Guild Wars 2

From the livestream:

• Rousing Resilience Buffed by 130%

• Last Stand ICD now 40 seconds

• Rifle DMG buff

• Shield skills CD reduction and Bash now stuns for 2 seconds

Looks like it might be possible to have decent sustain without being totally focused on Double Endure Pain. Really good Berserker Synergy on RR. Always happy to see Shield get buffed…Skullcracker gets even stronger.

yea this is huge. The shield buff for absolutely great.

shame that axe skills and traits are still complete garbage compared to the greatsword

RR with Bezerker could become interesting. The 130% buff is a bit vague (duration? healing? both?). Though if its both we’re looking at 50% (minimum) up time with headbutt + Rousing Resilience + going into zerk mode with savage instinct. Although then you give up smash brawler … oh warrior traits why do you make it so difficult!

Last Stand is nice, still under powered compared to Cleansing Ire and aggggain the traits are being mean. Last stand and rousing resilience would synergize so well if we could use them together =(

Rifle dmg, its gonna have to be a HUGE buff to make it worth taking (doubt it) and shield buffs are nice. woot! Cant wait to see the rest.

If they buffed duration on RR by 130% it would be way too strong, that would be around 20 sec? So I dont think its anything other than healing

Robert Gee.9246:

Just the healing.

See Chris, told you it was only healing you muppet

cool changes. i know its asking a bit much but what about axes. i love axes but the trait is trumped by berserkers power. im not really thinking a direct damage buff just a different effect, fury on crit, chance to destroy projectiles with auto attacks, crits restore teeny tiny bit of endurance,whirling axes apply bleeds on crits, IDK anything!

the rifle DMG increase on auto only or across all skills?

oh wait thats not all the changes is it. NVM! hopefully theres still a chance for some axe changes!

interested to see if rifle become good.

Robert, tell us more about rifle, pretty please.

That’s fantastic! I asked Santa for a decrease to the CD of Last Stand and it came early!

Not gonna lie, that shield buff is even more valuable to me. I’m now officially a spoiled child of Tyria….

That 2 second stun on shield bash will be quite nice. I’ve always like axe/shield and gs, now it’ll be a lot more viable. Before it was just enough time to guarantee an eviscerate, now you can start up a 100b on them.

While i’m all for rifle buffage ( yaay ) personally I think range extension is also something to be looked at ( if only just to 1300 to make it interesting…)

If the rifle changes are as good as I hope they will be…

We might start seeing Berserker Rifle Warriors, which coincidentally get a ‘flaming’ effect in the same manner as The Predator.

I see what you are doing there.

i personally want that they put crack shot on master by exchanging it with destruction of the empowered.. this is really minor trait. And buff crack shot like greatsword trait.

And also in a bit hope that skullcrack (stun) need to be leap skill that breaks immob (just like rage mode’s skullcrack animation) lol

Fast Hands not base lined…sigh….

Omega Zoa.3859:

Fast Hands not base lined…sigh….

True that needs to happen stat!

choovanski.5462:

interested to see if rifle become good.

It’s gonna have to punch like a Death Star for me to give up the longbow as my ranged option, which is depressing to say as I really wanted to like rifles from the very get go. Being locked down for the burst skill is my only real issue; the times I want to be ranged, I also need to be mobile, and being immobile for that cast can easily turn problematic.

Omega Zoa.3859:

Fast Hands not base lined…sigh….

Don’t give up hope! Believe in magic you muggle!

Chrisco.5732:

Omega Zoa.3859:

Fast Hands not base lined…sigh….

Don’t give up hope! Believe in magic you muggle!

Hope…it is dwindling…we have been asking for many months now…since that big trait revamp..maybe even longer then that…other classes have such lengthy changes…sure our changes are nice…but….eh… fast hands base lined would be universally accepted well by all the warriors, no matter their builds. The way things currently are the main reason we even take up that traitline is for the MINOR trait.m course there are many smaller reasons but so far it is the PRIME reason we take it, other stuff is just a nice bonus.

Rousing Resilience Buffed by 130% = meh

Last Stand ICD now 40 seconds = ok

Rifle DMG buff = why not

Shield skills CD reduction and Bash now stuns for 2 seconds = why not

lets hope for some interesting stuff ….

@Robert Gee

Thx for the info but there are a few things more about warrior…

There are some aspects of the warrior profession that feels to be sub-par with the rest of professions (and even certain warrior builds). On top of that there are some skills that are at a “meh” state for quite long and there were quite many and quite often shouts for a change. To add the “cherry onto the cake”, I feel that certain traits are quite stronger that others.

Here, let me be more specific…

1) Condi/Hybrid aspect of Warrior : Among all possible warrior builds, Hybrid/Condi builds feel like being the “poor relative”. No matter how well though they are, they don’t even get close condi builds of others professions… not even close to the performance of Warrior’s power builds. I know that Berserker Elite Spec will expand and boost Warrior condi potential (althought not enough from what we ‘ve seen in BWE #2) but… what about the current state? During the BWE I ’ve tried out the Revenant and his condi potential is greater than Warrior’s (even Berserker), not to speak for Condi mesmer…

2) Weapon Skills : After the last major balance patch you reacted to the voices talking about the state of Warrior’s Rifle and you did well. What about Axe #5? Axe #5 being at “meh” state is around for quite long. Wouldn’t a change to make Axe #5 more appealing be justified?

3) Appealing of Traits : Many of us feel that certain traits aren’t as appealing as others. Axe Mastery is equally appealing with Berserker’s Power? Axe Mastery or Blademaster equally good with Forceful Greatsword? Some traits feel less powerful than others which pushes us not to use them. Apart from this, comparing GS and Axe, GS is boosted though a single Specialization (Strength) while Axe boosting is split across both Strength (Axe Mastery) and Arms (Dual Wielding) which leaves you less room for build variety.

Anything to say on these?

I came on the forum just to say: THANK YOU, ROBERT GEE! Warrior definitely needed some buffs to compete with so many strong builds coming out from other classes. I hope there still more to come as warriors lack build diversity.

So when will we see these changes take effect? Anyways, keep up the good work, Robert. Let’s continue to fine tune the warrior.

PS: Oh forgot to mention. Hey Robert, can you look into speeding up Rush on greatsword? It’s currently run too slow to be an effective gap closer.

BurrTheKing.8571:

• Rousing Resilience Buffed by 130%

• Last Stand ICD now 40 seconds

• Rifle DMG buff

• Shield skills CD reduction and Bash now stuns for 2 seconds

I agree with the rifle and the rousing changes but Last Stand? It is really strong because it doesn’t stunbreak but it prevents the stun so u can safestomp with it without worrying about having to restart the stomp. Also 6s of vigor on all stances and the 25% duration is pretty strong for a possible 3 stances as utilites and then comes the endure pain trait and this trait resulting tournament players already opting for it even thought it has a 90 s recharge.

I’d make it work like Hard to Catch on thieves meaning you still get interrupted but you immediately stunbreak a split second later. Because on 40s cd this will be totally nuts and noskill otherwise.

Rousing Resilience will make shoutwarr way more strong. You already took this trait aginst bursty thief/mes comps over cleansing ire. If you use this trait after the patch a “shake it off” will heal you about 5khp + 1000 toughness – that’s insane against powercomps

Kicker.8203:

BurrTheKing.8571:

• Rousing Resilience Buffed by 130%

• Last Stand ICD now 40 seconds

• Rifle DMG buff

• Shield skills CD reduction and Bash now stuns for 2 seconds

I agree with the rifle and the rousing changes but Last Stand? It is really strong because it doesn’t stunbreak but it prevents the stun so u can safestomp with it without worrying about having to restart the stomp. Also 6s of vigor on all stances and the 25% duration is pretty strong for a possible 3 stances as utilites and then comes the endure pain trait and this trait resulting tournament players already opting for it even thought it has a 90 s recharge.

I’d make it work like Hard to Catch on thieves meaning you still get interrupted but you immediately stunbreak a split second later. Because on 40s cd this will be totally nuts and noskill otherwise.

Difference with thief trait: thief has a TON of evades and dodge/teleporting, wich makes much more harder to stun a thief than a warrior. Warrior is a first line melee, means it will be much more easy for him to get stunned. Thats why the difference on these traits. I played all other classes and i noticed they didnt had so much stability compared to warrior, but then after playing i simply understood they didnt need that much stability like warrior does. Simply every single attack of warrior has a timecast, wich makes, without the possibility of have any instant cast (WICH THIEF HAS PLEEENTY), to not only been in trouble when stunned, but also to in fact been in trouble when just it comes to LAND an attack.

I really hope the warrior rifle buff isn’t just a boring lets increase auto attack by 13%… I really want to be able to use my rifle… I really want to. But lb is just so much better in just about every conceivable way… Burning on auto, fire field, immobilize aoe and doesn’t stick you in place like kill shot.. cmon cmon I’m crossing my fingers its actually a good change! (at least change the rifle trait to add burning or something on attack lb one (eg. Burning Arrows), it would at least be something!)

To be honest these updates are kind of useless.

Rifle damage was already OK. It is hampered by its range, lack of utility and synergy with warrior traits, and lack of defense.

Shield is already good and this might just put it above everything else making every warrior x/sh gs. Buffing something that already worked is stupid when there is so much that sucks.

Rousing resilience will still be trumped by both the other gm traits. Pretty much no reason to ever take it.

Last stand is a good update. It can compete with ci in builds now.

So basically warriors are in the exact same spot except that shield is stronger and you will have more people running last stand and frenzy so bad players can complain about how the big bad warrior stunned them with shield flury and gibbed them with 100 blades.

KittyRiv.5291:

….

-none has used /will use GS/X-Shield in serious pvp matches unless maybe eles get nerfed hard enough
-rifle was bs before and probably will still be bs even after dps buff
-rousing resilience is used for shoutbow against thief/mes comps and will be even more worth to pick after the patch
- yes warriors will stay exactly in the same spot, they have already been good before the patch and will get some slight buffs

Rifle has needed a buff. While it is slightly more damage as it stands, the utility of lb made it far better than rifle

dominik.9721:

-none has used /will use GS/X-Shield in serious pvp matches unless maybe eles get nerfed hard enough

I bet you’re wrong on this. I predict gs/x+sh Last Stand stance builds will become much more common. The weakness is obviously sustained condi, but 10s immunity from Berserker Stance plus HS is a lot of breathing room in a non-condi meta.

Hell, depending on what they do with rifle, you might even see that more (I doubt it, but maybe).

Yes, maybe it will become more common after ele nerf but I really doubt this. After the ele nerf shoutbow will be just too good than playing anything beside that. And why would you want to bring a zerk warr if you can have a thief + mesmer in your composition. Especally chronomancer will outperform zerk warriors in every aspect in combination with thief.

Mokopsi.5426:

shame that axe skills and traits are still complete garbage compared to the greatsword

hmmm maybe because its a kitteng greatsword…. cant really expecta rinky dinky axe to hit like a gs dps… if it did you would just argue that greatsword skills and traits were not good enoughy anymore shrugs :/

KittyRiv.5291:

To be honest these updates are kind of useless.

Rifle damage was already OK. It is hampered by its range, lack of utility and synergy with warrior traits, and lack of defense.

Shield is already good and this might just put it above everything else making every warrior x/sh gs. Buffing something that already worked is stupid when there is so much that sucks.

Rousing resilience will still be trumped by both the other gm traits. Pretty much no reason to ever take it.

Last stand is a good update. It can compete with ci in builds now.

So basically warriors are in the exact same spot except that shield is stronger and you will have more people running last stand and frenzy so bad players can complain about how the big bad warrior stunned them with shield flury and gibbed them with 100 blades.

Ahhh back to the good old days huh lol remember those matches on raid on the caprcorn when warriors did that and no one had the reaction time or proper builds to get away from it.

Gs/ axe-shield is probably the strongest burst build for war right now

OMFG im so freaking excited…….thx so much. I love using shield (with axe or mace) so this is a huge buff for me.

I also liked using rousing resilience on some builds so a 130% buff means over 2500hp heal on stun break!!!

And rifle well i like sniping zergs with my rifle so a buff on that is more than welcome.

Thanks!

The only thing I am still a little annoyed about is that Crack shot still competes with Warrior’s sprint. (And Axe mastery with berserker’s power, for that matter)

I think these buffs are not enough,the problem of warriors are not defens,
need more healing buff like Healing Signet or shout skills more helpful,
if warriors chosen shout skills they have common healing and poor damage, just a tank,
chosen GS/xx Zerker have great damage but less defensive skills and GS skills hard hits
on enemy, GS skill #2 #3 and #5 are very easy dodge ,
I think what problems on warriors are obvious .

Buffed healing for 130%…. Means 1.5K-ish heal right? Or is it like plus 130% so it’s 2.5K?

Valik Shin.9027:

Gs/ axe-shield is probably the strongest burst build for war right now

And what is weird is that it has been since release. In one form or another.

2.5k and if you break stun with shake it off with shout heal you get a pretty decent HP recovery.

yanoch.7051:

2.5k and if you break stun with shake it off with shout heal you get a pretty decent HP recovery.

Was just thinking that. Wow.

Gamgee.8612:

Valik Shin.9027:

Gs/ axe-shield is probably the strongest burst build for war right now

And what is weird is that it has been since release. In one form or another.

It’s because it is the 2 strongest burst wepons for warrior if u disregard rifle. Add a stun to set up the brush and ur all set. Problem is its tougher to play than something like gs/hammer burst or hambow so people don’t play it too much

yanoch.7051:

2.5k and if you break stun with shake it off with shout heal you get a pretty decent HP recovery.

Thats the way i read it and if its true im super happy about this. 2.5k hp heal on every stun break is sweeeeeet.

It’s cool that rifle is getting an undefined damage bump but the reason why longbow is so superior is because it also has much more utility than the rifle. Increasing just the damage of the rifle probably won’t do much to narrow the gulf.

It’s like the 20% damage buff to thief pistol. It’s nice, sure, but doesn’t address any of the real issues with the weapon.

James Quall.6029:

It’s cool that rifle is getting an undefined damage bump but the reason why longbow is so superior is because it also has much more utility than the rifle. Increasing just the damage of the rifle probably won’t do much to narrow the gulf.

It’s like the 20% damage buff to thief pistol. It’s nice, sure, but doesn’t address any of the real issues with the weapon.

Yup, I hope there’s more to it. Rifle #2 is just an inferior version of net shot and thief P/P = Zero synergy.

Besides, the warrior uses his rifle like a marksman, so 1500 range should be a given and thief P/P get 1200 range baseline. I mean its a kittening pistol, not a shortbow.

The one thing that took the fun out of rifle is losing adrenaline out of combat. Before you can snipe players in WvW with killshot. That was so fun. Now you have to announce your presence by attacking them first then build adrenaline up for killshot. I think killshot range should be 2000. I just think rifle should be capable of out ranging bows.

I’m still of the opinion that Axe is a much weaker weapon than Mace. You can take advantage of the reflect trait with it and the Counterblow itself hits hard. The Pommel bash can interrupt heals which is way better than a unreliable cripple. The AA also has weakness on it which is good for damage mitigation. Also there’s the fact that it can set up a spoke for your entire team or bait out all the countermeasures.

teamcomp-wise mace is defintly better just because of the utllity it offers. Long stuns, weakness, interrupts etc.
A zerk warrior with axe/gs is just an inferior form of a mes/thief comp.

Especially with the shield buff Mace-warrior could be used on the one hand as roamer to +1 people and on the other hand as pointholder to a certain extent. Allthough I have to admit that I really doubt that this is gonna happen.
There are coming out so many strong builds like chronomancer,reaper – maybe even druid – that I don’t think that builds like mace or axe warrior will ever have a place in serious teamcomps.

dominik.9721:

teamcomp-wise mace is defintly better just because of the utllity it offers. Long stuns, weakness, interrupts etc.
A zerk warrior with axe/gs is just an inferior form of a mes/thief comp.

Especially with the shield buff Mace-warrior could be used on the one hand as roamer to +1 people and on the other hand as pointholder to a certain extent. Allthough I have to admit that I really doubt that this is gonna happen.
There are coming out so many strong builds like chronomancer,reaper – maybe even druid – that I don’t think that builds like mace or axe warrior will ever have a place in serious teamcomps.

Warr is 1. Mes+ thief is 2