Guild Wars 2

The topic of gap closure as it relates to warriors has come up interspersed among other topics in these subforums. My intention with this thread is to elucidate this problem and offer some creative “workarounds” until warrior players are given a proper gap closure skill/utility on par with the thief. I guess my thief has spoiled me with his ability to pounce on the nearest enemy via “heartseeker” with impunity. For my thief, as long as I keep up my initiative, I have a virtually unlimited supply of gap closures during a mob fight.

My norn warior is fairly new (level 13) and this is my first time with the profession. I’m rolling with a pure tank build (power/toughness/vitality) with the hammer as his melee weapon. Seeing that big norn sending shock waves through the ground with his hammer certainly gives that “epic” appeal I was looking for, and so far it’s been tons of fun.

However, lately I have been getting frustrated with the lack of reliable and consistent gap closure. I have yet to discover a skill or utility that has a low enough cool down for getting into melee range.

I welcome your suggestions and I will watch this thread with keen interest.

Thanks!

As it stands sword and greatsword are the only weapons that have viable gap closers. Sword being mostly condition based definitely makes it less desirable in most builds. Greatsword has the best mobility of warrior weapons by a long shot with a 1200 range charge, a 450 range whirlwind attack and then a 900 ranged cripple.

Id personally love to see a utility skill similar the the guardian Greatsword ability Leap of Faith. 600 range leap with a 15s CD maybe replace the blind with a 1s cripple or immobilize. Bullscharge is nice but with a CD of 40s its not very reliable for staying on your target.

Edit: Reading again, I think this may have been off topic. My bad.

We won’t get even 1/10th of what thieves have, and you can pretty much take it as a fact.They have more mobility and stealth as a compensation for their really weak defensive stats.The balance around that however is shaky…
Had an underleveled thief actually chase me in WvW, closing in using sb 5 two times.
I turn around and smack him a couple of times and halve his HP.Next thing I know, he’s 2000+ range away from me and running.
What we need isn’t new gap closers, but polished already existing.

to be fair I don’t think there’s a single class that can keep up with a Thief besides another Thief if that guy really, REALLY wants to get away.

@ the OP: Unlocking Bull’s Charge when you get your Tier 2 Utility skills will give you a nice gap closer and another knockdown if you are running with the Hammer along with Hammer Shock for a ranged snare and Earthshaker can still be used as a gap closer.

I run primarily Axe/Warhorn and I use Bull’s Charge all the time, between that and Throw Axe/swiftness via Warhorn charge mobility usually isn’t a problem. In fact compared to my Guardian it’s absolutely fantastic

I find it more difficult to think of skills that aren’t gap-closers for warriors.

Nothing catches up to a d/d ele.

For mobility you need a gs really, otherwise you will be slow as a turtle. This only really matters in PvP though, you don’t need to move terribly fast in PvE.

keadlaw.6350:

Greatsword has the best mobility of warrior weapons by a long shot with a 1200 range charge, a 450 range whirlwind attack and then a 900 ranged cripple.

I think Sword is at least equal to GS with respect to mobility, because you can pair it with a warhorn. In the right spec, that means permanent swiftness and extra condition-clears to get rid of snares.

But, yes, GS is terrific for moving around.

When doing Supply-runs I switch to Sword/Warhorn + GS. Nothing can keep up, I bet even a Thief would have difficulties.

These are some great suggestions! Since this is my first time playing a warrior, I really appreciate the wisdom of experienced players.

My warrior is now level 17 and equipped in full greens. He has three sets of minor runes: warrior, fighter and soldier. His weapons are the hammer and rifle, each equipped with a minor sigil of bloodlust. Interestingly, my warrior has a more noticeable performance boost compared to my engineer and thief when they transitioned from blues to greens.

Thanks to your suggestions, I am becoming more proficient at getting into melee range (Bull’s Charge and the hammer burst skill “Earthshaker”). Also, performing a dodge roll into melee bridges smaller gaps quickly and gives me a brief moment of invulnerability.

I am now becoming more accepting of the fact that the warrior is not a high mobility profession. After all, the professions are supposed to be distinct. How incredibly boring it would be if each profession used the same template!

The high survivability of the warrior seems to make up for the lack of on-demand gap closure (like the thief).

I am definitely making the warrior work for me. Honestly, I think I’m having more fun with this toon than any other so far!

Equip a Greatsword.

Mobility up the wazoo!