Guild Wars 2

So I levelled my warr up to 80, got him exotic gear (both berserker and solider) and for the love of God I’m constantly dying in HoT maps when doing events, etc.

I got defense, arms and strength specced (until I unlock all Berserker traits) and I’m using GS/rifle combo.

Using rifle I can survive fine but that doesn’t feel very warrior-like to me (you know smashing stuff with a huge weapon).

So how am I supposed to spec/play to not die constantly in HoT?

I can help! There’s a few things of note:
I love passives. Stuff on HoT maps comes outa nowhere sometimes (sudden kraka roll).

I actually do sit back at certain bosses because unless there’s a mass of people, it’s death when close regardless of class

What I’m running now (in generalized PvP. Just work for same stat combos in PvE):
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJAQNAncUn8cAlkiFeAWhAElilsA79zGaXtJTgqWIAZwVACAA-TJBBQBV4JAAgTBg8KDcw9HAA
You can swap signet for endure pain if you’d like.
If completely unable to get berserker and start working on it, swap for arms.
See here:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJAQNAnc0i8cYhHYFihpgK/gwuFujIAad8xjgGA-TJBBQBV4JAIvyAHc/BAcKAAA

Pros:
Healings’s great
Rip to decapitate makes up, mostly, for damage loss
Scrappy rune’s a bit of awesome for melee
Good immobilize coverage
Tons of passive stability. No more being knocked around!

Cons:
Not the best damage
Mobility’s kinda low
Still not the best damage, did I mention that?
slow weapon swaps
kinda expensive to buy

Want a greatsword?
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJAQJARUj8cQZI25BWhApIGKCqcH67kAX9WIFsB4BCAA-TpBBQBB4CAIvyAHc/BAcIAowDAoCHBAA

Pros:
Greatsword!
Great healing
great mobility
big burst

Cons:
No real good CC power
kinda expensive to buy
not the biggest continuous damage
slow swapping

The biggest thing is to get high constant damage and large heals.

If you can’t do that, evade, evade, evade.
There’s some bosses that just will kill you.

What I am about to say is not meant in an elitist way at all. Truly.

It’s a L2P issue. You have to adjust to the tells and strategies employed by the mobs in HoT, as they’re more difficult/evolved than stuff in the old world. It’s not nearly as easy to just run around spamming AA on GS as it use to be. You need to ACTIVELY engage with what you’re trying to do.

When HoT first came out, I ran around in Knight’s (never soldiers in PvE. ever.) because it gave me freedom to learn, which is what I’d also recommend. And as I tell everyone in the guild who talks about HoT being too hard, you really need to examine your utilities. Every class hash utility that will save their life.

I run Zerk with Str runes in open world stuff, with a GS and whatever. Str/Disc/Zerk. Take the damage stuff that you’d imagine you’d take. You are a warrior, and warriors are not meant, by design, to go blow for blow. You need to kill and kill quickly. The longer it drags, the more screwed you are.

I’m running this build: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vJAQNAnXTnMdAthgdeAehAElilfA7YFOCueGLgAQB495Wd/uA-TxBBABS8IACa/BsU+BwZAIP9NVq+zZKBJFQEjBA-e
(Not mine. I was using something similar already, then I found it and immediately switched to it!)

Yep. It’s DUAL AXE. I’m still learning how to use it against bristlebacks/smokescales/saurians (partially because my strategy against them with any of my characters is to RUN AWAAAAYYYYY), but I do know that Whirling Axe works amazingly well against Pocket Raptors. Not very tanky, but surprisingly survivable. One thing the build lacks, though, is swiftness… I’m not entirely sure how to work that in, but it needs it.

Thanks for the helpful answers. Really appreciate your help!

Best way to survive in the jungle is to kill fast, break bars, and use dodges, evades, and blocks intelligently. Know when you are outmanned, and don’t try to solo encounters that are meant for groups unless you really know what you are doing.

In addition to a coherent build, make sure you are dodging using the key bind (not double-tapping), using mouse look to move, and have all of your abilities bound to keyboard/mouse keys. Turning auto-targeting off will allow you to use rushes, leaps, and other movement skills to bypass foes. If you suffer from a low framerate, turning down your graphics will make the game run more smoothly and it make it easier for you to see hostile tells and wind-ups for big attacks (hint: shadows low, player models low). These help most players far more than a build change.

The build I use in the jungle is a standard Berserker (stat) Berserker (specialization) power-based Greatsword build.

• Traits: Strength/Discipline/Berserker, or Strength/Discipline/Arms if Berserker is not yet unlocked. Discipline is mainly for Warrior’s Sprint and Fast Hands, but Brawler’s Recovery, Heightened Focus, and Burst Mastery are all good too.
• Gear: Berserker stats, offensive runes with % damage set bonus (ie. Strength, Scholar, Rage, etc.). Greatsword with Force/X as main weapon, Mace/Shield with Paralyzation/X for control and blocks. Feel free to use a ranged weapon if absolutely necessary.
• Skills: Signet of Fury, Sundering Leap, To the Limit, and Headbutt are strong for adrenaline generation. Wild Blow, Headbutt, Stomp, Kick, and Bull Rush are good control options. Sundering Leap and Bull Rush for added mobility if needed. Signet of Rage, Signet of Fury, Signet of Might, and For Great justice for passive stat boosts if nothing else is needed. Healing Signet is the strongest sustaining heal skill, To the Limit is the best emergency heal, and Blood Reckoning is the best offensive heal.

Hope some of this helps. Good luck out there.

GS warrior melts down any mob, but you gotta learn the mob types.
Mordrem:
If it’s using a bow, it launches some sort of long lava fields. Don’t stand in them, damage is huge.
If it’s wielding a hammer: Easy kill, they do a full frontal powerful attack that knockdowns you for 5ish seconds. When you see the orange AoE, just use GS3 to position yourself behind him- then, easy kill.
If it’s wielding dual daggers: they got pretty big burst damage, it works really well if you kill asap. If you run into a veteran one, I suggest you stun it first(headbutt) so you don’t die.

Tiny Mobs:
Pocket raptors: These guys run in large numbers, they chase and damage you for a lot. If you run into a pack, either use GS3 to evade, pop Signet of Fury for full adrenaline, use berserker mode and use the berserker AoE- it will kill them all. If you just want to run, GS5>sword2 are your friends
Rolling Devil: they roll a lot, damage a lot, follow you a lot. GS3 when they come at you, GS4 when they pass you- easy kills

Mordrem Leechers(those annoying plants): They’re easy to kill, but beware of their AoE: every few seconds they conjure up a field(they act as the center) which steals your HP and heals them. Either stun(headbutt) when they’re about to cast it, or dodge/GS3 out of the field until it’s over.

Bristlebacks: They have a barrage attack, which shoots a lot of spikes at you for like 5 seconds, if you eat a full attack from a veteran mob, you’re dead even with our 19k health pool.

Stoneheads: massive beasts, they smash in front of them, behind them, and roll down on you if you’re flanking(on the side) them. You gotta dodge a lot here.

Smokescales: They got an annoying attack, which hits you 7 times, for a lot of damage, while the mob is evading all your attacks. You will need to dodge twice or use GS3 in order not to eat the full attack, which even from a regular mob can get up to 15k damage.

Wyverns can fly, and attack you from air. You gotta be ready to dodge any attack coming from above.

So far I can’t think of any other mob that requires special “care”. I hope this helps

My general plan is; get in, get out, repeat.

So GS5, head butt, F2, GS2, GS3, (you should be out of melee range now, so see what is going on depending on the fight) but generally dodge roll back in and see where your cool downs are at. Take endure pain and the stance one (forget the name) to use if and when.

Of course this is a very broad general idea. Responding to what is going on around you and reading the tells is always going to be the best way forwards.