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.
As a sword class with an attack cap of 75, Warrior has an extremely high attack power at his disposal. Like other sword classes, his health capacity is also the highest, averaging at 675 and capping at 770. In addition, he has a high vitality cap of 75, allowing him to recover from hits far quicker than most other classes. However, his other stats are not particularly exceptional, with caps of 50 in speed, dexterity, and wisdom, as well as a cap of 25 in defense.
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 that swords possess make the Warrior a force to be reckoned with.
The Skysplitter Sword (Sky) and Sword of Acclaim (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, 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. The added range of this sword greatly reduces range anxiety compared to a tiered sword. Because of the significantly lowered damage output,however, 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 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, but you have to be 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. The Stone Sword will always outdamage the CSword, but the Acclaim will outdamage the Stone Sword up to about 140 defense. Like the CSword, this sword trades DPS for a slightly longer range. The Stone Sword does have 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.
The Pirate King’s Cutlass (Cutlass) is a powerful sword dropped by Jon Bilgewater the Pirate King. It boasts a 130% rate of fire and high projectile speed as well as a SPD boost of 3, in exchange for a small DEF reduction, lowered base damage, and a reduced range of 3.3 tiles. The Cutlass is stronger than tiered swords, outdamaging the Acclaim until 126 DEF and the Splendor until 93 DEF on Warrior. Because of its reduced range and faster projectile speed, it is more difficult to kite enemies with this sword. Additionally, some might be put off by the penalty of -2 DEF.
The Sword of the Colossus is a unique sword that can be dropped by the 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. The amplitude that this sword possesses takes some time to get used to, however. Like the Splendor, it is an extremely rare and prestigous item because of the endgame nature of the Marble Colossus and the 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. That said, 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. Alternatively, since this is one of the few ST items that isn’t soulbound, it can also be acquired by trading.
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. It is advised to use another sword if there is no need for piercing, because of the very low DPS compared to other swords. Keep in mind that piercing projectiles will not hit the same enemy twice. It is dropped by Pyyr the Wicked.
Oryx’s Greatsword is a unique sword that is dropped by Oryx 2. 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. In addition, its reduced range of 2.8 tiles makes it much more risky to approach enemies. On a Warrior, the Greatsword will outdamage all other swords at ~103 DEF.
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; the speed boost is amplified similarly by the speed stat. In addition, the helms provide Warrior with a nice boost to his DEF stat, which makes him second only to Knight in that respect. 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 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 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 Helm of Draconic Dominance is a a helm that is part of the Warrior’s Dragon Tamer set. It is one of the few helms available that does not provide berserk. Instead, it gives a temporary +250 boost to Warrior’s HP and can briefly paralyze enemies that are within 2.5 tiles of the user. It also provides a passive boost of +10 DEF and +5 SPD. Unlike other helms, this one is more defense oriented because of the temporary HP boost it provides. It is dropped by the Ivory Wyvern.
The Hivemaster Helm is a rare helm dropped in 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.
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. Many untiered armors provide less defense than a tiered armor but provide returns in other stats to make up for it.
The Abyssal Armor (Abyssal) and Acropolis Armor (Acrop) are the best tradable tiered heavy armors. These provide Warrior with a substantial boost to his DEF stat, but provide no additional stat bonuses nor penalties. The Dominion Armor (Dominion) is a small upgrade, providing +25 DEF, but it is soulbound and can only be acquired by fighting in the Lost Halls.
The Candy-Coated Armor is a defense-oriented armor, providing +30 DEF while reducing the wearer’s DEX by 10. 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 may find other armors more appealing as they can either give the Warrior more DPS or increase his survivability better.
The Fire Dragon Battle Armor is an offensive-oriented armor that can be dropped by Pyyr the Crimson Dragon or his hardmode variant earlier mentioned. It provides only +17 DEF, but has bonuses of +4 ATT, +3 SPD, and +3 VIT. This armor allows Warrior to rush slightly faster and also deal slightly more DPS. However, it provides no HP bonuses and the lack of defense compared to a tiered armor may be a hindrance.
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 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, the paltry DEF bonus may be off-putting to those who would prefer having a relatively high defense stat. Nevertheless, it can be quite useful when Warrior’s DEF is already high enough to reduce enemy hits to minimum damage. The Jugg’s Armored effect can help to negate the penalty of defense this armor affords compared to a tiered armor while still providing for more breathing room because of the additional HP bonus. When paired with the Helm of Draconic Dominance, this armor will allow Warrior to temporarily possess a health capacity exceeding even Knight’s HP capacity.
Mercy’s Bane is an ST armor that is the best armor to wear for sheer DPS. This armor provides a very low DEF boost of +10, but it makes up for this by providing the wearer with bonuses of +7 to ATT and DEX, which equates to a huge DPS boost. As with the New Life, it will help to have a Jugg to negate the very poor DEF bonus this armor provides. Otherwise, it may not be as viable on a Warrior as it would be for Knight. On the other hand, this armor’s ludicrous offensive stat bonuses will push Warrior’s already high DPS to a new level of extreme. 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!
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. 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 on a class like Warrior. He can possess well over 50 defense before any ring bonuses; boosting it even further will actually provide less survivability than if you chose to wear an HP ring because his high DEF will have already reduced enemy damage to minimal amounts, making any additional defense pointless. It is for this reason many players swear by boosting HP before boosting defense, when it comes to survivability.
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 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 for further details. This said, rings are available that boost both ATT and DEX and will provide better DPS increases than a straight tiered ring.
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. The Lodestone does have an edge over the Crown in the fact that Warrior can benefit well from the SPD bonus that it provides. Nonetheless, 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 Ring of the Pyramid is an older but still viable alternative to the aforementioned rings. While it provides less stats in general, providing +100 HP and +4 to ATT and DEF, it is a relatively balanced ring that most classes, including Warrior, can use effectively.
These are the remaining rings on the last tier of meta builds for the Warrior; any remaining rings might not be viable for the Warrior, but you shouldn’t be discouraged from experimenting with whatever ring suits your playstyle best. These five rings are explained below, from left to right.
The 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 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 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. While the 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.
The Warrior’s main strengths are having DEX boosting helms that also give him additional speed/defense, as well as having high offensive power. 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 his high VIT cap 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 which allows him to soak more damage than other classes. 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, A.S.S, and Colo sword can 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 that other classes can benefit from as well as the Warrior. He can also briefly paralyze enemies using the Draconic helm.
Warriors, with their extremely high attack power, 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. His short range makes certain dungeon bosses, like Oryx 2, a serious hindrance to fight alone, so don’t be afraid to call upon allies who use other classes to help you take the fight to these bosses.
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.
