Guild Wars 2

It’s a tricky thing, I find it cool that it was made a Physical Skill and would like it to stay as one. One possible solution would be to lower the default damage by a bit, or not have sigils work while it’s active (I’m fairly certain they do atm).

Let’s not forget that this is a team game and that now both Engis and Mes have access to a transformation skill that is very good at shutting down Rampage.

I have no interest in seeing Mesmer nerfed into oblivion, but in its current form it went from a difficult to play and time class to one that is dozens of times easier than it used to be. The main culprits are:

Confounding Suggestions: Getting a stun for free is too strong. It makes setting up your shatter a joke. Either the trait needs to have a 10 second icd, or it should only trigger on interrupts, possibly a mixture of both such kitten second icd + only on interrupts. It makes it still be useful if you’re skilled, but won’t allow you to basically stack stealth then go in with a stun+shatter combo.

Blinding Dissipation: What is up with ANet and uncounterable blinds? This shouldn’t be a thing on ANY class. It’s especially effective on classes with highly telegraphed attacks. Make it blockable/dodgeable.

Uneven Damage Distribution: Before, if you wanted to deal major damage as a Shatter Mesmer, you had to land a shatter with 3 or 2 clones. However, now you can deal an absurd amount of damage with just yourself and a single clone. Getting destroyed by a 3 clone + player shatter seems much less ridiculous than just the player + 1 clone.

I was planning to main Mesmer with the coming of the specialization patch, but these changes took all the challenge out of playing the class. I enjoyed the high skillcap Mesmer…not this monstrosity we currently have.

Those of you who played GW1 might be somewhat bothered by how Stances function in GW2. Thematically it makes very little sense that a Warrior could be in multiple stances at once. Mechanically speaking, Stances are very, very boring. It basically boils down to “press button for this effect.” In GW1 it was only possible to have one stance active at a time. This forced the player to decide when to best use your Stances and when to cancel one for another depending on the situation.

Unfortunately, adding this dynamic into GW2 wouldn’t be easy. I brought this topic up…gee probably a year ago now…and it’s still a bit of a bugbear for me. Since then, I’ve refined my ideas a bit more and just wanted to get them out in the open.

1. Stances should have lower cooldowns to counteract only being able to have one active at a time.

How much of a reduction would depend on the stance. I can’t say I have any idea what would be best, it would require some testing to find the sweet spot. Some may also need shorter active time as well. This also ties into my next point.

2. Some stances would require new functionality.

For example, Balanced Stance would need to become unstrippable. The reasoning behind this is that Dolyak Signet would become the obvious favorite because it wouldn’t be canceled by other stances. This would also give the stance an important role in both PvP and WvW. Some may consider this to mean that it has no counter, but keep in mind that the Warrior won’t be able to pair it with a stance like Endure Pain or Berserker Stance to avoid damage while stomping. Even Guardian has plenty of ways to not take damage while stomping AND have stability.

Another stance I would personally like to see changed would be Endure Pain. While it wouldn’t be necessary to change it I would like to see it function more like GW1’s Defy Pain where it gives you extra health and reduces incoming damage, rather than just making it reduce all physical damage to 0. The tradeoff would be a slightly longer duration. This would also hopefully make EP have some sort of synergy with Rousing Resilience, a trait that is currently almost never used.

3. Stance-based traits would need to be sightly changed.

This would HAVE to happen to avoid traits like Defy Pain and Last Stand from screwing you over by overriding the stance you actually WANT on. The solution for Defy Pain is pretty easy, just make it have its own effect called “Defy Pain” rather than activating Endure Pain, the effect can stay the same to keep it unique. This does have the downside of not benefiting from the Vigor and duration increase from Last Stand however. Speaking of Last Stand, instead of it triggering Balanced Stance, it just gives you the same boons it currently does when it triggers.

As many of my suggestions, I know that there’s little chance of them actually happening. That being said, I feel like changes such as these would add just a bit more skill to the class and would make it not only rewarding to use, but would also make players fighting the warrior less frustrated. Even when fighting other Warriors I know it can be annoying to deal with someone who just pops all of their stances and runs for the hills.

Spartacus.3192:

Quick question….i was messing around with using a sigil of rage in my GS with sigil of fire instead of the Fire/Air combo and i found the rage procs almost always during 100b after the skull crack which means i have a quickness 100b and if i get them under 50% hp heightened focus also procs for more quickness.

Has anyone else tried this?

The downside to this is that its a 30s CD whereas the FIRE/AIR combo is available every time you switch to GS.

I have, and I think it can work, but many didn’t agree so I changed it and made it just an option instead.

The problem with this build is that it has gone from a mixture of support and damage to pure support. If you take a more damaging ammy like Celestial/Cleric/Crusader your damage increases, but your healing becomes pathetic. If you take an ammy like Settlers as you do, you become basically all support but your support is still so low it’s hardly useful.

Compare your build to what a MediGuard can now offer (Focus Mastery and Retaliatory Subconscious can be swapped).

This build gives AoE Aegis, when that Aegis breaks it damages your enemies AND gives yourself and Allies Retaliation. This build also brings AoE condi cleansing, Stability, and other boons. It does all this while providing very good damage.

In my opinion this kind of build brings more to the table than Shouts Wars do now. Yes, the AoE condi removal and buffs it provides aren’t bad, but the healing nerf and the Warhorn nerf have hit this build so hard that I see no real reason to use it now. Even in WvW I see Wars becoming obsolete now.

@Elegie.3620 Thank you for the thoughtful response. You are right that the combination of aptitudes is important, and time will tell if we got what it takes (sounds like we have similar builds). I’m basing my opinion based on the fact that the playbase seems to gravitate towards each build having a main strength in addition to some sort of support.

Teef and Mes have AoE stealth, Guards have some condi cleanse and Stability. These classes fill the same damage dealer role as Warrior but they bring something more as well. Rampage can be a game winner…or totally destroyed by focus fire.

As for chat…what really gets me is when people say what I said is wrong or that I’m stupid without actually providing any evidence to the contrary. Or when they do it’s probably wrong and when I use facts to prove them wrong they just repeat it as if I hadn’t said anything and go back to personal attacks. That being said I was the one who started off by complaining about our classes current issues (though I gave warning before I started ranting). Of course, they both ended up either blocking me or leaving without disputing what i said so I guess it’s a “win.”

Spartacus.3192:

Skull crack was too easy to land in the past (before my time) so they had to slow it down otherwise it really was easy mode warrior pvp. Now its high reward but you have to work for it.

I would generally agree, although even now people while give you crap when you land the Crack. I’ll get yelled at by MediGuards that got baited into using all of their blinds/blocks/invuln by me shealthing my Crack. You can never “win” as a Warrior these days. I hate crap like double Endure Pain but that’s a joke compared to the kind of sustain Guards have these days.

As an aside to all who read this, if you’re using it please try and compare it to Greatham when you get the chance. I know that Hammer has the edge in terms of AoE CC but this build seems to have a leg up in sustain due to blocks. Hammer also can’t deny stomps for as long. Nothing more amusing than hitting a Crack on a stomper and just reviving your teammate to full while they have to stand there and watch.

I wish that instead of the vulnerability on the Mace trait it gave Skull Crack the ability to bypass Stability on a fairly lengthy ICD, like over a minute even. That might be imbalanced I’m not sure (the trait DOES compete with Defy Pain though) but the idea of giving the Mace the ability to do something that no other weapon in the game can is interesting. It would give you the ability to be the ultimate stomp denier. If you wanted to get ridiculous make it unblockable and hit you while Invuln as well.

This won’t happen, but man does it sound cool.

This is a rhetorical question.

Why I understand it might be too early to judge, atm I think the real answer is:

Nothing that makes them worth having them on your team.

It’s not that we don’t do anything well, Rampage is strong, a bit too strong, and some builds are fairly powerful. However, builds like Hammer/GS or even my favorite build Skullcracker are almost purely selfish builds. Now that Shoutbow is basically dead and Hambow is meh due to the competition between Merciless Hammer and Burst Mastery there’s not a whole lot of extra buffs/heals we can effectively bring to the table.

CC: We have great CC…but now so does Mes. Maybe not in as a dramatic fashion as us, but it’s also generally instant or at least less telegraphed than Hammer and Mace.

Damage: Again, damage is good, but again Mes can do it just as well and arguably easier. Rampage is pretty strong but also fairly easy to counter. Teef also has good damage but also brings AoE stealth.

Mobility: Many other classes, including Mes, Teef, Guard, and Necro can abuse the Z axis in some way to bypass terrain. With the GS mobility nerf (which is what I would call it overall) we just can’t compete.

Team Support: Once again, Shouts were nerfed and Hambow just feel bad but doesn’t feel amazing either. Guards especially can bring AoE team support while still dealing good damage AND be strong 1v1.

I’m writing this because I flew a bit off the handle today because I saw people in the Mists over-exaggerating the strength of Warriors. One claimed that Shouts made us invincible, another said that Stances did. Anyone who has played Warrior for an extensive period knows this is just not true. Other claimed that Hammer/GS (Calling it Greatham from now on) would be the new meta while failing to adequately answer the simple question of what does that Guard or Mes can’t. It may become our “Meta,” but only in the way that Ranger has a “Meta” in that it’s the best they got but still isn’t that amazing.

The ONE thing I can think of is that we have good Quickness uptime if you bring both Frenzy and Heightened Focus…but if they wanted Guard and Mes could bring that as well. Wouldn’t be as good as ours but it would still be decent.

I fear we may end up falling to the wayside in both PvP and WvW because we just don’t bring enough to the table. Outside of Skullcracker there’s also a lot less fun new synergies to mess around with (Guard looks to have some really fun ones). It seems likely that Rampage will get hit with the nerf bat eventually and even now a Mes can bring Moa when they see a War and basically counter the one thing we have going for us.

After spending so much time and effort on my Warrior I’m going to be sad if we go back to how we were at launch: one trick ponies that squash bad players but crumble to anyone with a bit of skill.

ReaperJr.5967:

Mace shield is great against melee encounters but not so much against ranged. Esp mesmers and engineers. Idk why you think they’re good against them.

Secondly, hammer is telegraphed. But if you actually learnt how to land it after dodge frames or after your opponent has used up both dodges, it’s an easy stun lock for you.

Lastly, nobody uses rampage in duels. It’s a soft ban as it’s considered cheap.

If you trait for reflects you should generally be able to use that to close the gap. Once they know you reflect they become super conservative generally.

Thuggernaut.1250:

This build ages like fine wine… slowly but surely, you improve each time you run it.

In addition, every patch seems to age it even more to perfection.

Berserker’s Power was changed in such a way that it synergizes perfectly. Brawler’s Recovery helps keep condis down because we don’t have the freebie CI from LB. The merging of all blocking traits into Shield Master was a HUGE buff as well. Although it competes with Defy Pain, Sundering Mace got a boost as well.

I feels like one of the devs really enjoys this playstyle because it’s been buffed fairly frequently, the activation nerf hurt but was needed.

Medicarejunkie.6032:

Thematically, AA Rocket is awesome. The only thing standing in its way is the trait Shaped Charge, which is basically a free 5% damage modifier. The damage numbers from the AA rocket look good, but I doubt it increases your overall damage an extra 5%.

This is what’s bothering me. It would be nice if someone could do the math and see which skill gives you more DPS. That being said I still prefer it for its AoE abilities and how it LOOKS with SD.

@Casia.4281 Any attack that is triggered before stealth that is ranged will follow them once they enter stealth. So, if you have AA Rocket and the trait Lock On and a Teef or Mes hits you and then enters stealth and that hit triggers AA Rocket then in theory it should follow them and also reveal them.

I like them both thematically. The slowness of the rocket lets you actually see it which I find way more enjoyable. You can also start fights off with autos that trigger it which seems to bait out dodges.

I think Takedown Round needs that limitation. If you use Elixir S and use the stealth to start the combo landing it isn’t a big issue.

Sins.4782:

You can find the SD build I’ve been playing here.

I’ll probably get around to filling out the Usage and Notes sections with all the gameplay details and quirks tomorrow, been rather busy lately though.

This is the more sustain version that I use. I still really like Goggles just so that I can really make Teef and Mes cry though. The stealth is really good for sneak attacks though.

Glass Cannon isn’t amazing…but totally useable as a power build with Mortar/SD ambushes. I do wish the cutoff was 75% or something more reliable.

Zefrost.3425:

I feel the whole “electricity” themed engineer potential isn’t being tapped. 1 trait? That’s it? Sad.

Aim Assisted Rocket isn’t electricity, but it does fit the theme I feel. Takedown Round does as well…but then you lose swiftness. I’m gonna mess around with replacing a like with Inventions because that way you could use Takedown Round and have Mecha Legs. You’ll also get Bunker Down from it which also fits the theme of constant explosions.

This probably won’t be as good as the build in the original post but theme wise you might enjoy it:

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-Z70;2V2Gw0R-oR-x0;9;4ikm;0236157058;4IN0;3F-03F-03a0J

ellesee.8297:

Because SD doesn’t do that much damage, doesn’t work with all toolbelt abilities, and competes with two better traits!

Wahoo! Bye frands!

Wrong, partly wrong, and not really if you’re going for SD.

So long as you time your burst right (just like Shatter) you’ll insta kill most builds. The exceptions of course are any classes with auto-pop sustain like Defy Pain and Vamp runes. What I find makes it more viable than before is that Mortar gives you a way to barrage off point before going in for the kill. It’s a weird mix of LB Ranger and Teef. Also, as I said before I’ve noticed that destroying your turrets can actually make the SD blast actually properly target your foe. I haven’t tested everything though.

redslion.9675:

BurrTheKing.8571:

Torick.7523:

It’s what every warrior is running.

Real Warriors run Skullcracker.

Shhh…..shhhh…I don’t care that Hammer is AoE…I have reflects.

Problem is mace has no gap closers and is not as bombtastic as Hammer.

I consider the reflects a sort of gap closer. Also, you pair it with GS and I often take Bull’s Charge. The problems I always run into is that outside of 1v1s your teammates just need to put out 1 tiny CC and they’ll totally screw up your spike. I feel like Rampage CAN be pretty amazing if timed right though. I’ve only been solo Queuing atm though and if I tell them that my target=spike MOST get the message. Had a few people who were rather happy when I get on their team too.

I’m going to be testing out a Hambow with shouts hybrid and see if that works. Crusader Ammy looks promising. The issue is Merciless Hammer competing with Burst Mastery.

Torick.7523:

It’s what every warrior is running.

Real Warriors run Skullcracker.

Shhh…..shhhh…I don’t care that Hammer is AoE…I have reflects.

Snakebyte.2804:

SD Engi has an absurd amount of damage now, plus a bunch of utility it previously lacked thanks to the new mortar kit.

It also has a surprising amount of team support due to the double blast from traited Orbital Strike and water fields. You also have the rifle turret burst as well. The actual popping of the turret seems to more reliably make SD attacks as well.

Medified Ammo is actually pretty nice for Mortar. Lay down all the fields on point and you’ll get good ranged damage. Your other traits also give enough condis and your teammates as well.

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-Z70;2cPFw0Q6oR-x0;9;4ijm;0236247037;4IN0;3F-03F-03a0P

I’m on the phone so hopefully this works.

This is what I’ve been using post patch. If you land the full burst you can insa kill other glass players. It seems especially good vs Mesmers and Teef. I tried using the Kinetic trait but it’s so situational and additional endurance regen is good for sustain. I expected sustain to be an issue but if you use all of the blast heals you have it’s not bad. I don’t dislike Vamp runes although they can screw you over.

Everyone is so focused on abusing a bug that they’re missing out on good builds that aren’t dependent on exploiting a bug.

Cygnus.6903:

I expressed myself a bit wrong, I think Air and Fire are very good on this spec. But when you lose the Strength DPS boost, AirFire provides enough DPS with Arms (unsuspecting foe) and Heightened Focus.

I would still say that the damage on roll and 20% from Berserker’s power does more damage after messing around with both. At the very least, with the GS trait and Physical trait your DPS when you aren’t using Skull Crack is higher. If you miss with arms…chances are your DPS is gonna plummet.

Once all the bugs get ironed out I feel that we’ll have a decent patch on our hands. In First Person Shooters longer time to kill encourage good aim and skill. In MMOs, high TTK means that sustain is easy enough that even poor players can do decent. This patch seems to have put a nice gap between the skilled and the ones who were carried by their build before.

Glass vs. glass is now about not making mistakes and the one who does so first, dies. I’m avoiding WvW atm but I bet battles will feel much more tense, after we remove piercing nades and stacking Guards.

I would say Confounding Suggestions is the main culprit. Before, if you didn’t land your interrupts you wouldn’t be that effective. Now with 100% chance to stun on daze the degree of difficulty has dropped. Illusionary Persona becoming baseline also had a big effect.

I want to answer as someone who plays everything BUT Ele (and honestly my teef just sits there after I learned the mechanics) but has plenty of experience fighting them and am familiar with how they work.

As an example, let’s use the build in my sig. I was fighting a D/D Ele yesterday and I landed CC combo after CC combo. It didn’t matter, all they had to do was swap to Earth after the first stun and my damage goes down to pathetic levels. It feels super unfair that you aren’t being punished for repeatedly eating stun after stun. The old version of my build would fight the old D/D to a standstill and the same happens with the new versions. The major difference is that I could beat the old D/D if I comboed my CC properly, that’s not really a thing now. Even mediocre Eles died before, but now you just have to have a base knowledge of how your skills work.

Also, vs Warrior Blinding Ashes is super strong.

Velimere.7685:

BurrTheKing.8571:

Defiant Stance is better than it was but it’s still so situational. Although, running all stances and Last Stand was pretty fun. It still comes down to the fact that smart players will see you pop the heal and then just stop attacking. You need to eat a lot of hits for it to equal the healing potential of Heal Sig.

Them not attacking me for 4 seconds is plenty for me to dish out copious amounts of damage, and if they’re condi specs and they stop attacking, I still get healed for stupid amounts regardless. It’s fun to watch burning heal me to full rather than kill me.

What I find though is that due to use constantly CCing them that getting the passive healing from the Signet is made stronger because chances are due to CI you have no more condis and they aren’t hitting you so it’s basically free healing. It also makes it possible to disengage when focused, heal back a little, then reengage quickly. With Defiant Stance I sometimes found myself either wanting to wait for it to come off CD before jumping back in or you end up getting burst right after the heal and get melted by 19 stacks of burning.

With the new Resistance boon on HS you can pop it to cover yourself for a few seconds so you can cleanse condis before you die instantly to them.

@Cygnus.6903 Arms isn’t bad but like in addition to what you said there’s also not really a super good GM for this build, the minors are condi focused mostly, and you lose out on Berserker’s Power. I hope they don’t nerf BP because honestly it’s only super useful with this setup because the adren skill is mostly there to set up the burst.

Air/Fire seems like overkill until you encounter a D/D Ele. Seriously, this setup used to often fight it to a standstill before but now I can not miss a single skill and they’re just going to heal up no problem. It’s sustain is beyond insane, it has lower damage than before but is now a better bunker than a dedicated bunker but can still hit hard with might.

Purple Miku.7032:

There’s not a whole lot to add to the thread but it’s worth mentioning that they removed Inspiring Banners for no apparent reason when it should have been either made baseline or kept in tactics, and I also think it was a pretty stupid move to have Crack Shot and Inspiring Battle Standard moved to Discipline too.

The move has made it possible to run 2(3) Shouts and a Regen banner in the same build. It’s not as strong as the old shoutbow but for a point fight it’s not bad for just sustain yourself for ages. Still not as tanky as D/D Ele is now though.

So, after some testing I do like Bull’s Charge – Frenzy – Balanced Stance. While you are more susceptible to condis you can actually pop Heal Sig which gives you a few seconds to land a burst skill. Adren gain is less of an issue thanks to Frenzy.

Defiant Stance is better than it was but it’s still so situational. Although, running all stances and Last Stand was pretty fun. It still comes down to the fact that smart players will see you pop the heal and then just stop attacking. You need to eat a lot of hits for it to equal the healing potential of Heal Sig.

The problem I always run into in PvP is that as a DPS build I often can’t justify me being in the team over a Mesmer or Teef (I’m ignoring Engi because the nade bug is making them artificially powerful). The build in my sig isn’t bad, I can burst someone down almost as fast if not faster than those 2 classes, but what I lack is utility. Mes and Teef can abuse the Z axis, meanwhile my Rush and WW Attack are now much slower than before.

Of course, I can also deny stomps really well, but I’m not sure that’s worth taking me over something else. Although, I did have a few people really liking the spike setup potential that I offer. Rampage is also potentially devastating if used at the right time.

What it often comes down to is mobility and team utility. The reason why Shoutbow was so good was because it offered so much support. No other class could really match it. Now, I’m not sure what War brings that another class can’t do better.

I really like the new Specialization system, but it’s gonna need some fixing.

SpiritSpeakerOfHoelbrak.3980:

BurrTheKing.8571:

@SpiritSpeakerOfHoelbrak.3980 They can work, but I find that Fury uptime is important and without Signet of Fury you can run into issues. Strength is an option though. I can test later and see what has higher average DPS.

Ok sweet. what food do you recommend? i dont spvp i only roam

Lastly wouldnt arms be better then def? since you can make it so that you ahve 100% crit on stun foes?

Honestly when I WvW I don’t use food a lot of the time. I would say Lemongrass Poultry just because condi reduction never hurts.

As for Arms, I think it’s too condi centric to go into just for Unsuspecting Foe, you also lose a TON of sustain in the process.

@SpiritSpeakerOfHoelbrak.3980 They can work, but I find that Fury uptime is important and without Signet of Fury you can run into issues. Strength is an option though. I can test later and see what has higher average DPS.

Helicity.3416:

lighter.2708:

They take 50% of your HP (if you zerk enough) with 2 buttons which can be executed in like every 10~ seconds.
All they have to do is stealth, and click two button, stealth again.
or they can just insta stun you and click two buttons as well.

if you are lucky enough to actually predict the stealth burst and countered, they can do this forever until you are dead.

unless you actually proc quickness and fast kill them before they react.
if you are dps war, you have to spam quickness, this is the new way of zerk war

Now you know what they felt like all the times we caught them in stealth with bullrush and one shot them with 100b.

If they were any good…this rarely happened.

That being said I’ve had the most success vs Mes with Greatsword and well timed Quickness. Keep the clone numbers as low as possible and learn to predict shatters and either use Endure Pain or Whirlwind Attack when you can’t dodge. Rush is finicky atm but if it does hit it’s gonna hit hard.

It’s gonna be way harder for you than for them. I used to respect good Mesmers but now they’ve been made way easier to play, which is a shame.

lighter.2708:

i would rather run bullcharge AND frenzy

insta 25 vul with frenzied mace then hb arcing slice = overkill

It could make adren gain and long term sustain an issue but it would still be useable. I tried it a few times and just having your Condi cleanse tied to CI and BR though made you super weak vs some builds.

If you bring someone with plenty of cleanse you might be OK however. I’ll add it as an option. I really wish I could change the build without having to republish the whole guide. If this is the most effective than I would like to just make it the default.

EvilSardine.9635:

I stopped reading when I saw “my signature build.”

And yet posted which gave my post additional visibility and gave me a reason to respond…so thanks.

EDIT: I re-wrote the build. Sadly I can’t just edit the build because that would have been much easier. The old version also felt a bit too wordy in places. I have to do more tests with the all-stance version. Healing Signet feels fine still but Defiant Stance has its uses in this high damage environment.

Yamsandjams.3267:

I was trying to get something to work with unsuspecting foe, but I think that’s just not going to be an option for skullcracker builds anymore.

In any case, it looks like skullcracker has survived and maybe even thrived post-patch.

Gonna try some other trait combinations to see what I can get to work. In particular, I want to become detached from something like cleansing ire. Brawler’s recovery should help out with that, plus I can but a sigil of cleansing on the greatsword for condi swap each combo, more or less.

Going to try and get it to work with last stand, maybe even go full stances, including defiant stance and frenzy. However, something like WvW will probably be better with bull’s charge and healing signet since the combat is more mobile.

Last Stand + Defy Pain + Defiant Stance + Frenzy/Endure Pain might be viable. Sure, you’ll eat more condis, but you’ll be able to heal off of them.

Brawl.5178:

i have always like the skullcracker build so i will be trying something similar. How do you feel about signet of might? i find myself working into many of my builds now so i can pop it on a guard or engi when heightened focus triggers. its so satisfying

It can probably work, but I like Bull’s Charge because it can be used to keep on top of soft CC heavy enemies.

SM is more for small group settings, I like the reliability of a 8 second block over a trait that MIGHT help you. There’s so much condi flying around that Defy Pain is sometimes just useless while SM is something that guaranteed. I also put that it was an option. Also, the extra vuln is actually fairly nice.

I don’t find Rage to be that random personally. That being said the same old cheese of Fire/Air is ever dependable (I wish it just didn’t exist).

Brawl.5178:

I LOVE SKULLCRACK. oops caps. link isnt working for me although.

I edited the link. I tried to make a guide and now its vanished…I wrote a lot extra too -_-

EDIT: Seems to work now.

1. Yes, it’s situationally nice but not really that impressive. I would much rather have a Physical and unnerfed Mending that gives us more variety and more active healing options.

2. DPS war isn’t bad…but feels way weaker than the new Mesmer. Even when I beat it I know that in an actual TPvP match or Zerg fight Mesmer is probably better. 1v1s aren’t really important, it’s all about what you bring to the team. That being said the new Skullcracker is pretty dang fun.

3. Shoutbow still has good support/sustain but overall feels weaker. I would be OK with that IF we got a new build that will keep us in the meta…and I’m not sure we did. As much as I disliked the build the nerf to shouts and horn seems really over the top. The ability to have a regen banner as well isn’t bad.

I’m worried about Warrior’s long term viability. Is the new DPS Warrior with Rampage worth taking or will we just see Mesmers everywhere?

While I was not really satisfied with many of the things in this patch (why would you nerf MENDING of all things?), it’s hard to deny that my signature build didn’t get a huge buff. It’s stronger than its ever been, and barring and huge balance changes is probably the best version it’ll ever have.

EDIT: I have improved the build and it is now called Mighty Skull Crack

Mighty Skull Crack Guide

Skullcracker: Version Omega

GW2 Skills Version

As always, there’s changes that can be made to fit the situation or your playstyle. The main build is best suited for 1v1’s and the like, for better team fighting viability you may want to bring Endure Pain and Defy Pain. That being said, I personally enjoy the fast that this build is mostly about ACTIVE defense via blocking and evading rather than passive freebies. I’m also going back and forth on sigil of Rage on GS. If you’re able to consistently time it so that you can use an early Quickness Bull’s Charge + 100b it’ll force out multiple defensive skills or give you a huge lead. Or, if you start out in Mace and swap to GS after a Crack you’ll stack a super long quickness that can not only down them but also quick stomp them. Sometimes though I think just using Fire + Air might just be better.

What makes this so much stronger than it ever was is primarily due to trait merges and the new Berserker’s Power and Heightened Focus. After you land Skull Crack your 100b is going to be doing 20% more damage, and after they pass that 50% threshold you’re going to speed up which means you might have time to land a lower power Arcing Slice or Rush for the finish. There’s also the fact that you’re applying Vulnerability and gaining Might all the time.

Here’s the main issue…

I’m not sure this is worth taking over a Mesmer right now. Sure, this can basically insta-down someone that you catch, but so can Mesmer. That being said, Heightened Focus is REALLY good for quick stomps which is often invaluable. Then again, our overall map mobility was nerfed this patch. Swinging back though, Rampage is now potentially absurdly damaging, especially since Heightened Focus will work while transformed so you can have quick stomping and pulsing stability. You’re also really good at denying stomps against foes with no stability. It’ll probably lose out to Mesmer and Teef, but this build seems to at the very least be a useable option if you don’t wanna jump on one of those trains.

Of course, for WvW roaming this will probably be fantastic. It was before and I don’t see that changing.

Oh and one more thing, please post your opinions on sigils/runes. Maybe there’s some hidden gems I haven’t seen yet.

EDIT: Added a guide. The build is pretty obvious but I figured having some of the less obvious rotations would be beneficial.

I also want to test Defiant Stance. Shame that the Stance trait competes with CI because it appears to increase the duration of the heal now by 3/4 of a second. Although with condi damage and damage as a whole being so high it might be more beneficial to just eat some hits to heal up. Will test it out.

I don’t want Mes nerfed. I want the class to provide me with a decent challenge that is both fun to play and play against. The current Mes isn’t either. It’s nowhere near as difficult to do well now, your build does more of the work than it used to.

I’ve been underwhelmed thus far so I thought I would check here to see if I’ve missed something good.

Forsaken.4215:

BurrTheKing.8571:

I used to respect and admire good Mes players…not so much now. I no longer wish to play this class because the challenge is gone. You know something is wrong when I feel more skillful playing a Skull Crack Warrior than as a lockdown. I think the main culprits are IP being baseline and CS being so good now. Hit one daze and you’ll probably hit them all. Oh, and all the extra blind.

The burden of skill used to be on the Mesmer but now I think it’s the opposite. I’m pretty bummed.

Playing a lock down warrior is for noobs sorry

Compared to what lockdown Mes is now it feels like rocket science in comparison. Also, hard to top the satisfaction of hitting a Crack and following with a 100b that deals 20% more damage AND you get quickness at 50%. Shame there’s little reason to bring one when Mes is so easy and strong now.

I used to respect and admire good Mes players…not so much now. I no longer wish to play this class because the challenge is gone. You know something is wrong when I feel more skillful playing a Skull Crack Warrior than as a lockdown. I think the main culprits are IP being baseline and CS being so good now. Hit one daze and you’ll probably hit them all. Oh, and all the extra blind.

The burden of skill used to be on the Mesmer but now I think it’s the opposite. I’m pretty bummed.

Are you guys forgetting that we can now bring a regen banner along with just 1 trait? I’m glad that they made cuts elsewhere cause otherwise Shoutbow would still be insane.

Spartacus.3192:

Juba.8406:

Quickness does stack got it to 11s, killed a guy in 6s just auto attacking.

How did you get 11s ? what other procs are you getting?

6 seconds from Frenzy (unless they changed it), 4 from Heightened Focus, 3 from Sigil of Rage.

Juba.8406:

Quickness does stack got it to 11s, killed a guy in 6s just auto attacking.

I look forward to being called cheap and easy mode…more often than usual.

I feel like with the right traits you could use soldiers or valk gear and still have decent crit chance. This update may be way more interesting than I expected.

So I can’t test this all yet.

Since Quickness is a boon now can you run Heightened Focus, Frenzy, and Sigil of Rage and have the duration stack rather than them overriding each other?

yanoch.7051:

As soon as target is under 50% hp.

That’s pretty awesome then, super speed 100b is actually useful.