Guild Wars 2

This is gonna be a weird one

As warrior I feel the most epic dual wielding the same weapon and swiftly cutting through enemies (I tried Thief, but without permanent stealth they’re just a badly armoured Warrior to me).

I don’t care about optimum builds since my main gameplay focus is on Dynamic Events, Guild Missions and Living Story, if I wanna farm dungeons i’ll look up a specialized build at the time.

The only problem is a dual wielding build doesn’t offer much for group support, which makes me feel kinda like a parasite with all the other members of the zerg or the guild giving Swiftmess, Might, healing etc from their abilities.

In light of that, do you think I should go for the build that makes me feel cool, or the build that lets me contribute to the groups buffs?

I’d take something contributing to the group. Then again, it’s up to you. I just feel like my look is good enough without dual wield and I’d rather be useful.

Why not both?

Dual-wield with shouts or banners, contribute to the group through utilities that give AoE buffs or debuff opponents.

Have a dual-weild main set, with a more support-based offset (longbow, weapon+Warhorn, etc) Swap between the two to balance damage and support.

See what flexibility you have for your trait setup, look into traits that buff allies (Rending Strikes, Empower Allies, Phalanx Strength, etc).

Weapons are only one part of a class’ toolkit. If you have a weapon set(s) you want to use, mix up your utilities, traits, or even Runes and Sigils to help benefit the group. You CAN have both dual-weilding and group support, it’s up to you to find out how to do that in a way you enjoy playing.

You can still provide good group benefits while duel wielding. If you duel wield axe/mace you give lots of Vulnurbility which buffs everyones dmg plus you can run banners or shouts to give buffs /or heals

Doing damage is all the contribution anyone really needs, so I rather do it in style.

Thank u all so much

You’ve really helped me feel awesome and contribute. I’ve decided to go Dual Axe (for coolness, not functionality) and Shout build (since they are quicker to deploy than Banners.)

One more query and i’ll be satisfied.

It’s simply not possible to fully specc for all three, so which traits do you consider give the best benefits?

Axe Mastery or Sharpened Axes?
Dual Wield or Dual Wield Agility?
Lung Capacity or Vigorous Shouts?

If all are equally useful, then which of the three should I proritize? I wanna mainly damage (so I can solo Living Story once it happens again), with some support as a secondary function (to not feel guilty in zergs)

Also I hope to keep Adept Discipline open for Warrior’s Sprint, to help compensate for not using the Warhorn anymore, but it’s not the end of the world if you suggest I give it up.

Sharpened Axes, probably. If you have the points to spare, getting both is a solid option, but 20% CDR on your skills and extra adrenaline gain will help you more than extra ferocity. It allows you better uptime on both vulnerability and fury, which is a lot of extra damage.

Dual Wielding over Dual Wield Agility, flat 5% damage is a great bonus for an Adept trait, and given you’re probably going 4-6 points in Tactics to buff shouts, the lower point investment makes it a much better option.

Lung capacity is hard to pass up for a shout build. Higher uptime on the buffs and debuffs your shouts grant means more damage and utility for you and your party members. Bonus Adrenaline is nice, but if you have Sharpened Axes it becomes less necessary.

Take shouts and banners then? I don’t see a problem.

I love dual axes and played with them for a long time until I started running dungeons, mostly because it was so much fun to use them. I think it’s important to do what makes you enjoy your class the most… and if that means using dual weapons, go for it! Nothing says you HAVE to use specific weapon sets if you’re just running around and having fun.

That being said, dual axe/greatsword is a meta farming build; Whirlwind Attack, Hundred Blades and Whirling Axe are all awesome aoe abilities that let you tag many mobs at once. It comes in fairly useful in a lot of dynamic events.

As for talents, I’d go 6-0-0-6-2. Take Dual Wield, Axe Mastery and Berseker’s Power for Strength; Lung Capacity, Shrug It Off and Vigorous Shouts for Tactics; Inspiring Shouts for Discipline. If you’re going to use a lot of shouts and want to do more DPS, Berserker’s Power and Inspiring Shouts should place nicely with each other. Shrug It Off and Vigorous Shouts would give some good utility for a lot of events where conditions and heals would be welcome.

Thank you all. I now have my perfect hybrid build to both support my guild and feel awesome while playing.

That you would take the time to answer two weird questions like this is a testament to the community in this game.

Long Live Guild Wars 2 and i’ll see you in Heart of Thorns