Red Captain ‘Warlord’ Build
By Araphorn – Updated for Yondershire, U33

Table of Contents
Introduction
Welcome, here you will find a really good build for Red Captains, tuned specifically for DPS support and some heals (HPS). There are a variety of different ways to play a Red Captain, here you will two of the most effective ones.
Red Captain is a must for just about any instance/raid. They provide the support (buffs) which are required to clear the raid bosses, but apart from that, they can help out with decent DPS as well, or some solid healing if they prefer to go that way.
There is no right or wrong when it comes to a specific way of playing a Red Captain, they can either choose to focus fully on DPS (while keeping their buffs active), or they can choose to help with heals instead. It’s just some fights need more DPS or some fights will need more heals, it depends on your group and the type of encounter you are facing.
Stat Goals
These goals are kept with Essence & Gear planning in mind, as to which Essences are to be prioritized over others. These goals can also be used when picking Virtues.
Critical Rating > Physical Mastery > Tactical Mitigation > Vitality
After Critical Rating and Physical Mastery are capped or near capped, save some room for Trigger essences, and then Tactical Mitigation essences can be used. At the beginning of expansion, Essence slots are really limited, this gets easier as better items become available later down the line.
* Before planning Essences, slot the right Virtues (more on that down below). This way you can plan your setup better, and utilize Essences perfectly, and you can dump the remaining Essence slots in Vitality, Finesse, or other Stat of your choice after meeting Stat goals mentioned above.
Gear
With new Raid released, new gear for Red Captain is published in the tables down below. They will use 4-piece Red set and 3-piece Blue set from the new raid, it should balance out DPS and some Healing output of the Red Captain. There are 2 published Builds, one for Endgame and one for Starters.
End-game Build
Armour Pieces
Gear Slot | Set Piece | Location |
---|---|---|
Helm | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
Chest | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
Shoulders | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
Gloves | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
Legs | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
Boots | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
Cloak | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
Off-hand | N/A – Uses a 2-Hander Weapon | |
Class Item | Crafted, Tailor |
Jewelry Pieces
Gear Slot | Set Piece | Location |
---|---|---|
Earring 1 | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
Earring 2 | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
Necklace | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
Hiddenhoard Raid | ||
Bracelet 1 | Storvagun Winter Festival | |
Bracelet 2 | Storvagun Winter Festival | |
Ring 1 | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
Ring 2 | Hiddenhoard Raid |
Starter Build
The 140 Level Gear from this Build can be acquired by playing the 3 and 6 man instances, higher difficulty will award better loot. Having this gear will allow to progress level capped Raids. As for Essences, you can use the ones you get from Questing or Crafting (whichever Tier is fine), and try to follow the Stat Goals above and Slot the ones which are needed by your Class.
Armour Pieces
Gear Slot | Set Piece | Location |
---|---|---|
Helm | Gundabad 3-Man Instance | |
Chest | Gundabad 6-Man Instance | |
Shoulders | Gundabad 6-Man Instance | |
Gloves | Gundabad 3-Man Instance | |
Legs | Gundabad 3-Man Instance | |
Boots | Gundabad 3-Man Instance | |
Cloak | Gundabad 6-Man Instance | |
Off-hand | N/A – Uses a 2-Hander Weapon | |
Class Item | Crafted, Tailor |
Jewelry Pieces
Gear Slot | Set Piece | Location |
---|---|---|
Earring 1 | Gundabad 6-Man Instance | |
Earring 2 | Gundabad 6-Man Instance | |
Necklace | Gundabad 6-Man Instance | |
Gundabad 6-Man Instance | ||
Bracelet 1 | Storvagun Winter Festival | |
Bracelet 2 | Storvagun Winter Festival | |
Ring 1 | Gundabad 6-Man Instance | |
Ring 2 | Gundabad 6-Man Instance |
Essences
Essence Name | Essence | Note |
---|---|---|
Critical Rating | Use these to reach near Critical Rating cap. |
|
Physical Mastery | Use these to reach near Physical Mastery cap. |
|
Critical Rating Trigger | Use 1 of these. | |
Critical Heal Trigger | Use 1 of these. | |
Physical Mastery Trigger |
Use 1 of these. | |
Tactical Mitigation | Use these to fill slots after above Essences are met. |
Trait Trees
As mentioned earlier, two ways you can go about traiting and playing a Red Captain. So for that, you’ll need different trees. One tree is more DPS/Bleeds focused and the other tree is purely for Heals/HPS/Power Restore with hardly any DPS capabilities.
Here is my Red Tree which is more focused primarily on DPS:

This tree gives me important stuff from Blue Line such as the Double Rez and Rally Cry buff and also extra 10% bleed damage from Yellow Line. Gives me everything I need for max DPS on my end from Red Line.
Here is my other tree, I use this one when I’m not required to DPS, or if I’m solo healing the group (for example 3-mans):

This tree skyrockets my Heals/HPS and I’m able to keep everyone alive in my group by just focusing on keeping my HoTs active (along with other buffs of course).
You can pick whichever tree which fits your gameplay and group needs, and go from there.
35 Trait Points Build for Legendary Servers

60 Trait Points Build for Beginners

Virtues
These are the virtues I use to reach the Stat Goals. I use mostly Offensive options, but if need be, some of them can be switched to more Defensive options as well, depending on the type of fight. More explained down below.

Here are the Virtues which go along with the Stat Goals:
- Zeal (Great for Mastery and Critical Rating)
- Valour (Great for Mastery, Finesse and Critical Rating)
- Confidence (Great for Critical Rating and Finesse)
- Wit (Great for Finesse, Mastery and Critical Rating)
- Loyalty (Great for Vitality and survival)
- If you need extra Survivability, swap Wit with Fidelity
If you don’t have these virtues, here are some alternatives:
- Fidelity (Great for Vitality + Tactical Mit)
- Tolerance (Gives great amount of Tactical Mit, decent Physical Mit and Resistance)
- Innocence (Gives great amount of Physical Mit, decent Tactical Mit Mit and Resistance)
Legendary Items
Red Captains just require 2 LIs for overall gameplay. I find these legacies to be a good balance between DPS and heals support.
2-Hander Weapon
Type | Sockets |
---|---|
Heraldic Tracery | Heraldry of the Ox |
Word of Power | Single Target Attack Criticals |
Word of Power | Single Target Attack Damage |
Word of Mastery | Battle-shout Damage |
Word of Mastery | Cutting Attack Damage |
Word of Mastery | Devastating Blow and Pressing Attack Damage |
Word of Mastery | Grave Wound Damage |
Word of Mastery | Shadow’s Lament Damage |
Word of Mastery | Sure Strike Damage |
Word of Craft | Heroic Precision |
Word of Craft | Heroic Precision |
Captain’s Emblem (Class Item)
Type | Sockets |
---|---|
Heraldic Tracery | Heraldry of the Ox |
Word of Power | Area Effect Healing |
Word of Power | Damage Over Time |
Word of Power | Damage Over Time Criticals |
Word of Mastery | Battle-hardened Incoming Damage |
Word of Mastery | Battle-hardened Outgoing Healing Buff |
Word of Mastery | Battle-readied Damage Buff |
Word of Mastery | Bleed Pulses |
Word of Mastery | Pressing Attack and Devastating Blow Criting Rating |
Word of Mastery | Rallying Cry Healing |
Word of Craft | Grand Willpower |
Word of Craft | Grand Willpower |
Rotation
Here is the rotation of Red Captain.
- You have two ‘States’ on Captain, first is called ‘Battle-readied’ and the other is called Battle-hardened’, both last for 15s. Battle-readied is applied when you use a Battle-shout, and Battle-hardened is applied when you use Devastating Blow (DB) or Pressing Attack (PA). Battle-readied falls off after you use DB or PA, and Battle-hardened times out after 15s. Try to maintain at least one state during the fight.
- You also have few other buffs which you need to keep up, called:
- ‘Relentless Attack’, this is acquired when you use Sure Strike in a Battle-readied state (after using Battle-shout)
- Attack Speed buff from Routing Cry, this is acquired when you use Routing Cry after you receive a Defeat Response (mob kill)
- Rallying Cry 5% damage buff, this is acquired when you use Rallying Cry after you a receive a Defeat Response (mob kill)
- As a Red Captain, you need to keep these 3 buffs up always. (You get defeat responses also if you critically hit with DB or PA skill)
- Some more buffs you need to manage:
- Red Banner, use this every minute on cooldown.
- To Arms, use that with Banner so it lines up.
- Blade-brother’s call, use that with Banner and To Arms, once every 2 minutes.
- Now that buffs are sorted, lets talk a bit about DPS rotation.
- I usually start the fight with Time of Need, this allows me to place the 3 buffs (as per point number 2, Relentless Attack/Attack Speed buff/Rally Cry buff) right away. So I use ToN – Routing Cry – Rally Cry (Use them really fast and you can get both buffs up fast), then I use Sure Strike on the target to get the Relentless Attack buff up.
- Now buffs are up, and I’m in Battle-readied state, I follow that up with Cutting Attack to get the 30% Critical Multiplier buff which lasts for 7s. Follow that up with a quick Grave Wound.
- After Grave Wound, I use Inspire to get extra critical chance for my next skill.
- Then I will use Shadow’s Lament to aim for a big hit. So the opening rotation was, ToN – Routing – Rally – Sure Strike – Cutting – Grave Wound – Inspire – Shadow’s Lament – Devastating Blow. This was all done under 15s to have Battle-readied for all those skills. If you get a defeat response here, refresh Routing Cry buff.
- Next rotation after your first one is over is a bit different and it involves being in both States and having Blade of Elendil buff for Shadow’s lament. (You should throw your buffs after you finish your first rotation, buffs as per point number 4).
- Start now with Battle-shout – Sure Strike – Devastating Blow – Blade of Elendil – Captain Tonic – Cutting – Grave Wound – Inspire – Shadow’s Lament – Devastating Blow. That was your burstier rotation, ideal when Oath-breakers are running.
- There will be times when your rotation gets lost due to refreshing buffs or just mechanics interrupting it overall, so don’t worry, just try your best to keep both your States running, and prioritizing Shadow’s Lament only if you have Blade of Elendil 20% buff, Cutting Attack 30% crit buff (don’t forget to use Inspire also before Shadow’s Lament) and at least have 1 state, ideally Battle-hardened for the nice big crit.
- If you are fighting multiple mobs, always use Cutting before using Grave wound so it spreads. Keep these two bleeds on cooldown always, and form your rotation around them.
- Use your Kick skill to interrupt animations of Blade of Elendil/Muster Courage/Gallant Display. That’s assuming the fight doesn’t require you to interrupt.
- Keep an eye on your buffs, always refresh them if they are running below 20-30s.
Consumables
There are the consumables I use on Red Captain:

These tonics are pretty helpful to get Battle-reading state when Battle shout is on cooldown.
That is the food Captains use.


Updated as of U33.
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