Guild Wars 2

I run with this http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNUQNAR8XnUqQLL2KI+rAXLGAToaPAFQAwKZfPDpaFXwkD-TlCFwANuAAy3fAwRA4qSQBHEAkKPQp+jVlYZ0Ns4BAQIgyjBA-w

Heal gets swapped for Spring if I’m running with friends and oh axe can be swapped for dagger or warhorn depending on preference.

The burst from F2 -> pet swap -> F2 while autoattacking with sword with sick’em active ( thanks to zephyrs speed ) is crazy – and thanks to multiple sources of vigor, your low HP is kind of mitigated ( can’t believe the forums filtered “kinkittenigated” ) by the amount of blocks and evades you have access to ( especially if using an oh dagger ).

Oh it’s not all bad, some trenchcoats are alright!

On a side note, yeah, I would love to see pistols or rifles, been a ranger main for a very long time, and I don’t like either of the bows. If I ever need range I just grab an axe

My lovely ranger

Loved it once again, what builds you running in this one?

Personally run a similar….ish build to the one by docMed.

http://bit.ly/1rFLHib

6/2/0/0/6 – Burst Precision ( 100% crit with bursts ) and Burst Mastery ( more damage, less cost )

Absolutely love this build, often swap out the stance for berserker, endure or balanced depending on how kittenty a day I’ve been having, and the signet alternates between Might when in a party for the picking people off, or Fury for when I need to quickly chain F1s.

Hammer is a great on-swap weapon as a punisher for enemies dodging your killshot.

Miss kill shot → Earthshaker, knock ’em around a bit with hammer, back into rifle – it basically acts as a safety net for missed killshots, while being able to keep near permanent uptime of adrenaline ( enough to f1 pretty much whenever you want in combat with either weapon ).

As for the elite, signet when roaming alone, banner when with a party.

Build works very nicely, the control you have through your hammer stun/knockback/knockdown, rifle knockback and kick is ridiculous, and can seriously mess people up that aren’t using stab to res their allies etc.

Works just as well in spvp, but I take either zerker or balanced stance depending on team.

Give it a try, high crit damage and guaranteed crits when they land mean you can build a little more defensively if you really wanted to ( gear wise ).

bumping this, really ought to be stickied…

Hey guys,

Been messing around with a build recently in both sPvP and roaming WvW ( small group/solo roaming ).

sPvP: http://bit.ly/1qxX8Ik
WvW: http://bit.ly/1milt35

Greatsword is always equipped but I rotate between Sword/Axe, Sword/Dagger and Longbow in my offhand set depending on my mood/the other team. If I use longbow I swap out Pet’s Prowess for Quick Draw.

Between Nature’s Protection, Evasive Purity and Survival of the Fittest, you won’t melt if someone looks at you, condis aren’t a huge problem, you have plenty of evades and plenty of ways to control your enemy, whether through your pet’s stuns/immobs/fears or your GS 4, 5, Axe 4, Longbow 4 etc. Hell, can even take a shortbow if you want a few more evades/cripples/dazes.

It’s not pure zerk, but as far as fun power-builds go, where you also want that little bit of surv, it works wonders for me. Some people take Sigil of Intelligence on GS, I prefer taking Air + Fire, it makes up for the lack of traits in the Markmanship traitline and with 53% crit ( 73% after a weapon swap ) it procs a hell of a lot.

The burst from GS 3 -> 5 -> 2 -> swap to s/a + other pet -> quickening zephyr -> 4 -> autoattack is insane as well, the stun on the GS chained into the stun from your pet, alongside the quickness boon and high-proc rate, high-damage sigils can melt most builds in seconds.

Any suggestions to this build, or criticism is welcome. I’m bored of the usual condi or celestial builds, and to be honest, the marksmanship traitline leaves little to be desired as I’m not a huge fan of the signets.

I personally run this:

http://bit.ly/1qxX8Ik

Greatsword is always equipped but I rotate between Sword/Axe, Sword/Dagger and Longbow in my offhand set depending on my mood/the other team. If I use longbow I swap out Pet’s Prowess for Quick Draw.

Between Nature’s Protection, Evasive Purity and Survival of the Fittest, you won’t melt if someone looks at you, condis aren’t a huge problem, you have plenty of evades and plenty of ways to control your enemy, whether through your pet’s stuns/immobs/fears or your GS 4, 5, Axe 4, Longbow 4 etc. Hell, can even take a shortbow if you want a few more evades/cripples/dazes.

It’s not pure zerk, but as far as fun power-builds go, where you also want that little bit of surv, it works wonders for me. Some people take Sigil of Intelligence on GS, I prefer taking Air + Fire, it makes up for the lack of traits in the Markmanship traitline and with 53% crit ( 73% after a weapon swap ) it procs a hell of a lot.

The burst from GS 3 -> 5 -> 2 → swap to s/a + other pet -> quickening zephyr -> 4 -> autoattack is insane as well, the stun on the GS chained into the stun from your pet, alongside the quickness boon and high-proc rate, high-damage sigils can melt most builds in seconds.

I personally run this:

http://bit.ly/1ggsvna

It’s by no means optimal, but it’s never failed me in Fractals/Arah. Not quite full zerk because I’m not perfect, and I like having the little bit of extra vitality. The crit chance is quite low, but the power is high as hell and you get such high uptime on fury from persisting flames that it isn’t really a problem.

I tend to lean more towards support, cycling through my attunements, making sure to blast Lava Font whenever I can to maintain might/fury stacks. Still hit some pretty respectable numbers, and occasionally swap staff for Sc/D if I don’t need the range or physically can’t stay at 600+ range.

Sc/D allows for even more effective might/fury stacking. Permanent 9 stacks is easy, if group is stacked, can maintain closer to 15-20 on your own for an entire fight. I also swap out Quick Glyphs for Bolt to the Heart, and swap my heal and elite to Signet of Renewal/Fiery GS respectively if I swap to Sc/D for the extra damage, or if we need to stack and my elemental’s gonna cause problems.

There are a lot of great guides out there that cover a wide variety of builds that work, the main point is to find one that fits you and adjust it to work exactly the way you want, or use it as is, as a nice, solid build.

Not sure if I’ve missed something important, but I can’t see any information about this.

With Season 1 drawing to an end this week, how is the next season going to work?

For example, will there be a 1 week gap ( for example ) before the start of the next season? Will there even be a season 2?

Or will it work like it already does and simply continue but with servers moved up/down based on their performance with no gap in between?

Tried searching for information but couldn’t find any- maybe I’m just being blind.

So….you’re annoyed that if an opponent negates your attack, you don’t get rewarded for it?

I…uh, k.

For organised 5-10m roaming:

10/0/30/30/0 – Axe/Axe, Mace/Mace, Axe/Warhorn ( depends on what we need, body cleave, CC or Swiftness ) + GS.

Strength: Dual Wielding
Defense: Dogged March, Cleansing Ire, Spiked Armour
Tactics: Lung Capacity, Empower Allies, Vigorous Shouts.

Utils: Healing Surge, FGJ, Shake if Off, Endure Pain, Banner/Signet.

Knight’s Armour, Zerker Weapons/Trinkets.
Runes of Hoelbrak ( I’m too poor for Melandru )
Sigils of Force/Accuracy/Perception

My job here is normally body cleave/harassment.

For solo roaming:

0/20/30/0/20 – Sword/Shield ( or Warhorn ) + GS

Arms: Furious Reaction, Opportunist
Defense: Dogged March, Sure-Footed, Cleansing Ire
Discipline: Vigorous Focus, Signet Mastery

Utils: Healing Signet, Berserker Stance, Last Stand/Endure Pain, Signet of Stamina, Signet of Rage.

Knight’s Armour, Zerker Weapons/Trinkets
Runes of Hoelbrak ( I’m too poor for Melandru )
Sigils of Force/Accuracy/Perception

Just my personal fave build to run solo. Hits pretty hard, has some nice control.

Zergs

I avoid them.

Gotta say, I’m not hugely devastated by the changes. Most of the changes that are incoming are, in my opinion, justified. Loved my warrior before, gonna love it after the patch.

Hambow/Burst Mastery builds aren’t the only things out there ( figuratively speaking here, I am aware of how many warriors use that build in WvW ), the changes don’t affect any of the builds I run to be quite honest, but I do think that they overdid it a bit.

Nerfs to Skullcrack/Earthshaker were justified, I can understand the logic behind wanting to seperate CC and Damage.

But I don’t see the reason why Burst Mastery had to be nerfed :/

The trait wasn’t particularly OP unless paired with Hammer/Bow which is mildly irritating; and as for Unsuspecting Foe, when you consider similar traits on other classes, it was a bit overkill to have it as an Adept trait, same as Empowered Allies was a bit too powerful for an Adept trait in the Tactics line.

But it is what it is, still gonna be playing my Warr after the patch.

Love the class, even with all its ups and downs.

Playstyle

Thing I love about this build is it’s flexibility. It works with most weapons and setups and can be adjusted to do pretty much anything you want, in both PvE and WvW. I’ve even tried it out in sPvP and it seems to work just fine there as well.

At no point feel like you’re locked into a weapon set. If a fight really doesn’t allow you to stack up, feel free to use a Staff or a Greatsword. Staff has a fantastic AoE, and if your target has a lot of conditions, the iWarlock, it’s phantasm, hits like a train.

Don’t like sword? Take Scepter, with a power build it’s 3 ability ( Confusing Images ) ticks for a pretty decent amount, and the block can save your life ( but be careful with it’s auto attack, don’t let it overwrite your phantasms ). Don’t like Pistols? Take an OH Sword, the phantasm is one of the hardest hitting we have, and it’s block/interrupt is always useful.

In WvW I like to take Greatsword and Sword/Pistol. The GS has a nice knockback, fantastic range and a powerful, hard hitting phantasm that cripples your foe. The sword’s Blurred Frenzy is fantastic for both offense and defense, hitting very hard but also allowing you to evade things that are going to result in a painful death. Here’s a fun fact, you can Blink out of it. To avoid large AoE fields that you wouldn’t be able to roll out of/didn’t have time to evade.

Keep up your phantasms and your pressure, yes it’s a phantasm build but don’t be afraid to shatter. If all your phantasms attacks are on CD, and an enemy is close to death, feel free to Mind Wrack or Diversion to finish him off or interrupt a heal. Distortion can and will save your life if used right.

Take your time over things, pay attention to your enemies and time Thievery so that it causes maximum mayhem. Necro put conditions on you, his guardian gal-pal giving him stability? Give his friend those torment stacks and steal those boons. Pistol 5 is a fantastic daze/stun on a not-too-long CD, use it to interrupt heals etc, don’t just fire it off because, well, you can.

Feel free to try it out, any questions/criticisms/suggestions are welcome

PvE

This dungeon variation replaces the manipulations with glamours, which are ( in my opinion anyway ) a better choice for dungeons.

http://bit.ly/1gSB20h

Weapons:

• Sword/Focus – Berserker’s ( Sigil of Perception/Sigil of Battle )
• Sword/Pistol – Berserker’s ( Sigil of Perception/Sigil of Battle )
• Just keep one sword with Sigil of Perception and put Battle on the OH Swaps. If you want, bring another Sword with a Sigil of Force or Fire to switch to once you have full Perception stacks.

Armour:

• Berserker’s with a Knight’s Coat and Valkyrie Boots.

Trinkets:

• Amulet: Berserker ( Exotics ), if you can afford Ascended, then Bers/Valk.
• Rings: Valkyrie ( Exotics ), if you can afford Ascended, then Cavalier.
• Accessories: Berserker/Knights.
• Back: Cavalier/Soldier ( Whichever you prefer ).

Food/Enhancement:

• Curry Butternut Squash ( Prec/Crit Dam ) or Curry Pumpkin Soup ( Prec/Vit ).
• Superior Sharpening Stone ( Power ) or Master Maintenance Oil ( Precision )

Final Stats:

• ~3k Attack
• ~50-60% Critical Chance
• ~80-90% Critical Damage
• ~18-20k Health depending on Valk/Cavalier
• ~2.1-2.3k Armour depending on Valk/Cavalier

Traits and Utilities

Mirror /Feedback/Null Field/MoConc/ Time Warp

• Mirror is just my preferred heal, feel free to swap it out for either of the others.
• Feedback is immensely useful in dungeons, the reflection provided from this and your focus are invaluable.
• Null Field is handy for heavy condition fights, however, this is more of a spare slot. Feel free to use this for Portal or w/e else takes your fancy. If you don’t want to use a second glamour here, change the Inspiration trait II ( Glamour Mastery ), to V ( Persisting Images ).
• Mantra of Concentration is a handy little tool in dungeons. AoE-Stability ( albeit it with a rather small radius ) that breaks stuns and can be used twice every 25 seconds. Very powerful ability.
• Time Warp. What more needs to be said? Warn your party, pop this down and watch things melt.

10/20/15/25/0

10 – Domination:
*III – Empowered Illusions: Illusions inflict 15% more damage.

The build focuses on our phantasms for both damage and defense, more damage is always handy and this combined with the Inspiration Grandmaster Minor trait, results in some pretty huge numbers, seen iWarlocks hitting upwards of 15-16k in PvE, sure it could be higher with higher levels of vulnerability on the targets.

20 – Dueling:

• II – Phantasmal Fury: Your phantasms have fury.
• IV – Blade Training: Sword skills recharge 20% faster.

Any way to buff your phantasms is good, hence the Phantasmal Fury, however, in PvE being at range isn’t always the best option ( you miss out on a lot of your partys boons. Might, Fury etc ), so taking a MH Sword for both weapon sets is recommended. As you aren’t full glass ( armour-wise ) it’s not particularly risky either as long as you use your shatters/frenzy sensibly. As a result, I take IV – Blade Training, to make the sword a little more comfortable to use than it already is. If you prefer, take IX – Duelists Discipline instead for your duelist to be up more often.

15 – Chaos:

• III – Master of Manipulation: Your manipulation skills recharge 20% faster.

Went 15 into this tree for 2 main reasons. One, a little more defense while your phantasms are up. Two, the Master Minor trait ( Phantasms grant Regeneration to nearby allies ) compliments the Inspiration Master Minor trait ( Gain 2 seconds of Protection when you gain Regeneration ). With phantasms being our primary method of damage, this grants Regen/Protection a lot of the time.

25 – Inspiration

• II – Glamour Mastery: Glamour Skills recharge 20% faster.
• VIII – Warden’s Feedback: Focus skills reflect and recharge 20% faster.

Went 25 in this line for several reasons. Glamours are pretty kitten good in PvE, especially Feedback for it’s reflection. We then expand on this already powerful skill by traiting the Focus skills to also reflect projectiles back at their attackers, an incredibly useful ability to have. And of course, we can’t forget the GM Minor trait, +15% damage to our phantasms.

Heya peeps, been messing around with builds a bit recently, and discovered that I actually really like the utility of Manipulations in WvW, so decided to try and build something around it, however, in the process I noticed that the same build can also translate well into PvE with a few adjustments to chosen traits/weapons.

WvW

This is aimed at solo/small group roaming, whereas it may work in zergs, there are better choices out there that don’t rely on phantasms which are incredibly prone to going splat in large fights.

http://bit.ly/1imkBoo

Weapons:

• Greatsword – Berserker’s ( Sigil of Battle )
• Sword/Pistol – Berserker’s ( Sigil of Battle/Sigil of Perception )

Armour:

• Berserker’s with a Knight’s Coat and Valkyrie Boots.

Trinkets:

• Amulet: Berserker ( Exotics ), if you can afford Ascended, then Bers/Valk.
• Rings: Valkyrie ( Exotics ), if you can afford Ascended, then Cavalier.
• Accessories: Berserker/Knights.
• Back: Cavalier/Soldier ( Whichever you prefer ).

Food/Enhancement:

• Curry Butternut Squash ( Prec/Crit Dam ) or Curry Pumpkin Soup ( Prec/Vit ).
• Superior Sharpening Stone ( Power ) or Master Maintenance Oil ( Precision )

Final Stats:

• ~3k Attack
• ~50-60% Critical Chance
• ~80-90% Critical Damage
• ~18-20k Health depending on Valk/Cavalier
• ~2.1-2.3k Armour depending on Valk/Cavalier

Traits and Utilities

Mirror /Decoy*/Arcane Thievery/Blink/ Mass Invisibility

• Mirror is just personal preference, short CD, reflects projectiles and procs swiftness every 15 secs.
• Decoy is also personal preference, if you’d rather have an AoE-stability for your group, take MoConcentration instead.
• Arcane Thievery is a personal favourite of mine, great for dealing with Condition and Boon based builds alike. If you can steal a guardian’s Stability/Protection/Aegis, you’re in for a good time. Being murdered by some nasty Torment/Bleeding/Poison stacks? Return the favour.
• Blink is hands down my fave breakstun we have as a Mesmer, and when traited can move you a luuuurvely 1200 ( feet? yards? I still have no idea what this number refers to haha ) every 24 seconds.
• Mass Invisibility is great for both personal and team-based offence and defense. Can save your life, secure a stomp or be used to get in/out of a fight.

10/20/15/25/0

10 – Domination:

• III – Empowered Illusions: Illusions inflict 15% more damage.

The build focuses on our phantasms for both damage and defense, more damage is always handy and this combined with the Inspiration Grandmaster Minor trait, results in some pretty huge numbers, seen iWarlocks hitting upwards of 15-16k in PvE, sure it could be higher with higher levels of vulnerability on the targets.

20 – Dueling:

• I – Long Reaching Manipulations: Your manipulations have increased range ( +300 )
• II – Phantasmal Fury: Your phantasms have fury.

As I tried to focus this build around the damage of phantasms and the utility of manipulations, these seemed to be fairly strong choices for me, however, they are flexible. You will be running around 50% crit once Perception has built up it’s stacks, so if you don’t feel the need for Phantasmal Fury, or the added range on Manipulations doesn’t tickle your fancy, feel free to swap them out for Blade Training/Duelists Discipline for faster recharges on your pistol interrupt/illusions/blurred frenzy.

15 – Chaos:

• III – Master of Manipulation: Your manipulation skills recharge 20% faster.

Went 15 into this tree for 2 main reasons. One, shorter recharges on Blink/Thievery. Two, the Master Minor trait ( Phantasms grant Regeneration to nearby allies ) compliments the Inspiration Master Minor trait ( Gain 2 seconds of Protection when you gain Regeneration ). With phantasms being our primary method of damage, this grants Regen/Protection a lot of the time.

25 – Inspiration

• IV – Mender’s Purity: Healing removes a condition.
• V – Persisting Images: Phantasms have 20% more health.

Went 25 in this line for several reasons. Even with Arcane Thievery, conditions are still a problem, being able to remove one every 20 seconds ( Ether Feast ),15 seconds ( Mirror ) or 10 seconds ( Mantra of Recovery ) is incredibly handy. I also take Persisting Images to give my phantasms a little more health so that enemies focusing them down isn’t always the best option, and it helps me to keep up Regeneration/Protection. And last but not least, the GM Minor, +15% damage to our phantasms.

Personally run either 20/20/0/20/10 ( http://bit.ly/1cbZAzs ) or 10/10/0/25/25 ( http://bit.ly/19Z0sQd ) with Sw/P + Sw/F.

I occasionally swap out the Sw/P for a Staff ( if I really need the ranged damage ) but yeah.

The GS isn’t a BAD weapon, but it also isn’t particularly good. It’s damage is great if you’re at max range, and it’s phantasm does pack a punch, but to do its max damage it generally requires you to be out of range of your groups Might/Fury etc. A good alternative is a Scepter ( resulting in Sw/F + Sc/P ), but be careful with its auto attacks, if you aren’t planning on shattering, the clones it produces through its auto-attack chain can kill your phantasms. Safest bet for ranged is deffo staff. The auto attack buffs allies/debuffs enemies, the iWarlock hits pretty kitten hard if you time it right and the Chaos Storm is a fantastic defensive/offensive utility, just gotta know when to use it and what for.

Both are Phantasm/Glamour focused, first one gives you a bit more damage for yourself, second one gives your phantasms a boost. Utilities are generally 2 glamours and a breakstun. I use Blink as my breakstun out of personal preference ( it doesn’t create a clone that might inadvertently murder a phantasm ), and Null Field sometimes gets swapped out for Portal if the group needs/wants to skip something.

Edited due to an apostrophe overload.

Dawdler.8521:

Just mix em up. PVT, Knigths, Cavalier (you may even sneak in a Berserker there). Its all good. Here’s the stats of my slightly buffed Mesmer (only got 16 bloodlust)

What exactly are you using there, Dawdler? They’re some pretty respectable stats, I’m assuming Borderlands Bloodlust ( and you mentioned 16 stacks of BL ) but still not bad at all for a tankier set of gear.

Yeah But my build tends to vary with the people I’m running with, it’s not always the most sensible option to take.

Let’s assume I’m ignoring traits for the purposes of the topic if that’s alright

Hey there, just a quick question really about weaving in a few bits of more defensive gear.

Currently run full zerkers gear for PvE purposes, but plan to swap a few bits out for some more defense when doing WvW. I was just curious as to whether there’s a particular setup that provides the biggest bonus for Mesmer.

For example, it’s recommended that Thieves swap out a few of their main pieces for Soldier’s gear as it performs better for both damage and survivability than, say, Valkyrie or Knight’s does.

Would a similar setup be viable for Mesmer? Or is Valkyrie actually pretty good for us? How about Cavalier? I understand that toughness > vitality for mitigating direct damage, but with the amount of condition builds running around in WvW right now, would it be as useful as the extra Vitality?

Would it be better to swap up my armour, weapons or trinkets?

Any advice would be appreciated

Seriously guys, if you’ve got any suggestions, let me know! If I can improve upon the survivability further without giving up any more damage- I would love to, I’d love to see suggested Runes that might work well with it, different ways it could be used, variations to the trait lines that would change it up a bit.

@Olba: All the “builds” are just variations of the main trait setup- Im just giving examples of ways it can be slightly modified in order to fit various situations, without having to completely respec your character. I’m not showing 4 builds- I’m showing 1 build with mild variations to fit various situations. It’s no fun getting into a fractal to find that people are running awkward builds, with the setup I enjoy using, I can simply swap a few things around, and run with more support to help the group.

Mainly do WvW, it’s what I enjoy the most, and you’re right, GS + Sword/Warhorn, Axe/Shield etc AREN’T the only way to play warriors, I much prefer Sword/Sword and Longbow, unfortunately, I’m yet to find a build with them that’s viable in groups that already have high bleeding stacks ( SB Ranger, Conditionmancer etc ), so I tend to stick with weapons that synergise well with mobility and critical damage. However, if I’m roaming, I often will switch things up, don some Carrion/Rabid gear and go around with 2 swords, it makes things a little more interesting.

If I really wanted, I could go GS + Axe/Shield, but I got fed up with people pretty much ignoring the Defense and Tactics trees, they have some great traits that don’t need that much investment to utilise well.

I also got fed up with the Berserker’s gear offering very little defense, so tried to play around so that I could still retain some defense ( 30% damage reduction ) and minimise the damage I take through strategic maneuvering/position rather than simply hoping I kill people before they kill me

Ah, for Sigils I tend to use Accuracy on the GS/Rifle, with Accuracy and Hydromancy on the Sword/Warhorn. And where the build DOES include Bulls Rush, it’s used more as an “Okitten” get out of roots button than a knockdown, but yes, it can be used in a similar way to the Bulls Rush → 100B popular combo. Though in the case of this build, I ( personally ) find it more useful as an escape/preventative measure, as any player worth their salt in WvW will normally avoid the main damage of a BR → 100B combo.

As for armour, I tend to use Ruby Orbs or Beryl Orbs. Never been a fan of runes, the only Rune set I find particularly useful is Vampirism, and even that I only use on my thief because it genuinely needs it for survival.

Playstyle:
PvE

• Idea behind this build is to deal good damage, while playing smart and being able to survive if things go kitten up. We have a joke running in our guild, and refer to min/max perma fury builds as perma-downed in anything other than CoF. Whereas Min/Maxing is great for damage, its very punishable in a majority of the dungeons.

• When in a group, remember that you ARE in a group, got a lack of group buffs? Run with banners, don’t be selfish with your utilities, you won’t lose much damage at all, and everyone else will get a nice boost to their own. Keep on top of your conditions, and remember that you have a fair few ways to escape if you need to. Sword F1 has a built in immobilise, Sword 2 when untargeted is a very nice, and fast escape, Sword 3 is a cripple, Greatsword 4 is the same, Greatsword 5 is a nice escape/gap closer and Greatsword 3 has a built in Evade mechanic – use it! If you’re low on endurance it can be a lifesaver.

WvW – Zerging

• Same as I mentioned above when I talked about groups, use your banners, be sensible, and use your abilities to get in and out of a kittenstorm if you need to. In WvW you should be taking the Mobile Strikes trait, which means that in addition to being good gap openers and closers, abilities such as Greatsword 3/5, Sword 2 and Bulls Rush will break immobilise effects that are on you!

Solo – WvW Roaming

• Obviously banners won’t be so useful in this scenario, run with Signet of Rage/Stamina and focus on controlling fights. Thanks to the Berserker’s gear, you won’t have to control them for very long. Enemy players go down incredibly fast to this build, and with some exceptions, can find it very hard to get away from you thanks to your condition removal, immobilise removal and abundant cripples.

Here are some example builds for every situation for those that want them:

Example WvW Zerg Build: http://bit.ly/18D4AWk
Example PvE Group Build: http://bit.ly/13TDyJy
Example PvE Solo/Selfish Build: http://bit.ly/167lShH
Example WvW Solo Build: http://bit.ly/12zUaDE

You might notice that those builds are using “Turtle’s Defense”. This trait no longer exists and is now called Dogged March, explanation of what it does is in the build posts.

And that’s about it peeps, if you have anything you want to add to this, or any suggestions/feedback of your own, please leave a comment, I’ll be happy to take any constructive criticism/suggestions or answer any questions

Peace

PvE Dungeon / WvW Solo / PvE Solo Orientated Builds

Utilities:

• Mending: By far my favourite heal, and due to running with low-no vitality, is essential for keeping the more nasty conditions at bay.

• Shake It Off / Bulls Rush / Banner of xxxx: Dont want to worry too much? Take SIO, remove a condition and break a stun on a 25 second CD. Running with banners? Take the Battle Standard as your elite, and take Banner of Defense or Discipline for some added survivability or oomph for your group. Roaming in WvW? Take Bulls Rush to use with Mobile Strikes and to stop those pesky thieves from running away.

• Endure Pain: Breakstun and a few seconds of invulnerability, nice for getting out of sticky situations, or when you want to be able to stand there and deal some quick, heavy damage without worrying too much.

• Signet of Stamina / For Great Justice: Some added vigor and a good, reliable condition removal, or fury and might to help things on their way to hell just that little bit faster. The choice is yours though, choose whichever will be more useful for the current situation.

• Battle Standard / Signet of Rage: Fury, might and swiftness for your group, with the added bonus of reviving your downed allies – but with the drawback of a hefty CD, or a nice fury, might and swiftness buff for yourself that has a fairly low cooldown and a very nice duration. I personally prefer the signet, but in some cases, the standard is more useful.

Strength: 0

• I honestly can’t find a reason to invest skill points into this tree.

Arms: 25

• Adept Minor: 33% chance to cause bleeding on critical hits.
• Adept Major: Furious Reaction – I just love this trait, and remember, I’m focusing on mobility for survivability here, so vigor is super useful, and noone can say no to free fury!
• Master Minor: Critical Burst – Not a particularly useful trait as the only burst skill we will be using is the 1h Sword F1. But still adds a nice bit of extra damage.
• Master Major: Forceful Greatsword – Shorter cooldowns and might on critical hits with the greatsword, very useful trait.
• Grandmaster Minor: Increased damage to bleeding foes – Works VERY nicely with the Adept Minor.

Defense: 15

• Adept Minor: Extra armour above 90% health.
• Adept Major: New trait introduced to replace Turtle’s Defense, Dogged March. Whenever you are struck by Immobilise, Chill or Cripple, the duration of said effects is reduced by 33% and you receive 3 seconds of regeneration. Very useful trait.
• Master Minor: Regenerate Health based on adrenaline level. – Not hugely powerful, but enough to help.

Tactics: 10

• Adept Minor: Determined Revival – Nice big chunk of extra toughness while reviving other players.
• Adept Major: Inspiring Banners or Empowered – If you’re running with a the battle standard + banner or disc/defense, Inspiring Banners is the way to go, anything to reduce that nasty 240 second cooldown is a welcome sight. But if you’re running with FGJ/ Signet of Stamina and Signet of Rage, take empowered, it buffs your damage for every boon on you.

Discipline: 20

• Adept Minor: Gain 5 strikes of adrenaline on weapon swap – Always handy.
• Adept Major: Heightened Focus – Extra crit based on adrenaline level, more crit, more damage.
• Master Minor: Fast Hands: Weapon swapping recharges 5 seconds faster – If you don’t play a warrior, you are jealous of this trait. If you’re not, you should be.
• Master Major: Signet Mastery or Anything – Take Signet Mastery for the reduced cooldown on SoStamina and SoRage if you’re using them, otherwise, pick anything that takes your fancy.

Hey guys,

Thought I’d bring a build I’ve been trying out recently to the table. I got fed up with always seeing the same builds wandering about, Greatsword Min/Max DPS, Axe/Axe, Perma Fury High Crit etc, so thought I would try something a little different in an attempt to slightly balance damage, and survivability through mobility rather than relying on toughness/vitality.

The major traits I’m using vary between role ( WvW or PvE ), but the trait lines themselves don’t ever need to be changed. As for weapons, I’m running this with Greatsword and Sword/Warhorn for the mobility/slow removal from both sets. However, if needed you can swap out the Greatsword for a Rifle, and change the Arms Master Major trait from Forceful Greatsword to Crack Shot.

Full Berserker’s gear is recommended, but has quite a high skill cap to use it effectively, Knight’s can be used as a much safer alternative, and I would actually recommend mixing in some Knight’s armour or Emerald jewelry for some added survivability in Fractals, but you will lose out on some damage.

With full Exotic Berserker Gear, and the right buffs, your stats will look a little something like this:

Buffs: Master Maintenance Oil + Bowl of Curry Butternut Squash Soup

• Power: 2000 – Effective Power 4.2-5000
• Precision: 2100 – 75%
• Critical Damage: 100%
• 19000 HP – 27000 Effective HP ( HP + Toughness/Defense )
• 28% Damage Reduction

WvW Orientated – Zerg Build

Utilities:

• Mending: By far my favourite heal, and due to running with low-no vitality, is essential for keeping the more nasty conditions at bay.

• Bulls Rush: Fantastic gap closer and knockdown, with the added benefit or removing Immobilise due to the Discipline Master Major Trait: Mobile Strikes.

• Endure Pain: Breakstun and a few seconds of invulnerability, nice for getting out of sticky situations, or when you want to be able to stand there and deal some quick, heavy damage without worrying too much.

• Banner of Discipline / Banner of Defense: Two very useful banners, one for some added precision and critical damage, another for adding some extra toughness and vitality to your group – take your pick.

• Battle Standard: Immensely useful, but has a slightly restrictive cooldown.

Strength: 0

• I honestly can’t find a reason to invest skill points into this tree.

Arms: 25

• Adept Minor: 33% chance to cause bleeding on critical hits.
• Adept Major: Furious Reaction – I just love this trait, and remember, I’m focusing on mobility for survivability here, so vigor is super useful, and noone can say no to free fury!
• Master Minor: Critical Burst – Not a particularly useful trait as the only burst skill we will be using is the 1h Sword F1. But still adds a nice bit of extra damage.
• Master Major: Forceful Greatsword – Shorter cooldowns and might on critical hits with the greatsword, very useful trait.
• Grandmaster Minor: Increased damage to bleeding foes – Works VERY nicely with the Adept Minor.

Defense: 15

• Adept Minor: Extra armour above 90% health.
• Adept Major: New trait introduced to replace Turtle’s Defense, Dogged March. Whenever you are struck by Immobilise, Chill or Cripple, the duration of said effects is reduced by 33% and you receive 3 seconds of regeneration. Very useful trait.
• Master Minor: Regenerate Health based on adrenaline level. – Not hugely powerful, but enough to help.

Tactics: 10

• Adept Minor: Determined Revival – Nice big chunk of extra toughness while reviving other players.
• Adept Major: Inspiring Banners – Reduce those nasty cooldowns on your group buffs, very useful trait.

Discipline: 20

• Adept Minor: Gain 5 strikes of adrenaline on weapon swap – Always handy.
• Adept Major: Heightened Focus – Extra crit based on adrenaline level, more crit, more damage.
• Master Minor: Fast Hands: Weapon swapping recharges 5 seconds faster – If you don’t play a warrior, you are jealous of this trait. If you’re not, you should be.
• Master Major: Mobile Strikes – Movement skills break immobilise! Bulls Rush, Savage Leap, Whirlwind, Rush – with this trait they will ALL break immobilise, it is IMMENSELY useful in WvW.