GUIDE SCOPE
Built for repeatable Phase 3 raid execution
This searchable web edition is adapted from the original MCK Boost carrier handbook. It focuses on the included class, specialization and role only; it does not create placeholder coverage for missing specializations.
- Build
- 21 / 40 / 0
- Role
- DPS
- Raid tier
- Phase 3
- Source
- 26-page PDF
TALENT BUILD
21 / 40 / 0
Death Wish is the scalable damage cooldown; Rampage is deliberately excluded because its maintenance cost does not fit the Phase 3 endpoint.
The exact point allocation is documented in the chapters below. The linked calculator opens the correct TBC class tree for verification.
View chapter index
01 - Raid plan
Choose raid value or personal damage
Arms increases all physical damage through Blood Frenzy. Fury earns its slot only through greater personal damage and cleave.
33/28/0 Two-handed sword preferred Maintain Blood Frenzy Slam immediately after swings Mortal Strike + Whirlwind cadence
21/40/0 Death Wish Dual wield Bloodthirst + Whirlwind priority Heroic Strike rage dump No unique raid debuff
| Before pull | Both lanes |
|---|---|
Armor debuff | Confirm Sunder/Expose ownership and first-global plan. |
Shout | Battle Shout assignment and refresh responsibility. |
Threat | Tank lead, Misdirection and threat meter visible. |
Survival | Healthstone, Nightmare Seed and defensive stance/shield bind ready. |
02 - Raid plan
Human and Orc are the damage defaults
Human expertise is exceptional with swords and maces; Orc combines Blood Fury with axe expertise when the weapon path allows it.
Alliance default for Cataclysm Edge/glaive paths.
Fury mace path expertise.
Horde damage cooldown; align with Bloodlust.
Expertise with axe routes.
| Profession pair | Recommendation |
|---|---|
Blacksmithing + Engineering | Best general carrier path: weapon access plus Hyjal explosives. |
Engineering + Enchanting | Strong once raid weapons replace crafts; two Ring - Stats enchants. |
Blacksmithing + Leatherworking | Only when the party still requires Drums coverage. |
03 - Raid plan
Cap specials, then protect rage income
Boss attacks are made from behind. Expertise reduces dodge; hit protects key abilities and improves Fury white-swing rage.
| Stat | Target / rule |
|---|---|
Special melee hit | 9% before Heroic Presence; 142 hit rating. |
Expertise soft cap | 26 expertise / 103 rating removes 6.5% boss dodge. Human/Orc weapon racials reduce gear required. |
Arms white hit | Two-handed white swings share the 9% cap. |
Fury white hit | Dual-wield miss remains beyond special cap; additional hit continues to add damage/rage but competes with stronger stats. |
Position | Attack from behind to remove parry. Expertise does not excuse frontal attacks. |
| Enhancement Shaman | Windfury, Strength of Earth, Unleashed Rage. |
|---|---|
Feral Druid | Leader of the Pack. |
Arms Warrior | Blood Frenzy for the raid. |
Hunter / Ret / Fury | Roster-dependent final slot. |
Physical-group package
04 - Talents
21/40/0 Death Wish beats Rampage
Death Wish supplies a scalable 20% damage cooldown. Rampage is excluded because its flat AP and maintenance cost do not keep pace.
Primary Fury strike.
Align with Bloodlust and trinkets.
Core haste engine.
Attack power plus threat reduction.
Off-hand damage.
Fury tree cleave cooldown.
Deliberately not selected.
Arms-tree dodge reduction path.
| Tree | Core |
|---|---|
Arms - 21 | Improved Heroic Strike 3, Deflection 2, Improved Rend, Deep Wounds and Impale path, utility points, then Death Wish. |
Fury - 40 | Cruelty 5, Commanding Presence 5, Dual Wield Specialization 5, Improved Execute 2, Sweeping Strikes, Flurry 5, Bloodthirst, Improved Berserker Stance 5 plus chosen utility. |
05 - Raid plan
Never delay Bloodthirst or Whirlwind
Fury is a cooldown priority surrounded by rage management. Heroic Strike is only a dump after upcoming core abilities are funded.
Highest single-target priority.
Second priority.
Queue with true excess rage.
Filler below 20%, never ahead of BT/WW.
Use without delaying core cooldowns.
Low-cost proc/rage dump only by plan.
Stack with raid haste/burst.
Smooth opener or starvation window.
| State | Action |
|---|---|
Normal | Bloodthirst > Whirlwind > Overpower/utility > Heroic Strike dump. |
| Bloodthirst > Whirlwind > Execute filler; do not spam to starvation. | |
| Cancel/avoid Heroic Strike; protect next BT/WW. | |
Rage high | Queue Heroic Strike; never cap at 100. |
Threat high | Stop Heroic Strike first; stance/position and threat call. |
06 - Abilities
Whirlwind and Cleave own stacked targets
Pool before Sweeping Strikes and convert every charge with strong attacks while staying behind the priority target.
30-second cleave cooldown.
First cleave priority.
On-next-swing rage dump.
Use after cleave priorities.
Primary burst cooldown.
Long cooldown; raid-night assignment.
| Cooldown | Rule |
|---|---|
| Stack with Bloodlust/Heroism and trinkets unless encounter timing requires otherwise. | |
| One major use per raid segment due long cooldown; obtain raid-lead timing. | |
| Use when rage and target uptime can convert the haste. | |
| Do not activate before both targets are stable and durable. |
07 - Gear & items
Fury shares armor, not weapon packages
The same elite physical pieces support both specs, but Fury weapon pairing, racial expertise and speed determine the final set.
Endpoint helm.
Armor penetration.
Shared cloak.
Onslaught threat chest.
Phase 3 bracers.
Top shared gloves.
Expertise anchor.
Off-piece legs.
Hit/haste.
Hit/physical neck.
Illidan ring.
Strong shared ring.
Best haste engine.
Expertise/proc.
Legendary endpoint, extremely contested.
Set completion.
08 - Gear & items
Pair speed, racial and availability
Warglaives are the endpoint, not the progression plan. Maintain realistic axe, sword and crafted packages.
Legendary main hand.
Legendary off hand.
Orc Arena axe route.
Strong sword path.
Axe alternative.
Crafted mace haste route.
Changes rage/speed cadence.
Helps expertise target.
| Package | Use |
|---|---|
| Orc expertise and reliable Arena acquisition. | |
| Human expertise / raid-drop route. | |
Dragonstrike package | Blacksmithing haste option; evaluate party and weapon speed. |
Warglaives | Final legendary package; do not reserve the rest of the set around an uncertain drop. |
09 - Gear & items
Activate Relentless, then stack strength
Use gems to complete the exact hit/expertise state; do not keep gemming hit after its real marginal value falls below strength.
Mandatory physical meta.
Best pure strength epic.
Strength/crit hybrid.
Blue activation with crit/stamina.
Head AP/hit.
Leg AP/crit.
Balanced weapon enchant.
Armor penetration threat/DPS weapon.
Movement speed plus agility.
| Slot | Default |
|---|---|
Shoulders / chest / wrists | Greater Vengeance / Exceptional Stats / Assault. |
Gloves | Superior Agility or threat/cap correction by item. |
Weapons | Executioner and/or Mongoose according to sim, school and raid armor. |
Rings | Stats on both rings if Enchanter. |
10 - Consumables
Pack for bosses, waves and wipes
Demon classification, kill time, Windfury compatibility and potion timing change the correct package.
Reliable all-night AP flask.
Best only versus actual Demons.
Battle elixir alternative.
Guardian sustain.
Burst potion.
Strength food.
Blunt weapon only; check Windfury.
Edged weapon only; check Windfury.
Party haste if assigned.
Hyjal stacked waves.
Survival health ceiling.
Emergency heal.
Between-wave recovery.
Windfury. Stones belong only on compatible non-Windfury weapons.
11 - Abilities
Make interrupts and survival immediate
Macros should expose stance and equipment requirements rather than hiding failed casts.
PurposeMacroPummel#showtooltip Pummel
/cast Berserker Stance
/cast PummelFocus Pummel#showtooltip Pummel
/cast [@focus,harm,nodead][] PummelEmergency shield#showtooltip Shield Wall
/equip The Brutalizer
/equip Bulwark of Azzinoth
/cast Defensive Stance
/cast Shield WallCleave toggle#showtooltip Cleave
/cast CleaveStart attack#showtooltip Mortal Strike
/startattack
/cast Mortal Strike12 - Raid plan
Compare only equivalent assignments
Spec, weapon speed, group buffs, Blood Frenzy/Sunder duties and kill time materially change Warrior logs.
| Metric | Arms | Fury |
|---|---|---|
Active time | 95%+ safe uptime | 95%+ safe uptime |
Core delay | Auto-to-Slam reaction; MS/WW delay | Bloodthirst/Whirlwind delay |
Raid duty | Blood Frenzy and assigned Sunder | Battle Shout / Sunder if assigned |
Rage waste | Caps and early Slam starvation | Caps, excess Heroic Strike, BT/WW starvation |
Cleave | Sweeping charge conversion | WW/Cleave/Sweeping conversion |
Execute | Only filler between MS/WW | Only filler between BT/WW |
Deaths | Frontal, movement, threat | Frontal, movement, threat |
13 - Encounter
Cleave only after tank control
Warrior damage is exceptional on stacked waves, which makes early threat deaths especially tempting and especially avoidable.
| Wave state | Execution |
|---|---|
Incoming | Charge only by tank/raid plan; do not become the gather point. |
Stable | Whirlwind and Cleave; Sweeping Strikes on durable targets; Sapper after threat is established. |
Priority caster | Pummel assigned casts; stay on skull without frontal exposure. |
Nearly dead | Stop expensive setup; preserve rage and position for next wave. |
Between waves | Bandage/eat, refresh shout, check weapon imbues and cooldown timing. |
Durable targets.
Cleave priority.
Rage dump.
Assigned casts.
Stable stack only.
Wave recovery.
14 - Encounter
Five bosses reward uptime without greed
Every cast or swing lost to late movement costs more than a minor item upgrade.
| Boss | Execution |
|---|---|
Rage Winterchill | Immediate Death and Decay movement; interrupt/slow duties only by plan. |
Anetheron | Stay in healing range, avoid infernal danger and do not cleave uncontrolled adds. |
Kaz'rogal | Maintain uptime and survival; cooldowns according to raid kill-time plan. |
Azgalor | Rain of Fire movement and silence awareness; Demonslaying only if classification applies. |
Archimonde | Fear-break plan, Tears equipped, instant Doomfire movement; survival overrides execute greed. |
15 - Encounter
Naj'entus through Teron
Melee positioning, burst timing and mechanic execution establish the carrier standard.
| Boss | Execution |
|---|---|
Naj'entus | Healthstone ready; stop greedy attacks before shield break if health is unsafe; burst after recovery. |
Supremus | Stay behind during tank phase; move instantly from volcanoes; no Slam greed while relocating. |
Shade of Akama | Cleave controlled adds, interrupt priority casts and align cooldowns with Shade burn. |
Teron Gorefiend | Maximum stationary cadence; threat monitored. If ghosted, execute construct controls perfectly. |
16 - Raid plan
Stop attacking on command
Threat swaps and reflect phases punish automatic Heroic Strike, Cleave and queued attacks.
| Encounter | Execution |
|---|---|
Gurtogg Bloodboil | Stay with assigned group, stop on threat calls and respect Fel Rage transitions. |
Reliquary - Suffering | Rage behavior changes; follow interrupt/utility plan and do not spend blindly. |
Reliquary - Desire | Damage reflection is lethal. Stop queued attacks and cast only on command. |
Reliquary - Anger | Wait for stable tank threat, then controlled burst; watch escalating threat. |
Interrupt assignment.
Stop queue.
No uncontrolled extra hit.
Phase utility.
17 - Encounter
Late Black Temple punishes melee greed
Resistance compliance, target discipline and zero avoidable deaths are the final checks.
| Boss | Execution |
|---|---|
Mother Shahraz | Meet Shadow Resistance requirement, use GSPP if assigned and move instantly with Fatal Attraction. |
Illidari Council | Attack only assigned target; stop on reflects/immunities; Pummel exactly assigned casts. |
Illidan | Respect Shear/frontals, parasites, eye beams and demon transitions. Swap targets only by call; do not chase through danger. |
18 - Raid plan
Make the spec package repeatable
Every pull begins with the correct weapon, talents, caps, shout, armor-debuff assignment and cooldown plan.
Sword/axe talent matches weapon Swing timer visible Blood Frenzy tracker active Slam latency practiced Sunder/Shout duty confirmed Sweeping target plan ready
Weapon pair and racials checked BT/WW cooldown bars visible Heroic Strike queue indicator Special hit/expertise verified Sunder/Shout duty confirmed Death Wish timing confirmed
| Window | Work |
|---|---|
Days 14-10 | Finish caps, weapon skill, enchants, resistance set and professions. |
Days 9-6 | Arms Slam timing or Fury rage/queue dummy training. |
Days 5-3 | Cleave packs, Pummel focus macro and defensive shield swap. |
Days 2-1 | Full consumes, repair, encounter cooldown and debuff sheet. |
Raid day | Review uptime, core delays, rage waste, raid-duty uptime and deaths. |
14-day sprint
19 - Raid plan
Current references and clickable data
Every talent, ability and item links directly to its TBC Wowhead entry.
| Reference | Use |
|---|---|
| Wowhead TBC / guide/arms-warrior-dps-bt-hyjal-phase-3-best-in-slot-gear-burning-crusade | |
| Wowhead TBC / guide/fury-warrior-dps-bt-hyjal-phase-3-best-in-slot-gear-burning-crusade | |
| Wowhead TBC / guide/classes/warrior/dps-talent-builds-pve | |
| Wowhead TBC / guide/classes/warrior/dps-rotation-cooldowns-abilities-pve | |
| Wowhead TBC / guide/classes/warrior/dps-stat-priority-attributes-pve | |
| Wowhead TBC / guide/classes/warrior/dps-overview-pve | |
| Wowhead TBC / guide/trash-mobs-hyjal-summit-strategy-burning-crusade-classic | |
| Wowhead TBC / guide/shadow-resistance-gear-mother-shazraz-black-temple-bt-burning-crusade-classic |
Network.
Research checked July 22, 2026. Live hotfixes, raid strategy and loot policy supersede a static document.
ORIGINAL MCK BOOST HANDBOOK
Download the complete PDF edition
Keep the original designed handbook for offline reference. It includes the full layout, linked identification references and printable preparation cards.
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