Guild Wars 2

I’ve been trying to come up with a warrior build that revolves around the axe/shield, that could survive in zergs, take a beating, dish one back out, and at least somewhat be able to roam for a while now. I think I might have finally figured something out (maybe).

The build:

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAneRngOk7YUQyQgDZAB9QDritQ9YOqj4IVQMA-jEyAYLBRiAIVIQZvioxWGLiGraBTdSEV7NKiWNA-w

The idea is to get your adrenaline for evis from taking a beating, using axe 3 or GS 4 to apply an immobilize and quickly evis them. Obviously I tried to get some condi removal too, but I don’t know if Mending would be better than Healing Surge in a burst-oriented build.

I’m not too concerned about providing a bunch of group support in zergs, as many of my guildies run extremely tanky and support-oriented builds, as do many zerg runners.

The main thing I’m not sure about at this point is gear. Should I trade off some zerker pieces for more knights/soldiers? Would a different rune set benefit me more? I want to keep both power and toughness above 3k, but I’m wondering if I should forgo some power for a bit more toughness.

that build looks like fun, leg specialist into eviscerate – nice idea! aslong as you can burst condis will be cleansed quickly i guess.. if you are concerned, maybe drop shield for warhorn and play more mobile / dodgy? and crit chance seems too low compared to crit damage, maybe more knights pieces, less pvt/zerker? shame if not even half of your eviscerates crit :O

Without touching the utilities I’d adjust it a little into this.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAneRngOk7YUQyQgDZABpQDrCjifIIUPmD3oNA-jUyAYLBRiAIVIQJPl1EogYZsIasKGM9JRUt3oIa1A-w

You can usually fake out and punish an early dodge without relying on leg specialist. Also Cavalier trinket’s are amazing when looking to increase survivability without sacrificing your power too much.

Edit – Forgot to add that with Lemongrass or a slightly lower tier version of it on top of Melandru runes and Dogged March, Mobile Strikes becomes largely irrelevant.

I don’t quite see the point of Mobile Strikes with Melandru runes and Dogged March.

If it was me, I would drop Mobile Strikes, get Sharpened Axes instead and use Lemongrass soup.

And I’ll be honest, I tried similar sets of gear. I used to be full Soldier armor with Knight/Berserker trinkets. Nowadays I run Berserker armor with Knight trinkets, mostly because I noticed that the biggest damage I was taking from Backstab still wasn’t enough to get me killed either way.

Also, I don’t think Leg Specialist is worth it. You’ll get much better use out of getting 10 into Arms and grabbing Unsuspecting Foe, which will allow you to Shield Bash > Eviscerate for nearly guaranteed crits.

If you wanna stick with the Soldier armor, this is what I would go for.

As for the healing skills, I personally find that the ton of -condition duration% with Cleansing Ire is enough and I opt for Healing Surge.

Personally, I am not a fan of Defy Pain. I prefer 0/30/20/0/20, mostly because I love the amount of adrenaline Furious and Sharpened Axes generate. If I was more of a WvW freak, I would probably go for 0/20/20/0/30 instead, mostly for Forceful Greatsword.

Glassy Build
http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-s;4RK-O0g4F2-60;9;4T;09T19A;42;029AIBI7;2V19cV19cn-kKNL35;3kVq0u1zY4_Aa-3WJs1k;9;9;9;9;9;9;0V8-6h

Tanky/Dps
http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-u;4RKFM0o-kL-60;9;5JT-J;139-18A;152-4-H7;26TsW6TsWn-kKNL35;2Vp-wW622ZH_Ea6oVA-2H-7;2a;9;9;9;9;97c;34k3b

Thanks for the help, everyone, a lot of good points were made.

I’m wondering now though, since dogged march + Melandru’s and -condi food will make Mobile Strikes rather useless, should I swap out the GS for a Sword and Warhorn? I didn’t plan on using 100b ever unless the opportunity presented itself in the form of allies providing the lock down, just had GS up here for 3, 4, and 5.

100b is your baby cuz of,

Sigil of Superior Hydromancy

You freeze nearby foes for 3s when you swap to this weapon while in combat. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 9s)

Between Sword/Warhorn and Greatsword it’s down to a playstyle preference.

Sword/Warhorn will give you the mobility plus boon assistance in the form of swiftness and vigor for allies, along with weakness condition on enemies on the “5”.

Greatsword gives a little more mobility and one of the most effective “Downed Cleaves” in the game in Hundred Blades.