Guild Wars 2

Here’s the link to my video containing Warrior sPvP Duels with Hammer – Mace/Shield. If you care for more info such as tips and strategies keep reading.

Build: http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-ss-Bx;9;9;89T-T;13;0489;127AC-F2X;1KJG4KJG44Bq

Hey what’s up? My warrior’s name is Matale and I’ve been playing for a few weeks now Hammer Mace/Shield. In order to improve my play style I decided to invest a lot of time on 1v1 servers and record my fights so I can see where I can do better. I gathered a lot of footage and I’m running out of space on my HD so I decided to compress it and upload it on youtube to help others trying the same build.

I usually play on a EU server called 1v1 King of the Hill for those that are interested; as far as I can tell this is where some of the best duelers meet to face off. Before you ask, yes, I’ve also lost to some of the opponents in the video and no, I don’t win every duel. I’ve had plenty of streaks where I played from server restart to server restart without loosing and days where I’ve lost constantly. Overall, with this build I feel like I can win vs anything. The only 2 professions that feel difficult are really good mesmers and especially stealth spam ones and S/D thieves but really, defeating really good players is never easy.

Here are a few tips that I’ve gathered in my learning experience. In the video I don’t always do them, but again, these clips were used to spot my mistakes so you should expect some.

General
- After you use your mace stun with full adrenaline (and the paralyzation sigil) you can hit your opponent 3 times with your Hammer before needing to que another CC. So for example a rotation would be like this: 3 seconds mace stun > hammer #1 > hammer #1 > hammer > 1 > hammer #5 or #4. Your opponent will be stunned the entire time. For all the rest of the stuns that have a 2 seconds base duration, you can hit twice with your hammer or mace before needing to que up another CC skill. This is very important because it adds up both to your DPS and survivability.
- In order to win, you need your opponent to run out of stability / stun breakers. Try and bait your opponent into using them by stunning them with 1-2 bars of adrenaline burst skills instead of the full 3 bars. In many situations, they won’t know that your mace stun is only 1-2 seconds long and not 3 and they’ll use a stun breaker anyways. This speeds up a fight increasing your chances of winning.
- Pay close attention and kite when your opponent has stability. Pay attention to invulnerabilities, blinds and aegis. The more important abilities you land, the better your chances of winning are!
- In fights that you know are difficult and that will last a long time, remember to use Healing Surge (if that’s the case) when you have full Adrenaline, it will count for a lot! (Ex: vs Mesmers, Thieves etc…)
- Adapt your Healing and Utility skills as needed in both duels and tournaments. If your opponent(s) are heavy condition pick up Mending and Signet of Stamina over Ignore Pain. When I do tPvP I often check out their roster and run around the map towards their spawn to see what they’re playing. Some necros might play condition and some might play power or MM builds. I also like to swap my Amulet. I usually use Valkyrie with Berserker’s Jewl however that toughness does nothing vs condition builds so I swap to full Berserker’s Amulet.
- I’m not going to get into arguments over Healing Signet. I currently view it as too good and even though I played around with it, I don’t want to touch it. I think it’s going to get nerfed soon and I don’t want to get used to playing with it. I think Healing Surge and Mending are in pretty good spots and that’s what I use. I’ve seen plenty of bad and confused warriors get carried by it because their opponents simply could not DPS through the 800-900 HPS it provides together with Adrenal Health.

Vs Engineers
- I love the reflection trait in this case because very often, during a fight you’ll be able to reflect up to 2-3 times their #2 and #3 pistol skills. It’s going to take some practice but if you’ve played an engineer before or fought them enough times, you’ll be able to “feel” when it’s going to happen. The first time is when you get close to them, in a distance of 500-600, as you’re moving towards them.
- I suggest keeping your Berserker’s Stance for when they switch to bomb kit. Many of those skills have pretty long CDs and you’ll counter them 100%
- Use your elite early for a condition wipe as it will also give you a boost in damage.
- Many engineers use Flame Thrower and the toolkit skill for that applies a very long burn over their next 3 attacks. You can spot when they’re about to use it because they get an icon/buff that looks like a green bullet. Avoid that or cleanse it ASAP!

Vs Mesmers
- Pay close attention to their Phantasms; the more Phantasm attacks you dodge the better. I like to reflect the Pistol’s Phantasm shots back to it and if I get most of them, the Phantasm is 1 shot away from being dead which is great since it’s on a 20 sec CD un-traited.
- I like to keep Berserker’s Stance for when the Mesmer uses Staff #4 and #5 to avoid getting a ton of conditions on me.
- Use your dodges wisely. Vs Mesmers you’ll be tempted to constantly dodge because you see so many attacks coming your way but many of them don’t really do damage. Keep your dodges for the blurred frenzy attack which you can avoid by dodging when you see a clone coming really fast at you and for all the other Phantasm attacks.
- Mesmers can daze you by shattering their clones. This gets really annoying because they don’t all shatter at the same time, they do it as they get in range, often being able to stop you from doing much for even up to 3-4 seconds. Use stability the first time you’re dazed (not from pistol though) chances are that’s what’s about to happen.

Vs Elementalists
- Most of them like to open with a big burst. As soon as they knock you down with their air skill, they’ll switch to fire, apply burning on you and try dagger #5 and Scepter #3. If you can block that or use Ignore Pain to avoid its damage (you can’t block Scepter #3), you’ve dodged a huge bullet as both are on pretty long CDs.
- You can use Stability vs Shocking Aura (Dagger #3) and often they won’t expect it as they’re hoping that you’ll get stunned and that they’re about to have a window where they can pour a lot of dmg into you.
- Elementalists have stability too through Armor of Earth. It’s easy to spot as it looks like a bunch of boulders around them; it’s better just to kite them during its duration.

Vs Necromancers
- Many necromancers start with their staff and put marks down as you’re going their way. What I like to do is when I get in decent range around 500-600 is to start blocking with my mace. The moment I block one of their marks I know they’ve started their damage rotation and I dodge once and use Berserker’s Stance to avoid the conditions coming my way.
- Use your Elite (with Runes of Lyssa) as late as possible as Necros often have Corrupt Boon and convert all of your boons into conditions. The longer you wait, the larger the chance that they’ve already used it on you to transform your stability into fear.
- When a necro uses Spectral Walk to break your stun (you’ll notice that he leaves a transparent green line behind him as he runs) try and stun him ASAP with whatever you have even if it’s short duration. Chances are he won’t know it’s a short duration stun and he’ll use Spectral Recall to go back to his original position; the sooner, the better. You should also be prepared if possible to leap back to his starting point with the Hammer Burst Skill.
- If he’s using a Worm, keep his location in mind because when things get rough, that’s where he’ll teleport.

Vs. Guardians
- Kite during stability and blocks. Remember that many of their skills provide them with invulnerability such as their Shelter Heal and Renowned Focus Elite so keep an eye for those.
- Reflect back Scepter #1 as it does pretty decent damage and Sword #3 which does even more damage.
- Guardians are pretty easy to kite
- Vs Spirit Weapon Guardians play defensively and survive the weapons. Once those are gone, you’ll have an easy time winning.

Vs. Rangers
- Most of them are Spirit Rangers and they do both condition and direct damage (or so it feels) so Ignore Pain is useful together with Berserker Stance.
- Reflects are also great, especially early on when they’re trying to gain an advantage through range
- Spirit Rangers are very strong and often it’s just a race of who does more damage. I try to stun them as often as possible even if my stuns aren’t full duration.

Vs. Thieves
- S/D are very difficult so don’t feel bad if you don’t beat them all too often.
- Landing your mace stun will turn out to be difficult vs S/D because of their dodges. I like to wait till the sword #3 evade animation is almost over and then quickly use my stun. There’s a short window there where if you time it right you’ll be able to stun them. Overall the more stuns you land the better your chances at winning are so while they have a big advantage with so many dodges, you can overcome that aspect by practicing.
- When you see a thief use his Basilisks Venom, act accordingly! Some of your options are either using Ignore Pain when he hits you, popping your own Elite for stability and protection or use Balanced Stance. Shield Stance is also an option but often they’ll just wait it out since it’s only 3 seconds long.

Vs. Warriors
- Well you play this profession so you should be able to figure out how to counter them. The general idea is that warriors have a lot of stability and stun breakers so kite them when they have stability and try baiting their stun breakers.

Updates
- Vs Mesmers – Try using Berserker’s Stance early on. Many bursty mesms that I’ve been fighting like to start with Pistol Phantasm and a Blurred Frenzy. Once I see the Pistol Phantasm I start blocking its shots with my Mace and use Berserker’s Stance which makes me immune to the cripple/immobilize so I can just dodge out of Blurred Frenzy. In the process I also gain a lot of Adrenaline which allows me to go super offensive and make the mesm use all of his stun breakers very early on since I can chain burst skills in addition to my other stuns.

This is all I can remember for now, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask. Good luck to those interested in playing this build, it’s a lot of fun!

I played a build nearly identical to this the day after the patch was released (The late June patch). Experimented a lot with it and other weapon variations and posted about it on the forums. It is definitely not a bad build and is capable of some hilarious juggling at times, but I feel there are better options generally. Your video cut off after 3 minutes for me by the way.

Ashanor.5319:

I played a build nearly identical to this the day after the patch was released (The late June patch). Experimented a lot with it and other weapon variations and posted about it on the forums. It is definitely not a bad build and is capable of some hilarious juggling at times, but I feel there are better options generally. Your video cut off after 3 minutes for me by the way.

I think its your connection, I just scrolled through the entire video and it was fine. I played a bunch of different builds too. My favorite was GS mace/shield because of the mobility you get, but it wasn’t as strong vs Mesmers, Thieves and Necros.

I’ve been playing this build for the past few days as well, with healing signet and soldier ammy.
Lots of fun to play, but I only tried it in hot-join for now. Do you think you will record touney games with this build ? It would be quite interesting to watch, I think.

Anyway, great vid, and thanks a lot for the guide.

P.S : Healing signet + Adrenal health actually provides around 500-550 HPS (adrenal health ticks every 3 seconds, and not 1 as the signet). 900 would be OP.

stefanplc.5234:

Ashanor.5319:

I played a build nearly identical to this the day after the patch was released (The late June patch). Experimented a lot with it and other weapon variations and posted about it on the forums. It is definitely not a bad build and is capable of some hilarious juggling at times, but I feel there are better options generally. Your video cut off after 3 minutes for me by the way.

I think its your connection, I just scrolled through the entire video and it was fine. I played a bunch of different builds too. My favorite was GS mace/shield because of the mobility you get, but it wasn’t as strong vs Mesmers, Thieves and Necros.

Yep, what I ended up settling on was M/Sh GS, but I also play S/Sh LB at times, and still occasionally pull out my hammer and mess around. I understand where you are coming from with not being as strong vs Necromancers, but I felt the M/Sh GS combo gave me enough cc to be effective vs them. When I did this build mine was a bit different though, rune choices, some traits etc. Basic 0 10 30 0 30 or 0 0 30 10 30 were the trait layouts. I also tried it with desperate power and more DPS centered stats but I preferred unsuspecting foe and tankier stats in my final build.

I will try to watch again later when I have some time.

Ashanor.5319:

stefanplc.5234:

Ashanor.5319:

I played a build nearly identical to this the day after the patch was released (The late June patch). Experimented a lot with it and other weapon variations and posted about it on the forums. It is definitely not a bad build and is capable of some hilarious juggling at times, but I feel there are better options generally. Your video cut off after 3 minutes for me by the way.

I think its your connection, I just scrolled through the entire video and it was fine. I played a bunch of different builds too. My favorite was GS mace/shield because of the mobility you get, but it wasn’t as strong vs Mesmers, Thieves and Necros.

Yep, what I ended up settling on was M/Sh GS, but I also play S/Sh LB at times, and still occasionally pull out my hammer and mess around. I understand where you are coming from with not being as strong vs Necromancers, but I felt the M/Sh GS combo gave me enough cc to be effective vs them. When I did this build mine was a bit different though, rune choices, some traits etc. Basic 0 10 30 0 30 or 0 0 30 10 30 were the trait layouts. I also tried it with desperate power and more DPS centered stats but I preferred unsuspecting foe and tankier stats in my final build.

I will try to watch again later when I have some time.

It also depends if you’re talking WvW or sPvP. WvW is much easier for warriors since you can do so much more damage and when things get rough you can reset the fight by running away. My main issue with GS wasn’t Necros in sPvP but Mesmers and some S/D thieves. Even slightly above average Mesmers seemed impossible in sPvP as GS. I played 0/20/30/0/20. My problem was that you only do real damage with that build during mace stun > 100b. Outside it, you hit for 800-1500 every now and then. With mesmers and generally other good players, landing that mace stun was just harder and harder as they knew to get away when they saw me pull the mace/shield out and save their blinds/stability etc.. for then. So in other words, it’s a very predictable build and vs really good duelers it really didn’t feel fair. I switched to this build though with the Hammer and even though I was skeptical initially because the Hammer is such a clunky weapon I was surprised how well it performs. The problem with the “currently top” sPvP professions is that they don’t have a lot of access to stun breakers and stability so that gives you an advantage.

Aedh.2631:

I’ve been playing this build for the past few days as well, with healing signet and soldier ammy.
Lots of fun to play, but I only tried it in hot-join for now. Do you think you will record touney games with this build ? It would be quite interesting to watch, I think.

Anyway, great vid, and thanks a lot for the guide.

P.S : Healing signet + Adrenal health actually provides around 500-550 HPS (adrenal health ticks every 3 seconds, and not 1 as the signet). 900 would be OP.

I’ve just seen several warriors that you could tell were bad, with random dodges, constantly using stuns into blinds and so forth and they did really well vs much better players simply because of that signet. On the 1v1 server we had a warrior that constantly won playing with the signet and when I dueled him it just didn’t end, it went on forever because he couldn’t land his skills but I couldn’t kill him either, I didn’t do enough damage. I convinced him to try a different healing skill like I was doing and it was over pretty fast afterwards. In my eyes it just feels like that signet carries a lot of players based on what I’ve been seeing. In the hands of a really good player I’m sure it’s devastating.

stefanplc.5234:

Aedh.2631:

I’ve been playing this build for the past few days as well, with healing signet and soldier ammy.
Lots of fun to play, but I only tried it in hot-join for now. Do you think you will record touney games with this build ? It would be quite interesting to watch, I think.

Anyway, great vid, and thanks a lot for the guide.

P.S : Healing signet + Adrenal health actually provides around 500-550 HPS (adrenal health ticks every 3 seconds, and not 1 as the signet). 900 would be OP.

I’ve just seen several warriors that you could tell were bad, with random dodges, constantly using stuns into blinds and so forth and they did really well vs much better players simply because of that signet. On the 1v1 server we had a warrior that constantly won playing with the signet and when I dueled him it just didn’t end, it went on forever because he couldn’t land his skills but I couldn’t kill him either, I didn’t do enough damage. I convinced him to try a different healing skill like I was doing and it was over pretty fast afterwards. In my eyes it just feels like that signet carries a lot of players based on what I’ve been seeing. In the hands of a really good player I’m sure it’s devastating.

I haven’t experienced any issues against warriors running it. As a matter of fact, I feel more powerful using surge generally. Most of the good warriors I have seen are still using surge, with the occasional one running mending.

In regards to your question on WvW, I don’t do much WvW currently and have about 2000 games worth of sPvP experience, mostly on warrior, some on thief, and a bit on every other class.

stefanplc.5234:

Aedh.2631:

I’ve been playing this build for the past few days as well, with healing signet and soldier ammy.
Lots of fun to play, but I only tried it in hot-join for now. Do you think you will record touney games with this build ? It would be quite interesting to watch, I think.

Anyway, great vid, and thanks a lot for the guide.

P.S : Healing signet + Adrenal health actually provides around 500-550 HPS (adrenal health ticks every 3 seconds, and not 1 as the signet). 900 would be OP.

I’ve just seen several warriors that you could tell were bad, with random dodges, constantly using stuns into blinds and so forth and they did really well vs much better players simply because of that signet. On the 1v1 server we had a warrior that constantly won playing with the signet and when I dueled him it just didn’t end, it went on forever because he couldn’t land his skills but I couldn’t kill him either, I didn’t do enough damage. I convinced him to try a different healing skill like I was doing and it was over pretty fast afterwards. In my eyes it just feels like that signet carries a lot of players based on what I’ve been seeing. In the hands of a really good player I’m sure it’s devastating.

I guess it’s true. It happened to me as well, a few 1v1 where neither of us had the dps to go through the sustain healing of the other.
I’m just an average player, so it might carry me sometimes. Just a little :>
After all, when you take healing sig, you have one less skill to worry about. You don’t have to be careful about stuns, interrupts or other CCs since it’s a passive ability, and its active heal probably won’t save you if you have to pop it.

With the high toughness of soldier’s ammy, and the ability to dispell conditions via the bursts (and with this build, you use both of them almost on cd), the sig just feels too good to pass.

Aedh.2631:

stefanplc.5234:

Aedh.2631:

I’ve been playing this build for the past few days as well, with healing signet and soldier ammy.
Lots of fun to play, but I only tried it in hot-join for now. Do you think you will record touney games with this build ? It would be quite interesting to watch, I think.

Anyway, great vid, and thanks a lot for the guide.

P.S : Healing signet + Adrenal health actually provides around 500-550 HPS (adrenal health ticks every 3 seconds, and not 1 as the signet). 900 would be OP.

I’ve just seen several warriors that you could tell were bad, with random dodges, constantly using stuns into blinds and so forth and they did really well vs much better players simply because of that signet. On the 1v1 server we had a warrior that constantly won playing with the signet and when I dueled him it just didn’t end, it went on forever because he couldn’t land his skills but I couldn’t kill him either, I didn’t do enough damage. I convinced him to try a different healing skill like I was doing and it was over pretty fast afterwards. In my eyes it just feels like that signet carries a lot of players based on what I’ve been seeing. In the hands of a really good player I’m sure it’s devastating.

I guess it’s true. It happened to me as well, a few 1v1 where neither of us had the dps to go through the sustain healing of the other.
I’m just an average player, so it might carry me sometimes. Just a little :>
After all, when you take healing sig, you have one less skill to worry about. You don’t have to be careful about stuns, interrupts or other CCs since it’s a passive ability, and its active heal probably won’t save you if you have to pop it.

With the high toughness of soldier’s ammy, and the ability to dispell conditions via the bursts (and with this build, you use both of them almost on cd), the sig just feels too good to pass.

/shrug

I find more success with Healing Surge personally. I suggest everyone who thinks Healing Signet is so great play with it for 20 games then playing with Healing Surge for 20 games and come back and tell me whether you truly think it is more helpful.

Healing Surge is my favorite too, I sometimes swap Mending if I’m playing vs condition heavy opponents or teams. The signet just maws through people that try and play a balanced build or aren’t really experienced because it offers so much survivability for free and its really strong in 1v1s mostly. Once you play in teams or vs good players who do a lot of bursts, Healing Surge becomes much better.

With my stats:
422 HPS = 12660 healing over 30 seconds
Healing Surge = 10700 healing every 30 seconds

Even though the signet heals for more, many of those ticks are wasted because you’re at full HP. Also when you have a lot of burst coming your way, it’s harder to recover with Healing Signet than Healing Surge.

The only thing I dislike about the Healing Signet is that it allows bad players to suddenly feel like they’re great. But that’s not the first case seen in GW2 and it was much worse on other professions before.

In any case, that’s not really the point of this thread, I really dislike getting into arguments over what’s OP and what’s not.

In any case, that’s not really the point of this thread, I really dislike getting into arguments over what’s OP and what’s not.

Advice: If you say something is overpowered or too strong, people are going to argue back their points. Especially with the way the warrior forums have been the last couple days with bad players coming in here saying warriors need a nerf etc.

Ashanor.5319:

In any case, that’s not really the point of this thread, I really dislike getting into arguments over what’s OP and what’s not.

Advice: If you say something is overpowered or too strong, people are going to argue back their points. Especially with the way the warrior forums have been the last couple days with bad players coming in here saying warriors need a nerf etc.

Yep, pretty much, that’s why I try to avoid these type of conversations. I just take things as they are and try to make the most of it.

All the fuzz about healing signet.. it’s fine, because it has a weakness. The good thing is you get the highest sustained healing. That is also the weakness: burst. It’s like fighting a good ele. You exchange some blows, get m a bit low, he uses water form to heal back up completely (burst healing for WAY more then any warrior ever could), wait for the swap to the next attunement, and THEN burst him down.

Also, out of all healing skills a warrior has, signet is the weakest to long duration poison.

Cygnus.6903:

All the fuzz about healing signet.. it’s fine, because it has a weakness. The good thing is you get the highest sustained healing. That is also the weakness: burst. It’s like fighting a good ele. You exchange some blows, get m a bit low, he uses water form to heal back up completely (burst healing for WAY more then any warrior ever could), wait for the swap to the next attunement, and THEN burst him down.

Also, out of all healing skills a warrior has, signet is the weakest to long duration poison.

bunker eles can’t 100B for up to 7-8k in sPvP… I think that’s where the issue is… the warrior still does a ton of dmg while surviving as if he was using a bunker build

stefanplc.5234:

Cygnus.6903:

All the fuzz about healing signet.. it’s fine, because it has a weakness. The good thing is you get the highest sustained healing. That is also the weakness: burst. It’s like fighting a good ele. You exchange some blows, get m a bit low, he uses water form to heal back up completely (burst healing for WAY more then any warrior ever could), wait for the swap to the next attunement, and THEN burst him down.

Also, out of all healing skills a warrior has, signet is the weakest to long duration poison.

bunker eles can’t 100B for up to 7-8k in sPvP… I think that’s where the issue is… the warrior still does a ton of dmg while surviving as if he was using a bunker build

Err Ele was known for being able to bunker and still have decent DPS. Warrior also doesn’t have the ability to bunker on that level.

I thought you didn’t like arguing?

Ashanor.5319:

stefanplc.5234:

Cygnus.6903:

All the fuzz about healing signet.. it’s fine, because it has a weakness. The good thing is you get the highest sustained healing. That is also the weakness: burst. It’s like fighting a good ele. You exchange some blows, get m a bit low, he uses water form to heal back up completely (burst healing for WAY more then any warrior ever could), wait for the swap to the next attunement, and THEN burst him down.

Also, out of all healing skills a warrior has, signet is the weakest to long duration poison.

bunker eles can’t 100B for up to 7-8k in sPvP… I think that’s where the issue is… the warrior still does a ton of dmg while surviving as if he was using a bunker build

Err Ele was known for being able to bunker and still have decent DPS. Warrior also doesn’t have the ability to bunker on that level.

I thought you didn’t like arguing?

lol I’m done on that topic, promise

I just realized something about comparing Healing Signet and Healing Surge and I’m not trying to make a point if one is OP or not but it’s something that in my personal comparison I’ve overlooked.

So again, with my stats:
Healing Signet = 422 HPS = 12660 healing over 30 seconds
Healing Surge = 10700 healing every 30 seconds

Now in a normal 1v1, a good warrior using my build shouldn’t need to use Healing Surge until lets say second 20. You were able to not go bellow 10k HP by that point because you used your defensive skills properly. Now if the fight keeps going until second 49, the healing gained by that point is:
Healing Signet = 20678
Healing Surge = 10700

Now at second 50, things are about the same since a second Healing Surge comes in and you have HSurge with 21400 and HSignet with 21100. However, here you are assuming that things timed so well that exactly when HSurge came off CD, you had full adrenaline and were able to heal. Now for the next 29 seconds and this is where it starts counting HSignet gains a big advantage of providing 33338 healing vs the same 21100. Also, keep in mind that when HSurge comes off CD, you might really need a heal but you don’t have 3 bars of adrenaline so here you lose the race again even if you decide to wait for full adrenaline or if you decide to just go ahead and use it.

Now you might say that the advantage of HSurge is that it gives you adrenaline. Well to keep up with the healing you get from HSignet you need to use it at full adrenaline so you’re not really getting an advantage, if anything, it’s additional work that you have to do to keep up.

Now you might say that Healing Surge is burst healing and it allows you to recover quickly. Well, that also means that Healing Signet rewards smart play and that it rewards players that know when burst is coming their way and know how to use their shield block or Ignore Pain and so forth properly.

My personal opinion is that at this point in the game, in the hands of a good Warrior, Healing Signet offers the most amount of healing and is probably the best healing option you have. To me, this doesn’t sound fair vs the other healing options we have because with Healing Signet you can just forget about it where with the other Healing options you have to time things properly.

What a fantastic vid, probably one of the best I’ve seen in instructional value due to the methodical run-through of all the classes.

Awesome video, Awesome skills.
As for your Ranger impression: as of the latest update, a lot more Rangers run LB/GS Zerker or similar setups (maybe some soldiers gear etc. etc.) with great ways to keep distance and a newly gained stealth on LB #3
I’d like to see you fight one of those since they have a great potential to kite you and many possible stunbreakers (you can run 3 sstunbreakers and still have a viable build) combined with pretty good damage.

Glad you guys are enjoying it! Now that I’m feeling really comfortable in duels vs just about anything, I’m probably going to start recording more tPvP. I don’t have a whole lot of time to play but as soon as I get a good chunk of content I’ll make sure to post a similar montage!

Hey man.. Glad you’ve seen the light with the cc warrior. I ran a very similar build when they first implemented cleansing ire, but after a couple of months of high level tpvp with it I’ve found this version to be stronger – definitely worth a try!

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/pvp/Phaeton-s-Anchor-Warrior-Build-CC-cleave

Note: combination of condi immunity, soldiers ammy, and the ability to completely lock a condi player out if played correctly makes cleansing ire not mandatory with this set up

Phaeton.9582:

Hey man.. Glad you’ve seen the light with the cc warrior. I ran a very similar build when they first implemented cleansing ire, but after a couple of months of high level tpvp with it I’ve found this version to be stronger – definitely worth a try!

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/pvp/Phaeton-s-Anchor-Warrior-Build-CC-cleave

Note: combination of condi immunity, soldiers ammy, and the ability to completely lock a condi player out if played correctly makes cleansing ire not mandatory with this set up

I’ll give it a try, thanks for the tip! I also play mostly solo even in tPvP with solo ques, so if you’re playing with a team, that might be a factor to consider.

I’m going to bump this thread as I’ve seen people talk about Hammer – Mace/Shield and how strong it is in several threads but more as if it’s something they’ve heard about but don’t really know that much, top secret, a myth and so forth. So for those that missed it, here it is again, video and explanation on how to play it on the first page of the warrior forums.

Phaeton.9582:

Hey man.. Glad you’ve seen the light with the cc warrior. I ran a very similar build when they first implemented cleansing ire, but after a couple of months of high level tpvp with it I’ve found this version to be stronger – definitely worth a try!

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/pvp/Phaeton-s-Anchor-Warrior-Build-CC-cleave

Note: combination of condi immunity, soldiers ammy, and the ability to completely lock a condi player out if played correctly makes cleansing ire not mandatory with this set up

I know you are a great player, but I find this build rather odd: how 30 points in Strength Beat +25% damage vs disabled foes? Is it only thanks to Kick?

Nice video! But to add to the healing signet/surge debate are two factors not brought up that make signet a poor choice.

1. Poison, if you are poisoned a decent portion of the time, your healing will be greatly effected.

2. Surge allows for 100% adrenaline from the start, and that is pretty big in a tpvp environment and even duels sometimes.

Zenyoga.6910:

Nice video! But to add to the healing signet/surge debate are two factors not brought up that make signet a poor choice.

1. Poison, if you are poisoned a decent portion of the time, your healing will be greatly effected.

2. Surge allows for 100% adrenaline from the start, and that is pretty big in a tpvp environment and even duels sometimes.

In regards to your #1 it really depends on what you’re fighting and your luck; Poison could also affect your Healing Surge if you really need to heal and have no way of removing Poison. You could use a burst skill to remove conditions but then you also have a lower HS heal. What you’re saying is a factor to consider, but it can really affect both.

In my general setup I use Berserker’s Stance as one of my utilities and I use that early on which gives me Adrenaline. I don’t just pop it from the start, I explained in my tips (vs necros or engineers) how I do it, but it helps just the same. I also usually like to start my fights a bit defensive and pay attention to the enemy burst so I can avoid it properly before going in with my own.

Added an “updates” section on my 3rd post where I can just add things as I learn them. This is the first update:

Vs Mesmers – Try using Berserker’s Stance early on. Many bursty mesms that I’ve been fighting like to start with Pistol Phantasm and a Blurred Frenzy. Once I see the Pistol Phantasm I start blocking its shots with my Mace and use Berserker’s Stance which makes me immune to the cripple/immobilize so I can just dodge out of Blurred Frenzy. In the process I also gain a lot of Adrenaline which allows me to go super offensive and make the mesm use all of his stun breakers very early on since I can chain burst skills in addition to my other stuns.

I switched to mace/shield and hammer yesterday. Checked now this thread and I see that the build is pratically 100% the same as this one (every single big traits and small one).

But I’m not using Lyssa runes and or that Jewelry (I was using Melandru + Soldier).
I will give yours a try.

stefanplc.5234:

- I’m not going to get into arguments over Healing Signet. I currently view it as too good and even though I played around with it, I don’t want to touch it. I think it’s going to get nerfed soon and I don’t want to get used to playing with it. I think Healing Surge and Mending are in pretty good spots and that’s what I use. I’ve seen plenty of bad and confused warriors get carried by it because their opponents simply could not DPS through the 800-900 HPS it provides together with Adrenal Health.

I can totally see this. I might be one of those warriors lol.

Did you try this build in WvWvW? I thought about going something like this:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAS5ejcOpwxOGPMxBE0DNsK4iTBlQ9YOsj4A-jEyAYLioZqwQmJEQZvioxWFLiGreBTZSEV7OKiWtQAyGDA-w

People tend to swap lyssa for melandru or hoelbrak but after trying different sets lyssa seems to be the best choice for me. Only disadvantage is you have to activate signet of rage during fight, otherwise its condition clearing is wasted.

After being very successful in pvp I’m planning to use this build in wvwvw in small havoc group/duo roaming/ocasionally zerging. I’m still at the gear farming phase but in theory it gives a little bit less toughness than the pvp build, but at the exchange of 74% crit damage and flat 23% crit which sums up to 73% against stunned targets.

I didn’t touch the traits (I still plan to run 0/10/30/0/30) it’s now matter of gear. So, any thoughts?

vove.2768:

Did you try this build in WvWvW? I thought about going something like this:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAS5ejcOpwxOGPMxBE0DNsK4iTBlQ9YOsj4A-jEyAYLioZqwQmJEQZvioxWFLiGreBTZSEV7OKiWtQAyGDA-w

People tend to swap lyssa for melandru or hoelbrak but after trying different sets lyssa seems to be the best choice for me. Only disadvantage is you have to activate signet of rage during fight, otherwise its condition clearing is wasted.

After being very successful in pvp I’m planning to use this build in wvwvw in small havoc group/duo roaming/ocasionally zerging. I’m still at the gear farming phase but in theory it gives a little bit less toughness than the pvp build, but at the exchange of 74% crit damage and flat 23% crit which sums up to 73% against stunned targets.

I didn’t touch the traits (I still plan to run 0/10/30/0/30) it’s now matter of gear. So, any thoughts?

The way I see it gear wise, it’s the same as I went for the GS mace/shield build. You stack max power and crit damage with a defensive stat, I believe it’s Vitality for PvE gear and Toughness for sPvP. You can just ignore precision for the most part as you’ll still have some crit chance as low as that might be, lets say 5%, then you’ll have fury so you’re now up to 25% and then unsuspecting foe since you’re stunning almost all the time boosting you up to 75%. You can still increase your crit chance to the point where you have 100% crit chance during stuns, but I’m not sure how worth it it is vs the defensive stats you’ll get. If you’re running solo and you don’t really have fury up all the time, I would suggest increasing your crit chance to 20-25%. I believe you can get your crit damage to almost 100% depending on what kind of gear you’re using.

Runes of Lyssa are far superior in my opinion because of the stability, protection, aegis and small regen you get in addition to the full wipe. All those stats, for 5 seconds make you really tough and there are a ton of situations where you can use it: downing someone in a 1v2, you’re out of immunities and about to get bursted by a thief, mesmer or w/e, full condition wipe vs the tropical rain of conditions going around, use it when you know you’re about to get stunned for example vs an Engineer dropping his big ol bomb hoping for some breathing room, a thief that just popped his basilisk’s venom and so forth. There are so many situations where those Runes of Lyssa are a huge advantage that I don’t see myself playing with anything else. It’s not just a condition removal, it’s a big benefit in many situations vs just about any profession you’re playing against.

My only drawback from using this build in WvW is that you have crap mobility so unless you’re with a team (which you are and that’s great) you’ll die a lot due small roaming groups or zergs that will just hunt you down. What would I use instead? There’s a sword/shield hammer variation that works pretty well and also the hammer / gs.

I’d still like to see you fight against a good LB/GS (or LB/SW+WH) Ranger.
As much as I rocked with my warrior using your build, I totally wreck warriors using this build with my ranger.
I am not a very good sPvP player, so imho a ranger could be a pretty tough matchup for you.

Aeri.5738:

I’d still like to see you fight against a good LB/GS (or LB/SW+WH) Ranger.
As much as I rocked with my warrior using your build, I totally wreck warriors using this build with my ranger.
I am not a very good sPvP player, so imho a ranger could be a pretty tough matchup for you.

I’m not 100% familiar with rangers, I really just need to make one and play it for a while however I also haven’t really been loosing to them and I did fight several different ones, mostly spirit rangers who have been beating other players left and right. What I learned is that I need to pace myself vs them, go in, be aggressive when I have CDs to back me up and spread my CDs out so that I can keep going and usually, by the time Berserker’s Stance is back some of their spirits are dead and on CD and I just go in and win. I wish I could explain it a bit better and have a better understanding of what’s going on, but this is just how generally things happen. I feel like visually, when you fight a ranger, even if you have no idea what their skills are, you can just tell from the animations what’s going on, when things are bad and when they’re good. From this perspective it’s really similar to how the warrior is. Rangers in general aren’t very popular though on 1v1 servers even though they’re very strong. You see them about as often as you see guardians so they’re not a big concern, especially how I don’t really tend to lose nor do they have a bunch of experience vs playing my build/strat.

The only rangers that have been giving me problems and these are the rangers that I need to pace myself vs and not try to rush them down, are rangers that are using some 2 × 1handed weapons and are kiting all over the place.

But like I said, they don’t feel like a huge threat atm and I’m sure that if I invested a bit more time and learned how to play one it would only get easier.

redslion.9675:

Phaeton.9582:

Hey man.. Glad you’ve seen the light with the cc warrior. I ran a very similar build when they first implemented cleansing ire, but after a couple of months of high level tpvp with it I’ve found this version to be stronger – definitely worth a try!

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/pvp/Phaeton-s-Anchor-Warrior-Build-CC-cleave

Note: combination of condi immunity, soldiers ammy, and the ability to completely lock a condi player out if played correctly makes cleansing ire not mandatory with this set up

I know you are a great player, but I find this build rather odd: how 30 points in Strength Beat +25% damage vs disabled foes? Is it only thanks to Kick?

To be honest I run something different now, it varies slightly but crucially from the build of the OP and I’m enjoying having a bit of a competitive edge in yolo with it ^^.

The build that traits into strength is better versus certain classes where a combo chain is easy to pull off, like vs necromancers and engineers. It’s also the most viable way to run
Lyssa runes IMO if you need that extra stomping power.

One of the key reasons is that the mace hits much harder, and in combination with the accessibility and power of bulls charge this will make your cc lock damage output more consistent (not just when hitting them with the hammer).

With the recent buffs to warrior sustain however, particularly to the usefulness of healing power, the defence tree is more viable for that insane sustain, both in team fights and versus classes with access to stability/evades.

If there’s any demand for it I can post my build, I think it may change a lot of different builds slightly for most players..

Aeri.5738:

I’d still like to see you fight against a good LB/GS (or LB/SW+WH) Ranger.
As much as I rocked with my warrior using your build, I totally wreck warriors using this build with my ranger.
I am not a very good sPvP player, so imho a ranger could be a pretty tough matchup for you.

I usually beat rangers with this set up, but I have to land everything/save condi immunity for the blind etc.

With the spirit res however it seems to take too long in competitive play IMO.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQRApe3ZjcO1wxQqQMRCAkivyyoYogOFUSpAP3A-TwAg0CnIqRVjrGTNyas1MQYZxmgZIA
This is what i have been running and having great success with. You can swap the traits and talents around a bit for aginst condi classes.
1.Mace stun
2.Frenzy+weapon swap
3.Axe auto attack until stun wears off
4.Mace 5
5.auto attack more
6. Then if they still are alive stack vul and axe fi
I call it the Axe murderer build idk if someone already made it but its insane damage does way more then gs does. Give it a try <3

Derps.7421:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQRApe3ZjcO1wxQqQMRCAkivyyoYogOFUSpAP3A-TwAg0CnIqRVjrGTNyas1MQYZxmgZIA
This is what i have been running and having great success with. You can swap the traits and talents around a bit for aginst condi classes.
1.Mace stun
2.Frenzy+weapon swap
3.Axe auto attack until stun wears off
4.Mace 5
5.auto attack more
6. Then if they still are alive stack vul and axe fi
I call it the Axe murderer build idk if someone already made it but its insane damage does way more then gs does. Give it a try <3

I was thinking about using it and posted a similar build some time ago.

Here’s my version

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQRAnZ5ejkOpwFPuQMxBE0DNsK2iTBlQ9wOmj4A-ToAg0CnIMSZkzIjRSjsGNsYhA

Never tested it, but it might work (you should be able to do the full chain while the enemy is stunned, right?).

redslion.9675:

kitten s.7421:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQRApe3ZjcO1wxQqQMRCAkivyyoYogOFUSpAP3A-TwAg0CnIqRVjrGTNyas1MQYZxmgZIA
This is what i have been running and having great success with. You can swap the traits and talents around a bit for aginst condi classes.
1.Mace stun
2.Frenzy+weapon swap
3.Axe auto attack until stun wears off
4.Mace 5
5.auto attack more
6. Then if they still are alive stack vul and axe fi
I call it the Axe murderer build idk if someone already made it but its insane damage does way more then gs does. Give it a try <3

I was thinking about using it and posted a similar build some time ago.

Here’s my version

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQRAnZ5ejkOpwFPuQMxBE0DNsK2iTBlQ9wOmj4A-ToAg0CnIMSZkzIjRSjsGNsYhA

Never tested it, but it might work (you should be able to do the full chain while the enemy is stunned, right?).

Yours is more tanky mines more damage. You need frenzy though in order to do the full axe chain. Its completely worth it. With my build i can either kill or do about 80%( if they are bunker) of their life with the axe chain with frenzy. It hits unbelievably hard way more damage then gs

Derps.7421:

redslion.9675:

kitten s.7421:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQRApe3ZjcO1wxQqQMRCAkivyyoYogOFUSpAP3A-TwAg0CnIqRVjrGTNyas1MQYZxmgZIA
This is what i have been running and having great success with. You can swap the traits and talents around a bit for aginst condi classes.
1.Mace stun
2.Frenzy+weapon swap
3.Axe auto attack until stun wears off
4.Mace 5
5.auto attack more
6. Then if they still are alive stack vul and axe fi
I call it the Axe murderer build idk if someone already made it but its insane damage does way more then gs does. Give it a try <3

I was thinking about using it and posted a similar build some time ago.

Here’s my version

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQRAnZ5ejkOpwFPuQMxBE0DNsK2iTBlQ9wOmj4A-ToAg0CnIMSZkzIjRSjsGNsYhA

Never tested it, but it might work (you should be able to do the full chain while the enemy is stunned, right?).

Yours is more tanky mines more damage. You need frenzy though in order to do the full axe chain. Its completely worth it. With my build i can either kill or do about 80%( if they are bunker) of their life with the axe chain with frenzy. It hits unbelievably hard way more damage then gs

You might even do a nastier thing:

Skull Crack + Whirling Axe.

Yeah, it’s impractical, but… the humiliation of being killed by the most kittened skill in the game!XD

In sPvP (hot joins) and tPvP you can get away with a lot of things due to either having some help from teammates or your opponents not having all their CDs or when you lose you blame it on you not having all your CDs and so forth.

I think the best way to test a build and see how well it really does is to go and spam a 1v1 server for a few days (maybe up to a week so you meet all sort of opponents) and see where its true weaknesses are. By doing this you know what professions hurt you more, vs which you are more effective and so forth and you get a really good idea of how strong the variation of your build really is.

Making a list with an order of the way you use your skills or simply suggesting a variation of a build based on a theory while it may sound good initially, it will often have a different result once you start trying it out vs competent players. While sPvP and tPvP may have solid players to fight against on some occasions, it’s rare that you actually get a fair fight vs them and the chance to analyze it and then re-match to see if your conclusions and new strat does better.

These are my personal thoughts at least and from my personal experience, testing and improving a build over and over again on a solid 1v1 server will help you immensely.

stefanplc.5234:

In sPvP (hot joins) and tPvP you can get away with a lot of things due to either having some help from teammates or your opponents not having all their CDs or when you lose you blame it on you not having all your CDs and so forth.

I think the best way to test a build and see how well it really does is to go and spam a 1v1 server for a few days (maybe up to a week so you meet all sort of opponents) and see where its true weaknesses are. By doing this you know what professions hurt you more, vs which you are more effective and so forth and you get a really good idea of how strong the variation of your build really is.

Making a list with an order of the way you use your skills or simply suggesting a variation of a build based on a theory while it may sound good initially, it will often have a different result once you start trying it out vs competent players. While sPvP and tPvP may have solid players to fight against on some occasions, it’s rare that you actually get a fair fight vs them and the chance to analyze it and then re-match to see if your conclusions and new strat does better.

These are my personal thoughts at least and from my personal experience, testing and improving a build over and over again on a solid 1v1 server will help you immensely.

Yeah, but in 1v1 servers you fight in different grounds than tpvp. For instance, you play in a really open place, where trying to melee is a pain. And you’ll face 1v1 taylor-made builds.

redslion.9675:

Yeah, but in 1v1 servers you fight in different grounds than tpvp. For instance, you play in a really open place, where trying to melee is a pain. And you’ll face 1v1 taylor-made builds.

While yes, there are some that come with specific 1v1 builds, the large majority come to test their tPvP builds and get better at fighting vs certain professions and increase their reaction time. As far as terrain goes, it’s pretty much the same as in tPvP/sPvP, the maps people fight on do have certain LoS elements.

stefanplc.5234:

redslion.9675:

Yeah, but in 1v1 servers you fight in different grounds than tpvp. For instance, you play in a really open place, where trying to melee is a pain. And you’ll face 1v1 taylor-made builds.

While yes, there are some that come with specific 1v1 builds, the large majority come to test their tPvP builds and get better at fighting vs certain professions and increase their reaction time. As far as terrain goes, it’s pretty much the same as in tPvP/sPvP, the maps people fight on do have certain LoS elements.

I tried the “King of the Hill” server. There you fight around the spawn point in forest of Niflhel. I have a much wors time at using weapons like Greatsword for stable damage there, while in most points there is much less room for manuevers.

redslion.9675:

I tried the “King of the Hill” server. There you fight around the spawn point in forest of Niflhel. I have a much wors time at using weapons like Greatsword for stable damage there, while in most points there is much less room for manuevers.

Well I could also say that clocktower is about as anti-melee as it gets so in comparison, the “King of the Hill” server is using a much better setting than what you could be facing in tPvP/sPvP. You’re also not always going to be fighting on points, some fights often occur in between them. I think the Forest of Niflhel’s spawn point is a really good spot for 1v1s imo, the terrain is pretty balanced helping both ranged and melee. With a GS you can take advantage of the wide space by kiting when you need just a few more seconds until your heal gets off CD and you can also kite around those 2 pillars vs ranged attacks.

Bottom line is that the point of the server is to make yourself more accustomed to what other professions can do and learn how to react accordingly. Having a medium that favors you isn’t going to help you improve. If you can do well in that setting you will have a much easier time when the terrain is in your advantage.

On that server I was able to do very well using the GS Mace/Shield build, managing to constantly beat all professions with the exception of Mesmers and really good S/D thieves.

stefanplc.5234:

redslion.9675:

I tried the “King of the Hill” server. There you fight around the spawn point in forest of Niflhel. I have a much wors time at using weapons like Greatsword for stable damage there, while in most points there is much less room for manuevers.

Well I could also say that clocktower is about as anti-melee as it gets so in comparison, the “King of the Hill” server is using a much better setting than what you could be facing in tPvP/sPvP. You’re also not always going to be fighting on points, some fights often occur in between them. I think the Forest of Niflhel’s spawn point is a really good spot for 1v1s imo, the terrain is pretty balanced helping both ranged and melee. With a GS you can take advantage of the wide space by kiting when you need just a few more seconds until your heal gets off CD and you can also kite around those 2 pillars vs ranged attacks.

Bottom line is that the point of the server is to make yourself more accustomed to what other professions can do and learn how to react accordingly. Having a medium that favors you isn’t going to help you improve. If you can do well in that setting you will have a much easier time when the terrain is in your advantage.

On that server I was able to do very well using the GS Mace/Shield build, managing to constantly beat all professions with the exception of Mesmers and really good S/D thieves.

O_o I always felt the opposite…

What was I thinking the whole time?XD

(I mean… I am sure you are right, something in what I do must be wrong).

redslion.9675:

O_o I always felt the opposite…

What was I thinking the whole time?XD

(I mean… I am sure you are right, something in what I do must be wrong).

What do you mean? Do you like Clocktower as a melee warrior? :p

stefanplc.5234:

redslion.9675:

O_o I always felt the opposite…

What was I thinking the whole time?XD

(I mean… I am sure you are right, something in what I do must be wrong).

What do you mean? Do you like Clocktower as a melee warrior? :p

Well, the nemy can’t hide much from my autoattack, for example.

And I feel a dirty pleasure by finishing someone with an autoattack chain.XD

And the enemy can’t go too far with teleports.

redslion.9675:

Well, the nemy can’t hide much from my autoattack, for example.

And I feel a dirty pleasure by finishing someone with an autoattack chain.XD

And the enemy can’t go too far with teleports.

Well at the same time, you can get attacked there from the windows or roof and it takes a lot longer for you to get to your ranged opponents since you have to jump on the boxes to get to the window and so forth, you have to constantly be aware of the catapult attacks and if you fall off the “point stage” because you’re knocked back or whatever, you have to go all the way around to get back to the enemy that’s constantly shooting at you from the top, slowing you down and so forth.. also when you get knocked down, you can’t just leap back to your enemy, you have to actually run around due to the LOS before you can leap back