Guild Wars 2

Hey,

i’ve played an axe zerker some time ago (before cleansing ire and such) so i’m a little used to a build like this.
I used axe/mace + mace/shield and stunned the target, popped frenzy and AA the stunned target to death. So with this background heres my suggestion:
Change Weapons to axe/shield + mace/axe and take UF to prepare your burst with a stun. Combo would be mace f1 stun whirling axe with double dodge, if it fails or to finish off shield stun eviscerate. Or Whirling → mace stun → switch to axe/s and AA.

Hey,

i’ve read through your suggestions and have to say, that their a cool and consistent approach to the thief. I’m a bit concerned about the cool downs too. If you introduce (long) cool downs, the chain skill pops up and stays, whether theres enough ini or not, which makes ini as a resource obsolete. I do not know if this is maybe the right step, as ini is an outstanding mechanic in gw2, but realy defined the thief as a class. Maybe it could be worked around, by reducing the ini at the start of a fight and let it only regenerate during one. This way a thief can not unload his skill bar from nothing. Building up like life force for death shroud.
Also your really harsh with dmg nerfs. Backstab combos do not hit that hard anymore. I think its really more about the counter play, that stealth and teleports denie. Your on the right track with teleports imho. After these adjustments, i could see that the thief would need some dmg buffs instead, as its dmg isn’t outstanding anymore.
Also i have to say that your positive and serious way to reply is enjoyable to read.

@Arganthium
To sum up your comment: Thief instajabbed nearly everything in the past, because he could unload his full skill bar in seconds (so dmg was nerfed hard). Only thiefs are able to do so and because thiefs dont want to be warriors, this is ok and have to stay.

I mean what should rangers say? Are they Warriors with pets? Or NGs Warriors with kits? Or are Warriors Rangers without pets? Eles Warriors with 4 weapon sets?

Its the combination of high dmg attacks, the ini system and stealth. Dealing high burst without cool down, or visual presence has the potential do be imbalanced and it has to addressed. To say the thief is fine supportwise … well he can run fast and this way support his allies to achieve outnumbered situations, but thats not exactly the support swag is talking about. Its more about the support a specialized thief can contribute in a 5n5 fight, which is almost nonexistent atm (except for shadow refuge). Also your citing out of context: The thiefs role in a fight is predictable/one dimensional, as he can only deliver dmg. But the dmg he delivers is unpredictable because of stealth.

The basic idea is right: add things a thief misses like in fight support, some aoe dmg, survivability (maybe 5k bonus HP is not enough) and take away the counterless crap, like high dmg stealth attacks.

All i wanted to say is, that i think the game would be better, if there wouldn’t be a need for massive DOTs melting down Tanks (and everything else atm). Instead they should be used for precise soft CCing high priority targets.
If Condies would not deal massive dmg, there would have never been the need to buff Warries to become immune to them, for a set time frame. But the game developed for over a year in this direction and i think it’s to late for massive changes, like these.
You (unleashed) also mentioned a lot of other problems, which are at minimum half true, but i think their not entirely topic related and would produce a wall of text to deal with

Tim.6450:

You said this:
It is quite unfair to say this while power weapons like the warrior axe, warrior greatsword, warrior mace offhand, warrior hammer,ranger sword… are all multi-purpose weapons. You put the blame on conditions while power weapons are equally guilty on what you accuse to be a problem.

I think you’re right. But it’s also generally accepted, that GS offers to much mobility and Hammer to much CC and/or dmg. Well … i think ranger sword is not a good example since its dealing low dmg. Maybe it all sums up to: theres just to much dmg.

Hey,

just wanted to let you know, that i think you figured out some core problems conditions have. Your solutions would help too, but would require the game to change drastically. I think, if someone would like to design the game this way (conditions are meant for soft CC, support classes have to remove these debuffs), it should have been there from the beginning.
It would be great imho, if there wouldn’t be things like damage condies, as it would promote support roles, which this games lacks. But it would require a different game design at all and as i look back to past balance updates, balance will more focus on number adjustments, than complete gameplay/weapon overhauls. Which is ok, since everything else is a lot of work and needs further balancing. Again something a new released game could have done. I’m not sure if discussing these things really helps, since i don’t see practical/easily made changes to these mechanics, as one, for example, can’t remove bleeds at this point.

Hey,

[Mesmer] Clone and Phantasm creation. Like blackwater mesmers: they rarely use f1-f3, but they still feel “mesmerish”

[ele] attunement swaps and constant comboing through the elements

[Necro] The Condition access (most of all fear in combination with Terror). Can’t imagine a Power necro.

[Warrior] The critical hits and CC options. Also the game around landing the f1 or not (not counting for longbow / pve)

[Guardian] The inbuild, inevitable defense. The defense options are just to accessible to left out of any build.

[thieve] stealth and teleports

Hey,

i just thought about a signet/aegis build and heres my attempt:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUIQRAsd7elYgKCHESJEfIFSWhC06BBZQ+TVh5BTBBWRA-jAxAYsBRnALiGruGT5SEVLFAMLrA-e

One Signet offers: 1condi remove, 1 blocked attack, 3sec of burning, 700 heal, 3sec reta
In a Medi build one meditation offers: ~2,5k heal, 5sec fury (leaves rune set open)
A warrior auto attack is about 700-1300, so with even blocking an AA aegis+heal can get close to the surviability of a med build.

However, i think Signets are the Guards way to CC and CC is mainly needed to burst. I think the proper way to balance signets would be to remove the cast time of the CC ones (like they did with meds), so one could chain the burst skills. Like Signet o.W., Shield o.W., GS leap, Whirl and in whirl Bane Sig.

Silverthorn.8576:

KickBitBeatBorg.7941:

Necros, NGs, Rangers can pull of good dmg with vit/tough/cond gear

We are talking about sPvP and there is no vit/tough/cond gear in sPvP. The warrior can do big damage with control skills while being tanky and immune to condition that is the problem.

Yeah your right, my statement however remains true for shaman stats (thought im in the wvw forum, ugh). And no: the problem was not warriors being immune to conditions, this have to fixed by fixing berserker stance bug. I would just not move UF to GM, but rather change numbers a bit and nerf the passive heal of healsig, as this is truely something no other class can pull off, because its a class specific issue and not an overall game design issue. Just my 2 cents.

I agree on guards. Still Reta is free dmg in def gear, as i mentioned (remember reta bunkers before the nerf?, same problem but fixed, but now every other class can do it) and thats the reason almost every guards goes full bunker. Regarding thieves: What about S/D dealing 2k dmg while evading? And to some minor degree: the D/P thieve bursting and fleeing in stealth, without any counter?

What i think is fine, is getting free offense power, because almost everyone gets it. Not lying here, i tried to illustrate this statement with examples. And also i never said UF is entirely fine.

Hey,

thought some time about UF and i have to say all your points are reasonable. The only issue is the following: at the moment, almost no class have to trade defense for offense, mainly for the fact, that condi dmg is poorly designed.

Necros, NGs, Rangers can pull of good dmg with vit/tough/cond gear, warriors can, too, with power instead of condi dmg. Mesmers and thieves have working condi builds too, but also can go with glass builds and have other free class mechanics, not limiting thier def while going for more offense. Even Guards, can have some free dmg, while in ptv, because Retaliation scales only of power.

Thats why i think, in the current state of the game, UF is somewhat in line, mechanic wise, but maybe needs numbers changed.

Solutions … Moving UF to GM would be the best solution in a game where you need to invest for offense. But currently this is not the case, and this way would nerf the warrior in a way i can not foresee. One can do this, after Condi dmg is in line. Look at guards: RHS is a GM trait and only some special Snowflakes playing off guard (didn’t played since the medi buff, maybe this has changed?).

Maybe it could work like this: gives 25% base crit chance + 1% additional, for every 1% you already owe (not counting buffs). So a base crit chance of 25% would still mean a 50% increase. 5% would result in a 30% bonus, and with some zerk gears 40% you would not need fury anymore, for 100% crits. This way, its still useable for bunkers, while rewarding offensive gearing.
Do not nail me on the numbers … just an idea, my main point is: Every class can go full defense while dealing insane dmg, why not warri? Better redesign Healsig.

Had the same idea, but only thought about it. maybe try 30 earth with 10% cond dmg and use the shield in earth for some good defense+cond?

build would be: 0 0 30 15 25 or so. szepter focus with earth shield, and 2 stun breaker of choice, maybe glyph for extra condies.

its also in the tooltip: upper right corner. they just changed the layout i think.

ingame skill description its still 30s (also update notes do not state anything else). checked it before i posted.

does the sigill stack? so 2 of them would increase the duration by 0.9s?

tried to test it in the mists, but the difference is to low. My guess is no, as no sigill stacks.

The build shows basic synergy, which is good and i tested something similar for warrior some months ago, while they had problems sticking to a target.

As you said, i don not think its optimal, because glacial heart is still lackluster (4/30s uptime .. meh). Yeah maybe fun to roam wvw or hot join.

Hey guys,

I played a bit with citadel runes a few weeks ago, to fix the lack of fury on off guards. Now, that fury comes with traits (inner fire+focused mind) the last thing a guard is missing is mobility. So the rune set is free now and i would like to know what you think about traveler runes. Basic Build would be this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQBVSBqNccI1Q8hREXPgYEbIA-jABBJQFRjtMsIas6aYKXER1A-e

rest depends mostly on weapon choices. Guard would have nice fury uptime, ok to great basic crit chance (especially with RHS) and ok base mobility +1-2 teleports and maybe a leap.

I know there are other good choices: to much to list them for offensive power: citadel, ogre, eagle, scholar,… or cond% reduction, but for mobility theres maybe centaur. Do you think traveler is worth it?

Thank you for the replies.

I found Artaz answer the most useful one, as i only had problems in melee range. Maybe i should have staid longer in LB, abusing LOS, before switching to Hammer.
@Masterabbadon: Yeah, what your describing is what i am talking about. A ton of condies before Adren is there, otherwise the melee approach is fine. But i do not like to change LB with Rifle, as LB gives this reliable condi remove with cleansing ire and i find the f1 of rifle to be unreliable.
@hyman: your answer confuses me a little. I’m not running GS. Running Mace/shield instead of LB really have the potential to make to enemy rage, but the problem would persist i guess: engaging a nec in melee, while theres no adren to cleanse. In addition a harder to land f1 from mace, compared to LB.
@ Rigel: You did not got the problem i have with some Terrormancers: the stability can not be used effectively, because of soft cc (cripple, chill) and corruption. And without stability its gg for the nec. I also have to tell you, that your answer is the least useful one, because thats exactly what i was asking for (maybe not for the build, i am pretty happy with it).

Hey, glad you enjoy the warrior.

Your choice of utilities is solid, as well as trait lines. Weapons are currently mainly a thing of preference (imho).
Regarding equipment choices:
1.) raising healing power for getting adren health up from 285 to 360? Thats 75 health more every 3s = 25 health/s. Not worth it, if you ask me.
2.) Cirt dmg not on accessories does not have a good stat/critdmg% trade off. so i would switch stats here. If you really need crit dmg on equipment, take it on shoulders/gloves/boots

So for 100% crit chance on Evis with shield bash, i would do it this way (without changing too much):
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAneTjkOBvpQGPMxBA0jrqarTBoUPsru2A-j0CBYgCiUIgkIBK5BN7RQMRKZVNFRjVTLQ6aYqYK12cFRrWKgIGGB-w
+150 power
+4% crit chance
+200 tough
+22% crit dmg
-800 health
-45 health/s regeneration (from both signet and trait)

well.. listing it this way shows, this are only minor changes. but i think its better this way.

Also the trait “Mobile strikes” feels a little wasted with this weapon set up. Maybe switch it with III “Warriors sprint”. “heightened focus” is not needed to crit with evi and can either be switched or items can be adjusted.

“War hard counters Nec”

I’ve often read this on the forum, but yet i’m still facing the same Problem as the OP.

2 examples:
Yesterday i’ve met a Nec in WvW. I run 0 10 30 0 30 with balanced, frenzy (for the lols, anyway it was equiped) and zerker stance; Ptv gear with some knight/zerk mixed in and pack runes and Hammer/LB (no buff food).
I started with Zerk Stance (to prevent the first condi spike), after he dropped the first sign and used LB to build adren and tried to close the gap, while getting some minor Conditions. After Adren was build i used LB f1 to get rid of some Condies and switched to Hammer to get serious. That was about the time zerker stance ended and i failed to stick close to him (he used cripples, chills, dodges and fear), after i somewhat managed to get enough adren for hammer f1 i was at 50% health and earthshaker missed ( i must have overseen a blind). 1-2 fears later im downed without having done much more dmg after leaving LB. (he used a bear finisher, if i recall that means r50)

This time on Khylo: I’ve used GS mace /shield zerk stance, doly sig, balanced stance zerk equipped and engaged a necro at the treb. I got chilled by the first sign and again used zerk stance to prevent more staff dmg. The first chill however was applied. After i reached the treb, we traded some minor hits, zerk stance wears off and i got the first fear, used my first stun breaker. The Stability got converted and i got feared again plus some more condies, before i activated the second stun breaker. The Condies were there and again i failed to close the fear generated gap and die without having build enough adren for a single f1.

I feel a well played necro can still generate so much distance, that it can be hard to build adren and get rid of his condies. Especially in the second case i do not really see, what i’ve done wrong, maybe using zerk stance later on? Most of the time i run up to the Nec pop zerk stance and kill him, but if he manages to prevent adren building up, i’m really clueless how to act.

i’ve stopped reading mid thread, but:

Let’s compare updraft to other listed launches, like Banish. I guess no one here would argue, that a stun break should stop the flight after the hammer hit. So thinking about updraft as a mini banish everything is working normally.
So what is wrong with updraft (because no one complains about banish being OP, because one can not break the “control” effect of it)? one point is, its instant, while banish got an obvious animation, but “Overcharged Shot” is instant too and no complains there.

I think, launches should be changed, so stun breakers work instantly after one first touched the ground, because i am annoyed about this effect of banish too. The only difference is, while being banished the relative time in air is longer to the time acting like a bouncy ball.

Hey, first off: nice guide!

Q: You mentioned that soldier offers the better effective health, which looks reasonable. But in fights (besides 1n1) the healing by valk also effects your team. i know you also benefit the team by living longer, but wouldn’t that even numbers?

small mistake:
In the introduction to water magic you mentioned, that the player will loose 2conds when attuning to water, but equipped both cantrip traits, so it will remove 1cond through water11 if i’m right.