Guild Wars 2

Follow me on twitch! twitch.tv/Defektive
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Hi there.

My name is Defektivex and this is probably my most ambitious build to date.

This will most likely be my last build for a long time. Devoting time to GW2 has been especially difficult due to the slow pace at which the game has developed.

Props due where they are deserved:
I give Schwahrheit a tilt of my hat for the inspiration for this build. He gave me the weaponset combo and I ran with it.

The goal of the build:
I set out to bring a little more change to the team fight setting.
As Warriors become even more edged out in the competitive space I thought to myself “My FAVORITE weapon is the hammer. What can I do in an attempt to make it viable?”

What I came up with is this:
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Presenting Hammer/Sword-Warhorn: Skill Cap edition
This build focus’s on the many strengths of Hammer (locking down opponents and strong single hits) and Sword/Warhorn’s Or Shields mobile versatility and immobolizers.

Clips of it in action:
GTFO Let me Heal: http://www.twitch.tv/defektive/c/1965678
tPvP Team Fight Mid - http://www.twitch.tv/defektive/c/1965597
tPvP (last night) – http://www.twitch.tv/defektive/c/1965558
tPvP Team Fight - http://www.twitch.tv/defektive/c/1965581
2v1 http://www.twitch.tv/defektive/c/1960394
vs D is for Daggers http://www.twitch.tv/defektive/c/1957336 <3 you sexy

The Build: (0/20/30/0/20 – 0 / IV VIII / I X / I / III X)
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQBgAApoKuMFKS9wu6iLVQMA

The Gear:
6/6 Lyssa Runes (+Crit chance / Condi removal)
Soldier Ammy / Zerker Rune
Sigil of Fire on Hammer
Sigil of Bloodlust on Sword
Sigil of Battle on Warhorn
(or w/e you really want, Fire is the important one)

Utilities:
(Balanced Stance, Bulls Charge, Berzerkers Stance)

Advantages: To many to count
44% Crit rate at 100% adren / Fury (which is almost always)
Hammer hits for 1100-1400, hammer Crits for 3k-4.5k
4 Knockdowns or Stuns (Hammer F1 / 4 / 5, Bulls Charge)
1 AoE Immobolizer
2 Single Target Immobolizers (Sword)
Chill Clense / Condi Clense x2
1800 Toughness
25.5K HP

Disadvantage:
Fear the blinds but in a good way. Half of your movement skills remove blinds
(dodge roll = an attack = Blind wipe).
Build is not for new comers, I don’t expect people with limited Warrior experience to perform this build well.

Goal of the build:
-Provide heavy team fight damage.
-Disrupt the flow of battle and almost 100-0 Ele’s
-Lock down a single opponent for 16 seconds. If your team can’t kill something in 16 seconds then you should reconsider your team.

Why is this the Skill Cap edition?
Hammer provides something no other build for Warrior really does.
It lets you fake out an opponent.
Bind your ‘sheath’ weapon button to an easily accessible command (mine is a mouse button). Wind up a stun, if you see an enemy go for a dodge or pop Stability. Cancel the attack by Sheathing your weapon. Re-apply attack when the coast is clear.

Couple that with the immense amount of lockdowns, the extreme mobility Leap gives you and the random high burst of Hammer; and you have something special.

This isn’t cheese.
This isn’t gimmicky.
This is what I perceive the goal of the Warrior class was to be from the Devs.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Sounds awesome so far mate. My fav war weapons is axe/mace because of the knockdown (Golraeder Spartan build), I’ll definitely checkit out if or when I can be bothered logging into the game.

Like you, I pretty much over it and still on a hiatus.

I have to be honest, I’m a bit pessimistic about this one. You have mobility and CC, but no damage mitigation and no damage. I think frenzy is a must have for any warrior who wants to do some damage. If this build is only focusing on CC and setting up kills, then I honestly think some other profession would be much better at it and benefit the team much more.

Your condition removal is good. I’ve used lyssa myself, they are great runes, but they make a drop in damage. The biggest problems I’d see with this build is that it is easily turned useless by a competent necro and heavy immobilizing. How is it against bunkers? I’m running sword+focus/scepter+shield on my guard and I can’t see myself dying to this.

Anyways, good luck and glad to see you’re back. I hope to see some more videos from you with that build and see how it fares in tournas.
Current clips are against people who are. . .not so experienced.

I have been running a very similar build for a while. I call it a control build, it’s a great build to run with a 100B warrior with +50% crit on stun traited.

I prefer to run with the -20% CD reduction on burst and I find I don’t need the immob on cripple so currently I run with 5s retaliation on inc crit.

Still swapping rune sets in and out but Lyssa is solid. AoE flame blasts + crit on weapon swap sigils.

Oddly though, I described this build as having a really low skill cap to my guildies. I find it a pretty easy build to employ.

I have also toyed with the confusion on interrupt trait. I interrupt a lot on hammer but tbh condi dmg is a little low for it to be worthwhile.

Psybunny.8906:

I have to be honest, I’m a bit pessimistic about this one. You have mobility and CC, but no damage mitigation and no damage.

In terms of damage, I’ve seen a single hit from Hammer do 7k Damage.

And at a 44% crit rate, that’s fairly common.
At 1800 Toughness + stability + 2 condi wipes + Chill/Immob remover + Leap
This build has extremely high damage mitigation.

Psybunny.8906:

The biggest problems I’d see with this build is that it is easily turned useless by a competent necro and heavy immobilizing. How is it against bunkers?

To be fair, a Necro can turn most any build a Warrior uses – useless. If your running lets say GS-AxeShield. Any kind of chill spam is just going to blatantly annihilate you. With 3x chill wipes you can not only stay on your target longer but provide more valuable enemy downtime.

Panda.6753:

I have been running a very similar build for a while. I call it a control build

You are correct, it is a control build. But any Hammer build has to be a control build so thats almost besides the point.

Panda.6753:

I prefer to run with the -20% CD reduction on burst and I find I don’t need the immob on cripple so currently I run with 5s retaliation on inc crit.

Based on what you described, you’re running a completely different build than this. Your focus is more on defense. I’ve tried (and many others have) to go that heavy in defense but it’s usually not proactive. The RoI for sinking into this trees is just not consistent.

Panda.6753:

Oddly though, I described this build as having a really low skill cap to my guildies. I find it a pretty easy build to employ.

I have also toyed with the confusion on interrupt trait. I interrupt a lot on hammer but tbh condi dmg is a little low for it to be worthwhile.

Confusion trait is nigh useless for any build. Avoid it at all costs. Consider that it only applies when you interrupt. They will be knocked down/stunned for some long the confusion stacks usually won’t do damage.

As for your thoughts on low skill cap, consider this.
GS – AxeShield or Longbow is pretty much a fire and forget build. These builds are the lowest of the low in skill caps. The only thing you have to be remotely aware of are protection boons on the enemy and making sure a thief doesn’t 1shot you.

Hammer is the complete opposite. To be useful to your team not only do you have to be aware of Stability but you also don’t want to be using your stuns on CD. It takes a consistent eye on your enemy to know when Stability is down or whose lost their stun break. Once coordinated with your team i’ve found it to be better than Hammer.

Factor in sheath fakeouts and wiping chill for your teammates. Basically every other build is autopilot compared to Hammer.

I really appreciate people that try to escape the “GS warrior build” , especially if it implies going for my fav’s warrior weapon namely the hammer.

What is even more interesting is that when i tried designing hammer builds i nearly always fell in the same 0/0/30/30/10 format : you know healing shoots, endure pain , shouts that grants adrenaline, remove condition etc. , with some soldier or berserker set it was still very defensive anyway.

Each time I tried making a more offensive based hammer build it failed , and i think you highlighted one point I would’nt have thought about : going for crit’s instead of sheer power , in order to make the discipline tree valuable , going 30 points in it unlocking that adrenaline saving trait that fuells all the adrenaline based traits dispatched in the build. This gave many more opportunities to improve the build in other fields wich i would’nt discuss here.

But still , thank you for sharing your ideas. I will test the build , modify it and inspire from it.

Good work there.

Defektive.7283:

Panda.6753:

I have been running a very similar build for a while. I call it a control build

You are correct, it is a control build. But any Hammer build has to be a control build so thats almost besides the point.

Panda.6753:

I prefer to run with the -20% CD reduction on burst and I find I don’t need the immob on cripple so currently I run with 5s retaliation on inc crit.

Based on what you described, you’re running a completely different build than this. Your focus is more on defense. I’ve tried (and many others have) to go that heavy in defense but it’s usually not proactive. The RoI for sinking into this trees is just not consistent.

Panda.6753:

Oddly though, I described this build as having a really low skill cap to my guildies. I find it a pretty easy build to employ.

I have also toyed with the confusion on interrupt trait. I interrupt a lot on hammer but tbh condi dmg is a little low for it to be worthwhile.

Confusion trait is nigh useless for any build. Avoid it at all costs. Consider that it only applies when you interrupt. They will be knocked down/stunned for some long the confusion stacks usually won’t do damage.

As for your thoughts on low skill cap, consider this.
GS – AxeShield or Longbow is pretty much a fire and forget build. These builds are the lowest of the low in skill caps. The only thing you have to be remotely aware of are protection boons on the enemy and making sure a thief doesn’t 1shot you.

Hammer is the complete opposite. To be useful to your team not only do you have to be aware of Stability but you also don’t want to be using your stuns on CD. It takes a consistent eye on your enemy to know when Stability is down or whose lost their stun break. Once coordinated with your team i’ve found it to be better than Hammer.

Factor in sheath fakeouts and wiping chill for your teammates. Basically every other build is autopilot compared to Hammer.

Well explained, doesn’t look like the easiest build to me.
My favourite weapon for heavy armors is also the Hammer, but i allways felt they were weakers then the other choices (GS/axe on war – GS / mace / shield on guard)

Build looks legit to me, will try!

Defektive.7283:

Hammer is the complete opposite. To be useful to your team not only do you have to be aware of Stability but you also don’t want to be using your stuns on CD. It takes a consistent eye on your enemy to know when Stability is down or whose lost their stun break. Once coordinated with your team i’ve found it to be better than Hammer.

Factor in sheath fakeouts and wiping chill for your teammates. Basically every other build is autopilot compared to Hammer.

Hey man, interesting build, i’ll have to give it a whirl some time. I sometimes run GS Hammer for giggles but i like your unique take on the role of the hammer. I didnt know about sheathing a weapon either; that’s really cool and adds another level to warrior play, so thanks for that. I’ve been trying to do that by switching weapons to cancel, which definitely isnt as good lol.

One thing though, I agree about needing an increased level of awareness with the hammer, but i also have a problem with why that is required, at least partially. I think boons should be color coded, especially icons like stability. In a pvp oriented game like this, little things like color coding icons make a world of difference. Trying to differentiate a bunch of tiny symbols that are all similarly shaped and colored in the middle of a big fight is more than a nuisance, especially when you are switching between targets and the aforementioned icons are be in different positions on your screen based on who you are targeting.

Anyways, cool build, i like that innovation factor too, and thanks for sharing.

Also, have you considered trying out Arms IV and using the accuracy sigil? You might be able to get a really high crit chance with those, though it relies on stuns, and without the shield i guess it wouldnt be as effective due to the adrenaline loss and all.

Sand Beagle.9867:

Hey man, interesting build, i’ll have to give it a whirl some time. I sometimes run GS Hammer for giggles but i like your unique take on the role of the hammer. I didnt know about sheathing a weapon either; that’s really cool and adds another level to warrior play, so thanks for that. I’ve been trying to do that by switching weapons to cancel, which definitely isnt as good lol.

One thing though, I agree about needing an increased level of awareness with the hammer, but i also have a problem with why that is required, at least partially. I think boons should be color coded, especially icons like stability. In a pvp oriented game like this, little things like color coding icons make a world of difference. Trying to differentiate a bunch of tiny symbols that are all similarly shaped and colored in the middle of a big fight is more than a nuisance, especially when you are switching between targets and the aforementioned icons are be in different positions on your screen based on who you are targeting.

Anyways, cool build, i like that innovation factor too, and thanks for sharing.

Also, have you considered trying out Arms IV and using the accuracy sigil? You might be able to get a really high crit chance with those, though it relies on stuns, and without the shield i guess it wouldnt be as effective due to the adrenaline loss and all.

Danke for your kind words.

Arms VI is a bit of a misconception. It applies only when an enemy is stunned. Only one Hammer attack is considered a stun (Hammer F1). Because of this it’s only applicable for up to 2 seconds every 10 seconds. It’s not a very good trait.

Hammer 4, 5 and even Bulls Charge are all considered Knockdowns.

Also, I agree on the color coded boons or maybe some on-screen indicator like their nameplate having be surrounded by a metallic backdrop when they have Stability popped. Etc.

Tried a build very similar to this and it didnt work to be honest. The problem is you have no burst and yet you die pretty easily too. And not having greatsword means you lack mobility whilst not have shield means you lack damage mitigation.

With this build your not really going to help drop that trap ranger with a mate in about 10 seconds before he gets back up, or the same to that guardian. Your not going to be able to cope with the aoe spam at team fights either and to achieve anything in those fights you need to stay in all this aoe to use your stuns/knockbacks which are again useless around alot of guardians who are giving out stab.

You cant bunker a point because 2 on 1 you will be dropped in probably 5 seconds.

MMmm it sounds nice on paper, i may try it.

i have never been a fan of hammer but good job.

Lordrosicky.5813:

Tried a build very similar to this and it didnt work to be honest. The problem is you have no burst and yet you die pretty easily too. And not having greatsword means you lack mobility whilst not have shield means you lack damage mitigation.

With this build your not really going to help drop that trap ranger with a mate in about 10 seconds before he gets back up, or the same to that guardian. Your not going to be able to cope with the aoe spam at team fights either and to achieve anything in those fights you need to stay in all this aoe to use your stuns/knockbacks which are again useless around alot of guardians who are giving out stab.

You cant bunker a point because 2 on 1 you will be dropped in probably 5 seconds.

You have plenty of Burst. I’ve seen Hammer #5 crit for a total of 7k damage.

Don’t need GS to have mobility. Sword/Warhorn is the king of Mobility. Cripples/immob/Chill cleanse + Swiftness + Leap. Arguably it’s better mobility than GS.

Playing this build smartly means you don’t need to have a shield. You have an AoE immobilize, and an AoE stun. Not to mention a long range leap. The number of times I’ve escaped 4+ pursuers is mind blowing.

And in regards to taking AoE damage. Sure it happens, but no player goes into a fight with the mindset that they should sit in the AoE field and just take it. You skirt around the fight and unleash your combos at the optimal time. One of the best ways to support your team with this build is lock down the highest AoE damage enemy.

Defektive.7283:

Panda.6753:

I prefer to run with the -20% CD reduction on burst and I find I don’t need the immob on cripple so currently I run with 5s retaliation on inc crit.

Based on what you described, you’re running a completely different build than this. Your focus is more on defense. I’ve tried (and many others have) to go that heavy in defense but it’s usually not proactive. The RoI for sinking into this trees is just not consistent.

I have to disagree, retaliation dmg is quite offensive compared to the immob trait and I generate a lot of adrenaline so for me the skill CD reduction means I get to use my burst more often.

Defektive.7283:

Panda.6753:

Oddly though, I described this build as having a really low skill cap to my guildies. I find it a pretty easy build to employ.

I have also toyed with the confusion on interrupt trait. I interrupt a lot on hammer but tbh condi dmg is a little low for it to be worthwhile.

Confusion trait is nigh useless for any build. Avoid it at all costs. Consider that it only applies when you interrupt. They will be knocked down/stunned for some long the confusion stacks usually won’t do damage.

Well, I agree it is not worthwhile (as I mention) but for different reasons. Remember the stun and one KD are AoE – the chances of interrupt are actually pretty high. What makes it useless is the lack of condi dmg.

Defektive.7283:

As for your thoughts on low skill cap, consider this.
GS – AxeShield or Longbow is pretty much a fire and forget build. These builds are the lowest of the low in skill caps. The only thing you have to be remotely aware of are protection boons on the enemy and making sure a thief doesn’t 1shot you.

Hammer is the complete opposite. To be useful to your team not only do you have to be aware of Stability but you also don’t want to be using your stuns on CD. It takes a consistent eye on your enemy to know when Stability is down or whose lost their stun break. Once coordinated with your team i’ve found it to be better than Hammer.

Factor in sheath fakeouts and wiping chill for your teammates. Basically every other build is autopilot compared to Hammer.

Ok, I guess complexity is pretty subjective and is also somewhat dependent on your role within a team – but I feel that being aware of stability / dodge counts / stun breaks / blinks is something any player on any build should be aiming to keep track of.

The build is good and it works well in tourneys. I’ve had a lot of good feedback from team mates and opponents but I’m not sure I would consider it a high DPS burst build – it is mid to high whilst having a lot more going for it that in effect makes it able to take out opponents who otherwise have better sustain.

Panda.6753:

Defektive.7283:

Panda.6753:

I prefer to run with the -20% CD reduction on burst and I find I don’t need the immob on cripple so currently I run with 5s retaliation on inc crit.

Based on what you described, you’re running a completely different build than this. Your focus is more on defense. I’ve tried (and many others have) to go that heavy in defense but it’s usually not proactive. The RoI for sinking into this trees is just not consistent.

I have to disagree, retaliation dmg is quite offensive compared to the immob trait and I generate a lot of adrenaline so for me the skill CD reduction means I get to use my burst more often.

Defektive.7283:

Panda.6753:

Oddly though, I described this build as having a really low skill cap to my guildies. I find it a pretty easy build to employ.

I have also toyed with the confusion on interrupt trait. I interrupt a lot on hammer but tbh condi dmg is a little low for it to be worthwhile.

Confusion trait is nigh useless for any build. Avoid it at all costs. Consider that it only applies when you interrupt. They will be knocked down/stunned for some long the confusion stacks usually won’t do damage.

Well, I agree it is not worthwhile (as I mention) but for different reasons. Remember the stun and one KD are AoE – the chances of interrupt are actually pretty high. What makes it useless is the lack of condi dmg.

Defektive.7283:

As for your thoughts on low skill cap, consider this.
GS – AxeShield or Longbow is pretty much a fire and forget build. These builds are the lowest of the low in skill caps. The only thing you have to be remotely aware of are protection boons on the enemy and making sure a thief doesn’t 1shot you.

Hammer is the complete opposite. To be useful to your team not only do you have to be aware of Stability but you also don’t want to be using your stuns on CD. It takes a consistent eye on your enemy to know when Stability is down or whose lost their stun break. Once coordinated with your team i’ve found it to be better than Hammer.

Factor in sheath fakeouts and wiping chill for your teammates. Basically every other build is autopilot compared to Hammer.

Ok, I guess complexity is pretty subjective and is also somewhat dependent on your role within a team – but I feel that being aware of stability / dodge counts / stun breaks / blinks is something any player on any build should be aiming to keep track of.

The build is good and it works well in tourneys. I’ve had a lot of good feedback from team mates and opponents but I’m not sure I would consider it a high DPS burst build – it is mid to high whilst having a lot more going for it that in effect makes it able to take out opponents who otherwise have better sustain.

In regards to confusion stacks. You’re stunning them for the duration that the stack is there. Not only does it lack in condi damage, but they won’t get many skills off to begin with to even make the damage useful.

Every player keeps track of stability, dodges etc. But every Warrior isn’t going to say ‘he has stability up, don’t whirlwind now!". They’ll just use it on cooldown. Hence why you’re on autopilot. Hammer requires you to be very consistent with your enemy because your role is entirely dependent on their CDs.

I used to like retaliation when my damage is so low I needed another outlet to help me be competitive. The retal trait is great if your going so heavy into defense that you’re almost another bunker. When you get far in, your team may as well drop your for a guardian for an Ele.

Factor in boon strips and retal isn’t that great anymore.

Nice build defektive =D
I have a similar build in essence, except mine was derived for WvW and More for AOE burst/interrupt on demand.

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/warrior/?8|2.1g.hm|c.1g.h1l.e.0.h4|1g.71g.1g.71g.1g.71h.1g.71h.1g.71c.1g.71c|2v.d1e.2v.d1e.3v.d1e.1g.67.1g.61.2v.0|a5.a4.

Even though Unsuspecting foe looks terrible (only two stuns for warrior, shield bash and earthshaker) It does prove to do considerable & reliable dmg for me. Both skills apply stun prior to their attack which guarantees a crit for myself if I have 50% crit chance which I do with perma fury + 30% crit from gear/traits. I hate the chance part in anything so Knowing I have a guaranteed 5K+ crit from Earthshaker or 3.5k+ crit from shield guaranteed helps me gauge alot more situations better. Also at Full adrenaline, Earthshakers 2 sec stun can lets me use hammer 4 or 5 in conjuction with hammer 3 (has fastest attack animation on hammer skills) and those too will be gauranteed crit. The 1second stun from shield bash is only enough time to use one other ability to guarantee the crit. Another note is with 90~% crit dmg, merciless hammer (25% dmg to stun/kd), Berserkers power (12% dmg max), and Sigil of Impact (10% on stun/kd foe), I have seen earthshaker do 7k+ crits on multiple targets on numerous occasions.

Also since i don’t run warhorn, i need mobility strikes, But I think your build is quite ideal to use it. Hope to see more builds like these from you =)

and we both run identical utilities =P, offer the best of everything for both defense and offense

Defektive.7283:

I used to like retaliation when my damage is so low I needed another outlet to help me be competitive. The retal trait is great if your going so heavy into defense that you’re almost another bunker. When you get far in, your team may as well drop your for a guardian for an Ele.

Hang on… 10 points out of Tactics into Defence, swapping Toughness during revive to extra Power and 1s immob into extra dps from retal is making this build into a bunker?

Seems decent, I gotta try this when I get out of class lol. Never been a fan of Lyssa runes though.

Panda.6753:

Defektive.7283:

I used to like retaliation when my damage is so low I needed another outlet to help me be competitive. The retal trait is great if your going so heavy into defense that you’re almost another bunker. When you get far in, your team may as well drop your for a guardian for an Ele.

Hang on… 10 points out of Tactics into Defence, swapping Toughness during revive to extra Power and 1s immob into extra dps from retal is making this build into a bunker?

Yes because that trait shift limits your offensive capabilities by placing them into more defensive minded skills.

You go from aoe ranged rooting / stun combos, into hoping they don’t dodge your stun combo. All of that potential damage is lost simply for more toughness, a few power and retail you can’t control.

I’m posting from my phone so excuse all grammar issues.

I tried this, worked good in the low brackets and tourneys vs bads, but good people they will just time their blocks/blinds/stability when you start your obvious, slow animations and inevitably avoid the CC.
It’s not really good vs people who know how it works sadly, unles Hammer is made unblockable/unaffected by blind it’s too exploitable.
Even if you play this perfectly a good player is still either killing you before you kill him and avoiding your stuff.

similar to my zerker wvw hammer build, i run GS with the hammer, 25/0/25/0/20, i had tried it out s/t pvp but didn’t find it as effective as i did in wv3, due to bunkers running rampant and stats being largely different then what you can achieve in wv3. that said you can roll non bunkers pretty hard with the hammer, its good cc combined with dropin 3 – 5k’s on them consistently.

HannaDeFreitas.4236:

I tried this, worked good in the low brackets and tourneys vs bads, but good people they will just time their blocks/blinds/stability when you start your obvious, slow animations and inevitably avoid the CC.
It’s not really good vs people who know how it works sadly, unles Hammer is made unblockable/unaffected by blind it’s too exploitable.
Even if you play this perfectly a good player is still either killing you before you kill him and avoiding your stuff.

This is where sheathing comes into play and enemy cd management. All it takes is one mistake before you have them locked down.

I play W3 but on the tooltip for the Lyssa runes I’m not seeing where they remove the blindness/conditions other than the Elite skill (Sig of Rage?). Would you mind explaining that part of the Rune?

All I can say is I will be trying this. I’ve always found the hammer to be awesome in WvW, and I’m in love with the look, feel and concept of the weapon.

I always found it to be very difficult to use in tPvP though as I wasn’t aware of the sheath weapon cancelling and most of hammer’s abilities are pretty easy to dodge/block/etc. Guess I’m gonna have to figure out something to bind it to…

I disagree with things here and there on your build, I like the shield over the warhorn for example. I’m also a big fan of unsuspecting foe, as the ~100% crit chance allows for a pretty big burst immediately following ES. Utility wise that’s exactly what I use in WvW anyways. Other minor differences from my WvW build, but of course they’re different animals.

I do wonder though, have you considered hydromancy over battle? I find it incredibly handy for both sticking to an opponent and disengaging when needed.

Carbun.5428:

I play W3 but on the tooltip for the Lyssa runes I’m not seeing where they remove the blindness/conditions other than the Elite skill (Sig of Rage?). Would you mind explaining that part of the Rune?

Lyssa does as you described. When you dodge you wipe out blinds. Considering you’ll have 100% uptime of Vigor, you can dodge like every couple of seconds.

Jonwar.9205:

All I can say is I will be trying this. I’ve always found the hammer to be awesome in WvW, and I’m in love with the look, feel and concept of the weapon.

I always found it to be very difficult to use in tPvP though as I wasn’t aware of the sheath weapon cancelling and most of hammer’s abilities are pretty easy to dodge/block/etc. Guess I’m gonna have to figure out something to bind it to…

I disagree with things here and there on your build, I like the shield over the warhorn for example. I’m also a big fan of unsuspecting foe, as the ~100% crit chance allows for a pretty big burst immediately following ES. Utility wise that’s exactly what I use in WvW anyways. Other minor differences from my WvW build, but of course they’re different animals.

I do wonder though, have you considered hydromancy over battle? I find it incredibly handy for both sticking to an opponent and disengaging when needed.

I don’t care for unsuspecting foe for this main reason.

On a ‘2 second stun’, you really don’t get to attack for 2 seconds. You will get maybe one, or two attacks.

If your crit rate is lets say 50%, also lets say you auto attack for 2k and crit for 4k (consistently).

At a 100% crit rate you’ll do 8k damage. At 50% crit rate you’ll do 6k damage.

So you spend 10 traits for 2k damage once every 10 seconds (if F1 Lands).

OR

You can have a consistent +12% damage all the time.

On paper 2 seconds of +50% crit chance is great. But in-game you actually don’t get a full 2 seconds of attacking. more so 1.5 seconds due to in-game lag. Other times, even less chance because any good player bring a stun break or stability.

I tried hydromancy and liked it, but found that it was overkill for everything this build brings, I’d rather have an additional 250 power.

I generally find I can land 2 attacks under ES stuns, one being 2 the other being 5. ES also applies the stun before damage, so that has 100% crit from my understanding as well. “If it lands/isn’t broken” I’ll definitely give you, and I can see how it’s a lot tougher tPvP wise.

I also wasn’t talking about dropping bloodlust, I was talking about dropping battle which to me is kind of weak on its 20 second CD.

All in all I think your build is just better geared towards tPvP, which as I said I haven’t used a hammer in since pretty early on.

I suppose there’s really only two other things I disagree with… well, I said disagree earlier, but it’s more that I’m curious about them.

1) No mobile strikes. I understand you’ve got a warhorn, but generally I find many opponents can dish out more immobilizes than just a WH can handle.

2) 30 points in discipline for adrenal reserves. Just the way I’ve found it, but generally I build up enough adrenaline to realistically be able to use both my burst skills in a timely manner. Is it just to try to get the passive adrenal trait uptime? If I remember right it doesn’t even leave you with 1 adrenal strike after bursting.

Wow, meant for this to be a short post. To close, I like the stuff you and schwar have been trying to bring here (regardless of how abrasive the latter is). Despite the fact that the warrior is broken in a lot of ways, you two keep finding ways that seem to work around it. As someone who wants to play a warrior in tPvP and not be laughed at for my class choice I appreciate it.

Jonwar.9205:

I generally find I can land 2 attacks under ES stuns, one being 2 the other being 5. ES also applies the stun before damage, so that has 100% crit from my understanding as well. “If it lands/isn’t broken” I’ll definitely give you, and I can see how it’s a lot tougher tPvP wise.

I also wasn’t talking about dropping bloodlust, I was talking about dropping battle which to me is kind of weak on its 20 second CD.

All in all I think your build is just better geared towards tPvP, which as I said I haven’t used a hammer in since pretty early on.

I suppose there’s really only two other things I disagree with… well, I said disagree earlier, but it’s more that I’m curious about them.

1) No mobile strikes. I understand you’ve got a warhorn, but generally I find many opponents can dish out more immobilizes than just a WH can handle.

2) 30 points in discipline for adrenal reserves. Just the way I’ve found it, but generally I build up enough adrenaline to realistically be able to use both my burst skills in a timely manner. Is it just to try to get the passive adrenal trait uptime? If I remember right it doesn’t even leave you with 1 adrenal strike after bursting.

Wow, meant for this to be a short post. To close, I like the stuff you and schwar have been trying to bring here (regardless of how abrasive the latter is). Despite the fact that the warrior is broken in a lot of ways, you two keep finding ways that seem to work around it. As someone who wants to play a warrior in tPvP and not be laughed at for my class choice I appreciate it.

Danke for your kind words. Battle was up in the air I just left it on because I like extra damage, Schwar always prefers Energy however.

Energy is just too good to pass out for the most part though. Even in glass cannon builds.

God I love this build in the new map. If it was alive I’d kiss it.

Even with the elevation changes?

Infectious.4836:

Even with the elevation changes?

Yessir. It just means I can’t spam it willy nilly. Need to wait half a second longer to get on equal group.

Must admit I do like your build (I think I made a trait change? not at home and can’t tell). I did run a hammer sword sheild shouts healing build a while back, then caved and went back to bull 100b :/

One thing that drives me bat kitten crazy is how bad the hammer skills are (even leap to an extent) when it comes to different elevations.

Still not 100% sure about the war horn yet.
I see the upside of it, just not sure if I prefer it to sheild, the extra stun is nice (given that you shouldn’t need it), but sheild block is sooo tasty when you seem to be #1 target all of the time.

I don’t run a Warrior, but I really admire this thread and would like to give a lot of credit to not just Defektive, but many of the other posters that has contributed to this thread

I really like this thread because it gets the creative juices flowing and if I were Anet, I’d take a look at this thread for the great ideas and build discussions.

This thread shows that while there are imperfect skills with the hammer and other warrior weapons, players are truly trying to make everything work. Anet should do the right thing and give some “Great Justice” to the warrior.

Glad to see you’re still at it, Defektive. I learned two delightful things from this thread:

1. The attack from dodging counts for Blind (makes sense, I just never thought).

2. Sheathe Weapon is a hotkey. I spent time looking previously for a button to cancel attacks to do just what you’re talking about with the hammer, but I didn’t find it. I’m ultra glad you did.

I haven’t played in months, but I’ve been thinking about coming back recently. Perhaps not as a Warrior, but I’ll always keep an eye on the Warrior class. Kudos on continually finding fun in the game, perhaps I’ll rediscover it as well.

Cogbyrn.7283:

I haven’t played in months, but I’ve been thinking about coming back recently. Perhaps not as a Warrior, but I’ll always keep an eye on the Warrior class. Kudos on continually finding fun in the game, perhaps I’ll rediscover it as well.

Come back, I’m losing warrior friends left and right.

I messed around with a build very similar to this a while ago, but could never get it quite right. (20 into tactics instead of 30 into Discipline, along with different runes)

I’m not a huge fan of copying someone’s build, but I had to try this because I also love the play style of Hammer. Also I have come to respect Defektive’s thoughts on everything Warrior.

All I have to say is that this build really works well, even more so than it probably should on paper. "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts ", really seems to apply here.

This is also a great “core” build, meaning there is room to tweak personal preferences around it.

Prop’s Defektive( and Schwahrheit), fantastic job.

Knightmare.8634:

I’m not a huge fan of copying someone’s build, but I had to try this because I also love the play style of Hammer. Also I have come to respect Defektive’s thoughts on everything Warrior.

All I have to say is that this build really works well, even more so than it probably should on paper. "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts ", really seems to apply here.

This is also a great “core” build, meaning there is room to tweak personal preferences around it.

Prop’s Defektive( and Schwahrheit), fantastic job.

I appreciate the kind words and hope you end up liking this build as much as I do :P

Defektive.7283:

Cogbyrn.7283:

I haven’t played in months, but I’ve been thinking about coming back recently. Perhaps not as a Warrior, but I’ll always keep an eye on the Warrior class. Kudos on continually finding fun in the game, perhaps I’ll rediscover it as well.

Come back, I’m losing warrior friends left and right.

The GW2 itch is starting to gather stronger attention, but so far it hasn’t manifested as Warrior. That doesn’t mean Warrior doesn’t hold a special place in my heart, however. I’ll always be happy to hear about new Warrior developments.

How would this build apply to WvW? Care to make a version on this site? http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/

Seems to be really interesting, I just have difficulty trying to adapt sPvP builds to WvW based on the skewed stats from amulets.

IDK to be honest, despite being 80 I don’t venture out into PvE anymore.

Since in WvW damage is inflated due to gear inconsistencies I would strive for something like:

1900 Toughness
6/6 Rune of Lyssa (this is important).

40% base crit chance

3200ish Attack

Anything else is basically just icing on the cake.

What kind of gear/food are you using with this build?

6/6 Lyssa, Solider Ammy / Zerker Rune
Sigil of Fire on hammer.
Sigil on bloodlust on Sword.

No food (this isn’t WvW or PvE).

I liked your previous builds but I’m really just not feeling this one.

Lunatic.9314:

What kind of gear/food are you using with this build?

It’s a PvP build….

Finally got around to trying this after following the thread for some time… it’s brilliant. I love the realization that I’ve strongly overthought something simple. I was always trying to combo mace stuns into a hammer switch with berserker’s stance to refil adrenaline…. it was a mess. This build works great though, I’m glad to be back in plate (seriously, screw playing mesmer anymore).

Prahl.1057:

Finally got around to trying this after following the thread for some time… it’s brilliant. I love the realization that I’ve strongly overthought something simple. I was always trying to combo mace stuns into a hammer switch with berserker’s stance to refil adrenaline…. it was a mess. This build works great though, I’m glad to be back in plate (seriously, screw playing mesmer anymore).

I’m glad you like the build and appreciate the kind words

Hah, I remember last week or sometime around then I looked at the scoreboard in hot join and saw you on the other team and new I was in for a rough ride. Pretty sure you were playing this build and consistently beating the kitten out of me. I bet I’m featured in one of those long hot join videos you have on your twitch channel /embarrassed

Videos are a blast to watch, you are very effective with the build – I love the looks of it but I’m not sure I’m skilled enough to play it effectively.

Question, you are really good at dropping target and using savage leap to get out of sticky situations… how do you do that? Half the time I forget to detarget and end up leaping right at the guy I want to escape from lol. AFAIK the only way to drop target is to spam ESC button which seems to be inconsistent and I often end up with the main menu up on my screen… is there actually a bind for it? I know I should probably just look but I’m bored with work and wanted to bump this wonderful thread anyways :P

EDIT: I checked the wiki and do not see a drop target button:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Controls

curious how you are managing it.

Leadfoot.9071:

curious how you are managing it.

Turn auto targeting off. When you want to de-target, click anywhere on-screen on something that isn’t targetable. Example: A wall, ramp, the ground, the sky.

When you click something else it’ll de-target, and if you have Auto Targeting turned off then it won’t choose a target for you.

btw, danke for enjoying the vids and the build!

Leadfoot.9071:

Hah, I remember last week or sometime around then I looked at the scoreboard in hot join and saw you on the other team and new I was in for a rough ride. Pretty sure you were playing this build and consistently beating the kitten out of me. I bet I’m featured in one of those long hot join videos you have on your twitch channel /embarrassed

Videos are a blast to watch, you are very effective with the build – I love the looks of it but I’m not sure I’m skilled enough to play it effectively.

Question, you are really good at dropping target and using savage leap to get out of sticky situations… how do you do that? Half the time I forget to detarget and end up leaping right at the guy I want to escape from lol. AFAIK the only way to drop target is to spam ESC button which seems to be inconsistent and I often end up with the main menu up on my screen… is there actually a bind for it? I know I should probably just look but I’m bored with work and wanted to bump this wonderful thread anyways :P

EDIT: I checked the wiki and do not see a drop target button:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Controls

curious how you are managing it.

Turn off auto-target.
It’s great for PvE, but a deadly mistake in PvP.