Guild Wars 2

Cynic.4805:

So of course the system will need a refuse duel requests option in the menu, but what of the players harassing you through chat? What is to stop you from simply blocking that person and you will hear nothing from them again?

That’s the thing though, right now I rarely have to deal with that because of the extra effort you have to put in to try and get someone to duel you. However if there was a readily available way to do it some will flame you for not wanting to bother with them. What’s worse is that even as things are now I’ve blocked one troll only for his friend(s) to continue the assault. I enjoy a bit of light-hearted trash talk but some people take it waaaay too personally. I would say this kind of behavior would happen much more frequently with open world dueling.

I’d rather advocate the opposite when it comes to blind. I’m OK with being stomped by someone using Stability because most of the time that requires activating a fairly long CD skill. What I’m not OK with is Thieves and Mesmers having a guaranteed stomp with Black Powder or in many cases Stealth. Having the ability to stomp during skills like Mist Form, Elixir S, Distortion and the like I’m also not OK with because while those are long CD there is no counterplaying them. I well organized team can strip stability and CC before a stomp goes through.

I really like the Downed State as a mechanic because it’s unique and adds a twist on typical MMO combat but the current implementation could be done better. Many classes have really lack-luster downed abilities that are easy to counter. For example as a Warrior even if you perfectly time your hammer throw if they immidiatly go for the stomp again you’ll never use vengeance. I’d rather have a weaker 3 ability if I at least got to use it. The ability to stealth yourself or zip towards your team is infinitely more valuable than being able to get up and deal some more damage before dying 1 out of 10 times (that’s a generous ratio).

I get what Imbune is saying. Having duels can enable bad behavior because some people (mostly kids) feel they have something to prove and can become really obnoxious. Even if there was an option to automatically refuse duels some people would still harass and insult you for not wanting to duel them. In WvW it’s not so bad because you have to go through a few extra steps in order to whisper someone but even then I’ve been shouted at by people I’ve beaten while roaming.

Compared to most MMOs the GW2 community is fairly positive and I really enjoy that. Open world dueling just offers up more opportunities for immature people to be a nuisance when right now there aren’t many. Just look at this thread, already I’m seeing “carebear” being thrown around as an insult. I haven’t seen that used since my (very) brief time with Aion. That isn’t the type of atmosphere I appreciate. The current level of duel support feels more than adequate because you can do it if you want but also have the ability to ignore it completely.

It also cannot be overstated how imbalanced certain abilities are in 1v1 situations and I don’t want the devs to waste time banning or rebalancing things just for 1v1s that don’t prove or accomplish anything.

I personally do not want any sort of open world dueling in the game.

For the most part GW2 has a much more positive community compared to many other MMOs. Part of this is because the game is focused on cooperation, even when you are fighting other players there’s more focus on working as a team than on individual performance. One thing I remember encountering in MMOs with open world dueling is obnoxious players running around challenging people constantly. Even if you turn off the ability to be challenged they would follow you around and harass you (“1v1 me bro”). You encounter this kind of behavior less often in GW2 because there’s no easy way to do it. Even in WvW you have to go out of your way to harass a enemy player. One of this game’s greatest strengths is how it fosters a more positive mindset compared to other games.

The game is for the most part balanced around how builds affect a team fight, not 1v1’s. Some classes such as Thieves and Mesmers have skills that make winning duels much easier than other classes. Moa and Thieves Guild can basically be a “I Win” button in many situations. That being said those 2 elites are not as deadly in team fights which is why they aren’t considered OP overall. By the same card, classes like Warriors are really strong in team situations but a good player can overcome builds like Hambow in 1v1’s because Hammer is so telegraphed.

I’ve spent a good number of hours in duel servers but since then I’ve stopped because I got fed up over the negativity the servers had. I even found myself getting more frustrated (granted I have terrible internet so that contributes) for no real reason. Some classes are simply not built for any sort of dueling environment. I know I for one don’t enjoy fighting Thieves that stealth for 10+ seconds and just wait around to heal while you run in circles hoping to whack them. That isn’t a huge deal in PvP or WvW because that means they aren’t capping or doing anything useful but in a duel it just drags things out. Basically, dueling doesn’t really MATTER when there are more important things to be done.

CureForLiving.5360:

BurrTheKing.8571:

Sometimes I find myself writing long posts instead of writing school papers and find myself asking “will this ever be seen by someone that actually has any say?”

Yeah don’t do that.

Anyway on point: The problem with that is is that we might end up with people doing the attention kitten thing. Purposefully posting negative or flaming comments and feeling good about themselves because a “dev have read this”-icon has appeared.
Moral boosting yes, but not sure if the negative outweighs the positive.

Don’t worry, I always get around to the writing, just always at the last minute :P.

I probably should have been clearer, the dev would have the OPTION to mark something as read, they just didn’t write out a response.

While we all know that devs do not have the time to respond to every thread posted, have some sort of notification to know that someone has at least READ it would go a long way imo. Sometimes I find myself writing long posts instead of writing school papers and find myself asking “will this ever be seen by someone that actually has any say?” That being said, I can certainly tell that in some cases my posts have been read because several suggestions myself and many other Warrior forum dwellers have had our suggestions put into the game in some form or another.

It would be a great moral-booster to have a special image next to a thread that has been read by a dev. Perhaps a black version of the current image you see when a dev responds to a thread. Maybe I’m just being a bit attention-hungry but I enjoy thinking that I’m contributing to improving the game.

jayvux.4128:

We’re only good for decapping after all…
Put us in a fight where capping is out of the question and we’re pretty much meh.
So making changes to engis just to tone these decap builds down is going to be a challenge.

Just send a blinding thief or stability war/guard down our way and that should likely fix the problem. Sometimes. If you have great timing or luck.

I do find that on Warrior Skullcracker can somewhat lockdown a Decap after I force the Elixir S, but it’s still not fast and I need someone else because every time I stun I give them Protection. Like I said before it wouldn’t be annoying at all if 2 players were able to cap over the Engi.

Much of Decap Engi’s strength comes from the design of PvP itself as opposed to the build. Small capture points makes it easy for them to continuously push people off points. The fact that a single enemy can deny the cap from 2+ other players doesn’t make sense. In most conquest games the team with the most players on point start to take it. If there are still enemies on it it will drain slower but still drain.

If points were large enough so that if you fight in the middle getting pushed back wouldn’t remove you from the point and having 2 players overrode the 1 then the viability of Decap Engis would be greatly reduced w/o touching the build itself.

Another thing about the capture points, they are often very boring in design. There’s nothing on them to break Line of Sight or require some sort of special approach. I’m not saying I want things as crazy as the stuff on Trollhammer but if Graveyard had actual graves or you had to actually go inside a Mansion or Windmill maps would be much more interesting outside of their main gimmick.

After reaching R40 in PvP I decided it was time to start focusing on WvW. Typically I run Skullcracker due to it having both decent damage and sustain, but sometimes I find it fun to run something with a bit more…risk.

As a weapon I’m not actually a huge fan of the Axe. Skills 2 and 3 are pretty underwhelming and most of the damage comes from the final attack of Triple Chop. That being said in WvW you can take advantage of buffs and the like to make up for its weaknesses.

For the first 6 months or so of the game the only really viable build Warriors had available to them was trying to burst their target down before they died. After Quickness was nerfed many sort of forgot that Frenzy even existed. I’ve started roaming and even zerging with the old Bull’s Charge + Frenzy + 100b + Evis combo and I was actually surprised buy the success I was having. What was different this time around was the fact that Defiant Stance is now in the game. Not going to lie – I thought this heal wasn’t all that good – and it isn’t. However, when used with Frenzy you can use it to cover your rear while you’re taking 25% more damage without having to use Endure pain. While DS only lasts 3 of the 6 seconds of Frenzy you still have the option to pop it before or after your burst depending on the situation without the downside that this playstyle used to have.

Victory or Death!

In Zerg situations you’re going to have to play a bit like a Thief: Pick your target, hope Bull’s Charge doesn’t screw you over, burst them, retreat. You’re going to want to end the fight as quickly as possible because the longer the fight drags on the worst your odds become. 2v1’s are only winnable if you manage to quickly down one target. While your resistance to conditions is very low DS not only makes the damage from condis heal but Restorative Healing gets rid of movement inhibiting condis and the Runes of Hoelbrak gives you -20% duration in addition to longer might duration (works well with Forceful GS). Vigorous Focus and Building Momentum also give you a good number of dodges which in addition to Whirlwind attack give you a tad more sustain. You probably noticed I didn’t have all ascended items, this is because quite frankly I can’t be bothered and I’m not going to take the time when I have a feeling they will be made easier to obtain at some point. I also only use the price-effective food and utility because I actually want to make a bit of $ rather than funneling everything into supporting the playstyle.

While the concept of this build is as simple as it has ever been, it takes a surprising level of “skill” to preform well because if you miss any part of it you’ll probably lose. Frenzy makes 100b fast enough that even if they stun break chances are human reaction times will take long enough to kick in that they’ll still take a large chunk of damage. I’ve insta-gibbed Thieves with just the 100b because they melted before they could even react. Even more amusing is the fact that high damage thieves actually give you a full heal most of the time.

Maybe not the most effective way to roam out there but if you have gotten sick of long drawn out fights vs Stealth classes this will certainly help. One thing that is a shame is that Sure-Footed doesn’t work with DS which is pretty lame considering the extra second might be a real strong combo. Seems fair considering you’re sacrificing points in Strength and Dogged March for the trait.

I’m getting really sick of this “Warrior is good so they don’t deserve anything else good” mentality. If you care about this game then you should want as many viable options for each class as possible.

Yes, other classes are in rough shape, but that doesn’t mean you don’t stop improving the other classes. Warrior still has plenty of worthless traits and skills. The most annoying thing right now is skills like Bull’s Charge and Rush overshooting your target or simply refusing to connect. Both skills have strong effects but when they whiff it really hurts.

Snow.2048:

After I went through all that trouble of not mentioning Ranger you accuse me of only thinking of Ranger. Cruel Man.

I have a warrior too. A class that you talk about most, or play the most doesn’t define you. We are all just players, and we all have different styles. The profession we play should be the least interesting part of our play style.

Furthermore, I’m not saying that your traits have to be junk. I even said that I agreed that that trait was junk. Read, and don’t assume please.

I also did say that your invulni idea would be OP. Even if it was 1 second, you have 5 second weapon swaps. The fact that you think this is “grandmaster worthy” makes me wonder how many GM traits in this game do you find worthy?

If it was even just a general 1 condition cleanse I would be worried about it. 1 condition per 10 seconds is the rule of the thumb from what I’ve seen, there are only a few better.

However, if I look at it in perspective, I wouldn’t even bother taking it as a cleanse because I already have everything I need on my warrior build, including cleanse. I hope that speaks volumes in itself. The choices are lackluster because you have solid other choices. This is disappointing, but more than others can say.

Btw, if you don’t care about other classes, then why are you bringing this up on the balance forum, in which most things are compared between classes?

No offense, but saying that you’re holding back the urge to not bring up Ranger is in effect bringing up Ranger.

I should also clarify, it wouldn’t be a blind invulnerability on every swap, but once hit by a blind you get a certain duration of immunity on a ICD. The whole appeal of a weapon like this would be the ability to stand in a Black Power field and deny the stealth. Overall, this is a trait aimed at ONE build more-or-less. Yes, Guardians have a blind build but compared to Thief they’re not as obnoxious and are avoidable. It could also work for Plague as well but again it’s not that amazing and that we both agree on.

I think many traits that are designed around the opponents playstyle could use other benefits, if they’re GM level at least. Adept and even Master traits can be more specific but for high ranking traits no one in their right mind is going to take this over Burst Mastery. Also….I really want a reason to use Rampage because it’s actually I really fun elite so having some sort of buff to it would be nice.

Both of you are pulling the “my main is worse so you don’t deserve nice things” card it feels like. That isn’t Warrior’s fault and just because they are well off currently doesn’t mean they can’t be further improved. Hopefully someday we’ll reach a point where everything has at least SOME use. It’s not my job as a Warrior main to worry about other classes, I just want my main to be as complete as it can be.

Brawler’s Recovery: Remove blindness when you swap weapons.

Let me start by saying that I appreciate the fact that the devs have acknowledge how huge of a pain blind is for Warriors and I like that they want to give us a way to combat the ever annoying D/P Thieves. HOWEVER, this trait is very underwhelming overall. For a Grandmaster trait it’s only useful against 2-3 builds. Not to mention the anti-blindness this is offering won’t be that useful against the builds in question because they rapidly apply said blindness. If it was a period of invulnerability then sure it would be somewhat worthwhile but a single cleanse on swap? No.

It would be nice to have some sort of side benefit that wasn’t reliant on fighting a specific type of build. What this would be I’m not really sure but seeing as it’s called “Brawler’s” maybe have it buff Physical Utility skills or Rampage in some way (I really want a reason you use more than just Bull’s Charge).

Nice to see Skullcracker getting some love. That’s what I mainly run and if you have Reflect Missiles you can indeed handle 1v2s because a 3 second stun AND the ability to damage them while blocking lets them kill themselves while you heal up. I don’t like axe, Evis can fail you but Skull Crack is very reliable once you master it. A good player can very easily minimize Hammer’s effectiveness but Mace is more subtle.

The zerker 30/25/0/0/15 GS+Axe/Mace is still pretty much the Warrior meta in PvP so you should be good if that’s all you want to do. PvP wise things have changed a good deal.

Time to get on ye ol’ soap box.

Warriors and Guardians are the only classes that feel “complete” in the game. They’re good in every part of the game and they have a decent variety of viable builds. All nerfing Warriors is going to accomplish is bringing them down to other classes level of…well…suck. Already we have seen a few builds destroyed in the pursuit of nerfing Hambow (that worked out great /s).

In the history of this game all nerfing has accomplished is reducing creativity because for every meta build they nerf another few builds get destroyed. If that continues all we’re going to have at the end is maybe one build per class…exciting. So, for the love of God stop focusing on other classes and start suggesting ways of improving your own. Warriors did that and our cries were answered. That is how you get positive change. I think most people would agree that it’s way more fun to have your main class buffed rather than having another class nerfed.

The one thing I am disappointed about on Warrior is that there’s not a whole lot of “high skillcap” builds out there. No build in this game is particularity hard to play but as a Warrior you can find yourself hitting a skill ceiling where you can’t think of any way to improve.

So, recently I’ve been drifting away from PvP and focusing more on WvW. I have 2 sets of armor with Lyssa but recently I’ve found myself looking a runes of Melandru, and then I look at the price tag. I decided to look for more economical alternatives and stumbled upon the Superior Runes of Resistance. While I’m sure they were intended for Guardian use it seems like Warriors could get some benefit from them as well. Perhaps you could make a bit of a wanna-be guardian if you use Spiked Armor like so.

I just want to get other player’s view on these runes. Between Whirlwind Attack, Signet of Stamina, and having access to Aegis it would seem like you would have decent survival in addition to respectable damage. However, I’m not sure the Aegis makes up for the extra -condi duration and -stun duration that Mel offers.

Loco.4561:

BurrTheKing.8571:

This has been touched on by others but the fact of the matter is, running a super mobile build like GS/Sw gives up a lot just for something like mobility, namely control. Sure, you can run GS/Hammer and get a bit of both, but you also run the risk of being overwhelmed by conditions if you don’t land Earthshaker.

No control?? You retain a ton of control. Standard 0/0/30/10/30 build with leg specialist using Axe/Shield and GS I have 2 ranged immobilizes on a short cooldown, shield stun and bull charges knockdown. I have gap closers galore, 4 ways of removing immobilize and reduced condition application including cleansing ire.

I have outrun zergs of 20 plus, can disengage at will and escape literally any situation. Yes it’s broken. It feels broken when wars do it to me and it’ feels broken when I get away from 99% of any situation.

They nerfed RTL and gave it a CD increase when it doesn’t hit anything because it gave Ele’s too much mobility and the ability to escape situations… yet they have left warriors completely untouched? Makes NO sense.

The control you are referring to can only be used on a single target. Your build isn’t going to be deciding the outcome of a Zerg v Zerg fight, which is what really decided who wins in WvW outside of having a good night crew when most people are asleep. You being able to somewhat lock down one guy is nowhere near as valuable as a hammer Warrior stunning and knocking back 5.

You escaping a group of 20 doesn’t change anything unless they’re stupid enough to waste a lot of time doing so; at which point you’re not OP they’re just stupid. Once again many are focusing on the impact this mobility has on the small scale which isn’t really important to WvW. It will always be more valuable to have the ability to stealth while still remaining close by than just running away.

oZii.2864:

Zenith.7301:

oZii.2864:

Zenith.7301:

It’s not crap in pvp. One of the best WvW duelist roaming builds is an axe/mace+hammer lockdown+burst variant.

The reason axe doesn’t get used in tpvp is MOBILITY. In spvp it’s not only about damage, but getting around to points quickly, being able to aoe consistently, and CC. The mainhand axe lacks those with the exception of mace offhand which is a longer cd than hammer CC and lacks the aoe spam of longbow.

There is a reason why you see some warrior and thief builds in WvW that are OP in WvW that don’t exist in spvp. And the reason is spvp creates artificial incentives that are skewed toward targeted aoe and map movement. Killing the enemy is hardly the primary or most vital goal.

Warrior doesn’t need mobility in s/tPvP you think Hambow is popular in s/tPvP now because of MOBILITY? Nothing about hammer+bow say’s mobility in the slightest.

Don’t be stupid. The mobility from the weaponset is not needed given you can AoE from range, and hammer burst skill is still more mobility than what you get from mainhand axe on top of it being better aoe.

But on a weapon like the greatsword+longbow variant, which anas tarcis uses, the mobility is a huge aspect of it on top of the aoe potential. Which the mainhand axe doesn’t have.

If you’re running a 1v1 build, the axe+mace/hammer setup is easily the strongest build. It just so happens that spvp is not about 1v1 roaming.

Obviously sPvP isn’t about 1v1 roaming. To base the strength of a weapon set only on that makes no sense when that is just a side meta to WvW. Also you must be on a dead tier if you can get away with 1v1 roaming with Axe/Mace+Hammer.

You stated that axe isn’t used in s/tPvP because of mobility that is not why it isn’t used. It isn’t used because hammer is better you can build tanky and still get access to good damage on hammer. Many warriors dropped axe when they moved the damage toward the end of the auto attack chain. The auto damage is terrible now before it could pressure people to blow dodges to setup evis now it doesn’t provide that kind of pressure. People still run classic axe/shield in WvW but I think Olba is talking strictly about s/tPvP. Anything is viable in WvW if you want it to be like 1v1 roaming with Axe/Mace+Hammer to me sounds like food for gank squads.

I’m going to agree with your thoughts on Axe. I’ve been trying to use it for a while now and I would honestly take a main hand Mace over Axe. A 3+ second stun is a death sentence if you don’t have a stun breaker. You can also bring the reflect missiles trait to force glassy ranged enemies to half kill themselves. With a GS and Unsuspecting Foe you also have 100% crit chance if set up correctly which deals more damage than Evis and has less risk of it failing you and not critting. That build also preforms fine without food, something the Axe/GS build can’t say imo having run both.

Axe skills 2 and 3 were never all that great to begin with so the AA nerf really hurt it’s functionality.

This has been touched on by others but the fact of the matter is, running a super mobile build like GS/Sw gives up a lot just for something like mobility, namely control. Sure, you can run GS/Hammer and get a bit of both, but you also run the risk of being overwhelmed by conditions if you don’t land Earthshaker.

I repeatedly see these lists of what Warrior CAN do, but stated as if you can do it all in one build. There is no magical build that gives you good escape/chase capability, control, and reliable cleanse (which is a big part of survivability). You can get 2/3 with many builds, but each will have some form of very exploitable weakness. Yes, food can compensate for some of these weakness in WvW but that holds true for most classes (I don’t like food in general because it throws off game balance).

A few other points, a few Warriors being able to chase or run away doesn’t dramatically affect the outcome of a WvW match-up. A lot of you are focusing on the small picture when WvW is a big picture game mode. Forcing someone to run from a battle should be considered a GOOD thing, especially in large scale combat. In addition to that, if a Warrior want’s to escape combat they have to actually LEAVE the battlefield. A Thief or Mesmer can stealth themselves and lay low until they heal up while not having to leave the field. THAT kind of escape is much more valuable then being able to run away fast. Not to mention, at least you KNOW the player is running away, stealth can leave you guessing as to whether they have run or if they’re just waiting to strike.

Basically, this whole argument is pointless because the ability to run away doesn’t significantly change who wins the game. I’m sure some will debate that statement but in my WvW experience I’m not encountering raiding parties of GS/Sw Warriors capping stu…hold that thought I need to go organize something.

Julie Yann.5379:

If you ever let yelled “Shake it off!” while sneezing….you might be a warrior.

edit: Was going to go with yelling “For Great Justice” in bed but wasn’t sure if was going to be appropriate.

It would have only been inappropriate if you said something about Final Thrust.

Also, what’s with all these “1” comments, most Warrior autoattacks are mediocre to bad. I feel like that would only apply so some Ranger bow builds where most of the DPS comes from the AA.

If you get told that your ability to run away is too OP by a Thief…you might be a Warrior.

I will agree that stealth-heavy builds are pretty much NEVER fun to fight against. I can take a few 3 second long stealths that are designed to set up a backstab, that’s a staple of the Thief/Rouge archetype. What pushes things too far is when they can stack upwards of 10 seconds of stealth WHILE healing and using other skills. Standing around and waiting to find out whether they have run away or if they just want to wait for CDs while I can do nothing but flail around hoping I hit is not fun. At least when non-stealth classes retreat you KNOW that’s what they’re doing.

I’ve downed Thieves in stealth, but they were able to use the downed stealth skill on top of what they already had to revive and continue the fight. Just because you have the physical ability to hit a stealthed target, doesn’t mean it’s practical, especially in open spaces where they could be anywhere around you. When stealth skills have predictable lengths – such as with D/P – you can roughly guess when to dodge. When it’s 10+ seconds you have no clue what’s going to happen or when.

Say what you will about Control, you see it coming. You will always see that Earthshaker, Skull Crack, Bull’s Charge, or whatever else heading your way. Plenty of classes have countermeasures but often times in this condi meta they don’t bring enough short term power to take advantage of it. I’ve been seeing a lot more damage focused Guardians in TPvP because they have a lot of ways to avoid being controlled all while dealing high amounts of damage. The solution to control is less about nerfing it’s effectiveness and more about the community realizing that their current strategy isn’t going to cut it and if they want to beat it they need to try something different. For example, I can think of a build for pretty much every class but Ele that has a high chance of beating Hambow. You seem used in TPvP more and more often but almost never in WvW.

Please, can we get back on topic here. This is about improving Arcing Slice and nothing else. If you want to argue about Warrior DPS please do so via private messages. Dev’s aren’t going to pay attention to a thread if it’s mostly full of irrelevant arguments. Not to mention it runs the risk of a mod shutting it down.

@Eiland The problem with Whirling is that its DPS is lower than if I just whacked them with axe AA, not to mention 100b (on my build I average a good 2k less on WA in PvP). Not to mention Axe 4 is pretty much useless since you generally have fury anyways and the damage isn’t that great. Reflect Projectiles is actually a surprisingly useful trait and it only really works with shield. I really do want to like offhand Axe but it’s just…crap.

The weakness that GS has is that it’s burst is bad, Mace’s weakness is that it has no mobility and can’t directly take advantage of its burst. When you combine the 2 they suddenly make up for each others weaknesses, they see practically designed to go together. If WA offered some sort of utility like reflection or evade then I could see possibly using it, but that wouldn’t make Duel Strike any less worthless.

My one problem with the article is that it seems like it’s saying that you should never try to fix imbalances in a game. This was written almost FOURTEEN years ago back where games where typically not patched and balancing didn’t really happen until the next game. Now, we have the ability to fix things that many people find to be broken.

I DO however agree with the mindset that if you think something is OP then you should try to find a way to counter it rather than just complaining about it. However, in the past we have seen some builds that are so good you would never run anything else. Games like MMOs are designed around variety, if there is none then the game could be seen as a failure. It would be like having a fighting game where you have dozens upon dozens of characters but only 5 or so are worth playing. Sure, you could P2W but I doubt anyone would want to play it competitively in the first place.

Now that everyone can patch their game you can go and fix those bugs or OP skills that you didn’t intend to exist. Having one or two things being slightly above par is fine because it can stir things up but only if there is a counter to be had. That’s why I’m fine with Hambow, Condi Necro, and pre-nerf Spirit Ranger because they all had counters. Sadly, outside of higher rank TPvP you hardly ever actually see them used.

I’m actually fairly pleased with the current meta, there’s enough “OP” builds around that I don’t see as many Warriors as I used to.

voidwater.2064:

Even if you have the trait, stripping boons can sometimes be more useful than more DPS, it’d be a situational skill. e.g., You could get rid of stability, or even increase DPS by removing protection.

At a 7 and 3/4 second CD that would probably end up being really OP even if it just removed one buff. It sounds cool but I don’t see it being possible to balance.

voidwater.2064:

I’d prefer that AS have some new effect that warriors can’t get otherwise, instead of pure damage. Maybe an unblockable single-target boon stripping attack, number of boons removed and damage depending on adrenaline level.

The problem with that is that Warriors like boons on their target because Destruction of the Empowered gives higher DPS. Taking away those boons might not be in our best interest. Sure you don’t HAVE to take that trait but it is useful.

Since this appeared back up here again I just thought I would add that I went back and modified my old Skullcracker V 3.0 build and I was actually pleasantly surprised.

Skullcracker V 3.5

Not a huge change, just switched the runes to Lyssa and made sure I had over 50% crit. I wanted to ensure when you did the SC+100b combo you didn’t have to have your Signet of Rage up to get 100% crit chance. I like Sigil of Hydromancy because not only do you get damage that is equivalent to another normal attack, if they use a stun breaker they typically eat a few more hits and following up with Whirlwind Attack is much easier. If you need to make a quick escape the chill will also assist in that.

It serves a slightly different role than Hambow, less AoE but better single target DPS in addition to being much faster. Also, Mace is much faster at interrupting foes trying to stomp or trying to revive. Hundred Blades is also great for cleaving downed targets as always. Being able to reflect projectiles is always fun especially when timed right and you force someone to half kill themselves. This can be a nice alternative to Hambow if your team already has one on their team.

Protection Injection can certainly make killing a Engi take longer but if you pace out your Bull’s, Bash, and Cracks they can’t do anything to you. Not to mention you can humiliate them by reflecting all their best stuff.

I really like FLiP’s idea of making it a skill shot. That would make it a lot more satisfying to use and would make hitting multiple targets more reliable. As for being forced into CI, I think the only way that’s going to change is if Mending gets a 15 sec CD. That way, if you combine it with Restorative Strength you’ll have a good amount of cleanse and you can run more glassy builds without having to worry about condis instantly destroying you.

a t s e.9614:

Oozo.7856:

a t s e.9614:

and the immobilize is undodgable and too long . I think I would support a huge longbow nerf , so I won’t be forced to use it myself . Dem bows are so OP !

The immobilize is undodgeable? Whatever.

It’s not , that’s why they are adding an animation . There’s no difference between pin down and lb autoattack .

That’s a total lie. For one, the bow auto attack is “DUAL SHOT” and fires TWO arrows. For another, Pin Down has a bunch of circles around the arrow. Combustive Shot was already needlessly nerfed because the balance team thought it gave adrenaline when it doesn’t. Next people are going to want to nerf Smoldering Arrow.

There was a time where we were swamped with suggestions on how to improve the practically useless Greatsword burst. A few months ago ANet did appear to be messing around with some ideas (the tooltip changed to gaining Might) but then apparently totally forgot it existed. Recently I started finding myself bored with using Longbow in most of my builds. Most Warriors that play WvW and PvP have accepted that you’re going to have at least 20 points into Defense for Cleansing Ire, and bow is the best way to get almost guaranteed cleanse. With that thought in my head I got an idea, why not have Arcing Slice be an alternative to LB?

Arcing Slice: Send out a blade of unblockable air that strikes your foe.

A reasonable range would be probably be around 1000, same as most LB attacks. The key is the fact that it is an unblockable ranged attack on what is mostly a ranged weapon. This would hopefully allow for more build diversity. As for damage, it might just be best to leave it as is, anything higher when it’s unblockable risks being OP. Even with this new functionality you probably would only use it if you aren’t in melee range and have a high number of condis on you. If if pierced like Bladetrail it would also add a bit more situational utility. This would still run the risk of being blinded but it’s still fulfilling a similar role to LB.

I know these types of suggestions never really get any notice form the devs but a few Warrior friends I’ve mentioned it to seemed to like the concept. Someone also mentioned that it sounded a lot like the signature attack of Ichigo from Bleach and that your character should shout “ARCING SLICE” when using it…hearing Nolan North scream it on my human Warrior would be pretty hilarious.

Carighan.6758:

Yeah but in the case of the stealth people, just run past them. They’re pure 1v1 builds, they rely on you wanting to fight them, they’re pretty bad at stopping anyone and they hardly contribute all that much.

But you’re right, Burr, definitions of Cheese vary a lot. That’s part of the problem I suppose, for many “Cheese” means “Killed me”.

My personal problem is that I don’t like running away. Feels lame being forced into retreating because someone else is a pansy. It’s even worse when I go to duel servers to practice for TPvP and half the players do this.

From someone who hates stealth in its current form but doesn’t actively play any classes that depend on it – basically my view means squat – I think the current way stealth works is crap. You should either move slower while stealthed like you’re actually sneaking, or certain skills should be disabled while stealthed, or just make stealth something that you can’t have up for a long duration and have be purely for setting up an attack within the next few seconds and not something you use for escape. At least with Warriors you SEE them while they’re running away. Just knowing that "OK, that guy isn’t about to backstab me because he’s running " would make it feel less cheap. You just need those few seconds of “which way did he go” to get a good head start…if you like to run for 1v1s (run from 1v3+ all you want, there’s a difference between bravery and stupidity). It would also make fights more fast paced because fighting a foe who stealths all the time is boring as sin.

Some of your definition of cheese is verrrrrrrrrry different than most games. Typically, cheesy or gimmicky builds/tactics are something that leads to you either winning very easily or you lose horribly. Glass Cannon Ele would probably qualify, either you destroy your target very quickly or they just crush you into the dirt in 3 attacks. Hammer/Mace on Warrior could also possibly qualify because if your target has even moderately decent Stability up-time you’re probably not gonna win but some classes will melt. Some people seem to define using class mechanics like adrenaline as “cheese” which makes me scratch my head.

Other than that, I can’t name many builds that really qualify. There are plenty of “cheap” builds, which too me mostly involve Thieves and Mesmers that stack Stealth and either run or just heal up and reengage. Sure that’s a key part to their sustain and a class mechanic but being able to basically reset the entire engagement make things feel less about who’s better than who and more about whether or not your utilities will come off CD in time to counter their inevitable sneak attack. You can feel robbed because you had the win and they just decided to hide. I’ve had fights where I downed a Thief while they were stealthed, they rallied, then came back to kill me. I only knew because someone on their side told me after. Of course as a Warrior it is my right to look down upon those who lack the courage to face me out in the open like a true champion.

EDIT: I don’t understand the mentality of calling Hambow “Cheese.” Is is a good build, yes. However I have seen sooooooo many people lose to it due to nothing but their own mistakes. This includes using all your best condi attacks while Zerker Stance is up, using Stun Breakers on the Hammer skills that don’t hit as kittenly to eat a Backbreaker, standing in Combustive Shot you name it. This has gotten a lot better recently. I see Necros play defensively until Zerkers is down, only apply just enough condis to bait out a Combust Cleanse and then hitting with their big guns, using the Golem Charge to stop a Hammer combo (I’ve gotten good at knowing when it’s coming though). It’s actually crazy how close a fight can be considering just how much of the build is anti-condi. Hambow is good at squashing the ignorant but those that understand it seem to not complain about it. If someone makes the mistakes above you’ll often get “faceroll War,” “Lol u bad,” and the like but if you beat someone who doesn’t make those mistakes they generally say “gg” or “gf” in my experience. Now one person’s view is by no means proof but for me it’s been really consistent.

Outside of the Burst skills most of the Hammer attacks have a fairly long CD. If you want to hit a full combo you’ll be waiting around 25 seconds. It’ll be even harder once Pin Down gets a longer cast time because it’s always been a great setup. I’ve always found the build to be very reactive. I don’t always use the same Hammer rotation because chances are after you land the 1st Earthshaker you need to cancel out of Backbreaker because chances are they are gonna stun break. Your average War doesn’t have “sheathe weapon” bound and it’s a great way to fake people out. Hambow also really sucks in the mobility department and sometimes I actually prefer GS/LB even if it’s not as good generally.

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

Runes of the Krait, since the 6th bonus means that you don’t put one on your helmet (just your aqua breather). I like the general idea, but it still needs to do something on land, even if it is generally weaker.

That is a good candidate for a change. Even the chance to inflict bleed when hit if very low. It could be a really cool set for Sword Warriors. Maybe have the (6) give you some sort of bonus when hitting an enemy with X amount of bleed stacks.

This type of balancing philosophy is way too destructive. The second you remove these builds you mentioned another “OP” build will replace it shortly after. What do you do then? Do you then “balance” – AKA nerf – those builds then? Do you do the same thing? That would just lead to every class being a neutered shadow of its former self.

These builds are not really “OP” so much as they are the meta. No matter what game there will always be those that stand above the other options. The thing is, as long as there are a suitable number – hell sometimes you only need one – viable counters then it’s possible to counter these builds. These builds may not have been good previously, but if it counters the current meta then it’s viable. Despite what you may thing there has been several shifts in the meta and several didn’t even come about due to buffs/nerfs. Condi Necros are still good which makes Hambow Warriors good. What’s been changing is that now you see more thieves, mesmers, and even glass cannon ELES more frequently in TPvP, at least in my experience and I’ve played a good number of games recently.

Sure, Decap Engis are probably the most obnoxious build this game has seen in a while, but this is the fault of how PvP is designed more than anything else. When the core mechanic is fighting on circles and 2 of them are smaller than your average AoE ability certain playstlyes are going to be boosted up. Conquest can be a great game mode but right now bunker is strong because a single person can deny the cap of an entire team for a long enough time for backup to arrive. Most modes like this have the team with the most players on point able to capture it. Hambow is so much better than other Warrior options because a Earthshaker in the middle of a point is almost certain to hit SOMEONE, not to mention Combustive Shot covers the entire area. If the capture zones were larger AoE wouldn’t be so strong. You have tons of space around the circle so why not USE it? Add some terrain decoration to break line of sight, like having actual gravestones (large ones that have a ton of HP but can be destroyed) on Graveyard. Skyhammer almost did something like this with environmental hazards but goes way too far down the annoying route.

I’d rather see ANet continue to increase build variety via buffs and focus on improving the game mode we currently have because I think that’s what’s holding it back the most.

One of the upcoming changes I’m most looking forward to is the changes to how Sigils work. The the addition of individual ICDs for different types of Sigils we’ll be able to bring “on crit” and “on switch” either together or on different sets and not have it screw us up (especially so on Warrior which their shorter swap time). This will certainly be one way to add variety because you can put your own spin on the current meta. Note that I’m going to be thinking about this mostly from a Warrior standpoint because while I play other classes I know the most about Warrior.

Another way to do this would be runes. Let’s face it, right now there is a HUGE number of rune sets that are totally worthless or just downright boring. Some of them have cool effects – like Ogre giving you a Rock Dog or Lyssa giving you all boons when you use your elite – but most are just flat stat bonuses or +duration. Some of the more interesting sets synergize with a certain build, Runes of the Soldier wold be the best example. It be an interesting way to buff certain playstyles without touching the skills themselves.

For example, the Fighter set’s (6) bonus is absolutely terrible and gives you just one stack of Might for 20s on a 15 second CD in PvP. I can’t think of any reason to bring such a set. It’s a shame because +Pow and +Tough in addition to a proper Knight’s ammy could be useful. Considering the name of the set perhaps you could make them work with the physical utilities such as Kick, Stomp, and Bull’s Charge (Side note: Physical Training should be an Adept trait). Perhaps add a (4) bonus that increases the range of these skills by a certain amount (not sure if 33% would be too much) and have the (6) bonus be to have them be unblockable and maybe immune to blind for the duration. Make them work with Rampage and I might consider taking Kick instead of Bull’s Charge and maybe even sub out Balanced Stance/Dolyak Signet for Stomp since I would have access to 20 seconds of stability. Not really sure if that would be OP or not but the idea is that it rewards you for focusing on a certain type of skill rather than just throwing Lyssa on most builds.

Speaking of Lyssa, if you want to nerf Warriors and several other classes indirectly just split up the effect. Give a weaker set the cleanse (maybe one of the power sets) and let Lyssa keep the boons. I tried running Warrior builds without them and it increases the difficulty by a surprising amount.

So, what rune sets would you like to see changed?

I’ll say it once and I’ll say it 1,000 times.

Healing Signet feels more powerful than it really is because right not condi is still very prominent. With access to so much condi removal the amount of damage builds that focus on it is made pitiful. However, builds like Pistol Whip spam and several other power-based builds easily overcome the healing especially if they bring even a little bit of poison. I’m starting to see more and more of these builds in TPvP, seems people finally started to try and build counters instead of just demanding ANet do something about it.

Hopefully the balance team realizes this and doesn’t go any further than the 8% nerf they have planned. Also another way to nerf Warriors would be to simply nerf Lyssa runes. I’ve tried not running with them and it makes things significantly more difficult. Maybe just give Lyssa all the boons on cleanse and a useless set like Fighter the cleanse.

redslion.9675:

Problem is hambow doesn’t make you a better player.

Neither does running something else.

In PvP there will almost always be one or two builds that stand above the rest. Hambow brings a lot to both 1v1 (although more and more builds can beat it recently) and team fights (which is more important). The ability to deny a stomp on a friend on enemies that aren’t using stability/invulnerability is invaluable. Bow keeps you from being kited (in fact I find it hard to run any build w/o bow now), has good AoE, and almost guaranteed condition cleanse.

It’s not that PvP Warriors are lazy and only want to copy-paste, it’s that running pretty much anything else screws your team over. You’re not “better” for running a non-meta build, and doing so may cost your team the win. Even the so-called OP condi Warrior is not as effective in TPvP as Hambow because in a team fight that build brings a lot less to the table. Right now a Decap Engi would be better at home bunker as well because it can hold out longer in 1vX situations.

Serious players will run what it currently the strongest build because they find winning fun. This is true in any game be it FPS, RTS, MMO, Moba, whatever. Unless someone comes up with a better build/strategy they’re going to stick to what’s best. I have tried MANY different builds while playing with friends that are fine with me doing it and I always find it inferior to Hambow. I’m playing around with a support build but even then I could just be smashing people’s face in with a Hammer. That being said t is possible to run what you want but ONLY if you build your team around it. Most people just solo-join so Hambow is a much safer option and you won’t be screwing people over.

What will fix this is ANet bringing other options up to Hambow’s level. Nerfing right now would just make things worse for most classes outside of a few situations. Warrior actually had a few more viable builds/roles but they have been nerfed to the point were there’s no point in bringing them. Mace/GS used to bring good single target lockdown/DPS but now its damage has been nerfed and Skull Crack, while still useable, just doesn’t stand up to Hammer now.

Some people are going to take this personally but I don’t intend it as such: if you think your custom build is serving you just fine chances are it isn’t as good as Hambow. Yes, it may excel at different things, but chances are those roles are better filled by another class. I don’t like that this is how it is, but I also don’t intend to screw people over by running something that isn’t optimal. It’s not “tryhard,” just respect for my teammates.

I always really like Maces in fantasy games, however after the Skullcrack nerf and the move of Unsuspecting Foe the weapon dropped out of use pretty much over night. Hambow is now the clear choice due to how useful AoE control is. Thing is, playing the same build over and over isn’t exactly the most enjoyable thing for a lot of people. I’ve been trying Sword+LB and while it has its uses, you quickly miss the ability to deny stomps on foes without Stability.

The Skullcracker build with Mace+GS was considered by some to be inferior to Hambow because it lacked as much AoE and the easy cleansing that bow offered. However, there were a few tings that Skullcracker did much better than Hambow. For one it was much more mobile, few things move faster than a GS Warrior. It also offered much better single-target damage as well as setting up people for spikes. Another benefit of GS is the ability to just sit on a downed enemy and use 100b while their teammates try to revive them. Their easy Skullcrack targets and it’s not uncommon for them to fail at the res while getting downed themselves.

What’s unfortunate about the Unsuspecting Foe move is that Skullcracker didn’t appear to be the targeted build. What made everything synergize so well was being able to take Forceful Greatsword along with UF to gain 100% crit chance and gain might throughout the 100b channel time. Now that isn’t possible and you have to decide between UF and FG. Some would view this as balanced, but the is is that ANet never seemed to view the build as OP and the move was purely for reducing the amount of damage Hambow could do.

What makes this all worse is that whenever I try to make a build using Mace that doesn’t have GS I find the result heavily lacking. Take a bow and after stunning them your follow up is limited to Arching Shot and a Fan of Fire and that’s pretty much it. Even with all those critting it’s still hitting much less than a 100b. There’s also the problem of mobility. Even Hammer can use Earthshaker and swapping mid jump in order to put some distance between you and the enemy if you need to peel, Mace lacks this. Mace in general is more of a enabler of combos and a defensive set when with a shield and offers little else. When it’s paired with GS these issues are covered.

I also tried Sword/Mace and having that extra knockdown is very nice but it still brings less damage. Nice in a team fight but personally I like to have a bit more self dependance as a roamer.

So this is my current mindset, I want to hear ideas that I may be blind to. So far I just can’t see any other weapon that synergies as well with Mace as GS, but perhaps I’m wrong. So far this build gives you the most damage without sacrificing points in Defense. If you do take the risk and run something like this one you’ll hit harder but you’re much more vulnerable to condis.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

I’ve spent some time testing this and after dueling a guildy for a long time he eventually made a few changes that I think are viable. That being said on my internet the closer it gets to prime time the more things become a choppy and frustrating experience so It’s hard to say if one is actually any better than the other considering it’s more or less just a tradeoff. It also loses a bit of the “identity” the original build because it’s the same points distribution as the GS+LB build just with a sword.

Knightmare 3

P.S: I swapped out the Sigil of Ice for Hydromancy because it seems like compared to the Sigil of Fire it never seems to proc consistently.

Slowpoke.2749:

The thing is that it is difficult and frustrating to use those kinds of abilities in the heat of the battle. At the moment I’m practicing staff wielding on my guardian and the fifth skill is more trouble than it’s worth.

I have to spend long seconds correctly positioning the line before casting while the enemies casually maul all of us to death. While most skill shots don’t seem to be so complicated as this one, I find the aiming system a bit of a hassle when we are urged by the game to be constantly on the move.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Line_of_Warding

Are you using the press-and-release option? That makes placement much easier. Also, placing that skill correctly can totally turn the tide of battle or at least deny someone access to something for a few seconds.

If people are having trouble with skill shots that’s unfortunate. I personally find them more reliable then most lock on skills. So frequently they’ll miss for no clear reason, having more control over it would hopefully reduce that.

After seeing games like SMITE and more recently Wildstar taking the concept of “skill shots” – or ground targeted attacks like Earthshaker, Marks, or Nades – I started to feel that GW2 didn’t go far enough with the number of attacks that use this sort of mechanic. Right now all we really have is circles of varying sizes and effects with the infrequent cone shape, it would interesting to see more interesting shapes on skill shots. I’m going to use some Warrior skills as examples because a) It’s my main and b) it’s a class that has a low barrier to entry yet doesn’t offer much advancement and has a lower skill ceiling.

Rush/Throw Axe/Bolas/Impale/Bull’s Rush/Longbow/Rifle – These skills that are either bursts of speed or involve throwing/shooting something would feel much more satisfying if you had more control over them. Pressing tab and pressing a number (or w/e it’s bound to) and having it auto-lock is quite frankly not that interesting. Some skills could get buffs with the increased difficulty while skills like Impale could stay at their current strength. I wouldn’t mind having to aim the bow and rifle 1 skill if it got a bit of a damage boost since it would probably have a slower rate of fire.

I play other classes but it would be redundant to keep going because you get the point. Giving the players more control is generally a good thing, not to mention it may make watching good players way more interesting than it currently is (…and if the particle effect were more contained – not less flashy – just not taking up half the screen…).

I know that something like this is unlikely to ever happen to the extreme I’m suggesting, but even if we just got a few more skill shots It would make gameplay even less MMO-like than it already is, which I think is a good thing. This concept could also be applied to mobs as well. Having more oddly shaped attacks could lead to more boss variety then we currently see.

A good way to increase the skill-ceiling would be to take the SMITE/Wildstar route (sadly I dislike Hi-Res so i don’t play SMITE, but I do know about some of the mechanics) and make more attacks “skill shots” as opposed to just locking on and pressing a button. Now certain weapon sets don’t really allow for it but I can think of a few skills that would benefit. This doesn’t just apply to Warriors, I think every class can benefit from this approach.

1. Bladetrail – make it so you aim where it goes and increase it’s damage as a result.

2. Rush – Again, make it so you aim where you want to go but make it activate a AoE attack when you connect with someone.

3. Longbow in general – Let us aim everything but allow for Duel shot to have a larger margin of error than say Pin Down.

4. Rifle – Same thing, it feels much more satisfying to hit something you aimed well rather then just hitting tab and a button.

5. Throw Axe/Impale/Bolas – The current power of impale would be much more acceptable to many players if landing it was a bit more challenging. Throw Axe is pretty boring atm and could use something…more. Bolas is starting to kind of grow on me but I think I would rather have some sort of Scorpion-style chain attack that Immobilizes for a shorter duration than it currently does but gives you the option to pull them.

I know changes like these are VERY unlikely to happen but I think it would allow Warrior to remain that tough bruiser it is now but would allow for good players to excel by consistently landing skill shots. It’s a shame Wildstar’s aesthetic and general philosophy don’t interest me because their focus on skill shots goes beyond GW2 but maybe if it’s successful maybe ANET will consider expanding on what we already have. Also, another benefit of skills like these is that it would hopefully make things more consistent. Skills like Rush miss so frequently it’s good for little else then running away.

I would view the build as being a possible in-between of a home point guard and a roamer. You’re tough enough to hold off and kill a single and even survive long enough against two enemies until backup arrives. It’s actually pretty funny how long you can keep people from even REACHING the point with Pin Down and Bolas because many charge your home with the express purpose of getting on point before actually engaging.

While you’re probably not as tanky as a condi banner War you are much more mobile and not tethered to something you have to pick up and use. What you do have is the ability to jump into the mid fight, turn the tide, then get back to home. Something else I’ve noticed is that when you have 2 Hambow Warriors they can sometimes end up stepping on each others toes, using Staggering Blow and accidentally knocking someone out of range and the like. However this build actually complements Hambow perfectly. You lock them in place and deal faster damage than Hambow while they keep them in place. Not to mention one of your weapon sets doesn’t become almost worthless when someone has a lot of stability so you’re almost always working optimally outside of Zerker Stance.

This also works with Necros as well because it forces them to sit and eat all those nasty condis while you cover them with mostly throw-away conditions. It could even force someone to eat the entire barrage from a glass cannon Ele. What would really help this build is the addition of a ammy that gives Knight stats like in PvE. With Armored Attack and toughness being the primary stat you find yourself with 3k Attack and Armor in addition to a high crit chance and decent health. Right now the other ammys aren’t worth using with a build like this.

So long as you consistently land Arching Shot and Final Thrust your DPS can be very high. All your Immob makes this much easier, using Fan of Fire at melee range also deals a good amount of damage for how low the CD is.

Of the 3 you mentioned PU Mesmer is the easiest. Combustive Shot takes out their AIs before they become too big a threat and all the immobilize you apply means they can’t stay away from you. Not to mention even with low Condi damage Mesmers still can’t easily get rid all the bleeding and burn.

If played right Hambow Warriors can almost be comical. Make sure not to waste your Immobs when Zerker stance is up. Use Shield Stance after they pop it then just wait till it’s out them go on the offensive. Focus on damaging them without Immob when Bow is out and them use your bow to keep them out of range and laugh as they waste their Earthshaker by just smashing in place.

Haven’t fought a lot of Engis recently, which is odd because I hear how common they supposedly are. What I have fought haven’t been that hard because once again they focus on staying away from you, which this build denies. Combustive once again easily takes care of the Supply Drops especially since most are close enough for a Arching Shot to hit all of them. You also have tons of cleanses so the conditions shouldn’t be a problem.

Note that this comes from a guy who is currently severely handicapped by the fact that I have terrible DSL internet that frequently cuts in and out. I’m honestly surprised that I manage to win any 1v1 fights seeing as I basically have to input what I want to happen several seconds in the future from what I’m currently seeing.

I’m waiting for this gear unification patch because if they want all armor to be universal that means, I would assume, that they have to give PvP players access to Ascended gear. I can’t think of any other way around that.

Personally I would be just fine with that because I outright refuse to spend my time grinding out materials when I could be doing something more interesting. It would also provide PvP-only players an incentive to try out WvW and PvE because they can jump in with optimal gear. I’d like to see the game go back to working towards getting the look you want rather than having to spend a good amount of time getting optimal gear.

Julie Yann.5379:

Personally, I always found blademaster to bet very lack luster for a 20 point trait, even more so when you have 53% crit chance to begin with. I would replace it with either opportunist, furious reaction, or rending strikes.

I used to think the same thing about Blademaster and I did try opportunist but the thing is, with Signet of Rage and Signet Mastery you have very high Fury up-time as it is. That means with it and Blademaster you’re going to be critting around 83% most of the time with sword out. This means that you’re also always getting a benefit from Furious. It really does need to reduce sword CDs though like every other weapon trait.

My current dilemma is whether or not I’m screwing over my team running this build over Hambow. Being able to keep players without stability off a downed teammate can be really valuable. That being said I see a lot more Mesmers and Thieves in TPvP now and they absolutely hate this build. I feel like a bit of a bullet magnet which is actually nice because then I can just use Shield Stance and start luring people away.