Trying something diffrent (pve)

I used to have a fairly solid but very scattered Pve build that tanked overworld decently but my biggest sticking point was the HP was at a undesirable at a 23000 ish. I went to metabattle and tried the https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Warrior_-_Strength_Greatsword and used the Marauder variant for more crit and HP, but while its very good I'm having stand up and fight issues because of a loss of toughness.

Now I know toughness as a stat is kind of a double bladed weapon since it invites aggro to those that have it more so than just plain power builds do. But I'm really considering Runes of the scrapper plus pepper . I understand that between the two I should have a -17% damage mitigation in melee plus the two to three percent that the 100 toughness will add. I was wondering if there were any others ways I could stack to get more resistance without going overboard on toughness. Heck I really don't want to go over the 100 that trooper has added if I possibly can.

First off. Damage Reduction with few exceptions does not stack additively. So scrapper runes and pepper steak is about 16.3% reduction total. In OW higher DPS will go further than higher defense, unless you are trying to solo a Champion creature and are screwing the pooch on your dodges.

Here is a variant to try. I left the infusions up to you: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PKwAEl7lZwuYTMKWJOULWJdA-zRRYnhIAH10+nSLChAVARIByWEoxpRDXaA-e

I swapped Disc for Arms. You can precast your signets for an extra 500 ferocity to aid in dps, and the trait will also at 50% target health give you 10 might, which will be a source of healing. I also swapped Martial Cadence for Phalanx Strength. In OW there should be lots of allies, either NPCs or random players, nearby to give all your might to, which will be more healing. I put Runes of Durability up, Should give you 6s of protection every 20s.

If you are STILL having a hard time then swap to Spellreaker and try this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PKwAEl7lZwuYTMKWJOUT6PdA-zRRYnhIAH10+nSLChAVARIByWEoxpRDXaA-e

Same thing but with Arms swapped for SPB with full focus on Full Counter. Spamming FC along with Durability Runes will give you perma protection in OW. Magebane Tether will fuel Might and healing.

I don't see a problem with aggro in open world.It doesn't matter if you are solo and if you are not, encounter should be easy (if players are smart enough to revive downed).

Toughness allows you to solo champions. Something that dodges only will never btw. I am talking about strong ones like in HoT or Orr zones.

Without toughness and some stunbreak, you are going down on first hard cc.

I like to carry half knight stats for this matter. It is effectively wasted for anything else that is easier. But to me, fun comes from strong champions.