Guild Wars 2

While I was not really satisfied with many of the things in this patch (why would you nerf MENDING of all things?), it’s hard to deny that my signature build didn’t get a huge buff. It’s stronger than its ever been, and barring and huge balance changes is probably the best version it’ll ever have.

EDIT: I have improved the build and it is now called Mighty Skull Crack

Mighty Skull Crack Guide

Skullcracker: Version Omega

GW2 Skills Version

As always, there’s changes that can be made to fit the situation or your playstyle. The main build is best suited for 1v1’s and the like, for better team fighting viability you may want to bring Endure Pain and Defy Pain. That being said, I personally enjoy the fast that this build is mostly about ACTIVE defense via blocking and evading rather than passive freebies. I’m also going back and forth on sigil of Rage on GS. If you’re able to consistently time it so that you can use an early Quickness Bull’s Charge + 100b it’ll force out multiple defensive skills or give you a huge lead. Or, if you start out in Mace and swap to GS after a Crack you’ll stack a super long quickness that can not only down them but also quick stomp them. Sometimes though I think just using Fire + Air might just be better.

What makes this so much stronger than it ever was is primarily due to trait merges and the new Berserker’s Power and Heightened Focus. After you land Skull Crack your 100b is going to be doing 20% more damage, and after they pass that 50% threshold you’re going to speed up which means you might have time to land a lower power Arcing Slice or Rush for the finish. There’s also the fact that you’re applying Vulnerability and gaining Might all the time.

Here’s the main issue…

I’m not sure this is worth taking over a Mesmer right now. Sure, this can basically insta-down someone that you catch, but so can Mesmer. That being said, Heightened Focus is REALLY good for quick stomps which is often invaluable. Then again, our overall map mobility was nerfed this patch. Swinging back though, Rampage is now potentially absurdly damaging, especially since Heightened Focus will work while transformed so you can have quick stomping and pulsing stability. You’re also really good at denying stomps against foes with no stability. It’ll probably lose out to Mesmer and Teef, but this build seems to at the very least be a useable option if you don’t wanna jump on one of those trains.

Of course, for WvW roaming this will probably be fantastic. It was before and I don’t see that changing.

Oh and one more thing, please post your opinions on sigils/runes. Maybe there’s some hidden gems I haven’t seen yet.

EDIT: Added a guide. The build is pretty obvious but I figured having some of the less obvious rotations would be beneficial.

I also want to test Defiant Stance. Shame that the Stance trait competes with CI because it appears to increase the duration of the heal now by 3/4 of a second. Although with condi damage and damage as a whole being so high it might be more beneficial to just eat some hits to heal up. Will test it out.

Will give it a try.

I LOVE SKULLCRACK. oops caps. link isnt working for me although.

Brawl.5178:

I LOVE SKULLCRACK. oops caps. link isnt working for me although.

I edited the link. I tried to make a guide and now its vanished…I wrote a lot extra too -_-

EDIT: Seems to work now.

I was basically running this last night in wvw and it worked as expected. I found I had to stay in gs most of the time until there wasn’t much kiting or I needed to mitigate, but yeah, it worked for sure.

I think swords are going to become more important personally, but we’ll see.

Yeah, been running mace gs also. I don’t really see why you would ever pick Sundering Mace over the other stuff you can get there, but w/e floats your boat.

Also, sigil of rage is bad, it doesn’t proc reliably enough.

Heightened Focus is kittening awesome though.

Agree with Cygnus. I ran Defy Pain instead if Sundering Mace to provide another layer of protection against the gank and I think that’s far more useful than what SM gives you.

Signet of rage is something I considered, but ultimately stuck with Air since there’d basically be max proc and HF felt like enough quickness. There may be better choices, like Force though (haven’t done the math)

SM is more for small group settings, I like the reliability of a 8 second block over a trait that MIGHT help you. There’s so much condi flying around that Defy Pain is sometimes just useless while SM is something that guaranteed. I also put that it was an option. Also, the extra vuln is actually fairly nice.

I don’t find Rage to be that random personally. That being said the same old cheese of Fire/Air is ever dependable (I wish it just didn’t exist).

i have always like the skullcracker build so i will be trying something similar. How do you feel about signet of might? i find myself working into many of my builds now so i can pop it on a guard or engi when heightened focus triggers. its so satisfying

Brawl.5178:

i have always like the skullcracker build so i will be trying something similar. How do you feel about signet of might? i find myself working into many of my builds now so i can pop it on a guard or engi when heightened focus triggers. its so satisfying

It can probably work, but I like Bull’s Charge because it can be used to keep on top of soft CC heavy enemies.

Just no to the bulls charge. Unless Bulls Charge deals damage right now, it’s not gonna be worth picking. The new frenzy is A LOT better than bulls charge, no trade-off and frenzy res and stomps?

Also body blow is still really good even on zerker spec specially for when you rampage.

Been running something similar since the patch, except taking defy pain and Frenzy along with Ep and Z Stance, The removal of the negative effect being replaced with might synergises well with builds like SC imo. Especially with FG, BP and the new HF proc. Once you bait out invulns/stun breaks you can chain off the SC, 100b , AS WW and Rush + a few auto’s all under quickness from Frenzy into HF proc while stacking 15- 20+ might stacks pretty quickly. Also as already said, you have access to quickness rez/stomps

I was trying to get something to work with unsuspecting foe, but I think that’s just not going to be an option for skullcracker builds anymore.

In any case, it looks like skullcracker has survived and maybe even thrived post-patch.

Gonna try some other trait combinations to see what I can get to work. In particular, I want to become detached from something like cleansing ire. Brawler’s recovery should help out with that, plus I can but a sigil of cleansing on the greatsword for condi swap each combo, more or less.

Going to try and get it to work with last stand, maybe even go full stances, including defiant stance and frenzy. However, something like WvW will probably be better with bull’s charge and healing signet since the combat is more mobile.

Yamsandjams.3267:

I was trying to get something to work with unsuspecting foe, but I think that’s just not going to be an option for skullcracker builds anymore.

In any case, it looks like skullcracker has survived and maybe even thrived post-patch.

Gonna try some other trait combinations to see what I can get to work. In particular, I want to become detached from something like cleansing ire. Brawler’s recovery should help out with that, plus I can but a sigil of cleansing on the greatsword for condi swap each combo, more or less.

Going to try and get it to work with last stand, maybe even go full stances, including defiant stance and frenzy. However, something like WvW will probably be better with bull’s charge and healing signet since the combat is more mobile.

Last Stand + Defy Pain + Defiant Stance + Frenzy/Endure Pain might be viable. Sure, you’ll eat more condis, but you’ll be able to heal off of them.

Necromancer’s downed skill is going through Rampage’s stability every time!

Other than that nonsense, this is how I’m playing the build to great effect:

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-wg-Bx;0R2WP0g4gLkQ0;9;4hfd;0158056246;4INGAC;1CoF2CoF25v

I stopped reading when I saw “my signature build.”

EvilSardine.9635:

I stopped reading when I saw “my signature build.”

And yet posted which gave my post additional visibility and gave me a reason to respond…so thanks.

EDIT: I re-wrote the build. Sadly I can’t just edit the build because that would have been much easier. The old version also felt a bit too wordy in places. I have to do more tests with the all-stance version. Healing Signet feels fine still but Defiant Stance has its uses in this high damage environment.

i would rather run bullcharge AND frenzy

insta 25 vul with frenzied mace then hb arcing slice = overkill

lighter.2708:

i would rather run bullcharge AND frenzy

insta 25 vul with frenzied mace then hb arcing slice = overkill

It could make adren gain and long term sustain an issue but it would still be useable. I tried it a few times and just having your Condi cleanse tied to CI and BR though made you super weak vs some builds.

If you bring someone with plenty of cleanse you might be OK however. I’ll add it as an option. I really wish I could change the build without having to republish the whole guide. If this is the most effective than I would like to just make it the default.

Yeah, sigil of rage is pretty bad. I’ve flirted with it a little bit and the proccing is way to unreliable and the cooldown is too long to justify it. You are pretty much always going to inadvertently proc it without doing the stun combo. Unless if you manage to land a stun in the beginning.

I actually really like air/fire on the greatsword. It provides an extra 2.5K damage boost on top of your hundred blades and actually gives you reliable damage outside of the stun combo. And for the mace I would use paralyzation/energy or paralyzation/battle.

I feel like with CI and BR you should have enough condi clear. Not to mention that you have a lot of blocks at your disposal plus the energy sigil will give you enough dodges. And Healing Signet as a last resort for condi mitigation. You can bide your time with your blocks till the signet comes up. Think about it, although you lose a lot of healing for 20 seconds, you have condi mitigation at your fingertips and it would be worth it in many situations. I guess if you are really worried about condis you could take a cleansing sigil, but I don’t see how it is better than the energy sigil.

Berserker’s Stance is a great utility, not only for the resistance but the adrenaline gain but I don’t feel it is necessary at all.

Frenzy is actually amazing, you gain might, it is more reliable and as a bonus it is a stunbreaker. Great for quick downs, quick stomps, quick resses and easily changes the tide of a fight. You don’t need Last Chance if you take Frenzy and can instead take Burst Mastery for better adrenaline up time, therefore more attempts at a stun and therefore more uptime on Berserker’s Power. Adrenaline is a non-issue with Burst Mastery and it feels like the bar is filled up every 5 seconds. Not to mention stronger burst skills as a bonus.

Bulls Charge is kinda situational, not really necessary IMO but still decent. You could run something like Endure Pain/Frenzy/Balanced Stance for a good balance of utilities. That would also mean you don’t have to take Defy Pain. You could instead elect for Armored Attack. If you have 1,500+ toughness it is like having a perma 5 stacks of might which translates roughly to maybe around a 6-7% damage increase which honestly isn’t bad if we are talking about landing a full hundred blades.

Sundering Mace could be an option, but I find the 10 second block sufficient and the 3 seconds less on the daze is kinda meh.

I haven’t played for a long time, I am just getting back into the game. Maybe I will make some PvP and WvW videos as soon as I move into my new place. I’ve just played and tested stuff here and there.

@SpiritSpeakerOfHoelbrak.3980 They can work, but I find that Fury uptime is important and without Signet of Fury you can run into issues. Strength is an option though. I can test later and see what has higher average DPS.

Just came back to the game, was a little lost and not really having much fun on warrior but this build has really turned it around, lots of fun. Thanks

SpiritSpeakerOfHoelbrak.3980:

BurrTheKing.8571:

@SpiritSpeakerOfHoelbrak.3980 They can work, but I find that Fury uptime is important and without Signet of Fury you can run into issues. Strength is an option though. I can test later and see what has higher average DPS.

Ok sweet. what food do you recommend? i dont spvp i only roam

Lastly wouldnt arms be better then def? since you can make it so that you ahve 100% crit on stun foes?

Honestly when I WvW I don’t use food a lot of the time. I would say Lemongrass Poultry just because condi reduction never hurts.

As for Arms, I think it’s too condi centric to go into just for Unsuspecting Foe, you also lose a TON of sustain in the process.

So, after some testing I do like Bull’s Charge – Frenzy – Balanced Stance. While you are more susceptible to condis you can actually pop Heal Sig which gives you a few seconds to land a burst skill. Adren gain is less of an issue thanks to Frenzy.

Defiant Stance is better than it was but it’s still so situational. Although, running all stances and Last Stand was pretty fun. It still comes down to the fact that smart players will see you pop the heal and then just stop attacking. You need to eat a lot of hits for it to equal the healing potential of Heal Sig.

BurrTheKing.8571:

Defiant Stance is better than it was but it’s still so situational. Although, running all stances and Last Stand was pretty fun. It still comes down to the fact that smart players will see you pop the heal and then just stop attacking. You need to eat a lot of hits for it to equal the healing potential of Heal Sig.

Them not attacking me for 4 seconds is plenty for me to dish out copious amounts of damage, and if they’re condi specs and they stop attacking, I still get healed for stupid amounts regardless. It’s fun to watch burning heal me to full rather than kill me.

I have actually been running Arms instead of Strength in WvW the past few days, this is what I found to be the main advantages and disadvantages. When compared to Strength, Arms offers more;

-survivability. You can use Dolyak Signet instead of balanced stance with an almost equal cooldown, so that’s 180 free toughness, and
-Signet of Stamina, which, through vigor nerfs and condition damage buffs, actually is superstrong now, and
-a lot of cavalier items, which maintains crit damage, whereas you still have an extreme crit chance thanks to Signet Mastery, which
-IMO is the real selling point of Arms right now. The unblockable attacks against 50%- foes ensures heavy hitting attacks and you get another ~5% crit chance boost from the trait activation.
-Unsuspecting Foe further equalizes the damage difference you get from moving to Arms.
-Finally, Furious allows you to rebuild adrenaline much faster should you miss the skullcrack.

Strength, however, still offers;
-More damage, lol. 10% from the GS trait, 10% from the GM minor and another 10-20% should you land a burst skill. <nerfs inc
-CD reduction on Rampage and optionally Bull’s Charge, which has become a lot stronger in WvW thanks to the extreme mobility nerfs.
-CD reduction on GS, which is also stronger now due to the mobility nerfs.

I find Sigil of Fire and Air along with Heightened Focus to be way more burst then we actually need. Along with a 100% crit chance on stunned targets and the high precision thanks to Signet Mastery, Arms just offers a lot more survivability because you can slot cavalier trinkets, something I always found to be one of the upsides of this build. In WvW, I have to say I like the Arms version a lot more in this gank and condi heavy meta.

Velimere.7685:

BurrTheKing.8571:

Defiant Stance is better than it was but it’s still so situational. Although, running all stances and Last Stand was pretty fun. It still comes down to the fact that smart players will see you pop the heal and then just stop attacking. You need to eat a lot of hits for it to equal the healing potential of Heal Sig.

Them not attacking me for 4 seconds is plenty for me to dish out copious amounts of damage, and if they’re condi specs and they stop attacking, I still get healed for stupid amounts regardless. It’s fun to watch burning heal me to full rather than kill me.

What I find though is that due to use constantly CCing them that getting the passive healing from the Signet is made stronger because chances are due to CI you have no more condis and they aren’t hitting you so it’s basically free healing. It also makes it possible to disengage when focused, heal back a little, then reengage quickly. With Defiant Stance I sometimes found myself either wanting to wait for it to come off CD before jumping back in or you end up getting burst right after the heal and get melted by 19 stacks of burning.

With the new Resistance boon on HS you can pop it to cover yourself for a few seconds so you can cleanse condis before you die instantly to them.

@Cygnus.6903 Arms isn’t bad but like in addition to what you said there’s also not really a super good GM for this build, the minors are condi focused mostly, and you lose out on Berserker’s Power. I hope they don’t nerf BP because honestly it’s only super useful with this setup because the adren skill is mostly there to set up the burst.

Air/Fire seems like overkill until you encounter a D/D Ele. Seriously, this setup used to often fight it to a standstill before but now I can not miss a single skill and they’re just going to heal up no problem. It’s sustain is beyond insane, it has lower damage than before but is now a better bunker than a dedicated bunker but can still hit hard with might.

I expressed myself a bit wrong, I think Air and Fire are very good on this spec. But when you lose the Strength DPS boost, AirFire provides enough DPS with Arms (unsuspecting foe) and Heightened Focus.

Cygnus.6903:

I expressed myself a bit wrong, I think Air and Fire are very good on this spec. But when you lose the Strength DPS boost, AirFire provides enough DPS with Arms (unsuspecting foe) and Heightened Focus.

I would still say that the damage on roll and 20% from Berserker’s power does more damage after messing around with both. At the very least, with the GS trait and Physical trait your DPS when you aren’t using Skull Crack is higher. If you miss with arms…chances are your DPS is gonna plummet.

Great build BurrTheKing, I must say that I like it very much. One thing about the build that really seems effective is the shield master trait combined with shield stance and counterblow – it really throws rangers, engineers, and any other projectile class for a loop when their shots come back at them. Then follow up with a nice shield bash + skull crack, and you can really see them start to sweat.

My big problem is timing; swapping to GS to unload a 100b on a stunned foe is surprisingly difficult given the amount of stun breaks floating around in various builds. Unfortunately, most warrior skills are so heavily telegraphed that your enemies can see them coming a mile away and dodge with ease. It does seem to give better results than the old hambow builds though; earthshaker is still almost impossible to land most of the time.

BurrTheKing.8571:

Cygnus.6903:

I expressed myself a bit wrong, I think Air and Fire are very good on this spec. But when you lose the Strength DPS boost, AirFire provides enough DPS with Arms (unsuspecting foe) and Heightened Focus.

I would still say that the damage on roll and 20% from Berserker’s power does more damage after messing around with both. At the very least, with the GS trait and Physical trait your DPS when you aren’t using Skull Crack is higher. If you miss with arms…chances are your DPS is gonna plummet.

Oh, for sure Strength offers higher DPS. The difference is more noticable on other builds though, thanks to Unsuspecting Foe.

But if you miss with Strength, you have less survivability to fall back on.

This build ages like fine wine… slowly but surely, you improve each time you run it.

Thuggernaut.1250:

This build ages like fine wine… slowly but surely, you improve each time you run it.

In addition, every patch seems to age it even more to perfection.

Berserker’s Power was changed in such a way that it synergizes perfectly. Brawler’s Recovery helps keep condis down because we don’t have the freebie CI from LB. The merging of all blocking traits into Shield Master was a HUGE buff as well. Although it competes with Defy Pain, Sundering Mace got a boost as well.

I feels like one of the devs really enjoys this playstyle because it’s been buffed fairly frequently, the activation nerf hurt but was needed.

Cygnus.6903:

Arms just offers a lot more survivability because you can slot cavalier trinkets, something I always found to be one of the upsides of this build. In WvW, I have to say I like the Arms version a lot more in this gank and condi heavy meta.

Quick question why are Cavalier trinkets impossible to find in TP? Are they only craftable?

Thanks

Spartacus.3192:

Cygnus.6903:

Arms just offers a lot more survivability because you can slot cavalier trinkets, something I always found to be one of the upsides of this build. In WvW, I have to say I like the Arms version a lot more in this gank and condi heavy meta.

Quick question why are Cavalier trinkets impossible to find in TP? Are they only craftable?

Thanks

I think the only Cav trinkets in the game are ascended, so you can only buy them (account bound) from a laurel vendor.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/List_of_ascended_trinkets

I don’t think there are any craftable or tradable Cav trinkets… at least to my knowledge.

I tried the build with Last Stand instead of Cleansing Ire last night, Sigil of Rage instead of Energy (vigor from Last Stand allows enough dodges anyway), Berserker Stance, Balanced Stance, Frenzy. The high stability and quickness uptime is great and – although I was really doubtful – I didn’t miss CI much.

Spartacus.3192:

Cygnus.6903:

Arms just offers a lot more survivability because you can slot cavalier trinkets, something I always found to be one of the upsides of this build. In WvW, I have to say I like the Arms version a lot more in this gank and condi heavy meta.

Quick question why are Cavalier trinkets impossible to find in TP? Are they only craftable?

Thanks

What thuggernaut said.

Although there might be some named exotic cavalier trinkets, try searching those by hand if you didn’t already.

I generally find Cavalier to be a very good stat spread to have on trinkets to balance out your stats on warrior, so it wouldn’t be a waste to get a set.

ulchanar.4309:

I tried the build with Last Stand instead of Cleansing Ire last night, Sigil of Rage instead of Energy (vigor from Last Stand allows enough dodges anyway), Berserker Stance, Balanced Stance, Frenzy. The high stability and quickness uptime is great and – although I was really doubtful – I didn’t miss CI much.

I tried this also, and I must say I liked it as well. The downside is not so much the condition cleansing though (not if you take Arms instead of Strength), but the adrenaline build up. If you get kited, you really only have zerk stance and adrenaline on swap to build up adrenaline, which is lackluster. Furious helps with this, but again, if your opponent kites you really well, it’s still a problem.

I try to be patient with the SC into 100b combo cause I’m still learning how to land it. That was exactly why I skipped CI: if I don’t use a burst on cooldown or even miss it I don’t get much condi cleansing anyway. I swap constantly for condi cleanse through BR but don’t use SC every swap. That way I had enough adrenaline through attacks and Versatile Rage. I agree, however, that adrenaline may be an issue when you are better at landing SC and thus use it more often. CI then makes more sense of course.

ulchanar.4309:

I tried the build with Last Stand instead of Cleansing Ire last night, Sigil of Rage instead of Energy (vigor from Last Stand allows enough dodges anyway), Berserker Stance, Balanced Stance, Frenzy. The high stability and quickness uptime is great and – although I was really doubtful – I didn’t miss CI much.

I’m running this in wvw right now and found the same, there is life without CI (I’ve also run fine without the Defense line altogether). I’m using Bull’s instead of Balanced for the crappy control, and having my one stun break be automatic and on a 90s CD hurts a bit, but it still works. With balanced on the bar it would be pretty easy.

Thuggernaut.1250:

I think the only Cav trinkets in the game are ascended, so you can only buy them (account bound) from a laurel vendor.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/List_of_ascended_trinkets

I don’t think there are any craftable or tradable Cav trinkets… at least to my knowledge.

Thanks Thuggernaut

Cygnus.6903:

What thuggernaut said.

Although there might be some named exotic cavalier trinkets, try searching those by hand if you didn’t already.

I generally find Cavalier to be a very good stat spread to have on trinkets to balance out your stats on warrior, so it wouldn’t be a waste to get a set.

Thanks Cygnus

I actually tried out your version of skullcrack using Arms instead of strength and Cavalier amulet. It worked pretty well. The signet mastery gives a decent crit boost so even if you dont land SC you can still get crits. Air and Fire sigils on the GS really boost the 100b damage after a Skull Crack. I also pop healing signet between fights to proc the 100 extra precision and its off CD by the time i enter the next fight.

Yes i miss the OP Rampage when im fighting 2v1 but i still got some good kills and the tankyness of the cavalier trinkets is very nice to have.

Skullcrack is fun build and a pleasant change from the GS/Ham or LB warriors out there. Im a casual pvp’er that solo q’s a fair amount.

Plus the LOLs I get from shield reflect on nooby rangers using rapid fire on me is just plain funny.

Is it just me or skullcrack always seems to miss against players.

Against good players 1v1 you can miss but if you chain it with Shield Bash or Pommel Aash first that helps to increase the chance of landing the skull crack. Or use Bulls charge. I also have Throw Bolas slotted sometimes to use as another form of CC to hold the enemy in place either so i can 100b them or as a setup for Skullcrack.

At the very least using bulls charge, bolas, pommel bash, shield bash helps to bait more dodges or force a stun break etc. Count their dodges and boom land that skull crack

But imo.. to use one skill to compensate another.. doesn’t it means its lacking somewhere.
I know it happens, like bull charge/bola + 100b last time, but 100b has a long animation so yea. They did change GS’s f1 to the current good aoe, good executioner. Hope anet can do something bout SC’s range or hitbox

Skull crack was too easy to land in the past (before my time) so they had to slow it down otherwise it really was easy mode warrior pvp. Now its high reward but you have to work for it.

Spartacus.3192:

Skull crack was too easy to land in the past (before my time) so they had to slow it down otherwise it really was easy mode warrior pvp. Now its high reward but you have to work for it.

I would generally agree, although even now people while give you crap when you land the Crack. I’ll get yelled at by MediGuards that got baited into using all of their blinds/blocks/invuln by me shealthing my Crack. You can never “win” as a Warrior these days. I hate crap like double Endure Pain but that’s a joke compared to the kind of sustain Guards have these days.

As an aside to all who read this, if you’re using it please try and compare it to Greatham when you get the chance. I know that Hammer has the edge in terms of AoE CC but this build seems to have a leg up in sustain due to blocks. Hammer also can’t deny stomps for as long. Nothing more amusing than hitting a Crack on a stomper and just reviving your teammate to full while they have to stand there and watch.

I wish that instead of the vulnerability on the Mace trait it gave Skull Crack the ability to bypass Stability on a fairly lengthy ICD, like over a minute even. That might be imbalanced I’m not sure (the trait DOES compete with Defy Pain though) but the idea of giving the Mace the ability to do something that no other weapon in the game can is interesting. It would give you the ability to be the ultimate stomp denier. If you wanted to get ridiculous make it unblockable and hit you while Invuln as well.

This won’t happen, but man does it sound cool.

@BurrTheKing. Ive played GS/Hamm and i would say i prefer Skullcrack GS M/Shield. However as i wrote above im leaning towards ARMS (thanks @Cygnus!) instead of Strength. Im not a pro PvP’er and as such i like the extra toughness from the cavalier amulet for survivability. If i land the skullcrack then i get the Unsuspecting Foe proc of +50% crit chance which is more than enough to proc both Air/Fire sigils during 100blades.

Even without landing skullcrack, with signet mastery and fury i can get crit chance around 40% during combat. (90%+ on stunned foes) with 210% crit damage.

I’m amazed at the number of nab rangers in unranked that think they can just rapid fire and win. Shield reflect is soooo nice.

Been using skullcrack with the following configuration: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJMQNApeRnUJCthgVhAehAkighigCLhWIFsB4BCAtLa9oA-TlCCwAROEAWV6NWJojjAAgHAAN1fqqMok+mc7Pc5EAQGAmxA-w

Works pretty decently, but I don’t think it’s as good as the other more serious builds. I just like gimmick or themed builds, so going full into stances made it fun for me. In PvP I just use berserker ammy.

It can still get the job done though. I’ve been using defiant stance to counter other rampage warriors, and it basically takes me from 5% to 100% health almost immediately. Just have to be careful not to waste it though.

One of the kind of annoying things is that the auto endure pain can kick in and counter defiant stance. It might be worth not using the defy pain trait and taking sundering mace instead for the vuln stacking or just a power boost.

I also suck at using frenzy properly, so balanced stance might be a better option, especially since the auto balanced stance is on a long cooldown. It does make for a lot of quickness with heightened focus though.

The peak performance trait might also be worthwhile just for the rampage damage boost, although I did like having the extra might on restorative strength. Sometimes in WvW I’ll use the death from above thing just for convenience or annoying people on rams.

Brawler’s recovery is also a decent option since you swap a lot with this build, so just depends on whether you think the condi clear or extra damage. Not having cleansing ire is a bit annoying, especially with the lower adrenaline gains.

BurrTheKing.8571:

As an aside to all who read this, if you’re using it please try and compare it to Greatham when you get the chance. I know that Hammer has the edge in terms of AoE CC but this build seems to have a leg up in sustain due to blocks. Hammer also can’t deny stomps for as long. Nothing more amusing than hitting a Crack on a stomper and just reviving your teammate to full while they have to stand there and watch.

I wish that instead of the vulnerability on the Mace trait it gave Skull Crack the ability to bypass Stability on a fairly lengthy ICD, like over a minute even. That might be imbalanced I’m not sure (the trait DOES compete with Defy Pain though) but the idea of giving the Mace the ability to do something that no other weapon in the game can is interesting. It would give you the ability to be the ultimate stomp denier. If you wanted to get ridiculous make it unblockable and hit you while Invuln as well.

This won’t happen, but man does it sound cool.

I wouldn’t know about PvP as I hardly play it anymore, but in WvW, I think Hammer GS is still a bit favored. Hammer GS does not rely as much on one combo to succeed, whereas Mace/Shield always struggles with steady DPS. Something like an elementalist or a guardian simply and only has to avoid the skullcrack to win, whereas an avoided Earthshaker or Whirlwind does not mean a loss on GS/Hammer.

In outnumbered, it depends. Against ranged, Mace/Shield beats Hammer easily. When you are up against say 1 ranged and 1 melee, hammer probably wins, as you can stun and thus stop both attackers if you stay on the ranged enemy.

Maybe giving the mace trait the buff that any CC used while wielding a mace (main or off) removes double or triple the amount of Stability stacks? Sounds a bit less OP, maybe UP, I don’t know. The choices in that line probably still beat it. As cheesy as auto-EP is, it’s still good.

Spartacus.3192:

@BurrTheKing. Ive played GS/Hamm and i would say i prefer Skullcrack GS M/Shield. However as i wrote above im leaning towards ARMS (thanks @Cygnus!)

Your welcome ^^

Though Strength will likely be better if you can manage the more zerky playstyle.

Hammer is definitely easier to play and more foregiving than mace/shield. Earthshaker is more likely than SC to hit something and thus procc CI and BP and can even be used from range. Interrupting multiple rezzing players requires only one button. Hammer can close the gap from 600 range with 2 skills while Mace cannot and Shield only from 300.

I don’t play in organized teams but for now I feel Hammer brings more team support through AE CC and AE damage. It’s more likely to turn a fight around on mid point. But that’s where I usually go for and maybe that is wrong when you’re playing Skullcrack.

Skullcrack is personally more challenging and rewarding. If you win a fight by successfully executing your combo you know you did something right and weren’t just lucky or carried by your build.