Guild Wars 2

So I’m running this kitten still;
http://de.gw2skills.net/editor/?vJEQNAR3ejMdQXIWFC2dAnIG6BKsG6hcwCgPIC02I8DDA-TVDEABZpEKR1fI4BAky+DMp8BgDSQuaYg4CA4+BQ0I0mugHOSAZfAB2SJ46gDgxGLxKWwczN3bv9WDI2YjN2YlCIwlRA-w

gs+axe/shield vanilla warrior – high cleave high burst build – roaming and small group and even a bit of zerg fighting although I avoid mostly zerg fighting since it bores me….and guild runs ill use a variant of this build so its not really applicable.

After a couple of duels (or battles to the death…) with warrior/berserkers running Gs+Mace/shield I was wondering if it was viable for me to take mace over axe for ‘my build’.

I mean last i used MH mace was back in 2012 or whenever gw2 came out…..and i hated how slow the attack 1 was and i threw it in the garbage after some fights with it. Now that I’m a more educated warrior I was wondering:
-when its better to use over axe….
-whether its dominance, over say axe or sword, is limited to small groups/duel situations.
-how it compared in different matchups vs axe (vs a thief…mesmer…dh…whatever)

My build:
-a primary problem is it runs out of moves in certain matchups very fast…so vs daredevils for example. The axe/shield really does kitten damage compared to the gs. My primary cleave and burst is still gs. The eviscerate on the axe, for me, is kitten compared to F1 of the gs. It does serve as a small gap closer at times tho….but almost equally it serves as a missed/wasted burst.
-my moves are direct and generic. I rely on my huge power, unblockable, and hydromacy/lightning burst to win my fights. It sounds sad but thats how it is. It works.
-Other issues not good vs drawn out condi fights
-weak vs daredevils as well…although i can put up a good fight when they are limited to fighting within say a camp’s objective radius. It becomes a case of guessing and dodging and procing defy pain and shield stance and all that ‘before’ the thief makes his attack. So I can block the burst and ‘hopefully’ get a hit in before he/she retreats again. I gotta sit there at their mercy regardless. They are at MY mercy when I can land a shield bash on them tho (shield 4) for that 2 second stun….that’s usually a chance for complete victory right there. you can consider how mace/shield with 2-3 stuns would compare to that.

Axe itself:
-Axe 1….pretty kitten but its a flurry of fastish attacks that, for an offhand, provides the closest kinda cleave to my gs.
-Axe 2….I actually am fairly fond of this move. It’s a 360 move so its great vs thieves and stuff where I want to be able to dish damage out behind me. It applies a condition which I don’t really considering doing much for my damage potential but it seems to freak the enemy out when a power warrior applies a condition on them and disrupts their movement.
-Axe 3….I get alot of my kills from this thing given most of my enemies escape me with 1 hp alot of the time.. It even has more range than gs 4 even though it says they have the exact same range…..parabola effect or kitten documentation or something like that i guess. Plus its nice to have 2 ranged attacks (axe 3 gs 4) in an otherwise completely melee package….allows you to test the enemy tank and reaction speed and overall skill level so you can engage with the best strategy possible.

wanted to know if there is any point investing time in using mace.

primary strength of the build is cleave/burst so i dont want to take away from that too much.

I mean the Mace F1+Shield 4 combo will absolutely 1-hit ko me from 100% hp if I don’t have either of my endure pains or my auto stability off cd. That fact is a shortcoming of my build that I choose to live with…..signet of might over balanced stance. Its something I really have to watchout for when dueling other warriors lately…I can be winning 1-sided the entire time and be on the verge of finishing the enemy and that 1 combo will present the greatest comeback story ever told.

If you want to list some other types of builds where maxe/shield is better over axe/shield (in keep more with the title of the thread) I’d love to get a look at them. I know that healing hulk build posted a while back used mace/shield….and I always dismissed mace on account of it being part of some kitten healing/sustain stuff….which doesn’t really go with my UNLIMITEDD POWWAHHHH approach to things lately.

I wouldn’t drop axe for mace on a vanilla warrior, personally. The ol’ mace/gs build is reliant on cc, and stun breaks and stability are everywhere in this post-HoT world. Imo, you’re more of a threat with the axe.

But if you’re finding people are escaping or kiting you, I’d go for the sword. The mobility is nice, especially in wvw, the immob on Flurry can set up a burst almost as well as the mace (it’s still worse though, obviously), and Final Thrust can hit like a cleaving truck if you crit someone below 50%. I’m not gonna lie though, you don’t pressure nearly as hard as the axe, except against kiters.

You could also swap Signet of Might for Dolyaks or Balanced Stance (I’d favour Dolyaks over the Stance, even though you have Last Stand). It’s a hard call because Signet of Might is awesome, but if you need that extra stability with a stunbreak, Dolyaks is very good. The passive toughness doesn’t hurt either.

I suspect some of this is also down to learning how to fight Berserkers more effectively. You’re going to do more damage than them except when they’re in Primal state and they’re bursting the hell out of you. Headbutt can nail you for 5k, then you’re in a 4s stun unless you can break it, and that’s when the spam bursting will come. If you can kite or disable them during that period, you’ll do better.

You’re on Henge of Bae, aren’t you?

I personally love defender runes with mace/sh Draining sigil and zerker, thats a very tough build

Furajir.3815:

I personally love defender runes with mace/sh Draining sigil and zerker, thats a very tough build

hah thats exactly what i use. Zerker gear, GS Mace/Shield with sigil of draining on the mace. Defender runes. Very fun build.