Guild Wars 2

Build: http://tinyurl.com/m7chntq by RenderBlender

Pros:
Frequent immobilize/cripple
Great spike damage (8k w/ full volley, 8k final thrust, 9k killshots)
Good mobility w/ Savage Leap
Low Cooldown
No Need of Unsuspecting Foe
Rifle abilities have a ‘punch’
“Fast Hands” synergizes w/ sigils
Secret of the build 101% critical rate w/ 3 adrenaline bars and fury (= x2.38 dmg)

Cons: No Stability, No Stunbreak (replace Sig of Stamina w/ Dolyak?)
Not serious tournament viable (soloque viable though)
Weak to focus/condition spikes
Poor ‘Stomper’
Weak to blinds
No gimmick like Rune of Svanir, Vampire, Lyssa etc

Combo’s: Starting from Rifle…
1: Try to always open with Brutal shot (8% dmg) to…
2: Auto attack(x1) + Aimed Shot to Volley (Guaranteed immobolize [1 sec] and cripple [5 sec] w/ +10% dmg)
3: Or Aimed shot to Volley (less preferable)

!! Note: Savage Leap links to melee combos with Shield Bash !!

4: Shield Bash to Rifle Butt to Aimed Shot to Volley (Standard)
5: Shield Bash to Rifle Butt to Aimed shot to Killshot (If below 45%)
6: Shield Bash to Final Thrust (Melee Money Shot) <—Seriously Money

And Always Aimed shot on ‘the move’ leads into Rifle Butt or Shield Bash

Tips: Use Signet of Might on Guardian for every Killshot. Typically unneeded for Necro, Ele, Mes (Any other class use discretion.)
Bloodlust Stacks matter: Once you hit 25 stacks, smoke a noob from range instead of Sword n’ Board spiking.

Even w/ Bloodlust consider swapping to Sword n’ Board for the +4 might stacks regularly.

What is nice about this build, you can attack downed opponents and seriously hack them up for gibs. Melee isn’t messing around in this build.

Use Savage Leap as a mobility tool. You can get to many areas unaccesssible to teleporting classes. Every map has at least 1 ‘high ground’ area where you can access without fear of easy melee retaliation.

You are a support class, even though you deal mega damage, play as a support.

What to Watch out For: Do not get caught by a Signet of Spite Necro, or Blind spamming thieves.

Comments/tips/suggestions are always welcome.

Following jpeg is evidence of typical damage you can expect to put out with practice.

If you did swap for dolyak signet you could pop it and might for stability + unblockable btw.

So I tested this out a few times in hot-join. Moved a couple signets and runes around but pretty much the same. I went with healing surge instead of Healing signet because without adrenal health, the passive regen just doesn’t work and with healing surge you can get adrenaline a lot faster, you lose 40 precision but it’s worth it.

Also went sword/warhorn as this is supposed to be a rifle build. The warhorn will give weakness and mobility for pvp maps, as well as some condition breaks on Charge. I also went with signet of might/stamina/dolyak as that covers the bases more in my opinion.

One thing I will say is that while the damage is nice, the fact that it is so squishy really hurts it a lot. Enemies even eles and the like, will go right up in your face and totally ruin your shot. Bunkers don’t seem to mind the damage output from the rifle either, as the lack of power behind your attacks isn’t helping.

Overall I think warriors are just better at damage in melee. This seems like a fun PvE build, but in a mode that requires you to be close-up to enemies like Conquest. I don’t see the PvP viability versus going GS or Axe/Axe. Melee just does more damage period for the warrior.

I’m playing rifle warrior since headstart (mostly wvw). Some comments on your build:

- Personally I think going for 100% crit chance is a waste. I would drop Deep Strike for Furious Speed or Deep Cuts and Heightened Focus for Burst Mastery. IMO 70-75% crit chance is more than enough (dont forget its 10% with critical burst)
- I would never go out without a stun breaker and stability. Stability is also great for stomping. You could just switch Signet of Fury for Dolyak Signet (180 toughness dont hurt either).
- I would never waste both Shield Bash and Rifle Butt in one move unless I’m sure I can kill my target. Your target will just heal up after that and there’s nothing you can do about it because you just wasted all available interrupts.

This is the build I’m currently using for WvW: http://tinyurl.com/gw2riflebuild

It works extremely well for roaming around solo. I typically change the third utility slot frequently depending on the situation. Mostly I use:

- Frenzy to surprise opponents with a huge and fast burst
- FGJ for better group support
- Endure Pain if we are outmanned and things get really nasty
- Signet of Might for shooting guardians out of the enemy zerg
- Stomp for Lord Room defending
- Bulls Charge for the sake of fun

used my build mainly for trolls, but i thought i’d share : ]

@ Supreme:
This build is finely tuned for top damage. The necessary trade off for high lethality is high fragility. For this reason the defense shield provides is crucial to the build. Your choice for Warhorn is mistaken. The AoE Weakness (6 sec) & Vigor (10 sec) is inferior to Block (3 sec) in terms of keeping you alive under focus pressure. Even the Vigor granted is less than optimal considering you already have 50% stamina regeneration from the signet.

And losing Shield Bash for Charge… my god. The utility provided by Shield Bash for interrupting your opponent and chaining combinations is far superior to AoE Swiftness while curing crippled, chilled, and immobilize. Running away from your opponent isn’t going to help you fight them. And if they’re running from you that’s why you have a ranged weapon, no?

When someone gets in your face, the “Shield Bash to Final Thrust” should be your answer. That combination is like a hand held Killshot. And if they got that close to you without having eaten a volley and more, then you’re doing something wrong.

Also any rune changes will result in a significant decrease in damage. This build produces more damage than any ‘power’ build could even come close to for these weapon sets.

@ Teg:
Please refer to http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Critical_hit

@ 75% critical chance w/ 60% critical damage you have an average damage output of 1.825% of normal damage.
@ 100% critical chance w/ 60% critical damage you have an average damage output of 2.100% of normal damage.

However, this gap between damage actually widens when you do more damage. This occurs whenever you attack a foe with bleeding (10% dmg), and/or vulnerability(s) (8% w/ brutal shot).

Simply put, would you rather be hitting someone for 1.9x normal damage 7 out of 10 times, or hit someone 2.2x normal damage 10 out of 10 times?

Also consider the skill coefficients placed on the rifle. Missing a single volley critical will lower your damage output drastically, as the rifle’s burst was designed around Volley and Killshot.

It’s true that 10% Burst critical chance is going to waste, but the trade for more consistent and higher damage is justified. Putting the emphasis on Killshot w/ Burst Mastery is typical of a WvW player who can hide in Zerg without being noticed. Killshot is far less reliable in tpvp setting.

Skill Coefficients for Rifle:
Kill Shot: 1.42 / 1.74 / 2.05 (depending on Adrenaline level)
Bleeding Shot: 0.40
Aimed Shot: 0.35
Volley: 0.60 (per shot)
Brutal Shot: 0.50
Rifle Butt: 1.00

@ Google:
My highest was 15,958 Killshot

@ Player Character:
Dolyak is a viable choice.

Thank everyone who has viewed or commented.

RenderBlender.8592:

@ Supreme:
This build is finely tuned for top damage. The necessary trade off for high lethality is high fragility. For this reason the defense shield provides is crucial to the build. Your choice for Warhorn is mistaken. The AoE Weakness (6 sec) & Vigor (10 sec) is inferior to Block (3 sec) in terms of keeping you alive under focus pressure. Even the Vigor granted is less than optimal considering you already have 50% stamina regeneration from the signet.

I don’t agree with this way of thinking. The shield isn’t going to provide enough defense for your opponent to care. Vigor + Signet of Stamina stack. Meaning dodging is way more viable. Combined with an energy sigil and you get a lot more dodging out of this build. Dodge > Block mainly because you get a lot more damage mitigation from it and conditions don’t go through dodge but they do to block, and the meta is really condition heavy right now.

If the idea of this build is to hide behind your bunker and kill from the back lines, then again I think a melee build works better for that. An issue being that Conquest forces you to be up close and personal, and a warrior can get an opponent off of a point way better swinging a sword, then shooting a rifle.

@ Supreme
From http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Endurance :
“effects which grant additional endurance regeneration do not stack beyond double the normal rate – for instance, any additional endurance regeneration while under effects of boon vigor (which already grants maximum increase in regeneration rate) has no effect.”

So you’ll have +50% all the time from Stamina, and +100% when you have vigor. Not +150% with both.

The Shield block is intended to buy you time to reposition yourself with Savage Leap or unleash with Shield Bash to Final Thrust which is guaranteed to land. If you choose to reposition you can then begin to ‘kite’ your opponent with Aimed Shot.

I wouldn’t want to go in any melee fight without a stun/interrupt. That’s just me.