Guide: Best Skills in World of Warcraft’s Plunderstorm

Plunderstorm is the new Battle Royale mode added to World of Warcraft. It’s a separate mode from the main game, but the rewards you get transfer over. That means new pets, mounts, and more.

But to earn them, you need to level up your renown with the pirate captain. And that means getting wins. We’ve got a look at the best skills to hunt down to make sure you come out on top.

How do I find skills?

Before we tell you what skills to look for, you should know how to look for and upgrade them. Skills have a chance to drop off of any enemy or player, as well as chests. They show up as big icons on the ground that you can collect. There are two types of skills: Attack Skills and Utility Skills. You’re able to carry up to two of each, and a usable item in the fifth slot.

When a skill drops, it will be one of four colors. White is common, green is uncommon, blue is rare, and purple is epic. You can upgrade a skill you have by finding more of the same skill on the field. So if you have a common Fire Whirl, and you see another common Fire Whirl on the ground, pick it up! It’ll automatically merge the two into an uncommon rank, which is more powerful. If you have white Explosive Cantrips and find a green one, they’ll become a blue copy. As a side note, equipment items don’t do this, so just use them when you can.

The Best Offensive Skills

Not all skills are created equally, although Blizzard tries to keep things relatively balanced. That said, there’s still a very clear list of winning skills here that you should keep an eye out for.

• Fire Whirl This isn’t only one of the most intimidating abilities to look at, it hurts. When you use Fire Whirl, your character becomes a tornado of flames that you can roll around the area. Anyone caught in its path will receive massive damage over time. It has the highest damage potential considering how relatively easy it is to pull off. You don’t have to really aim or predict your enemy’s movements. Dog pile on top of them and flame on!
  
• Rime Arrow While certainly not as flashy, Rime Arrow is like Magic Missile in D&D: it doesn’t miss. It’s got a decent range, making it a great utility for hassling enemies at a range. It’s also a great way to pepper people while you close in to deliver a Fire Whirl. It can also be a great finisher if they manage to sneak away from a major attack with just a little health left. It’s also great to knock the Healing Keg out of an enemy’s hands.
  
• Holy Shield This ability is about as straightforward as its trajectory. You throw a glowing disc in front of you in a long range. It does solid damage, especially when you you can activate the ability a second time. The shield will do an explosive bubble of damage while maintaining its path. It’s another great way to hunt down escaping enemies or startle them as you approach for a closer attack. The strike has a wide enough area that it’s easy to hit all but the most evasive of targets.
  
• Searing Axe This ability feels more useful in the early game. Most damage will be from the main attack button, which requires close range. That’s where this ability shines. It has a fairly short cooldown, has a little knockback to help create distance if you need it, and it hits hard. It’s especially great for cleaving groups of monsters to earn exp and plunder.

The Best Utility Skills

These are secondary abilities that focus less on doing damage, and more on giving you an advantage. You’ll want to experiment with combos and find ones that work best for you. With Fire Whirl being such a top-tier skill, we recommend anything that will help lock your opponent in place.

• Steel Traps As we said above, trapping your foes is the best way to pull off a Fire Whirl. Steel traps throw traps in a wide range that can root anybody that touches them for 3 seconds. That’s ample enough time to pull off a devastating attack. You’ll typically want to surprise your foes with this, as it’s fairly obvious once they’re set down.
• Windstorm This one is really effective, but it requires a skillful aim to pull off. If your opponent pulls a Prometheus and tries to run away from you in a straight line, it’s a great way to stun them so you can catch up. Drop down another Fire Whirl or a Searing Axe once they’re trapped.
• Lightning Bulwark and Repel Either skill is great for putting up a block that can counter your enemy’s attack. Considering Fire Whirl is the big one to watch out for, Repel is a more solid option as it has a better duration and drops a silence effect. But Lightning Bulwark can still interrupt the damage of most attacks and provides some buffs afterward that can help you get an edge.
• Faeform The best way to grind renown in Plunderstorm is to survive. The longer you can hold out in a match, the better the payout is. And nothing will keep you alive as well as Faeform. It breaks any crowd controls, gives you a massive speed buff, and reduces damage while it’s active. It’s frustrating when you spring a perfect trap and your opponent whisks away to safety in the form of a ghost deer. But when you’re that ghost deer, you feel untouchable. Just watch where you’re going…