Guild Wars 2

So… that skill is more of a hinder for me then helping… a 3/4 a second activation time, where you have to be still and not move or press anything, or it will end… I had better luck with hundred blades simply because it is instant O_O…

So… shouldn’t that skill change a bit for PvP? in PvE it’s fine, the monsters tend to stay in their locations, but in PvP… everyone moves around you, and since it has to be in melee range of 130, it is only good against people that are locked in place with stuns or immobilize, and people that try to revive their allies, making it too situational to the point I can’t even for it any use.

With hundred blades for example, it is a good way to punish those that try to come close to you and get adrenaline, thanks to the fact that it is an instant move, and doesn’t give the opponent time to get away before atleast taking some of the damage.

With the 4th skill hammer… you are stuck in place, having to wait the long animation for it to hit, where the opponent can easily evade without even realizing it, just by taking some steps back or circling you and going behind the attack.

Leave it the way it is and instead buff the damage and maybe 5% more AoE.
This is a friggin hammer, it ain’t a scalpel, so make it more scary instead of giving it a ton of on-demand precision-cc.

Make this skill a fearsome follow-up to other stuns rather than making it yet another initiate. Hammer got 3 of these already. Make it something, the opponent wants to avoid at all costs instead of yet another skill that pummels them around for a bit, so you can chain – what exactly? autoattack? 100blades?

A skill that is good for a chain instead of a knockout sounds reasonable

Thing is, I am also comparing it to the rifle-butt, which also pushes the opponent, is faster, and you can move while doing it… that hammer skill needs something to actually be WORTH using.

However, the damage buff depends on how much would they give it, a minor buff won’t really be that helpful, and just 5% more range won’t either (making it just 136.5 range instead…)

well, if you increase the range too much, it will be too good of a skill for zerging.
And the damage increase I was talking about was somewhere between 30% and 50%.

Rance Webster.2635:

Thing is, I am also comparing it to the rifle-butt, which also pushes the opponent, is faster, and you can move while doing it… that hammer skill needs something to actually be WORTH using.

If it could perform like the batter up Guardian#4 skill, but only moving then Hammer #4 skill for warrior would be worth it.

I agree that it’s a really awkward ability, not something you want to use unless the enemy is already CC’d.

But it’s hard to explain, it just feels clunky.

Kaz.9376:

I agree that it’s a really awkward ability, not something you want to use unless the enemy is already CC’d.

But it’s hard to explain, it just feels clunky.

I think that it’s because of the duration time it takes for the skill to activate, a 3/4 of a second, where even a single press of the button cancels it.

Also, I decided to compare it the rifle but, according to the wiki

Activation time:
Rifle butt – 1/4 a second, Staggering Blow – 3/4 a second.

Damage:
Rifle butt – 386, Staggering Blow – 481
(according to wiki, so I don’t know on what they base the damage on)

Can/Can’t hit multiple foes:
Rifle Butt – Can, Staggering Blow – Can.

Range:
Rifle Butt – 130, Staggering blow – 130.

Knockback:
Rifle Butt – 450, Staggering Blow – 180

Combo Finisher:
Rifle Butt – none, Staggering Blow – Whirl.

Cooldown:
Rifle Butt – 15, Staggering Blow – 20.

Can/can’t move while using the skill:
Rifle Butt – Can, Staggering Blow -Can’t.

According to that comparison, it seems the rifle butt is much better then Staggering blow. (however, the knockback for the Staggering blow makes sense – it’s a melee weapon, not a ranged weapon after all, you’ll still need to get close if you want to continue hitting the opponent).

Make staggering blow a 2 part skill, 1st press is 2 second channeling parry which activates the usual staggering blow attack on a melee hit or on a 2nd button press. I could even forget about the 1 sec after cast root bug if they would change it to this.

I wouldn’t mind a spinning attack channeled for 2 seconds that deals damage to the targets and does a small knockback similar to Cyclone out of Tera (minus the charging required).

Just a brief demonstration but it could also cause a small knockback effect + we can move at a reduced rate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV2xwzT6Io

As it stands now I have to time a staggering blow and hope it lands when they walk in to range or I do it in a combo of: Backbreaker > Staggering Blow > Fierce Blow > Hammer Shock > Swap to Axe > Shield Bash > Eviscerate.

winshmo.7896:

Make staggering blow a 2 part skill, 1st press is 2 second channeling parry which activates the usual staggering blow attack on a melee hit or on a 2nd button press. I could even forget about the 1 sec after cast root bug if they would change it to this.

Actually, I love that idea.
My sword/shield+hammer warrior will definitely slot reflect for this.

Anyone else think all warrior weapons should have 1 defensive ability on a medium cool down? Say #3 that sits around 10-15 seconds cool down?

It’s another kittenty version of kick, but far far worse because you have the hardest time directing the knockback that’s so small it’s almost futile.

Callahan.3180:

It’s another kittenty version of kick, but far far worse because you have the hardest time directing the knockback that’s so small it’s almost futile.

well, warrior animations need an overhaul or cast time and aftercast time reduce. Most warrior animation are so slow and telegraphed that anet design a class that can be countered by anybody paying attention

The class balancing patch which altered aftercasts made it worse.
The skill now literally staggers yourself; rooted for skill, step forward, rooted again.

While Staggering Blow is a bit buggy you don’t use the skill on its own so it isn’t a big deal. The basic combo is Backbreaker → Fierce Blow → Staggering Blow → Hammer Shock → Earthshaker. You can also go Hammer Shock with Leg Specialist into Staggering, basically you should never use the skill on it’s own.

I will say it could do with dealing more damage if the target is weakened considering it’s still a fairly underwhelming skill in its current form.

Staggering Blow, and by proxy the hammer as well, would become far more viable with that very simple change: make it a mobile skill. There’s no reason to root the user in place. The hammer is way too easy to hard counter has is (stability) and has enough lack of mobility.