /cast Dragon Roar in the next.

You can also macro Heroic Strike with all spells that you should cast in order of priority if you don’t like pressing 2 buttons at the same time during Shield Charge/Unyielding Strikes Procs.