Guild Wars 2

So a lot of people are mad about the patch. Personally, I can’t believe I thought I was doing something different, using a greatsword. Man, everybody was using a greatsword. Now, not to say greatsword has been nerfed beyond usability, by any means, but I was already leaning towards a different build, and this just pushed me over that metaphorical edge: the edge of the hammer. More specifically, crithammer.

Now, I’ve seen some guides about this style of play (yes, including the one that is probably still on the front page of this forum; to be frank, it wasn’t an easy read), but I was just wondering if there are any fellow hammer-lovers out there that have some tips for me.

Why do you use hammers? Do you think it’s viable to work toward a crithammer build? What’s the best way to supplement my precision, as all my trait points are currently not doing that (in favor of other, more defensive things). Etc.

Thanks!

i guess that thread can be slightly content heavy. lol. i would say DO spend some time there though, if you can plough through all of that. some great folk in there with great insight and experience.

i myself am a hammer user and have been using it even before the crit build “showed up”. i love the greatsword as well and sometimes, when i want to “feel” like i’m killing faster, or just attack faster, i’ll use GS but in general the hammer is my main and WAY too much fun.

1) i use the hammer cause i love itD
- great control, good burst, and actually very good DPS, especially with a crit build
- constant protection especially if you trait for larger, longer lasting and even healing symbols, and or short 2h cool downs
- easy self combo with #1 and #2
- AoEs with your hits as well with good dmg

2) definitely very viable! and very very fun imho. give it a shot if you can and just know that it does take a little getting used to. also, the build itself is not a must have this, must have that, but rather you can mould it to the way you like playing with some core aspects of it

3) i was running a 0/15/30/20/5 build and recently switched to a 0/5/30/30/5 build and will say you can supplment and get your crit % up via gear. a lot of people go for knight’s armor and then supplment vitality in jewelry if you will. i’m still working on this myself.

just some extra random stuff:
- a huge complaint about the hammer was the #1 (auto attack chain skill) chain was too slow to connect from hit2 to hit3. but you get used to it and can actually add more versatility in terms of how you play. for e.g. the time in between hit2 and hit3 allows me to reposition myself and drop the symbol where more of my allies are standing, thus better utilising the skill.

after reading Brutaly’s write-up, i’ve started to incorporate dodges inbetween the chains as well, which allows for “seamless” chain attack and mighty blow, while healing if traited for it

- mighty blow is very very strong imo. and a great finisher. if you have an ele nearby? you’ll see water splashing and flames bursting every time you pull this.

- many say #3, #4 and #5 are situational, which they are so put ‘em to good use!
—> #3 is great vs bosses or kiting mobs or in WvW when a straggler is trying to get away. #3, and then #2 bam you’re in their face.
—> #4 is great to thin out mobs or knock ‘em away when you need a bit of breathing room or helping out an ally. for a little fun, try it with judge’s intervention cause this skill doesn’t cancel out #4’s charge up/channeling. can surprise many players in PvP / WvW. so u hit #4, judge’s intervention, and then all of a sudden you’re in their face with fire and smack ‘em away; also too fun trying to smash people off cliffs
—> #5 i like to hit 5, and then 4 so you see them just bouncing off the walls and not going out of range so people can keep laying DPS on mobs; another use is during some DE events where you have to protect a camp, you just lay one of these in the doorway and you’ll see enemies toppling over as they mindlessly run into the bubble and you guys can smash at ’em

not sure if these answer your questions lol. and i got slightly carrieda way but hope this helps! feel free to answer more specific questions and am sure more will chime in.

hmm just realized i should probs have summarized more since that’s a huge wall of text. (and you mentioned the other thread was hard enough to read already O____o oops lol)

Easily my favorite Guardian weapon. Has a a really good emphasis on control, a style of play I identify more with. Mighty Blow makes you a comboing machine while your backline will love you for being able to ward off mobs and what not. Banish is slightly sluggish but is probably the interrupt the Guardian can use most frequently. It’s also the only melee weapon the Guardian has that packs a snare (in a line too).

The auto-attack turns it off for a lot of people and I’ll admit myself initially too. But this is really a case of being able to get used to it. Once you’re comfortable with the pace, it’s an extremely easy weapon to use and a powerful one at that.

I’ve been trying out the crithammer build now that I had my main set completed, but I can’t say I’m that impressed. It’s not a bad build by any means, but it’s a lot more vulnerable to conditions than the build I’m used to. 30 pts in valor means there’s little room to pump points into virtues. I think Absolute Resolution (resolve removes 3 conditions) is too good to pass up especially when considering a lot of our condition removals are bugged right now. Pure of Voice does not work with Hold the Line or Save Yourselves, Purging Flames is also not removing all conditions like it said it would on the wiki, it only removes 1.

You’ll find the hammer is fine even without having to go crithammer style, that is one viable way to go about it and in the end all comes down to what you weigh as more important.

I switched to hammer from greatsword around level 70 and I haven’t looked back because it has provided me with nearly as much damage as I was doing with the greatsword at that point but twice the survivability. I also appreciated the boons I was giving to people around me with the hammer. I found myself able to “tank” mobs in dungeons and the like that I would have never been able to before.

I ran 0/5/30/30/5 for awhile before switching to 0/0/30/30/10 for the increased boon duration and the ability to ground target consecrations for WvW. I only lost 3% crit with the change. I love my shouts. The spec also works very well for staff swap for ranged and support as well as tagging mobs in DEs.

I use my hammer in PvE when I don’t want to think. I can kill almost anything with auto-attack. It’s very fun to use in PvP, but I find it to be unreliable due to the fact that anyone with blinds/blocks/dodges (guardian) can negate all of the slow hammer attacks with ease.

I use all of the weapons (I even started to use scepter again) and switch weapons and builds all the time, even in the midst of a wvw battle if necessary. I don’t understand the players who only choose to use one weapon/build.

I have been using the hammer for the past 40 levels and haven’t looked back. I use it because I love it. I have not played pvp with it yet but it dominates pve. Just Agro a group of mobs and ur hammer reeks havoc. Also, survivability is INSANE. Protection up 80-100% of the time, yes please.

Goin for 0/15/30/20/5 crithammer of course

I also like it cus I feel unique compared to the hundreds of GS guardians out there

Don’t forget the fact that Mighty Blow is a much more reliable source of damage than Whirling Wrath is!

I played around all night fiddling with different builds. My GS build was effectively castrated. Basically, I find myself waiting for GS abilities to come back while Thief’s and Mesmers decimate me. Not having a second 10 second attack, like Symbol of Wrath was, forces you into a position where you have no abilities to fire for long periods of time.

By the end of the night, and I spent most of it SPVP on a hammer, I came up with a nifty build that is part Crithammer part Spirit Weapon. And seemed to be doing very well by night’s end. The split was 20/0/30/10/10 taking as many Traits as I could to get Spirt Weapons working while maintaining the Altruistic Healing and Larger Symbols. It led to one of the most hilarous rotations: use spirt hammer to knock down a foe, use the 5 to create a circle around him, then punt him back into the circle, then smash him a bit with your autoattack and by firing off Sword’s damage. Was quite fun.

The Hammer seems like our go-to Weapon now. It is just a testament to how pathetic they have made GS now.

Awesome advice, thanks guys! I’ll definitely keep looking into hammer builds and see what I can do with it.

I use to be Hammer Guardian before they start buffing up all the dungeons(more trash mobs, more CCs for trash mobs). Once they buff the dungeons up i somehow can’t play the Hammer like i used to lol. Switched to GS and things got better.

I feel GS has better mobility than Hammer, thus better survivability. Bought a AC hammer last night to try get back to the Hammer routine but having problems haha. Still trying out the auto attack dodge thingy…

One thing that puts me in a dilemma are the traits for symbols. Theres so many good traits to take but only 3 slots. Theres Larger Symbols, Longer Duration Symbols, All Symbols Heal, Lower Shout CD, Lower 2H weapon CD, PoV, BP. Dunno which 3 to pick…

I salvaged my greatsword from CoF, which put it to more use than I made of it. Levelled up with gs, switched to hammer and never looked backed. I use a 0/15/30/20/5, which I believe has become something of a cookie-cutter build now. It’s the crit-and-heal build as I like to call it. Hits hard and amazing survivability. Altruistic healing and Empowering might is so good I have no idea how else to play my guardian now :/

Your right, there is alot of good traits in that line. I was constantly changing my decision on which 3 to use manly but I might be finally narrowing it down. I don’t know how so many of the crithammer builds only go 20 points in the Vitality line. There is over 6 really good traits and the extra healing/health is always welcomed.

I personally suggest using a GS and Hammer. They both benefit from the same 20% reduction skill and both have forms of control and support. Both are also fairly mobile, the major difference being hammer is probably better for single tough enemies while GS is your go to AoE. Once you get used to swapping between them on the go, you can also toss out of some fairly nice good combos.

But then again that is just my opinion,

I have a pretty good combo going on my hammer right now. I run gs/hm.

Glacial Heart: Critical hits with a hammer have a 50% chance to chill your target for 4 seconds. This effect can only occur once every 45 seconds.

Rune of Svanir: +15% Frozen Duration

Superior Sigil of Hydromancy: Freeze nearby foes for 3 second when you swap to this weapon while in combat.

:P