Hey guys
Here I want to present you my own personal “hamhorn”-build.
I’m gonna structure my post like this:
1. Intro @ the Link
2. Why not X?
- Hambow
- Longbow instead of Hammer
- Shield
3. Trait setups
4. Skills
5. How to fight against certain classes
1. Intro & Link
Well I am a main warrior and I have a few hundred hours of playing both 2 of my lvl-80 wars. Currently I am rank 30 in sPvP and did get there by solo and team q even before the faster ranking in the recent patch.
I quit playing hotjoin since I got to rank 8 as I was looking for something that would be less zergy and more competitive with more tactics involved.
Anyway that’s enough to my person lets get to the link:
Link to my Build
well that was fast and easy – let’s go on.
2. Why not X?
- Hambow
Before the recent patch I played hambow for quite some time but since it was nerfed I didn’t really like the dmg-output it offered… and playing my DD-Ele (even tried some other builds) in sPvP – well I guess you know what followed. I quit sPvP for some time and went farming for ascended gear, leveling my sending warrior to 80 and just had a nice time with my guild.
But about 2 weeks ago I again tried sPvP and as I knew I wouldn’t like the damage from hambow I tried hamhorn – hammer, axe+warhorn. It works pretty nice, i don’t claim to be good at this game but to date I didn’t loose any 1v1 and if I wasn’t able to kill my enemy (btw I’m not a tank, berserkers amulet with soldiers jewel) I at least survived until back-up came – either for me or my opponent :P Hambow is nice but I don’t really like the damage it offers after the patch – in group fights it is nice but in 1v1 I just lack dmg to take out one enemy quickly.
Also in group fights the axe f1 is hard to see and you can help your team bursting down your target.
- Longbow instead of Hammer
I also tried Longbow instead of hammer and LB has a secured condition removal but at the same time LB is amid between direct and condition damage. With LB I lack any stun as well (you could go for shield but I’m giving my opinion on shield in the next point). Also with hammer f1 if u don’t hit anything you are faster on maps.
- Shield
Why am I not using shield instead of Warhorn? I like the shield, I also use it in WvW and it has a nice stun in order to interrupt a Aether renewal or anything like that or/and to directly use your axe f1 afterwards. The block on #5 is nice too but with a shield I would change “+3% dmg per boon on my opponent” to “+25% increased movement speed” as without the Warhorn I’d loose the swiftness – which is for your whole team btw.
Also the shield #5 is a but egoistic comparing it to Warhorn #5 – vigor for you and your team mates as well as weakness for your enemies. Of course the weakness may not stay that long but it affects your whole team and the whole enemy team and… well it is just an amazing skill.
3. Trait setups
Atm I am running 0/10/30/0/30 with this build taking “vigor and fury if u take 10%+ dmg of your health in one strike”. As your amulet is berserker (is also tried soldiers amulet with berserkers jewel btw but i wasn’t really satisfied with my dmg-output) you are gonna take a lot of dmg (especially from thieves and warriors) anyway so why not take this trait? It helps you at maintains perma fury for ~65% crit chance or something in about these lines.
And then of course dogge march, cleansing ire amd merciless hammer, as well as burst mastery, signet recharge and +3% dmg per boon on my target.
If u don’t want the 10 points in weapons go for 0/0/30/10/30 and take empowered – or just go for 0/0/30/0/30 for the challenge ^^ (btw I wouldn’t recommend that as it is the worst option obviously) You can also go like 20/0/20/0/30 for +10% crit dmg on axe but that isn’t really worth the points in strength. If u don’t want merciless hammer rather go for 0/20/20/0/30 for unsuspecting foe (hammer #5 -> axe f1) Another option is going for 0/0/20/20/30 and taking both empowered and the reduced cd on Warhorn skills/Warhorn skills remove 1 condition – that would allow you to maintain 12 secs of swiftness on a 13 second cd without using your elite.