Guild Wars 2

My ‘feels at home’ place is Lions Arch. It’s where I used to hang out in GW1 before Factions landed (House Zu Heltzer will always be my home), and once GW2 hit it just felt natural to spend my off-hours in Lions Arch chatting it up and attempting to find really high places to perch. So it stuck.

The stupidest thing I’ve ever done came about immediately after a two month binge of Borderlands 2.

Now, for those who don’t know, Borderlands 2 has 0 fall damage. You can jump off some insanely high things, and never take a lick of damage when you land.

So I’d just gotten back into GW2 after 2 months of Borderlands 2, and was at the bank in Divinity’s Reach. At the time I was partied with a friend, and noticed their dot going to the crafting area below. So, with the thought of surprising them with a quick entrance, I turned around, sprinted across the base of the statue near the bank, and flung myself directly into the abyss between the two long ramps that separate the upper deck from the lower deck.

It was at this moment… I knew… I’d messed up. Let’s just say the entrance was definitely surprising, and I certainly left an impact xD

+1 from me as well. Commanders have given me so much to do during my play times, and have also given me a beacon to follow when I’m not socially inclined towards being in a party.

From a follower of Dorito Icons across the world, thank you, and keep on trekking.

Having Asbergers Syndrome, I too can identify as an introvert, to an extent. Like some people here, I enjoy social interactions on a very small scale. Going to a relatively small birthday party is doable, however going to a concert is out of the question.

That being said, when I’m not playing GW2 with my two best friends, you’d usually find me playing solo following a zerg to all the world bosses, or joining a chest train in silverwastes. If I’m ever seen in a party without my friends, it’s more than likely simply because I’m attempting to keep track of where the zergs are going. And less likely that I’m there for the people to people interactions.

That’s not to say I’m not sociable. I don’t find social interactions unpleasant, I simply prefer doing without them, for many reasons. But in the event that I do interact with my fellow individuals, I’m normally polite and respectful, bordering on playfully sarcastic and comedically funny. Though, I have been seen arguing with the village idiot from time to time.

I would like to see either 2-handed axes or polearms.

Tiny bump. Been working over the melee only build posted by EmKelly. Madly in love with it, it’s great. Thank you again everyone for the suggestions

Onlysaneman.9612:

Personally, I always encourage newer players to experiment with builds themselves, especially for open world as it tends not to be overly restrictive in terms of what works. That said, I’d like to offer you a few general bits of advice for condi warriors.

1) Longbow is a respectable weapon with a combination of burning, minor power damage, and combo fields. It can generate its own fire fields and capitalize on them with #3.

2) Sword is a safe pick for a condition weapon, with good hybrid damage and some mobility.

3) Mace can be very good if you take both the berserker traitline for better condi bursts and the Strength line for conditions on interrupt, which mace has plenty of. Note that you may have some difficulty with doing real damage to bosses or enemies with breakbars as you can’t really interrupt them and thus miss out on a big part of your condi application. Not what I would suggest, but it’s an option to keep in mind.

4) The Berserker line will be your friend as a condi build in general.

5) For open world PvE you shouldn’t really need the Defense traitline, but it may be worth taking if you want a little extra breathing room to get used to things.

6) Try everything. Fiddle with all of the class utilities and weapons, see which ones you like the feel of most.

Greatly appreciate the tips. I too advocate fiddling and experimenting, which I’ve been doing. But sometimes you gotta see what the mainstream is, get a feel for what people normally run, and work off of that. Which is what my intentions were with this thread.

I’ve spent long hours and days tweaking and fiddling with four of my eight characters. I built my Guardian myself from scratch, too me nearly a year to find what I truly liked, and now consider my go to build. Also spent a good chunk of that year working my Ele over.

My Warrior is my fifth character, so you can understand the approach I’m taking here. I’ve burned out a massive chunk of my ‘Dr. Frankenstein’ patience thus far xD

As for the tips. In terms of bosses and Break Bars: If I know what I’m about to fight requires a hefty amount of CC (Any of the HoT Bosses) I’ll throw out my bow, which has at least 2 decent breakers, as well as throw on a few Skills specific for it, like Bola, and that Fear shout. I also plan on running headlong into a headbutt once I get it unlocked. So I’m covered there.

In terms of the Defense trait line, I’m taking it right now because I don’t quite have anything better worked out (still combing through the traits and such), but I do plan on dumping it out for something like strength given that I’ll be running Berserker, as well as Discipline for certain items I can’t live without right now.

As for everyone else, I’m loving the posts. Keep them coming

Also, as a guideline, see EmKellys posts for the right track, and keep the ideas flowing. Woot.

emkelly.2371:

there’s another option which is also extremely fun.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJAQRAsf8HWqCs3R7qN2q0Did5AkFXDIAA-ThhAQB2UJ4fOJAwY/BA8EAgo6PgU5X8gAArqsqCA-e

Now that’s what I’m talking about. I will definitely be giving that a gander later. I like the idea that if I don’t like the closeness of a melee only build, I can still run my trusty longbow and still be able to use the build as it was intended.

Bravo Kelly

Steelo.4597:

i thought axe or mace is fine.. didnt assume you would want to run a condi build with mainhand axe because that would be really silly as axe has zero condis nor interrupts.

When I said Axe/Mace I meant, Axe main, Mace off. And yes I had it in my mind that I wanted to use Axe main, because I really like how Axe rolls. But given that I’m new to the Warrior scene, didn’t realize Axe main for a Condi build was a silly idea. Sorry for the confusion, I’ll edit my first post to make it more clear.

That build you posted is for PvP, and uses a Mace/Shield. Not really even close to what I was looking for. Thank you for trying, I think?

Greetings everyone.

As of a couple hours ago, I finally leveled and maxed out my first ever Warrior (been working at it for weeks), and I realized rather suddenly the I don’t know what to build him as.

Now, I did some reading, but unfortunately I can’t seem to find a build that suits me, and I have no idea how to work one over myself as I don’t know what’s useful or not.

I like the sound of a Condition Warrior, especially after getting most of my Berserker Elite Spec unlocked. But all of the build guides that google pointed me to are either 1) out of date, or 2) meant for raids

So I was wondering if someone might be able to rustle up a ‘general’ condition build for PvE, with a few specifics, that is both up to date, as well as utilizing the new Berserker based deals?

DISCLAIMER: I don’t PvP at all, therefore do not look very highly towards PvP builds. I can excuse it if the PvP Build works in PvE, but I feel they are two different worlds and should not be mingled often.

My Specifics include:

1. Axe Main, if possible. (I’m not opposed to rolling Torch)

2. Maintains my Longbow preference.

3. Is tailored more towards solo and group Open World )PvE) play. E.g. – I roll mostly World Bosses and trains/zergs around the HoT maps, so those are top priority. But I want to be able to tackle stuff alone if absolutely need be. And I don’t mean soloing world bosses or anything, just the random Hero Point or obnoxious veteran/elite mob.

I don’t mind running group support, nor do I mind being a selfish nerf herder. But I’d prefer a somewhat supportive role in terms of groups I run with and what not.

I mainly just want to Condition things, and do it well xD

If anyone out there would be willing to point me in a right direction, it’d be greatly appreciated.

MadRabbit.3179:

Brekknar.3567:

I feel that the Meta is simply a thing that limits us, and in order to be better players we all need to challenge the meta and create something that can match it, but is our own in design. The Meta is a rule, so break it

You should make builds that have a legitimate in game purpose, not just to be all hipster and rebel against the great tyranny of the Meta.

And I do just that. None of my builds follow a Meta, and they still produce fair results for myself and the people I happen to play with/around. I rebel against nothing but the limitations of people telling me I’m an idiot for not playing a certain way, or taking a certain skill, or a certain armor.

The Meta, believe it or not, produces this sort of behavior. I’ve met no one using a Meta who was of a gentle opinion. Each one that I’ve met had something to say about me, my playstyle, or the gear/skills/traits I’m using. And only a scant few were capable of applying a buffer before ramming their nose up my business.

I rebel in the name of fun and enjoyment. Others should too.

DGraves: If you plan on solo play, I’d recommend turning on some music, sitting down, and taking a couple hours to examine what it is you might like in a character class, study all the skills and traits that class possesses, and see how you can make it work for you.

It sounds like a lot of work, and it can be, but in the end you can get an idea of what your preferences are, and by studying that character/class, you can easily figure out what sounds good for you/that class, and what doesn’t.

As an example, I’ll detail my Guardian, as he’s the first character in GW2 that I ever built a build for myself.

My Guardian was made with the intent of being able to play with a team, but also able to easily play solo if necessary. I run Power, Toughness, and Vitality. Which works for me because power is a primary attribute, so I hit fairly hard, but I also have just a little more soaking ability than some other stat builds. It also means that if I make a mistake, I have just a little more room to maybe bounce back from it, rather than being completely screwed.

Now, my weapon of choice is the Hammer. It hits fairly hard, has a mobility lock that can help me control light mobs with ease, as well as a knockback that, of course, is self explanatory.

However, the best part of my Hammer, is the Auto-attack, which on the 3rd strike creates a symbol that grants protection. That’s the first reason for why standing close to him is a good idea (melee DPS like warriors and thieves will like me muchly).

Now, at the time I made this guy up, the traits rework hadn’t been in effect yet, so the big hit for him was the trait Writ of Persistence, which makes the symbols larger, last longer, and heal allies. Reason #2 as to why standing near him is awesome xD

Also at the time, Pure of Voice, if I remember right, was a Major Trait rather than a Grandmaster. And I rolled shouts mainly for the survivability they granted not only to myself, but to everyone around me. Pure of Voice turns conditions on friendlies into boons/buffs. Which was great because if I timed my shouts right, which I needed to be doing anyway, anyone around me was almost literally condition-proof.

Now, I realize that, either now, or before, some of my facts may be skewed, it’s been a long while. And I no longer play my Guardian because I’ve grown bored of him. But the gist of it was, that any Melees near me lived longer, which meant much more damage, they got healed every 3rd strike, and my Guardian got the same treatment for himself, so 75% of the party benefited from being close and personal.

It didn’t always work, mind you, but more times than not I saved quite a few players from death by shouting in their ear, or throwing out one of my Virtues which were also traited to do things like heal or buff.

Too Long; Didn’t Read: With enough patience and knowledge of the game, you can make a build just for you that, with enough refinement, can turn a solo player into a hero, and a team player into a saint. Just takes time, and the knowing of what you like in a character and play-style preference.

Nero.8047:

I have for nearly my entire play-time as a Guardian chosen the Hammer over the Greatsword for damage. Not because I knew the damage of the hammer in the long run would be better than the Greatsword’s burst, but because I liked the utility the hammer had to offer despite its slow attack speed.

I’m right there with you. I created my own build for the Guardian revolving around staying alive as long as possible, as well as making sure that anyone within my range (standing next to me is best) get buffs as well that can help them sustain damage longer.

Have been using it ever since as my go to build/weapon for any challenging content. Sure, it’s not full Zerker, and I don’t play with Meta groups. But it suits my preference and has gotten the job done more times than not.

I feel that the Meta is simply a thing that limits us, and in order to be better players we all need to challenge the meta and create something that can match it, but is our own in design. The Meta is a rule, so break it