Guild Wars 2

So I’ve been clunking around on my iOS build planner and I’m having a hell of a time finding a build that satisfies my weapon combo choice: Sword/Shield with Greatsword swap. I know that I want at least 20 points in Defense, since I very much enjoy tanking (my wife is a Ranger and I like to keep the heat off of her— her less-than-smart Sylvari treehound can go take a hike though with all the aggro he pulls).

Anyone have any advice and/or ideas for something like this? I just picked up my Pact Avenger and I want to cut some heads off while still being able to back out, swap weapons/traits, and re-enter a fight as a brick wall rather than a guillotine.

If you want to keep control of mobs, I think maybe instead of a shield you could go with offhand mace. With that, if you trait number VII in the Defense line, you’ll get a line knockdown with 1200 range on a 20 second cooldown. I suggest that because even you can block attacks with the shield, there’s no real “aggro” skill in this game, to prevent the rise of the “trinity”, so you can’t exactly keep the mobs off of her that well if they decide to aggro her (trust me, I know the feeling of wanting to keep the aggro off of someone). The stun on the shield is also single target, which is useful elsewhere, but not quite so much in a large mob situation, so for overall control, I’d choose that. Of course, the hammer is infinitely better at control, but it seems you’d like to keep your weapon choices.

Of course, if you’re adamant on the shield (or even if you’re willing to switch weapons), shouts are also a fairly useful thing to have to support with. With 30 points in Tactics, you can use major trait XII, and your shouts will heal. Combine that with VIII to recharge shouts faster, you have some good support. “Fear Me!” is also a good AOE control skill in difficult situations. “Shake it Off!” is also a great stunbreaker if you guys get immobilized or stunned or something.
I’d also recommend at least 15 points in Discipline, as faster weapon swapping (if it stops being bugged) is kind of extremely great on a warrior.

As for gear, Power/Toughness/Vitality gear is always a solid choice, but if you want to go shouts, maybe look for Power/Toughness/Healing Power (Cleric’s) to increase the effectiveness of your healing shouts.

It seems most of what I’m saying is about support, but I can’t think of a whole lot else you can do if you want to be a “brick wall”. In this game, a lot of “tanking” has been removed, in favor of avoiding damage. A guardian has a lot more ways of doing this than we do, with projectile reflection, condition removal, and general support. A warrior has more CC in general, but with your weapon choice, it’s kind of limited. The sword burst skill and cripple are useful CC’s, but not the most effective (in my opinion). As I said, a hammer has much better control. AOE knockdown, cripple, stun, more knockdown, and lots and lots of AOE damage. A greatsword is sadly very limited on CC, but it is a very effective PvE weapon. A shield is more defensive for YOU only, so the damage mitigation for your wife would be minimal, unless of course you are quick enough to get in front of her and block projectiles. That, however, seems like a bit of a challenge.

My primary reason for wanting to hang on to my shield is the Reflect Missiles while Blocking trait. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a Veteran/Champion wind up a projectile and quickly wall up behind my shield. This one saved the backsides of myself, my wife and 3 other players in Fireheart Rise taking on the Champion Flame Shaman at one garrison. He flung some big wind-up fireball, I bounced it, and he killed himself with it (it hit for about 32k, critical).

I hadn’t considered the option of Offhand Mace, though. That brings up a really good option for crowd control AND some added Weakness on top of my On My Mark! shout.

Here’s what I have going for me:

0/20/20/30/0

With Sword/Shield:
-Arms
—-Deep Cuts: Bleeds last 50% Longer
—-Opportunist: Gain Fury when applying Immobilize

-Defense
—-Missile Deflection: Reflect projectiles when blocking
—-Shield Master: +90 toughness and 20% Shield cooldown when using Shield

-Tactics
—-Empower Allies: +70 Power to All in range
—-Lung Capacity: 20% faster Shouts
—-Vigorous Shouts: Shouts heal

With Greatsword:
-Arms
—-Rending Strikes: 33% chance for Vulnerability on crits
—-Forceful Greatsword: Might on Greatsword crits, Greatsword skills are 20% faster

-Defense
—-Embrace the Pain: Gain Adrenaline when hit
—-Last Stand: Balanced Stance on daze/KB/KD/stun/launch

-Tactics
—-Empower Allies: +70 Power to All in range
—-Lung Capacity: 20% faster Shouts
—-Vigorous Shouts: Shouts heal

6- Healing Signet
7- For Great Justice!
8- On My Mark!
9- Shake it Off!
0- Battle Standard (every time I use this my wife roars “WARBANNER!”)

Your idea is fantastic because I can easily heft an offhand Mace without needing to alter this build much, and without too many trait re-picks; I can just use my Greatsword traits in Defense when using an OH Mace since I won’t be using a shield. I think I’ll give this a try tonight.

I had actually forgotten about that reflecting projectiles while blocking trait. That seems very useful for boss fights, and since most bosses are immune to knockdowns, the shield with that trait would definitely be a better idea.

In grouped normal mob fights, however, I think I’d still suggest an offhand mace for the AOE, and like you said, it shouldn’t change a whole lot of traits if you shift the shield cooldown to the mace cooldown trait.

Shields actually factor in to hate generated by a player. According to the wiki it’s generally around fourth in hate generation behind proximity, whether damage is being dealt, and the amount of damage dealt.

So besides staying in melee range while your wife stays at range, holding a shield in your offhand is a pretty good way of passively holding aggro.

[Edit: I was also under the impression that wearing heavier armor caused more aggro, but it doesn’t say anything about that in the wiki, so I could be totally wrong on that one.]

Generally, though, won’t the ranger be doing more damage by staying at range?
I had no idea that shields factored into it, but I think if she’s also damage, targets would prefer the one doing more damage, and traited as he is, he’s most likely doing less.

I dunno what the math on hate is, so I really have no idea. I thought it may be more useful to be able to control more mobs.

Shadowscamp, I gave your suggestion a run-through last night and I have to say you knocked it out of the park. I’m currently running Sword/Mace ~ Greatsword and swapping to Sword/Shield for tougher fights. The ranged knockdown attack is excellent and the vulnerability attack stacks well with On My Mark. It’s really fun to see an enemy try to run for my wife and put it down with a shockwave from over 1000 feet away.

Thanks for the suggestion!

(Also sometimes I swap to Axe/Mace just for kicks when farming in Frostgorge.)

Glad you like it. Have fun thwarting things out for your wife’s virtual blood.

Shadowscamp.8065:

Generally, though, won’t the ranger be doing more damage by staying at range?
I had no idea that shields factored into it, but I think if she’s also damage, targets would prefer the one doing more damage, and traited as he is, he’s most likely doing less.

I dunno what the math on hate is, so I really have no idea. I thought it may be more useful to be able to control more mobs.

My understanding is that the highest threat gain is simply standing close to the mob (for most mobs). Then damaging it, then being the person doing the most damage, then wearing a shield.

So someone standing next to a mob, doing damage, and wearing a shield is generating more threat than someone standing at range and doing the most damage.

This seems pretty accurate, since on my Guardian I generally hold aggro on mobs pretty easily from being all up in their grill. On my Ranger or rifle Warrior, I tend to not get aggro until I swap to melee.