Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: taugrim.7604

taugrim.7604

You can find the up-to-date guide here:
http://taugrim.com/2012/12/04/guide-to-guild-wars-2-warrior-run-and-gun-build-for-wvw/

Below is a copy of the guide as of Dec 5th.

WvW Considerations
To understand my build choices, here are critical considerations for World PVP:

  • Speed kills. More specifically, in-combat speed is king. Some players make the assumption that Swiftness is sufficient, but in my experience, you need the ability to leap or charge and to remove roots (Immobilize) and snares (Cripple and Chill)
  • Toughness matters. Going glass cannon for Warrior (and most of the other classes) will cause you to implode under any meaningful focus fire. This isn’t sPvP (structured Player versus Player) or tournaments, where the maximum number of opponents is capped at 5 or 8 respectively. In WvW, players are exposed to situations where they take massive amounts of direct damage. You also want an HP pool that provides you with a sufficient window to react and recover in most situations – in my opinion 20k is the lowest you should run with, given that Warrior has neither stealth nor teleports
  • To contribute in a majority of situations, it’s helpful to have a ranged weapon. Any time there are sizable forces facing off or a fight at a tower or keep, there will be heavy ranged exchanges. In addition, the world is much more open compared to sPvP, so ranged weapons tend to work well

With that framing, we can move on to the spec.

Build Calculator and Key Design Decisions
Calculator: http://bit.ly/VcFo41

There are several decisions worthy of note:

  • Rifle is the primary offensive weapon. Sword / Warhorn is used for mobility, defense, and melee AOE. I recommend the Knight’s versions for Sword / Warhorn to provide Toughness
  • For gear, the primary stats are Power and Precision, secondarily Toughness, and Critical Damage last. In terms of stacking Critical Damage, the most efficient way of doing it is by slotting 6 x Exquisite Ruby Jewel. As a rule of thumb, for Crit builds for Warrior I aim for at least 50 Critical Damage, so that crits deal twice as much damage
  • I use Superior Sigil of Bloodlust on both weapons in the Sword / Warhorn set, so that I can speed-stack Bloodlust to 25. Each kill when I have this weapon set equipped provides 2 stacks of Bloodlust
  • The Berserker’s Power and Attack of Opportunity traits stack multiplicatively, i.e. at full Adrenaline and with a Bleed applied on the target, your damage increases by a multiplier of 1.232. With my gear set as of December 1st 2012, I have Critical Damage of 63, which means:
    * My crits deals 2.13 x normal damage (1.50 + 0.63)
    * At full Adrenaline and with a Bleed on the target, my crits deals 2.62 x normal damage (2.13 × 1.232). The multiplier is even higher for Kill Shot
  • I take the Deep Cuts trait to extend the duration of Bleeds, to increase uptime for Attack of Opportunity
  • The Inspiring Shouts trait enables you to fill up your Adrenaline bar while you are casting Kill Shot
  • The Mobile Strikes trait in the Discipline line enables Sword 2 (Savage Leap) to break Immobilize
Taugrim
Guides and Gameplay: Blog | YouTube | Twitter

(edited by taugrim.7604)

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: taugrim.7604

taugrim.7604

Tips

  • Remember to swap to Sword / Warhorn when finishing a downed opponent, to gain the 2 stacks of Bloodlust, to be able to close the gap via Sword 2 if your opponent teleports, and for the additional Toughness
  • You have awesome in-combat mobility and you have 1200 range, so play accordingly. You ever watch a surfer? The wave never catches then, because they’re always just in front of it. You can “surf the zerg” by making good use of Sword 2, Warhorn 4, and Warhorn 5. I have kited zergs by myself for incredible distances just by staying in front of their forerunners
  • Whenever possible, make sure you have a Bleed on your target (e.g. with Rifle 1) before using Rifle 3 or Kill Shot, so that you benefit from Attack of Opportunity
  • Remember that you can stack 15 Vulnerability in 1 GCD, with Rifle 4 and “On My Mark!” which is incredible for friendly focus fire
  • If you want to be really anal about balancing Toughness and Critical Damage, consider the ratios of Toughness per Critical Damage for each slot. E.g. shoulders / gloves / boots have the lowest ratio at 17:1 followed by Amulet at 18:1, so if you want to increase Critical Damage at the expense of Toughness, consider those slots. I would personally not go below 2700 Armor with Rifle equipped

FAQs

1. Did you consider using Greatsword instead of Sword / Warhorn?

Short answer: yes. From a practical standpoint, for WvW a Warrior gains substantial mobility with either set of weapons.

The reason I did not go with Greatsword is because it performs most effectively when you slot Physical (e.g. Bull’s Charge, Bolas) utilities and / or Frenzy, and the opportunity cost in terms of utility slots is too high for me.

I tried playing variants of Rifle / Hammer, and while those specs were fun, the bottom-line is that my escapability without a blade was pitifully low. Swiftness alone does not cut it. Even though I swapped to Warhorn out-of-combat for Warhorn 4?s Swiftness boon, I was still lacking the secret sauce of “Run and Gun”: high in-combat mobility.

2. What are the weaknesses of this build?

  1. It lacks sustained disabling CC
  2. Rifle is not a good sustained close-quarters weapon against a melee, as Rifle 3 will stop casting if an opponent breaks your frontal LoS. You can switch to Sword / Warhorn, but that set provides no disabling CC

3. What gear are you using?

Full set of crafted Exotic weapons and armor, 5 crafted Exotic trinkets, and a Rare backpiece. You can see the specific gear in the WvW Build Overview video below.

4. Why don’t you stack Bloodlust with a 3rd weapon set?

If you can afford a 3rd Exotic weapon set, then go for it.

For a while I was stacking up to 25 using a Major Sigil of Bloodlust on a Rare weapon. I didn’t want to fight players with that weapon (weaker than my Exotic weapons), so I’d farm mobs until I had stacked to 25, then equip my Exotic weapon sets. It was tedious to have to re-do when I died, switched maps, or re-logged.

I find the speed-stacking with Sword / Warhorn to be fast and fun – I can jump right into WvW. If I die and have to re-stack, it doesn’t take long to get back to full again.

Taugrim
Guides and Gameplay: Blog | YouTube | Twitter

(edited by taugrim.7604)

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: taugrim.7604

taugrim.7604

Reserved for future updates.

Taugrim
Guides and Gameplay: Blog | YouTube | Twitter

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: WakkaJabba.3910

WakkaJabba.3910

well actually i rolled a warrior because i saw your hammer gun build. just love to swing hammers at foes

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: teg.1340

teg.1340

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Taugrim. Ive found another rifle build which Im running successfully for a few weeks now.

My build is more warhorn oriented: 10/25/0/20/15

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNBkYDbkzp5NFS5hJSgYKUEXGJRAqP0GJFiBbA;TsAAyCsoyyklILbWuskZtAZYxGCA

I will definitely give your build a try. What I dont like about my build is the the wasted slot for balanced stance. Great advice to use adrenaline on shouts trait!

As for sword / warhorn Im using some rares with power/toughness/vitality for max defense. Dont know if this stat combination is also available as exotics?

I found Sigil of Hydromancy for sword extremely useful for better survability. E.g. when jumped by a thief just switch to sword/horn for pbaoe freeze + leap away.

I will definitely give your build a try. Though its very hard for me to give up 20 tactics for warhorn trait after using it for such a long time.

One question Taugrim: Your build lacks any stun breaker or did I miss something? I know its possible to minimize situations where you get stunned by just optimizing positional play. But there are definitely situations where I just need Shake it Off.

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: Vane.2387

Vane.2387

I’ve been running that trait setup for a number of weeks now and it’s really fun, but my setup is a tiny bit different.

I use the signet cooldown reduction trait in the discipline line because I run Signet of Might, Fury, and Rage, as well as FGJ and Healing Surge.

Signet of Fury and Healing Surge are my adrenaline reloads, though gaining adrenaline through Volley and Bleeding Shot have never been an issue either in wvw. My rotation is Signet of Rage > FGJ > Signet of Might, which ends up being 13 stacks of might (not counting the extra attack from bloodlust stacks) for 10 secs. Really makes kill shot pack a punch.

I like your double bloodlust stacking though, seems like a quick way to get it maxed out. Right now I’m using greatsword mainly for countering thieves rezzing people with shadow refuge. I run with my guardian buddy and we typically run where the the player went down at and do the greatsword pull-in move and I hundred blades on top of him. It generally works out pretty well and end up getting a two for one deal when they’re visible again.

Dreadscar – Norn Warrior [ICoa] Blackgate
Vanbrandt – Norn Elementalist [ICoa] Blackgate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLTzyn6CGHw

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: Beefcake.9032

Beefcake.9032

Hi Taugrim, nice to see you’re still playing GW2 & working on your Warrior builds

My build: http://gw2.luna-atra.fr/skills_tool/?lang=en&code=3490003n3u447a45beau00u1l1u21dtdve4f9

I’m running something similar (also 10/30/0/0/30) though going for full zerker gear. Faring well with it in wuvwuv so far but I’ll consider upping my toughness if I start dieing sooner than the rest of my group.

I’m using a Sigil of Earth on the rifle. More Bleeds means a higher likelihood for +10% damage from “Attack of Opportunity” trait. I’ll give the “Major Sigil of Bloodlust” a go for my Sword/Warhorn set

Instead of OMM and “Fear Me” I’ve gone for adrenalin-regeneration for the Utilities (Berserker Stance + Signet of Fury). This allows me to consistently fire a Killshot (from the get-go) every 10s and replace:

- Arms: Furious (adrenalin on crit) -> Rending Strikes (Vulnerability on crit)
[I also considered Last Chance (Quickness @ 25% HP) but once every 90s seems low]

- Discipline: Inspiring Shouts (adrenalin on shout) -> Signet Mastery (20% signet CD)
[Aside from Signet of Rage, which is invaluable to your build also, this trait also buffs Signet of Fury (adrenalin) & Healing Signet]

I’ve also gone for Heightened Focus (crit% for adrenalin) instead of Mobile Strikes. Once my zerker’s set is full (still missing 4 pieces) I’ll consider swapping these out though

One question Taugrim: Your build lacks any stun breaker or did I miss something? I know its possible to minimize situations where you get stunned by just optimizing positional play. But there are definitely situations where I just need Shake it Off.

If I was running Taugrim’s build I’d also choose SIO over OMM or Fear Me. OMM is single target (it’s not like you’re not able to burst down anything that gets between your crosshairs anyway), Fear Me has a long CD.

I use the signet cooldown reduction trait in the discipline line because I run Signet of Might, Fury, and Rage, as well as FGJ and Healing Surge.

I’ll give this a shot. Healing Surge only gives 10/30 Adrenalin. Have you got any other Traits for adrenalin regeneration?
If this negatively impacts my ability to spam Killshot I’ll switch back to what I’m currently running (Berserker Stance + Signet of Fury)

Wrainbash, Asura Warrior of Kodasch Allianz [KoA]
Du spielst auf Kodasch? Besuche doch mal die Kodasch Community Webseite! :)

(edited by Beefcake.9032)

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: teg.1340

teg.1340

@Beefcake: Healing surge has been changed a few patches ago. It now gives you full adrenaline.

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: taugrim.7604

taugrim.7604

well actually i rolled a warrior because i saw your hammer gun build. just love to swing hammers at foes

I love Hammer/Rifle, such a versatile combination!

My main issue with that combo as I wrote above is the lack of in-combat mobility. Earthshaker doesn’t help that much, even if you were to trait Mobile Strikes, because of the slow animation (which IMO is needed for balance).

Taugrim
Guides and Gameplay: Blog | YouTube | Twitter

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: taugrim.7604

taugrim.7604

As for sword / warhorn Im using some rares with power/toughness/vitality for max defense. Dont know if this stat combination is also available as exotics?

The badge gear is Pow/Tou/Vit but acquiring badges takes time, unless you run in a zerg and kill farm.

You can also get that gear from running dungeons, which is probably the most time-efficient method, e.g. Honor of the Waves.

I found Sigil of Hydromancy for sword extremely useful for better survability. E.g. when jumped by a thief just switch to sword/horn for pbaoe freeze + leap away.

Hydro is a great choice for WH, for the reasons you stated.

Sword 2 with Mobile Strikes has been amazing though, so I’m OK not running with Hydro. If I didn’t have a leap separator, I’d consider Hydro.

One question Taugrim: Your build lacks any stun breaker or did I miss something? I know its possible to minimize situations where you get stunned by just optimizing positional play. But there are definitely situations where I just need Shake it Off.

You’re correct.

It’s a tradeoff decision. I’ve grown to love “On My Mark!” but SIO is the better choice from a defensive standpoint. That said, my build has multiple abilities / traits to help deal with bad situations, and it’s reasonably durable.

Taugrim
Guides and Gameplay: Blog | YouTube | Twitter

(edited by taugrim.7604)

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: taugrim.7604

taugrim.7604

I use the signet cooldown reduction trait in the discipline line because I run Signet of Might, Fury, and Rage, as well as FGJ and Healing Surge.

A lot of people slot the signet cooldown redux trait. I think Discipline tree forces the player to make some pretty hard choices. Same with Healing Surge, which I’ve considered taking but I love having multiple sources of condition removal.

Speaking of which, how do you deal with roots and snares that keep getting applied?

I like your double bloodlust stacking though, seems like a quick way to get it maxed out.

It’s incredibly convenient.

Right now I’m using greatsword mainly for countering thieves rezzing people with shadow refuge. I run with my guardian buddy and we typically run where the the player went down at and do the greatsword pull-in move and I hundred blades on top of him. It generally works out pretty well and end up getting a two for one deal when they’re visible again.

Yea that makes a lot of sense

Taugrim
Guides and Gameplay: Blog | YouTube | Twitter

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: taugrim.7604

taugrim.7604

Hi Taugrim, nice to see you’re still playing GW2 & working on your Warrior builds

I’m running something similar (also 10/30/0/0/30) though going for full zerker gear. Faring well with it in wuvwuv so far but I’ll consider upping my toughness if I start dieing sooner than the rest of my group.

The more you can “blend in” with a larger group or zerg, the better Berserker’s works.

I tend to run in very small groups (1-5 people), and we all agree that each person needs to be reasonably not-squishy in order for us to manage situations that we actively pursue, such as outnumbered fighting.

That said, I ran full Zerker’s and blowing people up is entertaining. I just place a premium on durability.

I’m using a Sigil of Earth on the rifle. More Bleeds means a higher likelihood for +10% damage from “Attack of Opportunity” trait.

You can do that, or you can let the Rifle 1 hit just once, and you have a bleed up for 9+ sec with Deep Cuts trait.

Instead of OMM and “Fear Me” I’ve gone for adrenalin-regeneration for the Utilities (Berserker Stance + Signet of Fury).

I’ve wondered about swapping out “Fear Me!” for Balanced Stance for stomping/reviving. But I love AOE CC.

OMM is not essential in this build. I just love making a target explode. Also, I’ve been more comfortable with OMM over SIO as I’ve increased Toughness. Obviously Toughness is not a replacement for a stun breaker, but I don’t implode at least.

Taugrim
Guides and Gameplay: Blog | YouTube | Twitter

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: Brutalistik.6473

Brutalistik.6473

@ Taurgrim do you have a condition warrior build?

Pineapples

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: Vane.2387

Vane.2387

Speaking of which, how do you deal with roots and snares that keep getting applied?

I have Mobile Strikes (X) in the Discipline line slotted, so I swap to greatsword and #3 or #5 out, I have auto targeting disabled so if I have Signet of Rage’s swiftness up the two abilities generally put me pretty far out of harms way.

Right now I’m running full Berserker’s gear, so I tend to stay as far back as I possibly can, but Rifle Butt and Aimed Shot are really useful for those sneaky ones that get to the back lines.

I love Rifle Butt for knocking people off cliffs too, charge at them while channeling Volley > Rifle Butt > splat! They could probably turn around and kill me if they wanted to, but with Berserker gear Volley just does so much damage on it’s own too.

Dreadscar – Norn Warrior [ICoa] Blackgate
Vanbrandt – Norn Elementalist [ICoa] Blackgate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLTzyn6CGHw

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: Lensar.4920

Lensar.4920

My build is pretty close: http://bit.ly/YGvlKd

I use Rifle and Sword/Horn when moving around, but I swap out the Rifle for the Longbow in Keep/tower attacks and defenses.

I have a couple of different armor sets I use, but most of the time I use my full Glass Cannon build with all berserker gear and rune of divinity.

After a ton of experimentation, I’ve mostly settled on the 0/20/0/30/20 build:

Traits
Crack Shot – Faster rifle recharge and piercing
Rending Strikes – Vulnerability on crit

Leg Specialist – 1 second root (I switch to +longbow range when I switch to the bow)
Lung Cap – Faster shout recharge
Vigorous – Shouts heal

Signet Master – Faster signet recharge
Mobile strikes – Movement skills break immobilize

Skills

Healing Surge – Full adrenalin
Justice Shout – Heal & might
Signet of Rage – Full adrenalin
Shake it off – Heal & remove condition & break stun
Signet of Fury – Might/speed/crit

Sigils

Rifle: Force – +5 Damage
Sword: Hydromancy – immobilizes nearby enemies for 3 secs on weapon switch
Warhorm: Bloodlust – Power stacks
Longbow: Force – +5 Damage

Rifle Tactics

- I always travel with sword and warhorn which lets me avoid enemy zergs and choose my battles.

- With two full adrenalin refreshes, I can use Kill Shot twice at the start of the fight and again every 27 seconds.

- The shout heals allow me to keep my health up from minor damage every 10 seconds.

- If I start taking big damage, I dodge backwards once or twice then switch to sword/horn

- If one or more melee are on me, the Hydromancy freezes them for 3 seconds when I swap to sword/horn

- Sword leap is huge for escapes. Runspeed as well. And warhorn 5 gives endurance regen which lets me dodge forward more often.

- While fleeing, my shouts provide healing and condition remove/stun breaks

- Sword leap lets me break any immobility debuffs because of Mobile Strikes

- I can almost always escape long enough to get out of combat regen to full health, then loop back and switch back to rifle.

Longbow Tactics

- Adrenalin refreshes let me do Combustive Shot every 27 seconds for the AE fire field

- I immediately follow Combustive with Arcing area which does big AE damage, due to fire field’s delay, they both hit about the same time, which is great for wall defenders or enemies outside a keep.

- Switching from leg specialist to longbow range gives Arcing arrow the same range as Combustive shot

- The shout heals allow me to move to into the line of fire long enough to get those two AE bow abilities off, then I immediately dodge backwards out of range.

Overall

I love the mobility and escape ability, which lets me survive in a glass cannon build. (still requires tremendous situational awareness to know when bug out) Rifle is great at rooting any that flee and can do big damage to enemies not paying attention. The longbow is awesome in larger battles for the AE damage and can help make a real difference in siege situations.

Lensar – [End] Rasnel – 80 Warrior
Ascalons Requiem – Blackgate
Public Blackgate WvW Forum: http://bit.ly/X3Bifl

(edited by Lensar.4920)

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: Brigg.6189

Brigg.6189

I’ve run this build for awhile with some minor differences. It’s fun, and shines in small group fights, but I didn’t find it to be a huge factor in WvW so I’ve switched. Here’s a summary:

Pros –
It’s a great counter to glass cannons and high healing/low health builds (like some guardians).
Excels in small group pvp where getting 1 or 2 downs can give an advantage.
Can score downs and kills on wall players who normally would be free to back off.
Warhorn group buffs (swiftness, endurance, cripple-break) are a huge asset to a group.

Cons-
Not great against good players in 1v1 situations (if they can dodge your burst).
No aoe damage to contribute to large fights.
Single target damage is not a big factor in large fights, downed players are quickly revived if you can’t get out aoe pressure.

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: Warlord.9074

Warlord.9074

I’ve run this build for awhile with some minor differences. It’s fun, and shines in small group fights, but I didn’t find it to be a huge factor in WvW so I’ve switched. Here’s a summary:

Pros –
It’s a great counter to glass cannons and high healing/low health builds (like some guardians).
Excels in small group pvp where getting 1 or 2 downs can give an advantage.
Can score downs and kills on wall players who normally would be free to back off.
Warhorn group buffs (swiftness, endurance, cripple-break) are a huge asset to a group.

Cons-
Not great against good players in 1v1 situations (if they can dodge your burst).
No aoe damage to contribute to large fights.
Single target damage is not a big factor in large fights, downed players are quickly revived if you can’t get out aoe pressure.

I have to agree for 1v1 its just bad vs thiefs, other warriors that know how to play. It might be good vs some professions like mesmers 1v1 or rangers though. I personally like shields I rather have a shield than a warhorn anyday in PVP. Single sword is great for the leap but the damage pales in comparison to an axe. I would take Axe/shield over sword/horn anyday in pvp. And use a GS most of the time and swap to a rifle in certain situations. I prefer Longbow though in large battles becasue of the massive aoe damage and it can shoot on top of walls something that rifle cannot.

All in all its a solid build but I prefer choices and more versatile weapon usage.

“Just press 2 to win all the dps was us cuz we’re a
warrior and we’re the best class” Eugene

(edited by Warlord.9074)

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: salluks.6017

salluks.6017

i was always tanky support build, recently changed to this.. i feel really squishy and die to even npc without kiting.

any help?

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: Warlord.9074

Warlord.9074

i was always tanky support build, recently changed to this.. i feel really squishy and die to even npc without kiting.

any help?

Key words to this build is “Run” thats why you feel so squishy. The build is what it is, it transforms a warrior into a Ranger or something ranged that basically runs around shooting things in the back with the rest of the robe wearing classes and you kite, then if things get bad you blow your horn do a leap and run away. If you like this kinda of style of play I can think of at least 4 other professions the are specifically designed to be played this way and far outshine a warrior playing this way. I know that doesn’t really answer your question but I can still use a rifle on my warrior and deal roughly the same amount of damage as this guy with a lot more survivability. I use a shield and Axe instead of a horn and sword. A shield will greatly increase a warriors survivability in PVP. Guess what happens when this guy trys to kill my warrior he dies I put my shield up and reflect it all back.

“Just press 2 to win all the dps was us cuz we’re a
warrior and we’re the best class” Eugene

(edited by Warlord.9074)

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: taugrim.7604

taugrim.7604

@ Taurgrim do you have a condition warrior build?

Do you mean have or use?

I don’t use a condition build, but that’s primarily because we only have 1 type of condition application (bleed), so compared to other classes it’s easier to remove our damage.

I’ve been mulling over trying it anyway, but I’d want to get a set of Rare Apothecary gear and go for a bleed tank.

Taugrim
Guides and Gameplay: Blog | YouTube | Twitter

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: taugrim.7604

taugrim.7604

@Beefcake: Healing surge has been changed a few patches ago. It now gives you full adrenaline.

It’s kind of an odd mechanic.

You can use it to re-fill the Adrenaline bar, but the healing amount (if you need the healing) is lower when Adrenaline is not already full.

If you use it simply to re-fill the bar, then your heal is on cooldown for 30 sec.

Taugrim
Guides and Gameplay: Blog | YouTube | Twitter

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: taugrim.7604

taugrim.7604

I use Rifle and Sword/Horn when moving around, but I swap out the Rifle for the Longbow in Keep/tower attacks and defenses.

That makes sense.

I’d need to get an Exotic Longbow though

I have a couple of different armor sets I use, but most of the time I use my full Glass Cannon build with all berserker gear and rune of divinity.

After a ton of experimentation, I’ve mostly settled on the 0/20/0/30/20 build:

Do your shouts for ~1.2k?

I’ve tried running 30 points in Tactics for the shout-healing, but the return on trait point investment is kind of meh. I know a lot of people like their shout-healing though.

Traits
Crack Shot – Faster rifle recharge and piercing
Rending Strikes – Vulnerability on crit

Leg Specialist – 1 second root (I switch to +longbow range when I switch to the bow)
Lung Cap – Faster shout recharge
Vigorous – Shouts heal

Signet Master – Faster signet recharge
Mobile strikes – Movement skills break immobilize

Rifle: Force – +5 Damage
Sword: Hydromancy – immobilizes nearby enemies for 3 secs on weapon switch
Warhorm: Bloodlust – Power stacks
Longbow: Force – +5 Damage

Hydro on one of the Sword / Warhorn weapons makes sense. I’m not a fan of the 5% damage though – the AOE proc from Sigil of Fire is great for tagging players.

Taugrim
Guides and Gameplay: Blog | YouTube | Twitter

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: taugrim.7604

taugrim.7604

Pros –
It’s a great counter to glass cannons and high healing/low health builds (like some guardians).
Excels in small group pvp where getting 1 or 2 downs can give an advantage.
Can score downs and kills on wall players who normally would be free to back off.
Warhorn group buffs (swiftness, endurance, cripple-break) are a huge asset to a group.

Cons-
Not great against good players in 1v1 situations (if they can dodge your burst).
No aoe damage to contribute to large fights.
Single target damage is not a big factor in large fights, downed players are quickly revived if you can’t get out aoe pressure.

That’s a fair assessment.

The AOE damage you can provide, but you have to be in melee range for Sword.

1v1 it depends on the situation. This is not designed to be a 1v1 spec, but it handles itself fine solo, and you can dictate the fights you get in.

Taugrim
Guides and Gameplay: Blog | YouTube | Twitter

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: taugrim.7604

taugrim.7604

I personally like shields I rather have a shield than a warhorn anyday in PVP. Single sword is great for the leap but the damage pales in comparison to an axe. I would take Axe/shield over sword/horn anyday in pvp. And use a GS most of the time and swap to a rifle in certain situations. I prefer Longbow though in large battles becasue of the massive aoe damage and it can shoot on top of walls something that rifle cannot.

All in all its a solid build but I prefer choices and more versatile weapon usage.

Depends what’s important to you.

I value the Warhorn over Shield primarily because it provides value in solo and in group situations. Shield is a great weapon paired up with Axe.

Taugrim
Guides and Gameplay: Blog | YouTube | Twitter

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: taugrim.7604

taugrim.7604

i was always tanky support build, recently changed to this.. i feel really squishy and die to even npc without kiting.

any help?

NPCs (e.g. Veteran) are easy to kill with this or any functional build.

How is it you’re dying to NPCs?

Taugrim
Guides and Gameplay: Blog | YouTube | Twitter

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: teg.1340

teg.1340

Thank you Taugrim and Lensar for sharing your thoughts and builds. I’ve tested both of your builds and ended in tweaking my horn/gun build with a few goodies from both of your builds.

This is my brand new 10/20/0/20/20 horn’n’gun build:

http://bit.ly/RiYsA7

I’m a really a big fan of Quick Breathing, I tried hard but just cannot play without it anymore. 16 sec cooldown for warhorn 4 + 5 and condition conversion into boon is so awesome, I just forgot over time how to play without it (poison becomes health regen, vulnerability becomes protection, bleed becomes vigor, …).

What I’ve changed from my original build (see above):

- Switched Attack of Opportunity for Mobile Strikes. I’m not entirely sure about that because warhorn 4 is pretty nice when being rooted and its frequently ready due to 16s cd
- Switched Heightened Focus for Signet Mastery (better Swiftness, Fury, Might uptime even without swapping for warhorn 4)
- Switched Berserker Stance for Signet of Fury (24s cd with Signet Mastery). Passive its 4% crit chance which compensates the loss of Heightened Focus a bit.
- Switched to dual bloodlust sigils for sword/warhorn (cudos to taugrim, seems I rarely miss Hydromancy )
- Bought a longbow for siege. Combustive + Arcing Shot combo is so cool (kudos to Lensar, pretty nice aoe damage ). Its much saver to pull off compared to using Killshot from the wall and I feel it has a much greater strategic impact. With Signet of Fury + Healing Surge you can put off this combo on average every 15s. Im using Sigil of Fire on my longbow for even more aoe pwnage.

tl;dr Rifle Warrior is awesome. Just find your own build and have a blast.

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: Mahanaxar.1386

Mahanaxar.1386

This is the exact kind of build I was looking for! Can’t wait to try it out!

Relentless Raven, 80 Warrior
Robin Sparklies, 80 Elementalist
Crimethink [ct] – Yak’s Bend

Guide to “Run and Gun” Build for WvW

in Warrior

Posted by: salameri.3768

salameri.3768

I loved your Captain Hammer build I am using it now in game and loving it. Some of the fights are just hilarious! Good vids guys!!!

Saad Swordrage (Warrior Main), Joker Deceptor (Mesmer) Guild-The Betrayed, Server- DRAGONBRAND