Esoterickk's MoP Fury Warrior Guide (Patch 5.2)

[esoterickk]

LATEST UPDATE: PATCH 5.2 - MISTS OF PANDARIA


What to expect in this guide
This Fury Warrior Guide for Mists of Pandaria will include absolutely everything you will need to know about playing a Fury Warrior at end-game. From rotation, stats, gear choices and specifics on each boss fight; this guide will be perfect for any Fury Warrior looking to improve or learn the class. I will also include specific tips you can use to improve your play that most other guides will not mention. Also approaching the most frequently asked questions that are a pain to find elsewhere, providing easy reference to the discussion around them!

The guide will be constantly updated to reflect all the latest changes, and I may create an archive for prior patches for ease of reference on older information. This guide will not cover levelling and the sorts, this is solely directed at the end-game Fury Warrior.

Feel free to ask any questions or raise any concerns and I'll do my best to answer them. Enjoy the guide!

Table of Contents:
1. SINGLE MINDED FURY(SMF) VS TITAN'S GRIP(TG)
2. STATS
3. ROTATION
4. ENCHANTS/GEMMING
5. BEST IN SLOT LIST(BIS LIST) - GEAR CHOICES BOTH RAIDING AND PRERAID BIS
6. TALENTS/GLYPHS
7. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS(FAQ) AND COMMON DISCUSSIONS
8. BOSSES(HOW TO AND VIDEOS FOR EACH ENCOUNTER)

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SMF vs TG | STATS | ROTATION | ENCHANTS/GEMS | BIS LISTS | TALENTS/GLYPHS | FAQ | BOSSES

[esoterickk]

LATEST UPDATE: PATCH 5.2 - MISTS OF PANDARIA


Single Minded Fury or Titan's Grip?
In Mists both SMF and TG are pulling very similar DPS, however SMF is slightly ahead of TG for this tier. Our damage being largely boosted by our Execute phase, the flat damage increase from SMF scales great with Execute pushing SMF slightly ahead, along with other factors. However, both SMF and TG have their strengths/weaknesses:

-SMF's strong point is the Execute phase due to the 35% damage buff you get from SMF.
-TG is stronger for AoE.

The difference is pretty minimal so it'll come down to what weapons you have available. Given that ToT has a lot of cleave fights, TG seems to be the stronger choice overall.

As such, this guide applies to both SMF and TG.

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[esoterickk]

LATEST UPDATE: PATCH 5.2 - MISTS OF PANDARIA


Stats
A Fury Warrior's stat priority will look like this in MoP:

Hit (7.5%) > Expertise (7.5%) > Crit > Strength > > > > Mastery > Haste > Hit (over 7.5%)

Crit being valued so high due to the increased up-time on Enrage via Crits. But, these values change depending on your gear levels. Strength will beat out Crit at times, but here's a rough guideline regardless.

The main thing to note is that in MoP, Hit Cap and Expertise Cap are now at 7.5%, where previously they were 8%.

You need 2550 Hit Rating to get 7.5% Hit.
You need 2550 Expertise Rating to get 7.5% Expertise.

2210 of each rating with the 1% racials.

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[esoterickk]

LATEST UPDATE: PATCH 5.2 - MISTS OF PANDARIA


Rotation
Rotation has changed quite a bit come MoP. It is a lot more reactive to procs and has grown some complexity, which is a nice change from the simple rotation we had in Cata. Bloodthirst no longer costs rage and actually generates rage, Colossus Smash no longer having a cost either.

Our stances have also changed,

We now use Battle Stance to DPS. It currently generates the highest rage for our rotation - but no longer generates rage from damage taken.
Berserker Stance generates less rage, but also generates rage from damage taken (1 rage per 1% health). This will be used when raid damage taken is high.

As it currently stands, the rotation is all about burst windows.

The best way to explain this is splitting our rotation into sections; Burst, Sustain/Filler, Execute.
The Burst is what our rotation revolves around. The Sustain/Filler is the period outside of Burst and where you will save Rage/procs for the burst window. The Execute is Sub 20% - where Warriors really shine. Each section has different priorities, as explained below:


Burst
Our burst occurs every 20 seconds within a Colossus Smash debuff. For every Colossus Smash you want to be pooling 120 Rage, have 2 Raging Blow procs and dumping as much into this 6 second debuff as you possibly can. You want to use Colossus Smash every time it's off cooldown as a priority.

Ideal scenario for a burst window is the following:
Colossus Smash > Raging Blow > Bloodthirst > Raging Blow > Raging Blow
Using as many Heroic Strikes as possible during this window.

In order to achieve this however, you need to correctly maintain your Sustain/Filler period to build up 120 Rage and also have the correct Raging Blow stacks going into a Colossus Smash. Remember you also have Berserker Rage to give you a Raging Blow proc if you're unlucky with procs.

(For more advanced players)
You should be using Heroic Leap during CS on cooldown if it is not needed for another situation. You need to weave it in so that there's no delay on any of your abilities at all because of it. It is most beneficial in AoE situations, however it also increases your DPS Single Target provided you can do it properly.


Sustain / Filler
The Sustain/Filler period is the period that Colossus Smash is on cooldown and you're preparing for the next Colossus Smash window. In this time you want to be saving up 120 Rage, and aiming to have 2 Raging Blow procs ready for the next Burst window. In order to do this you must avoid using abilities that cost large amounts of Rage, and saving the Raging Blow procs you get. You must use Bloodthirst on cooldown.

In this time you maintain a rotation as such:
Bloodthirst > (filler) > (filler) > Bloodthirst > (filler) > (filler) > Bloodthirst ... etc

So essentially it's just BT > (Filler) > (Filler) > BT. This allows you to build up Rage for the next Colossus Smash.

For the (filler) > (filler), it is either doing nothing or using low/no cost abilities when you're under 120 Rage. The (filler) priority is per below:

1. Raging Blow (smart use of this, you need to save 2x procs for the next Colossus Smash window)
2. Bloodsurge proc (Wild Strike 3x).
3. Heroic Throw
4. Battle Shout
5. Nothing (there will be periods where this happens)

Keeping in mind though, you don't want to be Rage capped unless you're going into a Colossus Smash - so if you're closing on 120 Rage and it's not a Colossus Smash window, you can use a non-Bloodsurge Wild Strike in order to burn off some excess rage.

As TG only, Whirlwind takes priority over Wild Strike (without Bloodsurge proc) provided you use Glyph of Raging Wind and make use of the damage bonus.


Execute
Execute is very similar to the Burst rotation, however it revolves around Colossus Smash windows being filled with 4x Executes every time. Outside of this you will use the same filler rotation, however Raging Blow taking priority and not needing to be saved. It is worth saving cooldowns for this period if it's coming up soon (Skull Banner/Recklessness/Pot/Enrage/On-use Items); it's all about putting as MUCH damage as you can into these burst periods via lining up cool-downs.

For example:
Colossus Smash > Execute > Execute > Execute > Execute


AoE
For AoE it's as per below:
BT > CS > Whirlwind (2-3 times for Meat Cleaver stacks) > Raging Blow


Opening Rotation / Cooldowns
Above covers the rotation of a Fury Warrior. As you can tell we heavily rely on burst windows and lining up our cooldowns/rage properly. As an example of this in action, here is the opening rotation a Fury Warrior should use:

1. Countdown.. before 0 Battle Shout + Prepot
2. Charge + Bloodthirst
3. If you get a Bloodsurge proc, use Wild Strike 3x, otherwise use Heroic Throw > Nothing
4. Bloodthirst
5. Bloodbath + Skull Banner + (any racials/procs/on-use items that aren't crit) + Dragon's Roar
6. Recklessness + Colossus Smash
7. Raging Blow + HS
8. Bloodthirst + HS
9. Raging Blow + HS
10.Raging Blow + HS (using HS in here as rage allows)
11. Then back to normal rotation as per above (Sustain/Filler until next Colossus Smash).

So as a condensed version:
Battle Shout+Prepot > Charge+BT >Bloodsurge 3x(or HT+nothing) > BT > BB+SB+CD's+DR > Reck+CS > RB(+hs) > BT(+hs) > RB(+hs) > RB(+hs) > BT > (filler) ... etc

If you have the [Fabled Feather of Ji-Kun] your rotation will slightly change (delayed 1 BT)

1. Countdown.. before 0 Battle Shout + Prepot
2. Charge + Bloodthirst
3. If you get a Bloodsurge proc, use Wild Strike 3x, otherwise use Heroic Throw > Nothing
4. Bloodthirst
5. Filler
6. Filler (5+6 can be Bloodsurge proc again)
7. Bloodbath + Skull Banner + (any racials/procs/on-use items that aren't crit) + Dragon's Roar
8. Recklessness + Colossus Smash
9. Raging Blow + HS
10.Bloodthirst + HS
11.Raging Blow + HS
12.Raging Blow + HS (using HS in here as rage allows)
13.Then back to normal rotation as per above (Sustain/Filler until next Colossus Smash).

So as a condensed version:
Battle Shout+Prepot > Charge+BT >Bloodsurge 3x(or HT+nothing) > BT > (filler) > (filler) > BB+SB+CD's+DR > Reck+CS > RB(+hs) > BT(+hs) > RB(+hs) > RB(+hs) > BT > (filler) ... etc


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[esoterickk]

LATEST UPDATE: PATCH 5.2 - MISTS OF PANDARIA


Enchants:
Shoulder: Greater Tiger Fang Inscription
Back: Enchant Cloak - Superior Critical Strike
Chest: Enchant Chest - Glorious Stats
Bracer: Enchant Bracer - Exceptional Strength
Gloves: Enchant Gloves - Super Strength
Belt: Living Steel Belt Buckle
Legs: Angerhide Leg Armor
Boots: Enchant Boots - Pandaren's Step
Weapon: Enchant Weapon - Dancing Steel

Consumables:
Food: Black Pepper Ribs and Shrimp
Flask: Flask of Winter's Bite
Pots: Potion of Mogu Power

Gems:
For gems it's pretty simple as it currently stands:

Meta: Reverberating Primal Diamond (+216 Strength and 3% Increased Crit Effect) / Legendary Meta
Red Sockets: Crafty Vermillion Onyx (+160 Expertise, +160 Crit)
Yellow Sockets: Smooth Sun's Radiance (+320 Crit)
Blue Sockets: Piercing Wild Jade (+160 Hit, +160 Crit)

This will change depending on the socket bonuses and your hit/expertise rating, so take that into account when gemming and don't strictly follow these gems. Generally speaking you will want to socket everything with 320 Crit, unless the socket bonus is > 60 Crit and you can use the stats from the other half of the gem.

No more Strength gems!?

Correct. This is due to gems giving more secondary stats than they do primary stats. For example two of the same quality gems but for different stats:
Smooth: http://mop.wowhead.com/item=76697 - Gives 320 Crit.
Bold: http://mop.wowhead.com/item=76696 - Gives 160 Strength.

The same also applies to Jewelcrafting gems; the 480 Crit being the ideal choice as it beats out the 320 Strength option

Professions:
The best professions currently are Blacksmithing and Engineering. Blacksmithing due to the large amount of Crit you can get from the bonus sockets. Engineering as the proc lines up well with Bloodbath/1min cooldowns as well as the 'Frag Belt' tinker doing decent damage.

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[esoterickk]

LATEST UPDATE: PATCH 5.2 - MISTS OF PANDARIA



5.2 Best in Slot List (BIS List) - Raid Gear: credit to Juni's list on MMO-Champion

Slot		Name		Drop Location
-
Head		[Helmet of the Last Mogu]		Twin Consorts
Neck		[Amulet of the Primal Turtle]		Tortos
Shoulders		[Pauldrons of the Last Mogu]		Iron Qon
Back		[Hydra-Scale Bloodcloak]		Primordius
Chest		[Carapace of the Core]		Ra-Den
Wrist		[Caustic Spike Bracers (Crit)]		Durumu the Forgotten
Hands		[Gauntlets of the Last Mogu]		Council of Elders
Waist		[Flare-Forged Greatbelt]		Ra-Den
Legs		[Legplates of the Last Mogu]		Ji-Kun
Feet		[Sabatons of the Superior Being]		Ra-Den
Ring 1		[Spinescale Seal]		Megaera
Ring 2		[Ra-den's Ruinous Ring]		Ra-Den
Trinket 1		[Fabled Feather of Ji-Kun]		Ji-Kun
Trinket 2		[Gaze of the Twins]		Twin Consorts
TG Weapons		[Uroe, Harbinger of Terror] x2		Lei Shen
SMF Weapons		[Shellsplitter Greataxe] x2		Tortos

5.0 Best in Slot List (BIS List) - Raid Gear:

Slot		Name		Drop Location
-
Head		[Helmet of Resounding Rings]		Tier 14 Set
Neck		[Shackle of Eversparks]		Terrace of Endless Spring: Protectors of the Endless
Shoulders		[Shoulderpads of Misshapen Life]		Heart of Fear: Amber-Shaper Un'sok
Back		[Cloak of Peacock Feathers]		Mogu'Shan Vaults: Feng the Accursed
Chest		[Battleplate of Resounding Rings]		Tier 14 Set
Wrist		[Bracers of Defiled Earth]		Terrace of Endless Spring: Protectors of the Endless
Hands		[Gauntlets of Resounding Rings]		Tier 14 Set
Waist		[Patroller's Girdle of Endless Spring]		Terrace of Endless Spring: Lei Shi
Legs		[Legplates of Resounding Rings]		Tier 14 Set
Feet		[Jasper Clawfeet]		Mogu'Shan Vaults: The Stone Guard
Ring 1		[Ring of the Bladed Tempest]		Heart of Fear: Blade Lord Ta'yak
Ring 2		[Dread Shadow Ring]		Terrace of Endless Spring: Tsulong
Trinket 1		[Relic of Xuen]		Darkmoon Faire
Trinket 2		[Lei Shin's Final Orders]		Mogu'Shan Vaults: Will of the Emperor
TG Weapons*		[Shin'ka, Execution of Dominion] x2		Terrace of Endless Spring: Sha of Fear
SMF Main-hand		[Kilrak, Jaws of Terror]		Terrace of Endless Spring: Sha of Fear
SMF Off-hand		[Scimitar of Seven Stars]		Heart of Fear: Amber-Shaper Un'sok

5.0 Best in Slot List (BIS List) - Pre-raid Gear: - from dungeons/basic crafting only

Slot		Name		Drop Location
-
Head		[Sightfinder Helm]		(H) Siege of Niuzao Temple - Commander Vo'jak
Neck		[Cloudstrike Pendant]		(H) Shado-Pan Monastery - Gu Cloudstrike
Shoulders		[Acid Scarred Shoulders]		(H) Gate of the Setting Sun - Striker Ga'dok
Back		[Cloak of Failing Will]		(H) Temple of the Jade Serpent - Sha of Doubt
Chest		[Riverbed Chestguard]		(H) Temple of the Jade Serpent - Wise Mari
Wrist		[Commanding Bracers]		(H) Scarlet Halls - Houndmaster Braun
Hands		[Dark Blaze Gauntlets]		(H) Scholomance - Lilian Voss
Waist		[Binding of Broken Dreams]		(H) Template of the Jade Serpent - Sha of Doubt
Legs		[Pyretic Legguards]		(H) Scarlet Halls - Flameweaver Koelger
Feet		[Anchoring Sabatons]		(H) Siege of Niuzao Temple - Wing Leader Ner'onok
Ring 1		[Blade Trap Signet]		(H) Mogu'Shan Palace - Xin the Weaponmaster
Ring 2		[Lord's Signet]		Crafted - Jewelcrafting
Trinket 1		[Carbonic Carbuncle]		(H) Stormstout Brewery - Yan-Zhu the Uncasked
Trinket 2		[Lessons of the Darkmaster]		(H) Scholomance - Darkmaster Gandling
TG Weapons*		[Goresoaked Headreaper ]		(H) Scholomance - Rattlegore
TG Weapons*		[Gravetouch Greatsword]		(H) Scholomance - Instructor Chillheart
SMF Weapons*		[Dubious Handaxe]		(H) Temple of the Jade Serpent - Sha of Doubt

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[esoterickk]

LATEST UPDATE: PATCH 5.2 - MISTS OF PANDARIA


Talents
The talents in MoP are very situational and generally change depending on your own personal preferences/play-style (take note of this: all talents can be used in certain situations so see what is most needed for your specific raid comp). Here is what I use personally:



The main decision comes with the Level 60 + Level 90 talents and which is better. For single target the following are chosen as highest DPS:

Dragon Roar > Bladestorm/Shockwave
Bloodbath > Avatar/Storm Bolt

Again, these can be changed and there's little DPS difference between each talent. Each talent has their situational strengths, so you will adjust around those and your own preference (ie. Bladestorm for longer AoE periods, Avatar for controlled burst phases).


Glyphs
Glyphs in MoP have changed - you now only have Major and Minor Glyphs. For Major Glyphs you want to choose the following (note: Glyphs are fairly situational now, you may want to look into the others for your raid comps needs):

Glyph of Death From Above
Reduces the cooldown on Heroic Leap by 15 sec. Shorter cooldown = more damage, can't really go wrong.

Glyph of Unending Rage
Increases your maximum Rage by 20. Higher rage cap, allows for more room for rage pooling.

The third Major Glyph being left to personal preference (either CS/Raging Blow). Recklessness isn't worth taking as it currently stands.

Minor Glyphs are now just cosmetic changes, so you can play around and have fun with these as you like.

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[esoterickk]

LATEST UPDATE: PATCH 5.2 - MISTS OF PANDARIA


FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
This area is to tackle any common questions/discussions that arise. It will also include miscellaneous common items such as more in-depth trinket choices, weapon choices and so forth.

Can I use TG for most of the fight and swap to SMF for Execute phase?
No, you cannot. From the blue post:

We are going to use the same solution we did for Frost DKs, which is that a weapon swap will prevent the passive bonus for applying for 30 sec or so. In this case, if you switched to SMF for Execute, you wouldn't benefit from the SMF bonus for a long enough time that it's probably not worth it. There are very few legitimate cases where a warrior would want to switch from TG to SMF in the middle of an encounter.


Why does the AoE rotation have Wild Strike in it? What is the reason for using CS in the AoE rotation? And what number of mobs does WW beat WS with Bloodsurge?
Wild Strike was included in the premise that you have a Bloodsurge proc and you don't have the Rage for the other abilities (10 rage vs 30 rage, situation occurs). In 2 target situation WW always > WS, but again there are times where rage doesn't allow and WS is chosen.

CS/BT are used mainly for their ability to proc RB which will be a huge chunk of our AoE rotation with 2-3 targets. Not to mention they cost no rage which will help maintain WW's. That's why they have priority, whilst also providing ST boost on the preferred target too.

Cleave will rarely if ever be used, only when you're absolutely swimming in rage from Berserker Stance + raid damage (cannot think of a current situation that will provide such a thing, but it may occur). In that case cleave used as preferred dump.


Is the Brewfest trinket good?
The Coren's trinket has turned out very poor. The uptime / ICD on the proc is really bad, not to mention that it only procs on Crit making it unreliable. As it stands, almost any trinket with iLvl 463 or higher will beat it.


How much of a DPS increase is the T14 2p/4p?
The value of these have been calculated at roughly ~2k each.

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[esoterickk]

LATEST UPDATE: PATCH 5.2 - MISTS OF PANDARIA


Approaching Bosses as a Fury Warrior
Vidya's:

Heroic Jin'rokh the Breaker


Heroic Horridon


Heroic Tortos


Heroic Megaera


Heroic Ji-Kun


Heroic Primordius


Heroic Twin Consorts


Heroic Lei Shen


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[Keydriiell]

Great work Eso looking forward to seeing this thread evolve as more numbers become finalized!

[Shaco]

Why do you get caught as Dr. Graves?!

[Kaz]

Hey Eso. Nice work. I just had one question, for JCs, what are the BIS Serpent Eye Gems we should be using? Is it still Bold or...?

[esoterickk]

You'll want to use the Smooth Serpent's Eye ideally (480 Crit Rating), the Strength only gives 320 Strength vs the 480 Crit. ^^

[Kaz]

You'll want to use the Smooth Serpent's Eye ideally (480 Crit Rating), the Strength only gives 320 Strength vs the 480 Crit. ^^

Thanks for the clarification. I don't seem to have the Smooth recipe yet...

[richards]

Hi Eso,

On single target, is it worth using Whirlwind over a non Bloodsurge Wild Strike?

Thanks!

[esoterickk]

Hi Eso,

On single target, is it worth using Whirlwind over a non Bloodsurge Wild Strike?

Thanks!

It is worth using it over a non-Bloodsurge WS, but only when you're TG and using the glyph to increase WW by 10% following an RB.

[driftpapa]

you state that the brewfest trinket is BiS for T14. yet then post that the darkmoon faire trinket is better in the other BiS list. well which is it. and why

[esoterickk]

edit: recent builds have changed, heroic trinket from Will of the Emperor now beats the Coren's, making DMC + Will heroic trinket BiS. The uptime on the Brewfest trinket proc is poor (only procs on crit, bad uptime/ICD), to the point any trinket you can get your hands on will beat it > 463.

[Genshin]

Wow....talk about a BLAST from the Past Eso. How goes man?

[Kazrakon US-Uldum]

Hey Esoterickk, I noticed that for Pre-Raid BIS, the Metoric Greathelm feels like it's better than the Sightfinder Helm. With the yellow socket bonus and my JC gem I get more Crit and some haste and that feels like it's better than the Red Socket bonus with the JC gem and the Mastery. What are your thoughts?

Also, do you plan to include the Epic Jewelcrafter Gems in the gem list in your guide?