Guild Wars 2

Been playing around with my level 14 baby Warrior. Before I finished the grind to 80 I would like to find out if it is worthwhile based on my playstyle.

I currently have a Ranger. I only play in WvW. I mostly solo/duo away from the zerg trying to pickoff reinforcements, taking supply camps and killing Yaks.

So these are the parameters:

1. Need movement to get around. So either Swiftness and/or weapon jumps. Even while on my Ranger people will try and run away.(I’m sure more people run from Warriors) Need to make sure I can catch them….and of course for me able to escape zergs and bad situations.

2. Ranged weapon is likely needed to help chase and damage… I think ? I use Axe mainhand on Ranger currently for ranged.

3. My melee skills are average (sticking to a target), so a weapon skill or two that gets me to the enemy would be helpful.

4. If 10 was full offense and 0 was full defense I would probably like to be about 6…..subject to change.

5. I am a Norn and was considering playing around with Leopard stealth ….and leopard also looks like it has a good movement skill. TBD

I was looking at Rifle/GS but I see that is far too common. Would prefer something else if possible that would fit my needs.

Suggestion ?

Thanks

Hmm, I would adive a axe/mace build with a rifle or bow as second weapon.

10/10/0/30/20 setup, I use that one atm.

Picking up Berserkers Power in the first trait for extra damage and Rending Strikes on the second one for fast stacking vulnerabilty.
In the tactis trait I would go fo faster recharging shouts and shouts heal, this trait line is all about your survivabilty, it will get you 3000hp and 30% longer boon duration, I really like it. The heals you get from the shouts is not really great, but those 1,3k per shout can save your life and if you go with a buddy, it will heal him too.

In Discipline I took Heightened Focus for extra crit chance and faster signet recharge.

So to your points:

1) Our elite signet will get you 30 sec swiftness + 30% boon duration on a 48s cooldown. If you use runes to increase your boon duration you can even get perma switfness. Only thing that axe/mace lacks is an abilty to jump right in, but I personally think it is not much needed in 1v1 situations, and you have cripples and immobalize options.

2) Use either a bow or a rifle. Bow has an immobalize skill that is nice and also good damage, rife got alot of damage potention and a cripple. You can also use the trait that every cripple also applies a 1s immo to stop your oppenent of running away. Also the axe 3 cripples and is distance ranged. So 2 options to cripple + immo a target. + If you really need more, take bolas as utility skill. And never forget maces 5 – the best off all, throwing down your enemy.

3) This build lacks of any gap closer, but if you cripple + immo your target from distance you are at him pretty fast, knock him down and get the job done without alot of moving around.

4) With your extra health, healing shouts and omnomberry ghosts for heals on crit you get some survivabilty. If it is not high enough, try to balance out knights set with berserker pieces.

5) No idea about that tbh :P

Hope I could help

1) S/W secondary set, GS primary. Plenty of movement.
Also boon duration runes for permanent SoR.
2) Rifle for field fights, switch to Bow for walls.
3) Sword leap/rush should be enough for gap closing.
4) I found defensive stats won’t really give you any kind of tide-turning benefit.
I played WvW with both a 3500 armor build, and my current 2.2k armor build with yet greatly increased damage is much better.
Any situation that will have you die with the second setup will also most likely have you die with the first too. What saves your life is running away with leap/rush.
5) No idea about that, but if it means sacrificing SoR (aka no fury/no 5might) then I would avoid it.

I personally run this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNBhYDbkzJ2tGyFiJSAYUUEQHFUxkShdtlKIGA;TkAKxMdJ6y6lTMpXrPGFsZA
I’m pretty successful with it, it has a lot of potential (sometimes I down 3-5 people at once which can turn the tides), I get a lot of kills and most times I manage to escape death.

^
Decent build. Pretty flexible with utilities too.

Could do:

-Endure Pain, Balanced Stance, Frenzy
-Bulls Charge, Balanced Stance, Frenzy
-Balanced Stance, Signet of Stamina, Frenzy
-Balanced Stance, “Fear Me,” Frenzy

Would never do boon duration runes though. Prefer more damage or Lyssa.

Some great stuff so far.

I can’t believe I forgot this in my opening post. Pretty much right near the top of the must have list is ……..must be able to kill Thiefs…or at least have a better than even chance of beating them.

Forzani.2584:

Some great stuff so far.

I can’t believe I forgot this in my opening post. Pretty much right near the top of the must have list is ……..must be able to kill Thiefs…or at least have a better than even chance of beating them.

My build is very capable of that, against direct damage Thieves just hit EP and 3-shot them.

The only issue I have is with permastealth P/D thieves.
They just sit in stealth all the time and come out only to sneak shot, you can’t find/hit them and condition removal is not enough.
They simply outlast me.
I don’t think there is any specific counter for that sadly.

Progress report. Just about to hit level 40. The majority of my leveling has been in WvW. Mainly I have been using Rifle + S/W. I know I am still low level but it seems like when I get caught in a melee battle the S/W is a tad underwhelming.

I have been fooling around with S/W + A/S. I really like that combo so far but obviously it is lacking a ranged weapon.

Things I like about that setup are:
1. Range finder with Sword 2
2. Warhorn speed
3. Shield blocks and stuns
4. Axe does nice damage…especially like the F1

Things that concern me:

1. Not a lot of CC
2. Average movement
3. Only 1 range finder leap
4. Being kited really concerns me

I have been reading a lot and playing around with different builds. This is what I was looking at.

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/warrior/?8.0|7.1g.a7.e.1g.a7|c.1g.a7.g.1g.a7|1n.76.1n.76.1n.76.1n.76.1n.76.1n.76|2s.0.2s.0.2v.0.2s.0.2v.0.1i.0|0.0.u19c.k19.k5a|0.0|0.0.0.0.0|e

This is for WvW. 50% solo roamer. 25% duo roamer. 25% zerg roamer/tower defender

…and most importantly have to be good vs Thieves.

On the right track ?

Thanks

Honestly for WvW the best advice I can give you is don’t confine yourseld to 2 weapon sets and be ready to adjust weapons and traits at a moment’s notice. I have every warrior weapon in my backpack and am always ready to take one out depending on the situation. Sword/Horn, Greatsword when I need to get somewhere fast. Longbow during sieges. Hammer almost always. Used to run Axe/Shield, Sword/Horn and it worked really well against thieves. Axe’s fast autoattack counters the P/D blind fairly well and the shield stun sets you up for eviscerate which is enough to send most thieves running for their lives.

Update:

Level 72 now. A couple of questions.

I have been roaming in WvW. Actually got a few solo kills. My weapon sets were Axe/Shield + Sword/WH. I know my damage will increase when I hit 80. Currently I am more defensive spec and I noticed I have a hard time killing people when they run.

I catch up to them with perma swiftness and sword leap. The problem is I get a few hits in…a stun etc..they bob and weave and are off running again. I chased one guy across the entire map. Couldn’t kill him.

So I was wondering if that is the whole point of a Warrior. Do amazing damage so when they actually get a hold of you…you’re dead. ??

I know when I am on my Ranger I do well vs Warriors with kiting. When they do get a hold of me it’s 50/50 whether I live.

tl/dr – I really liked the movement of S/WH + A/Sh but worry I will not be able to kill fast enough as a solo roamer.

Thank you for any insight

1) Warrior has the second best mobility in the game if you know how.
Rush+WA+Bull+Savage+Rush+permanent swiftness.
Basically use GS+Sword/Warhorn and you’ll be moving way faster than your ranger.

2) Longbow is a great distance weapon for Warriors, but Rifle is good too.
Though don’t expect these to be your main weapon, a Warrior using only ranged is being carried.
You will have to learn to melee.

3) Rush+WA+Bull+Savage+Rush are all gap closers/openers and you can have them all in one build.
Sword’s Flurry has a long immobilize too, same with Bolas.
Only a Thief is capable of escaping you, that’s assuming you didn’t 2-shot him which is what happens most of the times when you learn Warrior.

4) Warrior doesn’t really work that way.
You don’t “spec” into defense, you obtain survivability through negating damage with stuff like Endure Pain, GS Evade, Shield Block.
You burst and avoid damage with those tools, when things get bad you simply disengage to heal.
Any survivability you get from the Warrior’s “defensive” trees is negligible, adds really very little to your survivability at the cost of a major damage loss.

5) I wouldn’t recommend any racial skill that replaces your elite on a Warrior.
SoR is incredibily good especially with Boon runes so that you can keep it up all the time, or with Lyssa runes to get all boons every 48s.

As for the WvW thing.
Go GS plus something (I prefer Axe/Shield but Sword/Shield is better if you’re learning) and you’ll be on track.
GS deals TONS of damage. Seriously. Whirl hits for 9-10k, Rush 8k, HB 1shots, etc.
Secondary set allows either for more gap closing/immob (Sword) or more burst (Axe), removal of slowdowns (Warhorn), 3s damage immunity and stun (Shield).
Try them all and decide what you like the most.
Grab 20 points into Disc for Mobile Strike and Fast Hands, those are extremely good in WvW and pretty much a must imho.

Red Falcon.8257:

1) Warrior has the second best mobility in the game if you know how.
Rush+WA+Bull+Savage+Rush+permanent swiftness.
Basically use GS+Sword/Warhorn and you’ll be moving way faster than your ranger.

2) Longbow is a great distance weapon for Warriors, but Rifle is good too.
Though don’t expect these to be your main weapon, a Warrior using only ranged is being carried.
You will have to learn to melee.

3) Rush+WA+Bull+Savage+Rush are all gap closers/openers and you can have them all in one build.
Sword’s Flurry has a long immobilize too, same with Bolas.
Only a Thief is capable of escaping you, that’s assuming you didn’t 2-shot him which is what happens most of the times when you learn Warrior.

4) Warrior doesn’t really work that way.
You don’t “spec” into defense, you obtain survivability through negating damage with stuff like Endure Pain, GS Evade, Shield Block.
You burst and avoid damage with those tools, when things get bad you simply disengage to heal.
Any survivability you get from the Warrior’s “defensive” trees is negligible, adds really very little to your survivability at the cost of a major damage loss.

5) I wouldn’t recommend any racial skill that replaces your elite on a Warrior.
SoR is incredibily good especially with Boon runes so that you can keep it up all the time, or with Lyssa runes to get all boons every 48s.

As for the WvW thing.
Go GS plus something (I prefer Axe/Shield but Sword/Shield is better if you’re learning) and you’ll be on track.
GS deals TONS of damage. Seriously. Whirl hits for 9-10k, Rush 8k, HB 1shots, etc.
Secondary set allows either for more gap closing/immob (Sword) or more burst (Axe), removal of slowdowns (Warhorn), 3s damage immunity and stun (Shield).
Try them all and decide what you like the most.
Grab 20 points into Disc for Mobile Strike and Fast Hands, those are extremely good in WvW and pretty much a must imho.

Just what I figured so far. Rangers are a bad matchup…which I knew from playing my Ranger vs warriors. Sure Warriors can do a ton of damage….if they catch the Ranger. A good one you won’t catch.

Mesmers seem a bad matchup also.

I will stick with GS for awhile….even though I don’t really like it. HB is a parlor trick. I rarely receive more than 2 swings of damage when a Warrior attacks me with HB….and that’s if I was distracted. Not too many people stand there and take the full pull.

Forzani.2584:

Just what I figured so far. Rangers are a bad matchup…which I knew from playing my Ranger vs warriors. Sure Warriors can do a ton of damage….if they catch the Ranger. A good one you won’t catch.

Mesmers seem a bad matchup also.

I will stick with GS for awhile….even though I don’t really like it. HB is a parlor trick. I rarely receive more than 2 swings of damage when a Warrior attacks me with HB….and that’s if I was distracted. Not too many people stand there and take the full pull.

Warriors have absolutely no issues catching up a Ranger.
We simply have a tonload more mobility than a Ranger could ever dream of, not even Eles can escape me most times, the only ones are Thieves (for obvious reasons).
Let alone the mass of cripple and immob we have.
The only classes that are easier than Ranger to keep in melee with are Guardian and Necro.
Even if you have some vantage position (say on a rock/hill), any good War will just LoS you.

As for HB it’s obviously very bad to use it when the target still had his CDs ready.
I very rarely get my HB to not land.
HB is something that should be used only on people out of cooldowns, or when you have the surprise effect, else just forget it until that situation appears.
WA hits 9k, Rush 8k, Evis 12k… that’s already 29k dmg and it’s all on a low CD.
Note that in your average match you get to use WA 3 times, Rush 2 and evis 2-3, that’s some 100k dmg total.
I calculated from my PvP that a even good D/D Ele can stand about 60k dmg total before death, so as long as you’re landing your stuff you don’t need HB.
Don’t tunnel-vision into HB, the good skills are others.

But yeah Warrior isn’t really a class you can simply be good with by spamming a couple buttons.
If you don’t have a deep understanding of it and very good knowledge of other classes etc.
If you do, no other class except D/D Eles will put up a fight, but it’s a long way to get there.
From the outside Warrior looks pretty simple, but it takes a long time and dedication to turn from a BullHB-or-die newbie to an unstoppable beast.
Even in PvE there is a big difference from a CoF1 signet Warrior and a Frac40 Warrior.

As a final note, the only classes you need to fear are:
- D/D Eles. Very sturdy and need you to use all your smarts.
- P/D Thief trolls. If your anti-stealth skills connect (Rush Bull etc etc all those that follow the stealthed) you win, else it’s going to be a long fight, not worth the time as he’s going to run when dying. Just try your luck and if it goes bad leap away like a boss.
- Some very good Engis, but it’s extremely extremely rare to meet one.
- Very skilled, tank-built Mesmers.
On the other hand, dagger thieves (very common these days) are the easiest to farm glory / badges off. Stealth-followers alone kill them.

The fact you mage to solo anyone in WvW pre 80 is a good sign.. I’ve tried alot of things but to be honest it gets complicated once you start talking diff 1 handed weapon sets and sigils. ALOT of these guys in this thread are really good so kinda hard to do what they do from the get go. I still can’t =)

An easy way to start and its a guaranteed kitten kicker is… GS main and swap between rifle for open field and longbow. Heres why :

I trait kinda glass cannon but its not as I have 21k HP so kinda 25/25/0/10/10, whats that give you? best GS traits, great precision , rifle traits AND for free some HP and 1200 range on that Longbow which is really needed becaise targeting anything or anybody with 900 kinda hard in current wvw meta zerg.. also this give you tons of base power and crit %, dont worry about +crit dmge in traits.

GS – Best skills. Whirling Blade crits for 7-10k disorients your opponents and can hit behind you, hundred blades takes to much set up and sure I use it but only if I get in the middle of a bunch of ppl distracted.. Asura It is the movement weapon. Auto attacks for 1.5 to as high as 3k on squishies..5 key ofc for moving around big field of wvw w whirling blade. The snare is awesome and it too can hit for 2-3k

Rifle : What do warriors have ALOT of ? adrenaline and we can trait for it or what I do becuase its easy..Is I keep precision signet on my hotbar..Its an instant full bar, so on small engagements I really like to run in from side ( 5-10 enemy ) pop that sucker and pop[ them for 12k w the burst skill..they already runnin unless a tank, then the snare… then the multishot..uh their dead. If its a tank same thing but switch to GS and yep.. whirl ftw. I open with rifle mainly and chase finish with the GS

Longbow – I got it traited too 1200 range sooo member that precision signet? All large engagements use the Longbow..pop the signet off goes a VERY large nasty burst AE that dots regularly crit for as high as 1k… 400ish reg but it ticks for a while. So rotation goes burst.. 3 key AE hits like a truck.. both have fast cooldowns so you can pretty much spam them. The 5 key snare on this weapon has a really long duration as well. IF more warrs mained Longbow in WvW I think ud see alot more of their zergs winning. Its that strong. if feel like need more adrenalaine just add the shout we have for more it takes like 3 secs to fill the bar again. Bags drop like a skittle commerical

My slots typically go Prec signet, Endure pain ( its just handy ) justice or adrenaline shout and ofc the last slot is signet ( unless asura and sometimes I slot juggy for fun to mess with zergs )

Its not elite but this will do what your ranger couldnt sorry..I.. ignore rangers pretty much..this build you ignore it for 2 seconds and your dead.

Well, I fought 3 different Warriors after patch today with my Ranger. I really wanted to test out the new Ranger GS. I still kited, but a lot less. I went more toe to toe GS vs GS to see how it worked. I actually ate some HB and WA.

End result, 3 easy victories for my Ranger. I am average at best on my Ranger. So when I do play my Warrior I won’t beat myself up when I get pummeled by a Ranger again. I still think it is a bad matchup for the Warrior.

What is weird is my Ranger has a little more toughness. Dunno how that is possible since they wear almost the same gear. I though heavy armor would have more protection than medium ?? ..or is it showing up somewhere else ?