Guild Wars 2

So I’ve been thinking of rolling a warrior, and I recall in beta having a blast using the hammer, so I whipped up a build for WvW, and I’d like some critique and suggestions for it.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAS8ejgONv1OuQMxBE0jqwK4CjCj4HSKGjBE

The idea that I was going for was as a distraction bunker- primarily running in groups, my goal would be to leap into the enemy zerg, smack down some glass cannons giving my own team more time to wipe them.

For your role, I’d say you might as well remove 10 from strength and get banners or shout heals. Especially if you’re wearing PVT your damage is going to be very low, so might as well focus on budding your allies a bit more with shouts or banners.

Just my opinion:

Your weapon set up is a decent choice overall. One main weapon for damage/cc (Hammer) and the secondary is for utility/defense over damage (Sword/Shield).

Your gear is going to be a huge influence on how effective you are in the roll you want to play. I can tell you now that a Warrior is not great at stalling. I know some will try to tell you Warriors are “awesome sauce leet cakes” that no one else can touch, but trust me… there are other professions that can stall better. Now, your strengths for your build lie in your heavy crowd control with your Hammer.

The one weakness of your build is that while you try to control a group you can be easily interrupted at very critical moment. I would HIGHLY SUGGEST Balanced Stance utility skill somewhere on your bar. That way, when needed, you can land your Earthshaker or stomp when you need it without worry of being pushed/pulled off.

Also, I would suggest dropping your “20% damage while under 25% health” trait. If you fall below 25% health you are more than likely dead anyway so the trait is near useless in a giant battle. Instead I would swap it out for one of the best Warrior traits in the game, Leg Specialist (trait I in the tactics line). That makes your Hammer three into a massive cone immobilize. Very awesome against those trying to run form you (it will also give your utility secondary weapon set that much more).

Another trait I would remove is trait one of the defense line “Embrace the Pain”. You will not have trouble gaining adrenaline. You will be smacking plenty of people with your cleave. I would drop that trait in favor of “Missile Deflection” trait V. Since you have a shield and you want to disrupt the zerg as much as possible this trait is killer against all the ranged folk in WvW. This trait will also allow you to reflect the specter auto attack of a Mesmer and create a clone of yourself ;D. It will also help in case you need to run when everyone starts to spam their immobilizing shots and cripples, you will reflect them all back on the zerg that is chasing you.

On to utilities. I understand “Stomp” is fun, but “Fear Me” is actually a much better skill in my opinion. It is instant and usable in any state. So you can use it while you are stunned, unlike stomp.

I would swap out “Shake it Off” for another utility to be honest. I know a lot of people do not like the “Signet of Stamina” but I actually prefer it. Not only will it wipe ALL conditions every 45 second, but it will also give you 33% faster dodge recharge. Which means you get a dodge every 7 seconds rather than 10, which is a pretty big deal.

The main deal I would like to point out after all of that is…. the idea in Guild Wars 2 is not to “Soak up Damage” <—-that is a big no no. That will get you killed. The idea in Guild Wars 2 is the “DENIAL OF DAMAGE”. Dodges, blocks,evades, line of sight, etc. Those things will take you a lot further in WvW than trying to take a shot to the face.
Best of luck with your build and hope it helps.

I will post you 1 hammer build if you aim for zerg vs zerg:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNBiYDbkzJGu5R5hJOgge8FZhAaK8DpHlBakGA;TcAKvMdJ6yykjJpXnPA

Pro’s :
-SelfBufs :
signet of rage : permanent swiftness /furry /might
warhorn: almost permanent vigor
high duration stability -16 seconds active + pasive one ( the runes bonus are 5% lower on sPvP)
high duration for retailation – 8 seconds every 15 seconds.
-Heals :
shouts will heal you for 1600 each every 20 seconds, and 1 high heal -healing sourge
-2 stun breakers
-high armor / hp, decent damage with all the boons on you
-high survaivability
-good aoe damage , large area damage, good CC
CONS :
-mediocre mobility, you rely on team or you rely on perma swiftness and 1 sword leap
- condition removal is relative poor, you count on high hp and heals to survive conditions, but is the lest problem in zerg vs zerg
- lack of constant damage, weak build for 1 vs 1 situations

Edit
Copy /paste the link

Personally my favorite trait with the hammer is leg specialist. AoE immobilize is really nice. Helps make you the ultimate lock down king.

Basically what Vanthian said for traits is pretty spot on in my opinion.

Totally agree with Vanthian. However if you wanted to hold on to those strength points I suggest taking Distracting strikes instead. Distracting strikes is magical on a hammer. But you probably would be better off throwing another 10 points into tactics. Also for your grandmaster trait on defense you may want to consider spiked armor. The retaliation may help discourage those pesky thieves.

orfidius.2370:

Also for your grandmaster trait on defense you may want to consider spiked armor. The retaliation may help discourage those pesky thieves.

That’s the truth. Spiked armor and thieves don’t mix. With the 20% boon duration he already has might as well.

0/10/30/30/0
10 – Unsuspecting foe
30 – Embrace the pain, Merciless hammer, Last stand
30 – Leg specialist, Lung capacity, Vigorous shouts

Heal skill – Healing Surge. Fills adrenaline to get another earthshaker.
Fear me, Great Justice, Shake it off, Elite banner or signet depending upon travel needs or point defense

Head and shoulders – Knights
Body, Boots, Legs – Clerics
Feet -I currently have clerics but I’m thinking I’ll change this to knights when I get a new back piece.

Back – Ascended PVT
Amulet – Ascended Cleric
Ring – Ascended Cleric and Knights
Accessssory – Ascended Cleric and Knights

Hammer – Zerk with superior sigil of accuracy. Weapon for all that CC goodness.
Sword/Warhorn – Invaders weapons with soldier runes. Set to get you out of the zerg alive using skill #2 as well as both of the horn skills for swiftness and to help your endurance regen faster if you need to dodge a few times. Make sure you don’t have people targeted, you’ll regeret it(Been there, done that.)

Superior runse of the soldier for your body slots.

Food – If big fights where skill lag will be induced – Mango pie. Regular fighting – I use the candy corn glazed ghosts(66% life steal on crit, precision)
Superior oil or sharpening stone. Oil gives precision from toughness and vitality, stone give power(been using the oil a lot more lately.)

Currently I shout heal for over 1500 and I’ve seen over 2k. I’m trying to keep heals pretty close to 2k but at least over 1500. Hits are still only around 1k, crits are still only about 3k. This is a support build but should fare better with the knights instead of clerics since I’ll get a higher crit. Crit chance is 52% with fury.