Guild Wars 2

Now I am running axe/shield+gs build (should be pretty easy to figure out my build) and I am looking for comments on how to improve my game play and such. Hope you guys enjoy the video and sorry that its not in 1080p ><

Awesome video, genuinely really awesome.

My one suggestion is add some 1v1s in there with some highly skilled players. It’s fun watching you 1vX and stuff but watching a skilled 1v1 adds another layer of difficulty and learning.

It’s great. Nice music. Epic. Yeah maybe some 1v1s where you mention who you fighting and stuff. Keep it up.

I do have some 1v1s but I find that they tend to last quite long if both are on even footing and it is pretty much a matter of who makes a mistake first (usually me ><). And since 1v1s are never balanced, sometimes I might be in a disadvantageous fight which is a good challenge I guess. Anyway I will see what fights I can get and hopefully you guys will like it!

nice vid man , what’s your build though ? unless i missed that in the vid.

Natar.3671:

I do have some 1v1s but I find that they tend to last quite long if both are on even footing and it is pretty much a matter of who makes a mistake first (usually me ><). And since 1v1s are never balanced, sometimes I might be in a disadvantageous fight which is a good challenge I guess. Anyway I will see what fights I can get and hopefully you guys will like it!

Aye, 1v1s are a whole different field.

Still, lots of good numbers seen there, great engagements.

Burned.9520:

nice vid man , what’s your build though ? unless i missed that in the vid.

Its 0/4/6/0/4. Armor is for you to guess. In the video I was using melandru runes but currently I am trying out hoelbrak as well. Can’t decide which I like better :/

/laugh @ Sorobradu

Natar.3671:

Burned.9520:

nice vid man , what’s your build though ? unless i missed that in the vid.

Its 0/4/6/0/4. Armor is for you to guess. In the video I was using melandru runes but currently I am trying out hoelbrak as well. Can’t decide which I like better :/

Good job!

I guest they’re PPT armor and PPF trinkets.

Subbed, really liked the opening clip.

As for your gameplay, you’ve pretty much perfected Axe/Shield.

Personally, I think Axe Sword with reflect on block has more potential. Even in your vid here, I feel shield underperforms on such a DPS oriented spec. The shield bash is OK, but on a rather long cooldown and it misses often (in your vid as well). The block is OK too, but on an even longer cooldown, doesn’t block necro wells for instance (sword doesn’t either, but just to say a long block is not all powerful), and will generally not pay off it’s entire duration in small scale fights as your opponent will stop attacking after one or two blocks. If they just spam, you will kill them anyways.

It’s great versus zergs of course though. But so is reflect ;P

Make more vids.

Cygnus.6903:

Subbed, really liked the opening clip.

As for your gameplay, you’ve pretty much perfected Axe/Shield.

Personally, I think Axe Sword with reflect on block has more potential. Even in your vid here, I feel shield underperforms on such a DPS oriented spec. The shield bash is OK, but on a rather long cooldown and it misses often (in your vid as well). The block is OK too, but on an even longer cooldown, doesn’t block necro wells for instance (sword doesn’t either, but just to say a long block is not all powerful), and will generally not pay off it’s entire duration in small scale fights as your opponent will stop attacking after one or two blocks. If they just spam, you will kill them anyways.

It’s great versus zergs of course though. But so is reflect ;P

Make more vids.

Thanks! Wasn’t expect one of the more well-known warriors here to comment on this. As for my take on shield offhand, I find that it is better for me cause sometimes I may need to block in the middle of an enemy zerg when I am with a group at times like in the first fight in my video. The constant block can buy me time to get out and switch to my gs to back out and heal up before going back in to engage. Sword offhand is decent but is probably more suited for 1v1 or 1v2 and such since the torment from impale can apply constant pressure when they don’t cleanse it. IMO, it is really down to personal preference really, I just like shield more for scenarios like fighting in between 2 zergs and having to block aoes or when I go zerg busting with other roamers. As for reflect, I think I like my current trait preference too much to take reflect projectiles as that is quite a situation dependent trait and my current choices cover more bases. Thanks for the feedback though!

Natar.3671:

Thanks! Wasn’t expect one of the more well-known warriors here to comment on this. As for my take on shield offhand, I find that it is better for me cause sometimes I may need to block in the middle of an enemy zerg when I am with a group at times like in the first fight in my video. The constant block can buy me time to get out and switch to my gs to back out and heal up before going back in to engage. Sword offhand is decent but is probably more suited for 1v1 or 1v2 and such since the torment from impale can apply constant pressure when they don’t cleanse it. IMO, it is really down to personal preference really, I just like shield more for scenarios like fighting in between 2 zergs and having to block aoes or when I go zerg busting with other roamers. As for reflect, I think I like my current trait preference too much to take reflect projectiles as that is quite a situation dependent trait and my current choices cover more bases. Thanks for the feedback though!

Well known because of my big mouth I guess lol.

About the shield block, no doubt it is better then sword when fighting zergs. No argument there. Sword is definitely a more small scale oriented weapon.

About the missile reflection, personal preference does play a large role in what is the best suitable spec for you as a player. I have to disagree on the situation dependence of reflect though. I can not think of a single situation in which reflect is not useful. You would have to be fighting something like a Hammer+Mace/Axe warrior to have nothing to reflect….

And, more importantly, you have to acknowledge weaknesses to your spec and how to deal with them. I used to run Axe shield sometimes, but I felt I got hard countered by condition specs. They often run with 50%+ condition duration which means your reduction does not nullify movement impairing condi’s quite as good. This is where reflection helps.
The most common condispecs in WvW are PU mesmer, engineer and p/d condi thief. PU mesmer will have trouble stacking condi’s when you reflect-kill his illusions. Engineer uses pistol, try to reflect the most damaging stuff and your golden. As for P/D condi thief, they get destroyed by sword 5 reflect, as it is on such a short cooldown. They can usually sneak-attack every ~5 seconds, which, if you play your cards right, means you can not only nullify but counter 1/3rd of the damage done by sneak attack.

Regarding trait set-up, the build I am referring to does not use 0/4/6/0/4, but 6/0/4/0/4 with triple stance. You lose bull’s rush, dogged march and auto-EP, but gain controlled EP (stunbreak) and incredible finishing power with axe (sigil of intelligence), among other things. Also, Short temper is the best might stacking trait we have. Forceful GS is awesome, but Short Temper will grant you incredible amounts of might for a killer Evis when you need it most, as it is usually a tankier target that blocks a lot (like those shield warriors ;P).

An Evis coming off of 3675 power and 212 crit damage that is a sure crit is funny.

My two cents.

Cygnus.6903:

Natar.3671:

Thanks! Wasn’t expect one of the more well-known warriors here to comment on this. As for my take on shield offhand, I find that it is better for me cause sometimes I may need to block in the middle of an enemy zerg when I am with a group at times like in the first fight in my video. The constant block can buy me time to get out and switch to my gs to back out and heal up before going back in to engage. Sword offhand is decent but is probably more suited for 1v1 or 1v2 and such since the torment from impale can apply constant pressure when they don’t cleanse it. IMO, it is really down to personal preference really, I just like shield more for scenarios like fighting in between 2 zergs and having to block aoes or when I go zerg busting with other roamers. As for reflect, I think I like my current trait preference too much to take reflect projectiles as that is quite a situation dependent trait and my current choices cover more bases. Thanks for the feedback though!

Well known because of my big mouth I guess lol.

About the shield block, no doubt it is better then sword when fighting zergs. No argument there. Sword is definitely a more small scale oriented weapon.

About the missile reflection, personal preference does play a large role in what is the best suitable spec for you as a player. I have to disagree on the situation dependence of reflect though. I can not think of a single situation in which reflect is not useful. You would have to be fighting something like a Hammer+Mace/Axe warrior to have nothing to reflect….

And, more importantly, you have to acknowledge weaknesses to your spec and how to deal with them. I used to run Axe shield sometimes, but I felt I got hard countered by condition specs. They often run with 50%+ condition duration which means your reduction does not nullify movement impairing condi’s quite as good. This is where reflection helps.
The most common condispecs in WvW are PU mesmer, engineer and p/d condi thief. PU mesmer will have trouble stacking condi’s when you reflect-kill his illusions. Engineer uses pistol, try to reflect the most damaging stuff and your golden. As for P/D condi thief, they get destroyed by sword 5 reflect, as it is on such a short cooldown. They can usually sneak-attack every ~5 seconds, which, if you play your cards right, means you can not only nullify but counter 1/3rd of the damage done by sneak attack.

Regarding trait set-up, the build I am referring to does not use 0/4/6/0/4, but 6/0/4/0/4 with triple stance. You lose bull’s rush, dogged march and auto-EP, but gain controlled EP (stunbreak) and incredible finishing power with axe (sigil of intelligence), among other things. Also, Short temper is the best might stacking trait we have. Forceful GS is awesome, but Short Temper will grant you incredible amounts of might for a killer Evis when you need it most, as it is usually a tankier target that blocks a lot (like those shield warriors ;P).

An Evis coming off of 3675 power and 212 crit damage that is a sure crit is funny.

My two cents.

Yeah this is what I was looking for, a discussion. Well for missile deflection, it is situational for me because not everyone is going to be using range weapons, etc you are probably not going to reflect a d/p thief. And I’m sure you block not just to reflect tbh. Against a condi necro, you also can’t reflect anything besides their staff auto and dagger 4. This brings me to my next point of fighting the condi specs. I honestly try not to fight them because it is honestly a boring long drawn out fight to see who has more mental stamina. And I rather have the -33% condi reduction in movement than none at all.

As for my trait, if you watched the video carefully, you should know that I am not running the second endure pain. I also disagree with short temper being the best might stacking trait we have because it is very very situational. Like not everyone has a constant block like a guardian with shelter or shield warrior which limits the effectiveness of the trait. My current trait set-up helps me cover more bases imo. I personally don’t run sigil of intelligence as most people who actually watch the buffs can probably see it and will know when to keep their defensive skills and evades up. I normally try to bait their defensive utilities out first before trying for an evis so even if it didn’t crit the first time, I still can pressure them.

Natar.3671:

Yeah this is what I was looking for, a discussion. Well for missile deflection, it is situational for me because not everyone is going to be using range weapons, etc you are probably not going to reflect a d/p thief. And I’m sure you block not just to reflect tbh. Against a condi necro, you also can’t reflect anything besides their staff auto and dagger 4. This brings me to my next point of fighting the condi specs. I honestly try not to fight them because it is honestly a boring long drawn out fight to see who has more mental stamina. And I rather have the -33% condi reduction in movement than none at all.

Off course not everybody will be using ranged, but almost everybody has ranged attacks nonetheless. Funny you should mention D/P thief, as you can reflect 2 of their 5 weapon attacks (head shot and blinding powder), which is HUGE in fighting them. I think the shadow shot also gets reflected, blinding them even though it doesn’t prevent the teleport (not sure on this).

Against the necro you have a point, but many of them will still waste a dodge when you reflect everything. And you are still reflecting damage, which is better then just blocking.

Regarding fighting condi specs, sure, if you choose not to fight them, Dogged March is always better lol. I am of course talking about the situation in which you do fight them.

The thing is, I used to run Dogged March also. It is awesome. You get used to it so much, because it is awesome. Then I tried Missile Reflection, and I noticed I did not miss DM as much as I thought I would, not on this spec.

Natar.3671:

As for my trait, if you watched the video carefully, you should know that I am not running the second endure pain. I also disagree with short temper being the best might stacking trait we have because it is very very situational. Like not everyone has a constant block like a guardian with shelter or shield warrior which limits the effectiveness of the trait. My current trait set-up helps me cover more bases imo. I personally don’t run sigil of intelligence as most people who actually watch the buffs can probably see it and will know when to keep their defensive skills and evades up. I normally try to bait their defensive utilities out first before trying for an evis so even if it didn’t crit the first time, I still can pressure them.

Didn’t look for the second Endure Pain, kind of assumed you’d run it when you said you use 04604.

Regardless, Short Temper is somewhat situational, sure. The thing is, the situations in which it is useful it absolutely destroys your target. Plus, those situations would be more difficult to handle otherwise. Examples to prove how often Short Temper is awesome;

-Any Guardian
-Shield/toolkit Engineer (6 second block woooohooo)
-X/Shield warrior
-PU mesmer (much Aegis, much might, much…)
-Elementalists with the arcane block thing

This is pretty much half of any fight you would get into in WvW. And especially Engie and PU mesmer are hard matchups.

On the sigil of Intelligence thing, I agree that a good player will realise your plan. Then again, a good player will try to dodge Evis anyways. The thing is, with or without Sigil of Int, that you have to use Evis when you know you are gonna hit with it. It is the selling point of the entire build. So when I do finally see that opening to land Evis, I want it to be that gamechanging move. Evis hitting without critting (I am not s***ting) is making me spend all my adrenaline for what is basically an auto-attack crit.

Cygnus.6903:

-too long for text-

Yeah well my point is that when you block, you aren’t gonna block for the sake of the reflecting those shots mostly. It is nice to be able to keep dpsing while blocking but I rather maintain my kiting abilities. But yeah its probably down to personal preference. As for short temper, I still have to disagree as not all guards run shelter and normal aegis has a long cd. Engi, well thats true since almost all engi runs that besides some rifle engi. Shield warrior yes but not every warrior out there uses shield and most warriors use the block to chain into shield bash>evis etc which means you are taking a risk to keep attacking for that potential burst. PU mesmer, yes but they also don’t always get aegis and aegis is juz 1 block which is juz 3 stacks of might for 6.5s (with hoelbrak). Eles, thats 3 blocks and it does dmg when it explodes which can be detrimental as some eles can use that to chain burst you down.

Finally sigil of intelligence, the thing is that it has like a 10s timer on it? Normally what I do when I see it is just to back off a little so I can easily avoid the evis by just moving out of range or when block is up, make them waste their evis. Likewise other classes may even have an easier time dealing with it with blinds (guard/thief/necro etc). And since most classes have range as you said, they can simply back off and range to wait out the sigil of intell timer and you can’t close that gap on axe most of the time. But yes I won’t deny that it is powerful when it lands. But the new changes for warrior (adrenaline change) means that warriors have to be more careful about how adrenaline is used which is going to affect most warriors’ gameplay who spam their burst skills without thinking.

As a side note, I am working on video 3 and using sony vegas pro 13 so the next video should be in better quality! Yay!

Yam.2891:

/laugh @ Sorobradu

Shu.6981:

Yam.2891:

/laugh @ Sorobradu

Please mugi why u bm me. I’m learning how to be as pro as u and yam