Red Line DPS Warden ‘Reckless’ Build
By Ace of Arkenstone – Updated for Yondershire, U33

Table of Contents
Introduction
Welcome, here you will find a good Red Warden build, tuned specifically for high-end Raiding. Red Wardens have really good sustainable DPS, and can bring in some great reliable cleave/AoE damage.
Apart from great DPS, they also bring in some debuffs which benefit the entire team. They can debuff a target’s physical mitigation by up to 12.5% (which will be explained down below on how to achieve) and up to 7.5% tactical mitigation debuff with a swap.
Red Wardens get their DPS majorly from DoTs (damage over time skills), which requires quite a steady and consistent rotation, which takes plenty of practice. If the player can commit to practicing and mastering a precise rotation, there are no limits when playing a class like Warden, and it is unlike any other class from any MMO.
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 Class & 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 Warden is published in the tables down below. They will use a mixture of 4-pieces of Red Line set, along with 3-pieces of Yellow Line set for additional stats.
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 | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
Class Item | Throne Raid Barter Use Class Essence here also |
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 6-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 | Embers Box Barter |
|
Class Item | Throne Raid Barter Use Class Essence here also |
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 |
---|---|---|
Class Essence | Use this on Class Item. | |
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. | |
Physical Mastery Trigger |
Use 1 of these. | |
Tactical Mitigation | Use these to fill slots after above Essences are met. |
Trait Trees
This is how to trait Red Warden:

You get everything you need here, the extra Light-type damage from Blue line, extra duration of mitigation debuffs (+ making them AoE based), 70K finesse and 5% critical chance from Yellow line. While also having everything you need from Red line.
Pre-fight, you should also swap to Blue line and use Never Surrender from there so it becomes a shorter, 5 minute cooldown. Then swap back to Red line.
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:
- Determination (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
With new LI revamp, legacies are more or less the same for Red Wardens, there is a new Tracery though, Mastery Cooldown tracery, which is a good addition. Red Warden just needs two LIs for DPS.
1-Hander Weapon
Type | Sockets |
---|---|
Heraldic Tracery | Heraldry of the Sparrow |
Word of Power | Damage Over Time |
Word of Power | Damage Over Time Criticals |
Word of Mastery | Fist Gambit Damage & Critical Chance |
Word of Mastery | Gambit Builder Damage |
Word of Mastery | Hampering Javelin Duration & Reset Chance |
Word of Mastery | Marked Target Double-cast Chance |
Word of Mastery | Mastery Cooldown |
Word of Mastery | Recklessness Critical Rating Buff |
Word of Craft | Heroic Precision |
Word of Craft | Heroic Precision |
Warden’s Javelin
Type | Sockets |
---|---|
Heraldic Tracery | Heraldry of the Sparrow |
Word of Power | Area Effect Attack Criticals |
Word of Power | Area Effect Attack Damage |
Word of Power | Single Target Attack Criticals |
Word of Mastery | Careful Step Duration & Movement Penalty |
Word of Mastery | Javelin Skills Critical Chance |
Word of Mastery | Javelin Skills Damage |
Word of Mastery | Spear Gambit Damage |
Word of Mastery | Spear-Shield Gambit Damage |
Word of Mastery | Surety of Death Damage Over Time |
Word of Craft | Ascendent Light |
Word of Craft | Ascendent Light |
Rotation
Before I begin, I will explain how to use Warden’s Mitigation debuffs properly and which weapon to use for which Gambit.
Debuffs:
- Marked Target has a base 5% Physical Mitigation debuff. With the legacy on the LI, it has a ~40% proc chance to apply that same debuff again, which it makes it 10% Physical Mitigation Debuff in total.
- You should use Marked Target every ~20 seconds to get the proc for the double debuff.
- You have another skill, called Diminished Target, that reduces Tactical Mitigation by 5%.
- How to properly include both these skills into rotation precisely, is explained down below.
STATIC ROTATION
by Ace of Arkenstone
-> Ranged Stance
RRC -> Marked Target -> Diminished Target
-> Melee Stance
Recklessness -> Spear of Virtue -> Unnering Strike ->
Surety of Death -> Desolution -> Piercing Strike ->
Mighty Blow -> Power Attack -> Wall of Steel ->
Brink of Victory
—> Repeat
DPS Rotation Video
Consumables
There are the consumables to use on Warden:


Updated as of U33.
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