Rift Warrior Class

Warrior Soul Specs for Tanking and DPS

The Rift Warrior Class is a hearty melee combat specialist. While durable and powerful, this calling offers the least versatility of them all. They have very little in the way of casting or ranged attack capacity, but when in close quarters they will outlast almost anyone in a melee DPS or Tank role due to their heavy armor and naturally high Endurance. Below, I will explain the various warrior souls, and their strengths in fulfilling the two roles they are best suited for.

Energy and Attack Points
The yellow bar beneath the Hit Points bar is the Warrior's Energy. This determines the frequency at which the Warrior can attack. When you use an attack ability, you expend a certain amount of Energy: the more powerful the attack, the more Energy is expended. If your Energy bar is low you may have to wait to use an ability, but since Energy (unlike Mana) recharges relatively quickly, you'll only have to wait about a second or two. Since Warriors typically use slower, more powerful weapons this is almost never a concern, so there is no real need to conserve.

Attack Points are required to use the Warrior's powerful "finishing moves." Most normal attack abilities will grant at least one Attack Point. Sometimes there are passive abilities that you can buy with Soul Points that give a chance to add a second point, or will grant attack points when passive abilities are triggered (such as blocking). This is similar to a Rogue's Attack Points but instead of stacking on the target, the Warrior's Attack Points stack on the Warrior himself. These Attack Points are retained if he switches targets and will even be available in the next battle, regardless of how long after the previous battle it occurs. They are kept until they are used or the Warrior dies. The maximum number of Attack Points a Warrior can have at any one time are three.

Warrior Tank: Defensive Souls

Paladin
This Warrior soul focuses on blocking as a primary defensive ability which are supported by several damage reducing abilities and a self-heal. While it does have several taunts and aggro increasing abilities (making it ideal for a tank build), it's not overly affective on it's own at holding that aggro because it's threat generation revolves exclusively around it's DPS. The Scales of Justice ability does help considerably, but this soul works best if it's supported by another soul capable of generating aggro.

Reaver
The Reaver is an effective tank soul that inflicts some nasty debuffs and DOT effects that can be made to generate additional threat. If you put the Plague Bearer ability into your rotation, these DOT effects become AOE as well. It also boasts a couple of self-healing abilities, which inflict damage on opponents at the same time. While lacking in taunts, this is a great tank soul that requires very little in the way of support from additional souls. In fact, Flesh Rot (the 51 point ability) dishes out a jaw dropping amount of damage, which would be highly effective with the Plague Bearer ability active.

Void Knight
A Void Knight is a Tank soul that, while effective against any calling, is specifically designed to ruin a Mage's entire day. This soul's abilities revolved around the generation of "Pacts," which can be generated a number of different ways, however the easiest way to gain them is through Mana draining abilities. You can build up a maximum of 10, at which point the Void Knight will be at the apex of his considerable power and will deal significantly more DPS and can even expend Pacts in an assortment of nasty ways. While many classes will rush into combat, the Void Knight has access to the Rift Summon ability, which enemies to him (particularly handy for fighting Mages, who tend to attack at a distance).

Warlord
The Warlord is the only Warrior support role. It has the benefit of a full array of combat buffs and debuffs as well as some significant DPS power. However, it's true strength lies in the Battlefield Awareness ability. While active, all "Call" and "Command" abilities generate threat against 10 enemies within 10 meters. No Tank should be without at least a 6 point investment in this soul.

Warrior Offensive: Two-Handed Weapon Style

Champion
The Champion is THE all offense, no defense DPS powerhouse. All of it's abilities are dedicated to getting into combat quickly, inflicting damage, and making it easier to inflict damage. It's combat buffs (called Bearings) only serve one purpose...yep, you guessed it: to help the Warrior inflict even more damage. Side by side with a good tank, a 51 point Champion would be an utter terror in a dungeon or raid, but as a support soul, it's damage increasing abilities would benefit any DPS or tank build.

Warrior Offensive Souls: Dual Wield Style

Paragon
A whirling dervish of DPS, the Paragon is a Tank's best friend. It has significant threat reducing abilities, and most of it's Attack Point consuming attacks don't actually do damage: they increase the damage of subsequent normal attacks. A Paragon's defensive ability lies exclusively with increased parrying and dodge ability. This is a very complicated class to play, as it has many "follow up attacks" that can only be used after a successful regular attack. As a result, the use of macros are all but required to be effective. This is one of only two Warrior souls that have any ranged attack ability.

Riftblade
Riftblades are very similar to Paragons in that they have passive threat reducing abilities that can be purchased and rely on parry and dodge for defense. However, it does not use follow up attacks (and is less complicated as a result), it uses elemental abilities to enhance his damage and further enhance his defense and it's Attack Point consuming finishers inflict direct damage. This is the other soul that has ranged attack capability.

Warrior Offensive/Utility Soul: Any Weapon Style

Beastmaster
The Beastmaster is a DPS soul that relies heavily on it's bond with it's Primal Companion. It boasts a wide array of combat buffs (which can be shared with your entire party), and many of the soul's damaging abilities increase the damage of your pet as well. However, it's strength is also it's weakness: if your pet is killed, it significantly reduces your combat effectiveness and you will lose a few of your buffs. There are also a couple of abilities that will heal your pet, so including these in your rotation will greatly improve it's chances of survival. There is an ability that reduces the summoning time of your pets to 0, allowing you to summon it in combat.