Guild Wars 2

If you aren’t shattering your clones, definitely go with Swordsmen. Duelist has a much slower attack speed (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Phantasmal_Haste for reference) increasing the chances it’ll only get one attack in before being killed.

Normally I’m not a fan of Phantasmal Haste, but a 3.8 second cooldown on the swordsman attack is noticeable. My swordsmen hit for around 5.5k in a group (Full Berserker + Ruby Orbs). With three up thats 16.5k damage every 3.8 seconds.

Illusionary Riposte also hits like a truck. Jump into something bad and chain it after a blurred frenzy.

I’m using this build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAscRlwzipHVzoGa9ICKFYn3RShqlalegbXIvB

My guild actually focuses on getting people the Dungeon Master title. We are planning on running Arah Path 4 on President’s Day. PM me if interested. I wouldn’t mind having two groups.

DeathPanel.8362:

Who in the right mind would want to not “skip content”? There’s no real reward for clearing any of those mobs and it’s mindlessly tedious.

Many of the half hour run paths would take 3-4 times as long.

Some people find running dungeons in an organized group to be fun. But then again that’s why I dont’ pug…

Find a PVE focused guild that has a policy against mob skipping or exploits. http://www.reddit.com/r/guildrecruitment is a good place to start.

Phase 2 is more about survival and keeping everyone up. Staff (for Phase Retreat) + Blink (Both for rezzing and for escaping) + Illusion of Life is a great combination in this fight. I actually like keeping time warp to help speed rez the unlucky as well.

I use the OOW helm with a mix of T1 & T2 cultural armors. I really like the aristocratic look on a Mesmer. Sorry for the dark screenshot:

I had this same problem so I started a guild. Advertised it as focusing on “traditional content completion free of mob skipping and exploits.” Turned out to be a pretty popular concept. We focus on getting everyone dungeon master. You’d be surprised at how easy the “hard” paths are when you are patient and work together.

(I wont turn this into a recruitment thread, but if you are interested, message me on here and I’ll give you our guild site)

Grouping is largely about trading blows, focusing fire, and coming to the aid of downed players. That’s it. Bring enough survivability so you can fend for yourself while doing as much damage as possible while bringing “something” to the table for the group.

Don’t PUG. Join a good PVE focused guild with policies against skipping trash and exploits. Dungeons are incredibly fun in a good, patient group.

Your best source of condition damage in PVE as a Mesmer comes from Sharper Image bleeds applied from illusion attacks. iDuelist, iBerserker, iWarden, Greatsword clones, and Sword clones stack bleeds more consistently than a staff clones can.

In a group setting, a warlock can often crit for 8 – 10k every 6-7 seconds.

Staff is a hybrid weapon because you can use it with either gear setup: either focus on 0 clones and 3 warlocks for direct damage or 3 clones and 0 warlocks for condition damage. Or go shatter and use both. The auto-attack tickles while giving vulnerability for direct damage builds and bleeding and burning for condition damage builds.

Because of that, staff DPS is sometimes mediocre and situational, but that’s ok. Think of it like a Shield or Warhorn. You aren’t equipping it to min/max your DPS. And the best news? Any gear setup can make use of it.

Since the waypoint-res updates, I’ve found myself finishing off a lot of bosses when the rest of the group goes down. Staff is great for being slippery and whittling down champions.

My “it’s okay guys, I got this, go get a sandwich” list is up to Subject Alpha (phase retreat busts you out of his prison), the Mossman (at around 30% he stopped spawning wolves), Lani Winterfist (a little annoying with the adds), and Tribune Burntclaw.

I use this build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQJAWRlwzKoHVzqGaNJiJF9GyhWAZGqWqVSBudhA;TQAg0WiMEZTA (Copy and Paste Link)

The 9% reduced damage and extra toughness is very noticeable when wearing all Berserker gear. 40% reduced cooldown on Phase Retreat and Mirror Blade is also very great.

Kodiak.3281:

Grab a Rampager’s amulet in Mists, equip sword, and do Decoy/Mirror Images on a golem and watch the bleed stacks fly. .

Sword clones stack bleeds more effectively than staff clones because of the faster attack rate. That sort of makes my point that staff isn’t a great condition weapon in PVE….

Staff in a dungeon is a great defensive option. Phase Retreat teleports you to safety even when stunned or immobilized. Run any weapon set when safe, and weapon swap + phase retreat when in danger. I solo’d the Mossman from 40% to dead on Fractal 12 the other night with my staff after the rest of my group died. I didn’t take a single hit. Phase Retreat is incredibly powerful in dungeons.

I also run Berserker gear with staff. Your warlock can crit for 9-10k in a group setting. Condition damage with a staff is pretty mediocre because you won’t proc Sharper Images very often. Intermittent burning and 5-6 stacks of bleeding is not worth stacking condition damage for.

I can’t imagine a better greatsword for a Mesmer than the Vision of the Mists. Just forged mine today.

I use this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQJAWBIRMpo3QOUFwOSKatUrkCc7CB

Berserker Weapons with Sigils of Battle
Berserker Jewelry
Rampager’s Armor with Berserker Coat, Ruby Orbs

This is a pure glass cannon build with Greatsword and a defensive with Staff (Phase Retreat every 6 seconds is a literal life saver). Greatsword when safe, staff when in danger. I use this primarily for dungeons so my utilities I select usually depend on the content.

I use Staff as my “Tanking” weapon. Phase retreat instantly teleports you out of harms way even if stunned or immobilized on a very short cooldown when traited. Staff does both moderate direct damage and condition damage so you can use it as a secondary defensive weapon in any build.

You can also check out the Pathwalkers on Crystal Desert (pathwalkers.info). We focus on achievements (like Dungeon Master), dungeons, and fractals.

Great guild, good people. Highly recommended.

Lysico.4906:

Found it very hard to run real Wpvp without the warhorn. Not only for movement, but the long range aoe on the weakness is a major debuff that is often overlooked.

So maybe a swap to axe/wh with this build so you max your power and zerker gear for the bigger hits.

I know you want the jump for the might combo, but the base axe is going to beat hammer with might.

Most of your might comes from swapping weapons, so you don’t miss out on too much. I used to switch talents in WvW and use Sword/Warhorn with Quick Breathing and Stronger Bowstrings. However in smaller skirmishes I prefer having a Hammer.

Crystal Desert is the unofficial LGBTA server. Rough Trade, Prismatic Order, and Gayme On are there. Those guilds do span multiple gaming communities though so you’ll get a mixed bag of involvement from them. I’ve found most guilds on Crystal Desert to be fairly accepting and friendly (e.g. no F-bombs in Mumble) so don’t feel like you need to stick to finding a guild that outwardly identifies as LGBTA.

My partner and I regularly play with gay couple. We are currently looking for a guild as well. Feel free to look us up (kandolo.2574).

Kazin.2073:

When I saw hammer/longbow I was like out out of here. But it looks pretty stong in the context of dungeon vets (Aka stuff without defiant)

Would provide good utility and cc and support. Although on a boss fight this build is weak and for that reason I would not run it.

It isn’t as bad as you’d think. The direct damage from your fire field (with 60-80% uptime) will prop up the lower damage from your Hammer. By aggressively weapon swapping you can spam hard hitting skills rather than auto attacks.

But I do agree with you, the build is definitely at its best while fighting trash. Running through Orr is a joke with this build.

graverr.6473:

How do you get 5 stacks of might at weapon swap ? I can only manage to get 4 at max

The trait fires on every weapon swap, the sigil fires every other weapon swap because of its internal cooldown of 10 seconds.

Sazdek.6830:

Is there any viability in using this for leveling?

With 15 points in Discipline and Inspiring Shouts you can get the basic play style. The build really doesn’t start to shine until you have Adrenal Reserves though.

timidobserver.7925:

I was curious why you decided to go with healing signet. It seems that most builds are going with mending to get rid of conditions when you shouts are down..

A certain part of any build involves personal preference, of course. I like having a balance of regeneration and burst healing — and with the signet and shouts I never have to stop what I’m doing to heal or remove conditions. No reason not to switch for condition heavy fights of course.

timidobserver.7925:

Also, given that you went all the way into shouts heal, it seems like it would be good to take that 10 out of strength and put it into defense to get a little bit of compassion.

Not sure on the exact maths, but I’ve always found the 3-12% damage increase to be noticeable once you have a few might stacks. With the amount of adrenaline this build produces you get a lot of use out of the trait despite how often you dump adrenaline.

I’m also a fan of survivability through movement and utility rather than survivability through stats. With all the dancing in and out, constant small heals and regeneration is more than enough for me.

Not a huge difference, but the third Hammer chain for Warrior has a larger radius and considerably faster casting time than the Guardian version (even when traited to produce a larger symbol).

Here’s my take on a hammer & longbow build. This is primarily a PVE build, but does well in sPVP if perhaps only because you can catch people by surprise.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/c9e2b7c

This build focuses on swapping weapons and dumping adrenaline on cooldown. Your goal should be a fully powered longbow burst followed by a medium powered hammer burst while dancing between melee and medium range.

This build also runs shouts, but it is not a healing build. 30 points in tactics and shouts are used for boon duration, adrenaline, and condition removal. The healing is an added bonus.

Might & Fury Stacking (amplified by 30% boon duration)

• 2x blast finishers & fire combo field = 6x area might every 10 seconds.
• Weapon swapping on cooldown = 5x might every 10 seconds (From Sigil & Trait)
• Shout and Elite Signet = 100% fury uptime and 5-8 stacks of might

Adrenaline Management

• ‘Adrenal Reserves’ causes burst abilities to only spend a third of your adrenaline. This, combined with the ‘Versatile Rage’ trait allows you to easily chain burst abilities.
• Shouts gain nearly a bar of adrenaline each. Use all three at once or one at a time as needed. You can even use these during a burst skill animation. Adrenaline isn’t spent until a skill hits a target.

Chaining Bursts

• Longbow burst does both direct damage (which can crit) and burning. Adrenaline level increases duration. Might stacks amplify both sources of damage.
• Hammer burst has a fixed amount of damage regardless of adrenaline level. Adrenaline level increases stun duration by a small amount. Use this to combo with your fire field.
• Build full adrenaline and spend it on your longbow burst. Swap weapons in time to use your hammer burst. Use shouts as needed to rebuild adrenaline for when your longbow burst comes off cooldown.

Survivability & Trading Blows

• In PVE, enemies (usually) have a slow attack speed. Mobility results in survivability.
• Be comfortable with hammer as a ranged weapon, and longbow as a melee weapon. Hammer burst and #3 work at medium range. Longbow #2 and #3 is easier to land at point blank range.
• Use your hammer burst to leap into the fray and dodge out to medium range while swapping to longbow. Try to time your hammer burst just after a boss attacks and time your longbow swap for when you need to escape.
• When you need to kite, hammer cripples and longbow immobilizes.

Gear

• Because you invest so heavily in the discipline tree, I prefer gearing for precision with a combination of knight’s or berserker’s gear. This build is naturally defensive, so don’t worry about being a glass cannon. Just don’t forget to use soldier runes.

DPS Expectations

• On average, my auto attacks on my hammer crit for 2k, 2k, then 3k. Stacking might pushes those averages closer to 3k & 4k. Longbow’s auto attack crits twice for 0.8-1k. Longbow #3 often crits for 5-8k. This is in mostly berserker gear.

Mungrul.9358:

And the trait Quick Breathing is the main reason hammer can’t compete with this combination.

Quick Breathing isn’t the only condition management option. Running shouts with Runes of the Soldier allows you to remove conditions immediately, even while incapacitated. Warhorn’s cast time allows conditions to tick and stops your DPS. Warhorn is still great, but it still has its downfalls.

Mungrul.9358:

Warhorn is just too valuable to ignore, and hammer doesn’t offer enough of an alternative.

Hammer is a powerful tool when dealing with swarms of enemies (e.g., Dredge fractal). AoE cripple, AoE stun, and a huge cleave go a long way. Also, don’t forget the blast finisher. I pair it with Longbow and focus on weapon swapping, burst dumping, and adrenaline building.

I also don’t use any traits that are Hammer specific. It is good enough on its own.

Seren.6850:

as far as damage goes, my biggest crit was 4900k with earth shaker on hammer (which im specced for) and up to 14k on hundred blades over and over.

That’s over 14k damage over 3.5 seconds while rooted (4k dps). Most hammer special attacks can easily crit for as much in 1 second time.

Not saying Hammer is better DPS, but the gap isn’t as large as you are making it out to be.

Thanks for the invite! Great diverse group of people that are as active in game as they are arranging bake sales and lotteries on their forums.

Invest in traits that grant you adrenaline and you get the best of both worlds. Adrenal Reserves will allow you to always have at least one bar of Adrenaline. Inspiring Shouts gives you even further control over your Adrenaline. Save multi-hit abilities for after an Adrenaline bump. Even Healing Surge can be used to top off your Adrenaline after a burst. We have so little to juggle compared to other classes that a little bit of resource management really isn’t so bad.

I use both burst abilities on cooldown and I’m almost always at full Adrenaline using this build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQJATSnkOk8YzDSBxEZAwUoI1D4aTu0jyQLNA

Both hits count, as long as they both crit and win the chance roll. Many %-on-crit effects are throttled by internal cooldowns (like Sigil of Earth) but others like Precise Strikes and Omnomberry Pies have no internal cooldowns and can proc more than once from a multi-hit ability. You can also proc multiple combo finishers.

Yes, there isn’t a cooldown on the trait. You can apply bleeds from AoE crits as well.

Consider Sigil of Earth to increase your chances, but it has a 2 seconds cooldown and will only apply once.

Oglaf.1074:

+ longbow is a firefield that gives your team 3 stacks of might if you blast finish into it. (bow3 is blast finisher)

And it pulses direct damage (that can crit) in a massive radius.

I use Hammer and Longbow. I use Inspiring Shouts and Adrenal Reserves to keep my Adrenaline up. I’ll shoot the Longbow burst at level 3, swap weapons and fire off the Hammer burst at level 1 and then top off my adrenaline with a shout.

ArcTheFallen.7682:

1) Is shake it off necessary? Is there another viable way of removing conditions? Because I can’t seem to find a good source of conditon removal except that move so I feel like I have to put it on my utility.

The real benefit to shake it off is the stun break and its short cooldown. 6x Rune of the Soldier while running multiple shouts is a better source of condition removal – especially when you tack on adrenaline gain and healing. There’s also signet that wipes all conditions, a heal that wipes two, and a Warhorn trait that converts conditions into boons. Conditions are a warrior’s kryptonite . You definitely want removal options.

ArcTheFallen.7682:

2) Endure Pain. Okay, so I kinda love the idea of not receiving damage especially since I’m a fan of renewed focus for the Guardian so I chose this as one of my utilities. Regardless if it’s not useful or not, I find it pretty good to use against 1-hit kos or like an “Ohh kitten!” button. Does anyone use this?

I use this a lot, but not often during fights. This is great for running through traps and obstacles. Most bosses hit very slowly. Block is more effective. Consider the trait that triggers it automatically to save your utility slot.

ArcTheFallen.7682:

3) Last but not least, I use banner of tactics, mostly for the boon duration and skill#2 for regen. Although I am quite the banner build, I decided to only invest in 1 banner because….I can only carry one banner with me as I travel, imo it’s pointless to have 3 banners since you can only keep up with 1 when you move on to the next thing. In that regard, is there a better banner than tactics? With the banner regen trait, does that make it’s skill#2 kind of redundant?

One banner is plenty for a banner build. Interesting trivia, if you plan on being selfish, you can get away without traiting for a cooldown reduction on your Tactic’s banner. Regeneration stacks in duration. With your 40% boon duration you’ll accrue enough Regeneration to cover the 30 seconds without your banner. #2 skill is still decent spot heal in a moment of desperation.

ArcTheFallen.7682:

4) I use signet of rage for the power/speed upkeep with a minor void period. Is this what most warriors use?

If you are running banners and don’t rely on crits (fury) or boon count, then you should use Battle Standard in groups. You can always use Banner #3 and #4 for running.

If you are weapon swapping consider Longbow as your second weapon. Take both Longbow traits and the Boon → %Damage one. Use shouts for Adrenaline and Faster Sigils in the Discipline tree. Shouting between weapon swaps will allow you to use a level 1 Hammer burst inside your level 3 Combo Field burst. You’ll stack plenty of might while pushing out a lot of AoE damage.

Brutalistik.6473:

I’m confused about the long bow part. What do you mean in the right group setting we can apply poison and confusion?

There’s a hidden benefit to the Stronger Bowstrings trait. It turns all your Longbow attacks into 100% combo finishers. That means anytime you shoot through a combo field you will apply a brief effect twice (Poison, Confusion, Regeneration, Condition Removal, Burning, Blindness, Lifesteal, Chill).

Without the trait you only have a 20% chance of applying the effect.

Spifnar.4712:

If longbow applied a bleed along with the burn (attack #2 and burst), I’d call warrior conditions complete.

Sigil of Earth + 50% Bleed Duration + 33% Chance to Bleed on Crit = ~6-7 steady stacks of bleeds. Auto attack gives two chances, fan of fire three, and while your combo field pulses direct damage. 3 Krait Runes & 3 Affliction Runes +20 Points into condition duration will give you 100% duration on your bleeds. Sigil has a 2 second internal cooldown, but the chance to bleed on crit does not.

Longbow also has a double 100% projectile finisher with Stronger Bowstrings. That means you can also apply Poison and Confusion in the right group setting.

One way to hold aggro / make the mob predictable is to stack immobilize. Even if they don’t target you they stay put. Sword and Board is great for this.

I’ve been currently “support tanking” in cleric gear with Mace, Shield, & Shouts. The third mace attack hits like a truck (for cleric gear) and has a surprisingly large cleave. Weakness is our cheap version of Protection. Even if your foes have unpredictable aggro, a fumble can prevent a glass cannon from being one shot and a few shouts can will reset their health pool.

Also, Guardian boons can really amp up your damage (with the Boons → % Damage trait), so taking a back seat to a tanky guardian isn’t so bad.

You can still interrupt most bosses with those attacks even if it you don’t CC them (e.g. you can still trigger Distracting Strikes).

Immobilize, Cripple, and Chill will still work if you are trying for a control build.

Longbow and Hammer pair very well together, especially with the 3rd Tier Discipline talent “Adrenal Reserves.” Longbow Burst needs full adrenaline, but Hammer Burst is great even with one level of Adrenaline (same damage — just a shorter stun). Adrenal Reserves allows you to Longbow Burst, swap weapons, and immediately use your Hammer Burst to stun your enemies inside your fire field (simultaneously granting you a stack of might).

You can swap weapons every 5 seconds and use both bursts on cooldown. Tons of AoE damage and control.

Full Arms (Vulnerability & Bleeding & Adrenaline on Crit Traits), Full Discipline (Inspiring Shouts, Improved Signets, Adrenal Resevers). and Stronger Bowstrings in Tactics. Gear for Precision & Condition Damage. Signet of Earth on your Longbow and Signet of Blood on your Rifle.

Swap weapons and use both bursts on cooldown.

Fire Shield and Fiery Bolts aren’t very reliable. You will get a lot more Burning duration by taking the Stronger Bowstrings trait that makes all your Bow attacks 100% Projectile Combo finishers and directly applying burning through your combo field.

Hammer works a lot better. Hammer Burst inside Longbow Burst will keep your foes inside your field for an extra tick and give you 3x Might (which will make the burning ticks you’ve already applied do more damage).

Adrenal Reserves and Inspiring Shouts in Discipline make executing this combo a lot easier. I also recommend going deep arms and the Sigil of Earth for Longbow Condition builds.

@phaeris:

A blast combo finisher would be more utility.

@Braxxus:

That’s a good point. I was only considering PVE. In my mind that makes Longbow a better contender as a condition weapon for PVP then? With the Sigil of Earth and on crit traits from Arms, I may not stack a lot of bleeds, but I can go from 0 conditions to 3 conditions (Vulnerability, Burning, & ~6x Bleeding) in a matter of seconds steadily procced by the auto attack alone. With Stronger Bowstrings, Burning is incredibly easy to apply via combo’s even if your opponent avoids your fire field. I’m also assuming that Vulnerability should be considered as our only true cover condition because of how easy it is to reapply? Something worth considering at least (I’m not a heavy PVPer).

And to add to what EasymodeX said, Warriors have access to 3/4 conditions that do damage. We have a lot of potential to do a lot of damage with conditions, the only problem is our limited access to cover conditions that are easily reapplied. Once you factor in condition removal, the more conditions you can put up the less likely your bleed/burn stack is going to be removed.

I remember reading early on about ArenaNet’s design philosophy. Make weapons skills easy to pick up and use right away, but give them enough depth that they don’t ever feel stale (I’m paraphrasing). Longbows unfortunately skew a bit more on the depth side. You’ll probably be a little disappointed when you first pick it up, but once you dive a little deeper into the play-style you start to realize the weapon’s potential.

As pointed out by someone else in the other thread on the same topic, the 1200 trait has a hidden bonus of transforming the longbow into a projectile finishing powerhouse. Without the trait, you have a 20% chance on your auto attack (two chances) and a 100% chance with your #5. With the talent, you have a 100% chance to combo twice on your auto attack. That makes it an amazing talent worth taking.

NexParietis.6409:

one thing that does happen to it is that all the attacks(arcing is a burst) become 100% projectile finishers.

That… is amazing. I never took the talent because I usually longbow in melee. I wonder if that is by design or if it is a bug?

Varyag.3751:

Warrior condition builds are quite average, actually.

How so? There are only four conditions that do damage in the game – Burning, Bleeding, Confusion and Poison. Warriors have access to all of them except poison. A necro won’t do more damage with bleeding than a warrior with the same +Condition Damage.

Rune of the Monk looks very tempting to pair with the Signet of Rage: group Aegis every 48 seconds. Unfortunately, having to run AC a dozen times to try it out in group play doesn’t seem worth it.

For leveling efficiency? Go the Arms/Signet build. For quality of life? Discipline for faster weapon swapping and a reduced cooldown on your elite signet.