Guild Wars 2

Alright, you guys know the drill! How are the changes so far? Either answer these questions for me or just talk about what you feel is important to mention for Warrior.

Specific questions:

1. Have you tried actually using healing signet for the resistance at all?
2. Have you found any builds that are extremely distinct in playstyle from builds before the patch?
3. Have you been able to have any success with shoutbow since the patch? It’s seemed like it has been having trouble with all the burst specs going around.

Former Warrior main giving his thoughts:

1. Yes tried it- quite nice and a good buff against condis if you are running away (why would you use the active otherwise)

2. Not really. As Hambow and Shoutbow got almost removed from the game all you see are zerker builds wich tend to be liek the old GS/Ham or GS/Bow ones

3. Not at all. You dont really benefit from being able to go into three specialisations.
Shouts got nerfed for some reason and warhorn aswell.
Making it impossible for you to counter incoming burst or high pressure. An Elementalist can do the same but better – more dps, more support (heal and cleanse) and with the new S/D and/or Earth tree you can take some hits aswell.

The Patch has been a dark day for the sPvP Warrior

The Gates Assassin.9827:

Alright, you guys know the drill! How are the changes so far? Either answer these questions for me or just talk about what you feel is important to mention for Warrior.

Specific questions:

1. Have you tried actually using healing signet for the resistance at all?
2. Have you found any builds that are extremely distinct in playstyle from builds before the patch?
3. Have you been able to have any success with shoutbow since the patch? It’s seemed like it has been having trouble with all the burst specs going around.

1.) Healing Signet is dead. Defiant Stance is meta now. 300 healing per second will not be enough to out-sustain 10k damage within a matter of seconds at this meta.
2.) DPS Warrior is broken op. Plenty of counterplay exists but in my standards it’s just too strong atm.
3.) Shoutbow is still playable SO LONG as you have a “hyper carry” that you are supporting. The incentive becomes, focus the shoutbow or the guy who can cleave your team.

1. Yes, it’s situationally nice but not really that impressive. I would much rather have a Physical and unnerfed Mending that gives us more variety and more active healing options.

2. DPS war isn’t bad…but feels way weaker than the new Mesmer. Even when I beat it I know that in an actual TPvP match or Zerg fight Mesmer is probably better. 1v1s aren’t really important, it’s all about what you bring to the team. That being said the new Skullcracker is pretty dang fun.

3. Shoutbow still has good support/sustain but overall feels weaker. I would be OK with that IF we got a new build that will keep us in the meta…and I’m not sure we did. As much as I disliked the build the nerf to shouts and horn seems really over the top. The ability to have a regen banner as well isn’t bad.

I’m worried about Warrior’s long term viability. Is the new DPS Warrior with Rampage worth taking or will we just see Mesmers everywhere?

1.) Healing Signet’s active, while situational, is actually applicable now, I’d say it’s good.
2.) Body Blow and Distracting strikes make for a fun Condition CC warrior, unlike anything I played previously.
3.) Shoutbow being successful or not is of little importance to me, but we all know the reason why longbow is taken in PvP is Cleansing Ire, after it being relocated to grandmaster, it makes no sense to me that other weapons’ burst skills only cleanse if you hit.

Hi,

The Gates Assassin.9827:

Alright, you guys know the drill! How are the changes so far? Either answer these questions for me or just talk about what you feel is important to mention for Warrior.

Specific questions:

1. Have you tried actually using healing signet for the resistance at all?
2. Have you found any builds that are extremely distinct in playstyle from builds before the patch?
3. Have you been able to have any success with shoutbow since the patch? It’s seemed like it has been having trouble with all the burst specs going around.

So far, I like the changes very much, and have lots of exciting build ideas. Berserker builds have become fast-paced, and I like that they do more damage, but are also more glassy (it’s more rewarding to play). Condition builds are as strong and boring as ever, but with some potential to be less boring, with physical skills and Body Blow (still have to try it). The patch seems to force you into making consistent build decisions (either you’re damage, support, tank or whatever, but not all at the same time), which I find satisfying.

To answer your questions:

1. I still use the Healing Signet, I’m quite happy with it. I’ve used the active for Resistance many times already, I find it quite useful (although I still have to test it, especially in regards of incoming conditions such as cripple and immobilization).
2. I haven’t found new builds that are distinct in playstyle, but that’s mainly because I’ve simply tried to reproduce my old builds so far. The new versions, however, are stronger than the old ones – especially thanks to Signet Master, Warrior’s Sprint, Heightened Focus and Berserker’s Power. Also, I have positive expectations on condition/control builds, and ways to leverage vulnerability for condition damage.
3. I haven’t dared to try shoutbow yet. I am not very fond of celestial in the first place (although I acknowledge the gear is strong). A friend of mine, expert on the build, told me it had been hit hard, and doubted it would remain viable.

Aside from that, my builds have been indirectly nerfed because:

• Movement skills do not depend on speed anymore. I would always equip Warrior’s Sprint before, so my GS and sword movement skills had effectively their distance nerfed by 25%. It’s not unbearable, but it’s not pleasant.
• I would always play Rousing Resilience + Cleansing Ire and Rousing Resilience + Last Stand – and all three now belong to the same GM tier… I guess it was overpowered (there’s some reason I used these in the first place), but still, it was a bit disappointing.

Finally, I don’t see myself excluding either Discipline or Defense from my future builds – this was expected. I don’t mind it, because the lines are strong and still allow good diversity, but being locked into these is still a bit unsatisfactory.

Regards.

The Gates Assassin.9827:

Alright, you guys know the drill! How are the changes so far? Either answer these questions for me or just talk about what you feel is important to mention for Warrior.

Specific questions:

1. Have you tried actually using healing signet for the resistance at all?
2. Have you found any builds that are extremely distinct in playstyle from builds before the patch?
3. Have you been able to have any success with shoutbow since the patch? It’s seemed like it has been having trouble with all the burst specs going around.

1: Nope, its really situational and the passiv healing got nerf’d 2 hard

2: I’ve found no viable build for high compétition that is worth taking when atm ele do everything better

3: Diamond skin counter us so hard, high burst destroy us, and the new ele D/F got 2much projectil block wich make our longbow kinda useless. Finaly shout nerf and celestial one pushed us out of meta. And hambow sucks more than before the patch with the news traits position and useless traits.

SOz for bad english

1. Yes, its not bad, but really only good if your opponent don’t chase you.
2. s+s/lb, if you call that unique, but overall this patch is really really bad for warrior
3. if you want to survive, even a little, 00111 is it. I run s+s/lb shoutbow celestial, works well in must 1v1 situations. 1vx you can forget about it.

The Gates Assassin.9827:

Alright, you guys know the drill! How are the changes so far? Either answer these questions for me or just talk about what you feel is important to mention for Warrior.

Specific questions:

1. Have you tried actually using healing signet for the resistance at all?
2. Have you found any builds that are extremely distinct in playstyle from builds before the patch?
3. Have you been able to have any success with shoutbow since the patch? It’s seemed like it has been having trouble with all the burst specs going around.

- Honestly, I been so trained not to pop the Healing Signet that I often forget how useful it can be in certain situations. I can think of at least…3 cases over the past couple days where it might have come in handy to winning a fight.
- My personal AxSh/Hammer build was buffed to an unbelievable degree. I don’t post it as I would rather it not get used against me, its pretty solid.
- Shoutbow isn’t what it used to be, and it has to do largely with Toughness not really doing a good job against power/condition buffs.

Longbow didn’t need buffs, rifle did.

Fix rifle or remove rifle.

The Gates Assassin.9827:

Alright, you guys know the drill! How are the changes so far? Either answer these questions for me or just talk about what you feel is important to mention for Warrior.

Specific questions:

1. Have you tried actually using healing signet for the resistance at all?
2. Have you found any builds that are extremely distinct in playstyle from builds before the patch?
3. Have you been able to have any success with shoutbow since the patch? It’s seemed like it has been having trouble with all the burst specs going around.

1) no. i died too fast, even with i am using sentinel’s amulet along with dolyak runes.
2) no. i died too fast.
3) no. i died even faster.

i stopped playing warrior since the patch.

1. No, using Healing Signet is almost always a death wish. We have other ways to deal with conditions that won’t get us killed

2. Stances are great now, I’ve been using a six stance build in tPvP(4 utilities and 2 traited) and have been doing really good with this burst meta

3. I don’t use Shoutbow and I don’t plan to ever. Please stop promoting Warrior’s to use this brainless skilless build. Nerfing Shouts was a start, now please buff our other utilities like Mending and Physicals so that we don’t have to be a Ranger in heavy armor with longbow.

Have you tried actually using healing signet for the resistance at all?
Yes I have. Defiant stance is better with all the burst that’s going on.

Have you found any builds that are extremely distinct in playstyle from builds before the patch?
Haven’t found one that doesn’t die really fast. I mostly avoid pvp now.

Have you been able to have any success with shoutbow since the patch? It’s seemed like it has been having trouble with all the burst specs going around.
I don’t like shoutbow. It was and is really brainless but is only used because it gives the most sustain we can get.

I really hate that rousing resilience, cleansing ire, and last stand are all together. It really kills builds. Last stand is pretty awesome, be nicer witha 60 sec cooldown instead of 90. Cleansing Ire is needed so much now but still killing builds because it’s not on use. Rousing resilience would be awesome, if the healing part WASN’T BUGGED!

The Gates Assassin.9827:

1. Have you tried actually using healing signet for the resistance at all?
2. Have you found any builds that are extremely distinct in playstyle from builds before the patch?
3. Have you been able to have any success with shoutbow since the patch? It’s seemed like it has been having trouble with all the burst specs going around.

1. from the time i’ve had so far in playing my warrior, i still like the passive of the healing signet but i dont feel like the active is worth it at the moment i mean its cool if im running head first into a mass of enemies or necros but i dont really think its that useful.

2. not a single build i have tried makes me feel like hes fun now. the class feels stale and for the life of me condition warrior is so boring i kinda stop caring about the class after a while and wish i was on another class.

3. Shoutbow is boring and not something i would ever pick up since there is no skill needed to play it. i kind of find it insulting that people only ever equate warriors with shoutbow instead of the damage kings they should be, if i see a warrior i want to feel threatened not bored to tears as i burn one down with my engineer or guardian in WvW.

The Gates Assassin.9827:

Alright, you guys know the drill! How are the changes so far?

I recall that they asked for feedback prior to patch ? I could be wrong though. I am still trying to figure out stuff, but right now, the warrior overall feels “weak” and “dull”.

Either answer these questions for me or just talk about what you feel is important to mention for Warrior.

Specific questions:

1. Have you tried actually using healing signet for the resistance at all?
2. Have you found any builds that are extremely distinct in playstyle from builds before the patch?
3. Have you been able to have any success with shoutbow since the patch? It’s seemed like it has been having trouble with all the burst specs going around.

1. In my opinion, if actually the purpose was to make us warriors using healing signet by giving us resistance, they could have simply buffed the active and changed “Thick Skin” to something like “Gain X sec Resistance if you have X or more conditions on you. Give it X Sec ICD if its too powerful” . And not nerfing the passive heal and tied 6sec resistance on activation.

2. Not really. Since my build got weaker as “Signet Trait” got moved, “physical-training” got nerfed and “Dogged-march” competes with another trait that was part of my build.
That doesn´t mean that i am not trying to create similar builds or adjust my current one with the new patch changes. Currently i am testing an Mace/Shield—Hammer build with “Mending” as healing.(6-0-6-0-6) The most obvious problems among others , with the new patch are :

• “Peak Performance” competes with “Restorative Strength.” Since “Mending” considered Physical.
• “Shield Master” competes with “Dogged March”.

3. Warrior can do much better given the right tools, than simply be a “shoutbow”. At the moment the patch made me placing my main “warrior” on ice as it feels “Weak” and “Slow”.

Regards

Seed

BlackTruth.6813:

The Gates Assassin.9827:

Alright, you guys know the drill! How are the changes so far? Either answer these questions for me or just talk about what you feel is important to mention for Warrior.

Specific questions:

1. Have you tried actually using healing signet for the resistance at all?
2. Have you found any builds that are extremely distinct in playstyle from builds before the patch?
3. Have you been able to have any success with shoutbow since the patch? It’s seemed like it has been having trouble with all the burst specs going around.

1.) Healing Signet is dead. Defiant Stance is meta now. 300 healing per second will not be enough to out-sustain 10k damage within a matter of seconds at this meta.
2.) DPS Warrior is broken op. Plenty of counterplay exists but in my standards it’s just too strong atm.
3.) Shoutbow is still playable SO LONG as you have a “hyper carry” that you are supporting. The incentive becomes, focus the shoutbow or the guy who can cleave your team.

Sorry man but this time I have to disagree with you.

1)Defiant Stance never will be meta unless you fight scripted AI

2)DPS Warrior got buffed that’s true but a DPS Class without sneaky/instant burst will never be viable
—-> Just no reason to take a warrior if you can pick a guard/mes/thief

3) shoutbow is much worse than before.you will lose against every ele 1v1 on point, ele is much superior now than hambow/shoutbow
—-> no reason to take a warrior if you can pick an ele

I think with those changes warrior won’t have any place in the current meta and Blackjack former member of oRNG confirmed my thoughts.

If Rom deosn’t find a viable build when he’s back from vacation then rest in peperino warriors!

1: Healing signet is off the bar for me. It’s regen style simply can’t deal with the insane burst going around. The on use is nice but mostly irrelevant in the grander scheme of things. I rather use Berserker Stance or even the Signet of Stamina.
2: A stun build using the mace has come up for me and it’s nice. I’m not sure what to combine it with best, but I guess the Skullcracker build by Burr on the forums is the way to go. Saying that… for the macing builds, many old warriors builds simply disappeared it seems.
3: Shoutbow is a little yapper you drag along with your zerg to have any sort of meaning. Other than that, it’s nothing another class won’t be better at.

To draw a sum below it all: The current Blitzkrieg Meta simply forces us into preemptive/preventive defensive play. That means the old tanki style or riding the regen of Healing Signet and the Adren regen are gone. Things like the Healing Signet on use simply don’t deal well with what is being thrown around. I rather try to unload a stunchain under the cover of Berserker Stance and get out again with Shieldblock and Defiant Stance than rely on any sort of tanking concept. Alone the necessity to rely on these defensive skills pretty much limits whatever skills can go onto the toolbar. I don’t see shouts as valuable considering how low their healing is in comparison to what I get thrown at me. That you have to sacrifice a Grandmaster Trait for the measly healing that doesn’t do much is just topping. Banners usually don’t find their way onto my bar as they don’t allow me to prevent my face from being melted in 4 seconds. The general “constant but small” buffing scheme has gone out of the window in my eyes, now it’s burn the strong but long CDs playstyle.

The Gates Assassin.9827:

Specific questions:

1. Have you tried actually using healing signet for the resistance at all?
2. Have you found any builds that are extremely distinct in playstyle from builds before the patch?
3. Have you been able to have any success with shoutbow since the patch? It’s seemed like it has been having trouble with all the burst specs going around.

1. Resistance isn’t even noteworthy to begin with (props to the developers for trying, though), but I have tried using Healing Signet for it. Healing Signet itself now sees exclusive usability in PvE, and I don’t consider this to be a bad thing at all.
2. Berserker Greatsword & Mace/Shield (let’s call it BGMS) all traited with 4 traited stances (including Defiant Stance) and traited Rampage keeps up extremely well with the current meta, and is one of the strongest builds to have in a team-fight (like the beginning fight over Mid) most especially using traited Rampage which can be an auto-win button after popping traited Endure Pain and Berserker Stance. However, Necromancer’s downed skill (Fear) goes right through Rampage’s stability (read: bug).
3. Shoutbow is entirely sub-optimal in the current meta, and I also don’t consider this to be a bad thing either.

Overall, it’s a different meta entirely. If people were expecting combat to work like it used to before such extensive changes across the board, then they simply had their heads on wrong (not to be rude). I’ve successfully tested every single class post-patch and have found that they can all have “OP” results when built and played properly. People are simply crying because the differences are a lot more clear-cut between what’s optimal and what isn’t, and they’re confusing that for this sense of “OP” (mostly).

You used to be able to take a sub-optimal (read: non-meta) build and decently beat someone with an optimal (read: meta) build provided you had more skill than them. However, with traits being streamlined into specializations, it takes a lot more work and is much less likely for you to be able to do this now. Optimal builds are simply far more optimal than sub-optimal builds now.

That isn’t to say that damage in the current meta isn’t an issue, because it is. The fix itself is quite simple, but the work involved (read: coding/programming) may be quite the opposite. However, feel free to pass along this three-step fix for making damage in this game simply perfect:

1. Power coefficients need to be adjusted for skills across the board so that physical burst combos used by Berserker builds cannot “one-shot” (let’s define this as “down within 1 second”) other builds that aren’t also Berserker builds. “Insta-gibbing” should always require a coordinated effort by at least 2 players.
2. Conditions need to cap per source (read: the player applying them): 5 stacks for burning, 10 stacks for poison, 15 stacks for confusion, 20 stacks for torment, and 25 stacks for bleeding.
3. Poison is not dynamic enough for the new way damaging conditions work! Each stack should reduce heal potency by 3% (capping at 100%), and application via skills should be adjusted accordingly as well as that of Superior Sigil of Doom (read: 10 stacks for 5 seconds). Its damage should also be adjusted accordingly.

ArenaNet has the right idea with capping condition stacking, it just needs to be implemented the right way is all.