I’ve seen some tremendously played elementalists. It’s a higher skill cap class due to the rotations involved though. I would still place it above warrior in spvp use.
Like I said, this came from a member of team paradigm. So i assume they’re pretty experienced in high level tourneys and what is effective and what gets rolled over.
I’m not saying you can’t hit for those numbers, but i’ve seen thieves put out that damage in a 3-4 second span with backstab builds and they have more chance of getting away if targetted. You on the other hand will be ccd and then rolled as you have 0 stability trait in your build to get such high numbers and low toughness/hps.
So why would I take you over a thief? or a burst build guardian?
That’s the point i’m making. Warriors are ok, but don’t shine in offence, or defence or range and have no real group support skills. CC is more of an issue to them as most weapon sets mean you have to get to the target to hit them.
The basic fact is that warriors seem to take damage as easily as any other class. Heavy armour shows very little difference to cloth in actual combat.
Yet the cloth/medium classes get viable ranged abilities and ways to avoid damage, whilst the warrior by its very nature is expected to be in the thick of battle.
If you spec all defence as a warrior to extend your lifespan that little bit more you become a non factor in the fight as you hit like a wet noodle.
Simply put the warrior needs more group utility abilities and better survivability amongst all that ranged/aoe damage.
Greatsword 2h button 1 damage is comparable to axe 1h damage.
Warriors sprint doesn’t work whilst in combat as far as I can see?
Mobile strikes – What exactly are movement skills? – It only seemed to work with bullrush. Not with any skills, so what skills exactly count as movement skills.
Bolas and grasping vines (sylvari utility) seem to miss alot. Not even when the person has dodged. A mere sidestep seems to cause them to miss, and then you end up with a cooldown firing.
Maybe it’s just me but i’ve had damage bypassing shield 5 in some situations, maybe it’s a lag spike but the animation is still holding and I still take damage.
I was just watching a team paradigm stream, and the guy playing the mesmer was asked this question. He replied:
‘Tier 1 : Thief, guardian and mesmer’
‘Tier 2 : Everything else but the warrior’
‘Tier 3: The warrior’.
After having played a warrior using every single combination of weapons/traits/runes etc I have to agree. I pondered the reasons why the warrior would place last in picks and the answer is pretty obvious.
We lack utility, group synergy, mobility in a fight and viable ranged attacks.
I find myself having to take balanced stance in traits as there are so many knockdowns/stuns/knockback/fears etc firing off all the time I can’t stay close to a target without it. Even then roots and cripple are my bane.
If you trait for defense you can’t have damage and vice versa. To actually reach a target to inflict damage you need enough defence/damage avoidance to stay up, this is the basics of a melee class. With all but 2 weapon sets you need to be in the thick of the fighting, running through multiple aoes and facing ranged foes with high dps. If you do reach them they have multiple escape skills to avoid your damage.
Let’s look at weapon sets:
Rifle : No group utility, all single target damage, one skill requires you’re next to the person, two do no damage. Burst skill only reason to take.
Bow : Poor aoe damage, poor multi target damage, 3 sec root on long timer, Burst skill : nice but it’s on a timer, needs to be stood in and have the adrenaline built up.
Maces : low damage, single target, no group utility, only the 1 skill does damage, if the person has stability it negates the entire line.
Axes: Good damage, but no group utility, no mobility, easily neutralised. Entirely based on building 3 adrenaline bars and bursting. Apart from the spin all single target.
Swords: Poor damage, have to religiously stick to the same targets to build bleeds. If they clear it (as many skills do) you end up with 0 damage. No group utility, the burst is low damage, just a nice root.
Shield: no group, only benefits you, long cool downs.
Warhorn: Group utility!!!! Nice when traited, but that’s it. You wish you had a shield for the 3 sec block when a thief is tearing you apart and you’re tooting the horn.
Greatsword- No group skills, 2 skills do damage, HB self roots, and has a long duration unless you combine it with frenzy, even then you end up taking 50 percent more damage from everyone else. Nice escape skills/closer skills.
Utility skills : Many of the skills are either just unusable, no group purpose, very short lived or are highly situational/selfish and on a long cooldown (banners…2 minute timers..cough cough).
So all in all the warrior fails in high level tournys/against decent teams because it brings nothing to the table. It does nothing that a guardian can’t do and more. You want melee dps bring a rogue, you want dps with defence+group utility bring a guardian.
If you’re going to design a class where in order to kill things they need to be near their target give them better defence/stability in a lower tier, higher hps, more damage mitigation or more ways to move through cc.
When I play spvp as a warrior you know who I look for first to fight as I know they’ll fall over easiest? The warrior. I know if they haven’t spent points in stability I will decimate them with utter ease. Closing down every other class is like a benny hill chase if they have an ounce of skill.
Why take a warrior in a team when you can have a guardian.
There’s 0 reason. Guardians can hit as hard, have better utility and much better defence.
If you want an offensive class instead of relying on the HB 1 trick pony take a mesmer or a thief with 100 percent uptime damage.
Want a good point control – Engineer.
Rangers, elementalists , necros (to a certain extent), are on the non pick tier of spvp at the moment.
Warriors need more utility in their trait lines and abilities. The stances line is so short, on a long cool down and adds very little to group play or solo play. Look at the recharge on our abilities. So much longer than anyone else. Banners all on 120 seconds!! They’re not even that good! .
Signets on large cooldowns (along with ranger and necro). Mesmers, thieves, guardians all on the 30 second mark for most.
Take away frenzy, it’s so situational, on such a long cool down and if you play against anyone with a brain they will counter it then disintegrate you due to taking 50 percent extra damage.
You have to wade through so much aoe in most battle having low toughness/hps isn’t viable so you end up with a low damage spec.
Warriors need a rethink.