Hearthstone Hero guide: Warrior

If you like playing with weapons but find the Rogue's daggers just a little too dainty, you can do a lot worse than turn to the Warrior as your Hearthstone Hero of choice. This fearsome fighter has an impressive arsenal of weapons to dip into, from the humbler Fiery War Axe – capable of stopping an opponent's early-game in its tracks – to the terrifying Gorehowl. You can use this latter weapon to pick minions off one by one, or put a stop to the opponent – full stop.

There's more to the Warrior than simply swinging axes around like a crazed barbarian though. Whether through cards like Frothing Berserker or Kor'Kron Elite, the Warrior is also able to make a virtue out of living dangerously, ramping up in power as he dices with this minions deaths as well as his own.

To help the Warrior live just a little longer as he hurls himself around the battlefield, he can make use of a special Hero Power called Armor Up! For the cost of two Mana, the Warrior can apply two units of Armour to his health-pool and effectively extend his life total in the process. Not only that, certain spells actually feed off the level of armour currently applied to the Warrior.

The best Warrior cards to craft in Hearthstone

The Warrior's basic set of cards, earned through levelling the Hero up a little, aren't the most powerful in the game so it won't be long until you find yourself needing to craft some cards. The best Warrior decks rely on quite a few Legendary cards to be effective, but you can still do pretty well with a solid selection of cheaper class-specific cards.

Here's our selection of some of the most common Warrior cards you'll need to draw on as you explore the Hero's decks. There are others that are required for very specific strategies, but if you forge these tools then you'll have a great starting point for taking this Hero into battle.

Fiery War Axe / Gorehowl / Death's Bite / Arcanite Reaper

A Warrior is nothing without his weapons. It's a rare deck that doesn't include the Fiery War Axe for dealing with early-game threats, while Gorehowl can devastate an opponent in the late-game. Death's Bite has a nasty after-effect which can be used to finish off any stragglers, while the deadly value of Arcanite Reaper speaks for itself.

Shield Slam

All that Armor you've been stacking onto yourself with your Hero Power isn't just for looks and life preservation. You can also use it in conjunction with Shield Slam to take down some of the toughest minions in the game for very little cost. Make sure you do your maths properly and whack more armour on if it's vital for clearance though – we've all done it!

Frothing Berserker

You'll ideally pop Frothing Berserker onto the board when you already have other minions in play, so you can clean up the board and feed the character's attack value accordingly. Don't get too attached to its impressive power though, and don't be afraid to use it to clear a nasty enemy minion and reset the board.

Brawl

Brawl represents the most efficient board-clearance spell in the Warrior's arsenal, but note that if it kills a minion that has a summoning Deathrattle effect, you'll trigger the spawning of the replacement creature if the host gets lost in the tussle. Don't forget that Brawl will also remove your minions as well, so play it first before mounting a comeback.

Cruel Taskmaster

Cruel Taskmaster can be used in a couple of interesting ways. You can either play the minion onto the board to kill a one-health enemy minion, or use it to trigger the enrage mechanic on one of your own fighters (assuming the damage won't kill it, of course!) This card is commonly used to trigger the more explosive mode of the mighty Grommash Hellscream.

Armorsmith

This handy minion is often used in the popular – yet pricey – classic Warrior control deck, but it deserves a spot in many other deck archetypes too. That armour boost isn't just handy for staying alive, it's also useful for feeding your Shield Slam spell.