Hamstring

Hamstring
	Hamstring; Level 4 warrior ability; Melee range; 10 Rage; Instant; Requires Melee Weapon; Maims the enemy for (15% of Attack power) Physical damage, reducing movement speed by 50% for 15 sec.;
Properties
Class	Warrior
School	Physical
Cooldown	None/Global Cooldown
Other information
Level learned	4
Related debuff
	; Hamstring ; Movement slowed by 50%. ; Duration: 15 seconds ;

"A mechanostrider is no help if you can't stand upright to mount it." —Fillet^[1]

Hamstring is a level 4 Arms warrior ability that reduces the target's movement speed by 50% for 15 seconds.

Notes[]

In a PvP battle you should make sure Hamstring is constantly applied, as competent PvP players move around a lot. However this is far more important against ranged/caster classes than against other pure melee classes.

It is probably the most important PvP ability an Arms warrior has since it makes players substantially easier to catch. The ability is relatively inexpensive, and in a PvP encounter is probably the ability you want to use right after your initial [Charge].

Hamstring is not affected by the global cooldown.

Tips and tactics[]

Helpful in a variety of situations, this skill is one of the warrior's few forms of crowd control, primarily used for slowing enemies down in preparation to them becoming runners. In an ideal (PvE) fight this should be applied somewhere around 40% to 30% health of any mob you know will try to run and get help - mostly humanoids.
Its down side is that it requires a melee hit, so if the target is already fleeing, you will be unlikely to slow them down with this. It also only affects one target, making it difficult to use as a way to escape bad fights, since each individual enemy will need one Hamstring each.
In PvP, this is an essential ability for use against ranged and caster opponents. Seizing the earliest opportunity to apply Hamstring reduces the chance of your target escaping beyond melee range. Since warriors need to be in melee range to do damage, Hamstring is a critical ability in successfully playing the class, especially against non-melee types.
In PvP this is a very useful skill if used in conjunction with [Charge] on any enemy who overextends beyond their line of troops. Charging, Hamstringing, and then breaking off back to safety will leave them exposed and unable to run for cover effectively, allowing your team's ranged damage dealers to finish them off.
Hamstring should be used against humanoid mobs that flee when low on health before they can run off and aggro more mobs.

Patch changes[]

Patch 9.0.1 (2020-10-13): Now requires level 4 (was 32). Now available to all warrior specs (was Arms only).
Patch 7.1.5 (2017-01-10): Now deals 105% weapon damage (was 5%).
Hotfix (2016-11-01): Hamstring damage has been increased considerably, and now lasts for 12 seconds in PvP.
Patch 7.1.0 (2016-10-25):
- Is now on the global cooldown, and can once again trigger [Tactician].
- Now learned at level 32 (was 35).
Hotfix (2016-09-26): Hamstring no longer procs Tactician.
Hotfix (2016-08-24): Hamstring no longer activates Opportunity Strikes.
Patch 7.0.3 (2016-07-19): Now only available to Arms.
Patch 6.0.2 (2014-10-14): Now deals 5% weapon damage, in addition to the movement speed slow.
Patch 5.4.0 (2013-09-10): No longer on a global cooldown.
Patch 5.0.4 (2012-08-28): Can now be used in any stance.
Patch 3.0.2 (2008-10-14): Hamstring now only has one rank and no longer causes damage.
Patch 1.6.0 (2005-07-12): Will now cause damage to targets immune to movement slowing effects. Movement slowing effect improved.
Patch 1.1.0 (2004-11-07): Now available in Battle and Berserker Stance.
Patch 0.12 (2004-10-11): Movement slow effect reduced.
Patch 0.8 (2004-07-07): Duration reduced.
Patch 0.7 (2004-06-15): Changed to an instant ability. Cooldown removed.
Patch 0.6 (2004-04-13): Duration decreased.