Guild Wars 2

Yes, you’re totally right on all of the above.

They’re apparently looking at the movement impairments affecting Eviscerate and Shield Bash though, which is a good start. I hope they deal with the other issues you’ve identified, but no word they’re even looking on them, afaik.

For the purposes of the trait bonus, 1 might is the same as 25 might in that it would give you one additional 3% damage modifier.

Calculation goes like this:

1 boon (e.g. might): 1.03 (3% bonus)
2 boons (e.g. might and fury): 1.03 × 1.03 = 1.0609 (6.09% bonus)
3 boons (e.g. might, fury, and stability): 1.03 * 1.03 * 1.03 = 1.092727 (9.27% bonus)

Note: the above is also multiplicative with other positive modifiers, including crit. So let’s say you have 3 boons, 20% from Berserker Power, a 230% crit modifier, and 10% from stick and move. You’d get a total modifier of:

1.03 * 1.03 *1.03 * 1.20 * 2.30 * 1.10 = 3.3175 (331.75% damage over base)

While I run an almost identical build to you, but full zerk gear and an extra 20% boon duration bonus through food, I don’t think boon duration is where you should focus to maximize your damage.

Basically, you’ve got might and fury that relate to damage. With your current setup, you should be maintaining close to full might stacks in any sort of fight and certainly permanent fury.

So more boon duration won’t really do much of anything for your damage, except to the extent it gets you to 25 might stacks faster. Beyond that, it’s value is only for your non-damaging boons, which are important, but not what you’re asking about. In that sense, it’s no surprise that you’re finding your current food is giving you a better damage buff, and shifting toward boon duration gear instead of zerk would absolutely lead to a drop in damage.

(Note: Endure Pain isn’t a boon, so it’s unaffected by boon duration. The benefits from the other stances benefit though).

But I do think you should switch out your food for either Golden Fried Dumplings to get you to 25 might stacks faster (plus the benefit to your other boons, particularly resistance and stability), or something that brings more ferocity and/or precision.

You should also drop your Bloodlust sigil in favour of a Cruelty sigil.

The reason for changing your food and sigil is the same – once you have 25 stacks of might, additional power is not as valuable to your build as is additional precision or ferocity. Basically, you’re over-invested in power at that point, and moving that investment over to precision and ferocity will result in higher damage than you’re seeing now.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2vjoef/balancing_powerprecisionferocity_based_on_ep/

Thanks for the great advice everyone!

I gave my first build a try last night to test things out and, as per the theme of a lot of your feedback, when focused I was lit up like a Christmas tree and dead in moments (so fast that the combat log couldn’t even tell me what happened). Some of that is bound to be standard l2p stuff as I still have to develop muscle memory, learn defensive tools and strategies, etc., but some of it was just lack of defense in the build, as you’ve said. Signet of Stone, as most of you have mentioned, is worth working in. I’ll also be working in everything else you’ve recommended in pieces to see what sticks for me as I learn the class and what doesn’t.

Questions:

1. For the skirmisher build shadowpass linked, I read “apply as much ranged pressure as possible, become a high damage evasive fighter up close”. While that seems like it would be a much more effective build for a fight, it looks like it’s escape options are limited if things get too hot. Is that about right? (Note: I’ll probably play it anyway, just trying to understand how and when I should play it in wvw)
2. A number of you have recommended or linked builds with more toughness and vitality. I’ve personally found toughness in particular to be of such limited value since HoT that I’ve completely abandoned it and vitality with my warrior in favour of evades, blocks, invulns combined with max damage. With all of the evades, cc, etc on the ranger, wouldn’t I still be better off going full glass and then learning to play?
3. Thanks for the condi build, emkelley, it’s good to see you on the ranger forum! While I expect to test out condi builds next, I’m loathe to put in the work to get a celestial set (soooo lazy). Are their good ranger condi builds that don’t use celestial?

Thanks again, everyone. You’ve given me tonnes of great advice already.

Fluffball.8307:

Re: Condis… old core LB builds typically took Wilderness Knowledge. The survival skills are all really kitten good, and you can even easily combine them with a couple shouts if you want the swiftness.

Another option is to keep it like you have and take signet of renewal, using the passive for casual condi clear and the active when things get bad. LB doesn’t need a lot of condi clear in WvW.

Soldier runes are another option.

All these would also allow you to get rid of that stupid bear (which I assume you took for “Guard!”, but… there are better pets.)

Thanks for the advice!

I partially took the bear for condi removal, but also for the short cd on F2 to get the taunt and the general tankiness for Guard. The short F2 cd is also one of the reasons I took the Drakehound. That said, I’m totally open to suggestions… tbh, I’m not even clear yet how they work (figure it’s pretty straightforward though).

As for a survival build, is something like this what you’re talking about? (Plus better pets, of course)

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRjEqQHL2yCmsAVLGyDK+gL4TYDgSYt7EOIOiU0AoqeF-TVyHABepLgJlg6p+zyXAAAOEAKfEAg/BAoy+D9o8jUABuMC-w

Heya, ranger forum. I deleted my ele today to give the ranger a try, and was hoping some of you would be willing to help keep me from botching the attempt.

I have precisely zero experience playing a ranger, but a fair bit of experience fighting them. And when I say zero experience playing one, I mean it… I made the character, leveled entirely with tomes, and have neither equipped nor played it at all.

I main a warrior and tend to gravitate toward high damage mobile builds (hence what you see below), but am aware that playing a different class the way I tend to run my warrior could be a mistake (learned that the hard way when I made my thief).

On to the show… I made this:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRnUqA9Ci1CCuCCctgh8gaDgSYt/6YJee+gL4TIFgetKNA-TFyHABMpEUP1f6R53yXAAlPCAAcIA8SXgK7PQKgAXGB-w

Concept is simple, a fast moving damage platform with decent cc and healing. Looks to me like it has a pretty serious weakness to condis, but I’m not sure if that’s something I should address through a build change or play style (e.g. keep condi-based enemies at range).

This will be almost exclusively for roaming and small havoc in wvw, and I’m currently just interested in core ranger. I am open to radically different builds though if they can roam (e.g. condi, or whatever).

Thanks for any and all advice.

I’d be more willing to try different builds, but it would clearly remain a strong line. Condi and support builds would be in a better spot, at least. I don’t rib those bite, but I might in the event of a baseline FH.

Edit: LOL, I just noticed what autocorrect did to this post… “I don’t rib those bite”. Meant to say, “I don’t run those now…”. My phone must have been hungry. XD

@Thunder King
Yeah, I used to feel the same until I started packing Might Sig and became a convert. But that’s me and you might find Stamina Sig too good to lose (it IS pretty amazing).

In that case, maybe give some thought to swapping your food for something else. Golden Fried Dumplings will contribute more to your might stacking than the stew, it’ll lengthen all of your boons (vigor, fury, might, resistance, swiftness… you’ve got a bunch there) by 20%, and it’s cheaper too.

Nice vid!

But you’ve over-invested in endurance regeneration. It caps out at 100%, and you have 50% from the signet (when you run it), 40% from your food, and 50% from the vigor you’re getting from stances. One of those should probably go (and I recommend swapping the stamina for might sig, but there are a lot of options).

I haven’t played a Rev, but I’ve fought a bunch of them and it’s apparent that the number of tools in their toolkit far exceeds the warrior. Their options for defense, offense, and sometimes both are extensive, and its fairly easy for players to crutch on a few key skills.

That said, from what I can tell they don’t handle conditions that well. I watched a decent (not great) rev player who held his own against my power warrior just get melted by a condi scrapper over and over again. In fairness, he was still learning how to deal with condis, but I’ve heard from others that it’s a weakness for rev.

kdaddy.5431:

I feel that people who got really upset over it probably felt like a black person when a white person makes jokes about slavery when that persons family used to own slaves.

I do believe your comment is lacking a certain sense of proportion…. o_O

Anyway, it’s passed now. Regardless if people thought it was all in good fun, or a blow below the belt, it’s probably time to move on to more important matters… like how they’ll work 100 full hits into the 100b animation…

I suspect other things are taking higher priority.

Strictly speaking, the state of the warrior won’t be their priority as much as trying to have rough balance across all classes in the different game modes. Tossing a few buffs the warrior’s way probably won’t solve the problem, and could screw up balance even more.

So it’s going to require a bunch of time, and they’ve probably decided other things (like wvw updates, for example) are more pressing.

I’d go back to axe mainhand instead of mace… mace has value, but the damage pressure from the axe is better.

As for your other set, I’d personally go gs. It has about the same mobility as the sword, but the damage is stronger and the primal burst Arc Divider is crazy good on a power based build. There’s even a case to leave your other set as m+sh with a gs on your alt set, though a+sh is also a good choice.

If you definitely want the sword though, they’re probably all about even. Sword will give you an extra block that will work with your shield trait (and is great for blocking projectiles) and Rip does solid damage. Axe can be fun if you find yourself in a cluster of baddies (especially in a combo field) and nobody’s attacking you, mace has vulnerability and an aoe knockdown, etc, etc. I still prefer gs.

You could buff the skills exactly how you’ve written them up, NOT add the adren cost, and they still wouldn’t be overpowered.

All great advice from Cerby.

I recommended the Cruelty sigil over Bloodlust because (a) it’s cheaper and (b) it moves the build closer to the theoretical maximum damage on the following chart (bottom right corner).

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2vjoef/balancing_powerprecisionferocity_based_on_ep/

A Bloodlust sigil is still better than an Accuracy sigil for this build, and the build will be short on power to be optimal no matter which sigil is chosen. The exception is if you had max cruelty stacks, a lot of might, and a few more pieces of Berserker gear.

Cerby.1069:

And people like me don’t understand the point of view that berserker stance is better after the change. On paper I would totally agree with you. Against boon strip reapers though its complete garbage. I mean a simple point of view is: Can you handle those condition users effectively with berserker stance in your build but without using it? If the answer is yes….then I agreee that the new berserker stance is probably a buff for you and your build/playstyle. If the answer is no though…it becomes rather apparent on how important a guaranteed condition immunity window is to your build.

Yes, it works better against boon stripping condi builds too. Here’s why:

Old Berserker Stance

• Lasted 8s (10s traited)
• Had to be used before conditions applied
• If you guessed wrong about when condis would be incoming, gg for 60s
• If opponent is mildly experienced, they kite for 8s (10s) before bursting you

New Berserker Stance

• Provides pulsing resistance for total of 12s (15s traited), plus boon food
• Best used after a burst, meaning it’s not wasted and opponent has burst on cd
• Can be stripped/stolen/corrupted, but which boon is stripped is random and resistance is reapplied in 3s or less anyway

So take your worst case scenario of a boon corrupting condi necro:

In the old days, you’d pop your stance early on and try to kill him with 8 or 10s. All he had to do was run around and dodge for that short period of time, or go into shroud if available, and then annihilate you once that time’s up because all of his burst skills would be ready.

Now, he’s going to do a full burst on you, hitting you with everything he’s got. Then you use your stance and he’s got to dance around 50% longer than he had to before, trying to corrupt boons in between dodges in hopes that he manages to hit your resistance. Best case scenario for him is he gets it just after a pulse. That would give him 3s at best, and it’s an unlikely scenario.

Fivedawgs.4267:

Lmao, you are quite a funny dude. That would def help us but they have to revert the bezerker stance nerf; they should start from there.

I still don’t get this point of view on Berserker Stance. It seems the biggest concern is that it can be corrupted, but the likelihood of that happening, especially for any length of time, is low.

Meanwhile, it lasts longer, has utility against non-condi builds that still use snares, can be used after condi bombs have been dropped, thereby eliminating the possibility of wasting it like the old stance.

Between those two, sword by a mile. Sure, axe works better with power… but you have no precision or ferocity in your build, so the direct damage between the two weapons’ auto isn’t that much but the sword piles on way more bleeding. Evis is nice, but Final Thrust does almost as much damage to people below 50% and it cleaves.

I’d also recommend changing your Arms traits to this:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJAQNAT8enMdAlkiVhAehAEliFoAT5Is7GCvt2b7u9IBGASZA-TZhAQBf4CAAgHAAM2fwDHEAIWGAA

Sure, you don’t have a great crit chance to take advantage of some of those benefits, but you’ll get Fury every time you strike someone below 25% damage (which will happen reasonably often) and when you enter Primal State, this will give you +150 condi damage and it’ll also increase your chance of triggering Furious for a little extra condi damage and adrenaline. You could use the extra adren building given you’ve selected two other traits what put a 2.75s cd on your primal bursts.

The Arms traits you had selected weren’t doing much for you.

Finally, try experimenting with the Viper (preferred) or Sinister amulets to see whether or not you can handle losing the toughness and vitality. Your damage will go way up. Then experiment with a mace and a torch instead of the bow to see if you like that.

Cecilia.5179:

If you read the fake patch notes in context, you would realize two things:
1. Gaile Grey, the person who reads through all of the forums, posted the thread
2. Like some of the other updates, it was poking fun at things people say in those respective class forums

Sometimes, we like to say that our profession must be a bug because x part of it (or all of it) is terrible, and Gaile is just giving a shout out to the current misfit class. It can taken as a sign that Warrior buffs are on the horizon (That balance team hasn’t been in hibernation for the past 3 months) if viewed with optimism.

^^ Exactly.

Holl.3109:

Ah an interesting variation! I always heard that power>prec>ferocity so I just went with bloodlust to stack even more power… are you sure cruelty is better? :o

I can’t say I’ve done the math myself. I’ve just been following this table made by someone else.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2vjoef/balancing_powerprecisionferocity_based_on_ep/

I found my original build was too deep into power to be optimal, so I shifted into the Cruelty sigil and made a couple of efforts to boost my precision, and I’m fairly certain my damage is higher now. I could probably use some more precision to be honest, but I don’t have any assassin gear like you do.

I think there are more optimal builds out there, but this should be serviceable. Meaning, you should have ok results.

I’d personally recommend dropping Tactics for Defense, Strength, or Arms (in that order), and replacing SoR and the shout for Headbutt and Outrage. If you insist on running Tactics (for the group benefit), I’d still recommend switching the skills and selecting Phalanx Strength instead of Vigorous Shouts. The group and personal benefit of the shout just isn’t as good as what PS will give you, especially given your rune choice.

If you haven’t already bought the gear, I’d also recommend switching your Battle sigil for a Strength sigil. You have a really high crit chance, and you’ll be camping your axe set as long as you can to maximize damage and defense. That means you’ll get more out of Strength sigil, and the benefit to the party will be better if you do switch to PS too (though again, I personally favour dumping Tactics for other lines).

If you do drop Tactics, consider swapping in Pack runes to boost the swiftness, fury, plus a little might to you and your party.

Finally, I suggest dumping your accuracy sigil for a cruelty sigil. You’d benefit more from additional ferocity (or power) in this build than from additional precision. Cruelty sigil is cheaper.

Lol, you guys really need to lighten up. Juba’s got it right.

TheDarkSoul.1938:

I actually came onto the Warrior forums hoping against hope that this wasn’t an actual bug and was just me being stupid/lag. Dueled a few wars since the patch (each one of them using Axe) and noticed that Evisc was hitting me through dodges. As a Thief player, this is… pretty broken, being unable to dodge something that melts half to 3/4 of my health.
I have no idea how Anet can miss this sort of thing.

It’d be totally legit to ask any warrior you’re dueling to not use the axe because of the bug (and he might not even know about it). It puts him in an inferior position against you than he’d be with a non-bugged axe, but bugged is just way too much of a cheesy advantage (at least, against a thief).

Last time I noticed it was last week, but I haven’t noticed it not happening when I expected it would.

Furajir.3815:

I like Hoelbrak, only difference between the 2 is choosing 5% dmg over -20% condi duration I think.

In comparison to Strength, it’s the 5% damage plus an extra 15% might duration. The draw for Scholar is all that ferocity.

The thing about the 20% condi reduction is that it’s not even really a factor. Condis are so lethal that a condi bomb and/or snares will kill you outright. The best option for a burst-based build is to get in, lay waste, and get out if things get hot. The change to Berserker Stance almost totally obviates the condi benefit of Hoelbrak, imo. The HS active is always there if you get caught out.

Nice to see you’re still at it. Try this (slightly tweaked) version.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJEQNAseRjMdQVI2FC2dAnIG6BKtNC/wArheIHsA4DiAA-TFCEABR8AAA4ABwi6PbpEU7DBQK6Dg4MAw0+jyvAAIAszduzduzdWKgAHGB-w

The shift to Cruelty over Bloodlust is because the build is already swimming in too much power to be optimal once the might stacks get rolling. Another approach would be to stack precision, and that might actually be better (I haven’t checked the math).

I’m a full convert on the Might Sigil. It’s a nice boost to power normally, but it’s phenomenal for bursting through all of these people crutching on a crazy number of blocks. Watching them scramble when they realize they aren’t safe is hilarious.

I personally use Strength Runes, but the link has Scholar’s equipped. I think the latter may technically be more optimal (and it’s cheaper), but I don’t know for certain. I don’t think Hoelbrak is worth it, tbh.

EDIT: I just checked and the above build is optimized at 25 cruelty stacks and 20 might stacks. More precision would couple well with the extra 5 stacks of might, but not at the expense of ferocity in this case.

Interpret Interrupt.3824:

I am salty because of this bug. Killing mesmers in the middle fo blurred frenzy feels wrong.

Haha, same. I’ve stopped running axe altogether for that reason..

Confirmed by several people (myself included).

It’s gotten so some warriors are actually forgoing the axe when dueling until the bug gets fixed (I did it earlier today, in a duel with another warrior who’s also given up the axe for now).

Though I’d love to see the warrior get some love, this should get fixed as soon as the devs can make it happen.

Yeah, it seems to be working as intended now. It looks like about a +20% bonus with the buff.

GuilhermeDeSC.4738:

we already did it XD and the Arenanet support told us to ask on the forum XD

Haha, nice. If I have time later I’ll try to replicate to see if the problem exists outside of primal state (that could be a contributor). If you’ve already done that too, well, then I guess I don’t have to bother.

ryandeniszorro.6735:

Hey again.
Idea was to take random set of weapons i took swords , and make non condi build. But ye it failed

I see. Then your method was flawed, I think. It’s fine to take an unusual weapon set, but it doesn’t make sense to not build according to that set’s strengths. It’s like taking Distracting Strikes and Body Blow on a s+s/lb build.

After the trait rework in June, I tried out a s+s/gs build that relied on might stacking to power both power and condi. It worked ok in wvw, and it’s greatest advantage was you could choose the damage type you wanted to focus based on the defenses your opponent was running, but I abandoned it after a week of testing. This was before Viper gear though, and it may work reasonably well in lower or mid tier pvp if you want to go that route.

Another oddball one that worked to some degree was gs/lb with a Sigil of Intelligence on the gs and a Valk amulet. If you use the rotation lb3→swap before it lands→Arcing Slice→gs3, you can do some great aoe damage (sigil affects lb3, AS, and the first of WA), plus you get the extra survivability from Valk. Again, I don’t think it’s especially optimal, but it’s not especially common either.

GuilhermeDeSC.4738:

@Choppy.4183.
———————
the test was made like that, we deselected the trait when we did the highest damage xD

Yeah, I’m not sure then. The base variance for the rifle isn’t enough to offset the 20% and give you more damage on top of that. So if all other things were equal, then my best guess would be that BP is/was busted (at least in primal state).

If you’re still interested in testing (or anyone else), consider running a test that has more data points. So spam as many bursts out as you can with the trait, then do a second set without the trait. Then compare your min, max, and average damage. In principle, the more tests you do, the more your BP damage should approach roughly 20%+ over non-BP.

Then, if it still seems out of whack, submit an in-game bug report so Anet can look at it, seeing exactly what you have selected for traits, and other considerations (where the test was done, etc).

Seems fine to me. While I’d personally like to see fundamental improvements go to the core warrior rather than strictly berserker, this isn’t a fix for warrior as much as it’s a reasonable buff.

The primal state buff in particular would make it easier to bypass the defense line as a berserker than it is now. The hammer buff would bring the weapon back in a big way for a h/m+sh distracting strikes build. If the burn is applied on each shockwave, it’d be way overpowered though.

I’d actually thought the buff applied to the burst activating it. Try replicating your test but deselecting the trait before your second hit.

Kharr.5746:

There are two versions of the build. One is the brawler condi warrior (with Carrion) and the other is a toxic cancer that can insta-kill most players and pvp bosses. I’m really hoping the latter gets nerfed into oblivion before others figure it out. It makes me feel dirty using it.

About the only way to get it nerfed is to post the build and have a bunch of warriors running it. Rivers of salt usually carry the nerf bat in their current.

Lol, gr8 b8, m8.

What is it you’re looking for? Just something uncommon that works, or something else?

It seems a little confused. You have a condi weapon set, condi traitline, and runes that extend condi duration, but no condi power. You’re running full zerk, which works with your gs, but your traits don’t support it much. You also don’t have much in the way of damage or cc mitigation, so I think you’ll be crushed by most things while roaming (I assume you mean roaming in Wvw).

I think you can run most things in general pve (I.e. not end-game stuff), so go with it if it’s fun.

EDIT: I was sure the second set was a gs but, being s+sh, I agree with Hoax. Your defense is slightly better than I thought, but your damage pressure is much less. You won’t be able to put most people down quickly and you won’t last long in a fight.

What do you intend to do with it? I mean, are you a pvp or wvw player, are you doing end-game pve like fractals, etc., or casual open world pve?

Magnuzone.8395:

It depends on what type of wvw you are playing.

If we are talking about zerg, big group play, team support, then vanilla warrior is way better than berserker. The “HoT” classes are often overrated in wvw and sometimes used in the wrong situations.

Isn’t gunflame more effective for big group stuff than anything vanilla warrior has to offer? I mean, I don’t spend a lot of time in big groups, but when I do, there’s always scrubs in the mid-back spamming gunflame from safety.

Pretty great gameplay there. Well done!

I gave up on my old h/gs after everybody started running high dps range and seemingly unlimited stunbreaks, but it’s good to see you can still make a go of it.

Arc Divider also has 3x more range than Arcing Slice, so if you’re just comparing greatsword you can spam your burst and hit way more targets.

Gunflame is also superior to Kill Shot builds, Outrage and Headbutt synergize well with Rousing Resiliance, and you get a few condi builds out of it too (one for pve, and one for pvp/wvw; though I’ve not played them myself and can’t comment on relative effectiveness).

That said, I personally find vanilla warrior usable as a roamer. It’s what I run.

Iirc, it’s already on the list of bugs they’re working on. Someone posted a link to the list a while back, but I can’t remember where it is.

The correct answer is probably as much damage as you can run without spending most of your time dead, which partially comes down to playstyle and ability. In that sense, it’s difficult for anyone to say X stats are what you need.

That said, try running Cygnus’ build below. It’s put together well, has lots of sustain, uses all Berserker gear, but often has +1k armor from Rousing Resilience.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/warrior/Video-Berserker-WvW-Roaming-Build/first

Personally, I ran all zerk with maxed out power and carnage (I run a sword or axe rather than mace). Suits my playstyle best.

Then Cleansing is a better choice than Blood. It’s like a bonus Brawler’s Recovery every second swap, and it can remove an entire stack of conditions.

Honestly though, I think your bigger issue is on fighting style. This build is very much about getting in, killing, and then bailing when it gets too hot. Berserker Stance gives you (roughly) a 15s window in which to murder a condi-reliant opponent without having to worry much about anything. You then have your dodges, blocks, Brawler’s, and Whirlwind Attack with which to survive outside of that window and to get the job done.

If you can’t, because they were able to kite you, or were too tanky to put down quickly, or they had supportive allies, then you need to use your mobility to get out before they bomb you again once your Berserker’s Stance is up. If they hit you with that bomb, use your Healing Signet active to help you get the hell out of there. You’ll be able to get between one and three weapon swaps in that time with which to clear condis so you don’t die after the HS wears off.

Also, there are some builds that just counter a build. Condi mesmers load you up, spend a lot of time in stealth, porting, blocking (chrono), etc. while their clones do much of the work. So they can wear down your defenses through attrition.

While you’re at a disadvantage, be sure to cleave their illusions as much as you can. It’ll greatly reduce the amount of conditions they put on you, which will make it easier to clear the massive stacks of confusion they put on you (which is caused by shattering illusions, but also from sceptre3 (I think), and probably interrupts). Keep moving so they never have you surrounded by clones, and you’ll have an easier time killing those clones with Bladetrail (straight line) or just avoiding an incoming shatter.

But yeah, I think Cleansing is a better route to take than Blood. 900 health every 10s won’t make the difference against heavy condi pressure.

Cerby.1069:

I’m finding it hard to survive. was wondering if I could do something with the sigils to give more sustain.

Only thing I really see that could be removed in sigil of hydromacy. Would sigil of blood work better?
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Sigil_of_Blood
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Sigil_of_Hydromancy

In your build link you actually have two hydromancy sigils on your sword set. So dropping one (if you actually do have two in your actual build) for blood makes sense. But keep in mind that sigil of blood will only give you 900 health every 10s, so it’s good but not a tonne of sustain.

Whether it’ll do the job in part depends on what you’re dying to. For example, I generally have an Energy sigil on one of my sets with every build I run on just about every class because dodging well can avoid thousands of damage. I’ve also used Cleansing in the past during a previous condi meta, though haven’t for almost two years now.

So what are the circumstances in which you find yourself dying too much?

The reason the power number goes down as you add ferocity (but keep the same crit chance) is because it strengthens the case for adding more precision over power to take advantage of that higher ferocity.

Remember, the power number is the threshold telling you whether you should invest more points in power or precision (or ferocity) at any given level.

If I understand the chart correctly, the highest possible damage output is whatever puts you closest to the bottom right hand box in terms of all three numbers. But staying alive is necessary for any damage output, which is why the chart provides optimization for all builds, including those devoting attribute points to defense.

I use s+sh/gs and roam almost exclusively. I like the sword for the mobility it provides, but axe is almost always better in an actual fight due to the offensive pressure it provides, except where mobility is more valuable for sticking to a mobile opponent, etc. I often equip axe in duels, but almost never run with it. Both are viable.

I don’t think h/s+sh is good for a roamer. A lot of classes are swimming in stun breaks, your mobility will be ok, but not great, hammer is slow and easily mitigated, which kills your main damage dealer.

Berserker is good for roaming, but it’s not a huge step up over core warrior for the role. I regularly chew up Berserkers, though I can’t deny how much better their burst is. Berserker does give you more diverse options though… you can replicate a standard a+sh/gs but with slight modifications, you can run condi with m+t/s+sh, you can run gunflame, you can capitalize well on Rousing Resiliance and Defender Runes for a more sustainable build, etc.

This is the chart I refer to when looking to optimize direct damage output. As you can see, a full zerk, perma-fury, might-stacker packing Might Sig has way too much power to be optimal.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2vjoef/balancing_powerprecisionferocity_based_on_ep/

Shifting from stones to oil, or maybe furious sharpening stones probably makes sense.

Choppy.4183:

I might run Might Sig instead of Stamina to see how I like it. Tbh, I think I already have too much power (for my crit chance and damage) when I hit 17 might stacks, which is almost all the time. Still, it might help at the beginning of a fight. More importantly, I’ll have access to unblockable, which is nice.

But I’m still betting Stamina Sig is the better choice. When you yolo roam, a single dodge can protect you against thousands of damage. Meanwhile, Reckless Dodge well do 5k aoe damage when the stacks are up. I watch my endurance, and never have a problem not taking advantage of Stick and Move.

I ran Might Sig last night, and to my surprise, found it pretty equivalent to Stamina Sig. Both have their uses and, I’m not gonna lie, I enjoyed having 3k power before might stacks. The damage you cause while having 3750+ power after stacks is pretty addictive, as is downing someone right through the block they were counting on.