Guild Wars 2

Now I want a bull to appear around us when we use this skill followed by a loud “MOOOOOOOO” when it hits.

Defektive.7283:

2/25/2013
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/warrior/Defektive-s-PvP-Hammer-Build-SkillCap-Edition-1/first

In the end, the build didn’t fit tPvP. It was good for hot joins but didn’t have a niche or enough pressure to be useful in a team setting. So I discontinued it.

Warrior meta has changed dramatically since then though. Back then we didn’t have Healing Signet being good, Cleansing Ire, Zerker Stance being anti-condi, or Final Thrust being able to hit 4-7k with Soldier gear. I tend to focus on SoloQ but thus far my W/L ratio has been pretty kitten good and most games I either get cursed by the enemy team or tanked my my team and even sometimes have the enemy complementing me. It does what it’s made to do well which is to focus on Rangers and Necros while still being useful for point capping and I stand a fair chance against almost ever class. Mesmers and Thieves can be tricky if they are running certain builds but those builds are of favor currently.

I know that you being on a team makes your word a lot more valuable but considering how popular Rangers and Necros Currently are I don’t see how a build that is dedicated to killing them and can kill them very quickly in the case of Spirit Rangers could be considered.

I did draw inspiration from your old build, but this not only has a different trait layout but just feels totally different than it did before because of how much more responsive hammer is now.

I would only go as far as to say the game is heavily influenced by MOBA games. I think conquest can work but the size of the capture points need to be resized and made much large in addition to having the team with the most players on point start capturing so that a single bunker can’t delay the cap for a excessive amount of time.

The larger size will make AoE spam less effective and the more BF3-esqe capture style would make hard bunkers less effective. I like the idea of the side objectives but some need to be improved. There may need to be a cap on how many players actually affect the capture timer so that it discourages zerging. They should also do away with the current point systems. I get that they wanted to stay away from things like K/D ratios but because you currently gain a lot more points from capturing points than you do defending them people in soloQ will still try and zerg for easy points…points that get you glory that are currently worthless so why people don’t go for the win more I don’t know.

Either the points needs a total redesign or they need to start giving more points for defending and half the points for captures. Spectator mode could also use more statistics so you can gauge how well a particular player is doing.

There’s been a lot of talk about Hammer recently, I honestly don’t have any major gripes with the skills themselves, just their speed. The slow hulking nature of it looks cool which I’m sure was their intent but that hurts it in PvP. If I had my way I would have them make Earthshaker faster, make you able to move a bit while using Staggering Blow (which the balance team mentioned while streaming), and either make Backbreaker cleave or make the knockdown longer, I don’t mind the long windup so long as the payoff is good.

Even as it currently Hammer is still good, it just has room for improvement.

Daecollo.9578:

BurrTheKing.8571:

It’s ironic, after I posted a build with Mace + GS that got over 10k views…I don’t like using it anymore. Hammer + Sword/Shield has actually been working out a lot better for me because I enjoy its use more. I do agree with you on its limitations, however I think that if you treat it like the Guardian’s GS it can work wonders. GS on Guardian has a really obvious combo that hits hard but has a high CD, I feel like Warrior Hammer is similar. I’m actually going to post another build thread pretty soon so I can get feedback.

The thing about the guardians greatsword is its animations arn’t so obvious, they are immediate and much harder to dodge.

I disagree with that, Binding Blade is really obvious considering they spin in a circle then throw a sword at you. Even in close range that spin is hard to miss. Not to mention the Symbol and Whirling Wrath also have really easy to spot animations, some of the most apparent in the game.

Hammer has always been my favorite Warrior weapon since GW1. That being said it is a flawed weapon, but to me not as flawed as it is made out to be. This build is primarily designed to kill Spirit Rangers and Necromancers, which have become very prominent as of late.

The Build

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAS8ejkOpwBPGPMxBE0DNsK4iTBlQ9YOsj4A-TsAA1CnICSFkLITQygsBNQYRwGEA

I use Hammer similar to how a Guardian uses a GS, it has a very clear combo and it should be all be used together for maximum effect. You want to actually avoid using most of its skills until you’re certain they’re out of stun breaks. This is actually REALLY easy to do with Spirit Rangers. Just use Shield Bash and that uses up the 1 stun resist they have. Your ideal combo is Earthshaker (ES) -> Fierce Blow -> Backbreaker (BB) -> Staggering Blow -> Switch to Sword then Shield bash if up if not then Final Thrust. If hit by the full thing you’ll generally have a dead Ranger on your hand.

Now obviously you won’t always be able to land that perfect combo on builds with stun breakers and ES can be hard to land. Using Flurry and letting it go for a few strikes then switching and hitting with a shorter duration ES in order to ensure BB + Staggering Blow land. I would only ever try to land BB if you somehow set it us with another skill. You can also go Flurry -> Staggering -> BB as well. Basically the Hammer how I play it is all about combos and making up for the weaknesses of skills like BB and Staggering Blow.

I feel a lot more useful with this build than with Mace + GS because Hammer gives you the ability to jump into the middle of a point battle and cause havoc. After you..eh hem..hammer down the combos it will like a much stronger weapon and it’s a hell of a lot more fun then most warrior weapon sets.

It’s ironic, after I posted a build with Mace + GS that got over 10k views…I don’t like using it anymore. Hammer + Sword/Shield has actually been working out a lot better for me because I enjoy its use more. I do agree with you on its limitations, however I think that if you treat it like the Guardian’s GS it can work wonders. GS on Guardian has a really obvious combo that hits hard but has a high CD, I feel like Warrior Hammer is similar. I’m actually going to post another build thread pretty soon so I can get feedback.

Defektive.7283:

BurrTheKing.8571:

Defektive.7283:

BurrTheKing.8571:

Right now Warriors are pretty much required to run either 0/20/20/0/30 or 0/10/30/0/30 if they want to run CC.

Actually, they just need 10 points in precision for a CC build.

And no other trait points have to be used, just those 10. The trait is THAT OP.

For a stun build to be effective yes. Because it’s the one trait that lets you build out any number of ways and still have respectable DPS.

I was being sarcastic…but yes it is basically a required trait if you want to run CC. While you’re here I’ll ask you this, with the proposed changes do you think your team would want you running CC because it seems like any sort of move is going to force you further into a tree focused on condition damage which means in my case I’d probably run something like this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQRApe8ZjkOpwBPGPMxBAkCsq68IppUSpYO7A-TwAA1CnICSFkLITQygsBNIYRwGiJCA

Which makes me some strange CC+Bleed stack hybrid that can’t use its CC as often. Or if I didn’t go 30 into arms and keep either 0/20/20/0/30 or 0/10/30/0/30, it means I can CC more but will have really low DPS and would basically only be there for the sole purpose of CC and would probably never kill anything. Or perhaps I go 0/30/10/0/30 and have both but then I lack Cleansing Ire and will be significantly more vulnerable to the very condition dealers I’m supposed to be countering. Would think that your team would still be happy with any of these builds?

I know I’m loading the question a bit but I just don’t see any winning situation unless it got a big buff in the move like making it also work with immobilize.

Defektive.7283:

BurrTheKing.8571:

Right now Warriors are pretty much required to run either 0/20/20/0/30 or 0/10/30/0/30 if they want to run CC.

Actually, they just need 10 points in precision for a CC build.

And no other trait points have to be used, just those 10. The trait is THAT OP.

Kavia.8249:

@Jonwar

Does a hammer/bow build use a similar trait set up as I have down for the mace+shield/greatsword build? How about amulet? Also, if you have the chance could you compare the build with the m+s/gs build in terms of the matchups – any where hammer/bow is superior or is is just for teamfight utility?

@Burr

Thanks for posting that build! I think the essential features of the new meta warrior are berserker’s stance, healing signet, cleansing ire, and unsuspecting foe. There are probably many permutations with the backbone of 0/10/20/0/20 + 20 points. It is hard to pick one as the “meta build” but I imagine all stack up similarly in terms of the matchups.

I would love to hear your comments on how weaponset, amulet, or the allocation of those extra 20 points affect individual matchups. I.e. if taking hammer improves your ability to fight spirit rangers but weakens your ability to fight thieves; that is the stuff I want to know and put in the chart!

The problem you run into with Mace vs Spirit Rangers is the same problem you get with Mesmers, the body blocks can make you blow all your adren on the wrong target. With Hammer, even if you miss you’ll hit the Spirits at which point you can just kill them which is a big setback for the Ranger. If you do hit them (only after you get rid of that first resist) They are pretty much dead because one hammer combo followed by Final Thrust is basically guaranteed death.

Hammers actually can make me do fairly well vs blind thieves because after you get rid of the initial blind you can Earthshaker just outside of their smoke field and hit them for a good 3k. This makes them miss using HS to get stealth and if you do it consistently they’ll find themselves much more exposed than they like. You can sometimes even take them out really quickly by using Zerker Stance to charge into the blind field and use Backbreaker, which will make them TP, which you can then follow them with Eathshaker – Fierce Blow – Staggering Blow which will probably kill them.

Mesmers aren’t exactly popular now but Hammer is even better vs them for the same reason as Spirit Rangers, even if you miss you just killed their main source of damage. You’ll still never lock them down totally like with Necros but the individual hits can do 3k+ damage and while it can still go either way (and if the Mes plays passively or sits in stealth while waiting for heals well then there’s not much to do) but it still gives you a better shot.

Of course the one obvious flaw with Hammer is that it is MUCH, MUCH harder to use than Mace/Shield. I still think learning to use it well is worthwhile. It’s a little like Guardian’s GS in that it has a very clear combo with longer cooldowns but it’s harder to land. I actually spend a lot of time using Sword and just switching to Hammer to Earthshaker and don’t try to use my other skills until I KNOW they are out of stun breaks, missing a Backbreaker really hurts.

I personally prefer Soldiers gear over most other sets. I know Anas Tarcis likes Zerker still with Mel runes but with my build Soldier gives me higher base stats in power and toughness and Unsuspecting Foe makes up a bit for the lower crit chance. Of course he’s considered one of the best warriors around so I’m sure people will take him much more serious than me, that being said I like to be in the thick of the fight and I’m assuming he may play differently that justifies his gear choices.

You are still ignoring the fact that moving the trait any higher will not only make Hammer worthless but will make it a trait that never sees any use. Basically you’re not looking for it to be balanced but removed from the game and become another GM trait that nobody ever uses. Also, the build is NOWHERE near as good as Ele was back in the day, you don’t see a Warrior fighting 3 equally geared players and winning because it can continuously zoom in and out of the fight and wear down peoples heals. At best CC builds are good 1v1 and can do OK 2v1 only if one player is really bad and the other has low DPS. I still can’t match the survival of a Guardian when it comes to Zerg vs Zerg because they are constantly healing due to the # of people around them while they provide buffs.

You can talk about objectivity all you want but it isn’t objective in the least to propose effectively removing a trait from the game. Can you really see anyone putting 30 points into ARMS to get a trait that only works for weapons that don’t have conditions that deal damage? The trait only punishes glassy condition spammers that don’t bring stability or stun breaks…or even Protection. In fact Protection makes the damage almost laughably low. Saying stun locking is considered OP is just as ridiculous because it has tons of perfectly viable counters. Even recently I see that Necros are starting to bring traits and utilities to counter me. Engis Protection Injection can force a standoff where neither side can win unless one party messes up. Thieves and Mesmers have so many ways to avoid being locked down it isn’t even funny.

Conan.8046:

kitten s.7421:

Did someone just say warriors hard counter spirit rangers…….

There are very few hard counters in the game. Warrior isn’t a hard counter to spirit ranger but a good warrior using a great sword and mobile strikes…yes he is indeed a big threat…fact that every hit could potentially cleave all of your spirits.

Honestly i can’t think of a harder fight for a spirit ranger.

Don’t even need Mobile Strikes because Whirlwind attack will kill the roots almost instantly.

It feels really weird to be a primary Warrior and going “Huh? These guys aren’t that bad for me” because they only have 1 resist and then after that they are easy prey for either my Skull Crack build or my Earthshaker build.

For TPvP I’d suggest teams consider bring a Warrior because currently we are strong against both Spirit Ranger and Condi Spam Necros.

As for SoloQ I think they need to rewrite the matchmaking system so that it doesn’t put more than 2 of a class in a team unless there are really no other options.

@DevO Warrior is by far the hardest class that I’ve played because missing a Earthshaker or Skull crack means you’re instantly at a disadvantage. In fact most warrior builds have very little margin for error.

Derps.7421:

I still believe spirit rangers come out on top of warriors or i have had just some horrible body blocking luck. Seriously the spirits slow motion jump infront of my attacks.
Jon hammer is good but it is extremely easy to dodge even more so then mace shield.

So, after I got some rest I did some TPvP, I played against some fairy high ranked Rangers and while some did put up a good fight I did feel like things were always in my favor.

Here’s what I was using:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAS8ejkOpwBPGPMxBE0DNsK4iTBlQ9YOsj4A-TsAA1CnICSFkLITQygsBNQYRwWEA

It’s similar in style to the Skull Cracker build however it avoids all body blocking issues and even if Earthshaker misses the spirits will take a big hit. Simply time the big CCs to the end of an evade/dodge and with one Eathshaker – Fierce Blow – Backbreaker – Staggering Blow combo they should be dead or near dead. Make sure to use Shield Stance first to get rid of that free resist they get.

Quickfoot Katana.8642:

Phaeton.9582:

Quickfoot Katana.8642:

Phaeton.9582:

Gandarel.5091:

Well, I can see how many unknown teams will grab the chance and sign up with 5 spirit rangers.

Hope this isn’t a dig at sync dude, the players were known even if the team wasn’t.

And sorry jin the accent threw me ><

Well to be honest all I see is a meta abuse on SYNC’s behalf. When this Meta is changed, I want to see how good they will do (unless they get 2 players same class on FOTM builds again, swapping out spirit ranger)

I doubt it, those guys primarily play ranger.

Certainly, they are favored by this meta. If they do good in the next one, then they will surely have my respect

Teams just need to bring a CC warrior to counter them…was that subtle enough?

Cygnus.6903:

I have a question. I’ve been running this with melandru runes in WvW lately. My crit chance is too high right now, I feel 30% would be enough (reaching 100% with fury, on which I have ~67% uptime).

So I’m about to change my gear to adjust for more toughness/vit instead of crit chance. Would you advise to use hoelbrak runes? I’ve already bought them, but I am unsure if I would prefer them over melandru.

Melandru Pro’s regarding Hoelbrak;

165 toughness
5% extra -condition duration
25% -stun duration (unsure if this also works on knockdowns/dazes?)

The con’s;

165 Power
Small chance to gain 1 stack of might
20% extra might duration

Hoelbrak obviously gives better damage. I don’t feel that I am lacking that damage right now though.

25% less stun duration is great vs for instance other mace/shield GS users.

20% might duration seems very cool, but the might gained from Forceful Greatsword only lasts 5 seconds to begin with… Turning that into 6 seconds still probably won’t give you extra damage on the next Skullcrak/HB…

The 6 extra seconds on the 5 stacks from SoR are nice, but not ground breaking.

All in all, Hoelbrak does provide more damage, but it seems to be no more then a ~5% increase. Is it worth sacrificing Melandru survivability for?

I personally use Hoelbrak in WvW because with my setup I get past 3k Attack and Armor, also it makes the might from Forceful GS to last a bit longer which has nice synergy. I now actually prefer Hammer with Sword Shield in WvW because of the great amount of AoE and I bring a sigil of battle on the Sword to still get my use out of Hoelbrak’s (2) effect. It can cause some serious havoc but the Mace build is still good especially if you want to try and lock down a commander.

derbaer.1284:

Forgive me my lack of knowledge, I used to play warrior the first few months after release and now have been trying out this build in spvp the last few days. I have some questions:

1. I got kited to hell by mesmers, eles and especially rangers with entangling roots. While this might be due to my lack of practice, I recall that I used to trait for “mobile strikes”. Wouldnt that trait be more useful than “warrior sprint” (wich got mentioned here quite often) in any case? Is there any other way of avoiding being kited?

2. skull crack with the sigil of paralyzation should, given 3 full bars of adrenaline, stun for 3,45 seconds, probably rounded to 3,5s. Your HB takes exactly those 3,5s, but you have to switch weapons first and activate it. Including server lag, I have never been able to get the last (hardest hitting) strike of HB in. How do you perform doing it?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

Mesmers are really strong against this build because of the number of get out of jail skills they have. As for why no Mobile Strikes immobilze is used by so few and Mesmers have fallen out of favor in TPvP Warrior’s Sprint is more useful.

If you time it perfectly you should be able to hit the entire duration of 100b unless they have Runes of Mel. I’ve been using it so long it’s just second nature to switch the instant it lands and with practice you should be able to as well.

What’s amazing is that the warrior in the picture seems to wielding a GS (1h sword is worn on the hip) in one hand AND has a shield. Oh, he’s also able to use Skull Crack as his Burst Skill with this setup. Totally OP and broken.

Daecollo.9578:

It should be moved… to the defense tree.

I’d rather see it in Strength if it had to be moved at all (It doesn’t), Defense has so many good traits that it be impossible to fit it into a Hammer build. Right now the only Adept trait in Strength worth taking is Restorative Strength. I kinda understand why Unsuspecting Foe is where it is because it deals with Crit chance but because only Maces and Hammers gain anything from it it would fit in Strength as well.

The fact is though, moving this trait to GM in ANY tree would totally destroy Hammer builds. In order to use it you pretty much HAVE to place 30 in defense because you don’t want to lose either the Hammer trait or Cleansing Ire. Putting it in GM Arms would mean you’d only have 10 left over points and a Warrior without Fast Hands in PvP is a really pathetic Warrior. As stated earlier no team will ever want a CC warrior if they can’t put out any sort of DPS, even with Zerker Ammy it would still be poor DPS with even worse sustain. Hammer is so slow that if I don’t get Crits on skills like Fierce Blow and Backbreaker I’m basically not worth taking over another Necro or Engi.

You want to nerf Mace but this would actually hurt Hammer much worse. This would be like D/D Ele all over again. CC alone won’t make us attractive, it’s our ability to take a bit of punishment, but not as much as a guardian, while dealing out a lot of CC/DPS, but not enough damage as Thieves, that makes the class even remotely good.

Mace isn’t too popular in TPvP because it’s only good on a single target in a gametype focused on AoE. Hammer offers a lot more team functionality, and this suggestion would kill it.

nicknamenick.2437:

Scoobaniec.9561:

Also engineer trait for burning is in adapt while necro nerfed to 2sec in GM. The same i can say about 50% endurance regen on ranger in minor 5 while engi has to use GM trait to get it. Whats ur point? Ok lets says we moved it to gm anyway:

0/30/25/0/15 problem solved

Spend less time for trolling on forums, more time to adapt/diehard ingame.

No because now you cant get Furious..

He was being sarcastic. The whole point is that 0/30/25/0/15 would be the required points loadout with this suggested change. It would mean that we have a bunch of useless +condi damage which means there would be NO reason whatsoever to EVER use this trait. It would also cost frequent access to our stuns, making us worthless.

Several things:

First off, comparing the traits of one class to another is not a logical thing to do, it’s apples to oranges. One of Warriors main strengths is their access to CC. Making is a GM trait would basically force us to trait into +Perc and +Condi Damage in order to do something that is our classes ONLY STRENGTH in the current meta. To be forced to spec 30 points into Arms would make us have to either drop Cleansing Ire, making conditions much more effective vs us, or to lose out on Burst Mastery, which would make our CC come much less frequently making us bring very little to the table in terms of TPvP.

Not having Unsuspecting Foe on a CC build makes your damage so low that once again, there would be no incentive to ever have a Warrior on your team because CC alone means almost noting without some sort of stable DPS. Right now Warriors are pretty much required to run either 0/20/20/0/30 or 0/10/30/0/30 if they want to run CC. Moving the trait to GM or even Master would give us little to no reason to use CC anymore. It doesn’t even really make sense that the trait is in Arms considering that it’s a trait line mostly focused on Sword/Longbow. However, moving it to any other trait line would make it compete with other near mandatory traits.

I’m getting really sick of the fact that not only were Warriors buff nowhere near as much as Necros were, we still see hardly any in high level TPvP, yet we are getting treated like we were made into the most OP class in the game by you, Hunter, and Excalibur. Most big time TPvPers don’t seem to have a major problem with Warrior as it is currently. I only feel the need to respond to these posts because I want the Devs to see that is is just a small, vocal minority that doesn’t represent the community at large.

Sami.7923:

yes you named a bunch of strong condition class and super glass burst. I am a power ranger, its simply impossible for me to burst you down, ranger power is very neglected because half our attack is going to our pet who also doesnt really dmg you anyways.

That sounds like a problem with your class and not the build in question.

Itchen.8754:

For some reason I cannot access that site to check out the build

Here try this instead:

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-sBxg;1NKkP0d4NL-60;9;5JJ-T;139-48;225A4oF0;2CoF2CoF26Bl

Phaeton.9582:

BurrTheKing.8571:

Phaeton.9582:

There are better builds than this. Looking through these forums even self styled ‘top’ warriors seem to be running underpowered builds, in their reluctant attempts to catch up with the meta….

I’m actually starting to prefer Hammer in both PvP and WvW, it feels so much useful in team fights because you can stun multiple foes. It’s slow speed makes it more difficult to use especially 1v1 but that’s not really important if your main strength is in team fights anyways. This is what I’ve been using:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAS8ejkOpwBPGPMxBE0DNsK4iTBlQ9YOsj4A-TsAA1CnICSFkLITQygsBNQYRwWEA

I know some Warriors don’t believe in running double melee but between Warriors Sprint, Dogged March, Earthshaker, and Savage Leap I never find myself being kited. Worst thing is the blinds, what I wouldn’t give for the grandmaster minor trait to be the ability to resist a blind ever x seconds.

I’m not 100% sold on the Sigil of Battle but because I like the Runes of Hoelbrak (because they reduce the duration of condis without having to put more than what’s needed into toughness) but felt that I was under-utilizing the +might duration. You can keep a good number of might stacks on with this though even if you take Banner as your elite for the res instead.

Yeah I’ve been experimenting with this trait set for a few weeks. If you utilise the sustain right it can be really strong, especially if you get in scenario where it’s 1v2 and one’s a bunker. (recalls hilarious game vs bry)

If you pm ‘tobies’ in game right now I can tell you what runes/sigil/ammy I run though, definitely worth trying.

Sadly I’m on a looong Midnight for a few more hours and will probably need to sleep when I get home but I’m Burr Chillthorn if you wanna discuss Hammer later today.

I actually love Hammer vs D/P thieves because you can use Hammer Shock to clear the blind then use Earthshaker right outside the blind field, it throws off their stealth spam and really hurts their DPS because unlike with Mace you can do it consistently.

Jinks.2057:

BurrTheKing.8571:

Jinks.2057:

Ya ran into ppl with stun breaks…..they run out and die

EzMode

If you’re going to try and make an argument about something – might I suggest making actual arguments and at least trying to make yourself sound intelligent. What you just wrote sounds like a Thief that got beaten by a more skilled Warrior and you then came to this forum to whine…oh look you play a Thief.

Most of your comments in general seem to be highly negative and rarely seem to be longer than a paragraph and have hardly any meaningful content. Doesn’t even look like you’re very popular even in your own classes forum.

Don’t need to make a longer post because what I say is true.

You clearly don’t know how debates work. If I took your approach I could say “Thieves so EZmode cause blind, just press 5 and win” and if you responded like I did I would say “Dont need a longer posts because im right.”

Give proof to support what you say or you might as well have not said anything.

Sami.7923:

I think this will get a nerf for sure, its all anyone talking about in duel servers. I just saw a war get turned downed from three duels because hes was using HS. You guys are still no phatasm mesmer but I think it would be silly to let this continue or believe this is acceptable. I have a war who is lvl 80 so I can admit this is over the top . If spirit ranger and Cond necro are getting nerf in the near future you can be sure as hell this will too. Sorry.

I’d actually prefer Spirit Rangers and Condi Necros not get nerfed because the longer they stay around the more appealing CC Warriors that counter them look to teams (hopefully).

Phaeton.9582:

There are better builds than this. Looking through these forums even self styled ‘top’ warriors seem to be running underpowered builds, in their reluctant attempts to catch up with the meta….

I’m actually starting to prefer Hammer in both PvP and WvW, it feels so much useful in team fights because you can stun multiple foes. It’s slow speed makes it more difficult to use especially 1v1 but that’s not really important if your main strength is in team fights anyways. This is what I’ve been using:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAS8ejkOpwBPGPMxBE0DNsK4iTBlQ9YOsj4A-TsAA1CnICSFkLITQygsBNQYRwWEA

I know some Warriors don’t believe in running double melee but between Warriors Sprint, Dogged March, Earthshaker, and Savage Leap I never find myself being kited. Worst thing is the blinds, what I wouldn’t give for the grandmaster minor trait to be the ability to resist a blind ever x seconds.

I’m not 100% sold on the Sigil of Battle but because I like the Runes of Hoelbrak (because they reduce the duration of condis without having to put more than what’s needed into toughness) but felt that I was under-utilizing the +might duration. You can keep a good number of might stacks on with this though even if you take Banner as your elite for the res instead.

Empyre.2531:

Most of you guys make a mistake. You argue about heal signet based on other classes’ skills. This doesn’t work, this never worked in any game.

You simply can’t compare skill A1 with skill A2 if skills B1-Z1 and B2-Z2 aren’t equal. One class spams protection, the other spams blind etc. all increase the worth of hp, you can’t base an argument about their healing skill on that.

This is a good point. It’s been pointed out many times that toughness and HP isn’t as good as having access to protection, evades, stealth, or even blinds. It be very hard to put a mathematical value on sustainability in this game because certain mechanics increase survival without having a number to put on it. Mesmer clones body blocking is another mechanic that helps with survival but how do you account for that when looking at numbers. Warriors lack many of those things listed above so it makes sense that the heals would be made stronger.

Just to nail this down again, if Warriors were horrendously OP as some have been claiming we would see more big TPvP teams actually using them but as we’ve seen in the recent tourney this isn’t the case. I think we have a place in TPvP but apparently not enough to give up that second Necro.

Jinks.2057:

Ya ran into ppl with stun breaks…..they run out and die

EzMode

If you’re going to try and make an argument about something – might I suggest making actual arguments and at least trying to make yourself sound intelligent. What you just wrote sounds like a Thief that got beaten by a more skilled Warrior and you then came to this forum to whine…oh look you play a Thief.

Most of your comments in general seem to be highly negative and rarely seem to be longer than a paragraph and have hardly any meaningful content. Doesn’t even look like you’re very popular even in your own classes forum.

Jinks.2057:

Ran it and laughed at how ez it was.

Enjoy it while you can imho

It feels easy because atm people are refusing to run ANYTHING to counter it. Necros are particularly bad, they want to run glassy with all offensive utilities and then get mad when someone with heavy CC comes around and shuts them down. I’ve seen Necros that have a fair shot vs me with just 1 stun break and a few traits. Soul Reaping has Last Gasp and Foot in the Grave which if used correctly makes this build have a hard time.

For a year Warriors had to build to survive against other classes builds. Now that Warriors have a decent build players that have access to viable ways to counter it refuse to do so because it messes up their current builds. For this build to work we have to take 2 utilities that are to counter conditions, Cleansing Ire, and either Missile Deflect (to keep from being crippled while closing the gap) or Dogged March. That’s almost half the build dedicated just to conditions. The build is susceptible to power builds, which aren’t overly popular currently. It’s not the builds fault thakittens counter isn’t in style. It seems like some players currently using this forum want to be able to be able to have a chance against any other spec all in one character which is not what the game is going for.

Previous builds that were nerfed (in many cases overnerfed) because they were strong in too many situations. This build however has MANY viable counters, the most potent being blinds, frequent stability, and teleports. If the meta were to suddenly shift to power this build would become worthless in its current form, it could be modified but I doubt it would be as strong as it is now.

Ouroboros.5076:

This build is … mind blowing. It eats both spirit rangers & condi necros alive !

At one point yesterday in team arenas, we faced a full necro team on Temple. We got slaughtered using our standard comp (guard, necro, ranger, engy and me as warrior). My mates were almost all melt down by the necros and I was the only one actually doing something. Lots of rage on our side, whatever. I explain how this build eats necros alive and show my mates this thread.

Next game, we got that team again, on Khylo. Both the guard and the engy rerolls as warriors like me. One of them arrives 45 seconds late in the game. We win 500 to 175.

In our next games I used this build as a Necro and Spirit Ranger hunter and it was really mindblowing. With an insane resistance to conditions and their lack of stun breakers, I have simply not lost a single duel against those two specs, who rule the meta atm.

I really suggest you trying it ! Thank for the post !

Glad to hear this, I find it odd we don’t see at least 1 Warrior running something like this on more teams. I know some warriors like Defektive think that GS is a weak choice although for me personally between Whirlwind Attack and Rush for mobility and 100b for damage when combined with Skull Crack makes it a logical pair. It’s mobility in my mind fills the same role as a longbow but with much better peel/chase capability. My problem with having Sword/Mace instead of GS is that you just lose a lot of DPS, Final Thrust nowhere near makes up for hitting a full 100b. People keep calling this a gimmick, and it is, almost EVERY build in the game is based around some sort of Gimmick. Shatter Mesmers use the same rotation, Ele’s tend to use the same rotation, Thieves are probably the worst offender. Only the Engi tends to be more unpredictable and even then they basically have a bunch of mini-combos.

I personally don’t think this is a bad thing, most games like GW2 have combat like this, most notably games like DotA and LoL. Anyways back on the topic of this particular build I feel that if you play it well and land all your Skull Cracks you’ll be able to land a full 100b no matter how skilled your foe is. I always thought of the GS as a tool and the Mace as your bread and butter. This is different from launch where most of our builds was focused around the GS. While it’s important for DPS the Mace is still more important.

Glad you enjoy the build and I hope it helps to force a bit of change in the condi spam meta.

Veritas.6071:

Hunter.4783:

Its funny how everyone is bringing up Thief and mesmers as viable counters. And you STILL need a particular weapon set for it.

You should read this comment. It basically suggests the devs are trying to achieve exactly what you are arguing against.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/warrior/Jonathan-Sharp-comment-reply/first#post2483952

I agree with what he’s saying. Trying to make every weapon set equally viable against every other weapon is impossible. What does work is having some weapon sets/builds that counters another set/build. Mace + GS may be strong vs. the current meta that has a lot of offensive utilities and build fairly glassy, but it’s weak against builds that focus on power, teleports, stealth, etc.

Necros and Engis seem pretty OP because it’s stronger in more situations than most builds, but the fact that Warriors can build to counter those builds. If TPvP teams started to bring a Warrior dedicated to killing Condis and are successful that may force them to run something different or change their team composition to account for that Warrior. Something like switching out a Necro for a Mesmer or Thief that is dedicated to keeping the Warrior off the Condi dealer.

It’s unreasonable to expect a perfect balance where every class has an equal chance against each other. If fact, having certain specs being able to mostly counter others keeps the meta fresh which is something we sorely need now. I hope more big teams start bringing a Mace or Hammer warrior to force some change.

tcbear.2357:

Gmtsai.6349:

Defektive.7283:

tcbear.2357:

Defektive.7283:

Primary problem with hammer: It’s to slow.

Second problem: Weapon skills have long CD’s or are clunky (backbreaker).

Earthshaker is only good if you have Zerker stance up or are in small fights. To many blinds, and it’s animation is so pronounced any person can see it coming (and the good ones will just dodge).

I used to run Hammer Sword Shield a long time ago, but Mace Shield is just so much better. The speed at which you can apply the stun is the important part here.

IMO, Hammer won’t be viable until Blinds are toned down or until the activation speeds are increased.

The best warrior NA Anas Tarcis is using hammer, so I don’t think your statement is fully correct.

Tarcis is a great Warrior, but there’s a reason we’ve never lost to him in tPvP, ever.

Anas Tarcis is not a great warrior, he is the best warriot NA, probably the best in
entire gw2 because there is no good warrior in EU. Your statement bascially saying that you are a better warrior compare to Anas Tarcis, which is kind okittenward because that just showed your arrogant attitude, which means that all the thread you made in this forum is just trying to make people think that you are the best warrior, but the fact is you are not. The leaderboard shows everything, Anas Tarcis is currently the highest rank warrior even he doesn’t belongs to an actual team. Also I believe all the top tier players will admit that Anas Tarcis is the best warrior (Hiba, Hman, Davinci, Caed, Folly, Java, etc.), even those Chinese shoutcaster think Anas Tarcis is the best warrior NA.
You are just too far away from Tarcis, please do not slander Anas Tarcis to make yourself look better.

No offensive or defensive, just feel not right when I see someone slander others in forum.

^This guy is telling the truth.

For the upstairs, I think he is using Hammer+Longbow.

That seems an odd choice, LB is a good weapon but it would seem like you would be very dependent on your team because if you get focused on they means of peeling are basically Pin Down and Earthshaker. Of course Pin Down is also good for landing Backbreaker and Earthshaker I suppose.

I had agreed to duel kitten s but right now I just got off a loooong midnight and need sleep…followed by more work. So if any of you talented warriors want to test this out in my stead please do.

For a 1v1 vs a Spirit Ranger I’d suggest Either a Hammer build like this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAS8ejkOpwBPGPMxBE0DNsK4iTBlQ9YOsj4A-TsAA1CnICSFkLITQygsBNQYRwWEA

or the good ol’ Skull Cracker V 3.0. Time your important stuns to coincide with the end of hit evades and watch out for blinds. Use Zerker Stance wisely because squandering it will make it an uphill battle. Also, they tend to be immune to the first CC you throw at them so use a Pommel Bash or Staggering Blow before going for your big stuns.

Liuc.8026:

BurrTheKing.8571:

I haven’t had the time to sink a lot of games in but so far I’m 6-1. I’ve just been getting lucky and either have really good teammates…or really bad enemies. However, the problem with changing the rating system to individual points is that often if you are being a good team player you may not be getting massive points. I know that if I just helped secure a cap I’ll leave at let my teammate finish the cap, which means I lose out on 10 points but got a head start getting to the next point. Sometimes the best player doesn’t actually get the most points.

Rating is based on individual points? Is this really the case?

If it is so, wow i’m really baffled at this decision. I’ve started playing SoloQue yestertday, i’m at 10-5 at the moment, but even in the matches i’ve won i often scored very little, since most of the teammates i had showed very little interest in capping and especially defending nodes

I mean, i totally understand that a lot of players are new to this, and that’s ok. I’m rank 33, i’ve played more than 700+ tournament matches and i know how it works, but how are the new people supposed to learn how to properly play if the scoring system promotes mindless zerging? They’d rather stack up points while someone else tries to actually win the game i guess.

Again, if it is how it works, then i’d really reconsider this system. Or at least change how you assing individual points, something that should have been done a long time ago to be honest.

No, it isn’t based on individual score but it was suggested that it should be, which I disagreed with. I should have been a bit more clear who I was responding to.

I haven’t had the time to sink a lot of games in but so far I’m 6-1. I’ve just been getting lucky and either have really good teammates…or really bad enemies. However, the problem with changing the rating system to individual points is that often if you are being a good team player you may not be getting massive points. I know that if I just helped secure a cap I’ll leave at let my teammate finish the cap, which means I lose out on 10 points but got a head start getting to the next point. Sometimes the best player doesn’t actually get the most points.

Junkpile.7439:

Games like LoL, DotA, and SC2 are boring to watch. Can’t figure out why anybody would watch gaming.

Well, opinions and all that. Just compare the Twitch numbers of GW2 and those 3 and I think it’s pretty obvious who’s got their ducks in a row. Currently GW2 has 734 viewers while LoL has 47k has SC2 32k. Even if you don’t find them enjoyable (I don’t play LoL or SC2 although I do view the odd tourney) it’s clear that a large amount do. GW2 TPvP has the potential to be a good Esport but not in its current form.

Thesilentflute.8761:

I think larger capture points is a fantastic idea it would allow use to use environment and still hold point. I don’t really care to much about watching or other people watching I would be happy if it was playable spvp is garbage right now. The worse part is they ruined one of the things there spvpers were waiting months for solo que. Someone should get fired over this balance.

I think that the balance would naturally improve if the capture points were enlarged because it may encourage more power builds and spikes so that in say a 2v3 you can quickly make it an even 2v2 so that the side with 3 doesn’t take the point. Condis in the open aren’t nearly as dangerous as they are in the confined space of a small circle. I do think that the condi meta is bad for business and that Vitality stat gained from trait point should also reduce condition effectiveness so that it’s a more effective counter like toughness to power.

@Mammoth, If the larger points were introduced in addition to the team with the most players can slowly capture that point a bunker would be MUCH less effective and you’d would probably want someone that can spike someone down fast to give you the numbers lead.

Derps.7421:

Burr i would like to duel you. I will get on my ranger and duel you i really want to see this. Add me in game Dame Jill the Xlll or Xll i dont remember (those are “L”)

I don’t mind, but I’m currently working a midnight, going home to sleep, then waking up and working again so I won’t be on till later tonight…if I’m not too tied. My Warrior is Burr Chillthorn.

Honestly I’d suggest asking Defektive considering I’m sure he’s a much stronger opponent than I’ll be in my tired state.

As I said before, while as a Warrior I can beat a Spirit Ranger, it is NOT a hard counter. People seem to think that Berserker Stance is some sort of magical “I win” skill vs condition spammers, it isn’t. Most of the time it’s not worth traiting into over other traits, so it lasts 8 seconds. It’s a good duration but in order to counter it all the ranger needs to do is simply use evades and dodges until the stance runs out and then things can quickly turn against the warrior.

Even with my builds that always have Zerker Stance and Sig of Stamina once those 2 are gone my goose is cooked. Even more so because most Spirit Rangers resist the first stun and have access to blind which is the natural enemy to both my Hammer and my Mace builds. I would at best say the warrior has the advantage if they play perfectly but it isn’t a easy win.

@ Fourth No self-respecting Warrior uses Axe after its recent nerfs. Sword has Final Thrust which can isn’t as hard to land as it’s made out to be and has nearly the same damage as Evis and a 1 combo that doesn’t have all its damage in the last strike of Triple Chop.

Derps.7421:

Manijin.3428:

I would take Troll Unguent over Healing Signet any day of the freakin’ week. Heck, I’d take Healing Spring, too, with all the blast finishers warriors get. Don’t complain to me about healing. When warriors can bunker like a ranger, then you have my permission to QQ.

This gives DPS warriors a small amount of sustain in small fights, and a trivial amount of healing under concentrated burst in team fights. Tougher warriors finally have a heal that provides valuable heal-over-time when stacked with other warrior healing abilities. This is a good thing.

Listen to tellah. The build he just said heals way more then rangers. Also use banner of tatics with it you can get up to around 1,588 healing power. Also you get 3 passive heals adrenal healing the signet and regen. You are healing insanely with it

Banner regen builds mean not only is your DPS beyond laughable but you’re also nowhere near as good a bunker as a Guardian or Engi. Any amount of strong condition damage would destroy this, in fact a bit of poison wrecks it completely.

tcbear.2357:

Defektive.7283:

Primary problem with hammer: It’s to slow.

Second problem: Weapon skills have long CD’s or are clunky (backbreaker).

Earthshaker is only good if you have Zerker stance up or are in small fights. To many blinds, and it’s animation is so pronounced any person can see it coming (and the good ones will just dodge).

I used to run Hammer Sword Shield a long time ago, but Mace Shield is just so much better. The speed at which you can apply the stun is the important part here.

IMO, Hammer won’t be viable until Blinds are toned down or until the activation speeds are increased.

The best warrior NA Anas Tarcis is using hammer, so I don’t think your statement is fully correct.

Out of curiosity what’s his other set?

Derps.7421:

Jasher.6580:

kitten s.7421:

Did someone just say warriors hard counter spirit rangers…….

Yes, because they are.

Please for the love of god be joking. If your not may the gods have mercy on your senseless mind <3

I can beat them, but it’s certainly not the one sided slaughter I have vs Necros and Engis. With all their blinds and evades I have to use my skills perfectly or things get bad really quick. Hammer is actually good vs them because even if you miss the Ranger you’ll stun the spirits which is helpful.

I think that it’s pretty cool that GW2 wants to become an Esport, the problem with that is that currently TPvP isn’t all that fun to spectate. Games like LoL, DotA, and SC2 are interesting to watch for several reasons: the concept is simple enough that you can watch without having to know a lot about the game, the gameplay itself is enjoyable to watch, and the level of skill required is easily apparent. GW2 for the most part has 1 and most of 2 down, but it’s seriously lacking in 3. Pretend you’re someone who doesn’t know a lot about GW2 but you decided to watch the tournament. What you’ll see is a bunch of guys placing red circles inside of another circle and people inside the circles dying.

This is a shame because the animations of many skills are really well done but the current meta is about dropping as many AoE’s on a tiny circle as possible. The first thing that would enhance the viewing experience would be to do away with the current small circle system. If the capture zones were made much larger AoE would be dramatically less destructive because people could just move out of the way without having to leave the point. A good example of this is Graveyard on Legacy of the Foefire. Some of the most interesting fights happen on that point because Necros and Engis are much less effective in it. Mid fights on Forest of Niflhel if the entire Keep area was the capture point. In fact, all fights over points would be more interesting if they were more than double their current size. Don’t limit yourself to just circles, shape the capture zones to the landscape.

The second problem with GW2’s version of conquest is that unlike games like BF3, it only takes one enemy on point to deny the cap. This is bad because it means 1 bunker can hold of multiple people. If there are 2 reds and 1 blue on a point then the reds should slowly start to capture the point. Some would argue that this would encourage zerging but the counter argument to that is that a good team will simply abandon that point and split up and get the other 2 points. This would be interesting because teams would have to decide how to split of their teams.

I do believe that GW2 TPvP can be an enjoyable viewing experience, but the current map design is influencing the meta just as much as the skill changes are and not in a positive way.

I’d say that Stance warrior is weaker than Zerker Stance, Sig of Stamina, and Dolyak Sig. I say this because Endure Pain is largely useless in such a Condi-Heavy Meta. Signet of Stamina makes the warrior even stronger vs Necros and Engis.

Dueling proves absolutely nothing because the game isn’t balanced for 1v1 engagements. Certain builds are elites are so broken in 1v1 beating someone with it isn’t impressive. Typically these builds are weaker in team fights so in PvP they’re fairly balanced.

Adding duels would likely lead to players demanding that 1v1s be balanced. Not to mention that GW1 and 2 have both been about team game types. Now they haven’t perfected this yet by any means but it’s highly unlikely that if they never added a duel mode in GW1 that they would consider it in 2.

Eve if you have a refuse option you’ll still have kids that harass you with “1v1 me bro” if you kill them in PvP. Even without the duel mode I get this kind of crap and I’ll probably just end up blocking a lot more people. I can get why some would want a mode like this but GW2 just isn’t that kind of game. I’d rather see time and resources put into improving organized PvP rather than a game mode that would be horribly imbalanced.

Ok fellow warriors, I have a new challenge for us to work on. While I still enjoy using my Mace/Shield + GS build, I find it lacking in TPvP because it honestly isn’t the best “team player.” TPvP in its current state isn’t about dealing with a single target, it’s about affecting as many people as possible. Hammer’s got significantly buffed but also got shipped out with that annoying little Staggering Blow bug. This bug has been fixed but because it was there in the first place even after it was fixed and because Mace has been in the spotlight it hasn’t been discussed as much.

What Hammer brings over mace of course is AoE CC in the form of Earthshaker and Staggering Blow. Using these skills together can push someone trying to deny a capture off the point long enough for it to finish. This is MUCH more useful than what a Mace tends to do because typically chain stunning someone on the capture point is actually a hindrance.

For me a Hammer build needs 3 things, the Merciless Hammer trait, a way to frequently use Earthshaker, and the ability to sustain themselves in a team fight. So here’s 2 builds I’ve been working on:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAS8ejkOpwBPGP4wBE0DNsK4iTBlQ9YOsj4A-TsAA1CnICSFkLITQygsBNQYRwWEA

So first of all yes, it’s basically very similar to my Skull Cracker build. The weapons and their sigils are obviously different but other than that I just took 20 points from Arms and put it in Defense. It seems like when it comes to Hammer It’s hard to not have 30 in Defense because you of course want Cleansing Ire but without the Hammer Trait the cooldowns are very lengthy. With mace you never really need the trait but with Hammer if you don’t have it that’s the difference between a 25 second Backbreaker and a 30 second one. I didn’t take Mel runes because I felt that my toughness was high enough as is. I didn’t feel like I was using Hoelbraks Might effects as well as I could though so I added in a Sigil of Battle. I tried Hydromancy as well and it’s also a viable choice because it helps to land Shield Bash/Final Thrust. Speaking of Final Thrust I would suggest focusing on using it when your target is Stunned because it can land 4-6k hits on low HP foes when it crits.

I didn’t use Mace because I feel that using with Hammer not only lowers your mobility but if your target has a lot of stability the Mace 1 chain is very slow. Sword at least gives you some non-CC related damage and Flurry can be used to restrict movement that isn’t Stun based. You can also use Earthshaker as a leap if you switch before you land.

My second build is something I really want to work but am having trouble making the traits work:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAS8ejgOVvNPyQ4QCEkCNkLOFUCli5AOSKED0A-TsAA1CnIySllLLTWyssZNQYRw2DA

Fear Me is a fantastic skills for clearing a point, but in order to use it frequently means investing 20 points into tactics. Now you also get Leg Specialist which even after the nerf is still a good trait for both Hammer Shock and Hamstring. That 20 points though is a pretty hefty investment. I really don’t like the idea of losing Unsuspecting Foe because that’s where most of your DPS actually comes from. Hitting a Backbreaker or Final Thrust on a Stunned foe hits hard. This means only 20 points in Defense however which means losing Cleansing Ire. I try to make up for this with Soldiers Runes but with Fear Me being a 48 second CD it basically means your sources for Condi removal are Shake it Off and Mending. However, Mending is probably our weakest heal now even with its low CD but without it a Condi build can roll you.

I really want this build to work, Fear Me can be a giant help in taking a point. You can fear them out, immobilize then with Hammer Shock, then when they try to get back in you can Earthshaker/Staggering Blow. If you have good reaction time you can also use Shake it Off to remove Blind mid Earthshaker/Backbreaker which is awesome.

This would be the variant:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAS8ejcOVvNPyQ4wBE0DNsK4Cli5AOSKED0A-TsAA1CnIySllLLTWyssZNQYRw2DA

It be fine except for its lower damage output. To use this you’ll need to build around having it on your team. So, this is the build I want to improve if at all possible. The first build has been working really well for me, Hammer is a lot more challenging to use but has a much bigger pay off.

Alright! Start discussing these builds and your own!

YuiRS.8129:

BurrTheKing.8571:

Honestly, I’m fine with the skill as is. When paired with the trait Missile Reflect it’s great for punishing ranged fighters like Rangers and Engis. As for the attack itself it’s the nature of all counter skills to be dodge-able after the block is triggered. When it does hit it can deal a good amount of damage for a skill on a 8-10 second CD.

Mace is a strong weapon currently and any sort of buff to it would cause Hunter and Excalibur to cry even more…so on second thought let’s buff it.

Guardian’s Protector’s Strike almost never misses.

Really? I tend to strike it then immediately dodge and it tends to miss. It’s even easier than Counterblow to see considering the skill animation involved. I think the worth thing about Counterblow is that it is a tad slow to strike after being triggered so I wouldn’t complained if it was sped up a bit.

Honestly, I’m fine with the skill as is. When paired with the trait Missile Reflect it’s great for punishing ranged fighters like Rangers and Engis. As for the attack itself it’s the nature of all counter skills to be dodge-able after the block is triggered. When it does hit it can deal a good amount of damage for a skill on a 8-10 second CD.

Mace is a strong weapon currently and any sort of buff to it would cause Hunter and Excalibur to cry even more…so on second thought let’s buff it.

Honestly, I use both in many of my builds. With Berserker Stance and Cleansing Ire conditions become a fairly minor threat. This comes at the cost of being weaker vs physical damage but with Soldier gear you’re still fairly well off. Even if your target isn’t using conditions Stamina is still useful because you will be able to dodge much more frequently. The means it can run both it and Dolyak Signet and have both of their cooldowns reduced with a trait. Dolyak has a longer cooldown than Balanced Stance but the passive isn’t AMAZING but it’s worth bringing if you have Stamina on your bar as well.