Guild Wars 2

Thanks for the advices!

I will definitely check up on Durability runes then – the choice for Trooper runes was exactly because I took Cultivated Synergy instead of Druidic Clarity for more heals, but then I was lacking condi cleanse so yeah :) But Druidic Clarity seems really nice as well so I’ll try to switch this up.

I think I have “Protect Me!” for stun break, is this sufficient or should I grab something else too?

Hi,

Recently I’m trying to get into WvW with my druid with this build.
It’s basically a shoutheal Staff/LB build with Trooper runes, I went all-in with healing power and mostly defensive stats (mix of Cleric and Magi gear).

For solo roaming my damage is pretty low (it takes a while to clear a camp for example), but at least I’m able to outlive most 1v1’s, it’s rare when I got bursted down.
For small-scale skirmishes I feel like this build is doing great, because I don’t have to worry about my damage there and it feels like I’m contributing a lot of heals and support to the party.

I have two questions though – the first is a general one about the build: are there any changes I should make to be more effective while keeping the same supportive playstyle? Regarding anything (gear stats, traits, sigils etc.)

The second is for blob fights / big zergs. As I read the general consensus about rangers is that we’re not needed and/or not very welcomed in big scale fights. I was even kicked from a zerg once, right after joining because the commander did not want any rangers (calling us “rallybots”).
My other zerg experiences were nice though, I didn’t feel squishy at all and did a lot of heals (e.g. helping to mitigate siege damage etc).
So why is this opinion about rangers afterall? Should I feel bad when joining zergs and/or should I just stick to roaming and small-scale fights?

Thanks in advance for any help :)

Sun Lian.4075:

Whining? Warriors do need a nerf, a big one.

You know when I see something OP about necro, I’ll usually agree that it needs to be nerfed, it’s pretty sad that other people can only reply with “l2p” when it’s about their own class.

There is no cleansing this ridiculous burst damage of warrior, or removing their boons. OR doing something about their survivability.

Because they’re PULSES, you can only cleanse so much.. I don’t get why this is so hard to see and I’ve already said this 2 seasons ago too, it needs to be 1 BOON from start with stacks.

Otherwise any boon remove and any cleanse after the PULSING resistance is up again is totally worthless. Basically warriors don’t need to time kitten and everyone else needs to wait for that pulsing to be over and THEN you can try to counter, if you still live.

On top of that, there are 3 buffs on warrior that can’t even be removed because they’re not freaking boons, this also needs to change.
What’s the value of a skill that’s supposed to remove buffs cause that’s what boons are, when some of the most important buffs can’t even be touched?

You guys need to get your head out of your kitten

Let me just quote you all the nerfs warriors received in last patch:

• Shield Bash: The initial casting time of this skill has been increased, moving the skill from 0.5 seconds to 0.75 seconds total.
• Arc Divider: The casting time of this skill has been increased by 0.25 seconds.
• Skull Grinder: The damage of this skill has been reduced by 33%. Bleeding has been reduced from 4 stacks for 8 seconds to 3 stacks for 6 seconds. The blast finisher on this skill has been removed. All changes apply to PvP only.
• Headbutt: The casting time of this skill has been increased from 0.5 seconds to 0.75 seconds. Distance traveled has been increased from 300 to 400.
• Healing Signet: The passive healing from this skill has been reduced by 10% in PvP only.
• Endure Pain: In PvP only, the cooldown of this skill has been decreased from 60 seconds to 30 seconds, and the active up-time has been decreased from 4 seconds to 2 seconds.
• Defy Pain: Active up-time has been decreased from 4 seconds to 2 seconds in PvP only.
• Bloody Roar: Taunt duration has been reduced from 1.5 seconds to 0.5 seconds in PvP only.
• Smash Brawler: The cooldown reduction received from this trait has been reduced from 33% to 20%.
• Eternal Champion: This trait no longer grants pulsing stability but instead applies 3 stacks for 8 seconds when activating Berserk.

To sum it up:

• CC skills are so painfully slow now it takes real skill to not avoid them
• Massive nerfs for burst (Skull Grinder, cooldown increase on Smash Brawler)
• Nerfs for survivability (both Healing Signet and Endure Pain)
• Nerf for stability – as you can see, no it is not pulsing stability anymore

I have so many questions though.
How many more nerfs do warriors need in your opinion?
Or what is a “big nerf” in your opinion if this wasn’t one?
Is it really that hard to kite and not engage when Berserk and/or Resistance is up?

Seriously, I think I better let it go and accept the fact there will always be people who come whining and complaining even after the class is recently nerfed to the ground.
#RealLearnToPlayIssuesRightHere

Maybe it’s not a popular opinion, but I think the new elite spec (or at least some aspects of it) might be focused on damage mitigation / tanking. So if let’s say mesmers get a new dps focused spec, and alacrity could be covered from other sources, then we might be able to compete for the raid tank spot.
I’m assuming this because of the following..First of all, warriors have dps (with Berserker spec) and support (even with core warrior) already covered, so maybe it's time to introduce a bit more tanky/CC'y spec. The name Spellbreaker can also mean that they literally break harmful spells targeted at them, negating/reducing their effect. Judging by the leaked elite spec 'skill wheel', both the artwork and some of the abilities' icons can be associated with strong balance, hardened body, 'state of mind' etc., so the rage bar might be switched with something themed like this, and spending it can cause some cool defensive abilities. Also as daggers are commonly associated with mobility - some extra iframes and movements can help avoiding damage too. Lastly, somewhere I've read the Spellbreaker lore will have ties to the Order of the Sunspears (being their descendants of something like that, unfortunately cannot cite the source) - and Sunspears were also protectors/guardians.
The downside with this theory is I don’t know how will it fare in game modes other than Raids/PvP/WvW – for example in open world PvE you don’t really need that much defensive abilities, only dps. Also warrior can already be tough with the Defense traitline alone, so yeah, while I’d like to see some more ‘survival stuff’ not sure we need it.. :)
Edit: now just as I continued to speculate with it, maybe gaining damage buffs / scaling damage abilities depending on how much damage we soaked? Who knows :)

I was literally doing the same the other day – after the slow motion nerf I just can’t force myself to play my ‘old’ GS / Mace+Shield Berserker build anymore as it feels incredibly sluggish.
So yeah, while I’m by no means a WvW expert (more like a newbie) I went back experimenting with a supporty playstyle, currently running the Shouts Frontliner build with little tweaks.
Using mostly tactics/discipline/defense, but in zergs with perma swiftness I sometimes drop discipline for strength.
For weapons, I’m using Axe+Axe / Sword+Warhorn at moment and having quite some fun with it.
With all the heal (from tactics line) and condi cleansing (say hi to condi meta) on my shouts, and other stuff like Warhorn skills plus Battle Standard, this build gives nice teamfight/support abilities, and whenever I feel like chop chop I can switch to Axe+Axe which does some respective damage and provides good tagging.
While in zergs and small-scale skirmishes this build works really nice, I wouldn’t recommend it for solo roaming though. :D For that purpose I think I will experiment with a Rifle Berserker build once I’ll have some free time in the weekend.

Updated look on my norn warrior.

Here’s my norn ranger, Ragnar Ullrsson, with his simple ‘woodsman’ themed look.
– yo dawg, I heard you like bears

Norn berserker – a mix of cultural (dolyak, stag) and vigil armor, with the breathing mask for a steampunk twist.