The standard PvE Arms build for WotLK 3.3.5a — works for everything from level 30 questing through ICC heroic 5-mans. Talent reset is free on Chromie Craft, so respec freely as you level into more talents.
Capstone:
Bladestorm — unlocks at level 60 (51 talent points). Your single biggest power spike as Arms.
Open the live build: Wowhead Talent Calculator (Warrior) — drop in the points below.
Distribution
- Arms: 54 points
- Fury: 17 points
- Protection: 0 points
Arms tree (54)
Tier 1 (5 points)
| Icon | Talent | Points | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Improved Heroic Strike | 3/3 | -3 rage cost on Heroic Strike |
 | Improved Rend | 2/2 | +20% Rend damage |
| — | Deflection | 0/5 | (skip — PvP) |
Tier 2 (5 points)
| Icon | Talent | Points | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Improved Charge | 2/2 | +10 rage on Charge |
 | Tactical Mastery | 3/3 | Keep up to 25 rage on stance change |
| — | Iron Will | 0/3 | (skip — PvP) |
Tier 3 (6 points)
| Icon | Talent | Points | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Improved Overpower | 2/2 | +50% crit on Overpower |
 | Anger Management | 1/1 | +1 rage every 3 sec in combat |
 | Deep Wounds | 3/3 | Crits cause 48% weapon damage as a bleed |
Tier 4 (9 points)
| Icon | Talent | Points | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Two-Handed Weapon Specialization | 2/2 | +4% damage with two-handed weapons |
 | Impale | 2/2 | +20% crit damage on melee abilities |
 | Poleaxe Specialization | 5/5 | +5% crit and +5% crit damage with axes/polearms |
Tier 5 (4 points) — Mortal Strike unlocks here at level 30
| Icon | Talent | Points | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Mortal Strike | 1/1 | The 21-pt capstone. 6s CD, big damage, -50% healing on target |
 | Sweeping Strikes | 1/1 | Next 5 melee swings hit a 2nd target. Core AoE talent. |
 | Strength of Arms | 2/2 | +4% Strength, +4% total HP |
Tier 6 (5 points)
| Icon | Talent | Points | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Taste for Blood | 3/3 | Rend ticks have a 100% chance to refresh Overpower |
 | Trauma | 2/2 | +30% bleed damage taken on target |
Tier 7 (7 points)
| Icon | Talent | Points | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Improved Slam | 2/2 | -1.0s Slam cast time |
| Improved Mortal Strike | 3/3 | +9% MS damage, -1s CD |
 | Weapon Mastery | 2/2 | -4% chance enemies dodge your attacks |
Tier 8 (6 points)
| Icon | Talent | Points | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Sudden Death | 3/3 | 9% chance on hit to make Execute usable, regardless of target HP |
 | Endless Rage | 1/1 | +25% rage from auto-attacks |
 | Blood Frenzy | 2/2 | Rend/Deep Wounds increase target’s physical damage taken by 4% |
Tier 9 (5 points)
| Icon | Talent | Points | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wrecking Crew | 5/5 | MS crits buff your damage by 10% for 12 sec |
Tier 10 (1 point)
| Icon | Talent | Points | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Juggernaut | 1/1 | Charge usable in combat, +25% Charge crit chance for 10s |
Tier 11 (1 point)
| Icon | Talent | Points | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Bladestorm | 1/1 | 51-pt capstone. 6s channeled AoE, immune to disable, 1.5min CD |
Fury tree (17)
| Icon | Talent | Points | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Cruelty | 5/5 | +5% melee crit chance |
 | Booming Voice | 2/2 | +30% shout duration, +50% range |
 | Improved Bloodrage | 2/2 | +50% rage from Bloodrage |
| Commanding Presence | 5/5 | +5% Battle Shout AP, +5% Commanding Shout HP |
 | Improved Cleave | 3/3 | +120% bonus damage on Cleave |
Protection tree (0)
Nothing. Don’t touch this tree as Arms.
Glyphs
Major (3 slots)
| Glyph | Use |
|---|---|
| Glyph of Mortal Strike | +10% MS damage. Always slotted. |
| Glyph of Execution | Execute deals damage as if you had +10 rage. Big single-target boost. |
| Glyph of Rending | +6 sec Rend duration. Maintain bleed on bosses. |
Swap to AoE-heavy fights: Replace Glyph of Mortal Strike with Glyph of Cleaving (+1 target on Cleave) or Glyph of Sweeping Strikes (no rage cost).
Minor (3 slots)
| Glyph | Use |
|---|---|
| Glyph of Command | +25% Commanding Shout duration |
| Glyph of Bloodrage | Removes Bloodrage’s HP cost |
| Glyph of Battle | +2 min Battle Shout duration |
Optional minors: Glyph of Charge (+5 yd range), Glyph of Thunder Clap (+2 yd range), Glyph of Mocking Blow.
Leveling talent order
Talents unlock as you gain points (1 per level from 10). Spec into Arms straight down the tree.
| Level | Pick this |
|---|---|
| 10–14 | 3/3 Improved Heroic Strike, 2/2 Improved Rend |
| 15–19 | 2/2 Improved Charge, 3/3 Tactical Mastery |
| 20–24 | 1/1 Anger Management, 3/3 Deep Wounds |
| 25–29 | 5/5 Poleaxe Specialization, 2/2 Impale, 2/2 Two-Handed Weapon Specialization |
| 30 | 1/1 Mortal Strike + 1/1 Sweeping Strikes — biggest single upgrade |
| 31–34 | 2/2 Strength of Arms, 2/2 Trauma |
| 35–39 | 3/3 Taste for Blood, 2/2 Improved Slam |
| 40–44 | 3/3 Improved Mortal Strike, 2/2 Weapon Mastery |
| 45–49 | 3/3 Sudden Death, 1/1 Endless Rage, 2/2 Blood Frenzy |
| 50–54 | 5/5 Wrecking Crew |
| 55–59 | 1/1 Juggernaut, 2/2 Improved Overpower |
| 60 | 1/1 Bladestorm — capstone! |
| 61–80 | Fill out Fury tree: 5/5 Cruelty, 2/2 Booming Voice, 2/2 Improved Bloodrage, 5/5 Commanding Presence, 3/3 Improved Cleave |
Stat priority (level 80)
Hit (8% / 263) → Expertise (26 cap) → Strength → ArmorPen → Crit → Haste → AP- Hit to 8% for melee specials. 9% if you’re not in a Draenei group (Heroic Presence raid buff covers 1%).
- Expertise to 26 to eliminate dodges from bosses.
- Strength scales linearly with damage — biggest stat after caps.
- Armor Penetration scales hardest above ~50% gear quality. Above the 100% APen cap, swap to crit.
- Crit stays valuable due to Wrecking Crew, Sudden Death, and Deep Wounds procs.
- Haste is the weakest melee stat at low gear levels; rises with ICC ilvl.
Sources
Icon filenames verified via Wowpedia (Warcraft community wiki). Spell links and rotation guidance from: