Guild Wars 2

3 general ideas so far. Strength and Hoelbrak runes are interchangeable. Can’t decide which route is better or if I’m lacking consideration towards any other potential routes.

1. Zerker + 5 eagle runes

http://de.gw2skills.net/editor/?vJEQNAR8ejMdQXIWFCuhAnIG6BKtNC/wArhFPHsA4DiAA-TlTGABGpE7jtHg+IAQlSQiUSMi6PYoJI6HAwQKHqQjwBHEAAuAADbFQ56ACAcA87vBAAA-w

2. Same thing but: Marauder armour + full Hoelbraek runes

http://de.gw2skills.net/editor/?vJEQNAR8ejMdQXIWFCuhAnIG6BKsGW8cwCgPIC02I8DDA-TVDEABQcQAcXHwTKxy+IAYv6PMpcAgHAQCXAAP0IEimguUCGz+DNpkIAwBwv/GAAA-w

3. Same as the other two but Zerker on every piece of armour and weapon with Hoelbrak runes (I would only be able to replace the trinkets/accessories/etc with exotic zerkers if I did want to).

I think the first two pages are pretty set in stone, I need sword and death from above (skills + specializations). Wanted some opinions on the third page (runes/armour/weapon stats).

Honestly all the weapon sigils could be replaced except for cleansing (the extra condition clear is very useful). For most fights the greatsword does the damage (I engage the enemy with it) and the shield/sw exists for getting in and out of attack range while tanking/bocking damage. In #1 the only real damage from sword is from sword 3 (final thrust), otherwise it does next to nothing in that particular build. I was thinking with zerker stats it could be used as an actual weapon set for damage, but I would be vulnerable to damage all the time without a tankier weapon set to switch to. I could just make them maruauder like the GS though but I’d still lack damage I’d imagine….I only have the marauder ascended greatsword crafted atm.

I’m pretty torn between the idea of the following:

(A) I go full Zerker on everything I can buy with Hoelbraek/Strength Runes. And rely on my two endure pains and Berserker Stance to mitigate damage. That way I can go in full force and rely on ‘frenzy’ and my other skills to end things before they even start. After an enemy is in a position to duel me, combat become 5x harder. I often catch enemies off guard but only take 85% of their hp…..they jump away from me and refresh instantly generally. At which time I’m facing someone who is fully aware of what I am, and knows how to kill me.

(B) Since everyone says you need more survivability, and I do agree to an extent….why not put a few (if not full) Marauder stats instead of Berserker? Vitality can be my survivability trait over toughness. With Marauder I get more stats in total per piece than I do with berserker. That’s the main reason though: Marauder gives you more points in total per piece and it’s stuff that I can use (unlike celestial). If the total points were equal to that of zerker I wouldn’t bother with marauder, I would input survivability (likely by toughness) through accessories and weapon stats.
The survivability would be useful when commanding, when manning siege, when running away, or zerg fights in general.

I run full berserker gear, use strength runes, don’t use a cleansing sigil anymore, and it works great.

I regularly kill even condi reapers due to the 16 seconds of immunity I get from the traited Berserker stance and the HS active. I don’t think that would be as likely if I had less killing power, which would render the extra vitality from Mauraders and condi mitigation from Hoelbrak counterproductive. (Might be possible though, I haven’t run it).

Plus, all those dodges, your shield block, gs evade, and mobility skills give you lots of opportunity to mitigate damage, along with EP for direct damage, of course.

I also recommend taking Defy Pain over Armored Attack with your build. The extra EP plus the extra 6s of Vigor you get from Last Stand is more valuable, imo.

The GS SW/SH build is very similar to what I’m running, but I go full zerk weapons and trinks, and knights armor, because I still go blobbing with it, otherwise it’ll be full zerk.

I agree with changing out armored attack for the extra endure pain.

For sigils, I run on the gs hydromancy and I think superior agility, the one that gives swiftness and quickness on swap, and mischief and leeching on the SW/SH.

The mischief and leeching gives you a ranged 1k extra dmg and heal just for swapping to the shield, and I prefer hydromancy on the gs, since it’s that much more dmg when you do the flurry hb combo, which also gives your target 1 more condi to cleanse with the flurry even if it’s just a shirt chill.

The sword attack might be weaker in dmg than the gs, but when your chasing, it attacks faster and gives that cripple so those attacks do add up,

I do use defy pain, had the wrong box checked by mistake my fault.

So in terms of the other suggestions: How does this look…?
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJEQNAR8ejMdQXIWFCuhAnIG6BKLA+gIQbjwPMwaoHyBA-TFTEABMpkgDNDtrDAm9HWS5wDXAgvPIAro+DAPAAIOCAcpE0JlYBAQAu5NDAAA-w

i don’t want all 4 sigils to be on weapon swap. And I feel there needs to be something on the greatsword that helps with damage. So that leaves a blank slot which I filled with sigil of perception (on kill precision bonus). I like having an on kill bonus as one of my sigils since it applies to both weapon sets. It fits with my build’s mobility, and roaming nature. I’ve never tried the sigil of michief before….so it also might be replaceable depending on how it works. Potentially sigil of perception could be moved to the sword/sh since gs will still be primary damage I’m sure…finishing pve enemies with sword would be difficult though.

I think I need more precision in the build though, that’s why I chose perception instead of bloodlust. I was running 5% less precision in this build (so 45%) and I was doing under like 700-900 damage alot of the time with basic greatsword swings (miserable damage) to players, they wouldnt crit. I really do think it is needed. Every 6 stacks adds 3% crit chance or something like that…so 6×4....just over +12% crit hit increase. So 63% base crit chance total let’s say. Which is high but whatever, it’s not too high and it serves me well I believe.

For Sigil of michief, I only use it paired with leeching, by itself, I wouldn’t. Unless it’s been changed , which I haven’t paid attention to in a while just assuming it’s the same, if your blinded or if the target is blocking dodging or has aegis, the snowballs miss and you don’t get the 200 or so damage and theblind on hit, but you still remove blindness from yourself and you keep the leeching on next hit still

Bloodlust would be better, given how high your crit chance is already. Air too, I think. That said, I’d personally put energy on one of your sets.

I also use intelligence on my sword to ensure those really high, post-might stacking gs, cleaving Final Thrusts….

For both roaming and zerging I use the same build.

Now, hear me out because I know it’ll sound silly, but it’s full Soldier’s.

I used to roam/zerg, I actually used to frontline, in full Berserker. But thanks to Revenants and all the unblockable attacking going around now… It just doesn’t work anymore.

Warrior has great sustained damage if you can stay on top of your targets. We can pump out some pretty nice numbers but thanks to the current meta… It really doesn’t matter how much damage we’re doing, most people can just heal back up and beat you down.

So, recently I said screw it, let’s stack as much vitality and damage reduction as I can without being 100% defensive and see how it goes. I have 29k health + Scrapper runes (+7% damage reduction) and I can really take a beating. Ofc I don’t hit very hard… It’s not an ideal build but I’m also not dying constantly so I like it, lol. I actually won a 1v3 yesterday when a few people chased me out of a supply camp. There’s enough power in the build to still do damage just don’t expect to be bursting anyone down.

Anyway, sword/shield, greatsword, Strength/Discipline/Defense, standard utilities/traits, nothing exciting besides Soldiers everything + Scrapper runes. You’ve got tons of mobility and tons of health to make mistakes and from what I’ve been seeing, most people don’t take your damage seriously until they’re almost dead.

Glassy Warrior is still fun and great damage but it’s just too unforgiving to roam with, at least for myself. Tired of running in to people who can just infinitely restore their health to 100% so I thought I’d try being super tanky for a change.

@Spell
You should always bring enough defense to keep yourself on your feat and fighting, so your decision to move towards Soldiers makes sense if you were getting downed a lot.

That said, one of the good things about this build is the mobility, dodges, block, and invulns make it possible to skirmish or even line burst like a shock trooper pretty well. Even in a group fight, I’m often the guy that drives into a cluster and applying enough pressure to create chaos, shifting focus to me, and allowing allies to move in behind to take advantage of the broken line as I recede back behind them. I like to use Death From Above to help with this wherever possible too.

The point being, is there’s a way to play the build in full zerk and still be super useful in a group fight. And in smaller skirmishes, you can be a real force to be reckoned with.

Anyway, have you moved to DH or are you still on EB?

I’m upgrading the S/Sh from their exotic toughness/vitality stats to ascended marauder stats. This will boost the precision on the set to ensure more attacks (final thrusts) crit (wasn’t the reason for going marauder tho lol). It also keeps the vitality/survivability between gearsets similar (marauder on the gs as well) since everything is on the trinkets for toughness/vitality basically. So about 55% on each set in terms of crit rate. I’m thinking then a consumable buff that grants a bit of precision would be enough to keep me happy. So then I can use bloodlust on the Gs instead.

I don’t think I’ll be able to hit most enemies hard enough though. Would have to fallback on a food item to up my raw power at that point. Just bugs me that with signet of rage and frenzy activated, classes with light-medium armour can take next to no damage from a full one hundred blades attack that actually hits. I mean I got an over 40k hundred blades with the marauder Gs today while in a 10 man group in wvsw. I can’t ever remember hitting a lord that hard before. Hitting players (without the group buffs obv) though I’m lucky to take 10k of their Hp if it lands. Really frustrating if the enemy is a high damage mesmer or whatever using light armour. It’s not a warrior, it does more damage than me and it tanks more than me….that’s gg I won’t win. Your sustain is by default almost always better, your attacks are generally aoe and easy to land…I’m screwed when they hit harder (they always do) AND tank raw damage that gets through the aegis and everything else.

Choppy.4183:

Bloodlust would be better, given how high your crit chance is already. Air too, I think. That said, I’d personally put energy on one of your sets.

I also use intelligence on my sword to ensure those really high, post-might stacking gs, cleaving Final Thrusts….

Thought about using intelligence. Most enemies read the final thrust very easily, porting away or just dodging on instinct, when I switch weapon sets. Pretty sure they expect an eviscerate. I think upping precision a bit is better for my purposes, then I can use final thrust whenever and having a better chance of landing the crit.