I fear the Greatsword, Axe/x build is no more. I’m not sure about anyone else but trying to land that final hit after already being completely immobile during Hundred Blades is proving to be quite a challenge. With this massive DPS loss from not landing that final chop every cycle I think the Sword could very well replace it. Whilst the patch is trying to steer us away from Adrenalin hoarding I think that’s exactly what I’ll be changing to. Eviscerate is the only thing giving me pause, but even then just charging the rest of the way up the Power Tree and nabbing Berserker’s Power, a now very reasonable thing to do having two useless PvE burst skills. Not to mention the Sword #3 skill now dealing hefty damage plus the condition damage (I know, I know but damage is damage, not sure about 4 Warrs using the sword because the bleed cap would be reached far too quickly.)
Yeah, I’m using an axe/mace, sword/axe build right now; It’s working for me so far. Although, in certain areas (Like Arah), I’ll still use the GS for #3 and #5 just for those runs and evades!
The auto attack on the axe was really the primary reason I used it. Well, on the mainhand, it was the only reason. Now I just keep the sword there instead. I don’t know if the theoretical DPS is better or worse, and I don’t really care, I know by now that I’m going to have dodged, or moved, or my target will have, by the time the last part of a rear-heavy auto attack chain happens.
I don’t need the vuln – my GS will do that if I ever feel I actually want to cleave a tiny bit of it onto things. I certainly don’t need a ranged cripple on a melee weapon when I can have one that propels me to the target and cripples it. I don’t even need to rely on the 5pt trait for the 25pt trait, which is great for switching to GS because the bleeds last longer and GS hits slowly unless I use something I want the bleeds to already exist for.
I still find the axe MH still does a little more dps for PvE with whirling axe 2 for vulnerable stacks than sword. But making sure the entire axe auto chain lands is really annoying. Best setup at the moment for dps is 30 25 0 0 15 OR 30 30 0 10 0.
depends on how you used it, I’m starting to use dual swords, sword MH works much better with power builds now, and the block on sword OH now works VERY well for encounters with heavy hitting projectiles like Lupicus.
I’ve always loved huddling behind my shield but I think OH Sword with its new Riposte buff might be well on its way to replacing that too, my god, dual swords, there’s something I never imagined myself using…
Try axe sword 30/25/0/0/15 dps seems better than before the patch. Lose the tunnle vision and stop chasing traits you think you need and use what your given.
I was running around with GS / axe + shield before the update. I still use it since I’m not really sure yet if I want to change weapons and how to go about doing it.
This is something I’ve been playing around with and am still trying to tweak myself. I haven’t done that much WvW with it yet. The GS’s burst actually feels useful to me now. You can pop it and just regain the adrenaline so fast it feels like it doesn’t even matter and you get the 15 seconds of fury.
quick edit: I change the adept trait in defense ( I, II, or V) depending on what I’m doing or.
