Guild Wars 2

Hi again
I already have been part of a nice amount of topics about GS or that involve GS has a PvP weapon. I don’t play GS in PvP only, but this is the weapon where I would like to shine. And thats the problem, I can’t.

I know what the GS lacks, a viable source of damage. 100b requires setup, and rush never hits, so this leave us with 3 skills and a burst skill that doesn’t hit that hard too (I would prefer it has it was but with damage buff it was supposed to have).

I’ve encounter ppl who say GS/Bow is viable and others that say it isn’t, so where does this leave us? I want to improve my game with Warrior, might be Hambow for now, but the ultimate goal is GS/Bow (till something better comes or bow gets nerfed).

I’ve tried Zerker, Celestial, 4/0/6/0/4, 0/4/6/0/4, Bull Charge, Bolas, etc, etc ….
What do you guys think, of the combos GS can have, is the ultimate one? THE VERY BEST GS COMBO?

Let me know and give advice on GS play, I also see ppl not running any setup to 100b and I’m curious how they do in games.

Two places you can start :

Fix rush, and bull’s charge – these skills are completely broken.
Give the F1 skill 100% damage bonus if target is under 50% health.

I think these might make the weapon more viable. At least we would see what would happen.

help here with this thread
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/balance/WARRIOR-FIX-Bull-charge-Rush-Savage-Leap/page/2#post4450659

if they just fix leap skills, and fix Arcing Slice bug not benefiting from GS traits.

Play GS/Bow like there were only the weapon options in the game, with time, you will master it, even nerfed, you can win the majority of encounters you will have.

Play to have fun, pretend you’re in a real RPG game, and act the gs warrior you want to be.

:)

you’ll need to use some sort of lock down to do this. a few ways to do this will be.

option 1 bow gs. bow brings good dps and pindown will allow you to get off 100 blades. flaws however is that pindown will at LEAST have a 20 sec cd with a 25 sec cd untraited making it diffuclt to pull off a 100 blades if your opponent can cleanse mobility impair skills.

option 2 utility skill bola similar to pindown with a lower cd and no bleeds opens up your weapon slots. however projectile is slow and reasonably easy to avoid.

option 3 + 4
sword main hand. this give’s access to flurry which can give up to 4 seconds of immobile if you spend max adrenaline. you hit esc right after you land said skill swap to gs and bam. because this is your burst mechanic it takes only 10 seconds to recharge making it probably one of the better options to support gs in spvp. sword also is reasonably easy to pull off as you have a decent immobile and decent damage from final thrust. you should be able to pull off or nearly pull off a entire 100 blades with a max adrenaline flurry if you cancel flurry quick enough. the low cd means that assuming you gain adrenaline reliably enough through the fight you may be able to also over whelm some people if they rely on longer more potent cleanses or lack enough cleanse.

mace main hand
skull crack can be absolutely fearsome but will likely require the us of a para sig in order to get the entire 100 blades off. the mace is a VERY clunky weapon making it easy to get kited and can add to the difficulty of wining the fight againt a good player.

sword and mace also as only using main hand leave the option of your off hand completely open allowing for some more creativity when making your build.

however if you make use of the main hand weapon I specificed don’t count on using arching slice. if you want to use that your going to have to rely on something like bola pindown. the trick will be balancing the amount of lock down you want for landing 100 blades and what you’ll be willing to lose to get it.

good luck

Hmm with my experience on my warrior. I really enjoy hammer/great sword. and i run almost full physical utilities. I also have a guardian of mesmer backing me up on the heal/boon side of things so I guess you need a good team comp for my build. But I run immobilize on cripples, bull, and stomp, and the physical training trait. This provides more than enough cc for me to get the job done and i land every thing. I like to play more like my thief however waiting for the right moment to charge in so not realy full on aggressive unless im stun chaining. My weakness is condition burst so thats where my teamates come into play any body that can burst me down fast gets cc chained and punished. I dont really know but im not really having that much trouble with my GS skills not landing. I need more details on your stitch.

Have you guys ever tried the classic Hambow (but with Defy Pain) traits with GS/Bow?
Tried the other day, ppl really don’t expect imobilizes from GS, it helped I must say, but I’m still not sure if it compensates losing the might on crit or the 10% damage

I have been running GS/LB since before they added Cleansing Ire (quite a while) and have enjoyed every second. Still run it, and still love it :P

I must be one of the few people that don’t actually have that much bad luck with Bulls (rush never works though) so it is one of my go-to Utilities.

Bolas!
you should always have Bolas on your bar if you plan on playing greatsword,
your other CC is subject to stability, but not Bolas,
for me it is the perfect setup for 100b.

also for me i sacrifice my weapon swap for sword and shield (with hydromancy and endurance sigils) and always use “Warrior’s Sprint” and “Fast Hands”,
i play a zerker but die very little since if things aren’t going my way i can get out of the fight and NOTHING can catch me
this combo also makes you the best of the best for running between points giving you a huge advantage since “Conquest” is all about capping the points.

I’m still having problems. Guards, S/D Thiefs, Mesmers are to much of a problem and I end up going back to Hambown. Yet none of these are a problem when I play Medi Guard.

Advice? I’ve been playing Zerker GS/Bow, is celestial 0/4/6/0/4 more effective?

Liewec.2896:

Bolas!
you should always have Bolas on your bar if you plan on playing greatsword,
your other CC is subject to stability, but not Bolas,
for me it is the perfect setup for 100b.

also for me i sacrifice my weapon swap for sword and shield (with hydromancy and endurance sigils) and always use “Warrior’s Sprint” and “Fast Hands”,
i play a zerker but die very little since if things aren’t going my way i can get out of the fight and NOTHING can catch me
this combo also makes you the best of the best for running between points giving you a huge advantage since “Conquest” is all about capping the points.

I just can’t bring myself to like Bolas. They aren’t bad, but I would much rather have Bull’s Charge just work reliably. With Bolas they can cleanse/teleport/block/reflect/attack back while with Bull’s you have a gap closer that requires stab or stun breaking to avoid. Of course since it doesn’t work currently you probably are better off with Bolas.

I am a GS fan. Helpful tips are;

1) always try to stay within 600 units. Many of the movement skills (rush/whirlwind) Have much higher degree’s of contact the closer proximity you are. Even when the range indicator will cue you are in striking range, they will in fact miss. Try to keep very close to target.

2) try not use blade trail when on a incline. It will rebound off terrain rather than travel it’s full distance.

3) stuns are valuable, but currently after the last patch they are not performing well. So don’t rely on them, but don’t discard them completely.

4) Count dodges/stuns break. If you see 2 dodges close together get close and unload 100B

5) slashing power is good to have, but not as useful as great sword training.

6) keep whirlwind as a fast ground target skill.

7) sigil of rage is useful. Ultimately you want to have it proc on 100b, but even if it doesn’t it is a useful sigil for GS.

8) sigil of generosity+brawlers recovery+hoelbrak runes makes for ok cleanse for hotjoin/soloQ matches which can free trait points for you to invest in other skills that will benefit GS. Cleansing ire is probably more reliable for tpvp matches where you want cleanse a little more on demand.

mPascoal.4258:

I’m still having problems. Guards, S/D Thiefs, Mesmers are to much of a problem and I end up going back to Hambown. Yet none of these are a problem when I play Medi Guard.

Advice? I’ve been playing Zerker GS/Bow, is celestial 0/4/6/0/4 more effective?

keep a defensive set on your off hand, such as mace/shield. Particularly with med guard/sd thief. Their damage is front loaded and inexperienced players will burn their blocks or evade on use skills earlier. If you can absord the first 12 seconds without blowing too much cooldowns, swap back to GS and they become easier. However experienced players won’t do this, so keep fast hands rotating regularly and use skill according when you need them to either defend or interrupt their play style.

Well thing is Bow is a really good weapon, and I like it too
To play GS am I more effective with Mace/Shield?

a christian primer for greatsword enthusiasts who want to kill things for being a different team color:

walk up to target
attack
press 2

(are they standing still? are they a downed body with allies rezzing them?)

if yes, continue to channel 100blade
if no, throw bladetrail for cripple and keep on autoattacking

(are you losing?)

if yes, use your whirl/evade in opposite direction of enemy dealing no damage as you run away like a beaten child and rush towards your allies so they can save you.
if no, continue to attack with the subpar gs auto.

(do you have a shiney orange or black greatsword?)
if yes, pat yourself on back
if no, uninstall game

Still need an answer to this question.
GS/Bow – Zerker or Celestial Amulet?

I’ve been trying this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fJAQJARTjMd01ZVImhwJaAmgC9JMBfwx0OAUmFfOA-TpBFwAFeAANuAAOOCAl2foaZAAHCAA

I still strugle, Idk if it is the learning process is more difficult than I expected or the spec is not worth it and easy to fight against.

mPascoal.4258:

Still need an answer to this question.
GS/Bow – Zerker or Celestial Amulet?

I’ve been trying this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fJAQJARTjMd01ZVImhwJaAmgC9JMBfwx0OAUmFfOA-TpBFwAFeAANuAAOOCAl2foaZAAHCAA

I still strugle, Idk if it is the learning process is more difficult than I expected or the spec is not worth it and easy to fight against.

I have been running GS/Bow for ages (before Cleansing Ire was added), and that is pretty much the same as what I run (bar a few changes) and I still find plenty of success with it.

Zietlogik.6208:

mPascoal.4258:

Still need an answer to this question.
GS/Bow – Zerker or Celestial Amulet?

I’ve been trying this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fJAQJARTjMd01ZVImhwJaAmgC9JMBfwx0OAUmFfOA-TpBFwAFeAANuAAOOCAl2foaZAAHCAA

I still strugle, Idk if it is the learning process is more difficult than I expected or the spec is not worth it and easy to fight against.

I have been running GS/Bow for ages (before Cleansing Ire was added), and that is pretty much the same as what I run (bar a few changes) and I still find plenty of success with it.

What do you run differently? This is not for sure, I’m still trying some traits and sigils to see what fits better. For exemple, Hydromancy helps a lot in the GS I feel and most recen’t runes I’ve had that over Leaching and got that one on Bow instead of Air. Also Switched Strength for Fire, but I’m still not sure whats best, with Strength I can stack a lot of might, and that makes power builds hit like a truck. I’m not sure yet because Fire helps with GS bursting but the might stacks I get from GS crits with trait and sigil will help with the Bow damage too.

The amount of failure I’ve been getting is making me back and forward between Guardian and Warrior, even thought I’m enjoying much more Warrior in PvE (I even got Strength Runes already, but with so litle time I PvP more than I do PvE and so that becomes the big factor in count).

It is just some minor personal preference things for me on GS

I run bulls over bolas, hydro/battle on GS, Air/Fire(or ice…ive been testing ice alot lately) on LB.

And just trait changes really, I run last stand in the last defense spot, mobile strikes (3 movement skills on the build), dogged over sure footed, and hoelbrak runes over strength.

Really just little preference changes overall, it all depends on your playstyle.

When an enemy is under pressure, a Bulls > Fan of Fire > Weapon Swap (hydro/dmg/chill) > HB can be devastating.

Still using the spec. Recently this has been to ways, either do great or be a total useless. To bad doing great doesn’t garantue wins allways, already lost 2 really close games because team loses focus or something else Idk.

Been also trying 4/0/6/0/4. Its gives a bit more sustain since we get more HP and Burst skills give endurance, but losing might focus the damage to much of GS. I still not sure wich I prefer. Also been running Bull now and saving Pin Down on LB to set up too.

Overall I enjoy the spec, but sadly has too many counters IMO and I get pretty sad when I do less good :/ and tend to back out from the Warrior, just so that the next day I get back in ….