Guild Wars 2

Firstly, this build is just for fun. Don’t bother telling me how bad you think it is. I don’t really care. Although I have made a build nearly identical for this in SPvP/TPvP and tested it, I don’t have the spare gold/laurels/karma/dungeon token/fractal relics/guild commendations to gear myself for this in WvW or PvE. Because of the way gear is condensed in SPvP, this build is not nearly as effective there as I believe it could be in WvW (specifically dueling or roaming with a small party). I have tested it extensively in SPvP though and I know the build works and I know the burst is huge…it only gets better with PvE stat distribution.

This build is centered around getting the maximum usage out of the unsuspecting foe trait and merciless hammer trait for very large hammer burst damage while still having a very large amount of toughness.

Traits – 0/10/30/0/30.
IV – Unsuspecting Foe
I – Embrace the Pain, VI – Cull the Weak, X – Merciless Hammer
VI – Signet Mastery, VII – Sweet Revenge (optional), XII – Adrenal Reserves

Gear
Berserker’s Weapons, Armor, and Backpiece
Cavalier’s Jewelry
Mace – Sigil of Paralyzation
Shield – Sigil of Energy
Hammer – Sigil of Impact
6 Runes of Rage
Plate of Truffle Steak
Superior Sharpening Stone

Skills
Heal – Healing Surge or Mending (I prefer Healing Surge)
Utilities – Balanced Stance, Frenzy, Signet of Stamina
Elite – Signet of Rage

Stats (with food and sharpening stone)
2145 power
1473 precision
1830 toughness
916 vitality
114% crit damage
100 condi damage
300 healing power
30% crit chance (50% with fury, 100% while enemy is stunned from pommel bash, shield bash, skull crack, earthshaker)

Effective power during the burst is over 8000 (anyone know if you can get this over 9000?)

With sigil of paralyzation on the mace, your stuns and dazes will last 1 second longer. This means shield bash is now a 2 second stun, pommel bash is now a 2 second daze, and skullcrack can be a 3 second stun. The objective is to fight mainly with your mace/shield combo using pommel bash and shield bash to bait out enemy stunbreakers while using shield stance and counterblow to block attacks. Then, when you see an oppurtunity, use skull crack, switch to hammer, frenzy, fierce blow for the weakness and big crit, 2 hits of the autoattack chain (glass cannons are dead by now), backbreaker, 2 more hits of the autoattack chain (balanced builds are dead by now), earthshaker, hammer4 (tanky builds will be dead by now), swap back to mace/shield, shield bash, autoattack, pommel bash, autoattack, blah blah blah everything is dead by now. If timed correctly, your opponent will be locked down completely during your burst while you pummel them with quickness, 114% crit damage, 100% crit chance (except for the brief moment where they are locked due to backbreaker instead of a different stun), and 40% increased overall damage from defense traits and the hammer sigil.

This is very fun because nobody expects to be bursted down by a hammer, mace/shield warrior. The burst is huge but it is very difficult to land/time properly. However, it is very satisfying when you do manage to land it.

Does runes of the mesmer really work with stuns? I tried a couple of times in PvP for both earthshaker/shield bash/skull crack. Only pummel smash really worked for the increased duration for me >.>

CoaxialMazer.9140:

Does runes of the mesmer really work with stuns? I tried a couple of times in PvP for both earthshaker/shield bash/skull crack. Only pummel smash really worked for the increased duration for me >.>

I believe so but I’ve never really timed it with a stopwatch. I remember it being confirmed that they did a long while back so unless they’ve changed it they still should.

Rune of the Mesmer only applies to daze.

…Hence the reference to “daze” in the runes.

Larynx.2453:

Rune of the Mesmer only applies to daze.

…Hence the reference to “daze” in the runes.

I’m aware of the reference to daze in the runes. It was confirmed long ago that it also applies to stuns. Have you personally checked?

Argis.7049:

Larynx.2453:

Rune of the Mesmer only applies to daze.

…Hence the reference to “daze” in the runes.

I’m aware of the reference to daze in the runes. It was confirmed long ago that it also applies to stuns. Have you personally checked?

During the October-Novemberish time it did not apply to stuns. I made a hammer warrior and tried.

Tomorrow I will have to get on and check for myself. Either way, the burst combo still works but if the runes aren’t affecting stuns I can swap them out for some crit damage runes.

Argis.7049:

Tomorrow I will have to get on and check for myself. Either way, the burst combo still works but if the runes aren’t affecting stuns I can swap them out for some crit damage runes.

I think unsuspecting foe is becoming more likeable when cavalier gear got released since it allows for a tanky/burst spec to be viable in certain places. Which is far more enjoyable than the glass cannon dps specs. I made a Hammer Build In which i use, that really suits my style of a Warrior.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/warrior/Ultimate-Juggernaut-WvW-Sw-Sh-Hammer-Build/first#post1595323

I do like the trait a lot. It allows you to trade sustained DPS for survivability while maintaining burst.

After reading the build write up, I think this build will be a kitten ton of fun. Very nice. It’s good to see the hammer being used as I love that kittening weapon and never see it. Thanks a ton, ill definitely mess around with this.

I think they should adjust Unsuspecting Foe to also trigger on knockdowns (Backbreaker, Bull’s Rush, Ground Stomp (blowout)). It would really shine, then.

Westibone.3985:

I think they should adjust Unsuspecting Foe to also trigger on knockdowns (Backbreaker, Bull’s Rush, Ground Stomp (blowout)). It would really shine, then.

it would be blatantly op then.

the trait is strong enough as it is already.

Okay so I just did a little testing and it appears that Runes of the Mesmer DO NOT increase the stun duration of Skull Crack. However, Sigil of Paralyzation appears to be bugged and increases stun duration by a full second. Skull Crack was lasting 3 seconds and Shield Bash was lasting 2 seconds. This is a big deal. Can anyone else confirm this? If needed, I can upload a video of me whacking a golem in the mists with various combinations.

Sigil of Paralyzation isn’t bugged, the coefficient to increase stun duration is bugged.

Currently it rounds up.

So if a stun is 2 seconds, and you add +10% stun duration, making it 2.2 seconds.
The bug kicks in and automatically bumps it to 3 seconds.

It’s kind of a dirty secret for hammer warriors.

Due to my recent realization that Runes of the Mesmer do not increase stun duration, I will be trading these runes out for crit damage runes. There are a number to choose from but I will be going with Runes of Rage to also maintain perma-fury. Some of the gear will also need to be shifted around to get the exact crit chance of 30% and some stats will change slightly. I will update the post with the new gear and stats shortly.

Cull the Weak seems pretty uh…weak in this build. Yes, you are getting 5% more damage most of the time, but that’s it.

Those 10 points could go into:

Arms for more crit chance and fury uptime (or other trait if you want the option of swapping to GS/Rifle)
Strength for more power and other traits (Restorative Strength, Berzerker Power or DfA)
Or even tactics, because some times in WvW you need a 1200 range longbow. Also +10% boon duration.

Another thing:

I also suspect (there are formulas somewhere) that power based runes will give a better return on damage than Rage, because the large amount of crit damage and +% damage will amplify the power.

Scholar, Strength, Hoelbrak, Ogre, Pack, and others all have +165 power and various applications.

I have thought about trading out cull the weak for something else and may end up doing so, Berserker’s Power seems like the best option. I just liked the synergy with fierce blow for the burst. The main reason I went with runes of rage is because without them this build lacks 100% fury uptime which is a big damage loss, especially if fury is down during the burst.

“30% crit chance (50% with fury, 100% while enemy is stunned from pommel bash, shield bash, skull crack, earthshaker)”

Is it known that Unsuspecting Foe works this way? From the way it reads:
“50% critical-hit chance against stunned foes.”

That doesn’t say “+50% critical-hit chance against stunned foes.” It sounds like a flat 50% crit-hit chance against stunned foes, not plus 50%.

I know it would be hard to confirm since it wouldn’t update on your character sheet.