Hammer builds! help needed
I use http://www.gw2build.com/builds/the-soldier-wvw-wvw-soldier-guardian-tanky-teamfight-7556.html for everything, hammer 1 combo + 2 = area retaliation, with a nice self heal if people are in melee range, which makes it super tanky for pve.
kk, i like your build but i really want to know more hammer builds for pvp
I use my Hammer in a really defensive build.
It’s generally 5 in Radiance, 30 in Honor and the rest of the points in Valor and whatever remains is put in Virtues.
Currently I’m using a more Meditation-oriented build. The Hammer fits in a lot of builds, and it’s a great PvP weapon.
Here’s what I’m currently experimenting with.
This is an Altruistic Healing-focused build, which can be done in many different ways, but this one focuses on making everything you do benefit you. Hammer is perfect for this kind of build, as you can be constantly buffing yourself and allies (thus constantly healing yourself).
I choose to focus on building my precision/crit for this build, as the more you crit, the more you heal. I can hit decently hard (with 50+ crit chance and 80+ crit damage) and can survive things most people can’t. You can chose to focus on more conditions or vitality, depending on what you like.
Using a hammer with Superior Sigil of Strength works very well, or you can use Superior Sigil of Perception to boost your precision. I swap out to the staff if I want to be able to back away from my enemy as well as heal (usually to full) with Empower.
This build is excellent in PvE (both Dungeons and DEs), and does well in WvW. I haven’t tried this in PvP, but I would probably go another route.
my build is similar to Zeke’s build as well.
i used to run a 0/15/30/20/5 build which was great for PvE with the spammable Renewed justice (constant blinds/burns/vulnerability). though i liked the honor line too much and Altruistic healing REALLy did do wonders in terms of survivability for me – it also incentivizes (word?) supporting your team which helps overall. so then i went to 0/5/30/30/5. some key traits are:
Valor Line
- Altruistic Healing —> as mentioned above, whenever you place a boon on yourself or allies, you heal for a small bit. but since we have so many boons at our disposal, the heals add up! the Symbol of Protection on hammer chain 1, plus mighty blow triggering the combo for AoE boons triggers this as well
- i like using Retributive Armor as well -- since i try to build on toughness as well as prcision (Knight’s armor)
- Glacial Heart is not bad, though i feel the CD could be a bit shorter it’s fun when it does proc
Honor line (i LOVE this line, thus why i went max in this line)
- Writ of Exaltation —> larger symbols benefits all and is quite useful with the hammer since you can drop a symbol every basic attack chain
- Two-Handed mastery —> allows me to do one mighty blow (#2) per autoattack chain plus a second / a dodgeroll —> which also heals!
- Writ of the Merciful —> symbols heal, nuff said.
- though sometimes depending on the situation, i’ll switch in Empowering Might, where nearby allies gain might (BOONS! to trigger AH) when you crit. which is why crit % is important as well and works wonders with the hammer.
- Writ of Persistence – longer lasting symbols could be beneficial as well bt i personally haven’t tried this yet so can’t say much.
lastly, virtues with extra boons always help as well.
the hammer/staff combo is good for the staff offers a lot of support and boons as well. and it’s pretty fun being able to see crit numbers up to 3k+ at timesD
and seeing i don’t use virtue of justice AS much. i might try to switch the 5 in radiance into virtues to pick up retaliation lasts 25% longer to see how that works..
Akaigi | Warrior Made of Wood
[CDS] – Sanctum of Rall