Guild Wars 2

The Hammer/Mace CC build which I love to play in Spvp will lose too much of its effectiveness as shifting Unsuspecting Foe to Master Tier would cause too many key traits to be given up.

Key traits include: Fast Hands, Merciless Hammer, Unsuspecting Foe, Burst Mastery
The first 2 are absolutely necessary as they contribute the most to CC skill access followed lastly by burst mastery (F1 access). This means that at least 20 pts must be allocated to both Toughness and to Discipline to maintain that CC style of play. Cleansing Ire is also a must for adrenaline regeneration and survivability but that would be given up if Unsuspecting Foe were taken.

My prediction:
If Unsuspecting Foe were shifted to Master Tier then the new Hammer/Mace meta would become:
0/20/30/0/20—Unsuspecting Foe, Merciless Hammer, Cleansing Ire, Fast Hands

Suggestion:
ArenaNet, if you decide to reduce Staggering Blow and EarthShaker’s damage, please hold off on shifting Unsuspecting Foe.

For a full melee class such as this which requires closing the gap to do CC in order to protect itself in battle, and to remove chill/cripple while doing so, the hammer/mace build, I predict will be hemmed into the above setup if it is to remain viable.

Also, as other classes are buffed up, the Hammer Warrior will become less viable; so, I’d like to suggest not shifting Unsuspecting Foe to see how the meta plays out. I think shifting both Unsuspecting Foe and reducing damage on Burst mastery/Staggering Blow/Earthshaker would be too many changes in one patch.

Thanks for your consideration ArenaNet.

agreed.

arena net has said that they plan on trying to shave classes and builds that they feel are performing too well.

unsuspecting foe change
hammer damage reduction change
burst mastery nerf

all three of these changes at once doesn’t really feel like it’s in line with arena nets stated goal.

also if the plan is to emphasize the crowd control aspect of the hammer then does that mean the crowd control aspects of the hammer is getting a buff of some kind?

if you want to make warriors choose between either great crowd control or great damage, then how do i choose to do great damage over crowd control with the hammer with these changes?

Fiorrello.8126:

if you want to make warriors choose between either great crowd control or great damage, then how do i choose to do great damage over crowd control with the hammer with these changes?

Burst Mastery and Merciless Hammer sounds like a good start.

Unsuspecting Foe and Merciless Hammer for damage.

Fiorrello.8126:

agreed.

arena net has said that they plan on trying to shave classes and builds that they feel are performing too well.

unsuspecting foe change
hammer damage reduction change
burst mastery nerf

all three of these changes at once doesn’t really feel like it’s in line with arena nets stated goal.

also if the plan is to emphasize the crowd control aspect of the hammer then does that mean the crowd control aspects of the hammer is getting a buff of some kind?

if you want to make warriors choose between either great crowd control or great damage, then how do i choose to do great damage over crowd control with the hammer with these changes?

Totally agree that ANet is planning to go overboard with the Hammer nerfs. However, when they say they want players to choose between CC or damage, I don’t think they mean with the same weapon. They mean hammer is great CC and other weapons (axe, sword, etc) are great damage.