Guild Wars 2

I have a friend who is pretty casual with GW2. He would play more if not for his experience with his main, which is a Warrior. He has a hard time in PvE content as far as feeling useful in a fight.

He wants to be able to jump into the fray, deal decent damage, be helpful to the team, without getting wrecked by the mobs.

Personally i don;t play warrior outside of CoF farms and don’t have the experience to help him build-wise.

Would any experienced warriors be kind enough to post a build that would help him in these aspects? preferably one that has been tested in higher end fracs and proves to work well?

Much appreciated.

The problem in this case is that the best PVE build a Warrior may run is full damage, which means you must be careful and know how to dodge.
If he wants to try look at this:
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/83915-axemace-dps-build-for-dungeons-and-fractals-62513/
But it may be too extreme if he’s not good at dodging and reading mobs skills.

I would suggest against axe builds, since they lock you into specific skill rotation, which you will have to break if you want to stay up. The change to axe #1 was just terrible…

In general, your survivability depends more on your team than on the build you run, so as Oni said, full damage is the way to go, and you should stick to in unless the encounter requires something specific (condi removal, stability, etc.).

The #1 chain now has to be completed to deal the whole damage but you have (obviously) to interrupt it if you need to dodge. Anyway Axe+Mace and GS (rotating them) is the highest DPS output possible so you have to train that. It may be difficult to survive at the beggining. You may want to try Knight armor instead of Berserker until you get experienced enough.

Oni Link.4621:

Anyway Axe+Mace and GS (rotating them) is the highest DPS output possible so you have to train that.

If you have to interrupt it, you have to interrupt it, and that is where that build fails.
As for knight’s armor, whenever I use it I get all the agro, basically making me the group’s tank, which mean I have to put more effort into staying alive, not less.

Ozzrel.9825:

Oni Link.4621:

Anyway Axe+Mace and GS (rotating them) is the highest DPS output possible so you have to train that.

If you have to interrupt it, you have to interrupt it, and that is where that build fails.
As for knight’s armor, whenever I use it I get all the agro, basically making me the group’s tank, which mean I have to put more effort into staying alive, not less.

You deal lower damage with Knight instead of Berserker and damage is the primary aggro reason. So if you get aggro anyway, then there is something wrong with your party XD

Even by interrupting the chain, the Axe still rules because you won’t interrupt it all times.
Axe 2, Mace 4, swap, GS 2, GS 3, swap, Axe 2, Axe 1 chain, Axe 1 chain, swap and reapeat. Obviously if you have that build. You can also skip the swapping but you’ll lose the benefit from Sigil of Battle and the trait Versatile Power.
Interrupting Axe chain or Hundred Blades because you have to dodge will not lower your DPS, because you must stay over 90% as more as possible to make the most of Runes of Scholar.

If you search you can find spreadsheets too, that build is the currently the best option for a Warrior.

Oni Link.4621:

If you search you can find spreadsheets too, that build is the currently the best option for a Warrior.

I even have my own spreadsheet. But there is a difference between spreadsheets and reality. Both 100b and axe chain have a big chunk of their damage on their last hit, and that isn’t something a beginner would want to deal with.
As for scholar runes, I wouldn’t recommend them for general PvE.

Oni Link.4621:

You deal lower damage with Knight instead of Berserker and damage is the primary aggro reason. So if you get aggro anyway, then there is something wrong with your party XD

Toughness has a huge impact on agro. The difference between zerker and knight’s is immense. Guardians simply have no chance to keep agro off me.

I said it’s not an easy build And Scholars are better than Ruby Orbs if you manage to stay over 90% of HP for 24,5% of time at least. Which is pretty easy when you get used to dodge.

EDIT: And even when under 90% of HP, Ruby Orbs are only slightly better. So Scholars are overall better.

I’m gonna need a boat because this thread is drowning in tears.

None of these responses help me with my specific question. Can i get a relevant constructive response please?

Have him mix some Knight/Zerk with maybe a Cavalier trinket in there or something and run a build like 30/0/25/0/15. I’ve been toying around with it and it’s a decent all-purpose PvE/dungeon build which hits hard and takes a good amount of punishment. If he feels that’s too tanky, move the 25 points in Defense into Arms and start wrecking things with crazy damage.

Heizero.9183:

None of these responses help me with my specific question. Can i get a relevant constructive response please?

I posted a link to the guide of the most used/effective build for Warriors. What better can this can help you?

There are many ways to roll warrior, most say its full dps. I do however feel abit squishy because i suck at this game so here is my suggestion. 0/25/15/0/30 These traits gives you boost to greatsword, healing regen and more crit/%crit dammage. Run full knight gear with Superior Runes of Rage (this is for cheapfactor aswell). Also tell your friend to buy some Chocolate Omnomberry Creams to get exrta crit and that juicy lifesteel on crit. Keep “For Great Justice” and Signet of Rage up all the time, other utilitys are Signet of stamina and "Shake it off! but those can be ofc switched as needed. With Heightened Focus+Fury+Food you should be standing at 88crit change or so. This give extremely nice dammage, tank/ heals and your friend shouldnt have any issues playing without hassle.

Try a WvW build 1, 2. Much better survivability, strong damage against stunnable trash mobs (and players), average damage against boss mobs.

I spend most of my time in WvW, not a hardcore dungeon runner, but those builds let me run dungeons with non-speedrun groups just fine, then jump right back into WvW again when done without many changes.

Both versatile and fun.

PS – Statistically optimal gear:

Crit Damage Pieces (Cavalier, Berserker, Valkyrie):
1. Exotic Amulet/Earrings/Back trinkets
2. Shoulder/Hand/Feet Armor
3. All exotic slots in Exotic trinkets and armor (Exquisite Jewel, or Rare Orb with Crit Damage)
4. 1H Weapons

Non-Crit Damage Pieces (Soldiers/Knights)
1. Exotic Rings
2. Head/Chest/Leg Armor
3. 2H Weapons

Once he starts buying Ascended pieces, every piece should have Crit Damage on it.

If he gears based on those guidelines (see build links above for examples using Cavalier trinkets and Valkyrie/Soldier armor and weapons), he’ll have the optimal distribution of Damage and Defense on gear.