Guild Wars 2

Hey guys,
Titan/Mr Brains here.

Some of you may know me from videos within Violent Tendecies [vT], Aggression [Agg], Vengeance of the Fallen [VoTF], Fist of the Empire [FoE], or various streamed 1v1 tournaments. I plan on starting up my Twitch, youtube, and twitter soon.

Currently I’m in search of a primarily PvP guild to fill in activity gaps from the normal people I play with. I typically play anywhere from 8-14+ hours a day.

What I’m looking for in a guild:
- Active Roster.

- Friendly/Mature (Age/Gender is a non-factor for me, as long as people think before they act).

- Primarily PvP base (that being said, I enjoy my fair share of PvE as well).

- No rep requirements ( I will rep when playing with guild members or during guild events).

- Guild hosted PvP tournaments.

- Frequent dueling/practicing within the Guild Arena.

- VOIP, preferably TS3.

That sums up the main interests I have in a guild.

Thank you for all your time.
Feel free to message me here but I’d prefer an in-game chat.

Hey guys,
I went ahead and updated the builds on here.

My next question is what would you guys like next. Additional builds? Warrior tips and tricks? Support builds? Hybrid Builds? Condition Builds? Direct Damage Builds? Calculations on builds average damage per second? Ect. Feel free to fire away and I’ll answer as best I can. Keep in mind that I don’t know everything and things I say may be biased to my personal experience. Regardless however I will do my best to help out the warrior community to my fullest.

Thanks,
Titan

Nil.4320:

What do you think about your GS/H v1 build 30 0 20 0 20?

It seems that it wont be touched by the nerfs!?

It should only see two slight damage nerfs via Staggering Blow(23% Damage reduction) and Earthshakker(20% Damage reduction).

robocafaz.9017:

Wanna do another video about it together, Titan?

And no, I haven’t brought back Rifle yet. Still trying, though.

Course I’d be interested.

Thank you everyone who said that they’d like an update. I will get it done as soon as possible and let you guys know when it is completed.

Thanks,
Titan

Hey there everyone,

I know that I have been silent for some time now. Real life caught up to me in the form of a family emergency and I was forced to step away for 2 months. But I’m glad to say that I am back and ready to get in the swing of things.

Many of my builds have altered since I posted these and I was wondering if you guys would like me to update this thread with the new information.

If so please say so below and I’ll hop right to it.

Thanks,
Titan

XII.9401:

It’s a sign of the demise of the game when people playing -I assume they are still playing- the class ask for it to be nerfed because they enjoy getting shafted so much.

I suppose if you can’t play a higher skill cap build and GS-Mace/shield is your only option sure. Many of the higher skilled players don’t feel that way though.

gwfanboy.2496:

Lord Titan.3791:

Hey guys,

Simply put Skullcrack>One Hundred Blades is too strong of a combo. Combined with Unsuspecting Foe, Fast Hands, and F1 Cooldown you can easily pull of this combo every 8 seconds against players. Granted yes there is stability, teleports, evade, ect; but the cooldown and easy access to this combo is why it is too strong. You can easily Pull this combo off faster than the enemies Stunbreaks/Stability re-charges(Except in the case of a very well played Mesmer with Staff or a S/x Thief).

My suggestion to nullify this build without breaking Warriors would be to change One Hundred Blades to the Greatsword’s F1 Ability. This would allow the combo to be pulled of via Adrenaline gain skills, but at a higher cost and on a longer cooldown.
Skullcrack would still be just as strong, players will simply have to learn better damage rotations rather than relying on two skills.

Just my two cents on how to fix it. Not going to go into details on what should happen to One Hundred Blades as a F1 or what it should be replaced with, that is A-net’s job.

Wow..a warrior asking for warriors to be nerfed? You guys deserve to be nerfed since you responded to his thread.

Thieves and Mesmers must be laughing their kitten off at you, titan.

In every community there is always one..that probably got destroyed by another warrior using that so he assumed it’s the build and not his lack of skill..

Oh boy, don’t know whether to take this seriously or just laugh.

For starters I’ve only ever lost consistently to 1 Mace/Shield warrior ever and that happens to be Defektive. Secondly Sword/Dagger Thieves and Sword/X-Staff Mesmers should be laughing at Mace/Shield warriors, they can directly counter them. But to say that because two classes with two weaponsets can hard counter a build while no one else is balanced is ridicule.

If you truly think I “lack skill” I’ll humbly call you out and ask you to prove you are “more skillful”.

Kman.7358:

Lord Titan.3791:

Daecollo.9578:

Nerf Sigil of Paralization instead?

Why do we have to Crowd Control someone to deal damage where every other class does not?

Obviously Skull Crack is powerful, but its ST. Most of the complaints of it come from Asura which have a different animation then all the other races. Where if I use it on my Sylvari for example, its very easy to see because it has a unique animation.

If I use it on an Asura, it looks exactly like an auto-attack swing.

1: I disagree with the whole “We have to CC to deal damage”, that is simply a false statement. Only reason that was ever brought up was because of the mass use of GS and the need of a CC to land 100b.

2: Asuras are a complete different issue. While I’ll agree that it is easy to dodge Skullcrack if you know what you’re looking for. That is highly based on player skill/knowledge. In the case of two high skilled players facing off the Warrior should be counting dodges/cooldowns.

So because some people know how to avoid it and others means it’s OP because of the ones that don’t? Balancing the game based on more casual players being unable to do things (hell, maybe not even a casual player. Maybe one new to fighting this build for whatever reason, etc…) is stupid and makes things boring.

Simplified – Learn what you’re fighting and just avoid it. Not everything is overpowered because it beats you. This build is meant for good CC/damage and it accomplishes that. It’s far from overpowered, just takes proper use of stability/breaks and dodges.

Also, there will always be builds that are easier than others. It’s a given. An example of this in the current meta would be condi builds, specifically necro. Apply face to keyboard, enemy bleeds out.

The average mace-shield/GS build is good at countering conditions, and there are builds good at countering the average as well. It’s the way it is.

This isn’t an issue of a Skullcrack being better against unskilled vs skilled players. A skilled warrior can easily land a Skullcrack on another skilled player. The issue is how often this combo can be repeated versus how often the enemy player can escape it. If I can effectively land a 2-4k Skullcrack > 8-16k+ 100b on an enemy player everyone 8-10 seconds while the enemy can only escape it once every 20-60 seconds that is a problem. The animation of Skullcrack and whether it is easily dodgeable or not is another issue that needs to be handled as well.

And just to note, Mace/Shield-GS is not just countering conditions. It provides a difficult time for almost every build currently if played correctly. In the right hands it is only threatened by about 20-30% of the current builds.

Olba.5376:

Lord Titan.3791:

Olba.5376:

Lord Titan.3791:

Olba.5376:

Lord Titan.3791:

Olba.5376:

100 Blades as a burst skill would be kinda dumb.

Currently, the rooting isn’t an issue because it’s not a burst skill. But if you made it into a burst skill, it would kinda suck. Unlike Kill Shot or Flurry, 100 Blades has nothing to even try to counteract enemies just running away from you.

It would need some tweaks but it would be better for the class as a whole. Though if you absolutely love Arcing Slice you seriously need to rethink some things.

Some pretty serious tweaks at that. Making it so that you can move while the skill channels would require completely revamping the animation. Sadly, there’s tons of rooting multihit skills that have fabulous mechanics, such as Zealot’s Defense, Pistol Whip and Blurred Frenzy, but I don’t think any of those would work as a burst skill.

As for Arcing Slice, I sometimes use it. But only because I am running Cleansing Ire.

Again the matter at hand is the fact that Skullcrack>100b is too powerful.
Yes 100b would need some tweaks, varying from mobility to cast time to actual damage. Many things could be changed about it. But the current problem is Skullcrack>100b.

Well, if you ask me, there’s four things that make the setup work.

1. The stun duration Skull Crack was increased from 2s to 3s. That’s a difference between half of a 100b to majority of a 100b.
2. The Sigil of Paralyzation has funky rounding.
3. The cooldown on Skull Crack can be as low as 7.75s.
4. 100 Blades is not a burst skill.

Solve any of the first three and you’ll see the build crumble. Personally I don’t think they’re going to do something about Sigil of Paralyzation simply because without the funky rounding it’s a useless Sigil.

If I had the power to change something, I would put Skull Crack back at 2s base, with 3s with Sigil of Paralyzation and see how that ends up.

But if they made 100 blades into a Burst skill, I think people would start experimenting with Skull Crack into Eviscerate. Or Skull Crack into Final Thrust. The former has a bit more damage if your foe has >50% hp and can be executed twice as often, whereas the latter has vastly superior damage (3.0 coefficient instead of 2.0) at <50% hp, but can only be executed once every 15 seconds. Throw in axe autoattack and Sharpened Axes and you could push it even higher.

I agree and disagree and here is why.

While all for would definitely nerf the combo. The first three would also completely lower the effectiveness of Mace itself. While the fourth only nerfs the combo.

Well, changing 100 blades to a burst would come with certain implications:

1. 7.75-10s cooldown on 100b, up from 6.4/8.0s that it is currently.
2. Being thakittens a burst skill, it would drastically lower the dps of the PvE meta 30/0/0/10/30 build.
3. Similarly, because it’s a burst skill, it could benefit from burst-related traits such as Building Momentum, Burst Mastery and Critical Burst. The latter two would significantly boost the damage output of 100b.

Granted, the first two are nerfs to the already powerful PvE dps of Warriors so it wouldn’t change much, but the fact that you could use Burst Mastery for an additional 10% damage and Critical Burst for an additional 10% crit would be rather significant.

True, I would argue the first two are needed. Where as the third could be tweaked with power scaling/damage reduction if it got out of hand.

If your looking at running Sword/x-Hammer builds I’d strongly suggest looking at videos from Callahan and Grimfalcon. Both will give you a rough idea of what to expect. Also if you’d like some help picking out gear, trait choices, and sigil choices I’d be more than happy to provide my knowledge.

ProxyDamage.9826:

Lord Titan.3791:

Granted yes there is stability, teleports, evade, ect;

And kiting, and dodging (several classes with perma-vigor for example), and… and…

There are several counters, learn to use them.

You know what ect. means I hope.

And the whole “learn to use them” part.

1: I have zero problems fighting Mace warriors, or any warrior in general.
2: Please fully read the thread next time.
3: Please respond appropriately in a constructive manner that further promotes a intelligent conversation on the issue.

Scoobaniec.9561:

Wreckdum.8367:

Even a skilled player will usually lose a 1v1 because they simply ran out of CD’s to counter skull crack.

I have to disagreee here completely. I can fight that build without any stunbreakers and still owns them for breakfast. S/S+LB ftw.

Mind demonstrating in a sPvP match? I’m currently available.

Sil.4560:

Stopped reading after the first complete sentence. No, it isn’t too strong of a combo.

Personal opinion from a minority of the community. The vast majority of players playing PvP would disagree.

Olba.5376:

Lord Titan.3791:

Olba.5376:

Lord Titan.3791:

Olba.5376:

100 Blades as a burst skill would be kinda dumb.

Currently, the rooting isn’t an issue because it’s not a burst skill. But if you made it into a burst skill, it would kinda suck. Unlike Kill Shot or Flurry, 100 Blades has nothing to even try to counteract enemies just running away from you.

It would need some tweaks but it would be better for the class as a whole. Though if you absolutely love Arcing Slice you seriously need to rethink some things.

Some pretty serious tweaks at that. Making it so that you can move while the skill channels would require completely revamping the animation. Sadly, there’s tons of rooting multihit skills that have fabulous mechanics, such as Zealot’s Defense, Pistol Whip and Blurred Frenzy, but I don’t think any of those would work as a burst skill.

As for Arcing Slice, I sometimes use it. But only because I am running Cleansing Ire.

Again the matter at hand is the fact that Skullcrack>100b is too powerful.
Yes 100b would need some tweaks, varying from mobility to cast time to actual damage. Many things could be changed about it. But the current problem is Skullcrack>100b.

Well, if you ask me, there’s four things that make the setup work.

1. The stun duration Skull Crack was increased from 2s to 3s. That’s a difference between half of a 100b to majority of a 100b.
2. The Sigil of Paralyzation has funky rounding.
3. The cooldown on Skull Crack can be as low as 7.75s.
4. 100 Blades is not a burst skill.

Solve any of the first three and you’ll see the build crumble. Personally I don’t think they’re going to do something about Sigil of Paralyzation simply because without the funky rounding it’s a useless Sigil.

If I had the power to change something, I would put Skull Crack back at 2s base, with 3s with Sigil of Paralyzation and see how that ends up.

But if they made 100 blades into a Burst skill, I think people would start experimenting with Skull Crack into Eviscerate. Or Skull Crack into Final Thrust. The former has a bit more damage if your foe has >50% hp and can be executed twice as often, whereas the latter has vastly superior damage (3.0 coefficient instead of 2.0) at <50% hp, but can only be executed once every 15 seconds. Throw in axe autoattack and Sharpened Axes and you could push it even higher.

I agree and disagree and here is why.

While all for would definitely nerf the combo. The first three would also completely lower the effectiveness of Mace itself. While the fourth only nerfs the combo.

Olba.5376:

Lord Titan.3791:

Olba.5376:

100 Blades as a burst skill would be kinda dumb.

Currently, the rooting isn’t an issue because it’s not a burst skill. But if you made it into a burst skill, it would kinda suck. Unlike Kill Shot or Flurry, 100 Blades has nothing to even try to counteract enemies just running away from you.

It would need some tweaks but it would be better for the class as a whole. Though if you absolutely love Arcing Slice you seriously need to rethink some things.

Some pretty serious tweaks at that. Making it so that you can move while the skill channels would require completely revamping the animation. Sadly, there’s tons of rooting multihit skills that have fabulous mechanics, such as Zealot’s Defense, Pistol Whip and Blurred Frenzy, but I don’t think any of those would work as a burst skill.

As for Arcing Slice, I sometimes use it. But only because I am running Cleansing Ire.

Again the matter at hand is the fact that Skullcrack>100b is too powerful.
Yes 100b would need some tweaks, varying from mobility to cast time to actual damage. Many things could be changed about it. But the current problem is Skullcrack>100b.

Furajir.3815:

The combo is no easier to pull off then kids pressing as many buttons as they please and just apply ridiculous stacks of conditions.

My Ranger is guilty of this. It’s simply too easy, and I’m afraid that this game is not one of skill. The developers have made nearly every single build, and this meta, entirely too accessible to mouthbreathers. Managing all of 10-15 buttons is not entirely too difficult compared to other MMO’s.

Example, I’m handicapped and have barely any use in my left hand, yet I play with a pc gamepad, and mouse. I’m extremely slow and my reaction time is utterly horrid, yet, despite this, I still manage to do as well as I do.

Maybe it’s the classes I play, maybe it’s not, maybe it’s just bad game design that allows sub par players to spam buttons with little regard to timing and still pwn face.

Condition application is a whole other issue that I’m sure will be taken a look into.

One thing to consider is this.

The game SHOULD be easily accessible to ALL players. But without a proper SKILL CEILING you will end up with builds that overshadow others due to how easy they are to play. Simply put make something op harder to play(easier to dodge/land “x” for example) and see how players adapt to it.

Furajir.3815:

I’m here to tell you right now. I don’t use GS, I use Hammer.

But even if I did….

1s nerf or even making Para sigil not work the way it does, won’t save even the average player.

Then they will just complain about Earthshaker etc.

It’s not the 1 extra second that putting us at the top.

For example, I had a necro tell me I’m op because of the amount of CC I had, yet he had no stunbreakers. And this is the IQ of the every day player.

To the “average” player Earthshaker can be easily dodged. Balancing something around players not realizing what the skill does is a horrible idea. Think Beta weekend 2 when Warriors were the kings of sPvP with GS-Axe/Shield.

Daecollo.9578:

Lord Titan.3791:

Daecollo.9578:

Lord Titan.3791:

Daecollo.9578:

Nerf Sigil of Paralization instead?

Why do we have to Crowd Control someone to deal damage where every other class does not?

Obviously Skull Crack is powerful, but its ST. Most of the complaints of it come from Asura which have a different animation then all the other races. Where if I use it on my Sylvari for example, its very easy to see because it has a unique animation.

If I use it on an Asura, it looks exactly like an auto-attack swing.

1: I disagree with the whole “We have to CC to deal damage”, that is simply a false statement. Only reason that was ever brought up was because of the mass use of GS and the need from a CC to land 100b.

2: Asuras are a complete different issue. While I’ll agree that it is easy to dodge Skullcrack if you know what you’re looking for. That is highly based on player skill/knowledge. In the case of two high skilled players facing off the Warrior should be counting dodges/cooldowns.

You would Nullify the build and fix some issues great-sword has. However you would need to change the great sword’s auto attack to have better damage. You would also need to make Arcing Slice give vulnerability instead of fury. Remove Vulnerability from the auto attack and improve its damage, maybe add something else to give it more flavor?

Greatsword Swing (½)
Slash your foe.
Damage: 296
Range: 130

Greatsword Slice (½)
Slice your foe.
Damage: 296
Range: 130

Brutal Strike (½)
Cripple your foe with a final Brutal Strike.
Damage: 437 (1.3)?
Crippled: 2 s
Weakness: 2 s
Range: 130

Arcing Slice (½, 8 second cool down.)
Make your Foe Vulnerable with an Arcing Slice.
Damage: 480
10 Vulnerability: 8 s
Range: 130

Again as I’ve stated what you’re posting isn’t my job, that A-net’s.
The issue currently is fixing the problem at hand. If the change was ever implemented and GS needed further changes then I would focus on those. Simply stating “X” would be needed if “X” ever happened without a single point of data or testing is foolish.

Well just changing the skills out would require a rework.

I don’t give my ideas, I base them all on what other classes have and work from thakittens not my decision either.

Yes a rework on somethings would be needed. Also basing one classes mechanics on another in order to make them “similar” is horrible design.

Olba.5376:

100 Blades as a burst skill would be kinda dumb.

Currently, the rooting isn’t an issue because it’s not a burst skill. But if you made it into a burst skill, it would kinda suck. Unlike Kill Shot or Flurry, 100 Blades has nothing to even try to counteract enemies just running away from you.

It would need some tweaks but it would be better for the class as a whole. Though if you absolutely love Arcing Slice you seriously need to rethink some things.

redslion.9675:

Are we sure cycling all other skills wouldn’t deal equal, if not higher, damage than 100 blades?

No doubt Rush, Arcing Slice, Whirlwind wouldn’t be something to brush off like it was a bug. People simply don’t want to experiment with other rotations and possibilities. They leave that job to top tier players and theory-crafters.

Daecollo.9578:

Lord Titan.3791:

Daecollo.9578:

Nerf Sigil of Paralization instead?

Why do we have to Crowd Control someone to deal damage where every other class does not?

Obviously Skull Crack is powerful, but its ST. Most of the complaints of it come from Asura which have a different animation then all the other races. Where if I use it on my Sylvari for example, its very easy to see because it has a unique animation.

If I use it on an Asura, it looks exactly like an auto-attack swing.

1: I disagree with the whole “We have to CC to deal damage”, that is simply a false statement. Only reason that was ever brought up was because of the mass use of GS and the need from a CC to land 100b.

2: Asuras are a complete different issue. While I’ll agree that it is easy to dodge Skullcrack if you know what you’re looking for. That is highly based on player skill/knowledge. In the case of two high skilled players facing off the Warrior should be counting dodges/cooldowns.

You would Nullify the build and fix some issues great-sword has. However you would need to change the great sword’s auto attack to have better damage. You would also need to make Arcing Slice give vulnerability instead of fury. Remove Vulnerability from the auto attack and improve its damage, maybe add something else to give it more flavor?

Greatsword Swing (½)
Slash your foe.
Damage: 296
Range: 130

Greatsword Slice (½)
Slice your foe.
Damage: 296
Range: 130

Brutal Strike (½)
Cripple your foe with a final Brutal Strike.
Damage: 437 (1.3)?
Crippled: 2 s
Weakness: 2 s
Range: 130

Arcing Slice (½, 8 second cool down.)
Make your Foe Vulnerable with an Arcing Slice.
Damage: 480
10 Vulnerability: 8 s
Range: 130

Again as I’ve stated what you’re posting isn’t my job, that A-net’s.
The issue currently is fixing the problem at hand. If the change was ever implemented and GS needed further changes then I would focus on those. Simply stating “X” would be needed if “X” ever happened without a single point of data or testing is foolish.

Ajaxx.3157:

Before I go for dinner….

Yes I agree with you on the animation of Skullcrack… but do you make it so obvious that it’s the new killshot?

No, at all. I would only suggest giving it say a 1/2 cast increase and slight flare to the animation.

Ajaxx.3157:

But what you’re talking about now is the skill level of the warrior Vs the skill level of what you’re attacking.

There is a ton of variables to be added to the equation, and you could prob add more.

I’m just saying the combo would still be there with your suggestion

I’d also add Whrilwind into it, after the 100b also

I get what you’re saying, and I’m not having a go, its prob one of the more mature discussions posted on the Warrior forums atm :P

Agreed that skill level has to be taken into consideration.

But currently a Mace/Shield-GS Warrior can easily come out on top versus players of equal or slightly greater skill, should it not be more on par?

Oh I know, this is a discussion not an argument. ^.~

Also regarding Skullcrack I feel that it is more of a Cast-time/Animation issue more than anything.

Ajaxx.3157:

I know what you’re saying about Cool downs, but aren’t we talking about the combo itself?

inb4 Daecollo says “in 24s a warrior will be dead, because we don’t have protection etc etc etc”

Well the issue, in my opinion, has to do with the cooldown and easy accessibility to it. If you can only pull it off every 30 seconds that means that the enemy player has a higher chance of surviving because it’d be more on par with their stunbreaks/stability. Now this isn’t to say that a smart Warrior can’t kill them now. They will simply have to bait their stuns and play accordingly.

P.S. I usually die in 2 seconds unless I have a guardian with me. But with a guardian I last forever because Protection makes me a god and I fire lazers from my eyes with it. =/

Daecollo.9578:

Nerf Sigil of Paralization instead?

Why do we have to Crowd Control someone to deal damage where every other class does not?

Obviously Skull Crack is powerful, but its ST. Most of the complaints of it come from Asura which have a different animation then all the other races. Where if I use it on my Sylvari for example, its very easy to see because it has a unique animation.

If I use it on an Asura, it looks exactly like an auto-attack swing.

1: I disagree with the whole “We have to CC to deal damage”, that is simply a false statement. Only reason that was ever brought up was because of the mass use of GS and the need of a CC to land 100b.

2: Asuras are a complete different issue. While I’ll agree that it is easy to dodge Skullcrack if you know what you’re looking for. That is highly based on player skill/knowledge. In the case of two high skilled players facing off the Warrior should be counting dodges/cooldowns.

Furajir.3815:

Game isn’t balanced around 1v1’s.

If you’ve got an issue, heres a tissue.

Sorry.

Never said anything about 1v1s.

Ajaxx.3157:

You’d have to think then, what would take 100b’s place on 2nd skill

Also. adrenaline is sooo easy come by, 3bar adren skull crack into 3bar adren 100b on f1 is still easy done.

IF they do nerf it it’ll be a stun reduction on skullcrack + sigil.

Either way it would still do the job.

I wouldn’t say it is “Easy” to come by.

It can be easy to come by if:
1: Healing Surge is popped, 1 second cast time means that only 4-5 of the GS hits will land. 30 second recharge means this can only be replicated every 30 seconds and also results in the warrior not using Healing Signet as well as popping his heal early.
2: Signet of Fury is popped, 1/4 second cast time still allows 6-7 GS hits to land. Though it causes the warrior to only be able to replicate this on a 30 second cooldown, 24 seconds with Signet Mastery, and also takes up a utility slot.

I wouldn’t say Berserker’s Stance is a viable option because you would have to wait for it to tick before hitting 3 bars which would waste time on the stun.

Hey guys,

Simply put Skullcrack>One Hundred Blades is too strong of a combo. Combined with Unsuspecting Foe, Fast Hands, and F1 Cooldown you can easily pull of this combo every 8 seconds against players. Granted yes there is stability, teleports, evade, ect; but the cooldown and easy access to this combo is why it is too strong. You can easily Pull this combo off faster than the enemies Stunbreaks/Stability re-charges(Except in the case of a very well played Mesmer with Staff or a S/x Thief).

My suggestion to nullify this build without breaking Warriors would be to change One Hundred Blades to the Greatsword’s F1 Ability. This would allow the combo to be pulled of via Adrenaline gain skills, but at a higher cost and on a longer cooldown.
Skullcrack would still be just as strong, players will simply have to learn better damage rotations rather than relying on two skills.

Just my two cents on how to fix it. Not going to go into details on what should happen to One Hundred Blades as a F1 or what it should be replaced with, that is A-net’s job.

FrankieBonez.8361:

This is the build I use in WvW to great effect. The damage is decent with nice survivability and mobility. Using Knights gear, Knights Weapons (GS + HAMMER) and Zerker/Cavalier Jewels.

Tank/DPS

Video explaining everything:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21nVMWtk5aY

In Action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzZtBmLBXZc
Frontline DPS – Decent Survivability – Perma Might/Fury – Long Hammer Stun

Hey there Frankie,
If you’re ever interested in increasing the potential of your build check out my WvW guide. Just from a quick glance at your build I notice that you are missing out on a potential extra 20-40% Critical damage.

I’ll consider it.

Counterplay always gets a +1 in my books.

GUFF.5692:

Lord Titan.3791:

GUFF.5692:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjEVR2VWOWs2Bi2DNZJMxewfGtIXB/nxSnMTC-jEyAorhoRiGiW6rIasVxioxqtxUxER1GcFNbuQtUAjKMC-w

The build above tries to keep as much as possible similar to the build you posted minus the amount of power. Advantages of the build above:

1. Much higher health. Creates a better buffer against conditions and spike.

2. Gain EB which is a nice passive condition cleanse

3. Lyssa runes turn your elite into a nice “oh kitten” button as well as giving you a full condition cleanse on demand

4. You pick up Natures Protection for additional spike protection

5. Since you mentioned you will have perma swiftness I Slotted Quickening Zephyr Speed for additional spike damage output or for quick stomps/rezzing.

Damage difference?

Assuming a 3k armor target you lose about 1k off your rapid fire and barrage. You lose about 600 off your Greatsword auto attack chain and maul. Is the reduction in damage worth the survival increase? Only you can decide that Titan. Good luck!

Biggest question here is simply this.

Is losing Piercing going to be detrimental to team fights?

I don’t think that’s the biggest question. But i did forget to mention that. My reasoning is simple. Smaller groups of people in larger spaces are harder to hit with piercing shots. People are going to spread out. Piercing arrows is very very nice against a huge zerg ball standing on a bridge or in the lord’s room in hills for example. Ask yourself how often does that happen.

I don’t like traits that only help in certain situations. I always prioritize traits that always help. Thats why I feel piercing arrows/eagle eye/steady focus are subpar. They are nice when you can take advantage. But what about when you can’t?

I was zerker for the first four months of the game with the above traits. I rarely touch them anymore. Once again though, up to you to decide.

Thanks for the help GUFF, I think from here its all gonna be about testing and molding the build around my play-style and my teammates.

Kjeldoran.3849:

mmm let me think… LB/GS… power build… did you never see a thread called “A Ranger Guide -power build-”?
I wrote this entire guide + build for all those who need help with power builds ^^

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/A-Ranger-Guide-Power-Build/first#

it’s all explained inside, enjoy.

Tbh I saw your post before I posted mine. None of my questions were answered, nor did I like the looks of your build. You make some good points but you also overlook many as well.

Also don’t come into a thread trying to brag about a long writeup, it belittles yourself.

Senjun.8149:

Lord Titan.3791:

Thieves are no different.

Neither will get touched though because both classes absolutely need the mobility to get their sustain.

If they remove their mobility they will have to get a massive boost in sustain to make up for the loss. Would you rather have a warrior that is just as hard to kill but doesn’t have to kite?

Running away from a fight isn’t the same as having sustain. That just means your mobility is allows you to do just that, run away from a fight. It also won’t effect your damage because if you use it offensively, as intended then the cds should be short. But using them to flat out run from a fight will still be possible just less likely even if all of their cds are tripped if used for retreat.

(running from a fight to reset your hp is not the same as having good sustain in combat)

So pretty much you’re saying that warriors need another sustain boost since they are forced to run from fights?

GUFF.5692:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjEVR2VWOWs2Bi2DNZJMxewfGtIXB/nxSnMTC-jEyAorhoRiGiW6rIasVxioxqtxUxER1GcFNbuQtUAjKMC-w

The build above tries to keep as much as possible similar to the build you posted minus the amount of power. Advantages of the build above:

1. Much higher health. Creates a better buffer against conditions and spike.

2. Gain EB which is a nice passive condition cleanse

3. Lyssa runes turn your elite into a nice “oh kitten” button as well as giving you a full condition cleanse on demand

4. You pick up Natures Protection for additional spike protection

5. Since you mentioned you will have perma swiftness I Slotted Quickening Zephyr Speed for additional spike damage output or for quick stomps/rezzing.

Damage difference?

Assuming a 3k armor target you lose about 1k off your rapid fire and barrage. You lose about 600 off your Greatsword auto attack chain and maul. Is the reduction in damage worth the survival increase? Only you can decide that Titan. Good luck!

Biggest question here is simply this.

Is losing Piercing going to be detrimental to team fights?

Just a tip for some of you hardcore Warrior roamers out there.

Take a look into Might stacking builds, you might find a pleasant surprise.

Here is just a rough start for a Sword/Shield-Hammer build.
I would suggest starting with something similar and then mold it around your play-style once you get the hang of it.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAS8ejkOFvpQuQMxBE0DNsK4iTBlQ9wOqj4A-jkxAYLYMWgSeFRjVXjpcTqKWQWKABVGB-w

If you’d like more in-depth info. about gearing your Warrior effectively in WvW or other build ideas check my thread at https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/warrior/Titan-s-Guide-to-WvW-Warriors/first#post2695262

+1 for Sword/Shield-Hammer

Thieves are no different.

Neither will get touched though because both classes absolutely need the mobility to get their sustain.

If they remove their mobility they will have to get a massive boost in sustain to make up for the loss. Would you rather have a warrior that is just as hard to kill but doesn’t have to kite?

You truly cannot base this off just Power vs Critical Damage. You must take several things into account.

1: What weapons are you using?
2: What traits did you choose.
3: What Sigils do you have.

All three of these can make drastic differences to determine which is more effective.

Does mean that Thieves’ Shortbow #5 will also get say a 40s cooldown if it doesn’t hit a target? Same with Sword #2?

Here is just a rough start for a Sword/Shield-Hammer build.
I would suggest starting with something similar and then mold it around your play-style once you get the hang of it.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNAS8ejkOFvpQuQMxBE0DNsK4iTBlQ9wOqj4A-jkxAYLYMWgSeFRjVXjpcTqKWQWKABVGB-w

If you’d like more in-depth info. about gearing your Warrior effectively in WvW or other build ideas check my thread at https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/warrior/Titan-s-Guide-to-WvW-Warriors/first#post2695262

Xsorus.2507:

Lord Titan.3791:

Xsorus.2507:

Lord Titan.3791:

Xsorus.2507:

Drop Moment of Clarity, and pickup 10 more points in Wilderness for Empathetic Bond

Get rid of Muddy Terrain, you’ll find its annoying to use usually.

Drop Signet Mastery, Pickup Malicious Training and use Spiders

1: I can see how that would be beneficial. But you also have to take into consideration the team mates you are running with. If I end up playing with a shout warrior or shout guardian the additional condition cleanse may be unnecessary.

2: To be honest I find Muddy Terrain extremely easy to use and by far one of our best utilities in group fights.

3: Now this is something I haven’t looked into. I have been running atleast 1 spider lately. Would this be picked up for the increased Immob. duration or simply flat out more poison?

1. More Condition Removal is always nice, You’re not getting a Huge benefit from Moment of Clarity, in fact if you’re not an Asura, i don’t recommend it as it doesn’t increase the daze duration on our Greatsword/Shortbow enough in my opinion. Now if you’re Asura, it is flat out one of the best Traits we have as it makes Technobabble just Obscene.

2. I always disliked it, But that’s just me, Maybe because I disliked the Cast Animation and the Cast time of it.

3. Both, the increased poison is nice, because you lack it, But 4 seconds of Immo every 20 seconds is just nasty.

Thank you Xsorus,
Glad that someone can constructively add to this post.

By chance would you make any gear alterations?

Gear Wise its fine for what you’re wanting to do, which is do a Power Build on Ranger.

I don’t know if I’d use Healing Spring, unless you’re grouped of course, then its not that bad.

Healing Spring is just too good to pass up in groups. Also TU doesn’t help against organized spikes.

Atherakhia.4086:

Isn’t Brazil the Ranger who made the berserker video with 100% crit chance? I’m at work and youtube is blocked so can’t find it. But there’s a guide on youtube for gearing and spec advice to do what Guff describes.

I’d be interested in taking a look, I’m guessing it either is lacking in critical damage or toughness though. Some Knights/Zerker Combo.

GUFF.5692:

Hats off to you Titan for going power for small scale most rangers don’t.

My favorite thing to do in game is to try new power/crit ranger builds.

Here’s my 2 cents:

1. You have good armor rating. I also always try to stay as close to 3k as possible.

2. Some good utility skills choices there. LR and MT are nice. MT is nice in group play. Better than traps in the opening of a fight since you can cast it from further range. Also better to slow runners at the end of the fight. However sometimes I find it is a pain in solo combat esp if someone is on your kitten due to the cast time. I personally also always have one movement speed utility such as either SotH or traited guard for perma swiftness.

3. Base vitality? Not good Titan. As a ranger you better be ready to be focused since most rangers are free bags (not saying you will be but you can expect peeps to target you more frequently). A low vitality pool also leaves you more vuln to conditions. Once you pop your SoR you really dont have much buffer. I always shoot for at least 20k.

4. Crit chance too low. 40% is respectable but not enough for power crit builds unless you have perma fury. You want a min of 50%. . I personally only run 100% crit chance power/crit chance builds now. I have since moved away from the 50% crit/70-90% crit damage builds. To me having every shot count helps me as a power/crit ranger esp when my damage coefficients are lower by default. This helps keep RNG at bay and opens more options for me.

5. Zero sustain. Not counting Healing Spring (good choice there) since you cant count standing in it for the full duration. Having at least one source helps in smaller engagements and in solo ops.

6. Food choice. I never think its a good idea to go with main stats via food choice. Too many other good options. Food slot is too important of a choice and you can solve number 5 for example by going with omnomberry pie or mano pie. Omnom is better for power crit users since you get more health/sec (assuming good crit chance and always attacking).

7. You are overdoing the vigor. We are capped at 100% regen. You already have 50%. I personally feel that you should drop at least one of the vigor traits. I would personally drop both esp vigorous renewal and grab wilderness knowledge. That reduces the cool down of two of your utility skills one of which is a critcial stun breaker. Some peeps get down on reduce cool down traits. The longer you live the more you can spam a skill with reduced cooldowns. I feel if I really need vigor that sigil of energy is better as it is instant upon weapon swap and is only limited by the weapon swap timer (not a regen so its not fighting for the 100% regen cap like vigor is).

If I were you I would drop what you have in markmanship so you can finish out wilderness survival and grab EB. Then I would dump the remaining 10 in Nature Magic grabbing Nature’s Protection (a small protective measure against spike). I would also reconsider your gear choices to boost your weak areas.

1: Agreed, I’m aiming to be somewhere in-between 2,800-3,200. The exact amount won’t be determined until I actually get out there and see what feels most comfortable.
2: LR and MT to me are a must for a 5v5 Power build. While extra move speed would be nice I should have perma-swiftness from our Warrior running Warhorn. MT is solo situations just has to be used properly, ex. after your spider Immoblizes your target.
3: Unsure about the vitality so far. I’ve always ran at base vitality on my warrior which ends up being around 18.5k.
4: So here is where I have a different opinion. To get those Crit chance thresholds you end up sacrificing survivability or critical damage. Either way you either lose damage or your die easily, both which I would like to avoid. This is meant to be a “Balanced” build, not zerker, nor tank.
5: My sustain would primarily come from teammates, 1 Support Staff Guardian, 1 D/D Aura Share Ele, 1 Shout Heal Warrior. While my “Personal” sustain would come from me being a backline DPS. Superior positioning and watching enemy movements is going to be key to not getting focused, as well as perfectly timed Hunter’s Shots.
6: Sustain food is by no means bad, though it defeats the purpose of my build. Since I’m going a more Balanced route than zerker I need to increase that damage gap by any means necessary.
7: While I do agree with this on some points, I feel that 100% Vigor uptime is more important than 66%. I would take extra dodges over regeneration anyday. Sigil of Energy also wouldn’t work on this build seeing as Battle is needed to top off my might at a perma 25 stacks while in groups.

I’m more than open to take a look at a suggested build if you’d like to post one.

Atherakhia.4086:

Longbow is a fun weapon to use, but it’s more of a zerg weapon and not so much a small group one imo. Shortbow has the evade and the daze which is much more useful. If you can make longbow work, go for it though. I find it’s amazing against thieves, but doesn’t cut it against most other classes.

I also agree with the above poster, I would try to fit empathic bond unless you’re running with a completely prearranged group which will include a guardian or 2. Conditions are the bane of this class.

I think the more common roaming builds are 30/20/20/0/0 (if you plan to run signets) and 20/20/30/0/0 if you prefer empathic bond. Also is 30/10/30/0/0

For skills, I would try and squeeze in protect me if you can. Drop LR imo for it. If you run signets, take Stone instead of protect me.

Good luck.

Thanks for your advice.

CRrabbit.1284:

lol to be honest, did you ever land 10k rapid fire on any competent player? (even with QZ) BTW, a single thief sticking on you basically will make you busy enough to use out of your “get out of jail” cards and contribute almost no dps.

Xsorus.2507:

CRrabbit.1284:

Believe or not, LB ranger is not good for 5 men roaming. Power-LB can be good as zerg snipers, but in 5-men roaming, everyone has to be count all the time.
Using LB = tell OP you are not bunker build(most likely DPS), thus 90% time you will be the 1st targeted. Then you either have to stealth or L-reflex + swap to GS and get out of of the fight temporarily, which leads a bad situation to your teammates.
If you insist on using LB (if it fits your play style well), get either protect me or traited SoS. You gonna make sure you can survive the 1st initial burst towards you and stay in the fight while hoping your teammates burst some of them down quickly.
Also I can’t imagine a power-LB ranger w/o QZ. w/o QZ you are not even considered as a DPS. Then you are neither a bunker nor a DPS or CC/healing master, what you bring to your team?

Lord Titan.3791:

Xsorus.2507:

Drop Moment of Clarity, and pickup 10 more points in Wilderness for Empathetic Bond

Get rid of Muddy Terrain, you’ll find its annoying to use usually.

Drop Signet Mastery, Pickup Malicious Training and use Spiders

1: I can see how that would be beneficial. But you also have to take into consideration the team mates you are running with. If I end up playing with a shout warrior or shout guardian the additional condition cleanse may be unnecessary.

2: To be honest I find Muddy Terrain extremely easy to use and by far one of our best utilities in group fights.

3: Now this is something I haven’t looked into. I have been running atleast 1 spider lately. Would this be picked up for the increased Immob. duration or simply flat out more poison?

For starters it seems you didn’t look at my build very well.
Secondly it sounds like you’ve never played nor-encountered a balanced build.
Thirdly if the enemy team targets you then that is going to be their downfall. This build has more than enough “get out of Jail” cards for any competent player. If the team wastes their entire rotation on you only to have you evade backward and stealth. That gives your team a free gib on a player. Also to note 10k+ Rapid Fires are definitely considered burst, 2-3k Auto attacks aren’t a joke either.

You clearly didn’t read my original post at all. The part about Power builds not being the best and all.

If a “single” thief jumps on me and doesn’t get bursted I simply call it out and have my other 4 team mates converge on me. Its called teamwork, part of what makes an organized 5 man so strong.

Xsorus.2507:

Lord Titan.3791:

Xsorus.2507:

Drop Moment of Clarity, and pickup 10 more points in Wilderness for Empathetic Bond

Get rid of Muddy Terrain, you’ll find its annoying to use usually.

Drop Signet Mastery, Pickup Malicious Training and use Spiders

1: I can see how that would be beneficial. But you also have to take into consideration the team mates you are running with. If I end up playing with a shout warrior or shout guardian the additional condition cleanse may be unnecessary.

2: To be honest I find Muddy Terrain extremely easy to use and by far one of our best utilities in group fights.

3: Now this is something I haven’t looked into. I have been running atleast 1 spider lately. Would this be picked up for the increased Immob. duration or simply flat out more poison?

1. More Condition Removal is always nice, You’re not getting a Huge benefit from Moment of Clarity, in fact if you’re not an Asura, i don’t recommend it as it doesn’t increase the daze duration on our Greatsword/Shortbow enough in my opinion. Now if you’re Asura, it is flat out one of the best Traits we have as it makes Technobabble just Obscene.

2. I always disliked it, But that’s just me, Maybe because I disliked the Cast Animation and the Cast time of it.

3. Both, the increased poison is nice, because you lack it, But 4 seconds of Immo every 20 seconds is just nasty.

Thank you Xsorus,
Glad that someone can constructively add to this post.

By chance would you make any gear alterations?

CRrabbit.1284:

Believe or not, LB ranger is not good for 5 men roaming. Power-LB can be good as zerg snipers, but in 5-men roaming, everyone has to be count all the time.
Using LB = tell OP you are not bunker build(most likely DPS), thus 90% time you will be the 1st targeted. Then you either have to stealth or L-reflex + swap to GS and get out of of the fight temporarily, which leads a bad situation to your teammates.
If you insist on using LB (if it fits your play style well), get either protect me or traited SoS. You gonna make sure you can survive the 1st initial burst towards you and stay in the fight while hoping your teammates burst some of them down quickly.
Also I can’t imagine a power-LB ranger w/o QZ. w/o QZ you are not even considered as a DPS. Then you are neither a bunker nor a DPS or CC/healing master, what you bring to your team?

Lord Titan.3791:

Xsorus.2507:

Drop Moment of Clarity, and pickup 10 more points in Wilderness for Empathetic Bond

Get rid of Muddy Terrain, you’ll find its annoying to use usually.

Drop Signet Mastery, Pickup Malicious Training and use Spiders

1: I can see how that would be beneficial. But you also have to take into consideration the team mates you are running with. If I end up playing with a shout warrior or shout guardian the additional condition cleanse may be unnecessary.

2: To be honest I find Muddy Terrain extremely easy to use and by far one of our best utilities in group fights.

3: Now this is something I haven’t looked into. I have been running atleast 1 spider lately. Would this be picked up for the increased Immob. duration or simply flat out more poison?

For starters it seems you didn’t look at my build very well.
Secondly it sounds like you’ve never played nor-encountered a balanced build.
Thirdly if the enemy team targets you then that is going to be their downfall. This build has more than enough “get out of Jail” cards for any competent player. If the team wastes their entire rotation on you only to have you evade backward and stealth. That gives your team a free gib on a player. Also to note 10k+ Rapid Fires are definitely considered burst, 2-3k Auto attacks aren’t a joke either.