Guild Wars 2

Hello everyone,

Since I came back to the game, I wanted to create another warrior char and level him to 80. As far as it goes I enjoy much more both PvE and sPvP with the warrior (I used to play Thief).

My weakness is that I enjoy playing dualwielding characters, especially with swords.
But as you know, offhand sword doesn’t bring much to the table imo.
I made a Sw/Ax – GS build which does work well in my opinion, but I feel weak when going with Sw/Ax in PvP if my target isn’t with less than 50% hp.

Here is the build :
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAsXRjgOVvxOyQMRCCjifAkjixvEli5UnUBxA-TwAg0EJpSylkJJZS2kGksE5QyMjXGA

It’s fine in PvE, but in PvP I find myself often chasing my target to get some hits
( I have a Mesmer in mind, I defeated him twice but it was quite a fight because even with the leg-specialist trait he was often escaping from my immobilize skills with the classic : vanish -> clones)

Any advice about using a better offhand ? The whirlwind skill#5 is missing too much because I get kitted easily which is sad because it does decent damage.
I was thinking of a mace offhand but I feel like the skill#5 will often miss too. Plus I don’t want to take a shield since I prefer to be very offensive.

Despite spitting on the offhand sword like many, it’s not that bad when you look at it : 2sec block with a low cd, Impale which does 381 base damage and applies Torment (2,756 damage plus another 2,756 damage if moving but I don’t see these dot numbers popping on my screen for some reason, is it bugged?) and the Rip skill that does 1,460 base damage but isn’t easy to land (2sec cd if you miss though).

Unfortunately against Mesmers you’re going to be the underdog no matter what build you choose.

Strangely enough, I’ve found the shield to be the best offensive off hand for a warrior. Especially if you get reflect and might stacking traits. Nothing better than to reflect an Unload and then hit the thief with 10+ stacks of might.

First of all, don’t use off-hand axe until the buff it or something. Whirling axe is one of the worst skills we have atm, and is only half decent when stacking boons or conditions. 3 attacks with main-hand axe beats the damage of whirling axe, and you aren’t sitting there literally twirling on the spot for 4 seconds. Dual strike is OK, but you don’t really need the 8s fury if you’re running sig of rage.

I am assuming your standard combo is Imob – 100b.
In that case, you should probably be using offhand mace or shield to get that stun/knockdown as immobilize is very volatile, and in some cases, very hard to land.
Warhorn is always good for the blast finisher and cure conditions as well, but obviously, is more defensive.

Kearkeeth.5913:

First of all, don’t use off-hand axe until the buff it or something. Whirling axe is one of the worst skills we have atm, and is only half decent when stacking boons or conditions. 3 attacks with main-hand axe beats the damage of whirling axe, and you aren’t sitting there literally twirling on the spot for 4 seconds. Dual strike is OK, but you don’t really need the 8s fury if you’re running sig of rage.

I am assuming your standard combo is Imob – 100b.
In that case, you should probably be using offhand mace or shield to get that stun/knockdown as immobilize is very volatile, and in some cases, very hard to land.
Warhorn is always good for the blast finisher and cure conditions as well, but obviously, is more defensive.

Thing is, the immob on Flurry lasts enough for me to put a full 100b on someone (without the lame combo with Frenezy).
With the help of the sword in main hand and all the cripples + immob from leg specialist, people panic and use their skills to purge them. that’s when I use the combo.
But in this game nothing is guaranteed : any skill can miss or be dodged.
The knockdown from the offhand mace is interesting but not only it is slow : it lasts 2 seconds and have quite a long cd. Which won’t leave me enough time to put a full 100b or any other decent attack. Especially if I’m victim of kitting.

Shield is probably the most attractive option. Shield stun is relatively easy to land, and can be used as an interrupt, or to help land flurry or final thrust. Not to mention shield 5 is also very useful.

If team support is a priority, then WH is also a good option. It’s been awhile since I’ve used warhorn condi removal, but if you’re taking leg specialist you could give it a shot.