Guild Wars 2

Is it worth using Marauder armor and weapons on a Daredevil?
How much DPS we’ll lost in exchange of some survivability?

I use Zerk trinkets and Valk armor which is basically poor mans Marauder. It works very well since the DPS gain on precision drops off quickly after 40 percent or so. Basically trading a fraction of the DPS for another 2k of HP is a pretty big advantage IMO.

If you have trouble surviving without marauder, take it. Damage loss should be around 5% or smthng. Maybe a little more if you have a lot of precision buffs flying around.
The last time we had this discussion someone also brought up dimishing returns on power, so it could also be a lil’ less, but I have no idea how that part is calculated.

Imo Marauder is way better than berserker. The slight loss of DPS is worth the bit of extra survivability.

Marauder is best IMO. The offensive loss is very, very marginal while the defensive gain is pretty huge.

Einlanzer.1627:

Marauder is best IMO. The offensive loss is very, very marginal while the defensive gain is pretty huge.

Marauders is actually a damage gain IMO. Being able to stay in the fight for one or two more big shots is typically more damage than surging then having to fall back quickly. The only exception to this is the thief that plans to hit/run only.

I did the maths some time ago, and switching from marauder weapon + armor (and zerk trinkets) to full zerk increases your DPS by 4%. But keep in mind WvW is not only about DPS, it’s also about burst damage, which is where zerk shines.

That being said, I use a Marauder armor and won’t change it anytime soon.

I’ve been building and calculating on what’s good and I think I got it. My goal is this build —> http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZEQNAW4an0MBFmilOBePBkmiFYCbuDOCXhaJgAQGorwkEeCA-TVSBQBmUJYCV/5CHEgFcBAynuBA8AAewRA4K7PkRlfBAQA25OTn1ZwRP6RP6RPa38m38m38mlCIihWA-w

Sir Mad.1092:

But keep in mind WvW is not only about DPS, it’s also about burst damage, which is where zerk shines.

I think it is the opposite. Zerk performs relatively poorly on the thief in WvW because of the bigger power and condi spikes from relative bunker builds. For example, jump on a dire condi build and zerk isn’t going to do significantly more damage while the lack of a vitality buffer will get a thief killed quick.

In sPvP, zerk is far more friendly because spike damage is significantly less.

I stand by my theory in which a primarily Valkyrie build reaches optimal performance for power CS builds in the PvP formats. If you’re not running CS, Marauder is the only way to go, and the only second option in any PvP format. There is just too much resilience in the game in general right now to justify berserker stats in anything but PvE.

Mostly what other people have said, valkyrie or marauder armor mixed with zerk trinkets tends to give the best results for WvW. Which you choose should depend on what weapons and traits you play: if you play CS and dagger mainhand, valk armor will give you more damage on a single crit. If you play something that uses multiple small hits, like S/P or P/P, marauder will work out better due to the higher crit chance.

I use marauder weapons and armor, with zerker amulet, cavalier rings, one zerk one cavalier earring and zerker backplate. That gives 2.3k power, 57% crit chance, 202% crit damage, 16-17k health and 2.5k armor, this with agility signet and before food and bloodlust, which works well for my S/P build talking acro/Trickery/DD. If I want to play dagger I’ll play CS over acro, honestly I don’t see the point in building glassier than this right now.

Do not forget the consumables and whether a stacking sigil used. If a bit short in precision/ferocity/power those can be used to make up that shortfall and give decent well balanced numbers in all attributes.

As well I consider the fact that while we have access to precision/ferocity/power through in game traits and boons like the CS line, might stacking and fury there nothing for toughness and vitality so we are more reliant on the gear for the latter.

I personally use a full set of Marauder Armour and a Marauder Amulet, with Berserker Weapons and further Accessories. Rune is either Scholar, Pack or Strength depending on how I feel.
Due to using Ferocious Maintenance Oils, my Health is around 16K while maintaining a high enough Power to get of consistent ~10K(+) Backstabs and Heartseekers (varies per class and their build obviously). Gives me just the right amount of sustain I need for WvW while remaining good for PvE aswell.

What it really comes down to is your personal expierence, need more surviveability? Go for more Marauder/Valkyrie gear. Feeling confident? Go for more Berserker gear.
Goes for any game mode really.