Guild Wars 2

So I’m moving away from the Warrior meta of zerk, and decided to do something different. I went for a Valkyrie build. However many people seem to think that this is a horrible build and completly useless, and in fact shows that I’m a bad player. I started a thread about this in the warrior forums, but was basically flamed down because it’s not DPS. What are some thoughts on this build and suggestions to improve it while maintaining a more support and survivability (tanky) build.

Please note, for reasons I won’t get into here, I refuse to run a zerk build, thats why I’ve chosen Valk.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vIEQNAnXTjMd04ZlHGewJaAB9QDzitwoYICijCqAKA-zgDBYLBCnBkoAiIAgFAM3sIasFOERjlVoKJYqSRWXSI1zLY+EKqeBwAA-e

Well, the question to be asked here is ‘Why?’ Needs some sort of context. Is this for WvW zerging, WvW roaming, PvE, PvP?

If PvE, why Valk? You dropped the Precision for Vitality, but then you wasted a trait on Deep Strike and filled your bar with Signets (offering nothing to your team at all). So either you do care about Precision and you are just anti-Zerk because ‘reasons’ or you are not sure what you’re trying to accomplish.

You’re also wasting a trait on Defy Pain. Since you got Valk armor, I assume you want the Vitality to stay alive. Yet, you’re bringing a Grandmaster that activates when you are at 25% health and offers nothing to your team. The 25 for Armored Attack also seems useless to me.. You have no Toughness gear. It’s a waste of a trait use for so little extra power and offers nothing to your team.

You could be much more useful putting that 10 into Strength and getting Berserker’s Power.

Sometimes it is best to take into account the opinions of others. If that many people are saying it’s a bad build, perhaps you should take a second look at it. Not everyone is tactful about it but they do have a point. There are aspects of this that don’t work well together (and I don’t main Warrior). The prominent folks on the Warrior sub might be worth listening to instead of just moving to another sub and trying to get support for a mediocre build.

I mainly do PvE solo roaming. I occasionally do dungeons or fractals, but not often. And I do change things up from more team oriented activities. However, I am trying to take into account others opinions, and the reason I moved from the warrior sub was that it was almost nothing but “you are a bad player for not using the meta” and the like. There was very little as to WHY it’s a “medicore” build, other than DPS. The only other options presented were “go zerk” and not ways to IMPROVE the build and style that I am going for.

Again, I’m trying to have a build that focuses more on surviabilty, yet maintaining a respectable amount of DPS. A more “balanced” build that can function well in many situations without having to change much on the fly. Valkryie fits that critria of what I’m looking for.

I suppose I could trade Defy Pain for Cleansing Ire, or Spiked Armor or something. But for me, having the extra toughness works to help stay alive longer, which in a team setting means more to me then dealing more damage.

Fair enough. So basically, what I said in the first reply still holds true. The points you’re putting into Defense just are not worth it. You’re not really gaining anything from Armored Attack and Defy Pain. As I’ve said before, Deep Strike is a waste. You are wasting your utilities to make up for the precision loss (which you are not making up for).

If you are set on not playing a DPS roaming setup, then at least get rid of this nonsensical trait. Critical Burst is also useless to you since you are relying on Adrenal Health for your healing values to be consistently higher. You would do well to trait into Power for Berserker’s Power. That way, saving your adrenaline will net you higher damage modifiers and higher healing. I would also drop Last Stand and instead opt for 20% longer stance duration with Sure Footed. Your stances will accomplish what this Trait does and they are at your disposal. Instead of a useless ‘panic button’ Trait, you can have longer stances that you can actually learn, control, and use.

You could put that last 10 into Discipline. For that (10) Major you have a few decent options within the parameters of the setup you’re running.
A) Vigorous Focus is a good bet for you. You will increase your survivability more with Vigor than with any passive trait you can add. You are way more ‘hearty’ by dodging attacks than you are with ‘Defy Pain Trait’. The stances are generally great Warrior skills that benefit you as a solo player and will accomplish the goal of raising your survivability. Not only do you get the benefits of the stance and the stun breakers, but you will also get Vigor.
B) Inspiring Shouts can also be something you swap to if you are going to be using more shouts. You will likely want On Your Mark equipped if you are fighting bosses alone since you do not have the extra Vuln that the mace OH would provide.
C) Warrior’s Sprint is just a good mobility option. Point A to point B

You do of course have way, way more options. I am assuming you are keeping the LB for CC. Anyways, swapping to GS would open up some more viable options to you within the parameters of your chosen build.

Again, you would do well to look for some advice from prominent Warrior players. I don’t just mean any schmo from the Warrior sub; I mean the trusted names in the community. There are many scrubs that think they know what they’re doing because they can PuG CoF. Do seek out the folks who are actually good players and ask for help there. They know how the Warrior traits fit together better than I do; it isn’t a main class of mine.

^
This is why I moved to this sub :P

Taken you’re suggestions into account I’ve changed some things up a bit. I am think this might work while maintaining my goal.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vIEQNAnXTnMdQpgW5BmhAnIIQQK0wvw8YICii4UgKUFwDA-zgDBYLBCnBkoAiIAgFAM3sIasFOERjlVoKJYqSRWXSI1zLY+EKqeBwAA-e

I like the LB for ranged. The fire, blind, and immobilize have saved my but more often then not, and the rifle doesn’t offer that.

You are unlikely to get a different answer in any forum because the most efficient way to play GW2 is to out DPS your opponent. You can play anyway you like in PvE roaming, but when you try to go into a Dungeon or Fractals with a non-Zerk build you are going to get negative reactions because your build now effects the others in your party.

You may need a build / equipment combination for each mode you play in (especially if you are only playing ONE character). Many players use other characters and build and equip them for a specific type of game play (a WvW mesmer, a Dungeon Guardian, etc.)

BTW, LB on a warrior is mostly condition based and using it with a non-condition build is just not that smart (but do what you want in PvE Open World). You don’t HAVE to use a ranged weapon as most melee weapons have a closer skill of some sort.

I can see that, and yes I understand. However, in the last sub, instead of offering SOLUTIONS as Saint has, it was mostly a critizism of why it doesn’t work, and that only “good” players use zerk, and it was strongly implied that anything but zerk meant that I was a bad player. While I can take critizism, it gets frustrating when there are little to no soltuions being offered to make the stated build and style work better.

And yes, I agree having multi toons for diffrent functions is a great way to go, I’m working on several alts specifically for that.

Remember to switch traits and utilities around as needed too. There isn’t really a ‘one size fits all’ as far as builds goes.

As it stands though, you’ve got a good source of Vuln when you need it between your Rending Strikes (every 3rd hit aprox.), Cyclone Axe, and ‘On My Mark’. You should have a decent amount of Fury & Might up-time between Signet of Rage and FGJ for a roaming purpose. Unless you’re expecting a lot of CC or a particularly lengthy fight )and will need your stances) you can be using Inspiring Shouts to lead into a fight with the highest adrenaline possible. Vigorous Focus is probably best to use with a few stances on your bar.

The quicker you trigger Berserker’s Power, the better for your DPS. Of course I haven’t run the numbers to see what the output with the modifiers would be, but I think this could work for your style while still not handicapping the offensive capabilities. Just will require that you do make sure you are leading with your shouts and maintaining high adrenaline or equipping more stances for vigor if you will be doing a more challenging champ solo.

The trinkets do seem a bit awkward. I’m guessing you haven’t really figured out a set yet. Would be best for your Vuln uptime and overall damage to use Berserker’s trinkets. The Celestial ones are kind of mediocre in every way for what you’re trying to do.

Yes, LB is a more efficient CC weapon.

@Grimm: Well, it seems that he just enjoys PvE roaming and wants to play as closely to his original build as possible. I think he knows that this would not be very good at all in Dungeons or Fractals.

Yeah, I haven’t got around to tinkets. Bascially using the same ones I’ve had for forever, although I had planned on a berserk set. Want to go full ascended on everything eventually.