Guild Wars 2

Sup people,

I’m a big fan of the GS/Sword+Shield setup and finalized my build with some of you guys’s help in my last thread. So, being the YouTuber that I am, I recorded some gamplays and made a video I’ll be showing some outnumbered fights and 1v1’s.

Keep in mind I am not the best warrior… So you’ll see me frantically pop stances and kitten up bursts :p This video serves more to show off the build than to display personal skill (well maybe a bit ;-)

Video:

Build used:
The SwordMaster – http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJEQNAseRjMdQVI2FCmhAnIG6BKsG6hcwCgPIC02I8DDA-TlSDwAUOCATOBAs0H8U5XClgvU/pyDAAgJoBHKAa7PEAABgbe0be0bmMALbB-w

Let me know what ya think and feel free to ask questions/leave feedback
-Hollts

If you use Axe instead of Sword as you are using a power build, with given mobility due to GS, and you don’t sprec sword(Arms specialization)… Axe will give you even more DPS.

Stick to the Sword if its what you prefer but know you are somewhat lacking cause you don’t use Axe.

Pretty much my build exactly. Same traits and gear anyway, though I usually put Frenzy in there for the giggles. Some nice game play in there too.

@Ilias
While axe is clearly better from a potential dps point of view, imo it’s inferior when roaming precisely because of the loss of mobility.

Sword 2 is the best skill we have to sticking to a target trying to kite us, allowing more opportunity to actually deliver damage (this help offsets the weaker damage potential of the sword vs axe). Flurry is also useful for setting up 100b against some opponents, and Final Thrust almost as hard as Eviscerate and it actually cleaves (at the cost of twice the cd).

Being able to Sword 2 out of bursts (e.g. when out of dodges), kite melee opponents while focusing someone in a group fight, or just plain escaping are huge advantages too.

I’ll often switch to axe in a duel, but when roaming I’ll generally take sword.

Ilias.8647:

If you use Axe instead of Sword as you are using a power build, with given mobility due to GS, and you don’t sprec sword(Arms specialization)… Axe will give you even more DPS.

Stick to the Sword if its what you prefer but know you are somewhat lacking cause you don’t use Axe.

You don’t need arms for sword, the traits that I’m using do just fine. Sword trait is over the top. Axe indeed does more damage, but that doesn’t mean that it is better. The mobility/gap closer, 100b setup and crippling auto attack are more helpful to me than a little more damage. Also, more damage doesn’t help if you can’t keep up with the target (immob and gap closer from sword come into play here ;-)

Choppy.4183:

Pretty much my build exactly. Same traits and gear anyway, though I usually put Frenzy in there for the giggles. Some nice game play in there too.

@Ilias
While axe is clearly better from a potential dps point of view, imo it’s inferior when roaming precisely because of the loss of mobility.

Sword 2 is the best skill we have to sticking to a target trying to kite us, allowing more opportunity to actually deliver damage (this help offsets the weaker damage potential of the sword vs axe). Flurry is also useful for setting up 100b against some opponents, and Final Thrust almost as hard as Eviscerate and it actually cleaves (at the cost of twice the cd).

Being able to Sword 2 out of bursts (e.g. when out of dodges), kite melee opponents while focusing someone in a group fight, or just plain escaping are huge advantages too.

I’ll often switch to axe in a duel, but when roaming I’ll generally take sword.

Thanks Choppy, nice explaining

@Holl
Correction, my gear’s a little different than yours. I use:

1. Full zerk, including weapons. My weapons are ascended, so crit chance is solid
2. Pack runes, which are amazing, as are Hoelbrak. Not sure which is best.
3. Fire, Air, Energy, and Intelligence sigils. Intelligence on the sword, ofc

On the runes, the might extension as obvious synergy with Forceful Greatsword, and the condi duration reduction is obviously fantastic. Pack Runes give perma fury, which is probably excessive given the fury Arcing Slice gives, and the swiftness and bonus 125 precision is nice too. They really shine in a group.

So, by yourself I think Hoelbrak comes out the clear winner for this setup. In a havoc though, Pack probably wins out. I was thinking about making some ascended armor, so maybe I’ll throw Hoelbrak on there so I have both.

I’m going to test this build out during WvW Zerging and Roaming.

Unfortunately I cannot view the link because gw2skills is bugged on my phone and I’m at work. I run a similar build I think…sword (sometimes axe if Im in an ace mood), sinetimes I even run sword/sword

Why do you and I always enjoy similar builds…

I should watch your videos more often but I don’t usually follow Gw2 videos unless I see them show up on the forums. It’s nice to see that I’m not the only one who likes using less than ideal builds because they’re so darn fun.

I’ve tried using axe instead of sword so, so many times… It has better overall damage but I just like sword so much better. The extra mobility, the immobilize is great if you land it at the right time and I’ve always found that Final Thrust with Intelligence sigil does better damage than Eviscerate.

That 19k crit is the highest I’ve managed to get so far but I think maybe with Scholar runes it’d be possible to go higher.

EDIT: Just finished watching and LOL, we use the exact same gear, runes, traits and utility too. The only differences are that I use Intelligence in my sword and Hydromancy in my greatsword.

Also nice to see I’m not the only one who forgets that Stability auto-proc’s because you popped Balanced Stance when you didn’t need to at one point and I do that quite a bit too :P.

Good vid as always!

Choppy.4183:

@Holl
Correction, my gear’s a little different than yours. I use:

1. Full zerk, including weapons. My weapons are ascended, so crit chance is solid
2. Pack runes, which are amazing, as are Hoelbrak. Not sure which is best.
3. Fire, Air, Energy, and Intelligence sigils. Intelligence on the sword, ofc

On the runes, the might extension as obvious synergy with Forceful Greatsword, and the condi duration reduction is obviously fantastic. Pack Runes give perma fury, which is probably excessive given the fury Arcing Slice gives, and the swiftness and bonus 125 precision is nice too. They really shine in a group.

So, by yourself I think Hoelbrak comes out the clear winner for this setup. In a havoc though, Pack probably wins out. I was thinking about making some ascended armor, so maybe I’ll throw Hoelbrak on there so I have both.

This is the same stuff Mesmer gets flamed for. Your out running zergs!! 16k damage?? Nerf the warrior!!! The only difference is you can see the warrior disengage re-engage Mesmer is invisible.

denis.9487:

Choppy.4183:

@Holl
Correction, my gear’s a little different than yours. I use:

1. Full zerk, including weapons. My weapons are ascended, so crit chance is solid
2. Pack runes, which are amazing, as are Hoelbrak. Not sure which is best.
3. Fire, Air, Energy, and Intelligence sigils. Intelligence on the sword, ofc

On the runes, the might extension as obvious synergy with Forceful Greatsword, and the condi duration reduction is obviously fantastic. Pack Runes give perma fury, which is probably excessive given the fury Arcing Slice gives, and the swiftness and bonus 125 precision is nice too. They really shine in a group.

So, by yourself I think Hoelbrak comes out the clear winner for this setup. In a havoc though, Pack probably wins out. I was thinking about making some ascended armor, so maybe I’ll throw Hoelbrak on there so I have both.

This is the same stuff Mesmer gets flamed for. Your out running zergs!! 16k damage?? Nerf the warrior!!! The only difference is you can see the warrior disengage re-engage Mesmer is invisible.

I’ll make you a deal. You run this build and I’ll run a PU mesmer and we’ll see if you can kill me even once. Send me a pm anytime you’re ready. This isn’t even the most powerful warrior build out there, and yet nobody serious is calling for warrior nerfs these days.

Sadly, we won’t be able to prove who can escape zergs more easily, at least not at the same time. Having run both builds, I can say without any hesitation that a PU mesmer has that covered easily.

For those of you who don’t know denis, I met him on the mesmer subforum. He’s a mesmer main who’s convinced Healing Signet gives warriors godlike sustain…. o_O

I’ve tried GS/Sword. The main gripe with the weaponset in the past was that it lacked damage and killing power. Since Warriors overall got a damage buff, plus with buffs to shield it makes it a slightly better weapon set.

However, IMO it is still inferior to Hammer/GS in terms of dueling, group fights. It’s only better from a mobility and slightly defensive standpoint. Sword/GS also lacks alot of CC and against a decent player they probably would almost never lose to Sword/GS. It’s fun to mess around with time to time and fine, I’ll give it its props for its ability to cover distance, trolling, running away, taking objectives like camps quickly b/c of the extra movement. But from a pure fighting stand point it’s still ehhhh.

I’ve never been a huge fan of axe TBH, I’m sure anybody could make a kitten video and then you’ll see alot of people running axe. Sure the damage is greater and it is fun to curbstomp noobs in WvW with but Eviscerate is laughably easy to dodge. Also with power creep a lot of builds got stronger while Axe is mostly at a standstill spinning its wheels. Still an okay build in WvW though and for dueling. But beware of FoTM builds.

I’ve been dueling Warriors with other classes like Mesmers, Eles, Necros, Rangers. They seem easier to beat or maybe it is just the people that I am facing. Maybe in light of the extra damage more people are going berserker. Looking at it from the other side you definitely need to be on your toes for certain Warrior skills because they can deliver huge spikes if you get caught.

But nice video though I know u were just trying to show off the build rather than showing your skills and saying you found the next op build or w/e.

this build is called “Nike Warrior” and while its a good roaming build its also considered pretty.. not to put a too fine point on it.. lame! (because hurp durp burst into run away). No1 ganking build though!

What killahmayne said word for word…

I want to like Axe/shield and Sword/shield but they are a step below hammer and even then, Hammer/GS is extremely predictable

Discussion about the build itself and its pro’s and con’s aside- nice video, enjoyed watching it!
I got curious on which server you play on since you mainly fought guys from A…ugury Rock (which explains the countless 1vX encounters :P ), fortunatly the chat revealed it close to the end.

So cheers to a fellow FSP fighter, glad to have you on our side and good hunting!

P.S.: that guild chat at ~12:00 mins is golden

@choppy
When did it become personal? Plenty of mesmers destroyed in this video along with other classes. Should it be used to call for nerfs in wvw as a roaming build? This is just for roaming correct. Far better builds out there. Sounds all to familiar to what was said on Mesmer side.

For those who don’t know. Choppy launched a Nerf pu campaign due to watching a video of a Mesmer blowing people up. So all in all seems like a pretty poor sport. Stated in warrior forums let things settle before calling for nerfs in preparation for hot yet went to Mesmer forums to Nerf pu (1day later because more mesmers where seen in wvw) because well it is used like this build.

Awesome play. Always like sword over axe :p but them wings, grrrr "boo! " * throws tomato*

You know, denis, straying off topic and trying to derail a thread is a good way to get your posts removed. This is a thread about Holl’s warrior build. Feel free to comment on it if you want. Or try it out and report back if you want, though I’m not sure you even have a warrior.

You could also start a new thread to make your case that warriors have OP sustain, or too much damage, or whatever. The warrior subforum probably isn’t the place to make your case that the the mesmer was underpowered and the June 23 patch finally brought it into balance with everyone else, but you could try. My guess is a mod would move it to the mesmer forum where it belongs.

My post history is a matter of public record. So anybody who actually cared (and I can’t imagine anyone would) could quickly see that all I’ve ever said about nerfing mesmers after the June 23 patch was that PU stealth buff should be clawed back and the rest left alone for a while. That was based on personal experience playing a mesmer and playing against one, not a video.

Again, though, this isn’t the thread to discuss these things.

Back on topic, Holl’s build is very good for roaming in wvw. The mobility, damage, and defense are all good, but as killahmayne said it’s not the most lethal build a warrior can run, nor does it contribute as much as other builds to a group fight.

The exception being if its defensive options and mobility allow it to survive being focused in a group fight to the point that an h/gs would probably die. Generally, it’s a great all-rounder though.

As for being a Nike warrior, it’s almost as fast as a warrior can be now, but things have changed. I was running this build the other day and I had a thief, ranger, guardian, and possibly a mesmer chase me have way across a map. They eventually caught me too. Still, this is a pretty fast build.

The same stuff is being done in this video as any others. The game play is great. The correlation seems it’s ok for warrior but not ok for Mesmer since so many visited or crashed Mesmer forum looking for nerfs. Wanted my Mesmer voice heard since the same is being done. You choose to become personal.

The offer still stands to test them out, if you want.

I’ll happily show you the relative power difference, if you’d like. I’ll play my mesmer as crappily as I do and you can run this build and any other warrior build you want to try out. I have a bunch of experience with this build and others, so I could give you pointers on how to run them to have the best shot of beating me on a PU mesmer.

The nerfs mesmers received in the last patch evened things out a bit, but I think you’ll see pretty quickly they still have the edge over this build (which has more survivability than other warrior roaming builds) and any other one you want to try out.

It’d be a good opportunity for you to learn how a warrior works and just how powerful your main is. You’ll also see why people are/were asking for nerfs to mesmer after the patch but not so much to warrior.

I hear the same thing over. Yet the proof is in the video. That person owned people. What more proof do you need? The ability to play is all that is in question.

The way you want it is dumb down all builds. That warrior 2v1 separated and destroyed all classes. So yes we make videos to watch I get that but it’s the same thing warrior guard Mesmer video. No one would watch down fights.

You’re complaining about healing signet, yet pu mesmer is fine.

el oh el

Pretty funny since the healing signet is better now. Glad you found the humor.

denis.9487:

Pretty funny since the healing signet is better now. Glad you found the humor.

HS active effect is actually useful now due to Resistance and due to the high condi damage potential some professions have. The passive effect, which remains the same as before, is actually of lesser significance now that certain profession burst/condi damage went significantly higher.

@ people discussing Mesmer and Warrior and things that are OP ~

This is WvW where at least 80% of the players you encounter suck. I’m not saying Holl is bad, because I know he’s far from it. But he’s one of the few. I’m just another mediocre player myself and I wouldn’t doubt I’m in someone’s video out there getting rekt too.

You shouldn’t ever try to judge what’s balanced from a WvW perspective… Nothing in WvW is balanced. Which honestly, is why I consider it more skillful to outplay someone there than in PvP. Because so many builds in WvW have unfair advantages that if you win, it’s purely outplaying your opponent.

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

@ people discussing Mesmer and Warrior and things that are OP ~

This is WvW where at least 80% of the players you encounter suck. I’m not saying Holl is bad, because I know he’s far from it. But he’s one of the few. I’m just another mediocre player myself and I wouldn’t doubt I’m in someone’s video out there getting rekt too.

You shouldn’t ever try to judge what’s balanced from a WvW perspective… Nothing in WvW is balanced. Which honestly, is why I consider it more skillful to outplay someone there than in PvP. Because so many builds in WvW have unfair advantages that if you win, it’s purely outplaying your opponent.

I agree 100% sadly not all believe this. Just check choppy post record.

Nice build and video! I roam with something similar to Choppy’s setup, maybe I’ll try out this variation instead. I’d also tend to agree with Killahmayne that it is probably inferior to GS/Hammer – but still a lot of fun to play!

I don’t get the mesmer discussion in the thread, though

@spell
Are you saying you think balance should never be considered in wvw or that the “everyone fights everyone” aspect can make it difficult to distinguish l2p issues from mechanical imbalance?

For example, suppose there was a food that gave condi immunity and warrior buffs had 3x the range and no limit on number of allies affected. Clearly, these wouldn’t have an impact on pvp but it would have an obvious impact in wvw that, imo, would warrant a fix. Would you agree, or are you saying even then there’s no point in trying to balance?

To be clear though, nothing in this thread has been “warrior (or mesmer) is op in wvw”. There’s obviously no mechanical advantage to Holl’s build in wvw that it wouldn’t also have in pvp. I think all of us recognize that this is a solid build, but definitely not op (or even optimal) in either wvw or pvp.

What denis is referring to is an argument I made a few weeks ago on another subforum that mesmer stealth from the recently buffed PU trait is excessive. It’s only really a problem in wvw, and denis appears to be unable to let the argument go, which is why he’s here trying to derail this thread.

Also, for the record, he doesn’t agree with you. He wrote this two days ago to someone else on yet another thread in the mesmer subforum about people wanting the PU stealth buff reduced….

denis.9487:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/warrior/Vid-The-SwordMaster-WvW-Roaming
Fix your own Nike warrior before coming here. Only difference is you actually see the warrior run away and re-engage with Mesmer its pu.

Denis, let it go. Or start a new thread somewhere and make whatever argument you want, but stop trying to derail Holl’s thread.

WELL kitten , was gone for about a week and a half and see this thread loaded with replies…. and then saw they were about mesmer PU and warrior healing signet u_u Hasn’t this already been discussed to death tho? well…

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

Why do you and I always enjoy similar builds…

I should watch your videos more often but I don’t usually follow Gw2 videos unless I see them show up on the forums. It’s nice to see that I’m not the only one who likes using less than ideal builds because they’re so darn fun.

I’ve tried using axe instead of sword so, so many times… It has better overall damage but I just like sword so much better. The extra mobility, the immobilize is great if you land it at the right time and I’ve always found that Final Thrust with Intelligence sigil does better damage than Eviscerate.

That 19k crit is the highest I’ve managed to get so far but I think maybe with Scholar runes it’d be possible to go higher.

EDIT: Just finished watching and LOL, we use the exact same gear, runes, traits and utility too. The only differences are that I use Intelligence in my sword and Hydromancy in my greatsword.

Also nice to see I’m not the only one who forgets that Stability auto-proc’s because you popped Balanced Stance when you didn’t need to at one point and I do that quite a bit too :P.

Good vid as always!

Wow… did not expect that xD We are quite similar it seems…
And yea, too many times I was rolling with 10 stacks o stability

Holl.3109:

WELL kitten , was gone for about a week and a half and see this thread loaded with replies…. and then saw they were about mesmer PU and warrior healing signet u_u Hasn’t this already been discussed to death tho? well…
(

Lol, yeah… exactly. Well, talk about HS being OP was played out more than a year ago. I haven’t talked about PU since shortly after patch, but dude holds a grudge.

In case you didn’t notice, he pointed to your build as something needing a nerf. XD

i will probably sound like a crazied man here but please hear me out and try before you flame.

i being using this build in wvw all this weekend mainly in zerg fights, i noticed that from10man up to 30-40 man this build actually is viable!! need a good team compo. i know i know zerker warrior will melt in a zerg bomb fight, yes it will but if you are an average warrior and played the game for more then 6 months you will see that you can dodge all the nasty stuff.

you have 4 skills which will make you invulnerable for a few seconds, endure pain, defy pain, shield 5 and greatsword 3.

endure pain i have been using this when i bomb, so i can go in on endure pain and come out on shiel 5 or greatsword 3 skill, at the same time reflecting all those nasty ranged attacks if your using shield 5 to get out, that healing signet resistance i tend to use it before i move in. lets not forget all the moveability that sword and greatsword gives also

i wish i had recorded this weekend fights, maybe i was very lucky but i think what helped the most was the commanders i had and their positioning. i was able to push with commander just like a shout warrior, after a 100b in a crowd of people you just see those ’’doritos’’ popping up next to you and final trusts of 8k is finally something i enjoy in zerg fights, no more shout warrior for me in a while, i hate shout warrior is so boring freaking hate it after 1 year or so of playing it.

Choppy.4183:

-snip-

What I mean is that with all the buffs, like foods, boosters, Bloodlust, tower/keep buffs, etc. you can’t really judge balance with all those potentials.

When I duel, I kill myself before I duel if I have any guard or bloodlust stacks unless my opponent has them too.

I’m just saying that with buffs and other scenarios such having a terrain advantage you can succeed with things in WvW you would otherwise never be able to in PvP.

I’m also not saying balance shouldn’t be considered. Just that there’s a serious lack of it in WvW. I run a Nike Warrior too and you know why? Because I’m almost always solo and if I see a build I don’t want to/can’t fight, I can run. People can call me a wuss if they want but Gw2 isn’t balanced around 1v1 and I’m not gonna fight if I know it’s a lost cause.

On that note, however, I never run from a 1v1 if I’ve engaged. Even if the build is bullcrap, once I’ve started attacking them I’ll fight to the death. I just won’t fight what I know isn’t worth my time, cough anything Mesmer cough.

EDIT: Also in regards to Mesmer, they simply have too many ways to mitigate damage while still dealing high damage. Yes, Nike Warrior with triple Stances has 3 damage invulnerability’s (Defy Pain, Endure Pain, Shield Stance) but 2 of those are on 60second cooldowns and the other one can be cancelled with CC. Mesmer has invulnerability every 12 seconds, 6 if traited (Blurred Frenzy), Blinds on Shatter, tons of Reflects and traited Distortion can be used when activating a Signet which means potentially every 24? seconds. Not to mention the general confusing nature of fighting a Mesmer with their clones and constant stealth… No, they are not godmode but they have been way overtuned and I refuse to waste my time fighting them because a bad Mesmer is a pain to kill and a good one is almost impossible. Every time you get near them either you’re blind or they’re invulnerable.