Hi all!
I’ve been having a blast with the old mace/shield+GS build in WvW roaming.
For those unfamiliar with it;
That’s the version I use at least, feedback is always welcome.
Why use this build?
Wall of text incoming.
Mace is fun
With the recent buff to sigil of paralyzation, stun increase is now a significant 30%, I feel mace is back with a vengeance. Like every other warrior skill that’s good, be aware that the mace F1 is very telegraphed. Thus, you will need to adjust your timing, and utilize Shield #4 and Bull’s Rush to open up your burst.
Count dodges, watch for blocks/stability, bait stun breaks, etc. When you get the hang of it, you can start to quickly dispatch of targets when you’re HB has 90% crit chance without fury and 212% crit damage..
Why anti-meta?
This build currently feels very anti-meta. It boasts great survivability through high mobility, excellent soft CC reduction, high toughness thanks to melandru runes, a free dodge on swap to your defensive set and two great blocking skills of which one is on a very low cooldown. But the main reason why it seems to work so well for me in the roaming scene right now, is because of the reflect on block. Many engineers/mesmers/p/d thieves, basically anything ranged, will dislike you.
Many specs with which warriors struggle often slot just 1 stunbreak. This spec allows you to get up close while damaging them through their own attacks, bait out their stunbreaks (if any), before unleashing your gamechanging combo.
The downside
The sustained damage is somewhat lacking. GS is meh at it, sigil of Air does help. Feel free to swap this out for sigil of hydromancy, which also adds burst (less then Air of course) and a nice chill (which often hits because you will swap to GS after skullcrack). The lack of sustained damage is why I run with 40% base crit chance and Furious Reaction, so you will have about 75% fury uptime. Another option is to swap out sigil of Impact for sigil of Fire. This will decrease burst potency, but increase sustained damage (and watching Bladetrail hit for 7k damage is always funny). I have tested this, and it is actually very useful, sometimes a better option then Impact.
Moar boss
Mace/Shield offers you 3 forms of CC (F1, Pommel and Shield Bash). Bull’s gets you another one, gives you a way to land Skullcrack and adds more mobility and gap closing (which I feel is no luxury when on Mace). I sometimes tend to switch out Bull’s Rush for stuff like EP or Dolyak Signet (then I switch DotE to Signet Mastery).
Last but not least, the damage from Mace #2 is underestimated. To compare, it does more damage then Rush (GS #5) or 60% of a fully powered eviscerate. And with Missile Deflection it won’t get wasted on a random clone bolt. If you make sure to stick to your target while blocking, you will either block all ranged attacks for the duration, or deliver a very powerful blow.
Dude, I have Hoelbrak runes because power is boss.
For all those warriors out there with less cash and Hoelbrak runes, there is a spin off to the regular version of the build.
Might baby
Instead of utilising Unsuspecting Foe for that insane Skullcrack>HB, you instead focus more on might building (to not waste the Hoelbrak). Apart from SoR, this is done through Forceful GS, which net’s you a short lasting ~5 stacks if you’re SC>HB combo hits. Mighty Defenses can get you any amount of might, and is usually funny to use. Picture using it to get close, blocking everything, then SC>HB with 20-25 stacks.. Mace block can get you another stack as well. Finally, Sigil of Air is replaced with Sigil of Battle for another 6 perma-stacks after about 20 seconds into the fight.
This build has less on demand burst potential, but can achieve insane amounts of power, with might stacks that can incidentally go up to as high as 25. Note that you lose the reflect ability, due to Mighty Defenses not proccing if you reflect an attack. You do get the 20% cooldown on shield and on GS though.
Swapping back to reflects and DotE can also work. You will have fewer stacks of might, but man, that reflect…
I believe it was Burr The King who first posted the skullcrack build. Thus I am not reinventing the wheel here. Only pointing out that this build still has potential in WvW roaming. And more importantly, it’s still a boatload of fun.
Hulk Roaming Montages/Build Vids
I always rage but never quit.