Guild Wars 2

I think there is a blend of skill of the human in mix with the utilities and powers a profession grants. That will always be in the mix; if it didn’t then it’d be boring as heck and we’d all be computers running simulations all day long.

My point is that I feel the warrior is fun. I win most of my fights because I consider myself an above average players. I think that if I played another class for the amount of hours I have on a warrior I too would feel the same about that profession.

There is a cross reference always to innate skills granted to professions and how it should all be equal so that player skill wins. I think it’s impossible to achieve.

The other point I want to make is that this is all relative. People come into these forums as maybe average or below average players and keep getting blown up by some average or above average warriors and think it needs a nerf.

What we need are people speaking intelligently on the different professions only if they’ve actually played all the professions and can articulate the differences in balance. As it stands now all I see above for the most part are opinions based on limited experience.

I am in no way saying I’m an expert but until we see something on this that explains in detail why X profession is clearly better than Y profession it’s all opinion of which means squat.

Also when people mention that warriors win hands down in burst DPS because they have 100 blades it clearly to me immediately makes me feel they have no credibility. In PvP or WvW 100blades is very difficult to land successfully over and over with no mobility. To make a blanket statement like that saying we win makes no sense.

I think most of these players in these professions have been riding with 1 at most stun break and been riding easy mode for awhile. They now have to actually give up some offensive utilities to counter the stuns with some stability stuff; either through speccing differently via traits, runes to lesson stun durations, or utilities. But instead of adjusting they are complaining because the hard decision is there that must now be made to actually counter it.

I use it in a knights zerker mix build and love it. I like it because the mace stun and mobility of gs let’s me cycle and regen to avoid burst.

Yea I rely on battle sigil or strength and forceful greatsword in my wvw solo build and hit 20 stacks pretty regularly.

Tyrion.4259:

I guess I would try and push 20 strength for the remaining points to get the trait that adds 10% more crit damage if you favor the axe or go 20 in arms for the rifle piercing shots trait if you favor the rifle.

The above poster nailed the first 50 points

Oh and I’d use melandru runes for the extra toughness and eat lemongrass for condition removals.

I guess I would try and push 20 strength for the remaining points to get the trait that adds 10% more crit damage if you favor the axe or go 20 in arms for the rifle piercing shots trait if you favor the rifle.

The above poster nailed the first 50 points

I don’t know guys but I really think with the last patch the apothecary condition route is really enticing!

Run with bow and sword/warhorn. Then you can still get the +heal and rely on conditions since you’ll hit like a wet noodle. This setup for WvW. I think this might work with grove runes for the protection. You also get dogged march plus cleansing ire and berserker’s stance.

Different playstyle for sure. Traited warhorn also helps tremendously.

I thought to myself since I can’t get 15 in discipline if I want 10 in arms for extra bleeds why not just forego discipline and go with 30 in defense and pick up spiked armor. And eat some tropical salad for +healing and condition damage.

Chance to proc protection with the runes, retaliation on a critical hit, cleansing ire for adrenaline gain to land your f1 arrows which also removes conditions, berserker’s stance to deal with blinds and shrug off necros for 8 seconds. I’m liking this idea a LOT.

Now you’re really looking good here guys. Over 1500 healing and about 1300 condition damage with the 25 stacks of corruption and the food.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIEQNBMhNak0JFuCSGiJOggeohVhAeKkEpHhBbsGA-jUyAIOBRaBI1BgABlHLiGbBsIasaGM1KRUtXpIa1CBIdNA-w

What about trying out this setup with apothecary gear instead and run with bow and sword/warhorn? Then you can still get the +heal and rely on conditions since you’ll hit like a wet noodle. This setup for WvW – you can get 1100 condition damage with the 25 charges and still get over 1400 healing. That I think might work with grove runes for the protection. You also get dogged march and lemongrass soup to help with conditions, plus cleansing ire and signet of stamina.

Different playstyle for sure. Traited warhorn also helps tremendously.

I thought to myself since I can’t get 15 in discipline if I want 10 in arms for extra bleeds why not just forego discipline and go with 30 in defense and pick up spiked armor. And eat some tropical salad for +healing and condition damage

Change to proc protection with the runes, retaliation on a critical hit, cleansing ire for adrenaline gain to land your f1 arrows which also removes conditions, berserker’s stance to deal with blinds and shrug off necros for 8 seconds. I’m liking this idea a LOT.

Now you’re really looking good here guys. Over 1500 healing and about 1300 condition damage with the 25 stacks of corruption and the food.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIEQNBMhNak0JFuCSGiJOggeohVhAeKkEpHhBbsGA-jUyAIOBRaBI1BgABlHLiGbBsIasaGM1KRUtXpIa1CBIdNA-w

I run a Hammer/Mace/Shield build and its effective with cleansing ire and berserker’s stance. I’ve done it enough so I really want to see a non stun type build used effectively because I can’t seem to get there at the right competitive level.

I really want to see the longbow used well; I realize you’ve done this before I believe? Just haven’t seen it in detail.

Or, to another extreme, trying to use physical utilities as a means to win. Curious if it can ever work without having some condition removals or no berserker stance in utility line.

Steelo, I get what you’re doing but the above posters are right. In sPvP I go over the top on condition removals for a reason. I run Hoelbrak in PvP (and WvW), pick up dogged march, and run berserker stance and cleansing ire.

Also, the way I deal with necros is actually with some chain stunning but via my weapons. Burr joked above but I run a build like that without the physical utilities. I run Hammer, Shield/Mace. Stun the crap out of them. Sure you can pull the ol’ skullcrack 100b combo but I prefer more.

0/10/30/0/30 – you likely know it.

Now if you want this “Bruce Lee” type name to hold true this build isn’t for you. I’m just telling you what’s viable. I’ve received many comments about what a pain in the rear I am.

Run zerker amulet with 30 in burst means hammer and mace do good damage and can down people.

The comment you made about thieves is simply odd to me; no problems with thieves? I wonder if you’ve run into the latest sword/dagger thieves that are actually skilled players? They can go zerker on you and literally not take any risk with their evade swings, stunbreaker shadowsteps, boon removals, blinds, stealths, etc. It’s over the top and needs nerfing.

Believe it or not, if specced right, the warrior these days with their utilities up and the right spec is really the anti-necro right now.

I have to tell you in PvP versus WvW I don’t care much for the mobility of the greatsword or sword. It certainly can help but mainly the key for me in PvP without lemongrass is condition removals coupled with CC with a zerker amulet. Condition removal with burst damage truly shines in the pug playing I’m doing. I am no TPvP player so feel free to poke holes.

0/10/30/0/30 is the safe fall I keep failing back to with Hammer and Mace/Shield.

The key ingredients here are Hoelbrak or Melandru Runes (I prefer Hoelbrak for the extra power), a bloodlust sigil, Cleansing Ire for adrenaline gain and condition removals, Dogged March, Hammer trait, and Burst Mastery. Me? I pick up Warrior’s Sprint and drop signet mastery. These days I alternate between sweet revenge and the + damage when boons are on your target. Lately though with all the stances I’m running I am going to consider Vigorous Stance. I think it likely has a great tradeoff versus sweet revenge. Afterall if you can dodge more then maybe you won’t be downed, right?

Without a doubt the best utilities in my opinion is Endure Pain, Berserker’s Stance, and Balanced Stance. Adrenaline heal is also fantastic. More adrenaline the better.

The other key is sigil of para on the shield. Alternatively you can drop dogged and go with missile deflection but generally speaking I don’t really find it too hard to stay on a range type and with the use of timely dodges you’ll be fine.

I start with Hammer typically and rotate through. With cleansing ire you’ll gain adrenaline quick enough. I don’t have a solid rotation – usually wait on pommel bash for when the victim panics and tries to heal.

Generally speaking I’ve found this build to be the most successful. Sure you can’t cap points fast like you can with a greatsword / sword combo but I’m offering much more support because of the stuns. If someone pops stability it’s ok you can wait it out, bait them, run around the corner, etc.

Oh and I forgot, run hoelbrak runes, works so well with forceful greatsword. And I would pick up dogged march. Sure, no lemongrass there, but the trade off is great I’m telling you.

Hammer works well too since you’ll use that f1 as well. Adrenaline will be pumping and every 5 seconds both f1’s reset and blows conditions. Just overall a great spec.

Three changes.

1. Drop last stand, pick up cleansing ire.
2. Put bloodlust on your mace.
3. Drop signet of might and get endure pain.

Conditions will fall with burst mastery and cleansing ire. Your adrenaline will be full.

You also can run hammer with mace shield in pvp versus wvw because mobility isn’t as important. I do that and run very well that way. I then go 10 in arms and 30 defense to get the hammer trait, cleaning ire, and dogged march.

That would be correct EsxB

It’ your weaponry really.

You really need to go with a greatsword and a mace/shield combo to take them. The key here is the mobility as the above poster said. Our form of sustain against memsers are reset the fight via rush and whirlwind. Then after they blinked, and after they used some of their other utilities go with the surprise skullcrack and 100blades. The best way to kill one is burst; in fact it’s the only way unless they’re terrible.

Heck, the scepter/sword ones are tough with their blocks and if they then choose sword/pistol they can choose when to come in for a quick burst after the pistol stun.

I don’t have problems with them in sPvP for some reason; but that’s when I’m using Hammer and Mace/Shield. They can’t get out of every stun I land.

You also need sigil of par and ideally impact. That’s what I run with. Stuns are your friend here. I also sometimes use missile reflection trait which will actually put some clones on them when you block. The mace 2 block can do it too for ya.

I run something similar in terms of weaponry but my traits are different. I run a 0/10/30/0/30 build where you pick up cleansing ire, hammer trait, and burst mastery. This makes switching back and forth and having enough adrenaline to land unlimited stuns when you want them. Plus it packs more of a punch because of crit damage.

I also run full knights on mace/shield so I land around 3500 total armor so it helps. Sits over 3k with a berserker hammer.

Run Hoelbrak Runes, Dogged March, and lemongrass. Cleansing ire is gravy for adrenaline gain and for those min maxers that run +40% condition duration food.

It works but yea you called it; mobility. That’s why I play it for a bit, then when I get killed by some zerg that I normally would get away with the gs I go back to the 0/20/20/0/30 spec with forceful greatsword.

And my utilities are vastly different. Because I can land unlimited stuns with the cleansing ire/burst mastery combination, instead I go with berserker’s stance for spiking down conditions or heavy blind opponents like thieves, endure pain for well you know, and dolyak signet which gives me the toughness upgrade coupled with signet mastery.

WvW build: Hammer / Mace/Shield build. Full CC blasting. Can literally stun/daze/knockdown someone from 100% health to dead. The main con is no mobility like sword or greatsword offers. However, the key is to build it based on Hoelbrak Runes, Dogged March, and Lemongrass food and pick up Berserker’s Stance (for fighting thieves) and Endure Pain for getting away or fighting GC players when stuns are down.

I push 3500 toughness with shield and mace. Pretty nice when coupled with condition duration reductions that push 90% on immobilizes.

A common rotation with cleansing ire (due to a great amount of adrenaline gain) is to start with Hammer – Backbreaker, Staggering Blow, Earthshaker, switch to mace, Pommel Bash, Shield Bash, Skullcrack. Typically dead, no matter the class unless they used stability. Even if they do most players only pick up one form of it and you can quickly adapt with a new stun within seconds do to burst mastery and cleansing ire. I don’t use cleansing ire per say for the condition removals it’s for the adrenaline gain. However, those necros and the like that eat food that increases condition duration by 40% it cancels my lemongrass so this can be helpful.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAS5ejcOpwtQGPMxBE0DNsK4iTBlQ9YOsj4A-jkDBYLAYMRmWOQECwJQFRjtCqIasKGYqTJV5KwaYQ2bB2gDyfIZeEoyAwsAA-w

MiLkZz.4789:

In a 1000 hours on my warrior inside WvW, I have never ever lost from a ranger. I am sure there are real good rangers out there, but they are incredibly rare. I only know 1 really good ranger, that is it. Warrior is far superior to a ranger in WvW. I don’t know about the current situation in sPvP and tPvP, I don’t play those modes. But I am guessing ranger is still better there.

Warrior is 1 of the top classes in WvW, can’t get around that. Nobody uses rangers in GvG. Because there group utility = 0.

So in
-PvE: warrior > ranger
-WvW: warrior > ranger
-sPvP: warrior < ranger

ps.: got to admit there are a great deal of bad warriors in WvW aswel.

I have to agree with you there. Playing a stun type warrior with high condition duration reduction and occasionally use missile deflection. I can’t recall the last time I lost to a ranger in WvW. I consider myself above average.

Most rangers I run into use their lightning reflexes or signet quickly and then I have about 5 other stuns incoming that take them down.

And actually, in spvp playing a hammer, mace/shield spec I don’t lose to rangers 1 on 1. Really not possible with that spec. I can see maybe a bunker ranger outlasting me but in those cases I’ll just reset the fight. Or in those cases someone usually interrupts so it’s not a 1 v 1 anymore.

For me, I toyed with a 0/10/30/0/30 spec with Hammer and Mace/Shield last night fully realizing I’m losing my lovely mobility at will with the greatsword and it’s not one skill that does it for me. It’s the series of skills I do to totally lock down an opponent to death. It’s very funny actually when the opponent has no stability.

Backbreaker, Staggering Blow, Earthshatter, Pommel Bash, Shield Bash, Skull Crack. Bye bye.

That combo when on an unsuspecting foe (no pun intended) = pure fun.

Well, aside from all the negativity I play GW2 to fit my playstyle of a solo WvW’er and sPvP’er that likes to just control the flow of combat and win when I can.

That requires:

1. Mobility. Mobility. Mobility. That is are #1 form of sustain.
2. CC. CC. CC.
3. Runes, Food, and Dogged March. Condition damage goes to the waste side.
4. Blocking mechanism.
5. High Toughness.

It NOW can be argued that berserker’s stance is our third form of mitigation. It’s fantastic to burst down a blinding thief or a heavy blasting condition necro.

With all that said the build I proposed above grants you that. Some other poster between all the negativity posts asked if this is pve viable. I don’t know; I do very little of it. High end fractal stuff and the like where there are min maxers involved can and will drop you if you aren’t wielding greatsword and axe/mace with the 30/0/0/10/30 build. Otherwise to be straight I believe the player makes it and can manage with the above build I posted.

Also, someone posted not having 25 in arms hurts. Sure but you put sigil of impact on your greatsword and you’ll compensate after a skullcrack full 100blades swing.

I don’t know why anyone would not spec this way unless they insist on using a ranged weapon. It simply dominates. Can’t see the skullcrack coming. You get two forms of a block, you use melandru or holebrak runes with dogged march and lemongrass food. There’s no better spec in my opinion to take any class down.

My kill/death ratio has sky rocketed. Sure I have TONS of hours of play time now so yea that certainly helps when you can mash keys perfectly.

In sPvP (yes I’m serious) I run with Hammer, Mace/Shield and literally stun lock foes to death. The reason I do this is because I don’t have to rely on greatsword to be mobile like in WvW. It’s super fun.

Hammer 5, Hammer 4, F1, Hammer 2, switch to mace/shield, daze swing, shield stun, skull crack. Pretty much over. If you want, start with berserker’s stance.

Pick up endure pain and balanced stance – no need for charge in sPvP really – no gap closing is really that necessary in small areas like most maps.

If you want to solo and be tanky you need to gear to have conditions fall off you so you can keep that beautiful knights gear.

Here’s what I have, and I have been WvW’ing effectively as a solo type with an occasional buddy.

All knights gear. The new meta, as you might have read on other posts, is Greatsword, Mace/Shield.

The key here are three pieces for conditions; Dogged March in defense, Lemongrass food (-40% condition duration), and either Melandru Runes or Hoelbrak Runes. I prefer Hoelbrak because it knocks down condition duration 20% AND gives might stack duration increase that goes very well with the Greatsword 20 trait in Arms. 20% + 33% +40% = 93% condition duration reduction on immobilizes. That is simply huge. The other stuff bounces off as well; 60% is nothing to laugh about.

You have some choices to make; in order to gain adrenaline the best way as I see it is to pick up cleansing ire anyways. You might ask why would you do that when you have conditions bounce off; well, it’s not for that really; it’s for the adrenaline gain. And, you get burst mastery to make it so you can switch every 5 seconds and land that skullcrack immediately and not be pressed for adrenaline. You COULD go with missile reflection, which I personally have used. Hilarious when you make a warrior with a rifle shoot themselves for 14k (yes I did that) or have a mesmer render phantasms on themselves.

You get 3k armor even with Hoelbrak instead of Melandru.

The 20 mark in Discipline is up for debate as well. I personally run with Destruction of the Empowered since I just go with Balanced Stance instead of Dolyak since I don’t have signet mastery. It’s debatable honestly. I sometimes switch it so SoR is up faster but with Unsuspecting Foe (10 in arms) you crit like crazy when the opponent is stunned.

You also need Berserker’s Stance against thieves and necros. You might say conditions bounce off you; however, the smart necros eat food that increases condition duration by 40% so it will be challenging without it. Berserker’s stance eats through the thief’s blind and the necro’s conditions. It’s great to pop when you want to win. Oh, and engineer’s that use the pistol suffer as well.

The spec and gear.

FYI – THIS IS NOT MY SPEC. This has been crafted by many smart and competent warriors on previous posts (like BurrKing). I’ve just added my two cents to it to fit my personal playstyle.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNApeRjcOpwtQyQMxBEkCNsKOKUCmQ9YO2w4A-j0CBYMCi0yBiQAMBqIasVQFRjVvATdKpKXBWDDybAzfIpA-w

Cygnus.6903:

Strength and battle don’t work together well due to shared CD…

I don’t understand. So, if I’m wielding my greatsword and its currently using sigil of battle and switch to mace/shield that has battle and strength and the CD is up it would proc stacks of might on weapon switch but then if I crit within 10 seconds it won’t proc another might?

And, does sigil of strength combine with forceful greatsword?

By the way, newb question – this elite is a free unlockable elite? Never noticed it before but I wasn’t actively looking for it. I know I haven’t unlocked all utilities and elite skills.

YuiRS.8129:

GS/Mace Warrior is a free kill for Stab/Blind/Block spammers. So Thieves, Necros, Engineers, Guardians and some Eles. But yeah, other than that, you’re fine ;p

Not from my experience. However, you might be referring to the elite players who stack food that is 40% condition duration increase; those give me a hard time.

Those are FEW and FAR between. The only times I died last night was because of zerging interrupting me or I kid you not my food went down in the battle itself; lol happened twice.

Besides that this spec with Holebrak, lemongrass, AND dogged march means basically I can focus on whipping someone. Mace stun is the best in game now as far as I feel. It’s hard to see coming. That and the fact I love missile reflection. Gave a warrior a 14k crit on a killshot the other day; was rather amusing.

Might stacking with block and sigils too – strength and battle on mace and shield and I have might show up on weapon swap on greatsword since might stacking with 20 in arms does that part fine.

0/20/20/0/30.

I solo MAINLY.

I’m not so sure one of your cons for having SOR is actually fully true. I run a 0/20/20/0/30 build with GS/Mace and I pick up warrior’s sprint and use signet of rage as well. Why? For the might stacking. I too have Hoelbrak runes and stacking might with sigils on my weapons (strength and battle) PLUS the greatsword might stacking on critical hits it helps because you get 5 from SoR. FYI – swiftness is 33% speed and warrior’s spring is 25% speed; although not significantly higher it certainly adds up.

My point is we are down power in this build so to offset it you will use bloodlust of course, but the way to further offset it is by might stacking. I also sometimes pick up the might on block but I find it not stacking too much to be worthwhile in every case.

What is this burning block?

EDIT: Nevermind, noticed the runes now.

What the above poster said. With only cleansing ire I would definitely suggest switching out one of those utilities for something like signet of stamina or if you’re dead set on having 2 stun removals get shake it off.

The other issue with this build as I see it is lack of burst protection. Ideally you shouldn’t have to worry about it with so much armor so I’m curious if it’s a big concern of yours but I have about 3k armor with my setup and I am very thankful to have the adrenaline heal as a fall back to rely on a burst heal to offset it.

If I was running that build and was dead set on NOT changing my utilities then I would only do it if I had a longbow and burst mastery with cleansing ire to fire it off religiously to remove conditions. But that screws up your build

Looks like you’re having fun. Personally I don’t understand how it can be, but that’s just me. Spamming f1 and axe 5 in front of a zerg where you see big numbers doesn’t do much for me. Likely also because my computer can’t handle it lol.

Yea once I’ve incorporated melandru/hoelbrak runes, lemongrass, and dogged march (or at times no dogged march) I can’t do without adrenaline heal. It’s just too viable and heals for way more. 5 seconds is not long enough to justify the tradeoff. Conditions typically bounce off me so I’m good.

I actually am looking at trying this blended version that takes mobile strikes as a safe fall, loses dogged march (which further stresses the need for mobile strikes), picks up hoelbrak runes for further offensive, and utilizes opportunist for perma up time of fury with leg specialist. That to me means I can drop FGJ and pick up something like shake it off for another stun break and condition removal in deep situations where I don’t have time to rely on the warhorn.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNBhYDbkzp5N2x4hJOAcekETLpUYXdJFixGA-jEzAYLBZCCA5BiKAn8UYTgCaVwioxqWwUlK1KXANMk3YZ1yAwsAA-w

EDIT: Forgot to drop warrior’s sprint since you don’t rely on it with perma swiftness from the horn. So picked up signet mastery and dolyak instead of balanced stance to give you a bit more toughness.

It’s very hard to use effectively soloing which is why the montages show a guy in the middle of a zerg landing these shots. I personally don’t ever care to use it when roaming in WvW. In sPvP it can work better because of small warfare and generally speaking if you stick with someone or enter a fight a bit later it can devastate; however, once the opposing team catches on it’s game over.

I’d much rather use the longbow in 1v1 fights with a greatsword or sword / shield because it just produces the same damage (not single burst with kill shot if you happen to land it) but also because you have more control on when you want to land the f1 since it’s an aoe field shot.

Yea, I’ve been running this as well – i put 30 in defense to get defy pain. I don’t have any traits to help me gain adrenaline and I don’t really notice it – the reason is I prefer not to have cleansing ire and instead use Hoelbrak, Lemongrass, and Dogged March.

You also need bull’s charge with this build for gap closing. The only debate I have is to pick up a condition removal trait like signet of stamina to ensure those guys that run condition duration improvement foods and traits can still be fought effectively. Right now, having 93% removal on chills, immobilizes, and what not is really nice most of the time. Just falls off you.

The other thing is I get bored easily so trying to come up with alternatives for solo WvW play and can’t really find a counter except for maybe my old GS/Hammer build. However, the shield with missile deflection on 2 skills, the full 100blades landing with sigil of paralyzation, coupled with a very hard to see skullcrack makes it far superb.

Here’s my alternative build to the OP – http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNApeRjcOBvxOGPMxBE0DsQDzijClgJUKmD7A-jUDBYLCi0yBiQAM5RhNBSQrCqIasKGYqSK1KXAaYQ2bAGcQeDLrWGAmxA-w

The main issue in PvP and WvW fights, and honestly that’s all I care about, is the lack of sustain a warrior has. This creates a more skilled player to pull off wins when you lack the potential burst. Really if I was to go with sword / x I’d have to pick up a secondary burst weapon and resort to bursting down to under 50% to land final thrust and keep them crippled.

I’ve been running this pretty nicely in WvW with Hoelbrak, Lemongrass, and Dogged March. I picked up Defy Pain too, and running around 60% crit with signet of rage up. I have two impact sigils which helps even further on the damage of 100blades and skullcrack. It’s pretty fun. I don’t know if there’s a better build honestly to complete the greatsword due to the chance to land a full 100blades.

I’m fairly new to this game so don’t know most class mechanics which causes my untimely deaths at certain engagements where I don’t know yet what’s coming. Specifically, an engineer got me the other day – I had all my conditions reductions going but to some other persons point above I would imagine he had food and other somethings to increase his condition durations because they didn’t bounce off me like they normally do.

Normally, against average players my missile deflection does the trick to keep them at bay long enough where they’re scared and fumbling but not this guy.

I can’t see myself picking up cleansing ire with this spec; landing the skull crack in MELEE range to get the conditions off me is counter intuitive because the most logical time I need to get it off me is when I’m not in melee range, lol. So without a longbow it’s tough to pick it up.

I likely just have to slot signet of stamina and be done with it to offset these scenarios.

I don’t think everyone gets this. Here’s the best setup WHEN in my humblest of opinions, Dogged March, Melandru/Hoelbrak, AND lemongrass is used. That means you don’t have to micromanage conditions. Honestly, if I played this spec I’d switch it out some and not pick up cleansing ire (WvW mode). I realize you will be more hungry for adrenaline but you can offset it because you’ll be on top of your victim more and burst mastery/signet of fury will help offset even more. The other key, without signet mastery in my eyes, is warrior’s sprint.

So instead of cleansing ire, pick up dogged march. Instead of Vigorous Focus, pick up Warrior’s Sprint. And I’d also drop berserker’s stance because I don’t care about conditions – they fall off me. Instead I’d pick up signet of fury for the extra crit and pop it for a full adrenaline bar to offset my urge to use healing surge prematurely. Also, I’d drop Destruction of the Empowered for Signet Mastery. Dolyak is then better return than balance stance since you already have warrior’s sprint – no need for swiftness when popping balance stance.

And I would MOST definitely use Superior Sigil of Impact on the greatsword (and even the mace). The 100blades combo on the skillcracker stun will be +10 more damage which helps considering we couldn’t squeeze 25 points in arms.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNApeRjcO9uxOGPMxBE0DsQDzijClgJUKmD7A-jUDBYLCi0yBiQAM5RhNBSQrCqIasKGYqSK1KXAaYQ2bAGcQeDLrWGAmxA-w

This build fits my playstyle. This is FOR WVW because lemongrass is simply required to make this work. Otherwise Burr brings the right amount of utility to offset conditions for a sPvP build with cleansing ire and berserker’s stance.

Also, I’ve sometimes wielded dual maces for tremor instead of the shield but with missile deflection you have to go with the shield or sword offhand. The only other thing I would consider over missile deflection is last stand or sundering mace. But I think the missile deflection outright wins it with two build in swings for it.

I’m currently 0/0/30/20/20 with hammer greatsword and boon duration runes giving me perma signet of rage. Now I have to give up Last stand to get the new master defense trait because I can’t see myself not traiting it. And I was hoping to see the longbow trait enhanced. The other issue is I’m losing out on the crit damage boost with adrenaline from heintened senses. I guess I can drop the whole signet of rage perma uptime and get the faster running – 25% versus 33%.

I guess I’ll stick with Leg Specialist and get Desperate Power when under 50% health since that shows damage improvement.

Ambrecombe.4398:

Zagerus.8675:

… Guardians do not have nearly the movement you can achieve with …

Guardians with low mobility are urban legends. Try a greatsword / Sword&Focus build with a couple of Meditation skills and “Save yourselfs” or “Retreat”, and stop your none sense about guardian having no mobility, if you want to build around mobility with a Guardian it is totaly possible. The only hik comes from the fact Guardian needs a target to move around, wich isn’t a problem in WvW with all ennemies NPCs lurking around.

Not the case. Check out this build – http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAR7dlYgqCHFyvDf4ESOjVCBtPQQYPwI4rjA;T0Ag0CtUbp0iqLjXCvsi56SK2CjRG7IA

Here’s the link from a guy who created the non stop swiftness guardian – https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Boonway-alternative-Guardian-build/first

AndrewSX.3794:

I want to say just one thing – alert, it’s strictly WvW related:

drop that useless signet of Rage and slot the awesome Battle Standard in wvw zerg battles.

You should have 30 in Tactics line (for healing shouts) which means 30% boon duration, and Quick Breathing (for extra cond removal).
With that setup the Horn n°4 recharges in 12sec and grants 13sec of Swiftness, making it nearly perma just by spamming it (“nearly” due to cast+aftercast, it’s like 1 sec of drop), plus Sword MH for leaps (main dmg weapon hammer).
Might is stacked with blast finishers (remember that now Horn 5 is a blast too) and fury by multiple warriors FGJ, so please drop the elite sig for banner.
AoE downed/Npc(manly lords. it’s bug, but used anyway) res + blast + boons is so much better.

(all referring to usual Hammer+S/H 0/0/25/30/15 or so shout build for zerging)

If you’re into the ZERG type fighting. Depends purely on playstyle. Supporting your zerg team like this is a great idea and one I would do too if I couldn’t stand the mindless press 1 2 crap warfare zerg fighting does. Plus, memory issues and overall lag up the ying yang.

Otherwise, a warrior solo guy like me specs to do damage and relies on the greatsword for mobility and runes for perma signet of rage. I’m not a PvE fan either.

My point? Depends purely on what you want to get out of the game. If there were instance fights of 20 on 20 or less I’d consider it because then it’s more strategic. These days at least in my fighting experiences it’s who gets the jump on who and who outnumbers the other. The strategy really has nothing to do with the fight but the planning and where to hit next before the opponent can respond, regardless of how you’re specced. Sure a fight or two you might make a difference in a zerg fight but I’m not convinced it will really make a difference every time.

Bread.7516:

Redscope.6215:

Bread.7516:

Redscope.6215:

Assuming the leaked notes are true:

Lose – Heightened Focus
Gain – Warrior’s Sprint @ 25%

My build will change to 30/20/0/0/20 with
Strength
Restorative Strength
Slashing Power
Berserker’s Power
Arms
Furious Speed (definite 10s of swiftness on 15s cooldown)
Forceful Greatsword
Discipline
Warrior’s Sprint (25% speed w/ melee weapon)
Mobile Strikes

The extra mobility will definitely make up for loss of +9% crit at full adrenaline (not even permanent +9%). I may even go to sword main hand with all the extra cripples and damage it gets.

According to these “leaked” notes.

is this for pve/wvw/pvp?

i assume pve since it’s silly to go glass in wvw and pvp.

what’s the use of mobile strikes in pve in terms of dps?
should trait 25 in arms since it gives you 10% more damage instead and ditch mobile strikes

Can’t ditch Mobile Strikes for PvP. Its not ‘silly’ to build zerk in PvP and WvW, its hard. I enjoy the challenge personally. Can’t stand the bunker-and-win playstyle, it puts me to sleep.

mobile strike in pvp is senisble, but in any high level tpvp glass warrior is…garbage.
bunker is only for holding points. most people find a balance, there’s no fighter in any pro ring that has no speed agility or power; they have all, some just excel in few other aspects.

In WvW you really need to spec a burst type build unles you want to zerg it. And zerging it is mindless warfare. Me personally I am in berserker gear with defense, tactics, and discipline trained and do well with the hammer and greatsword.

Lord Titan.3791:

Tyrion.4259:

Could use some feedback.

Build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQJARSjcO1wxO+OMxBE0DNkLyClC7oNSKEjyA-jkDBYLBioAgsAK5pIasltht6KalXBRxATVSpW5CQDDyeDwgDybYZ1yAwsAA-w

Pros:
1. Permanent Signet of Rage. PERMANENT. Never goes down. That means 5 stacks of might, swiftness, and Fury.
2. Really good mobility. I use the greatsword these days more for the mobility than anything else. It is truly unmatched. The way a solo or skirmisher warrior survives is by resetting the fight by kiting; we have no other mechanism.
3. Conditions fall off you. Not as extreme as wearing runes that help but it is still significant enough that you don’t have to micromanage conditions on top of trying to get on the target.
4. Quick weapon swap and 1 trait swap and you are a longbow wielding fiend when up against a keep in a zerg setting.
5. Gap closers and root specialist to keep the target close to the big sword and big hammer; essential when running no range weaponry as main build.
6. Damage pressure WITH stuns. I am a firm believer of the Hammer now after using it over the last week. I’ve managed to win and live on a few 3 on 1s with the hammer. Yes, it was really poor players but really nice to see those kinds of results. The key is decent burst damage WITH the CC so that you not only shut people down but damage comes with it.

Runes to help with Permanent Signet of Rage:
The build involves using 3 sets of boon duration runes and 20 in tactics to ensure you can run signet of rage for 48 seconds. Then pick up signet mastery to reduce the reset timer of signet of rage to 48 seconds.

Utilities:
Signet of fury is critical for this build to offset the lower critical chance AND more importantly it gives you options to open. If I am about to enter a skirmish (not 1 v 1) I typically pop this to gain full adrenaline and open up with earthshatter. If I am in a keep battle and there are some annoying folks up top, with signet of mastery, you can continuously pop this signet to drop F1 bombs all day long from your longbow. It is actually quite effective whether you’re attacking the keep or up top defending it.

Hey Tyrion,
Great read and thank you for posting. First I’ll start with what I like about your build.
Likes:
- GS/Hammer Combo.
- Mobile Strikes, Dogged March, Merciless Hammer, and Leg Specialist pick ups.
- Bull’s Strike(If and only if solo/2 man roaming).
- Opinion on Frenzy, its great for some situations and horrid for others. I’m glad you switch it up and use other utilities to your advantage when needed.
- 15 points in Discipline is a must for a GS/Hammer build due to how much synergy the weapons have together.
- Zerker/Knights balance: This balance is absolutely great for roaming and zerging. But if you ever get into organized 5-10 man you’ll find yourself dropping rather quickly when focused.

Dislikes:
- Signet of Fury: Don’t see the necessary pick up with this. Better options out there over getting more Earthshakers.
- Bull’s Charge( Unless your doing solo/duo roaming, I feel that it loses its need when you run in a 5 man).
- Spiked Armor and Empowered. I would rather see you either go 20 points in strength or 10 points in strength and pick up Last Stand.
- Boon Duration runes, I feel that these are actually gimping your potential compared to Divinity, Ogre, Scholar, Melandru.

Thanks for the feedback. Some comments you made are unclear and I request a bit more elaboration.

I primarily solo, did not clarify that earlier. This is why I prefer the full uptime of signet of rage. I can’t rely on any other movement speed other than swapping in warhorn which gets annoying.

I don’t have mobile strikes. You said I did.

Signet of Fury you don’t like? Without it my crit chance goes down to 64%. Is that sufficient enough in your eyes?

I do have Last Stand, so not sure why you suggested to pick it up.

You mentioned Spiked Armor. Did that mean you want me to pick it up? I don’t have it in my build.

If I was to pick up Berserker’s Power what would you give up?

Could use some feedback.

Build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQJARSjcO1wxO+OMxBE0DNkLyClC7oNSKEjyA-jkDBYLBioAgsAK5pIasltht6KalXBRxATVSpW5CQDDyeDwgDybYZ1yAwsAA-w

Pros:
1. Permanent Signet of Rage. PERMANENT. Never goes down. That means 5 stacks of might, swiftness, and Fury.
2. Really good mobility. I use the greatsword these days more for the mobility than anything else. It is truly unmatched. The way a solo or skirmisher warrior survives is by resetting the fight by kiting; we have no other mechanism.
3. Conditions fall off you. Not as extreme as wearing runes that help but it is still significant enough that you don’t have to micromanage conditions on top of trying to get on the target.
4. Quick weapon swap and 1 trait swap and you are a longbow wielding fiend when up against a keep in a zerg setting.
5. Gap closers and root specialist to keep the target close to the big sword and big hammer; essential when running no range weaponry as main build.
6. Damage pressure WITH stuns. I am a firm believer of the Hammer now after using it over the last week. I’ve managed to win and live on a few 3 on 1s with the hammer. Yes, it was really poor players but really nice to see those kinds of results. The key is decent burst damage WITH the CC so that you not only shut people down but damage comes with it.

Runes to help with Permanent Signet of Rage:
The build involves using 3 sets of boon duration runes and 20 in tactics to ensure you can run signet of rage for 48 seconds. Then pick up signet mastery to reduce the reset timer of signet of rage to 48 seconds.

Utilities:
Signet of fury is critical for this build to offset the lower critical chance AND more importantly it gives you options to open. If I am about to enter a skirmish (not 1 v 1) I typically pop this to gain full adrenaline and open up with earthshatter. If I am in a keep battle and there are some annoying folks up top, with signet of mastery, you can continuously pop this signet to drop F1 bombs all day long from your longbow. It is actually quite effective whether you’re attacking the keep or up top defending it.

This build also gives me the opportunity to use Frenzy – you can use endure pain, balanced stance (on top of last stand) or any other utility like fear me alternatively and I often will switch it up for a change of pace. The key here is that I like to be able to use different utilities and not feel locked down. I always ran with FGJ to offset when signet of rage is down but with the perma swiftness, might, and fury no longer do you need it, which is great. I’ve also been running with signet of stamina. Remember we have signet mastery so any other signet you might find useful can help. The passive on signet of stamina = more dodges, and in the event you are being spam rooted and the 73% condition reduction on immobilizes isn’t enough it is a get out of jail free card; specially skills like the ranger elite that continuously roots you and you don’t have enough time to kill the roots.

You also can comfortably use Healing Surge because honestly it’s the best heal we have in terms of numbers and giving you a full adrenaline bar if you didn’t have one. Conditions again will relatively bounce off you with Dogged March and Lemongrass.

Without the hammer and a timed pressure earthshatter swing it is very very difficult to take down thieves for me. Even with the hammer it is difficult because of how over the top they are when the heal at will in stealth and blind like nobodies business. This build gives me a chance. Alternatively I am thinking that if I use Balanced Stance and drop Last Stand I MIGHT try Spiked Armor to see if retaliation actually helps.

Armor Choices:
I am wearing primarily full zerker. I have run 3k to 3200 armor with knights gear and to be honest I really haven’t noticed a difference. The main difference I see is I do less burst and that is enough for me to consider going back to full zerker.

Stats:
You get 72% crit with 0 specced in arms (81% crit with full adrenaline) and 76% critical damage bonus; I feel this is great! Power is low, so I carry a greatsword with bloodlust on it to farm some mobs some before I want to seriously skirmish to get the power up, then switch back to the air signet greatsword.

Pending on your choice, you can switch out Empowered for Shrug it Off. I find 6% damage boost pretty nice without ANY other boons on you since you’re guaranteed to have those up unless someone strips it. Plus, by not speccing 10 in Strength you offset it with this trait; remember permanent 3 boons on you unless someone strips it.

I want some feedback on this build. It’s a stab at picking alternative lines that don’t give precision and power to ensure you can get useful defensive and offensive boosts that you normally wouldn’t get with a X/X Strength/Arms type build.

I am fairly confident this has likely been done before (because this isn’t rocket science) so please I am taking ZERO credit for this. I am finding pretty good results with it so I thought I’d share. Funnily enough I never thought speccing 0 in arms and 0 in strength could produce these results. The key is offsetting the lack of power and precision from weapons, gear, and utilities. This is for roaming around in WvW and small skirmish fights.

Key requirements for me on this build:
1. Permanent signet of rage up time.
2. Hammer cool down reduction.
3. Dogged March
4. Last Stand
5. Enough burst damage to show up.
6. A quick weapon swap when with the zerg to offer a range option.
7. Gap closing or rooting type abilities to ensure I can keep the pressure.

The build involves using 3 sets of boon duration runes and 20 in tactics to ensure you can run signet of rage for 48 seconds. Then pick up signet mastery to reduce the reset timer of signet of rage to 48 seconds. At one point I was chewing on boon duration food but my original build that copies amazing warriors from this forum uses the favorite lemongrass that I can’t seem to let go because of it’s amazing condition removal percentage.

Signet of fury is critical for this build to offset the lower critical chance AND more importantly it gives you options to open. If I am about to enter a skirmish (not 1 v 1) I typically pop this to gain full adrenaline and open up with earthshatter. If I am in a keep battle and there are some annoying folks up top, with signet of mastery, you can continuously pop this signet to drop F1 bombs all day long. It is actually quite effective whether you’re attacking the keep or up top defending it.

I am wearing primarily full zerker. I have run 3k to 3200 armor with knights gear and to be honest I really haven’t noticed a difference. The main difference I see is I do less burst and that is enough for me to consider going back to full zerker.

This build also gives me the opportunity to use Frenzy – you can use endure pain, balanced stance (on top of last stand) or any other utility like fear me alternatively and I often will switch it up for a change of pace. The key here is that I like to be able to use different utilities and not feel locked down. I always ran with FGJ to offset when signet of rage is down but with the perma swiftness, might, and fury no longer do you need it, which is great.

You get 72% crit with 0 specced in arms and 76% critical damage bonus; I feel this is great! Power is low, so I carry a greatsword with bloodlust on it to farm some mobs some before I want to seriously skirmish to get the power up, then switch back to the air signet greatsword.

Pending on your choice, you can switch out Empowered for Shrug it Off. I find 6% damage boost pretty nice without ANY other boons on you since you’re guaranteed to have those up unless someone strips it.

I am relying on Dogged March and Lemongrass food to bounce conditions / immobilizes off me. I realize I am not wearing Hoelbrak or Melandru runes to push 90% + immobilize removal but it’s a balance I am getting more comfortable with.

Do comment – the build – http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQJARSjcO1wxO+OMxBE0DNkLyClC7oNSKEjyA-jkDBYLBioAgsAK5pIasltht6KalXBRxATVSpW5CQDDyeDwgDybYZ1yAwsAA-w

EDIT: forgot to add two things: (1) you can switch out leg specialist at any point and slot stronger bowstrings and equip a longbow. I mentioned using the weapon above with signet of fury but not the trait switch. And (2), you actually can hit 81% crit chance with heightened focus.

EDIT: The reality is that we don’t have an insane amount of adrenaline gain like if you were to spec Furious or the defensive one that gives you adrenaline when hit, but the signet of fury can help offset that with a low reset timer.

Cygnus.6903:

Keep on using it if you’re having fun. Don’t go tournaments though, wouldn’t be fair on your team.

I imagine you’re referring to me. Yes I agree whole-heartidly. I would never spec that way in tpvp or spvp; I’d burst and set up a spec that relies on getting precision and power through traits to up it even more with the berserker amulet and runes (like Lyssa). In pvp the higher the chance of crit and burst the better in my opinion; glass cannon is really the only way. I know there’s specs out there trying to be a bunker but that’s where we fall short.

The two above posters said it perfectly. I can’t imagine not running with dogged march and to some extent last stand. Lately though I’ve been running a build in WvW that foregoes Melandru / Hoelbrak runes, which I normally have to keep conditions down to like 0 on immobilized ones but I’m comfortable with lemongrass and dogged march.

It’s a Greatsword/Hammer build with three sets of two runes for boon duration. Gives me permanent signet of rage this way. Mostly berserker and I offset the lack of precision in the spec by picking up signet of fury.

0/0/30/20/20. Dogged march, last stand, hammer trait. Leg specialist (switch out to stronger bowstrings when wanting to break out bow at keep fights), empowered (or shrug it off), heightened focus and signet mastery. This build only works in WvW though since you can’t get the perma signet of rage in pvp and honestly with the small areas it’s not necessary. 73% condition duration reduction on immobilizes is good enough for me.

I’m also able to then pick up frenzy, bulls charge, and signet of fury and not worry about conditions or balanced stance (although they still could provide use).

Build – http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQJARSjcO1wxO+OMxBE0DNkLyClC7oNSKEjyA-jkDBYLBioAgsAK5pIasltht6KalXBRxATVSpW5CQDDyeDwgDybYZ1yAwsAA-w

Yea I do that naturally now knowing fully I won’t land a full 100b. Plus, whirlwind is great since it’s basically a dodge attack with supreme damage.

I gotcha. Great points. I think that leg specialist at a bear bone minimum helps land an earthshaker. And really chasing people down. I never suggested using bulls charge and hammer shock / bladetrail back to back.

I do need to reconsider the applicability of 100blades in some fights to your point. I agree that there is blatant openings where I am subject to being murdered if on more than 1 opponent

Maybe you have to pick up frenzy to make this work better?

Redscope.6215:

Try this for effect:

• Whirlwind Attack
• Bladetrail
• Rush

You end up slicing through your target, throwing the blade at him, and then chasing him down bladeless only to catch the greatsword and hit him with the end of the Rush skill.

When timed properly, it looks pretty cool.

Redscope you just made my day. That is so cool in theory and landing that isn’t too hard. Props to you.

It’s not a “lazy” argument. The QA (quality assurance team) missed it quite frankly. I work for a software company and these small tips and what not happen more often than you might think. It’s just something missed. Most of the time developers fix them when they see it because most people don’t bring it up. It does unfortunately make it feel like a not so polished product when you see it even once.

AlBundy.7851:

Sanny uses his Greatsword like the majority of warriors as a tool to disengage and gap close but mostly to disengage. HB never really gets factored in unless to punish a person stupid enough to try a rez on a downed ally before dealing with the warrior.

3 seconds still isn’t enough since the actual channel is 3.5 the actual damage of HB comes at the end of the channel the last hit is the most damaging. Most people run a break stun ability or have some sort of stability when stunned as well.

This is where the tides can turn with putting 10 in Tactics. Get leg specialist and you can land your 100blades alot more often than one might think. Bull’s Charge, Hammer Shock, and Bladetrail all are potential opps to land 100blades – not a full one, but enough with a whirlwind to make a nice dent.

Kaga.7629:

ArtemisEntreri.4138:

Nil.4320:

@Kaga

What would be an optimized knight/zerker setup? How much thoughness is really needed?

This is a good question. How much toughness/armor is needed if you know how to dodge correctly and counter attacks? I think that’s why Sanny went full Zerker. The kill them before they kill you strategy.

You take :
knights helm
zerk shoulder
knights chest
zerk gloves
knights pants
zerk boots

I went with a 10/0/30/10/20 with a similar backpane ( but i use the zerky one with vit) and managed to get my built to 2940 armor total and about 20.5k hp. While retaining 74% crit damage bonus ( still need to get a zerky ascended backslot, but that would push critdam to 79%). Master maintenance oil helps reconvert that tou into prec, and so does the vit on my trinkets.

Honestly, 3K armor self cleansing zerk feels a little bit like easymode, but i like it. I go with axe/shield for second set and I also use signet of fury for the improved precision and adrenaline management ( to repump off after a spike )

Good minds think alike. I too did something VERY similar to this. I use Melandru runes for more toughness and dogged march with lemongrass to shrug off conditions (similar to to the OP). I also use signet of fury as well. The key for this build to shine in a very awesome way? L-E-G …. S-P-E-C-I-A-L-I-S-T. The hammer and greatsword range snares turns into immobilizes. That and bull’s charge and FGJ.

10/0/30/10/20. I don’t run with balanced stance and rely on Last Stand maybe a bit too mcuh but I love signet of fury to pop full adrenaline and the passive crit chance boost is fantastic. AND, when on the zerg play and want to switch it up? Pop a longbow on your back and switch out leg specialist for stronger bowstrings. Perfect … game set match.

65%+ burst damage and over 50% crit (with 0 specced in Arms). Got to love it.

Sure I won’t hit as hard but I love the utility dogged march and last stand brings.

Ok, well I am working on a Hammer/Greatsword build with Leg Specialist. I like it because when on a keep you can switch out the hammer for a longbow to range it up and switch out leg specialist for stronger bowstrings. Works out well in that regard. I am on the fence on whether to get Sweet Revenge or Signet Mastery.

Here’s the deal – it finds critical chance by wearing knights gear – which I like personally anyway – so low vitality – not a FRONT line engager but a mid tier one and a solo skirmisher built together. This build is in no shape or form my original. It’s used by many I am sure of it – http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQJASRjcOJvxOyQMRCE0DNML4CThiQpoNujUBxA-jEzAYrAl8UYTgCaVwioxqYwUnK1KXANMk9GwgD5Nw8HK1yAwsAA-w

The key element is Leg Specialist. That means that the quick skill swing of Hammer Shock and the Bladetrail greatsword throw both immobilize your target. That’s huge. You can switch from hammer to greatsword even after one of these to land a 100blades. I picked up bulls charge as well for a gap closer and another knock down chance.

Also because of the food choice, dogged march trait, and melandru or hoelbrak runes, you can free up a utility slot for something like either signet of rage for more precision since you aren’t specced in the Arms tree or something like Balanced Stance which gives you Last Stand’s Balance Stance automatic version and ANOTHER one when someone wants to knock you down or stun you.