Arklite.4013

Not to disparage your work here, but I believe this information would be easier to put in perspective if you only included the amount of damage mitigation tools used on the most common builds for these specs. Ranger has access to 10 evades, but realistically you aren't going to fight a Ranger in ranked running upwards of 5.

There are a lot of valid criticisms to be made about warrior in competitive modes, but OW is where Warrior is actually really good. I hate to be that guy but this is either a build or skill issue.

Wow, from the man upstairs himself! Thanks for the answer 🙂

I really, really like her work with the character but can't find who voices them anywhere. Do we know?

Reading some comments on this old Reddit thread from 2017 about opinions on the Warrior profession. It's crazy how much the state of the game has changed since then - Warrior used to be a cornerstone PvE group support with Banners and Phalanx Strength. Nowadays whatever boons a profession doesn't supply itself with are kitten out in 25s by half the classes. We're sharing the bottom of the PvP barrel with Mesmers (except they had more MAT representation). The only people still playing this class are basically diehards that refuse to move on to the 8 other classes that do everything we do better and more easily.

Glad to see this topic has gained some traction - to clarify, I'm referring more to an "average" representative - probably somewhere between NPC and Commander level (before the commander became ridiculous). For example, you would have a standard, run-of-the-mill Tempest versus an equivalent Scrapper. The only merits the characters have are from their class/spec alone. A lot of people are suggesting Mesmers would be the strongest because we've seen them accomplish large-scale feats other classes couldn't come close to, but how strong is the average Mesmer? Also, for the case of engineers, I don't think giving them "Batman with prep time" level strength is fair. I recognize how difficult it is to evaluate something like Warrior or Ranger because the most we ever see them do is just... hit stuff. Could there be matchups where they're good enough at hitting stuff to beat a Revenant with an "average"-level invocation? I'm sure we could draw up a 36 entrant tournament bracket and guess through each matchup individually..

If you held a 1v1 tournament and every spec had a representative, what would the standings look like? Do we know at all?

I often forget Spellbreaker has utility skills.

Particularly in open world, Spellbreaker tends to be my class of choice for soloing difficult content. You have so much sustain and many ways to negate damage. PvP is a different issue. The specs that aren't Bladesworn have to work pretty hard for the same payoff as other classes. In PvE, Bladesworn and Berserker are actually really good picks - you provide banners and decent DPS, while you don't fall over as easily as something like Ele or Guardian thanks to warrior's naturally high HP pool.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Contemplation_of_Purity

Unfortunately, GW2's PvP population is not large enough for large-scale statistical analysis to be a valid way to evaluate spec performance so we are forced to actually analyze and evaluate classes for ourselves. Willbender is basically a better version of power herald. Willbender provides: - High damage - Great offensive and decent defensive mobility - Group condi cleanse and stability (as well as great personal condi cleanse - you farm Harbingers because if they ever throw 10 condis at you at a time, CoP turns you into a monster) The only areas you're really lacking are sustain, CC, and group utility. WB is a ridiculously strong +1, good in teamfights, and can take a good number of 1v1s. You struggle vs tanky specs with damage that's difficult to dodge as your sustain isn't that high in prolonged fights, but you have the tools to disengage quite easily. It is notably more difficult than core or DH and the skill ceiling is much higher.

Naru, the current rank 1 player on NA, firmly believes BS is an S tier ranked spec currently.

Here's a summary of this thread: "I don't like Bladesworn, but it is good."

I doubt there are still people who believe Willbender's current state is bad in sPvP, but just in case. Copebending cured

Depends on your skill and the skill of the people you're playing against. Soulbeast is the better choice for solo play until you and your enemies become competent.

Tierlist can be found here. Note that this is for ranked, not coordinated 5v5 play.

Bladesworn is such a bloated spec but it benefits from shout spam healing on top of reliable chunks of damage. If shouts get nerfed BS is probably in the dumpster.

The cognitive dissonance is strong. Currently in P1 as spellbreaker without even being good at the game. Bladesworn is at least as good as spellbreaker. The specs are fine. You have to work a little harder than most. If you want an easy class, the ranger forum is a couple clicks away.

A lot of people unironically enjoy bladesworn.

I typically take what you say about Guardian at face value but I think you're underestimating WB in PvP currently. Running Virtues over Valor is decent as you get the condi cleanse on both charges of F2. Between the virtues, GS 3, and off hand sword 5, your disengage isn't thief-level or anything, but it's decent. The physical heal takes some getting used to but gives you a lot of staying power in fights once you get the hang of it, and your ability to stick to targets and deal damage is really good. You have reliable cleave and chase. I haven't had any issues with the sword skills being buggy; if anything you're held back by how bad GS 2 is against moving targets. I don't see it being a meta spec or anything because it requires decent macro knowledge to not put yourself in terrible situations, but it's an above average ranked spec.

It's definitely the least conventional of the options listed, but it isn't terrible. You have decent ranged pressure when you get pushed off node or to compete with things like mechanist. Between the gunsaber and dragon trigger you have more than enough melee damage anyway.

Most people on this forum will tell you that warrior is terrible and the balance team hates us, which is half true. Warrior isn't exactly "good" but it's certainly not bad. You have to work harder than a lot of other specs for the same payoff. Berserker has very limited competitive viability but Spellbreaker, Bladesworn, and even Core are fine. Spellbreaker remains the tanky, bursty duelist it has been for years. The support build with shouts (colloquially known as Healbreaker) regained some competitive viability with the recent buffs. Bladesworn also has a competent shout/support build and can take on a duelist/DPS role as well (Boyce and Naru frequently play these if you want to see them). Bladesworn (and especially Dragon Trigger) aren't nearly as bad as people on this forum act like it is - it has all the makings of a decent spec. You can easily reach plat with any warrior spec except Berserker. To more concisely answer your question, these are the main iterations of warrior for competitive play currently: Spellbreaker - Duelist (GS/dagger+shield) or shout support (typically sword+warhorn/dagger+shield) Bladesworn - Shout support or duelist/DPS (anything from sword+warhorn, axe+shield, GS, hammer, and rifle)

The general attitude on forums/reddit/etc is very negative/complain-y. Warrior is a ton of fun and (like basically every other spec) remains competitive in all modes except for the highest levels of play. Pick the one you enjoy more. Bladesworn is actually fine. Spellbreaker is one of the most fun class designs in any MMO personally so I love it.

As a massive fan of regular spellbreaker, I actually quite enjoy healbreaker. It's like the same kit I'm used to but filling an entirely different purpose. I find it fun and refreshing.

Praise the lord.