Guild Wars 2

So I’m thinking about trying out a sword/shield and longbow condition damage build with good toughness attatched and shout healing involved for WvW/pvp. The idea is to gear using Apothecary armor that delivers the three main stats I’ll need to stay efficient; Toughness, Healing Power (for shouts), and condition damage (for bleeds/burns). Obvious hard counters to this build would be condition removal builds, which would prove to be challenging to counter. Otherwise, I think the mobility of the sword/shield and the AoE damage and control of the Longbow would prove highly versatile in most situations.

The build I’m contemplating:
http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mVRkcm0MzmRaGmmRaGm9MGxGVszRboa8kiT7khs7khf7070M7kuB70z7kG270z7kGL70z7ow270z7ow170M8of3

Has anyone tried a build like this or has any advice for me?

For WvW, OH Warhorn is probably better due to the everything it provides compared to OH sword.

Longbow is fine for sieges, although you’ll probably need the Stronger Bowstrings or w/e it is, because the Burst Skill covers a large area and benefits from ConDamage.

However, good luck on pvp, since no one is going to be zoned by Longbow, and Sword/Sword is too easily negated by condition removal. Mostly because the sword throw probably won’t hit, and the riposte ability PROBABLY will never hit, although it will block 1 melee attack or any number of ranged attacks if Reflect is traited.

Kiroshima.8497:

However, good luck on pvp, since no one is going to be zoned by Longbow, and Sword/Sword is too easily negated by condition removal. Mostly because the sword throw probably won’t hit, and the riposte ability PROBABLY will never hit, although it will block 1 melee attack or any number of ranged attacks if Reflect is traited.

I figured it’d be a much harder build to pull off in sPvP, but you seem to think I said I was going to use sword OH? I’m planning to use Sword/Shield, not sword/sword.

I’ve been trying a similar one in spvp but I went 0/30/0/10/0, with a larger emphasis on longbow damage, taking Fear Me, Signet of Fury, Balanced Stance as utilities instead. Also, I use mace offhand.

The reason for this is that I tried using shield first, and trying to combo the shield dash with the sword burst skill is incredibly difficult as the stun time is only one second. Furthermore, it is liable to miss and is single target only. The stun from mace is much more reliable, stuns for longer, making it a better setup for your sword burst.

The idea of the build is to keep as much adrenaline as possible by popping Healing Surge, Signet of Fury at the right times. Also, by taking 30 in discipline, you get access to Adrenal Reserves which ensure you have at least one bar of adrenaline to use.

I took Signet of Rage’s 20% reduced cooldown because it is very easily abusable with Runes of Lyssa. You get a full reset every 48 seconds and near permanent fury/might. Also, increased precision also helps when I have Furious, making my critical hits gain adrenaline.

Overall, I think the build works very well together, but needs very careful management of adrenaline and not throw it on the longbow burst as and when one likes. Also dies to necros/condition damage very easily.

Ah, my bad xD. I thought it said Sword/Sword xD.

I am a sword/shield condition damage warrior myself and its working pretty well. 10/30/0/0/30 with restorative strength, deep cuts, crack shot, last chance, warrior’s sprint, mobile strikes and quick bursts for traits. I’ve been experimenting for a while with the build and this is the one I like best.

Restorative strength switches with death from above when defending towers and keeps at WvW. Mending + Restorative strength solves all the condition problems that you are having. Deep cuts is an obvious choice to max out bleed. Crack shot makes my rifle an aoe damage and Last Chance gives that last burst of damage that you need, not to mention it speeds up finishing people.

I prefer the critical damage stat more than the power stat for 2 reasons. First, it has better traits. Warrior’s sprint and Mobile strikes keeps you mobile and fast enough to keep up with you enemies. Quick Bursts speeds up the recharge of your best skill Flurry. Secondly with 30% more on your critical damage, I feel that my normal attack does more on crits than a normal attack backed up with power stats. Feel free to do math stuff with this because I am just going on my gut feel.

The build works by setting up your opponent with a well placed Flurry. Shield bash and Bull’s Charge are two skills that I use to set up Flurry not to mention that Bull’s Charge is an amazing gap closer. So why not mace off hand for the better knockdown skill? This is because of Shield Stance. Glass cannons in pvp usually try to drop you immediately. When you pop Shield Stance at the start of a fight, glass cannons use up all their skills with you just blocking them. And if Shield stance is not enough, you got Endure Pain as a back up. These two is also amazing when running away. The last utility skill that I use is Berserkers Stance. With this skill, your adrenaline will almost always be full so you can Flurry anytime you want. Signet of Rage for the last skill because it is the best skill for that slot in my opinion.

For my switch weapon, I switch out 3 different weapons. Rifle is what I use most of the time. Longbow for attacking towers and Hammer is a situational weapon. Hammer is good in group fights when you don’t have to chase as much.

So its sword/shield with Bull’s Charge, Endure Pain, Berserkers Stance and Signet of Rage for utility skill. Rabid stats on armor and jewelry. But since the rabid jewelry is a little bit expensive at the moment, i switched them with Rampagers jewelrys.

Goblin, I’ve been trying to play your playstyle, but it never works out for me. Can I ask for some advice on when and how to use beserker’s stance correctly? At what times is it safe to use it for the “hundred bleeds” off flurry?

Also, how do you deal with using the shield dash against people? I find it wildly inaccurate and difficult to control when there are multiple opponents on the field. The same goes with bull rush.

Also, I have difficulty using endure pain correctly. Whenever I use it, conditions go right through it, and not having any natural condition removers besides my runes of lyssa, how do you deal with conditions being stacked on you aside from raising a shield?

Kid Taylor.5479:

Goblin, I’ve been trying to play your playstyle, but it never works out for me. Can I ask for some advice on when and how to use beserker’s stance correctly? At what times is it safe to use it for the “hundred bleeds” off flurry?

Also, how do you deal with using the shield dash against people? I find it wildly inaccurate and difficult to control when there are multiple opponents on the field. The same goes with bull rush.

Also, I have difficulty using endure pain correctly. Whenever I use it, conditions go right through it, and not having any natural condition removers besides my runes of lyssa, how do you deal with conditions being stacked on you aside from raising a shield?

I use Berserker’s Stance right before the start of a fight. When I see an enemy it is the first move that I do. It usually fills up my adrenaline bar in about 2 seconds and with it full I can use Flurry anytime I want. Whenever it cd’s in a fight, I instantly use it even if I have 2/3 of my adrenaline bar. When adrenaline hits 3 bars I go for a Flurry and Berserker’s Stance still fills it up again.

With Shield Bash I don’t think that it ever felt inaccurate and difficult to control. The enemy here I think is your opponent dodging it. I usually open with my Rifle. With a few shots in and Volley skill I always see people using up their endurance. After the second dodge I use Bull’s Charge and Flurry him. If the problem you are encountering is that Bull’s Charge or Shield Bash flies through your target and that you have to go back so you can Flurry them, we are not alone in this problem. My d/d ele friend is also having some trouble with ride the lightning flying past through his target. I’ve found that this bug is very random but it works more than it doesn’t. If it doesn’t I just use my Rifle again to hit him. When dealing with multiple opponents, especially when you are outnumbered, Rifle is your best friend. As a warrior you can’t just jump in a zerg and expect not to get targeted.

I use Endure Pain when I get to 50% life. This has been more effective than using it at the last moment before you die because as you said bleeds, burning and confusion will still kill you. I sometimes even activate it when I see a big move coming like a hundred blades from a GS warrior or a thief going stealth then using up all his initiative for heartseeker. Endure Pain is not my last resort in a battle instead I use it early to tank the opponents big moves while I’m using my big move on them.

With conditions I use Mending heal skill. Mending + Restorative Strength removes 3 conditions which is usually enough for me to be able to run away with my Savage Leap and Bull’s Rush skill.