Guild Wars 2

I have a GS warrior with 3k toughness and rest zerker gear with 0/0/30/30/10 build and healing signet. My other weapon is a LB. I ran into other players in several occasions in WvW for 1v1 duel. Long story short… my goodness, how do you do it? First of all, it’s difficult to hit them with skill 1. And even when I’m hitting them, I’m doing pathetic damage even with fury + 8 stacks of might (from elite signet and “for great justice”). Skill #2,4, and 5 are basically useless and skill #3 seems to be very situational; often times I use #3, only to find myself being kited afterwards because the skill moves me too far from the target.

Now, I also have a guardian with similar stats with 0/10/30/30/0 running GS as well. The difference in what I can do on my guardian over warrior is night and day. Firstly, ALL of my Guardian GS skills are useful. I find myself using #2,3,4,and 5 whenever they’re off cooldown. I can bring my target down MUCH faster on my guardian even though both my guard and war have similar gear/stats. And to add to the injury, guards’ #1 does more damage than war’s #1.

Am I doing something wrong? I definitely don’t consider myself a pro, but things are literally faceroll on my guardian. On my warrior? facepalm. To those who run GS in PvP/WvW, how do you guys do it? Have you tried GS guardian? I keep hearing about this warrior doing great damage, but I’m definitely not seeing it. I’d say the only thing my warrior is better at than my guardian is running away from a fight (with #3 and 5).

Guardian gs has highter dmg output and scales better with power, also has a synergy between skills

Warrior gs is a pve tool to running away, has weak aa, 2 is useless if u wont bring any cc’s, 3 is mostly used as extra dodge or gap closer, 4 is pratically dogable with closed eyes and 5 never lands..F1 is a joke so heres ur answer. Thats said i laugh everytime i take someone down with gs+rifle..

Also u want to take a look on this;

*Strike – Damage: 296 (0.8)
*Greatsword swing – Damage: 259 (0.7), Vulnerability: 8 s
…
*Wrathful Strike – Damage: 443 (1.2), Might: 5 s
*Brutal Strike – Damage: 333 (0.9)

Result: Guardian AA is definitely stronger than warrior, and im not sure if vul stacks will ever make up for that. Lets continue:

*Whirling Wrath – Damage (9x): 1,251, Combo Finisher: Whirl,

Also has a chance to hit mid range targets (600meters), mobile at reduced speed on 3/4 casttime

*Hundren blades – Damage (8x): 1,624 Final strike damage: 406

Immobile on 3.25 casttime

Result; while everyone says HB is a high risk high reward skill offering massive dps i completely can’t agree on that one. Its do provide high dps but over time. But what if there was no cd on those abilities?

-1 casttime of HB is equal to 4 (rounding up) Whirling Wraths for a total 5004 damage. But thats not everything

-“The spin hits 7 times and throws 7 projectiles, for a total of 14 possible hits on a single target”

-Standing inside ur enemy actually doubles damage making it on par with HB, but unlike HB casttime last olny 3/4sec making HB a pretty poor skill in comprasion. Yet making HB mobile would be OP? Lets continue:

*Leap of Faith – Damage: 406 (1.1), Blind: 3 s, Combo Finisher: Leap, Range: 600
*Whirlwind Attack – Damage: 259 (0.7), Combo Finisher: Whirl, Evade: 3/4 s, Range: 450

for Leap:
-reliable damage
-blind
-better scaling with power
-15cd.

For whirl:
-unreliable damage
-damage while evading
-worse scaling with power

Result; i olny compared utilities as both of these skills has different job to do. Is there a point to continue? I don’t think so.

*Bladetrail – Damage: 277 (0.75), Crippled: 4 s (can be counted as 2x), Combo Finisher: Physical Projectile, Range: 900

A slow projectile to slow down enemy. How ironic inst it? Current problem is that in many cases projectile doesnt return as its getting obstructed on terrain, is fairy easy to avoid just by running in circles…

*Symbol of Wrath – Damage (5x): 925 (2.75), Retaliation: 1 s (x5), Combo Field: Light

Nice combo right here, lay down a symbol and use whirling wrath to clean conditions, after that leap for addiotional 5s of retal, just to make life easier. Damage wise+utility? No commend.

*Binding Blade – aoe pull, if not used dealing damage over time
*Rush – everyone knows.

In terms of utility guardian gs wins hands down
In terms of mobility warrior gs wins without a doubt
In terms of power scaling? Obviously guardian gs.
In terms of synergy? Guardian gs without a doubt.
In terms of damage? I vote for guardian gs. Where do u place ur vote?

I do know that warrior gs has a trait for might on crit, but due to it low power scaling is not all that great as it seems to be, at the same time guardian can trait to heal per strike of gs.

Thanks for the reply. Numbers also seem to suggest warrior GS is inferior to guardian GS. So then, for all those running warrior GS in WvW or PvP, why?

the greatsword on the warrior is used in pve with traits that allow it to generate short stacks of might on critical hits. so by using rapid attacks on large groups of mobs you can sustain quite a few stacks of might.

this makes the greatsword an incredible weapon for organized dungeon groups.

the problem is a lot of people can’t seem to differentiate between optimal for pve and optimal for pvp.

why complain about it though, just a free kill for you. and if you want to have a cowardly run away troll build, well its there for you if you want to go down that route.

BAEK.8561:

Thanks for the reply. Numbers also seem to suggest warrior GS is inferior to guardian GS. So then, for all those running warrior GS in WvW or PvP, why?

Because GS has mobility, and melee weapons outside 130 range do 0 DPS.

Pretty much the only to reliably win a fight with GS is run sword and Flurry/Immob Cancel to 100b, Skullcrack 100b, bullsrush 100b, bola 100b….. seeing a pattern here?

Dand.8231:

BAEK.8561:

Thanks for the reply. Numbers also seem to suggest warrior GS is inferior to guardian GS. So then, for all those running warrior GS in WvW or PvP, why?

Because GS has mobility, and melee weapons outside 130 range do 0 DPS.

Pretty much the only to reliably win a fight with GS is run sword and Flurry/Immob Cancel to 100b, Skullcrack 100b, bullsrush 100b, bola 100b….. seeing a pattern here?

Hm..nope, also u should know that hb inst all that much stronger than aa as some ppl claims it to be. In dps wise:

2030 for hb
1702 aa over over the same time

Every GS ability for Warr is useful, you just gotta know how and when to use it.

Normally 100b is hard to land since you’re rooted so you try an combo a stun or knockdown into a 100b. Even if you can only get 2-3 strikes off its a decent amount of damage.

The GS really shines when it comes to mobility, when coupled with Mobile Strikes you have 2 snare removals (Whirlwind and Rush)

Check out this clip I captured last night, this shows how I utilize the GS to get away just enough to reset the fight (the small amount of time in between fighting may not seem much, but remember with healing signet you should always be getting that passive regen)

http://www.twitch.tv/attack__attack/c/3235094

When it comes to dueling or 1v1 and landing the f1 abilities (or any ability for that matter) you’re going to have a harder time. If the enemy knows what they are doing, they will be avoiding your stuns/knockdowns at all costs. The key here is figuring out the combos the enemy is trying to get on you and then counter with your combos. The goal is to figure this out and be successful before you get burned down.

In your case you’re using LB so instead of a stun/knockdown you’ll want to use Pin Down -> 100b combo. If you’re not in melee range.. Pin Down -> Rush -> 100b

Scoobaniec.9561:

Hm..nope, also u should know that hb inst all that much stronger than aa as some ppl claims it to be. In dps wise:

2030 for hb
1702 aa over over the same time

Yes, but that’s only raw DPS.
The increased number of hits during that small time frame helps stack a little extra might which also adds DPS, helps proc on-crit sigils for extra DPS, and helps recharge spent adrenaline a little faster.

Also, humorously enough, the reputation of 100b makes most players immediately switch to a defensive mindset as it’s going off.

Dand.8231:

Scoobaniec.9561:

Hm..nope, also u should know that hb inst all that much stronger than aa as some ppl claims it to be. In dps wise:

2030 for hb
1702 aa over over the same time

Yes, but that’s only raw DPS.
The increased number of hits during that small time frame helps stack a little extra might which also adds DPS, helps proc on-crit sigils for extra DPS, and helps recharge spent adrenaline a little faster.

Also, humorously enough, the reputation of 100b makes most players immediately switch to a defensive mindset as it’s going off.

If both were at 100% crit chance, thats olny 2 might difference (70power) and since gs scales poory with power..its not all that much. Why olny 2? Last the stronger strike ending combo.. I agree on part about defensive mindset tho..ppl goes crazy when they see big numbers. And thats where the “mobile hb would be op” thing comes into mind, but i actually know that even if hb was mobile its would be still useless (look whirling axe) without cc.

AttackAttack.8917:

Every GS ability for Warr is useful, you just gotta know how and when to use it.

Gotta disagree here somehow;
-HB (will explain below)
-Bladetrail hits olny close range enemies, anyone with iq over 5 knows to run in circles to avoid it.
-Rush is good for running away, but not so much to actually deal damage.
-F1 is useless

AttackAttack.8917:

Normally 100b is hard to land since you’re rooted so you try an combo a stun or knockdown into a 100b. Even if you can only get 2-3 strikes off its a decent amount of damage.

Too bad gs doesnt have a cc skill on its own so its has to come from other source such as offset/utility. Sorry but a bad desing is bad, and forcing to use weapon ppl might not like is just wrong. A weapon should be viable on its own, a offset can improve the main weapon, but making a offset following the rule “i must have it in order to make gs viable” is just wrong. Again..bad desing is bad

You can play GS alone.

Here are some things I might have discovered in spvp:

First: use Sigil of Fire. Adds spike to a spike-less weapon.

Second: The two best traits for damage are precision and critical damage. As many said, GS doesn’t benefit much from power. I don’t know how this is possible, but you gain more with crits. Probably because reliable crits are more important when you have to pressure down someone. Higher random spikes mean the enemy will have to go on the defense sooner. I tried a might-stacking tank build, which on paper did good damage, but was pretty underwhelming in combat.

Third: Use autoattack. It’s strong. You need to learn how to move in order to keep in range (you can use dodges as mini gap-closers… then prepare for pain, but you are a war after all), but that can really net impressive pressure.

Fourth: Get +% damage traits. If power is underwhelming, these won’t fail. IMHO they are more important than cooldown reduction.

Fifth: Try to use rush at close range for a pretty good spike and Whirlwind if you want to start defensively and aggresively, or when an enemy is running away from you in a straight line.

This stuff might be all wrong, I’m not that expert, after all.

Scoobaniec.9561:

Too bad gs doesnt have a cc skill on its own so its has to come from other source such as offset/utility. Sorry but a bad desing is bad, and forcing to use weapon ppl might not like is just wrong. A weapon should be viable on its own, a offset can improve the main weapon, but making a offset following the rule “i must have it in order to make gs viable” is just wrong. Again..bad desing is bad

Except it does, Bladetrail. If you can bladetrail someone while in melee range you can easily get 2-3 strikes in. I put Sigil of Hydromancy on my GS to get even more (maybe 1 more strike).

Bladetrail has a 900 range. Sure the further the enemy the more likely you are to miss which brings me back to “Every GS ability for Warr is useful, you just gotta know how and when to use it.”

You’re saying that GS is bad design because of what it can’t do while ignoring what it can do. The mobility and gap closing ability of the GS is amazing and it is capable of insane amounts of dmg with 100b. This same mobility doubles as escapes for the warrior since Rush and Whirlwind do not require a target.

If more CC is added to the GS it would completely OP, why would you need any other weapon set?

I suppose agree to disagree. For me, the hammer does not make GS viable but rather the GS makes the hammer viable. Hammer has very little mobility (earthshaker LOL), so if it weren’t for the GS I would never be able to pressure people with the hammer.

AttackAttack.8917:

Scoobaniec.9561:

Too bad gs doesnt have a cc skill on its own so its has to come from other source such as offset/utility. Sorry but a bad desing is bad, and forcing to use weapon ppl might not like is just wrong. A weapon should be viable on its own, a offset can improve the main weapon, but making a offset following the rule “i must have it in order to make gs viable” is just wrong. Again..bad desing is bad

Except it does, Bladetrail. If you can bladetrail someone while in melee range you can easily get 2-3 strikes in. I put Sigil of Hydromancy on my GS to get even more (maybe 1 more strike).

You’re saying that GS is bad design because of what it can’t do while ignoring what it can do. The mobility and gap closing ability of the GS is amazing and it is capable of insane amounts of dmg with 100b. This same mobility doubles as escapes for the warrior since Rush and Whirlwind do not require a target.

If more CC is added to the GS it would completely OP, why would you need any other weapon set?

Yes it has high mobility and i know it, but it doesnt change the fact that gs is a pve tool to running away and some rework should be done

I think i can use axe/shield+sword/sword. 2 nice blocks, 2x spike, mobility? In combat far better than gs due to reliable gap clsoer called savage leap, ofc at running way its will be worse i agree..

And 100b inst any insane damage as u claims it to be, everything on warrior will do huge amount of damage in 3sec, evi does insane damage in a short time, while hb is down to press cc skill>swap>press 2, go make a coffee. Axe 1 can do the same “insane” damage with no cd. But ive actually said that gs aa inst far behind hb.
And i think bladetrail was supposed to be used at range+ im not sure how u can get more than 2x strikes regularly?

If you don’t prefer GS fine but don’t label it a PVE weapon because you’re bad with it. There are countless warriors running GS and do great with it in pvp. Not to mention this thread was created asking for advice on how to use the GS properly, you’ve provided very little in that regard.

Scoobaniec.9561:

And 100b inst any insane damage as u claims it to be, everything on warrior will do huge amount of damage in 3sec, evi does insane damage in a short time, while hb is down to press cc skill>swap>press 2, go make a coffee. Axe 1 can do the same “insane” damage with no cd. But ive actually said that gs aa inst far behind hb.
And i think bladetrail was supposed to be used at range+ im not sure how u can get more than 2x strikes regularly?

I feel like you don’t even play warrior. The only other weapon that comes close to 100b damage is Axe with Eviscerate (which is probably the worst pvp weapon, 1 trick pony).

Sword – very little burst/spike dmg and comes from Final Thrust when < 50% HP

Mace – No burst or high dmg at all

LB – Decent burst but not comparable to full 100b

Rifle – Kill shot can do amazing damage but the cast time makes this ability next to worthless for small fights (zerg vs zerg you can 1 shot people because they can’t see what you’re doing in the blob)

Hammer – Has good spike damage, but it takes all abilities to come close to the full dmg of 100b

Shield – OH weapon, provides a stun and block, no burst.

So again, no. Not every weapon for warrior can do crazy damage in 3 seconds, you’re clearly misinformed.

I’ll say it again: 100b is (almost) useless, GS is awesome.

I can agree with that statement, 100b will typically not be your primary damage dealing ability (unless you catch the enemy off guard and can land a full duration 100b).

GS is awesome

Thanks guys for your input.

Now, for all you guys saying GS is awesome, just curious, have you guys tried GS on guardian? Not to make this into a class comparison thread, but I just simply don’t see what a GS warrior brings to the table that GS guardian doesn’t (except mobility). GS guardian dishes out so much more damage than my GS warrior that I’m thinking of retiring my warrior in favor of my guardian. But before I do so, I thought I’d ask for final input in this regard, before I officially retire a character I invested in so much.

I don’t understand most people always think of landing a full 100B. GS 100B is great even if it hit for 2 to 3 strike. WW enough said, evade plus gap closer best used after you cast 100B.

Even way before patch, I never expect Rush to deal damage but used is as a gap closer to add on pressure. Best used before Blade trail.

Guardian GS wise is the synergy is more to utility but actual combat harder to add on pressure due to little mobility compared to warrior GS.

I do a lot of WvW roaming with my GS/LB warrior. But Im running a completely different build: 0/30/20/0/20 with knights armor and berserker trinkets. Furious + LB burst let you generate adrenaline VERY fast.

Landing a full HB is somewhere between 10k – 18k damage. So if you manage to land a full HB, the fight is usually won. With Bolas and Pin Down I have 2 x immob on 20s and 25s cooldown. People tend to throw their stunbreaker when they are unable to move and get HBed, so immob works quite nice. But dont expect a half decent enemy to be that stupid.

But even when you cannot land HB you can effectively stack some heavy burning via WW + Bladetrail through your fire field.

GS isnt the greatest in combat weapon on earth, but its a great weapon for WvW because you can travel around really fast + GS5 is a great escape tool when you are outmanned which happens quite often.

BAEK.8561:

And even when I’m hitting them, I’m doing pathetic damage even with fury + 8 stacks of might (from elite signet and “for great justice”). Skill #2,4, and 5 are basically useless and skill #3 seems to be very situational; often times I use #3, only to find myself being kited afterwards because the skill moves me too far from the target.

You have to use some form of CC to land #2. 100b does the most damage with the last hit, so you have to land the whole chain to dish out some serious damage. Bladetrail #4 can hit 2-3 x for 3k+ damage so I wont tell this useless. WW is great in 3 ways: its a gap closer, it deals decent damage and its an evade. So you can use it both for evading strong attacks + damaging your opponent. After using WW you have to immidiately use Bladetrail or switch to LB. You cannot be kited by anyone because with LB in your second slot you can deal damage from almost any position. Plus you heal up with Healing Signet every second you opponent kites you / deals no damage to you.

OP, if you are primarily zerging, run hammer with sword/warhorn on switich.
If you are small group (2-5 man) or solo roaming, use this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r4E9N50lTs

Anyhow, the key to using GS is immersion – always put yourself in the thick of things to not only test your build, but your player abilities and decision making.

As someone said earlier, simply activating 100b forces most people instantly into a defensive mindset. That said even if you don’t land a single hit of 100b it can still be used as a psychological tool to force your opponent into a predictable counter which you can then punish with something else.

Any player making enough poor decisions over the course of the fight is going to lose that fight.

Scoobaniec.9561:

If both were at 100% crit chance, thats olny 2 might difference (70power) and since gs scales poory with power..its not all that much. Why olny 2? Last the stronger strike ending combo.. I agree on part about defensive mindset tho..ppl goes crazy when they see big numbers. And thats where the “mobile hb would be op” thing comes into mind, but i actually know that even if hb was mobile its would be still useless (look whirling axe) without cc.

I disagree. If 100b were mobile, like whirling wrath, I think it’d help out.

Scoobaniec.9561:

Gotta disagree here somehow;
-HB (will explain below)
-Bladetrail hits olny close range enemies, anyone with iq over 5 knows to run in circles to avoid it.
-Rush is good for running away, but not so much to actually deal damage.
-F1 is useless

Too bad gs doesnt have a cc skill on its own so its has to come from other source such as offset/utility. Sorry but a bad desing is bad, and forcing to use weapon ppl might not like is just wrong. A weapon should be viable on its own, a offset can improve the main weapon, but making a offset following the rule “i must have it in order to make gs viable” is just wrong. Again..bad desing is bad

I agree with you on 100b. It should be viable own it’s own. It’s currently not,

I also agree with you on BladeTrail. On paper, it looks good, throw your sword out to 900, cripple, and it even comes back for a second hit! If it worked exactly like that, it’d be pretty darn solid. Except, it doesnt.

Why Bladetrail looks awesome, but actually sucks
1. First off, the casttime/animation is slooow. The primary reason to use it, is outside 130 range, and within 900 range, which means opponents have a bit of extra reaction time. It’s easily dodged, and can even be sidestepped. It’s highly telegraphed.

2. The projectile-sword-throw is sloooow. The slow travel time means, that by the time it reaches 900 range, your opponent has continued to move further away, and may be outside the maximum range. When you’re chasing an opponent with swiftness, or with any kind of movement ability, it only travels slightly faster, than you or your foe, and thus the range feels more like 400-450.

3. The projectile sometimes doesn’t feel like coming back. If it hits anything, a wall, stairs, even a tiny rock, it vanishes and never returns. Yeah, I love having half of an already questionable ability lopped off because I’m not fighting out in a wide open, perfectly flat, field.

4. It’s just odkittenhrowing my actual sword? A magical copy of it? How do I make it return, even when it doesn’t!? And why can I keep auto-swinging while it’s flying through the air?!?! Yes, all minor complaints, it just strikes me as bizarre.

So, my suggestion for GS#4 Bladetrail? Easy.
Bladetrail: Throw your Sword, with a chain attached. If it strikes a target, the target is wrapped up, and immediately pulled in.
Faster Projectile, Range 600, Pull 450, CT 1/2, Cripples 4s, CD 16.

I don’t understand how you guys aren’t landing hundred blades if you are primary GS/X Warrior. If you use GS as a mobility tool and don’t build for it then of course you’ll never land 100b.

I run a GS/Sw/Shield build with 0/25/25/0/20 build, and using the Flurry→100b combo I always manage to land it unless they are quick with clearing it or is another Warrior with Lemongrass and Melandru runes+dogged march. In that situation I switch to using GS F1 instead, do NOT underestimate Arcing Slice, Fury is a powerful boon and combined with Signet of Rage you get perma fury. Perma fury + full 100b using Forceful Greatsword typical annihilates any class as each 100b strike gets stronger.

Remember you can ‘t slap a GS into any build and expect it to work, GS can provide extremely high damage and insane amounts of mobility. I’ve haven’t lost to a Hammer/x Warrior in a fair duel yet with this build .

Kamikazi.5380:

I don’t understand how you guys aren’t landing hundred blades if you are primary GS/X Warrior. If you use GS as a mobility tool and don’t build for it then of course you’ll never land 100b.

I run a GS/Sw/Shield build with 0/25/25/0/20 build, and using the Flurry->100b combo I always manage to land it unless they are quick with clearing it or is another Warrior with Lemongrass and Melandru runes+dogged march. In that situation I switch to using GS F1 instead, do NOT underestimate Arcing Slice, Fury is a powerful boon and combined with Signet of Rage you get perma fury. Perma fury + full 100b using Forceful Greatsword typical annihilates any class as each 100b strike gets stronger.

Remember you can ‘t slap a GS into any build and expect it to work, GS can provide extremely high damage and insane amounts of mobility. I’ve haven’t lost to a Hammer/x Warrior in a fair duel yet with this build .

I don’t land hundred blades because I don’t actually try. I love GS for other skills. 100blades can work, but it’s boring.

And it’s much more challenging killing people with autoattacks, learning to stick to them. When the enemy knows a bit what he is doing, it won’t be that easy, and gap closers won’t help you: they make you move in a straight line, so strafe is often enough to make sure the warrior doesn’t reach you.

And… well, from what you say you use that build in WvWvW. I play warrior in spvp, and IMHO things are a bit different. You can’t achieve the same excellent stat choices in spvp, and might alone does nothing for GS. I play it with 30 points in Strength, for Slashing Power and +15% damage at full adrenaline. I don’t regret it.

War greatsword is pretty much used for the mobility. With a combo such as gs and sword/horn you get some of the best mobility in game. That translates into almost always being able to escape bad situations kinda like thiefs can. Also being able to chase down anybody trying to run away from you.

Chuck Zitto.2367:

War greatsword is pretty much used for the mobility. With a combo such as gs and sword/horn you get some of the best mobility in game. That translates into almost always being able to escape bad situations kinda like thiefs can. Also being able to chase down anybody trying to run away from you.

Yeah, if he does the mistake of doing that in a straight line. Just like thieves, kinda: if you panic when surprised and run away from the thief, you are gonna get a nice lot of damage.

Thanks guys. From the looks of it, it seems like to make GS work, you either need CC from utility skills, or from another weapon. Otherwise, it’s just a weapon for mobility.

I don’t particularly care for my LB in 1 on 1 encounters…. For everything else in wvwvw the LB is terrific.

My PvP Build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQJARTjkOxwxO2QMxBA0jvqaLjijASpYu6A-ToAg0CnIKSVkrITRyisFNgY9B
Easy to convert to WvW

-The Powerful Gaar