Warrior Arms Rotation & Opener
Built from the current top-100 Mythic parses on WarcraftLogs — the real opener sequences, casts-per-minute and buff uptimes of the best Arms players, not theorycraft.
AI coach — raid
How to play: Mortal Strike on cooldown always (top players: 17.5/min), Overpower feeds it (11.1/min), Execute takes over in execute range (11.7/min — that phase is huge). Colossus Smash opens windows on cooldown (2.3/min); pack Mortal Strikes and Executes inside. Keep Rend up (1.6/min). Dump excess rage with Heroic Strike. Watch: the Colossus Smash armor-break window — all your burst lives there; Executioner at 94% uptime says execute-phase rhythm is everything.
Real Opener Sequences — Vorasius
First ~12 casts of actual top-ranked kills. Trinkets and racials vary by setup; the skill order is what to copy.
Ezlx — Stormscale (EU)
1.
Charge
2.
Charge
3.
Rend
4.
Avatar
5.
Colossus Smash
6.
Bladestorm
7.
Mortal Strike
8.
Storm Bolt
9.
Mortal Strike
10.
Spell Reflection
11.
Mortal Strike
12.
Mortal Strike
Nodesz — Frostmourne (US)
1.
Avatar
2.
Colossus Smash
3.
Bladestorm
4.
Mortal Strike
5.
Mortal Strike
6.
Mortal Strike
7.
Mortal Strike
8.
Heroic Strike
9.
Overpower
10.
Overpower
11.
Mortal Strike
12.
Heroic Strike
Sniperbeer — Sargeras (US)
1.
Rend
2.
Avatar
3.
Light's Potential
4.
Colossus Smash
5.
Bladestorm
6.
Mortal Strike
7.
Mortal Strike
8.
Mortal Strike
9.
Overpower
10.
Mortal Strike
11.
Heroic Strike
12.
Overpower
Casts Per Minute — Raid Benchmark
| Ability | Top-player CPM |
|---|---|
| Mortal Strike | 17.5 |
| Execute | 11.7 |
| Overpower | 11.1 |
| Heroic Strike | 6.5 |
| Slam | 4.8 |
| Colossus Smash | 2.3 |
| Rend | 1.6 |
| Avatar | 1.3 |
| Bladestorm | 1.3 |
| Spell Reflection | 0.9 |
| Sweeping Strikes | 0.5 |
CPM = median casts per minute across the sampled top kills. If you're far below on a core ability, that's usually the first thing to fix.
Buff Uptimes to Watch
| Buff | Top-player uptime |
|---|---|
| Master of Warfare | 96.9% |
| Executioner | 94.0% |
| Ebon Might | 89.2% |
| Wild Strikes | 82.9% |
| Imminent Demise | 82.5% |
| Heroic Might | 75.2% |
| Arcanoweave Insight | 67.3% |
| Frenzied Focus | 60.0% |
| Martial Prowess | 53.8% |
| Alnscorned Essence | 51.5% |
Mythic+ Differences
AI coach — Mythic+
How to play: First button into any pack is Cleave for its buff — once applied, your Mortal Strikes and Overpowers all cleave; refresh it before it falls and never swing without it during AoE. Rend goes on targets that will live. Demolish on cooldown into the pack. Watch: the Cleave buff's remaining duration (it's the AoE switch); pack health decides whether Rend is worth spreading.
Casts Per Minute — Mythic+ Benchmark
| Ability | Top-player CPM |
|---|---|
| Mortal Strike | 11.7 |
| Cleave | 9.6 |
| Overpower | 9.5 |
| Demolish | 2.3 |
| Heroic Strike | 2.3 |
| Slam | 2.1 |
| Rend | 2.1 |
| Colossus Smash | 1.7 |
| Execute | 1.1 |
| Sweeping Strikes | 1.1 |
| Spell Reflection | 1.0 |
| Avatar | 0.9 |
| Charge | 0.8 |
| Ravager | 0.5 |
Mythic+ Buff Uptimes
| Buff | Top-player uptime |
|---|---|
| Battle Stance | 96.6% |
| Colossal Might | 95.3% |
| Master of Warfare | 94.4% |
| Sweeping Strikes | 83.2% |
| Heroic Might | 72.7% |
| Cut to the Bone | 72.0% |
| Wild Strikes | 70.3% |
| Ancestral Vigor | 66.8% |
| Second Wind | 58.2% |
| Precision of the Dragonhawk | 57.3% |
Compare yourself in-game, live
The GearInsight addon overlays your own CPM and buff uptimes next to these benchmarks during combat.