Guild Wars 2

The real issue with this patch is that if you want to maximize your DPS you will still find yourself with little to no condition removal. Other “glass” builds on other classes have this problem as well but they still either have more than warrior or have mechanics like stealth or clones to avoid damage. In WvW, you can run Runes of Mel with Lemongrass with Zerker trinkets and still be effective. However, in SPvP and TPvP if you do that your DPS will become much lower while your sustainability and survivability won’t increase by any significant amount. The new Destruction of the Empowered isn’t worth the 30 points of investment. I think the new Frenzy and Signet of Might are the best changes of this patch. I had been trying to run something like this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQRBHdxG2InTNcwjMETcAwyooguMUiKlC7cD-TwAg0CnI4SxljLDXSuscNKYFwGiJCA

This build attempts to have some utility and condition removal with Signet of Stamina and Charge on the warhorn to remove cripple and the like. My favorite combo is using Shield Bash with Unsuspecting Foe followed by Eviscerate for a 100% crit chance. With Discipline’s bonus burst crit damage being so pathetic the most you’ll hope to deal is 5-8k and that’s if you get lucky. You could also replace Signet of Stamina with Might to make the combo unblockable.

However, I actually found that going back to launch actually yielded the best results for me.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAR3ejcOxu1QyQMxBALjiA6yQJmUKszNA-TsAg0CnI4SxljLDXSuscNsYBxGBA

It has basically no condition removal and focuses on killing them before they kill you. It isn’t as fast at killing as it was at launch but with the basic rotation of Bulls->Frenzy->100b-> Swap to axe->Shield Bash->Eviscerate will certainly kill fast if you catch them unawares. This build also has the Shield Bash + Evis combo but uses it as a finisher which works much better. In a 1v1, it can be a good idea to pretend to run then using Bull’s, it can catch even good players unawares. I don’t like having to use such cowardly tactics but charging head on tends to just be a good way to get you killed.

Ironically I think we have come full circle with this patch. It seems that while 100b isn’t as good as launch (even then it wasn’t good against good players) the reduced damage received while using frenzy does allow you to not use Endure Pain and have Balanced stance. Basically Frenzy is no longer a death sentence if used correctly. Not going to lie though I feel really nooby using the build.

I tried some more tanky builds with hammer but I just didn’t feel like I was fulfilling a role that a guardian couldn’t do better. At least with 100b I can tend to kill faster than a thief or mesmer so I feel like I at least have a role to play.

If I could make changes to the warrior it would be to make the Burst Crit Damage boost in Discipline actually worth taking. This may force a slight damage nerf to some F1 attacks, but with a heavy investment the damage should make skills like Evis deal more than they do now.

I would also like to see a minor trait that reduces the duration of conditions like bleed and poison, similar to how a guardian removes one condition every few seconds but having it reduce the duration makes more sense for the warrior. Perhaps make the entire minor tactics line deal with condition mitigation. I would be willing to find 15 points to put in my DPS builds for more sustainability.

Great post but did you try the signet of might active effect? If you try and CC with a hammer or shield it does not interrupt the blocking nor stop it. You will get 3 hits in and then they will block the rest.

It does not interrupt the guardian block heal.

Also, 100b only goes in 1/3 of the way in since its multiple hits and the rest of it will be blocked. Using it to set up a good Evis? Well You can usually wait till the block finishes before using it, normally. It should have given us 10 seconds of unblockable attacks not 3 attacks within the next 10 seconds otherwise what is the point?

Hmm how do you maintain over 90% health in spvp for scholar runes to do any good? Also your builds look mechanically effective but I would never put stacking sigils on warriors because they tend to be a class that goes down alot as they are the ultimate risk-reward class. I wish balanced stance got a buff
in cooldown reduction atleast 20-30 secs because ranger has longer CC immune (20 sec) while being a ranged class with the new 60 sec cooldown elite!

Also pretty sure bull’s charge > 100 blade frenzy only works on people without any stunbreakers (newbies) or if you can make them blow all their dodges and stunbreakers with your shield alone that would be pretty funny.

I don’t sPvP/tPvP much but I am trying to understand why go all out full glass like that?

This is basically cof speed run build. Why not put points in defense and use a different jewel set. To me it looks like your build is built around 100 blades or eviscerate and thats it. I mostly WvW but auto attack from axe is so good. We do enough damage that I don’t feel like you have to go all out glass as you have in your build.

I am just trying to understand why build like that all glass. A mesmer can do it and a thief but they have really good get out of jail cards to let them do that. I don’t know I am just trying to understand and its sPvP/tPvP where crit damage isnt as high as in WvW. Your build just looks all in to me blow the load and retreat.

Is there just something different in sPvP that going full glass zerk warrior is the only and best option? The dogged march trait is good you can run that with melandru so movement condi’s dont effect you at all. Attack of opportunity is ok when they are bleeding. I never felt is was that super of a trait though to put points for it.

I mean if attack of opportunity was so awesome then you would want bleed up as much as possible and put geomancy sigil on weapon swap and the bleed duration trait but I don’t see many warriors do that at all in a damage burst build.

Moving down and answering the questions.

XII.9401: It does stink that I can’t get the full effect out of some of my attacks. I hope this is a bug that gets fixed.

sorrychief.2563: I have to play very hit and run like a thief without stealth. You tend to want at least 1 guy with you to go in first, then you pull off the combo when you see an opening. You can just as easily use Runes of the Ogre, in fact I would almost recommend it at in SPvP because yes keeping your HP above 90% can be hard solo. As for bloodlust, I’ve gotten good at escaping from bad situations. I always save Rush for escape and use my shield block if I have any immobilizes on me before rush. It feels lame having to play so cowardly but it isn’t hard to maintain a good number of stacks considering you get 5 stacks a kill so even 1 kill is a good boost.

oZii.2864: The problem with going anything besides full glass is that you’ll end up dealing less damage than a thief or mesmer and toughness doesn’t give you all that much more survivability. Even with full out toughness you will never have as much sustainability as a guardian. Hammers are good for Zergs in WvW but in PvP all it takes is a few blocks or stability to make you totally worthless. You could be good team support in SPvP but in TPvP there are better choices. As for sigils all you need is 1 bleed for the bonus 10% damage and without stacking condition damage the DPS from the bleeds isn’t worth stacking a ton of them. I like sigil of para because it increases Shield bashes duration way longer than it claims.

In conclusion, trying to add more toughness on my build doesn’t give me that much more survivability and it gives me no chance in a 1v1 vs other glass cannons. This build fills a role, support roamer that has the capability of bursting down someone quicker than most other glass cannons.

This all being said, you could try this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAR3ejcOxu1QyQMRCAUBAMKKCoLDlYSfgOA-TsAg0CnIMSZkzIjRSjsGNGZBxGBA

Defense II is now Dogged March

I really dislike losing that 5 in discipline but something like this would make conditions hurt a bit less.

Hi Burr! I was playing that thief last night named Ithorian Swift. You rocked me a few times. I was very impressed and I remember you chatting about going back to your initial build from launch. I like your reasoning and you made me want to pick up a warrior to play. I’m very new, been playing only a few weeks so I am seriously lacking competitive game play but it was a lot of fun. Thanks for the feedback via whisper in game.

Tyrion.4259:

Hi Burr! I was playing that thief last night named Ithorian Swift. You rocked me a few times. I was very impressed and I remember you chatting about going back to your initial build from launch. I like your reasoning and you made me want to pick up a warrior to play. I’m very new, been playing only a few weeks so I am seriously lacking competitive game play but it was a lot of fun. Thanks for the feedback via whisper in game.

NP, I had fun facing you even if as a warrior I naturally hate thieves :P.