Mechanics Changes in 1.2
I have tried many different Warrior specs in this patch, but before I list them, let’s review some of the key changes that impact Warriors in PVP:
- Two categories of CC immunities were implemented: one for movement-related CC, and one for control-related CC. For a given CC category, the 1st application will last its normal duration, but the 2nd application within 24 seconds will have half the duration, and any further applications will have no effect until 24 seconds have passed from the initial application. This sounds confusing, but what it basically means is it is much more difficult to apply movement CC’s and control CCs
- Notably for Warriors, Snare effects were added to the movement-related CC category. This has made it very difficult for Warriors to stay within melee range of a target, especially considering that all gap-closing abilities for Warriors (e.g. Riftwalk, talented Bull Rush, Shield Charge, Rift Summon) trigger a root effect. So if you pop a gap-closing ability and then try to Snare, the Snare only lasts 50% of its normal duration, and then you can’t movement-CC the target until 24 seconds after the initial root
- The Void Knight (VK) tree for Warrior got a significant overhaul. Notably Pact-consuming abilities now only consume up to a fixed number of Pacts, and the Pact-related Ravenous Strength and Ravenous Defense buffs now last as long as Pacts (i.e. 30 seconds), and it’s easy to refresh the duration on a stack of Pacts. These changes have made VK stronger in PVP
My Pre-1.2 Specs
Prior to Patch 1.2, I had played two Riftblade specs while ranking up:
You can read more about those specs in Section 8B of my Riftblade PVP Guide. Keep in mind that through most of Patch 1.11 and 1.12, I was not particularly well-geared and was using a blue 1H sword (21.7 DPS).
The first spec lacked purge (offensive dispel) capability. Both specs lacks a healing received debuff.
I did try putting 15 points in Vindicator to get Improved Trauma, but that didn’t turn out to be the silver bullet for providing healing received debuff, because you can only keep it up 50% of the time.
Some of the 1.2 Specs I Tried
In my PVP experience across many games, I’ve generally found that it isn’t worth running a high DPS but squishier spec until you are geared sufficiently. In 1.2, with the changes to Favor and rep requirements, I finally felt ready from a gear perspective to try running 2H specs. I purchased the Port Scion 2H axe (33.4 DPS) for 17k Favor and was able to get a Valor piece for each Armor slot.
Here are some of the specs I tried in order and my comments on their pros and cons. Please note that I tried variations of the specs below as well, moving a few talents points around for various tests in warfronts.
1H 38 RB / 17 PD / 11 VK
Pros:
- High mobility and counters to CC
- Has the 11-pt VK talent called Spell Sunder, which removes 3 buffs from an opponent. This purge ability has a range of 35m and its cooldown is 15 seconds
- Durable
Cons:
- Lacks high burst / sustained DPS
- No capability to drain mana from range. Therefore draining can take a nontrivial amount of time, especially if your target is kiting
- Lacks healing received debuff
2H 36 RB / 30 VK / 0 VI
Pros:
- High mobility and counters to CC
- Purge (Spell Sunder)
- Excellent mana drain capability, including 2 drains from range
Cons:
- Lacks healing received debuff
- Power management – no Rift Strike means fewer Crits which means fewer procs for Planar Blade
- Self-healing from VK Replenish is very underwhelming: 18 HP per Pact gained
DPS from this spec pales in comparison to 2H CH and isn’t that much higher than 1H RB. More on this later.
2H 33 RB / 28 VK / 5 VI
This is basically the same spec as the previous one, but with the -15% crittable from VI to make it more durable. I preferred this spec to the previous one. That being said, I think for 2H specs that use VK as the secondary tree that 26 points (to get Rift Shield) is probably a good stopping point. So for example a 2H 38 RB / 26 VK / 2 PA spec would make more sense.
1H 32 RB / 18 VK / 16 PD
Pros:
- High mobility and counters to CC
- Purge (Spell Sunder)
- Solid mana drain capability, including 1 drain from range
- Durable, especially with Ravenous Defense
Cons:
- Lacks high burst / sustained DPS
- Lacks healing received debuff
- Power management was a huge issue, especially with no Rift Strike
The latter bullet point above was a significant issue in combat, e.g. at times I was too Power-starved to use an interrupt.
2H 32 CH / 18 VK / 16 PA
After trying the above RB specs, I wanted to give Champion a go.
Pros:
- Excellent burst and sustained DPS: can melee chain-Crit for 1k+ per Crit
- Lingering Wounds provides a powerful healing received debuff
- Very Power efficient, especially with Rising Waterfall interleaved between AtPt-generating abilities and Grim Satisfaction
Cons:
- Very susceptible to being kited, and DPS drops steeply when not able to stay in melee contact
- Limited CC breakers
- Very squishy: low mitigation combined with lower HP pool
The main thing I noticed about this spec is that it typically wasn’t worth using GCDs to mana-drain a target (unless they were close to going dry). It was simply better to use GCDs for damaging abilities to “hulk smash” the target into oblivion.
The 1.2 Spec I Settled On
So I spent a lot of gold training abilities, experimenting with various specs, and thinking through the mechanics. The conclusion I reached for the 1.2 mechanics (and this will seem fairly obvious) is that the most important capability that Warriors brings to PVP is the healing received debuff, not being able to purge or mana drain. CC abilities are still important but they are no longer critical as they were pre-1.2.
Even with a decent set of Valor gear (21% mitigation), I found 2H CH to be squishy and susceptible to kiting.
Vexxen on the Rift Warrior forum shared an interesting idea of using RB as the primary tree and 17 points in CH to get Lingering Wounds. I tweaked his idea and this what I landed on:
1H 38 RB / 17 CH / 11 PD
The main concern I had with this spec was that I might not Crit often enough to proc Lingering Wounds. However, I noticed that with an unbuffed 18% Crit rate, which goes up to 23% with Rift Strike, I was getting plenty of procs of Lingering Wounds in actual combat to keep a target chain debuffed.
I have been able to solo competent, geared Clerics of various specs simply by limiting their healing received. And in group contexts, Lingering Wounds is terrific for bringing down a focus-fire target.
This is the highest-utility, most well-rounded spec I have tried so far in 1.2.
You can find more information about this spec in Section 8C of my Riftblade PVP Guide.
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