History

The Warrior is the first [sword](/wiki/swords) and [heavy armor](/wiki/heavy-armors) class introduced. Originally, they had a good defense stat because of their access to a shield, which didn't do anything at the time other than provide a defense boost. They gained MP and Wisdom in Build 96, and in Build 97 were given a unique ability - the [Helm](/wiki/helms) - to set them apart from the [Knight](/wiki/knight). A maxed Warrior is capable of dealing extremely high damage-per-second, but as an offensively oriented class, a degree of skill is recommended to make the most of it. Unlocking Warrior requires level 5 with [Rogue](/wiki/rogue), but new Steam accounts have this class unlocked by default. See his stat gains, caps, and averages here.

Equipment

Weapon

The Warrior is one of three sword classes, along with Knight and [Paladin](/wiki/paladin). The sword provides Warrior with high attack power, which increases even more when under a helm boost, at the cost of low range. Although the Warrior is hindered by the short range of swords, the power swords possesse makes the Warrior a force to be reckoned with.

The Skysplitter Sword and Sword of Acclaim are the main weapons for the Warrior. They provide very high damage output at the cost of a 3.5 tile range. These swords should be the go-to weapons for high damage output at a reasonable range. The Sword of Splendor (Splendor), dropping from the endgame [Void Entity](/wiki/void-entity), is even more powerful than the Acclaim, but is extremely rare due to the difficulty in acquiring it. The Splendor is also soulbound, meaning you can only acquire it by fighting the Void Entity.

The Crystal Sword (CSword) has a range of 4.5 tiles, but has a lower damage output than most high-tiered swords and many other untiered swords. Because of the significantly lowered damage output, the Crystal Sword is far less useful when it is safe to approach enemies with other swords. Warrior's high attack stat can compensate for the lack of damage this sword has. This sword can be dropped by the [Crystal Prisoner](/wiki/crystal-prisoner).

The Demon Blade (DBlade) fires two shots at a 45° angle. Although each shot fired is weaker than that of the Crystal Sword, it has a higher damage output than a tiered sword when both shots hit. It's very powerful if you're daring enough to get up to point-blank range with the enemy, because the spread of the shots severely limits its effective range to about 1.37 tiles. It can be found in the [Abyss of Demons](/wiki/abyss-of-demons).

The Ancient Stone Sword (A.S.S.) is an in-between of the tiered swords and the CSword. Shot for shot, it does the second most damage of any sword, but it has a lower rate of fire. With a range of 4 tiles, it outranges tiered swords, but falls short of some other UT swords like the CSword. In most circumstances, the Stone Sword will *always* outdamage the CSword, but the Acclaim will outdamage the Stone Sword up to about 140 defense, so this sword will *not* get you the most DPS. The Stone Sword has a great utility by quickly dealing damage to a boss in relative safety before rushing back. It is particularly useful on Warrior because the berserk status effect almost negates the sword's slower rate of fire. This sword is dropped by the [Stone Guardians](/wiki/stone-guardians).

The Pirate King's Cutlass (Cutlass) is a powerful sword dropped by [Jon Bilgewater the Pirate King](/wiki/jon-bilgewater-the-pirate-king). It boasts a higher rate of fire and high projectile speed as well as a SPD boost, in exchange for a small DEF reduction and lowered base damage. The Cutlass is strong on Warrior, outdamaging the Acclaim until 126 DEF and the Splendor until 93 DEF, albeit by a small amount. Note that along with the range being reduced to 3.3 tiles, the kiting range of this sword is also hampered as the projectile speed is significantly increased. Additionally, the penalty of -2 DEF may deter some players from using this sword.

The Sword of the Colossus is a unique sword that can be dropped by the [Marble Colossus](/wiki/marble-colossus). This sword has a 4.5 tile range and an extremely high base damage, outdamaging all tiered and most untiered swords. However, the shots of the sword curve outward and inward before truing up at the end of the range. This makes it more difficult to land hits in between the beginning and end of its range. In the hands of a skilled player, it can prove to be an excellent weapon that can even replace a tiered sword. Like the Splendor, it is an extremely rare and prestigous item because of the endgame nature of the Marble Colossus and the [Lost Halls](/wiki/lost-halls) in general.

The Pixie-Enchanted Sword (Pixie) is a unique sword firing four shots in a narrow cone, similar to the DBlade. It has the longest range of any sword, at 4.55 tiles, and its true range is slightly longer than that of the DBlade, at 1.87 tiles. Because it fires four shots, it is more affected by enemy defense than other swords. It will outdamage even the DBlade until about 5 defense, but it will very quickly lose its edge over other swords as enemy defense adds up. The Pixie works best when enemies have little to no defense, or if there is a Knight with the Shield of Ogmur available to armor break enemies. This sword can be acquired as a rare drop from a [Gigacorn](/wiki/gigacorn). Alternatively, since this is one of the few ST items that *isn't* soulbound, it can also be acquired by trading.

The [Indomptable](/wiki/indomptable) is a special sword that is part of the [Dragon Tamer set](/wiki/dragon-tamer-set) unique to the Warrior. This sword does the most damage per shot of any sword in the game, and also has the ability to pierce enemies. However, it has a 25% rate of fire, making its DPS very low against singular targets. In addition, it carries a penalty of 10 defense for holding the sword (although it is negated when the entire set is worn). This sword's projectile lingers longer than that of most other swords, allowing Warrior to better take advantage of its piercing capabilities. It is advised to use another sword if there is no need for the piercing capabilities, because of the very low DPS this sword has compared to other swords. It is dropped by [Pyyr the Wicked](/wiki/pyyr-the-wicked).

Oryx's Greatsword is a unique sword that is dropped by [Oryx 2](/wiki/oryx-the-mad-god-2). The Greatsword is part of a new ST set for Knight - the [Oryx's Battle Attires](/wiki/oryx-s-battle-attires-set) set. This is currently the only sword with the ability to armor pierce enemies, meaning it will do the same amount of damage regardless of enemy defense. This sword is best when enemies have astronomical defense, because most other swords are capable of outdamaging it when enemy defense is of little concern. On a Warrior, the Greatsword will outdamage all other swords at ~103 DEF.

Ability

Warrior's special ability is the helm, which gives the berserk status to all allies in range, and a speedy status to the Warrior. These status effects boost the attack speed and movement speed, respectively, of whoever is affected. The helm is best used before rushing at an enemy. The movement speed boost allows the Warrior to quickly rush at the enemy and strafe side to side, while the attack speed boost allows him to do massive damage before he has to withdraw. The berserk effect is amplified by any items that boost dexterity, including tinctures or effusions. As you move up the helm's tiers, the range, duration, defense boost, and MP cost increase.

The Golden Helm (Ghelm) and Helm of the Great General (GGen) are both helms that have the greatest duration of 6 seconds, best MP cost efficiency, and greatest defense boost of 10. Because of this, these helms are the best to use if you want to boost your attack and movement speed, while also having a high passive defense boost. These helms, like all tiered helms, have a cooldown lasting one second longer than the buff duration, so be careful not to get caught in a bad situation.

The Helm of the Juggernaut (Jugg) is an untiered helm that serves a different purpose than the other helms. It can be dropped by either the [Grand Sphinx](/wiki/grand-sphinx) or the [Hermit God](/wiki/hermit-god). Like the tiered helms, it gives a berserk status effect to everyone within range, but instead of giving speedy to the Warrior, it gives an armored status effect, which doubles his defense stat. Its duration is only 4.5 seconds, but it gives a defense boost of 10, as well as a speed boost of 5. This helm is the best there is for tanking shots, especially those that can't be easily dodged even with a speed boost, or for boosting damage when a Speedy status effect would be detrimental (e.g. godlands or tombs). If equipped right, a Warrior operating under an Armored status effect can have over 130 defense. He will become capable of easily tanking Skull Shrine or Cube God shotguns, and is even capable of surviving an entire Septavius' ring shotgun (even though the latter serves no purpose outside of bragging rights and is still extremely dangerous). Note, however, that defense can only block up to 85% of the damage of a shot, so a high defense does not mean invincibility! In addition, Warrior is a fairly slow class *without* his speed boost, even with the +5 SPD bonus this helm provides. There are some circumstances where it is better to be speedy than armored, and against enemies that can kill a Jugg Warrior anyway (Oryx 2, for example), prioritizing the ability to evade projectiles may be preferable. On the other hand, unlike other helms, the Jugg has a short cooldown between uses, and thus the armored/berserk buff can be sustained without any downtime. The Jugg is an exceptionally rare item, and is highly sought after because of its defense boosting abilities.

The Hivemaster Helm is a rare helm dropped in [The Nest](/wiki/the-nest). The Helm's activation only grants berserk, but also spawns three bees. The bees orbit you for 6 seconds and inflict 120 damage each every 0.6 seconds each to anything near them by firing short-ranged beams at them with a range of approximately 5 tiles from the user. Each bee will perform this damage separately, so at 0 defense this helm will give 600 dps. Note that the bees’ damage does not ignore defense. In addition, there is a 50% chance that a red bee will spawn upon use with the ability to curse enemies for 4 seconds, granting an additional 20% damage to every shot dealt to affected enemies. The Curse can only affect up to 3 targets at any given time, and is applied when the red bee makes an attack. The ability to curse enemies will boost Warrior's already outstanding DPS to staggering levels, hence making it the ideal helm to use when you want to prioritize DPS. However, similar to the Lost Halls, the Nest is an extremely dangerous dungeon, giving this helm end-game status. It should be noted that this helm has a cooldown of 7.5 seconds, which means it has more down-time than a tiered helm.

Armor

The Warrior is one of four heavy armor classes, along with the aforementioned sword classes and the [Samurai](/wiki/samurai). Heavy armor provides Warrior with a large boost to his defense and are the core of what makes Warrior a resilient class.

The [Abyssal Armor](/wiki/abyssal-armor) and [Acropolis Armor](/wiki/acropolis-armor) are the best tradable tiered heavy armors. These provide Warrior with a substantial boost to his DEF stat, but provide no additional stat bonuses. The Dominion Armor is a small upgrade, providing +25 DEF, but it is soulbound and can only be acquired by fighting in the Lost Halls.

The [Breastplate of New Life](/wiki/breastplate-of-new-life) is a very rare but useful heavy armor that is dropped by the [Marble Colossus](/wiki/marble-colossus). It provides a DEF bonus of only +12, but it provides a massive +160 HP boost. This armor can be considered more effective than a tiered armor, and many players swear by prioritizing HP bonuses over DEF bonuses. However, Warrior somewhat lacks in defense compared to the Knight, which may make the paltry DEF bonus off-putting to those who would prefer having a relatively high defense stat. The Jugg's Armored effect can help to negate the penalty of defense this armor affords compared to a tiered armor.

[Mercy's Bane](/wiki/mercy-s-bane) is an ST armor that is part of the aforementioned Oryx's Battle Attires set. This armor provides a very low defense boost of +10, but it makes up for this by providing the wearer with bonuses of +7 to Attack and Dexterity, giving the wearer a very large DPS boost. As with the New Life, it will help to have a Jugg to negate the very poor DEF bonus this armor provides. On the other hand, this is *the* armor to use if you want maximum DPS, because its offensive stat bonuses will boost DPS far more than even the [Fire Dragon Battle Armor](/wiki/fire-dragon-battle-armor). Combine this armor with the Hivemaster Helm, and Warrior will be capable of dealing DPS at levels that go beyond a Wizard with the Extreme Prejudice staff!

The [Candy-Coated Armor](/wiki/candy-coated-armor) is a defense-oriented armor, providing +30 DEF while giving a -10 DEX penalty. Compared to a tiered armor, it is essentially a trade of 10 DEX for an extra 5 or 6 defense. The penalty of DEX can be negated by Warrior's helm, and the defense boost can be quite helpful in situations where the Warrior has to contend with high-damage shots, or have yet to max the DEF stat. Some players may be put off by the DEX penalty compared to the return in DEF, as Warrior already has a respectable amount of DEF with a tiered armor and the DEF boost from the helm (even if it is less than Knight's DEF). Warrior players looking to boost their survivability would likely find the New Life more appealing.

Ring

Warrior players often choose to wear rings that either boost defensive capability or focus on offense. An MP or WIS ring is not recommended on Warrior unless they also happen to have a Jugg. In the presence of mana-restoring pets, Warrior has little worry for running low on mana because all helms (except Jugg) will not be usable again until at least one second after the previous buff expires; a powerful mana-restoring pet will be able to completely restore the mana used by a tiered or Hivemaster helm before it can be used again. As for a tiered protective ring, HP is preferred over DEF. Warrior builds will be able to boost his DEF well above 50 before a ring comes into play; boosting it even further will actually provide *less* survivability than if you chose to wear an HP ring. With as high a defense as Warrior can possess, many shots will already have been reduced to the minimum amount, making any additional defense pointless.

The Ring of Unbound Health (UBHP) is the best ring to use if you want to maximize your survivability as a Warrior. This ring will boost your HP by 180. If you happen to have a Ring of Decades (Deca), the boost of +190 HP will let you fare even better than the UBHP. The Deca can provide Warrior with an astronomical HP capacity when paired with the New Life and *especially* under the boost provided by the Helm of Draconic Dominance.

The [Amulet of Drakefyre](/wiki/amulet-of-drakefyre) merits some mention as a defensive ring that provides a boost of 115 to HP and also a boost of +5 to SPD. Warrior can benefit from the extra SPD, but it provides far less bonus HP than the UBHP and Deca provide. It is part of the Dragon Tamer special themed set. For a tiered offensive ring, it would be preferred to use DEX rings over ATT rings; Warrior's high ATT and comparatively low DEX mean that a DEX ring will provide superior DPS to an ATT ring unless the enemy's defense is *astronomically* high (above 160). See [this page](/wiki/dex-vs-att) for further details. This said, rings are available that boost *both* ATT and DEX.

[The Forgotten Crown](/wiki/the-forgotten-crown) and the [Magical Lodestone](/wiki/magical-lodestone) both provide +12 to offensive stats (+6 ATT and +6 DEX). They differ in that the Crown also grants 110 HP while the Lodestone provides 6 SPD and 6 DEF. The Crown is more preferred by many players because of its HP boost. The Lodestone may be paired with the New Life to make up for the lack of health bonuses. The Lodestone *does* have an edge over the Crown in the fact that Warrior can benefit well from the SPD bonus that it provides.

The [Ring of the Pyramid](/wiki/ring-of-the-pyramid) is an older but still viable alternative to the aforementioned rings. While it provides less stats in general, it does give a balanced amount of offense and defense.

These are the remaining rings on the last tier of meta builds for the Warrior; any remaining rings may not be viable for the Warrior. The breakdown is below, from left to right. The [Omnipotence Ring](/wiki/omnipotence-ring) is an extremely powerful endgame ring. While strong on Warrior, it is generally better to use the Crown as he will not benefit from the magic-based bonuses as well as another class would. The [Bracer of the Guardian](/wiki/bracer-of-the-guardian) falls in a similar category. It is an excellent ring that the Warrior has a poor time using to the best of its ability, especially in the presence of a strong magic-heal pet. These rings would simply be put to better use on other classes whose abilities can be used more frequently. The [Bloodshed Ring](/wiki/bloodshed-ring) and [Bloodstone Ring](/wiki/bloodstone-ring) are good defensive options that are either, once again, better on a different class (i.e. Bloodshed on Sorcerer) or are outclassed (Bloodstone vs Ring of Decades). Not a bad idea - they are simply better elsewhere, or there are better options. While the [Sourcestone](/wiki/sourcestone) provides an HP and SPD boost that Warrior can benefit from, the Warrior has little need for the MP boost. Again, this is a ring that would better fit another class.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The Warrior's main strengths are having DEX boosting helms that also give him additional speed/defense, as well as an Attack cap of 75. The Warrior's high ATT stat allows him to deal absurd amounts of damage even without using the Helm. As a heavy armor class, a Warrior can have very high defense with which to shrug off hits, and a Vitality cap of 75 further complements this tankiness by allowing him to recover from hits faster than most classes. As a sword class, Warrior also has a high HP capacity that averages at 675 and caps at 770. The Warrior's helm makes him largely unhindered by his average SPD and DEX stats. The Warrior's main weakness is the short range inherent of swords. This forces him to tank hits if he wants to deal hits. Although fresh Warriors can deal decent damage compared to other fresh classes, the sword's range still puts potion-farming Warriors at a disadvantage compared to classes such as [Archer](/wiki/archer) or [Necromancer](/wiki/necromancer), who have access to longer range weapons. The CSword and A.S.S. can somewhat mitigate the disadvantage of short range. Much like the Wizard, the Warrior lacks a defensive spell such as the Knight's shield stun or a healing spell like that of a Paladin or Priest. With this in mind, even the most powerful Warriors need to pick their fights carefully and not get too reckless in combat.

Group Role

Warriors, with their attack speed boosting helms, are useful in groups, and are key if you want to crack the Mysterious Crystal. Large groups attacking can bring quick death to more enemies by boosting everyone's attack speed, which is especially important when trying to break the aforementioned Mysterious Crystal. The damage by the group is boosted even higher when coupled with a Paladin's seal boost. With the Hivemaster Helm, the Warrior can also provide the Curse status effect that other classes can benefit from as well as the Warrior.

Event and Dungeon Bosses

Warriors, with their extremely powerful attack stats, are able to take down event bosses extremely quickly if an opening is made for them. A skilled warrior can rise to the challenge of taking down an event boss himself if he is able to abuse the way Skull Shrines and Cube Gods shoot to where they predict the enemy will be. At a Skull Shrine or Cube God, you should rapidly twitch about the event to dodge some of the shots. A good Warrior (or any other class) should be able to make a Skull Shrine shoot behind itself, get in several shots, and back off. When fighting a Cube God, the biggest problem are the minions because most swords do not pierce enemies. Once the cube system is in a favorable position (far away from the Cube God), a Warrior can walk in strafing, making the Cube God shoot the wrong way until the cube system moves in on top of the Cube God again. Because the Warrior relies on his speed to manipulate the cube's shot pattern, never go in once slowed by a cube minion. Wait until the slow effect wears off and try again. Especially if you do not have a Jugg, the "kill or be killed" philosophy applies here. Warrior's astronomical attack power gives him a considerable edge against certain dungeon bosses. He can easily kill Stheno before she even has a chance to move to her next phase, and can also make short work of Limon and Septavius. There are, however, some bosses that a Warrior may have trouble with, and he may need to rely on other classes to aid him in taking on some more serious bosses like Oryx 2.

Summary

The Warrior has several applications that can be used on the battlefield that work to his advantage, if used correctly. Although it takes some experience and skill to use the Warrior effectively, this class is often considered to be the strongest class for skilled players alongside the Wizard and Trickster. If you want to simply deal extremely high DPS, finish events and dungeons with great speed, can deal with the short range of swords, and are not adverse to "risky" or "dangerous" tactics, the Warrior is for you.

No navigation