Guild Wars 2

So I was playing around last night with Phalanx Strenth and might stacking. I found I could maintain around 18 stacks of might for the group using FGJ, SoR, and Forceful Greatsword. (at least I think it was me, it was hard to tell as we had some eles, another warrior, and others adding might as well.) But I got to thinking, Phalanx strength, as good as it is, is extreamly situational. FGJ is pretty much useless, as PS only has a range of 600, the same as FGJ. So using FGJ you are adding might to the party anyway. SoR, actually helped, as it adds the 5 stacks to the party instead of just yourself. Forceful Greatsword (FG) also was a great addition. I was running 4/4/0/6/0 and other similar set ups to find something that worked, without sacrificing too much DPS.

I was running valk gear, and banner of discipline to help up my crit to proc might with FG, but I am thinking to be the most effective at might stacking, I should be running either beserkers or something else to get a higher crit rate.

What are some ideas about builds/gear to make PS worthwhile. Or is it even worthwhile, as most dungeon groups generally are doing some might stacking of their own without the need for PS.

This is my current setup, although the trinkets are not accurate, they are what I am going for.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fJAQJARTnMdQlHW7BmCCnIG4IoMFAn3g5eBSPE7wyD-ThiAABIp8LT1fA4IAQhSQBOEA2sfwK6CWw8HVLI4wDAAA-e

Any thoughts/suggestions?

First off would be to go full zerker. You’re kidding yourself if you think that extra vitality is helping you at all. Second would be to get a sigil of strength on the greatsword. And regarding FGJ, its actually 6 stacks of might for the group, and 3 stacks for you. This is because the shout itself gives everyone 3 might, but since you also get 3 might it shares that with everyone resulting in 6 might. Lastly, get some strength runes. Yes, they’re expensive, but they really are the bet option

Carpboy.7145:

First off would be to go full zerker. You’re kidding yourself if you think that extra vitality is helping you at all. Second would be to get a sigil of strength on the greatsword. And regarding FGJ, its actually 6 stacks of might for the group, and 3 stacks for you. This is because the shout itself gives everyone 3 might, but since you also get 3 might it shares that with everyone resulting in 6 might. Lastly, get some strength runes. Yes, they’re expensive, but they really are the bet option

I can see how Runes of Strength can help with might stacking, however a 25% chance for 1 stack to proc doesn’t seem to be worth the cost to me, unless the might duration is vital to PS. The sigil of strenth would be a great idea though.

Also this isn’t a discussion about my valk gear, we’ve already discussed it to death and beyond. The question is what gear set would be best for stacking might via FG proc. I’m thinking assassins might be a good idea. As precision is main stat.

maybe something like this?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fJAQJARTnMdQlHW7BmCCnIG4IoMFAn3g5eBSPE7wyD-TxiAwAXeAAUUCiU5ngDBgmLAgt9DMq+zKdBUXQYh5PAHBAA-e

Also hoelbrak runes might be a cheaper alternative

Why would you put time and effort into this build when zerker is allready efficient enough to keep 25 stacks for the entire group? Maybe not 100% but near enough. If you are just out stacking might but do not care for group efficiency at all then yse obviously prec as a main stat is the best as it helps you proc more often. If you are out helping your gorup by stacking might you only do it to the level it’s needed and then go full out damage because that is what really helps the group when you’re a warrior. You are not in a support role.

So how does zerker gear provide more might than any other gear set out there? Of course traits and skills are really what make up a build. Both assassins and beserker have precision as stat, assassins a bit more than beserkers. I guess my main question is what skills/traits are needed to maximize might gained to best stack might for the party?

pdavis.8031:

So how does zerker gear provide more might than any other gear set out there? Of course traits and skills are really what make up a build. Both assassins and beserker have precision as stat, assassins a bit more than beserkers. I guess my main question is what skills/traits are needed to maximize might gained to best stack might for the party?

Zerker doesn’t provide more might than Assassins using an On Crit sigil and FG. I’m not saying that. What I am saying is that Zerker provides just enough might for it to be the optimal choice even when stacking might. If there was no limit to how many stacks you could have assassins would probably be the better choice but now it is 25. When you get to 25 stacks with a build, there’s absolutely no point in trying to stack more might. Do you get me?

FGJ gives 6 stacks for 32 seconds on a 20 seconds cooldown in your build. That’s for everyone else 12 stacks for 12 seconds, then another 8 seconds downtime with 6 to get to 12 again, plus signet that gives 5 stacks for 39 seconds, in uptime we are counting 17 stacks, and that’s not even counting FG and your strength sigil. This is without strength runes.

Equip Strength Runes and FGJ gives 6 stacks for 42 seconds on a 20 second cooldown. That is 12 stacks regularly, signet of rage gives 52 seconds on a preferably 48 second cooldown, that’s 17 stacks always on, hard to mess that up. Then you have FG and your Strength sigil that will give you the last stacks as long as you keep hitting with GS.

Remember you will have constant fury aswell so your crit chance is realisticly 76%. More than enough.

So once again beserker is the end all for everything. :P

What about traits and utilities? because thats where it really matters the most. From what I can tell, only SoR, FGJ, FG and Short temper are the only way for a warrior to gain might, aside from sigils and runes. Would what I have as traits in the editor work? I really can’t see another way to work them without giving up PS to put more into strength…

edit: responded while you were writing yours :P

That makes sense. Thank you.

Now what about the viability of such a build? I know eles, guards, and I think mesmers can stack might fairly easily as well. I am thinking that such a build would be situational at best (i.e. in a pug without a guard or ele stacking might).

The PS build me and my guildies came up with is capable of keeping an entire group at at least 20+ stacks of might in a worst case scenario where you’re only hitting a single target while still retaining respectable DPS output.
Competitively I cannot say with any certainty that it is better than the usual organized field blasting but it is an absolute godsend when playing in PUGs and less experienced groups.

PS build by [QQ]

This is a GS camping build, if you’re doing say Lupicus and need fast hands, take out Rending Strikes from Arms to get the extra point in Discipline bringing you to the DnT released PS build in terms of traits.
We’ve gone with sigil of strength on switch offhand because sigil of battle is rather inefficient in a warrior with Fast Hands given the 9 sec cooldown on it.
Axe sigil is subject to personal choice as well I just went with bloodlust because that’s what I use for my Arah solos, but I’d recommend Night or dungeon specific instead for a group setting.

And yes, Strength Runes are absolutely necessary to unleash the total awesomeness of this build.

I just did a few tweaks to Veckna’s build but this is exactly what I use in all the pugs I join and I will consistently keep 23-25 stacks of might no matter the amount of enemies im fighting. if you need to use a banner for some reason then the banner of Discipline works well in place of Signet of Fury. The main focus is that you have base 73% crit rate and 100% fury uptime with both For Great Justice and immobilize on cripple/fury when immobilize. Hope this helps!

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fJMQNAR3Zj8cU5ZhH+dwJaglgC1nfeBCgBI9LMDDPA-TRCBwAVeIAGV+Zb/BJKBxp+DgLAQKdDMOCAJM/RKgIWGB-e

if you dont want to shell out on strength runes i think omnomberry cream is the boon duration food

but yeah, if you want PS to work you need something like berserker since it’s so reliant on might on-crit procs from forceful greatsword, which you’ll be getting less of in valkyrie

the trouble with PS too is that its a support build – so you want to be taking FGJ and double banner but you need precision which basically makes signet of fury crucial – so you might even just want to drop FGJ (despite losing the fury) since otherwise you won’t be buffing your party as hard

If you use this you get to 93% crit chance. Double gs for max battle and strength procs.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fJAQJARRjMd09ZlH2ewJaAmg6cCEBBgqqI9MEDBPA-TxRGABA8EAGS5XCXCAQ2fgMdBOq+jUKBFEQ5A-e

To achieve better crit chance while using berserker you would need to drop banner of strength or fgj for signet of fury. If you drop fgj then you need to make sure someone else in the group can help you maintain permanent fury.

Ludicolo.3490:

I just did a few tweaks to Veckna’s build but this is exactly what I use in all the pugs I join and I will consistently keep 23-25 stacks of might no matter the amount of enemies im fighting. if you need to use a banner for some reason then the banner of Discipline works well in place of Signet of Fury. The main focus is that you have base 73% crit rate and 100% fury uptime with both For Great Justice and immobilize on cripple/fury when immobilize. Hope this helps!

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fJMQNAR3Zj8cU5ZhH+dwJaglgC1nfeBCgBI9LMDDPA-TRCBwAVeIAGV+Zb/BJKBxp+DgLAQKdDMOCAJM/RKgIWGB-e

I like it. However, why healing surge over healing signet? Healing signet pushes up crit chance to 75% with Deep Strikes and Signet is better healing overall anyway? But I do like the fire runes, especially since I generally use LB for ranged, and with combustive shot (f1) + arching arrow (3) creates an area might blast finisher.

maha.7902:

if you dont want to shell out on strength runes i think omnomberry cream is the boon duration food

but yeah, if you want PS to work you need something like berserker since it’s so reliant on might on-crit procs from forceful greatsword, which you’ll be getting less of in valkyrie

the trouble with PS too is that its a support build – so you want to be taking FGJ and double banner but you need precision which basically makes signet of fury crucial – so you might even just want to drop FGJ (despite losing the fury) since otherwise you won’t be buffing your party as hard

Yeah I understand about the gear, and valk wouldn’t work for this build. What about Hoelbrak rune in place of Strength? Not sure the cost of hoelbrak atm, but I do know Strengh runes are super high right now. Even with the runes, any consumable boon duration food I am sure would help alot.

hoelbrak is fine

pdavis.8031:

maha.7902:

if you dont want to shell out on strength runes i think omnomberry cream is the boon duration food

but yeah, if you want PS to work you need something like berserker since it’s so reliant on might on-crit procs from forceful greatsword, which you’ll be getting less of in valkyrie

the trouble with PS too is that its a support build – so you want to be taking FGJ and double banner but you need precision which basically makes signet of fury crucial – so you might even just want to drop FGJ (despite losing the fury) since otherwise you won’t be buffing your party as hard

Yeah I understand about the gear, and valk wouldn’t work for this build. What about Hoelbrak rune in place of Strength? Not sure the cost of hoelbrak atm, but I do know Strengh runes are super high right now. Even with the runes, any consumable boon duration food I am sure would help alot.

Hoelbrak runes works a charm with PS if you are not willing to spend all your money on Strength runes. You loose 15% might duration and 7% damage, but gain a slight more survival due to the minus condi duration.

Before people start saying crap like you need Strength runes, in reality Hoelbrak runes with PS gives 60% might duration, which means FGJ gives 40s on a 20 sec CD, and signet of rage gives 48 seconds on a 48 second cooldown. Traited for shorter cds this is. You will miss out on the small gap of a few seconds to press your button before the stacks drop, but it’s still capable of keeping the same amount of stacks.

If you are in the position of considering Hoelbrak over Strength runes, buy Hoelbrak. Because if you are even in that seat the little difference won’t matter when it all comes down.

My main concern is costs. I was going to pick the the gear needed from dungeon vendors, and I think hoelbrak are cheaper than strength. But it seems that either work just about the same as far as might duration.

Gamgee.8612:

Hoelbrak runes works a charm with PS if you are not willing to spend all your money on Strength runes. You loose 15% might duration and 7% damage, but gain a slight more survival due to the minus condi duration.

Before people start saying crap like you need Strength runes, in reality Hoelbrak runes with PS gives 60% might duration, which means FGJ gives 40s on a 20 sec CD, and signet of rage gives 48 seconds on a 48 second cooldown. Traited for shorter cds this is. You will miss out on the small gap of a few seconds to press your button before the stacks drop, but it’s still capable of keeping the same amount of stacks.

If you are in the position of considering Hoelbrak over Strength runes, buy Hoelbrak. Because if you are even in that seat the little difference won’t matter when it all comes down.

The thing about a good PS PvE build is that you want to be able to maximize your might production with sacrificing as least DPS as possible, therefore making strength runes the optimal choice.
While alternatives would indeed be viable, they would be sub-optimal and anyone conscious enough to not want to be a drag to a group would be wise to always go in the optimal direction.

Hoelbrak runes are a great PvP & WvW alternative given the necessity for a more defensive minded approach in style of play of both categories, though realistically speaking condition and control duration reduction are useless in PvE.

Veckna.9621:

Gamgee.8612:

Hoelbrak runes works a charm with PS if you are not willing to spend all your money on Strength runes. You loose 15% might duration and 7% damage, but gain a slight more survival due to the minus condi duration.

Before people start saying crap like you need Strength runes, in reality Hoelbrak runes with PS gives 60% might duration, which means FGJ gives 40s on a 20 sec CD, and signet of rage gives 48 seconds on a 48 second cooldown. Traited for shorter cds this is. You will miss out on the small gap of a few seconds to press your button before the stacks drop, but it’s still capable of keeping the same amount of stacks.

If you are in the position of considering Hoelbrak over Strength runes, buy Hoelbrak. Because if you are even in that seat the little difference won’t matter when it all comes down.

The thing about a good PS PvE build is that you want to be able to maximize your might production with sacrificing as least DPS as possible, therefore making strength runes the optimal choice.
While alternatives would indeed be viable, they would be sub-optimal and anyone conscious enough to not want to be a drag to a group would be wise to always go in the optimal direction.

True. However, cost is an issue, and while having the extra 7% damage could be very usefull, such a build being a support type, DPS is sacrificed anyway. While there are things to do to minimize that sacrifice it’s pretty clear that doing max DPS on such a build just isn’t going to happen.

Even so, this is still a largly situational build, and mainly depends on party make up for it to be the most effective anyway.

pdavis.8031:

True. However, cost is an issue, and while having the extra 7% damage could be very usefull, such a build being a support type, DPS is sacrificed anyway. While there are things to do to minimize that sacrifice it’s pretty clear that doing max DPS on such a build just isn’t going to happen.

Even so, this is still a largly situational build, and mainly depends on party make up for it to be the most effective anyway.

It’s all a matter of opinion and finances then, Strength Runes cost about 15-17g each depending on the flow of the market. I can see how for some people that might seem too costly but since I made the change to them I have not regretted it, I have also not compared them with Hoelbrak runes so I can’t possibly give any feedback on the matter but I firmly endorse the selection of Strength Runes by personal experience.
As far as ‘Max DPS’ currently warriors hardly have a chance to play their highest DPS builds given how the meta has shifted towards stacking elementalists and the drop-off from the usual EA build a warrior would run in a speedclear to the PS build I’ve given you is not that big of a deal (10% greatsword damage multiplier and 200 power) and the hopes of sacrificing as least DPS as possible are imbued in the choice of sigils rather than going with a combination of battle and/or might sigils exclusively to produce might.

Good luck with your results whatever runes you decide to take

Veckna.9621:

It’s all a matter of opinion and finances then, Strength Runes cost about 15-17g each depending on the flow of the market. I can see how for some people that might seem too costly but since I made the change to them I have not regretted it, I have also not compared them with Hoelbrak runes so I can’t possibly give any feedback on the matter but I firmly endorse the selection of Strength Runes by personal experience.
As far as ‘Max DPS’ currently warriors hardly have a chance to play their highest DPS builds given how the meta has shifted towards stacking elementalists and the drop-off from the usual EA build a warrior would run in a speedclear to the PS build I’ve given you is not that big of a deal (10% greatsword damage multiplier and 200 power) and the hopes of sacrificing as least DPS as possible are imbued in the choice of sigils rather than going with a combination of battle and/or might sigils exclusively to produce might.

Good luck with your results whatever runes you decide to take

Same here, I bought the strength runes quite some while ago and would never sell them even if I don’t use them as much as my Hoelbrak runes.

My point though, was that if you are considering turning down Strength Runes for Hoelbrak due to costs, you are in a seat that doesn’t require the strength runes anyway as you are not very serious about dungeoning. Get mah point? I wouldn’t ever state that Hoelbrak is as good DPS as Strength though. Which you might have thought I meant!

Gamgee.8612:

Veckna.9621:

It’s all a matter of opinion and finances then, Strength Runes cost about 15-17g each depending on the flow of the market. I can see how for some people that might seem too costly but since I made the change to them I have not regretted it, I have also not compared them with Hoelbrak runes so I can’t possibly give any feedback on the matter but I firmly endorse the selection of Strength Runes by personal experience.
As far as ‘Max DPS’ currently warriors hardly have a chance to play their highest DPS builds given how the meta has shifted towards stacking elementalists and the drop-off from the usual EA build a warrior would run in a speedclear to the PS build I’ve given you is not that big of a deal (10% greatsword damage multiplier and 200 power) and the hopes of sacrificing as least DPS as possible are imbued in the choice of sigils rather than going with a combination of battle and/or might sigils exclusively to produce might.

Good luck with your results whatever runes you decide to take

Same here, I bought the strength runes quite some while ago and would never sell them even if I don’t use them as much as my Hoelbrak runes.

My point though, was that if you are considering turning down Strength Runes for Hoelbrak due to costs, you are in a seat that doesn’t require the strength runes anyway as you are not very serious about dungeoning. Get mah point? I wouldn’t ever state that Hoelbrak is as good DPS as Strength though. Which you might have thought I meant!

Oh I never considered Hoelbrak as good DPS as strength. I was more looking at the might duration aspect, and that it was the same as strength. And the main reason cost is an issue is, well, I’m poor. I may switch to Strength runes at some point in the future, but being poor and working on a legendary takes up most of my monies anyway. :P