The Warrior is the first sword and heavy armor 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 - to set them apart from the 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, but new Steam accounts have this class unlocked by default. See his stat gains, caps, and averages here.
The Warrior is one of three sword classes, along with Knight and 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. If you happen to possess the Sword of Splendor, dropping from the Void Entity, the sword T13 is one of the few void tops that actually significantly boosts DPS compared to its T12 counterpart. In general, the tiered swords outperform most swords as a generalist once mastered, and mastering tiered swords can prevent the Warrior from having to switch between several swords in its inventory.
The T13 also has an average shot damage of over 500, which is extremely helpful in the Abyss of Demons, where the T12 would more often than not leave the adds to a tiny sliver of health. The T13 has a far greater chance of killing them outright.
The Crystal Sword 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.
The Pirate King’s Cutlass is found in the Deadwater Docks. 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, 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 Demon Blade 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.
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 Acclaim will outdamage the Stone Sword (up to about 140 defense), and both swords always outdamage the CSword. The Stone Sword has a great utility by quickly dealing damage to a boss in relative safety before rushing back. This sword does have the significant drawback of poor overall dps. This sword is dropped by the Stone Guardians.
The Indomptable is a special sword that is part of the 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. Overall, this weapon is considered to be, unfortunately, useless. It is dropped by Pyyr the Wicked.
The Pixie-Enchanted Sword is a unique sword firing four shots in a narrow cone at 4.5 range. This sword is excellent for defensive or lazy players who fail to aim properly. This sword takes heavy penalties from enemy defense due to it’s four-shot pattern, as well as only hitting two shots at maximum range. Unlike the Knight, the Warrior does not possess any armor-breaking abilities, so while this sword is excellent for clearing adds, it loses utility in fights against stronger enemies. Thus, this sword loses favor with more skilled Warriors, but it can be acquired through trading (at a high price) and provides a crutch for players with decent wealth who are just picking up Warrior.
Oryx’s Greatsword is a unique sword that is dropped by Oryx 2. The Greatsword is part of a new ST set for Knight - the Oryx’s Battle Attires 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 generally considered poor for the Warrior in comparison to the other classes; its range reduction to 2.8 as well as the Warrior’s high attack stat mitigating armor effectiveness on other swords make other choices superior.
The Sword of the Colossus is a unique sword acquired through killing the Marble Colossus. This sword has 4.5 range and an extremely high base damage, outdamaging all tiered and most untiered swords at all enemy DEF values. However, the shots of the sword curve outwards and inwards before reaching their final destination at the end of the range. This makes it far more difficult to hit shots between 0 and 4.5 range. This is an excellent end-game sword to push the game’s DPS limits for skilled players who are able to hit the shots, and if mastered can replace tiered swords as a main sword. If you do not feel comfortable with the shot pattern, you should aim to acquire a Sword of Splendor instead.
The Warrior is one of four heavy armor classes, along with the aforementioned sword classes and the 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 and 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.
The Breastplate of New Life is a very rare but useful heavy armor that is dropped by the Marble Colossus. It provides a DEF bonus of only +12, but it provides a massive +160 to HP. As most damage in the game should be treated proportionally, this armor is often more effective than others, as it makes the overall percent-of-health damage of shots smaller. This armor is paired very well with the Helm of the Juggernaut, given that the armored effect effectively negates the DEF penalty for most shots; skilled players may also choose to use it with the Hivemaster Helm.
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. In general, the Helm of the Juggernaut is a requirement to use this armor effectively on Warrior, but skilled Warriors may choose to use it alongside the Hivemaster Helm and The Forgotten Crown to push for maximum DPS. This armor has replaced the Fire Dragon Battle Armor as the Warrior’s most offensive armor.
The Candy-Coated Armor is a DEF oriented armor, providing +30 DEF while giving a -10 DEX penalty. This armor should only ever be used as a crutch for players new to the Warrior class; the DEX penalty is an extremely large cut to DPS, and this armor does not synergize with any of the Warrior’s builds as well as the Breastplate of New Life. The -10 DEX penalty can mark up to 700 DPS from the Warrior’s build.
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 helm boost is amplified by tinctures or effusions of DEX. As you move up the helm’s tiers, its range, duration, defense boost, and MP cost increases.
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 or the 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 one of the slowest classes in the game without his speed boost. 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 would 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. The Jugg is an exceptionally rare item, and is highly sought after because of its defense boosting abilities.
The Hivemaster Helm is an extremely strong DPS option for endgame Warriors. 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 (the beams are not projectiles, and therefore will never miss) with a range of approximately 5 tiles relative to 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 the red bee will spawn upon use with the ability to curse enemies for 4 seconds which is shown by flashing red, granting an additional 20% damage. The Curse can only affect up to 3 targets at any given time, and is applied when the red bee makes an attack. This helm can provide additional group damage when there are no Mystics and can inflict up to 4320 + 20% of the Warrior’s base DPS over the 6 seconds of activation. Note, however, that this Helm has a cooldown of 1.5 seconds rather than the 1 second CD of the others.
This item is a very rare drop from The Nest. Given that this dungeon is often touted to be far more difficult than the endgame area The Void, treat this item with extreme care. This item is also often used to show off having completed The Nest, as the bees spawned are always visible to other players.
The Warrior often chooses to wear rings that either boost defensive capability or focus on offense. For th warrior, make sure to stay away from rings that provide any form of MP or WIS. The Warrior can chain-buff at very low levels of MP Heal. HP is also much more effective for the Warrior than DEF. As such, the Warrior will often choose hybrid offense or pure HP.
The Forgotten Crown and the 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. Thus, the Crown is usually considered to be the superior item; the Magical Lodestone essentially requires the Warrior’s build to include the Breastplate of New Life to make up for the health deficit. However, the Lodestone is often used in min-maxing for speed runs, as it provides 18 stats (ATT, DEX, SPD) to in-world efficiency as opposed to the 12 of the Crown (ATT and DEX).
The Forgotten Crown is generally considered to be the Warrior’s premier ring, especially as the Warrior makes no use of the magic-based WIS and MP bonuses provided by the Omnipotence Ring and would be better served with 30 HP, 2 DEX, and 2 ATT than 4 DEF, 4 SPD, and 4 VIT (VIT being offset by pets, which provide several hundred effective VIT at decent pet levels).
The Ring of Unbound Health (UBHP) is the best ring to use if you want to maximize your survivability as a Warrior. These rings will boost your HP by 140 and 180, respectively. 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 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 should be considered non-viable for the Warrior class unless they are the tiered HP rings. The breakdown is below, from left to right.
The Omnipotence Ring is the strongest of the bunch. While strong on Warrior, it is generally better to use the Crown as the magic-based bonuses are useless to the Warrior. The Bracer of the Guardian falls in a similar category. It is an excellent ring that the Warrior has a poor time of using to the best of its ability due to the Warrior’s mana being permanently topped off past a rather low MP Heal pet level. These rings are not poor choices for the Warrior; instead, they would simply be put to better use on classes with abilities without cooldown. Save them for a different class, and try to acquire a Crown.
The Bloodshed Ring and 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.
The Sourcestone is better suited for the Knight, as the Warrior cannot make use of the 110 MP at all. This ring is the last ring with any fringe viability for the Warrior, and is a poor choice for the Warrior while it can be used as the premier ring for Knight.
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 or 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.
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.
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.
The Warrior, once maxed, is one of the classes that can one-phase all Godlands dungeon bosses with time-based phases solo. Health-based phase changes will only prove to be a small annoyance to this monster of a class. The Warrior’s extremely high damage is very useful in all endgame content, with the only drawback being in the Oryx 2 fight when a Knight is not present.
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.
