Slash is one of three skills a Warrior begins with, learned at level 1. It is the first attack ability a Warrior has, and causes a bleed effect when an Axe or Sword is equipped as the striking weapon. The secondary bleed effect is important as it causes Tactical Attack to deal extra damage when used.
Rank Table[ | ]
Slash
Level
Damage
0
80 %
5
104 %
10
128 %
15
152 %
20
176 %
25
200 %
30
224 %
35
248 %
40
272 %
45
296 %
50
320 %
55
344 %
Notes[ | ]
Slash is used primarily by two-handed axe-wielding warriors and as a rage dump for classes using Warrior as their secondary. It's part of the powerful Slash --> Tactical Attack combo, though not the first combo warriors use - Probing Attack --> Soft Spot is learned at level 2. Its usefulness has been called into question with Patch 1818 and Patch 1820, as the Probing Attack --> Soft Spot (but not Thunder) combo has been opened to 2h users. The general consensus is that the Slash combo does greater DPS with Slash's bleed factored in.
Dual-wielding Warriors use Slash in the place of Shadowstab when the latter's bleed is active and there is enough rage to use the former during the Probing Attack --> Soft Spot --> Thunder rotation. Rank for rank, Slash deals a higher % of main hand weapon DPS (320% to Shadowstab's 270%) as well as higher bleed damage on average, so fitting it in when possible is a fruitful endeavor.
Slash's bleed damage scales with weapon DPS; the exact coefficient is not known at this time. Additionally, Slash's bleed ticks immediately upon application, and ticks immediately when the bleed is refreshed. Therefore, there is no penalty for spamming Slash as the bleed damage may as well be considered bonus damage. (NOTE: Bleed damage being applied when the effect is refreshed may be innacurate; additional testing required. For certain: Spamming Slash will not prevent the bleed from ticking.)
