Guild Wars 2

Alright, so I’m newish to GW2, picked the game up about a month ago and took my time finding the class I wanted to level and then actually leveling up. As I post this I’m only level 79 but that will quickly change after work today.

First and foremost I want to stay sword/sword. I know it may not be the best setup but I’m a total sword/blade nut and I want to shy away from the Greatsword as I see most Warriors running with one and I like to be a bit different. I’ve been sword/sword in a condition build since level 1 and I do want to stick with that at 80.

As for the build type, looking for a general build that will do decently in PvE Dungeons, PvP, WvW, Farming, etc. I should also point out that at this time I leveled with the signet build so I am completely unfamiluar with our other skills – which I imagine I would be changing out for PvE and PvP.

Build

My first thought was
10 – Berserker’s Power
30 – Deep Cuts, Rendering Strikes, Blademaster
20 – Turtle’s Defense, Cull the Weak*
0
10 – Heightened Focus

*I don’t know if vulnerability counts as a weakened state, this is something I was going to test at 80 to see.

What I do know from running with this setup is that this is a total high crit build and that I crit extremely often. So my thought was to make those crits hurt while bleeding the crap out of whatever it is I’m hitting. The one thing I am questioning is the 10 points in Strength verse putting those into Discipline…my thinking on this is that Berserker’s Power is better then anything that the 20th point in Discipline can get me.

Stats

I’m just trying to get my stat priority figured out so when I start getting gear I know what exactly I’m going for.

Condition Damage > Precision > Power > ? > ?

I’m not sure if the above is correct but I would imagine for a S/S build precision would be higher in value then power…correct?

Sigils & Runes

For my offhand I’ve always had the sigil that grants condition damage and stacks up to 25, I forget what it’s called but I imagine I wouldn’t be changing that. As for main hand I’ve changed things up so many times and I have no clue what would be best.

As for Runes I’ve just used whatever one has the most condition damage, is there specific ones I should be slotting at 80 for the s/s build?

Skills

I’ve been 100% signet from level 1, I have never really used any other skills. So I don’t have any of my own thoughts on what I think would be best and why.

I think that’s it. If you have any other tidbits or advise for running S/S I’m all eyes.

Thanks

—Edit—

Been looking at skills and such, and Shouts look rather good. With that in mind (if Shouts are something I do want to take) would I want to spend points in the Tactics line to get my shouts to heal to increase survivability? Basically move the 10 from Strength to Tactics?

What secondary weapon(set) are you planning on using? You’ll want something ranged for dungeons and WvW. Longbow is nice but for WvW you’ll need Stronger Bowstrings to be effective with it.

You need 30 points in tactics to get Healing shouts.

Consider the following guides (either can be adapted for S/S):
http://en.gw2codex.com/build/20460-mouse-s-wvw-build (more heal oriented)
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/63268-ferro-ignique-with-fire-and-sword-buildguide/

As for stats, if you’re going to be running dungeons and WvW alot, consider some Toughness important also. If you’re concentrating on Condition dmg, obviously that stat is important. I’d chose power over precision for this type of build.

I plan on keeping the rifle for my secondary as it goes nicely with condition damage.

Thanks for the info on Healing Shouts – the build calc I was using was showing it for 10 points.

And thank you for the two links – reading them now.

Running full Signets at level 80 is dumb. The trait gives you 40 Precision per Signet, but if you instead used For Great Justice and Signet of Rage constantly, you would gain 63% uptime for +20% crit, meaning those two slots would give you +12.6% critical, which at level 80 is equal to 264 Precision. And if you statted enough Tactics to get permanent Fury (15 points), you would get +20%, or the equivalent of 420 Precision.

Also, Berserker’s Power with Swords is kinda silly, as it does not increase your condition damage, only the direct damage from the hits. Same with Vulnerability.

I am running 20/20/0/30/0 with 2x Swords and I use:

• Restorative Strength
• Great Fortitude
• Deep Cuts
• Blademaster
• Empowered
• Lung Capacity
• Vigorous Shouts

The only reason I still got some Strength is because I also like using Axe/Mace. If I was pure Sword/Sword, I would go with 10/30/0/30/0 and

• Restorative Strength
• Deep Cuts
• Blademaster
• Crack Shot
• Leg Specialist
• Lung Capacity
• Vigorous Shouts

I am running with 2x Rampager’s exotic swords, one with a Superior Sigil of the Earth. Running with 5/6 armor pieces of Soldier’s with a Knight’s Helm (all exotic) with Emerald Orbs and a full set of rare Knight’s accessories.

Yeah I know Berserker’s Power only works off the hits of my swords and not condition damage. But I was thinking (again, I could be wrong as I’m new to this) that since this is a high crit build that I would be hitting like a fast rock hammer with high crits due to Berserker’s Power + Vulnerability.

I meant to say that I have only ran Signets because I was leveling, and while leveling a pure Signet + Deep Strike was awesome. Now that I’m 80 I’m aware I have to change up things which is why I’m here asking for advise.

Cook.6753:

Yeah I know Berserker’s Power only works off the hits of my swords and not condition damage. But I was thinking (again, I could be wrong as I’m new to this) that since this is a high crit build that I would be hitting like a fast rock hammer with high crits due to Berserker’s Power + Vulnerability.

• Sword 1 combo: 841 damage
• Axe 1 combo: 1,648 damage
• Mace 1 combo: 1,076 damage

Axes and Maces also get much better vulnerability support, as Mace 4 adds 4 stacks, same for Axe 2.

I often run with Axe/Mace and I use Mace 4, Axe 2 and On My Mark to get 18 stacks of Vulnerability, which often goes to 20+ stacks due to Rending Strikes.

You would literally need to be comparing 100% critrate on sword (possible) to 0% crit rate on Axe for Swords to get equal direct damage to Axes.

I meant to say that I have only ran Signets because I was leveling, and while leveling a pure Signet + Deep Strike was awesome. Now that I’m 80 I’m aware I have to change up things which is why I’m here asking for advise.

Well, personally I like running with lots of +boon duration% for permanent Fury, Might and (with Warhorn) Swiftness.

Alright, last night I did hit 80 and redid my talents. After much reading around and the thoughts posted here I ended up with a 0/30/20/0/20.

0
30 – Deep Cuts, Blademaster, Last Chance
20 – Turtle’s Defense, Last Stand
0
20 – Heightened Focus, Warrior’s Sprint

I also went with Rage sigil on my MH – was this a bad move because I took Last Chance? With this condition/bleed build Quickness is so sexy but not sure if doubling up is good because of the CD on Quickness.

Cook.6753:

30 – Deep Cuts, Blademaster, Last Chance
20 – Turtle’s Defense, Last Stand
0
20 – Heightened Focus, Warrior’s Sprint

Do note that Warrior’s Sprint does not stack with Swiftness.

Honestly, I think you would get more out of the 20 points into Discipline if you used Signet Mastery or Mobile Strikes.

Personally I also found Turtle’s Defense to not be worth it. Mostly because whenever I am expecting conditions, I run with Mending. Not to mention that you would ideally remove the conditions, so getting a benefit for not doing so is a bit weird.

I also went with Rage sigil on my MH – was this a bad move because I took Last Chance? With this condition/bleed build Quickness is so sexy but not sure if doubling up is good because of the CD on Quickness.

It’s a pretty bad idea. Personally, for a condition setup, I would definite get a Sigil of the Earth for the extra bleeds.

First and foremost, thank you Olba for continuing to respond with helpful comments. I really do appreciate it.

Turtle’s Defense – I have slotted 2 abilities that remove conditions, but my thinking on taking this was for when they are on CD. Maybe I would get more benefit from Embrace the Pain for more Flurry aka Bleed stacks?

Signet Mastery/Mobile Strikes – I currently do not have any Signets slotted. Since S/S is known as a more ‘mobile’ build I went with Warrior’s Sprint. Nothing in the Discipline line really stands out to me as being an awesome must have ability for S/S build except for the fact that it adds Crit Damage to a high Crit build.