Guild Wars 2

Hey guys,

I was just wondering what the general consensus is of how Warrior stands as a class at the moment?

I’d mained Warrior for quite some time until recently due to them getting seemingly constant nerfs over the last few patches, and after them becoming weaker and weaker (how it appeared from my perspective). So what do you guys think about Warrior at the moment, compared to the “OP” classes of the moment such as Engi or Ele.

I’m trying to find reasons to play my Warrior over the aforementioned classes and I hope you guys can give me some reasons

Thanks and excuse me if everything I say about Warrior becoming weaker is incorrect, I don’t play at an abnormally high level of play.

I’m mainly enquiring about the game as a whole. I’m aware of the basic stuff like Warrior providing offensive buffs in PvE etc. but as I view it:

Engineer and Elementalist provide more DPS in PvE,
Engineer has a better standing in general in sPvP as they are more stackable,
Engineer also has superior 1v1 capability.

Warri have a place everywhere, they are still one of the best class for soloing dunjon and they have a place in the pve META, war are equal to engi, refering to shoutwar celestial, engi don’t have superior 1v1 capability, depend on what he’s facing

It’s not a premier class 1v1, but it has its uses. Good mobility for roaming in wvw, good party support by way of cc, traited warhorn, etc., and it can hold its own ok.

Engi and ele are definitely more powerful, but it’s pretty satisfying when you outplay people running those classes despite their advantages.

I think warrior is a class for people who like the playstyle or concept, but there are more powerful classes with more interesting mechanics to choose from.

I main a warrior, followed by engi and mesmer.

In PvE, banners allows us to exist. Warrior is easy to play in PvE, even easier then other classes, but they have mediocre damage by themselves (and PvE=DPS).

Solo PvE, warrior is probably in the top three (though not the best according to some experienced solo players on this forum).

PvP, hambow? That’s it. You can not take warrior and do just fine, and you can take a hambow and do just fine. Shoutbow is also good. Again, easy to pick up specs.

Roaming? Thief off course, but also mesmer, elementalist and engineer easily outclass warrior in 1vX.

Dueling? Power warrior is probably the worst dueler out there right now, not even kidding. The thing is, warrior can trait to counter a lot of specs quite good by moving ~4 points around. Still, some classes on their meta roaming spec should just always beat you, and will always beat you when at the same skill level and they don’t kitten up badly.

Still, warrior is a lot of fun to me. Think of the first year of gw2, when warriors were considered l00tbags. It was fun then too, because of the challenge.

In my opinion warriors are in a pretty good spot at the moment. They do good and are fun to play (opinion). The only thing they should tweak is the time until adrenaline starts to decay when you get OOC. At the moment its too punishing to get out of combat, even for 3 seconds.

In WvW I have had to randomly aggro some NPC mobs just to keep myself in combat to maintain my adrenaline level when someone resets the fight. And before anyone jumps on me, I’m not saying they should revert it back, but make it so that it takes at least 3 seconds before it starts to decay or maybe even 5 seconds. Not game breaking, but at least I wouldn’t feel stupid when I’m pretty much in middle of combat, finish someone and get out of combat because I avoided most of the random AoE and lose 2 levels of adrenaline before I can engage to someone else.

Outside of that flaw, I don’t think there is much else to tweak on warriors at the moment.

banners need to have a change in mechanic so you dont have to pick them up and carry them around and the longbow traits needs to be moved or changed or something. atm they are useless. also the tactics minors.. yuck. besides that i agree with paavotar ^^

Warrior is close to bottom of the barrel.

Useless in Dungeons unless you bring banners
Useless in PVP unless you bring hambow.

’Cause we were too strong and dodging eviscerate was hard.

Mesmer is close to bottom of the barrel.

useless in dungeons unless you bring timewarp /portal
useless in pvp unless you bring shatter

Guardian is close to bottom of the barrel

useless in dungeons unless you bring boons
useless in PvP unless you bring bunker or medi

Ele is close to bottom of the barrel

Useless in dungeons unless you bring might
Useless in PvP unless you bring celestial

Engineer is close to bottom of the barrel.

Useless in Dungeons unless you bring vulnerability
Useless in PvP unless you bring celestial

well…. ?

Azure The Heartless.3261:

Warrior is close to bottom of the barrel.

Useless in Dungeons unless you bring banners
Useless in PVP unless you bring hambow.

’Cause we were too strong and dodging eviscerate was hard.

lol? A class is bad if not in meta build ? Totally a warrior issue!

You don’t wanna bring baners in PvE, you don’t wanna play hambow in pvp. Why even bother playing the class?

Warriors have spots in both pve and pvp meta. They are far far away from being close to bottom of the barrel. Look how other classes are. Mesmer, necro, engi…

I would say that Warrior is in the middle right now. It far from its glory from launch, they maybe overnerfed them a bit, but not by much. They are still part of the meta in WvW Zerg and PvE, but they are on the lower end. Where they struggle a bit in sPvP/roaming, but they are not useless neither.

They are still in better shape then other profession like the Necro (except in WvW).

Atleast we have a sturdy body as the balance devs call it thats something.
Depressing to see eles shoot way above 10k DPS while were sitting at 2,5k with gs.
But im okay with that as long as pugs dont kick me from the group i play what i like.
Also guardians now have higher dps is balanced how? they are better in everything.

Thaddeus.4891:

They are still part of the meta in WvW Zerg and PvE, but they are on the lower end. Where they struggle a bit in sPvP/roaming, but they are not useless neither.

Can you please explain the part that I highlighted?!

How can a class be on a lower end, especially in PvE, when it is desired in pretty much every speeclear/record run group?!

Yelloweyedemon.2860:

Thaddeus.4891:

They are still part of the meta in WvW Zerg and PvE, but they are on the lower end. Where they struggle a bit in sPvP/roaming, but they are not useless neither.

Can you please explain the part that I highlighted?!

How can a class be on a lower end, especially in PvE, when it is desired in pretty much every speeclear/record run group?!

They are in the META in WvW Zerg and PvE, but in the lower end. As in the lower end of the meta.

In PvE they used to be a big source of damage as well as buffing, now I consider them on the lower end of the meta because they are there only because of their banner.

In WvW, they are used to be the biggest part of the melee train. They contributed in a big part to the condition removal of the team, while being the biggest source of damage with hammer. As team got better and warrior dmg got lower, they shifted drastically in numbers in most zerg. The first push is the most important one and the nerf to the adrenaline mean that Warrior are no longer able to create that big first burst and got partially replace by Guardian which become more competitive dmg wise (especially on that first push). In the same time, melandru runes and lemongrass decreased the importance of the condition removal capability of the warrior. The guardian also lost that priority but the meta for the guardian was able to shift toward more stability and protection, while the warrior couldn’t as much. Add to that the fact that Necro became more and more important as dmg source and you see GWEN becoming more like GNEW these day.

Thaddeus.4891:

Yelloweyedemon.2860:

Thaddeus.4891:

They are still part of the meta in WvW Zerg and PvE, but they are on the lower end. Where they struggle a bit in sPvP/roaming, but they are not useless neither.

Can you please explain the part that I highlighted?!

How can a class be on a lower end, especially in PvE, when it is desired in pretty much every speeclear/record run group?!

They are in the META in WvW Zerg and PvE, but in the lower end. As in the lower end of the meta.

In PvE they used to be a big source of damage as well as buffing, now I consider them on the lower end of the meta because they are there only because of their banner.

Warriors were ridiculously strong before the several nerfs. No a class should not have the best support and one of the best dps in the game. If you were at launch you would know how terrible it was. 4/5 warrs per group just facetanking – facerolling everything.

They do still have a spot in PvE meta, and in the very very high end of it. A group with no warrior is losing SO much dps. Pretty much every speedclear group/record run grp has a PS warrior. Just because you can’t stack the class and be as effective anymore, it doesn’t mean that they moved to a lower end on the current meta. They were a joke class before the several nerfs.

Edit: I won’t comment on WvW zerg, cause there’s no meta for it. It is a zerg-fest, with the team with the most numbers being the winner. 95% of the encounters are fully 1sided. Plus it’s open world. None can tell you to go away because you do not fit in the “meta” lol….

Yelloweyedemon.2860:

Edit: I won’t comment on WvW zerg, cause there’s no meta for it. It is a zerg-fest, with the team with the most numbers being the winner. 95% of the encounters are fully 1sided. Plus it’s open world. None can tell you to go away because you do not fit in the “meta” lol….

The WvW zerg/raid meta has always been GWEN (Guardians, Warriors, Elementalists, Necros). Warriors roll quick breathing for rapid condi clear and shouts, usually 0/0/5/6/3. Sw+wh/Hammer and Soldier gear. That is the typical warrior frontline meta.

@Yelloweyedemon.2860

Warrior DPS was always on the lower side. People just stacked them because it was stupidly easy to play(self buffing and stuff). If people knew back then how high ele and thief DPS was with the right builds and might stacking, warrior would have been less popular and complained about. They can kiss Anets feet for the banner buff too, that and phalanx(I know some guilds still don’t like this) is what keeps them in the meta.

If we are talking about solo, then yes they got hit pretty hard with GS nerfs.

Thaddeus.4891:

Yelloweyedemon.2860:

Thaddeus.4891:

They are still part of the meta in WvW Zerg and PvE, but they are on the lower end. Where they struggle a bit in sPvP/roaming, but they are not useless neither.

Can you please explain the part that I highlighted?!

How can a class be on a lower end, especially in PvE, when it is desired in pretty much every speeclear/record run group?!

In PvE they used to be a big source of damage as well as buffing, now I consider them on the lower end of the meta because they are there only because of their banner.

Aha.
On the lower end of the meta?
There are 8 different classes and 3 classes are always part of a meta group. Warrior, Ele, Thief.
The 5 other classes are only used if they are need for some special reason.
And now tell me why the kitten warrior should be at the lower end of the meta?
Because you don’t bring them for dps?
Guess what, neither Mesmers,Guardians,Engineers,Necromancers nor Rangers are brought because of the ability to deal dps.
You bring them because of their special “support role” at the same way you bring a warrior because of his special support role with the difference that you need this support all the time.

Yelloweyedemon.2860:

Warriors were ridiculously strong before the several nerfs. No a class should not have the best support and one of the best dps in the game. If you were at launch you would know how terrible it was. 4/5 warrs per group just facetanking – facerolling everything.

They do still have a spot in PvE meta, and in the very very high end of it. A group with no warrior is losing SO much dps. Pretty much every speedclear group/record run grp has a PS warrior. Just because you can’t stack the class and be as effective anymore, it doesn’t mean that they moved to a lower end on the current meta. They were a joke class before the several nerfs.

Edit: I won’t comment on WvW zerg, cause there’s no meta for it. It is a zerg-fest, with the team with the most numbers being the winner. 95% of the encounters are fully 1sided. Plus it’s open world. None can tell you to go away because you do not fit in the “meta” lol….

First I want to make myself clear, I DON’T WANT the warrior to get back to what it was before stacking 4 of them. I didn’t say that they were on the lower end of the meta and its a bad thing. I think its a good thing. They are now on par with Guardian and Mesmer. Let me rephrase it. Warrior is on the middle lie of the warrior. Under Ele and Thief, but still higher than Mesmer and Guardian. It think its better that way. But just to be clear, its wasn’t a comment about the Warrior needing a buff or something like that. I think we both know the right situation of the warrior, just not saying it with the same word.

For your comment on PS Warrior. No record run bring PS Warrior as far as i’m concern. Don’t get me wrong PS warrior is so nice to have, especially in fractal. But in record run, its usually the Ele that bring the might and the warrior run the typical dps build. Its mostly because ele can bring the team at 25 stack just before the fight on a boss so they can burst him down quickly. In speed run they usually blast on the boss while he’s still green.

For WvW, I don’t talk about pugs. I’m talking about guild run, nobody care what you bring in a pug zerg. But in an organized guild group that will fight other organized guild group or fight pugs zerg 2 or 3 times larger then them, its were its important.

dominik.9721:

Aha.
On the lower end of the meta?
There are 8 different classes and 3 classes are always part of a meta group. Warrior, Ele, Thief.
The 5 other classes are only used if they are need for some special reason.
And now tell me why the kitten warrior should be at the lower end of the meta?
Because you don’t bring them for dps?
Guess what, neither Mesmers,Guardians,Engineers,Necromancers nor Rangers are brought because of the ability to deal dps.
You bring them because of their special “support role” at the same way you bring a warrior because of his special support role with the difference that you need this support all the time.

Elementalist is the only profession you really bring into the party for its dps. Ya thief have a better single target dps, but that doesn’t include Ice Bow. Without the stealth, we would not see as much thief in speed run. I consider Ele, Thief, Warrior, Guardian and Mesmer into the meta because they all bring something specific in the party that can help it go faster. Ranger and Engineer are good, but fall between two stools, they are good in speed run, but don’t bring something that another profession can’t bring better and that’s why you never see them in record runs, while necro well, its necro.

Even w/o stealth, thief has its place. Superior single target and does more damage with the ice bow anyway..also pistol #4 to deal with defiance quickly.

Look at iV’s records. All of them used PS warrior.
This allows your ele’s to go with Scholar runes and both run staff.
Also warrior stacks might much faster in combat then ele’s do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aap1LeSm5Fg

Hell, even goku used PS for a duo lupi with an ele.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4ekUvFEYkU

Acotje.5689:

Even w/o stealth, thief has its place. Superior single target and does more damage with the ice bow anyway..also pistol #4 to deal with defiance quickly.

Look at iV’s records. All of them used PS warrior.
This allows your ele’s to go with Scholar runes and both run staff.
Also warrior stacks might much faster in combat then ele’s do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aap1LeSm5Fg

Hell, even goku used PS for a duo lupi with an ele.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4ekUvFEYkU

In the very link you provide they still use Ele to stack might at several boss. Ok you got a point, I shouldn’t have said the word ’’never’’. What ppl bring to set new records run evolve over time as ppl bring new things and try new stategy.

I was as wrong to say they never bring PS Warrior as you were wrong to say that all records run bring PS Warrior.

Should have mentioned I was talking about their recent records.
Yes, you still pre stack(so you can open with ice bows with 25 might)
But for longer fights, the might will come from the warrior.

Acotje.5689:

Should have mentioned I was talking about their recent records.
Yes, you still pre stack(so you can open with ice bows with 25 might)
But for longer fights, the might will come from the warrior.

What make sense in fractal make also sense in dungeon with longer fight, its just that there is not that much of those. Blasting might without rune of strength is still 20sec, not that many bosses can’t be burst down in 20sec (27sec with rune of strength) or less in a dungeon record runs, but you are right, they exist.

Under 20sec and you are obviously better wihtout a PS warrior, higher than 27sec and you better with a PS Warrior. It the section between 20 and 27 that is more blurry. What would be better, ele with scholar rune with a PS warrior or ele with strenght but wihtout a PS warrior.

While most of the things said so far are true I’ve been having a great deal of success running condi cheese S/S+LB in sPVP.

It is incredibly effective and only the most skilled players can take you down if you run it. It makes you very tanky, has good condi clear and allows you to wear down just about anybody.

Bunker eles will beat you or you’ll have a stalemate. That’s it as far as my personal experience goes.
Apart from that you can condi overwhelm and kill nearly anyone else.

Yelloweyedemon.2860:

Thaddeus.4891:

Yelloweyedemon.2860:

Thaddeus.4891:

They are still part of the meta in WvW Zerg and PvE, but they are on the lower end. Where they struggle a bit in sPvP/roaming, but they are not useless neither.

Can you please explain the part that I highlighted?!

How can a class be on a lower end, especially in PvE, when it is desired in pretty much every speeclear/record run group?!

They are in the META in WvW Zerg and PvE, but in the lower end. As in the lower end of the meta.

In PvE they used to be a big source of damage as well as buffing, now I consider them on the lower end of the meta because they are there only because of their banner.

Warriors were ridiculously strong before the several nerfs. No a class should not have the best support and one of the best dps in the game. If you were at launch you would know how terrible it was. 4/5 warrs per group just facetanking – facerolling everything.

They do still have a spot in PvE meta, and in the very very high end of it. A group with no warrior is losing SO much dps. Pretty much every speedclear group/record run grp has a PS warrior. Just because you can’t stack the class and be as effective anymore, it doesn’t mean that they moved to a lower end on the current meta. They were a joke class before the several nerfs.

Edit: I won’t comment on WvW zerg, cause there’s no meta for it. It is a zerg-fest, with the team with the most numbers being the winner. 95% of the encounters are fully 1sided. Plus it’s open world. None can tell you to go away because you do not fit in the “meta” lol….

You have a very limited understanding of the game at launch.

Most classes ran warrior at the start not because of best dps but because people didn’t know their class, the encounter and didn’t have the proper gear.

That meant staying alive and staying alive was also easier to do on Warriors and Guardians. That’s why most classes were left aside in favor of these two classes.

The general consensus was stack wars and guards and it’ll all be good.

Not because of how strong the class was – but because it was easier to stay alive with it – which was priority #1 as far as 90% of groups went.

Stacking warriors was never – and I repeat * NEVER* a good idea except for groups that had NO idea what they were doing.

Thaddeus.4891:

Yelloweyedemon.2860:

Warriors were ridiculously strong before the several nerfs. No a class should not have the best support and one of the best dps in the game. If you were at launch you would know how terrible it was. 4/5 warrs per group just facetanking – facerolling everything.

They do still have a spot in PvE meta, and in the very very high end of it. A group with no warrior is losing SO much dps. Pretty much every speedclear group/record run grp has a PS warrior. Just because you can’t stack the class and be as effective anymore, it doesn’t mean that they moved to a lower end on the current meta. They were a joke class before the several nerfs.

Edit: I won’t comment on WvW zerg, cause there’s no meta for it. It is a zerg-fest, with the team with the most numbers being the winner. 95% of the encounters are fully 1sided. Plus it’s open world. None can tell you to go away because you do not fit in the “meta” lol….

First I want to make myself clear, I DON’T WANT the warrior to get back to what it was before stacking 4 of them. I didn’t say that they were on the lower end of the meta and its a bad thing. I think its a good thing. They are now on par with Guardian and Mesmer. Let me rephrase it. Warrior is on the middle lie of the warrior. Under Ele and Thief, but still higher than Mesmer and Guardian. It think its better that way. But just to be clear, its wasn’t a comment about the Warrior needing a buff or something like that. I think we both know the right situation of the warrior, just not saying it with the same word.

For your comment on PS Warrior. No record run bring PS Warrior as far as i’m concern. Don’t get me wrong PS warrior is so nice to have, especially in fractal. But in record run, its usually the Ele that bring the might and the warrior run the typical dps build. Its mostly because ele can bring the team at 25 stack just before the fight on a boss so they can burst him down quickly. In speed run they usually blast on the boss while he’s still green.

For WvW, I don’t talk about pugs. I’m talking about guild run, nobody care what you bring in a pug zerg. But in an organized guild group that will fight other organized guild group or fight pugs zerg 2 or 3 times larger then them, its were its important.

dominik.9721:

Aha.
On the lower end of the meta?
There are 8 different classes and 3 classes are always part of a meta group. Warrior, Ele, Thief.
The 5 other classes are only used if they are need for some special reason.
And now tell me why the kitten warrior should be at the lower end of the meta?
Because you don’t bring them for dps?
Guess what, neither Mesmers,Guardians,Engineers,Necromancers nor Rangers are brought because of the ability to deal dps.
You bring them because of their special “support role” at the same way you bring a warrior because of his special support role with the difference that you need this support all the time.

Elementalist is the only profession you really bring into the party for its dps. Ya thief have a better single target dps, but that doesn’t include Ice Bow. Without the stealth, we would not see as much thief in speed run. I consider Ele, Thief, Warrior, Guardian and Mesmer into the meta because they all bring something specific in the party that can help it go faster. Ranger and Engineer are good, but fall between two stools, they are good in speed run, but don’t bring something that another profession can’t bring better and that’s why you never see them in record runs, while necro well, its necro.

If you have a PS warrior on the group, it means that the ele or eles can run staff/scholar and maximize dps. Speedclear groups should not have eles with strength runes, it’s a waste of dps.

Also indeed, the only class that is in the meta only due to their dps is Ele. Grd is there for support, thief for stealth, and single target dps, and warrior and ranger, for the flat dps increase to the group. The rest 3 classes are very rarely part of anything. Engi has good things, but I would rather have a 2nd ele or a ranger than an engi. Mesmer is guardian alternative (yeah I know that record groups might bring one for portal cause they want to finish some seconds earlier but…) and necro is out of the question anyways.

If such thing as “low end of meta” exists, the warrior is far far away from it. It has been and always will be a must have class in a speedclear group. That takes the class to the top tier of meta.

Yelloweyedemon.2860:

If you have a PS warrior on the group, it means that the ele or eles can run staff/scholar and maximize dps. Speedclear groups should not have eles with strength runes, it’s a waste of dps.

Also indeed, the only class that is in the meta only due to their dps is Ele. Grd is there for support, thief for stealth, and single target dps, and warrior and ranger, for the flat dps increase to the group. The rest 3 classes are very rarely part of anything. Engi has good things, but I would rather have a 2nd ele or a ranger than an engi. Mesmer is guardian alternative (yeah I know that record groups might bring one for portal cause they want to finish some seconds earlier but…) and necro is out of the question anyways.

If such thing as “low end of meta” exists, the warrior is far far away from it. It has been and always will be a must have class in a speedclear group. That takes the class to the top tier of meta.

I already changed my stance to that the warrior is in the middle of the meta, so we can argue semantic as much as you want, I already change my point so I don’t know why you repeat it here? We still have the same understanding of the role of the warrior. You almost always have a Warrior in your group (I think I only saw 1 record run without a warrior and it was AC path 2 if I remember) it was just the way I said it.

Bringing a PS Warrior so that ele can all bring Staff is partially true. It depend on the situation. Have a PS warrior with only staff ele is good, but not in all situation. In a typical casual speed run ya, but when your group is able to kill most boss under 20sec, there is no point of having a PS Warrior. Especially when the boss is green when you stack on him or you have to wait for the boss. Ele will stack might before the fight and burst the boss with Lighting storm and Icebow before their might will drop anyway. It depend on what you are doing exactly.

Anyway, the point of the post was the state of the Warrior and for PvE its in the meta. 1 Warrior should always be in a party in 99% of the time. Its in a good place where ever you put it in the meta. Where exactly he is in the meta is pointless at this point.