- For the Felguard ability, see Cleave (Felguard).
Cleave is the warrior's first multiple target attack. It is also used by many high-leveled bosses that mainly use physical attacks.
| Cleave | |
|---|---|
| |
| Properties | |
| Class | Warrior |
| School | Physical |
| Cooldown | None/Global Cooldown |
| Other information | |
| Requirements | Requires Melee Weapon |
| Improvements |
  [Impale],  [Improved Cleave],  [Focused Rage] |
[[Category:warrior abilities]][[Category:warrior abilities]]
- "Two bodies are better than one."
Cleave is a 20 Rage skill that deals weapon damage plus a small bonus to two targets, the current targetted mob/player and their neighbor.
Rank Table
| Rank | Rage Cost | Damage | Level | Cost | Bonus Thread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | +5 | 20 | 36 |
|
| 2 | 20 | +10 | 30 | 1 8 |
|
| 3 | 20 | +18 | 40 | 1 98 |
|
| 4 | 20 | +32 | 50 | 3 78 |
|
| 5 | 20 | +50 | 60 | 5 58 |
100 |
| 6 | 20 | +70 | 68 |  5 85 |
130 |
If a second target is present, the bonus threat from Cleave is divided between them.
Tips and Tactics
Ideal for pulls of two, or coping with sudden adds or spawns, it helps whittle away a second opponent while fighting a first. Combo up with 
[Sweeping Strikes] Fury Talent Ability for 4 hits per swing.
For three or more enemies, use 
[Whirlwind] instead, and for single enemies, use 
[Heroic Strike].
This skill gets more damage per rage when used with a slow weapon. When used with a fast weapon, it is usually just a waste of rage.
Improved Cleave adds 120% to the damage bonus that the Cleave ability gives, not 120% to the damage the Cleave ability does. This means that instead of gaining 70 damage on the attacks, you gain 154 damage on the attacks. Cleave is highly debated (but there is really nothing to debate, as shown below). Like heroic strike, not only does it cost the initial rage investment, but any rage gained off that attack is also lost. In reality, the cost of cleave is therefore 27-31 (or even as high as 50 or 60 rage if you would have crit with that swing, assuming a two handed weapon). Furthermore, the damage is distributed between 2 mobs, rather than focused on one mob. This means you will take more damage than if that damage was concentrated on one enemy. If soloing, a 2v1 fight would cause most warriors to flee, with or without cleave. In groups, rage is better spent holding aggro with Heroic Strike and mitigating damage with Shield Block than spending the rage doing mediocre damage. However, while DPSing, Cleave makes for an effective rage dump, as it does extra damage, but doesn't apply extra threat like Heroic Strike*.
- Note: The above, marked with an asterisk, is incorrect. Assuming you are hitting a single target with heroic strike (cannot hit more than one target) you will deal an additional 176 unmitigated damage on your next main hand swing, causing an additional 196 threat. This is 196/176, or 1.11 threat per additional damage. Assuming you are hitting one target with cleave (rage dumping on a boss, you will cause an additional 70 damage on your next main hand swing (I am unsure of whether this is unmitigated or not, but I know Heroic Strike's is). That 70 damage will cause an additional 130 threat, for 1.85 threat per additional point of damage. Assuming Improved Cleave, the bonus damage would be 154, for 130 threat, giving 0.84 threat per additional point of damage. Without improved cleave, Heroic Strike is better than Cleave by far for dpsing single targets and causing less threat per damage dealt.
- Note: Most builds will not include Improved Cleave, as there are much better alternatives for a DPS build. Just to humor the situation, assume Improved Cleave and Improved Heroic Strike are both talents a certain warrior has. Cleave will cause an additional 154 damage for 20+white rage, and Heroic Strike will cause an additional 176 unmitigated damage for 12+white rage. Giving Cleave the benefit of the doubt on its additional damage being unmitigated as well, Improved top rank Cleave causes 7.7 damage per rage, and top rank Improved Heroic Strike causes 14.7 damage per rage.
Unless you have 100 rage all the time, and are tanking multiple mobs, AND feeling extremely lazy, AND have Improved Cleave (as a tank? I think not) Cleave just isn't worth using. Even as someone posted above, 2v1 fights will end with you taking more damage if you Cleave, rather than using Heroic Strike. Heroic Strike is simply a better skill all around.
- Note: The one instance in which you should even consider using cleave: while using a LARGE two handed weapon, and then only when facing two targets at once. If using a big enough weapon, the extra swings from cleave may actually cause enough DPS to be worth it (2k cleave crits on both targets, etc). However, I'd still not use it even given that situation, as Improved Slam used immediately after a white hit is far more rage efficient and will target all your damage on one mob, the same way heroic strike does. Anytime while dual wielding, unless you're using something like a Dragonstrike against two mobs, don't bother with Cleave. You should probably just take it off your bars altogether.
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