Guild Wars 2

i know there is no best build, there is only the best for the situation, i want a build that can roam PvE and be beefy and not susceptible to death but also put out enough damage that people would want me in dungeons with them, but also be able to take on events without having to respawn at the waypoint

whatever you most enjoy

Your answer is is very likely to be here: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/warrior

Depends – solo ,group , roamer ,speed , control ?? what do you want??

I’m still trying to find out myself and even debating if I want kick on my skillbar. Pro: interrupts. Con: telegraphs and knocks out of melee range and even potentially out of someone else’s combo field (though sword 2 is a gap closer).

I’m also debating if I want zealot’s boots (my thief can make zealot exotic and ascended insignias) or berserker’s. I will have berserker body armor, shoulders, and jewelry (except for pendent) and soldier’s pants, gloves, and helmet. Since Zealot has berserker stats but with healing power in place of ferocity it makes sense to put it in place of a berserker piece so damage isn’t really sacrificed too much as I’ll still have increased power and crit chance from precision. Since I have a berserker stat ascended back item I might even go cleric’s boots instead, but then again the extra damage from zealot’s or berserker’s would be nice.

Basically I’m building for single target lockdown with ascended sword (berskerker) + shield (celestial) and hammer (soldier’s).

As for your statement to being no best build you’re wrong, metas develop in various parts of the game because it’s superior in that game mode, which is typically by design as developers make, albeit not explicitly usually, PvP specs and PvE specs. I’ve seen certain people complain about their spec being underpowered in PvP in other games, but they were using a spec designed for dungeons not PvPing.

Edit: The ascended heavy armor Keeper recipes were far more expensive than I thought, so I’m making him half soldier’s, half berserker’s, and giving him a couple of zealot’s rings instead.

well…

I do not know…

Warrior can be:

1. MAX DPS, GS and axe/mace (just max dmg, selfish build/runner) zerk (PvE)
2. Phalanx Strength, GS and axe/mace(group attribute buffer) zerk (META dungeons)
3. Shout Heal: ?/Warhorn and Hammer (support, heal en cleanse) zealot/clerics (WvW)
4. Hybrid/Condi: Sword/? and Longbow (bleeds and burns) sinister/rabid/dire (Dunno, but works)
5. CC (Mace/shield and) Hammer (knockdowns, knockbacks, stuns) A somewhat tanky build likely soldiers and zerk or cavalier, knights and zerk. Maybe some valkyrie mostly to maintain power and ferocity, and try to get 50% crit minimum with fury…

And MUCH MUCH more. These I know… And I use the middle 3 on 3 different warriors.

You can “roam PvE” with any build. If you don’t want to hit like a wet noodle, take as much berserker gear as you can and run damage traits. These two builds are most common for PvE:

Phalanx Strength
Pure Damage

You can always adjust builds- for example, taking Brawler’s Recovery in the Discipline line for condi clear.

Practically any build on any class works. Where the warrior is concerned, I haven’t been able to find a viable reason to use Physical skills. Aside from that… My preferred builds are two axes / zerk and, lately, two swords & longbow with condi kit. I also, under both builds, favour Shouts & Signets. The axes build is the one I use for Fractals, though my guild is best described as casual.

But it very much depends on what you want to do & how you enjoy playing. Personally, I’ve no interest in meta builds. I’m playing a game, not number-crunching a spreadsheet. If someone wants to tell me that what I do is dps-inefficient shrug, what do I care?

Best builds will be as unique as the person. My warrior damage builds normally revolves around great sword and 2 axes. But people like different things.

Preferably something with muscle tone so he can lift a greatsword.

If its for roaming/1v1ing:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJAQNAR3ejMdQhH2FCWhAnIGKCKtLi+owGgHIAwSoFSBA-TVCHwAEeAAAOIAd2fov6PPVCCU5nhLAQYdDDOCABAQAu5NzmtZwyVuyVuyVO38m38oH9olCwrtWA-w

I find this optimal (ofc not for every situation) but generally.

Or just remove stance traits (cuz quite lame, especially in warr v warr) and take stab instead of stamina signet.

Strength – Discipline – Defense/Tactics/Arms
GS + ( whatever )

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJAQJARUjMdQlH2GCehApIGICK9Lm+twCgIYAwW/FGBA-TZBBwAAeAAYOCA12focZgAXCAA

For teams: Tactics + Empower Allies/Phalanx
For more DPS: Arms + Signet Skills / Furious

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJEQNAT8ZjMdQZI24BehAnIGmCq7ICgXXDiavGwH/rjdA-TxCBABVcEA6TjgFHEgr2fAgHUQWK/YUJYe6ao4CAkp6PBcAFIFQ5CjA-e

Arms/defense/discipline

Ranged attacks heal you, melee attacks generate might and quickness as well as applying vulnerability.

Every utility is a stun break which heals for 2500.

Derenek.8931:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJEQNAT8ZjMdQZI24BehAnIGmCq7ICgXXDiavGwH/rjdA-TxCBABVcEA6TjgFHEgr2fAgHUQWK/YUJYe6ao4CAkp6PBcAFIFQ5CjA-e

Arms/defense/discipline

Ranged attacks heal you, melee attacks generate might and quickness as well as applying vulnerability.

Every utility is a stun break which heals for 2500.

I’m not gonna lie, that’s the most unconventional build I’ve seen that actually looks well put together. I’d be very surprised if it outperformed more stance-based builds, but well done.

You find you enjoy it?

Also, you’d probably do better by replacing your Accuracy Sigl with a Cleansing Sigil. You’re really vulnerable to condis with this since you’re relying solely on Brawlers and Healing Signet for condi management.

I’d also recommend changing your utility buff to something else… probably sharpening stones. True your power is already pretty high, but your crit chance is also very high (even after swapping out Accuracy Sigil above) due to your precision, Fury, and your buffs from Signet Mastery. Basically, you’d get more output investing in power over precision at this level.

You could go with one of the Furious utility buffs, but you clearly don’t need the toughness the furious stones would give you, and the 100 vitality you’d get from the furious oil is useless.

I use the accuracy sigil along with generated fury to guarantee 100% crit rate. That leads to an average of an additional 200 hp/second in life steal. (385 life steal per proc, a 60% with an internal 1 second cooldown) Along with the other regen in the build, i averages around 400-600 a second in regen. This normally outdoes incoming condi damage. (Look at bleeding, which usually only averages about 100-200 a second max) 2500 per use of utlity skill, plus 5k from the signet.

signetactive 5000/25 seconds=200/second
signet passive 400/1 seond
stun break 2500×3/35 seconds=300/second
omnomberry pie 300 lifesteal/1 second
total 1200-1600/1 second available health regen

thats over 60k of dpm that you can flat out resist.

with a bow add in an additional 100/second of lifesteal.
that usually outdoes condi damage incoming.

Then it balances with massive outgoing dps.
+65% attack speed with an opponent bleeding or below 50%hp

with 1600 damage with 178% crit damage bonus, that gives you 3k/second dps on skill 1 attacks. Add in a guaranteed stack of bleeding a second and a guaranteed vulnerability stack/2 seconds. Afer 10 seconds that pushes you close to 4500-5k dps.
The increase in toughness decreases incoming standard damage as well. So the net output is never losing health n battles. Often in silverwastes, I’ll see other people sitting at 50% health while I am still maintaining 100% hp due to massive regen and armor based damage reduction.

the oil grants 150-200 precision depending on your gear. With the stun break boost, it grants an additional 60 precision when attacking a heavy CC opponent. (plus 1000 toughness when stun break). This ensures maintained 100% precision the entire battle. This guarantees every single cri based proc goes off many many times.
Don’t forget the massive increase in attack speed gained from sword use and the enemy dropping in health. This cuts down enemies in short order. I use mace because i like having the enemy knocked down, but you can use axe offhand for even more dps.

The best warrior build is the one that works the best for the situation.

Warlord.9074:

The best warrior build is the one that works the best for the situation.

That works best on average in all normal situations*

Obindo.6802:

Warlord.9074:

The best warrior build is the one that works the best for the situation.

That works best on average in all normal situations*

Just Zerker then. Swap weps and traits per content.

Warlord.9074:

Obindo.6802:

Warlord.9074:

The best warrior build is the one that works the best for the situation.

That works best on average in all normal situations*

Just Zerker then. Swap weps and traits per content.

Evis works best in pretty much everything

Derenek.8931:

1. I use the accuracy sigil along with generated fury to guarantee 100% crit rate. That leads to an average of an additional 200 hp/second in life steal. (385 life steal per proc, a 60% with an internal 1 second cooldown)…

2. 2500 per use of utlity skill, plus 5k from the signet.

signetactive 5000/25 seconds=200/second
signet passive 400/1 seond
stun break 2500×3/35 seconds=300/second

3. +65% attack speed with an opponent bleeding or below 50%hp

Would you be willing to have a few duels? I could run your build myself, but I’d rather see someone with experience run it instead. Unfortunately, unless you’re on a mid-tier NA server, we won’t get a chance to fight using the food/utility buffs. Just let me know.

On to the questions/responses, which correspond to the numbered quotes above:

1. I more meant that investing in achieving 100% crit chance likely gives you less return than investing in something else (especially more crit damage). True, you’ve loaded a lot of benefit on crit effects, but the cooldowns on most of those mean you’d gain more than you’d lose by shifting points out of precision. I’ve not done the math, it’s just my intuition.

2. I don’t understand your math here. Could you clarify? Specifically,

• I see you’re assuming you’re using your utilities to break disables, but where does 35s come from? All of your utilities are on longer CD than that
• How does your Healing Signet active equal 5k/25s, and are you also calculating in the HS passive?

3. When you say +65% attack speed, you’re referring to those periods when Heightened Focus procs, and only when you’re on your melee set, right? Bleeding doesn’t factor into that at all.

Anyway, let me know about those duels if you’re interested. I’d love to see your build in action (or a video, if you have one).

1k damage a 100% crit rate and 177% crit damage= 1.7k/second

compare to

1.3k damage at 50% crit rate and 200% crit damage= 1.6k/second

a difference of 100 damage a second

60 seconds in a minute=6000 difference in average rates of skill one damage in DPM

Those procs happen
50% chance 1 per 2 seconds at 100% crit rate attck spped 1/2 second = 1 per second

increase attack speed 50% averages 3attacks/second. Skills that proc 30% once every 3 seconds at 100% crit rate=1 per second.

blademaster+dual wielding+heightened focus grants attack speed boost.

you get maximum efficiency against heavy cc characters. People who would normally have you in stun lock or immobilize lock, you can boost all 3 utilities in about 2 seconds for 8k burst heals. Non-CC characters, you mace lock them, dodge out, switch to bw and drain them from range, then close again with your crit boost life steal with sword.

Derenek.8931:

1k damage a 100% crit rate and 177% crit damage= 1.7k/second

compare to

1.3k damage at 50% crit rate = 1.6k/second

a difference of 100 damage a second

60 seconds in a minute=6000 difference in average rates of skill one damage in DPM

Those procs happen
50% chance 1 per 2 seconds at 100% crit rate attck spped 1/2 second = 1 per second

increase attack speed 50% averages 3attacks/second. Skills that proc 30% once every 3 seconds at 100% crit rate=1 per second.

blademaster+dual wielding+heightened focus grants attack speed boost.

You wouldn’t be able to get your crit chance to 50% with that build. The zerk gear alone brings you to about 50%, and that’s before Fury.

But let’s say you pulled 420 precision out of your build to drop yourself from 100% crit chance to 80%. If you channeled that into Ferocity, you’d gain 28% crit damage. With an 80% crit chance, you would easily keep all of your benefit on crit effects on cooldown and dps output would be higher, no?

Anyway, it’s your build and, like I said, it looks very well put together. I don’t mean to backseat drive something that you say works well, especially not before I’ve seen it in action.

Speaking of which… are you open to demonstrating it? Note: I’m not looking to defeat your build, I’m curious about the limitations and where it excels (all good builds have these points).

On your last point, Blademaster doesn’t affect attack speed. Just crit chance on bleeding foes when using a sword. Which, by the way, your crit chance is exceeding 100% when on your swords and Fury is active, along with a couple of Signet Mastery precision buffs.

Blademaster reduces recharge on sword skills against bleeding foes.
Any foe being attacked is guaranteed to be bleeding.
I also am posting screenshot of my base stats with NO SKILLS ACTIVE.

Enter combat and activate skills, and those stats boost up considerably even from that.

Derenek.8931:

Blademaster reduces recharge on sword skills against bleeding foes.
Any foe being attacked is guaranteed to be bleeding.
I also am posting screenshot of my base stats with NO SKILLS ACTIVE.

Enter combat and activate skills, and those stats boost up considerably even from that.

Not quite, it increases critical hit chance by 20% against bleeding foes when wielding a sword, and reduces sword skill cooldowns by 20% at all times. It doesn’t increase attack speed though.

So, picking up on your stats, you see how you have 64% crit chance with just your utility buff active? As soon as you get Fury (e.g. from SoR) that’s 84%, and as soon as your foe is bleeding that jumps to 104% when using your sword… and that’s before any precision buff from using your signets, benefits from allies, or any miscellaneous wvw bonuses.

Imo, that’s way too much investment in crit chance, even if you wanted to approach 100%. As for using your longbow, remember that your auto gives you two chances to crit and therefore proc any benefit on crit effect. Honestly, you’d get way more benefit by dialing back your crit chance and investing in something else (like Ferocity, or even Power).

Also, wasn’t your build running all berserker gear except one piece? How is your toughness so high there if you aren’t getting the benefit of Rousing Resilience in the screenshot?

knights+valkyrie+zerker.

I can switch a knights for possibly a soldiers to drop my crit from 104 to 100 and increase my crit damage to 190%

The incredible armor class adds even more damage mitigation. It’s a sword juggernaut build.

Derenek.8931:

knights+valkyrie+zerker.

I can switch a knights piece for a zerker to drop my crit from 104 to 100 and increase my crit damage to 190%

If you really want to keep it at 100%, there’s no reason not to make that switch, at least. Remember as well that just using SoR will give you just under + 5% to crit chance due to Signet Mastery (+ 10% for 12 seconds). You’ll get another 5% when you use Dolyaks Signet and, if you run Signet Mastery like I do, you’ll be able to gain at least 5% by using Healing Signet shortly before you start a fight.

You have room to shift even more to Valk gear and still maintain 100%, if that’s really what you want to do. If you have more Valk sitting around though, just try putting more in to see if you get better performance. Hell, with those weapons, you may even do well with Carrion to amp up your condi and power simultaneously.

After all, 3300 is generally considered pretty high armor. If you’re getting a lot of uptime from Rousing Resilience, 4300 is in the stratosphere. You could easily get away with shifting some of your toughness over to Ferocity, Power, or Condi Damage (if you can get condi close to 800, anyway).

Choppy.4183:

Derenek.8931:

knights+valkyrie+zerker.

I can switch a knights piece for a zerker to drop my crit from 104 to 100 and increase my crit damage to 190%

If you really want to keep it at 100%, there’s no reason not to make that switch, at least. Remember as well that just using SoR will give you just under + 5% to crit chance due to Signet Mastery (+ 10% for 12 seconds). You’ll get another 5% when you use Dolyaks Signet and, if you run Signet Mastery like I do, you’ll be able to gain at least 5% by using Healing Signet shortly before you start a fight.

You have room to shift even more to Valk gear and still maintain 100%, if that’s really what you want to do. If you have more Valk sitting around though, just try putting more in to see if you get better performance. Hell, with those weapons, you may even do well with Carrion to amp up your condi and power simultaneously.

After all, 3300 is generally considered pretty high armor. If you’re getting a lot of uptime from Rousing Resilience, 4300 is in the stratosphere. You could easily get away with shifting some of your toughness over to Ferocity, Power, or Condi Damage (if you can get condi close to 800, anyway).

Interesting suggestions. I tried a couple today and elite mobs were dropping even faster than before. Thanks :-)

Derenek.8931:

Interesting suggestions. I tried a couple today and elite mobs were dropping even faster than before. Thanks :-)

Nice! Glad to hear it!