Arms Warrior

The priority

1. Sweeping Strikes — with exactly 2 targets
2. Avatar — with colossus smash up (or a few turns away)
3. Execute — at 2 sudden death stacks
4. Colossus Smash — when it is ready
5. Bladestorm — during colossus smash or avatar
6. Heroic Strike — when it lights up
7. Mortal Strike — on cooldown (in execute range: at 2 executioner’s precision)
8. Execute — with sudden death, or in execute range with 40+ rage
9. Overpower — when it is ready
10. Slam — as a filler

Common mistakes

• Pressing Avatar before Colossus Smash is ready to follow.
• Letting Sudden Death sit at 2 stacks.
• Spending Rage on Slam while Mortal Strike or Overpower is ready.

What’s simplified

• Each turn is one decision (about one global cooldown). Cooldowns and buff durations are converted to turns, so timing is approximate.
• Priority order follows SimulationCraft’s default priority list for this build, simplified to the abilities modeled here. Costs, cooldowns and effects come from Blizzard’s spell data. Rule wording is our own.
• Arms usually has more Rage than it can spend, so Rage capping is not graded here: cooldowns are the real limit.
• Mortal Strike has a 2-turn cooldown and Overpower an 8-turn one, shortened to stand in for talents and resets. Spell data lists 6 and 12 seconds before those.
• Bladestorm is a single turn with a 20-turn cooldown (an approximation of its talented cooldown). In game it is a 6-second channel.
• Heroic Strike is modeled as a proc (an 18% chance per turn) that you should spend as soon as it appears.
• Sudden Death is a 20% chance per turn and Tactician a 20% chance per Rage spender (approximations, so each shows up every few turns).
• Auto-attacks give a flat 10 Rage per turn. Rend, Cleave stacks, Sweeping Strikes targets and Imminent Demise are simplified or left out.

Sources

• SimulationCraft: Default action priority list (Oct 20, 2026)
• SimulationCraft: Spell data dump, build 12.1.5.70391 (Oct 16, 2026)
• Blizzard Entertainment: Spell tooltips and Game Data API (spells) (Oct 13, 2026)
• Warcraft Secrets: Patch 12.1.5 content update notes (class changes) (Oct 13, 2026)

Slayer (Executioner’s Precision, Sudden Death, Imminent Demise): the hero tree this module teaches. Colossus is not modeled. Reviewed Oct 20, 2026. A training aid, not a damage simulator.