World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King continues to make Warrior abilities more effective. One of the most affected is Rend, the reliable, rage efficient attack that is so important for leveling and gold farming. Rend has gone from a good starter in an attack to a devastating creature killer. Rend does enough damage now that it is usable and a deadly PvP weapon.
Warrior's Rend Ability
Rend is an exceptionally rage efficient warrior ability. For only 10 Rage, the Warrior inflicts base damage plus a variable based on weapon damage and attack power, delivered as a Bleed effect over 15 seconds.
This variable is based on average weapon damage, not DPS (damage per second) so it is more important to carry a two handed weapon to maximize Rend, similar in strategy to Mortal Strike, Bladestorm, and Slam.
Although Rend is already Rage-efficient, the new Talents installed in Wrath of the Lich King make it devastating:
- At Ranks 9 and 10, Rend will do 35% more damage to an opponent with 75% or more health.
- Improved Rend will increase the damage by 20%.
- Trauma increases the damage from Bleed effects by 30% after delivering a critical strike.
But the key to Rend, and to the Arms Tree, is Taste For Blood. What Taste for Blood does is that every time Rend delivers damage (every few seconds for 15 seconds) there is a 30% chance that it will allow the Warrior to use its Overpower ability.
This is pure synergy. Rend triggers Overpower, which (with Improved Overpower) almost always is a critical strike. This increases the Bleeding from Rend by 30% (thanks to Trauma). In addition, critical strikes will occasionally trigger Sudden Death, allowing you to use Execute regardless of the opponent’s health.
Rend for Leveling and Gold Farming
As you can see, Rend can do a lot of Damage for very little Rage. This is very important at the early levels, where Rage (and Damage) can be scarce. The Warrior will be reliant on Rend, as it will be his best ability until earning Slam and Mortal Strike.
Once the Warrior has learned Slam, he can use the Slam Rotation to level for maximum efficiency. Rend should be used at the beginning of Slam Rotation to maximize damage and the chance for Overpower to become available. Continue with the Slam Rotation, but when the Overpower light goes on, use it right away.
Even after the Warrior gains Mortal Strike, he should continue in the fashion above, using Overpowers when available between Slams and Mortal Strikes.
Rend can be very useful when farming as well, since a well timed Rend will keep enemies from escaping. The Warrior can also use Rend and a finisher, then quickly move on to the next victim before the first one is completely dead.
Rend for PvP and Battlegrounds
Rend used to have one and only one use in PvP: to take away a Rogue’s Stealth ability. A Rogue can not disappear while bleeding, so this would take away their advantage. With the new changes from Wrath of the Lich King, Rend becomes more viable.
Use Rend on as many opponents as possible in order to trigger Overpower. Overpower is one of the best abilities for PvP because of its potential to critical hit.
Whether leveling, farming for gold, or fighting in PvP, Rend is one of the Warrior’s best abilities. Wrath of the Lich King has only made it even more powerful. Using Rend well will mean, faster leveling, quicker gold farming, and absolute domination in PvP combat.
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