My dilemma... Warrior vs Thief
Sword + Warhorn.
In terms of fast(ish) weapon animations, probably axe/axe, or greatsword with frenzy.
2 Mesmer (sPvP only)
I definetely don’t want to use MH sword – that really highlights his slowness! (Compared to thief MH sword)
I’ll try axe/axe again, but it didn’t feel too fast to me
I might just have to deal with it. Too bad though :/
Greatsword and Axe/Warhorn is my preffered weapon set up for getting around.
Signet of Rage+Warhorn’s Charge buff gives you near perma swiftness, then Greatsword gives you 2 mobility skills (Whirlwind attack and Rush). Greatsword’s mobility skills are affected by swiftness, so having swiftness alongside GS is pretty important for maximizing move speed.
Hundred Blades and Whirlwind attack are pretty fast attacks for the GS, but the other 3 attacks are relatively slow hard hitters as opposed to fast animations.
Sacaen -lvl 80 Warrior
if you put 10 points in discipline you may pick the trait that reads: increases your run speed while wielding melee weapons. this will make you slightly faster.
as suggested above, using sword/horn while exploring is awesome to minimize travelspeed and leap around with sword 2.
when fighting pve though, warrior is not meant to be fast. i play mine with hammer (for the cc) and a defensive build, while my offset is axe/shield in order to use eviscerate againtst bosses.
you can do an alternative dps build to feel like you’re playing a rogue, but that is BORING, and the warrior will crumble to dust at 1st sign of real trouble. that goes against the 1st rule of DPS which is staying alive.
this game actually allows you to play the warrior class without the need of a healer friend (like on all other mmos). you better embrace that and not be a dps kitten. more importantly, warrior is a massive team player. all you need to do is cc everyone with your hammer or tank with a shield while your dedicated DPS team obliterates everything.
you can shake off their conditions, buff their dmg and even -kittening- heal them later on. thief is just ok dps and meh mobility. as you said, paper thin.
warhorn’s charge + signet of rage = +33% move speed all the time
i’ll try that 1st thing when I get home… thanks for this info
For runspeed, as stated Signet of Rage, the 10% trait, Warhorn.
For combat activity, Axe/Axe.
Here’s the trick though: whatever weapon you pick, if you want high-activity combat, do NOT use Signet spam for utility. Use real kitten like stomp, frenzy, etc.
Note: Axe/Axe + Frenzy is pretty frenetic.
you can perma group swiftness with a warhorn and a banner provided you have the banner recharge trait. otherwise you’d need 2 banners on your skill bar. basically just drop the banner, charge, pick up banner, inspire, repeat. note that i also have the warhorn recharge trait. i’ve been runnin dolyaks with this to give them perma swiftness XD in wvw.
for attack speed, gotta go axe + frenzy.
combine the 2 and you’ll be zipping around the battlefield in a flurry of axe swings.
Pretty much what they all said, otherwise you pretty much just have to bite the slowness. At least it makes sense for my warrior, a platemail-clad shield/sword bearer that’s meant to soak up hits.
Besides, if you ever do go against a thief as a toughness (weapon)/shield build in WvW 1 on 1 you can pretty much sit back and giggle crazily chucking an axe/hamstringing him as you yell out “Where is your movement speed now!?” (Assuming the thief uses melee weapons which all the kids are doing now-a-days. Good thing, too… pistols are naaaaaasty.)
You don’t need the worthless warhorn trait. Just use Signet of Rage, in general. It barely has a downtime. If you use it as soon as it’s up, even without using anything else, you’ll have swiftness up all the time, barring little 9 or so second windows. Considering how borderline worthless the Warbanner is and the complete worthlessness of Rampage, SoR should always be on your bar to begin with.
I used to run nothing but Sword/Warhorn until I discovered this. Then I went to Greatsword, which has two closers that also help cover distance quickly. Other than the swords, you’re out of luck.