Guild Wars 2

Several Warrior traits and builds are kind of “Must use for X”, this destroys sync and balance for most weapons, and most warriors probably wish they should be able to use things for all weapons.

So… I will start a list..

Strength:
X: Axe Mastery – rename to “Weapon Mastery”
Improves All Weapons Critical Damage by 10%.

IX: Slashing Power – rename to “Weapon Power”
All Weapons Damage is improved by 5%.
(not a nerf, because it was 10%, but only worked for GS, If you switch weapons, you still get 5% from it.)

Arms:
X: Forceful Greatsword – rename to “Forceful Strikes.”
Gain Might on a Critical hit.
Increases animation speed of all weapons by 20%.

VIII: Blackmaster -
Increases Critical Chance by 10%.

VII: Crack Shot -
Rifle/Longbow/Speargun shots pierce/skills are reset 20% More.

There are several more I want to work on, but basicly changing it so all things work for all weapons, but nerfed slightly or buffed slightly.

I think the current idea is to swap around traits, the war you suggest it would mean you set things once then never touch it again.

Would also like to see longbow range to be 1200 by default and not require a whole slot for the reach extend.

…or at least merge the longbow range and the +10% longbow dmg against burning target into one single trait.

What you’ve proposed would dumb down our current traits and give us even less options to choose from. Its quite possible with many builds to keep the build and just change major traits depending on your weapon choice if you feel that the three silver fifty copper is too much cost for you when you want to change your primary weapon to something different.

Apos.5184:

Would also like to see longbow range to be 1200 by default and not require a whole slot for the reach extend.

It is absurd that Warrior’s Longbow and Thief’s Shortbow share the same range, though there is the aoe Shortbow attack that has 1200 range, so technically the Shortbow thief actually has more range.

Apos.5184:

…or at least merge the longbow range and the +10% longbow dmg against burning target into one single trait.

+10% damage against burning targets is a near useless trait and should be changed.

Varyag.3751:

+10% damage against burning targets is a near useless trait and should be changed.

That’s not true from a PvE stand point, where the main target will have all of the possible conditions on it 24/7, it’s practically a 10% damage increase.

The downside is that dual shot plainly sucks. Longbow warriors could use a couple tweaks and we will make awesome and unique archers who fill a different niche compared to the rangers. (we already do, but we are gimmicky at that)

From a PvP stand point, it is bad,unless they increase the burning debuff time of our skills.

I hope that these tweaks happen, because the longbow skills are much more appealing to me in theory than the ranger ones. In practice though, they lack the right numbers.

Apos.5184:

That’s not true from a PvE stand point, where the main target will have all of the possible conditions on it 24/7, it’s practically a 10% damage increase.

Maybe I should expand on what I mean’t. Compare “Burning Arrows” with the other master level tactics traits: “Shrug It Off”, “Lung Capacity” and “Quick Breathing”. Very quickly you’ll note that it is far less useful considering other options. Ranger master level marksmanship trait called “Eagle Eye” includes a boost to range and a 5% damage boost, without requiring targets to be burning or without two trait slots used.

I’m not saying Warrior requires archery equal to that of the Ranger – but the current Longbow traits for Warrior are some of the few things very wrong with this awesome profession.

Honestly, you say its dumping down, but most classes are like this, traits arn’t meant to be switched around.

If you merged some of these traits and made them useful for all weapons, its BETTER overall for the balance of the game. (Hey I can now use axes because they give me might!) ect ect….

But it offers more playstyle choices AND better traits to be made for the future.

Daecollo.9578:

traits arn’t meant to be switched around.

If that were so, we wouldn’t have the option to do it.

I see what Daecollo is getting at and I am in agreement. The warrior currently is pick a weapon and pick the major traits you want for the weapon. If you’re using a GS you’re going to be running Forceful Greatsword etc. Making the traits general and not dependent on a specific weapon allows more room to use the weapon you enjoy using for your playstyle. It looks like a dumbing down of the Major Traits, but I honestly think it’ll allow more choices as you now have a larger pool of Major Traits to think and pick from and then a weapon to choose. Do you value max damage % or higher crit damage? Might on attack or vulnerability? As it stands most of the weapons have a linear trait choice due to Major traits being specifically tailored for a specific weapon. Power, Precision, Tactics – GS Warrior is most likely going to have the exact same traits as another other P/P/T – GS Warrior looking for highest potential DPS with signets or shouts.

I see what Daecollo is getting at and I am in agreement. The warrior currently is pick a weapon and pick the major traits you want for the weapon. If you’re using a GS you’re going to be running Forceful Greatsword etc. Making the traits general and not dependent on a specific weapon allows more room to use the weapon you enjoy using for your playstyle. It looks like a dumbing down of the Major Traits, but I honestly think it’ll allow more choices as you now have a larger pool of Major Traits to think and pick from and then a weapon to choose. Do you value max damage % or higher crit damage? Might on attack or vulnerability? As it stands most of the weapons have a linear trait choice due to Major traits being specifically tailored for a specific weapon. Power, Precision, Tactics – GS Warrior is most likely going to have the exact same traits as another other P/P/T – GS Warrior looking for highest potential DPS with signets or shouts.

Not just that… with the traits being synced up, you could also add more traits to make up the difference and add a unique touch.

“Sharpened Axes” – Change to “Killing Intent”
Your Melee Attacks Gain Adrenaline. (instead of just Axes.)

“Stronger Bowstrings” – Change to “Reach”
Increases Range of All Weapons and skills and shouts by 15%.
(Just make long bows shoot longer by default, its a long bow.)

“Sundering Mace” – Change to “Sunder!”
Attacks with the Main-hand weapon have a chance to to cause 1 second of weakness on a critical hit, this can only happen once every second. (So hammers do not get disadvantaged.)

“Merciless Hammer” – Change to “No Mercy”
Attacks on knocked down foes ignore their defenses and deals 5% more damage.

“Blunt Weapon Master” – Change to “Armored Hulk”
Reduces cool-downs on all Weapon Skills by 10% and reduces damage done to the warrior by 5%.

You have to remember, these traits were previously chosen on a per-weapon basis. A lot of the “(x) weapon recieves (y)” traits could have been chosen for each individual weapon but the player would have forgone more general (and possibly more effective) traits for a particular build.

The Warrior was hurt the most by the trait system change from weapon to character because of his early design and how they worked traits into each weapon. This would have meant that classes like the Warrior had more customization than other classes that didn’t have nearly as many weapons to choose from.

I’m not saying the current trait system is bad. Its actually a step-up from where the previous configuration was (before BWEs). It’s not without its flaws, however, and the Warrior feels the hurt more than anyone else. He’s a class designed to use many different weapons with a trait system designed to pigeonhole you into using only a couple.