Guild Wars 2

Sometimes earlier, I posted a thread about some changes I’d like to see to baseline Warrior. Now that a Warrior change is on the newsletter, I figured I might as well reintroduce it with some changes.

Strength
(First Line focuses on Direct Damage, Second on Low-HP Fighting/Comebacks and third is Weapon/Utility Skills)
Minor

• Reckless Dodge – Remains as is.
• Building Momentum – Remains the Same.
• Powerful Arms (Replaces Stick and Move) – Reduces cooldown on Weapon swap by 50% When you swap to Greatsword, Spear or Main-Hand Axe in combat. Damage is increased by 10% for 3s after Swapping weapons while in Combat (Regardless of Weapon). ICD: 4s.

Adept

• Death from Above – Damage and Launch enemies when you take Falling Damage. Reduces Damage from Falling by 50%. Reckless Dodge now Cripples (3s) Enemies.
• Restorative Strength – Gain Might (5 Stacks, 6s) and Vigor (4s) when you use a Healing Skill. Using a Heal Skill while below the Threshold removes 2 Conditions. Threshold: 50%.
• Collateral Damage – Critical Hits while wielding a Greatsword or Spear now deal AoE Damage around your target. Greatsword and Spear skills recharge 20% Faster. Base Damage: 208. Radius: 180. ICD: 3s.

Master

• Excessive Force (Replaces Forceful Greatsword) – Gain Might (1 stack, 6s) when you Critically Hit with a Melee Weapon. Deal 10% more Damage when you have Might Stacks over the threshold. Threshold: 10.
• Great Fortitude – Increases Vitality by 10% of your Power. While below 50% HP, Healing and Damage is increased by 15%.
• Axe Mastery (Replaces Body Blow) – Moved to Master Tier. Remains the same.

Grandmaster

• Berserker’s Power – Remains the Same.
• Second Wind (Replaces Axe Mastery) – When you strike an Enemy with a Level 3 Burst Skill, enter into Berserker’s Stance. Duration: 8s. Cooldown: 60s.
• Peak Performance (Replaces Distracting Strikes) – Physical Skills all Break Stun and are enhanced:
  • Mending – Now Converts Conditions into Boons rather than removing them.
  • Kick – Additionally Cripples (4s) affected Targets. Knockback distance is increased.
  • Bull’s Charge – Additionally Destroys Projectiles while Charging.
  • Bolas – Now also Pulls the target towards you.
  • Stomp – Is now Ground-Targeted at 600 range.
  • Rampage – Now Pulses Might (2 stacks, 15s) with each Pulse.

Reasoning:
Strength overall was a Spec Tree that was pretty good, but very narrow and offered limited venues for offense. There was little choice to be had as Adept, Master and Grandmaster were all dominated by a single trait in different game modes. I aimed to make things a bit more diverse, offering two distinct paths towards offense: One that is reliant on constantly pumping out damage, and one that focuses on relentless recovery so that the assault can continue on even if the Warrior is pushed to the brink.

Arms
(First Line focuses on Condition Damage, Second on Critical Hits/Fury and third on Weapon/Utility Skills)
Minor

• Precise Strikes – Remains the Same.
• Bloodlust (Moved to Master) – Remains the Same.
• Precise Arms (Replaces Rending Strikes) – Reduces Cooldown on Weapon Swap by 50% When you swap to Longbow, Harpoon Gun or Sword Main-hand in combat. Duration of outgoing Conditions is increased by 25% for 3s after swapping weapons while in combat (Regardless of Weapon). ICD: 4s.

Adept

• Body Blow (Replaces Berserker’s Fury) – Bleed (3 stacks, 4s) and Weaken (2s) An enemy when you Stun, Daze, Knock or Launch them.
• Opportunist – Striking a Crippled, Chilled or Immobilized target grants Extra Adrenaline and Fury (10s). Adrenaline: 8. ICD: 10s.
• Signet Mastery – Remains the Same.

Master

• Distracting Strikes (Moved from Strength) – Interrupting a Target causes Confusion (4 stacks, 8s).
• Deep Strike – Fury you apply grants Condition Damage. Critical Hits while under the effects of Fury have a 50% Chance to stack Vulnerability (1 Stack, 8s).
• Blademaster – Remains the same.

Grandmaster

• Furious – Remains the Same.
• Dual-Wielding – Attack Speed is increased by 15% when wielding a Sword, Axe or Mace in your Off-hand. When you critically hit while Dual-Wielding, Impale your target with your weapon, stacking Conditions over time. ICD: 15s.
  • Sword – Torment (1 Stack, 6s x5)
  • Axe – Vulnerability (2 stacks, 6s x5)
  • Mace – Weakness (2s x5)
• Trick Arrows (Replaces Burst Precision) – Dual Shot now Bleeds (1 Stack, 4s x2) your target, while Arcing Arrow and Smoldering Arrow now Burn (1 stack, 3s) enemies struck. Longbow Skills Recharge Faster.

Reasoning:
In order to bring some more viability to this line, I decided to focus all the Condition Damage into this line so that Condition Builds for Warriors won’t have to pick out several lines where they only need a single Trait to work. I moved Body Blow and Distracting strikes here in order to open up another venue for Condition Damage builds as well, making it synergize with CC more if that’s the path the Warrior wishes to take.

Defense
(First Line focuses on Weakness, Second line on Passive Sustain, Third line on Weapon/Utility Skills)
Minor

• Thick Skin – You gain 150 extra Toughness while above 90% HP.
• Adrenal Health (Merged Partly with Cleansing Ire) – Gain Health regeneration based on Adrenaline level. Remove 1 Condition for each Bar of Adrenaline spent when you hit with a Burst Skill.
• Spiked Armor – Remains the Same.

Adept

• Intimidating Glare – Weaken (6s) nearby Enemies and gain Retaliation (3s) when you’re Stunned, Dazed, Knocked, Launched, Feared or Taunted. Radius: 360. ICD: 15s.
• Dogged March – Remains Unchanged.
• Shield Master – Remains Unchanged.

Master

• Cull the Weak – Moved to Master. Weaken (3s) enemies when you strike them while they have Vulnerability Stacks over the Threshold. Weakness you apply additionally reduces Outgoing Condition Damage by 20%. Threshold: 8.
• Robust (Replaces Armored Attack) – Regeneration you Apply removes Poison and increases Healing on affected Allies by 15%. ICD: 10s.
• Stance Master (Replaces Defy Pain) – Changed Functionality. Stances now grants Boons to you when they end.
  • Defiant Stance – Regeneration (5s)
  • Frenzy – Retaliation (5s)
  • Balanced Stance – Vigor (6s)
  • Endure Pain – Protection (4s)
  • Berserker’s Stance – Fury (5s)

Grandmaster

• Exhausting Pain (Replaces Cleansing Ire) – Weakness you apply Deal Condition Damage over time.
• Rousing Resilience (Merged Partially with Cleansing Ire) – Gain Adrenaline (1) when struck. Gain Toughness (Up to 1000), Adrenaline (10) and Health (Base: 2600) when you break out of Stun.
• Last Stand – Activate Balanced Stance when you’re Stunned, Dazed, Knocked, Launched, Taunted or Feared more than Once within the Time Threshold. Stances last 25% Longer and grants you Superspeed (3s) on Activation. Time Threshold: 3s. ICD: 40s.

Reasoning
The Defense was, in many ways, where all the Warrior’s sustain was centered without even as much as dipping into other fields. It also had a lot of passive sustain in Defy Pain, which I felt was prudent to a change that rewards active use of Utilities rather than a Double Take when you get careless. I also changed up Last Stand to rather counter-act CC chains than acts as an Auto-prompt, meaning it has A/ Counterplay (Enemies need to space out their CC rather than spam it) and B/ Selective Activation (It will no longer be wasted on say a Thief’s Headshot.) Also added some serious buffs to Weakness that might be interesting to Condition or Hybrid Warriors.

Tactics
(First Line focuses on Soft CC, Second line on Weapon/Utility Skills and Third on Party Support)
Minor

• Determined Revival – You gain up to 400 Toughness while reviving an Ally. You Revive Allies 10% Faster.
• Beacon of Hope (Replaces Reviver’s Might) – Remove Damaging (Bleeding, Poison, Burning, Confusion, Torment) Conditions from an Ally while reviving them. Conditions removed: 1. Intervall: 1s.
• Inspiring Presence – Might you apply also grants Healing Power (10).

Adept

• Leg Specialist – Immobilize (1s) your target when you Cripple them. Movement-impairing Conditions last 33% longer. ICD: 5s.
• Quick Breathing – Warhorn skills convert 1 Condition into Regeneration (4s) on each affected Ally. Warhorn skills recharge 20% faster.
• Empowered – Remains the same.

Master

• Surprise Maneuver – Blind nearby Enemies when you swap Weapons while in Combat. Radius: 180. ICD: 9s.
• Inspiring Battle Standard (Replaces Shrug it off.) – Moved from Discipline. All Banners grant Regeneration (3s) to nearby Allies with each Pulse, has their Radius increased by 60 and Maximum Ally limit increased to 15.
• Empower Allies – Remains the Same.

Grandmaster

• Art of War (Replaces Powerful Synergy) – Blind you Apply lasts 1 additional attack.
• Vigorous Shouts – Shouts recharge 20% faster, Heal (Base: 1200) nearby Allies and Grant you Adrenaline (5). Healing and Adrenaline is increased for each affected Ally. Increase per Ally: 20%.
• Phalanx Strength – Remains the Same.

Reasoning
Tactics is the Team Support tree for the Warrior, but it was pretty much the same deal all-in-all. I decided to add some more play on Soft CC such as Blind, in order to give the Warrior a different approach to team support than simply being “That guy with Shout Heals” if he so wishes.

Discipline
(First Line focuses on Mobility, Second on Weapons and CC and third on Boons/Adrenaline.)
Minor

• Versatile Rage – Remains the Same.
• Brawler’s Recovery (Replaces Fast Hands) – Remains the Same.
• Brutal Arms – Reduces Cooldown on Weapon Swap by 50% When you swap to Hammer, Rifle or Mace Main-hand in combat. Stun duration is increased by 25% for 3s after swapping weapons while in combat. ICD: 4s.

Adept

• Warrior’s Sprint – Remains the Same
• Crack Shot – Rifle and Harpoon Gun Skills Pierce and Recharge 20% faster. Striking a target outside of the Range threshold with a Rifle or Harpoon Gun grants you Might (1 stack, 6s). Threshold: 600.
• Adrenal High – Whenever you gain a Full Bar of Adrenaline, you gain Stability (3 stacks, 3s) and Swiftness (10s). ICD: 20s.

Master

• Powerful Synergy (Replaces Inspiring Battle Standard) – Remains the Same. Now additionally affects Whirl Finishers as well.
• Blunt Force (Replaces Sundering Mace) – Hammer and Mace Damage is increased against Stunned, Dazed, Knocked or Launched enemies. Reduces Cooldown on Hammer and Mace skills by 20%. Damage increase: 20%.
• Destruction of the Empowered – Remains the Same.

Grandmaster

• Burst Mastery – Remains the Same.
• Attack of Opportunity (Replaces Heightened Focus) – Gain Quickness (2s) when you disable a foe. Duration is doubled if you Interrupt them. ICD: 15s.
• Insurmountable (Replaces Merciless Hammer) – Your Boons cannot be Stolen, Stripped or Corrupted while you have Stability stacks over the threshold. Threshold: 3.

Reasoning
Aside from shifting focus onto CC a bit more, I also wanted to work with all venues that a Warrior is supposed to cover when I tailored this Spec Tree, to give it more of an identity besides the Adrenaline Fixation (Which, honestly, I felt lacking in any case). The biggest thing to note is that I suggest that Fast Hands instead be spread across different Spec Trees, affecting weapons that primarily work with those Spec Trees in order to take the pressure away from Discipline as an absolute “Must-have”, while still retaining usefulness with some builds.

I don’t like all of it. Fast Hands just forces us into Discipline, whereas your setup will force you into specific traitlines, every time.

Some good ideas in here though, and thanks for all the trouble.