Warrior Guide

This is a guide covering basic mechanics and some optimization tips for Warriors.

Combos

• Your basic damage-dealing combo is   Heavy Swing -   Maim -   Storm's Path (Lv. 26).
• Your self-buffing combo is   Heavy Swing -   Maim -   Storm's Eye (Lv. 50). Since you want to keep the Storm's Eye buff on yourself at all times, use this combo whenever it is about to fall off.
• Your area-of-effect ("AOE") combo is   Overpower -   Mythril Tempest (Lv. 40). Always use this combo in dungeon pulls where there are multiple enemies.
• Your   Inner Release (Lv. 70) combo is   Fell Cleave,   Fell Cleave,   Fell Cleave,   Fell Cleave,   Fell Cleave. Fit your oGCD attacks   Upheaval and   Onslaught between   Fell Cleaves.

Mechanics (up to Lv. 50)

• Keep   Defiance on to generate enmity unless you are not the main tank.
•   Berserk is a powerful 10-second buff that you should use as much as possible. Combining it with your AOE combo is a great way to destroy a dungeon pull.
• Use   Inner Beast whenever you have 50 Beast Gauge (  Steel Cyclone (lv. 45) when there are multiple enemies). It does not interrupt combos.
• Use   Infuriate (Lv. 50) as much as possible ("on cooldown") to gain 50 Beast Gauge - if your Beast Gauage is already too full, spend it first.
• Your unique defensive cooldowns are   Thrill of Battle and   Vengeance. Both of them are useful for big dungeon pulls.
•   Holmgang can save you in a pinch.
• Be sure to read the Tank Guide for general tips.

Mechanics (up to Lv. 80)

• You gain many new defensive abilities:   Raw Intuition (Lv. 56) reduces damage with a short duration and short cooldown (excellent for tankbusters),   Equilibrium (Lv. 58) heals yourself,   Shake It Off (Lv. 68) shields your party,   Nascent Flash (Lv. 76) heals yourself and someone else. Nascent Flash shares a cooldown with Raw Intuition meaning you cannot use both of them. The healing effect is especially powerful for dungeon pulls .
• Inner Beast upgrades into   Fell Cleave (Lv. 54) and Steel Cyclone upgrades into   Decimate (Lv. 60).
•   Upheaval (Lv. 64) consumes 20 Beast Gauge and should be used on cooldown.
• Use   Onslaught (Lv. 62) to close your distance with the boss ("gap-closer").
• The Berserk upgrade,   Inner Release (Lv. 70), makes Beast Gauge attacks free in its duration. That means you should use Fell Cleave five times in its window (Decimate in dungeon pulls) while also making sure to use Upheaval and Onslaught.
•   Infuriate (Lv. 72) powers up your next Decimate (  Chaotic Cyclone) and Fell Cleave (  Inner Chaos, Lv. 80)

Basic optimization

• Always use your AOE combo in dungeon pulls. Spam Overpower if you don't have Mythril Tempest yet.
• The more you pull, the more damage you and your party deals. Use your defensive cooldowns and space them out.
• Berserk/Inner Release is a large part of your damage. Use it on cooldown, and time it right so you can always fit five attacks in its window. You want those five attacks to be as powerful as possible - before Lv. 70, that might mean saving up Infuriate stacks and Beast Gauge or starting it before Storm's Path. After Lv. 70, that just means five Fell Cleaves, Upheaval, and Onslaught.
• Since you always want Upheaval to come up in an Inner Release window, you have to use it on cooldown without delay. This also means making sure your Beast Gauge isn't too empty when Upheaval is about to come up.
• Your automatic self-healing is unparalleled among tanks. Use Nascent Flash as much as possible unless you anticipate a need for Raw Intuition.
• At Lv. 80, you don't want to use Infuriate during Inner Release, because it wastes one of your free Fell Cleaves. Note the five Fell Cleaves plus the ten-second duration would reduce Infuriate's cooldown by 35 seconds, be sure not to waste it.
• You can use an entire Inner Release combo without interrupting weaponskill combos, but only barely.
• Vengeance deals damage too but only if your enemy auto-attacks you.
• Read other Warrior guides for further optimization techniques.

Older guides:

• Warrior Guide/A Realm Reborn
• Warrior Guide/Heavensward
• Warrior Guide/Stormblood