StraightPath.3972

My simple observation: Condi weapons have multi-hit bursts that make it easy to get procs. Power weapons almost always do just one single hit which is far easier to deny in competitive. For example condi warr using mh sword will have easy time proccing stuff like Cleansing Ire or Marching Orders. Power Warrior will struggle far more, especially in 1v1 scenarios where there's just one target that's paying attention to your actions.

Both the damage and adrenaline are there I can assure you. Merciless Hammer, Headbutt, Signet of Fury - there's the answer to adrenaline gain issues. You will not have a hard time filling that adrenaline bar when needed. As for damage - it will be bigger than you think and can be pushed much further without much hassle. I will elaborate here a bit, but given you're interested in some answers I hope you'll read on. There is damage you already have but not aware of, and a lot of extra damage you can get easy, because this build is very adaptive. Starting with first one: Hammer - you mistakenly lumped it together with mace thinking it a low damage option. Simply not true. Proof of this is 40k Power Spellbreaker build used in Snow Crows benchmarks. It uses Hammer, it does not use discipline. Which means Hammers fends on it's own, without being a "switch to it for combo and get back to the real weapon" pick. Sigil of Severence + Signet of Fury - these do not show in the build editor stat screen but used together they provide 40% more crit damage (additive). That's your little secret dps burst for axe 5 or hammer combo. CC - do not underestimate value of good crowd control in all types of fights. Hitting for less but vs a stunned/broken enemy may still be the better dps then hitting your hardest against an enemy that constantly forces you do dodge/reposition or plain flee for your life until healing cooldowns come back up. Building extra damage is quite easy as well, here are few good options: switch Dead or Alive to Blood Reaction - now your ferocity (with Sigil of Severence and Signet of Fury) can spike to even ~303% crit damage! Switch Eternal Champion to Bloody Roar - 15% bonus damage when in Zerk Mode. Switch FJG or Shake it Off for Signet of Might - 180 extra power. Switch mace for dagger - same story as hammer - it holds it's own very well dps wise. Switch relic to a dps one (like fireworks) Switch Sigil of Concentration to Sigil of Impact These changes should be applied with some critical thinking in the process. If you're going into organized group with a dedicated support, you can easily switch a lot of your sustain for pure damage. Swapping skills, traits and relics is a no-cost process that can easily be applied and reverted from fight to fight. Heck you can even make two variants (balanced and RAAWR dps) of this build and save them as templates. On the other hand, in the wild you should be careful what you pick. As you learn your enemies better you may gradually take less sustain for more damage, or less support for more solo damage.

I will counter this reaper with my experimental Berserker build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PKwAkeJlJwwYUsLmJO+O/tfA-DSRYwR39aOE0nR6SrWWBq52ALjKuBA-e It's yet to be tested by me due to lack of materials (ascended diviner's), but given it's a straight upgrade from core warrior build i use all the time I'm fairly confident it'll perform. So how does it contest the reaper as OW king? By not having it's weaknesses. It won't "Outreaper a Reaper" at what it does best - a fast and brutal cleanup of armies of trash mobs. But it'll deliver in areas Reapers naturally struggle, such as dealing with strong enemy cc, 1v1 fights with champions and boonshare support. DEFENSE: The anti cc is through the roof with this one. Hammer + mace ensure massive Stalwart Strength procs and if that's not enough you got 5 stunbreaks on you (Berserk mode entry + exit, two charges of Shake it Off!, Headbutt). Your self healing is no joke either. Thanks to Eternal Champion and Dead or Alive traits you basically have 3 casts of a healing skill, two of which are 3 seconds of healing based on damage you do. And your axe 5 along with hammer 2 -> 5 -> 2 combo provide massive damage to heal from. And then there's the low cd and condi cleansing Mending which is always useful. All this sprinkled with passives from Defense line - Adrenal Health, 5s protection from healing skill (because you got massive boon duration) and resolution when you eat a crit. And there are other avenues of surviving a fight if needed. Might Makes right + Forceful Greatsword for one. Your might will not only heal you now but also restore some endurance. As do your bursts. As does Eternal Champion trait. Not only will you get some extra passive healing, but a lot of free dodges along the way if needed. Anti - condi is pretty solid as well - Mending cleanses 5 condies on 12s cd, which is awesome, and then there's Shake it Off! to deal with any stray conditions in between if needed. When facing some major condi abuse you can swap Stalwart Strength for Cleansing Ire, if the near perma Stab is not necessary. SUPPORT: While not a healer, you do have large impact on allies around you. By default anyone going near you will be capped on might and fury, because every source of it you use for yourself affects nearby allies as well. Except maybe the reckless dodge trait, but you'll live that down somehow 😉 If grouped and feeling safe about your odds of surviving, you can easily swap Dead or Alive to Heat the Soul for some quickness share. And the "Shake It Off!" never left being both aoe condi cleanse and a stunbreak. With big fat servings of might, fury, quickness and Shake it Off! keeping them on their feet and hitting, your impact is no joke. ATTACK: If you're going Defense 3-3-3 (and you are), your hammer will be hitting like a ton of bricks and providing good AoE damage along with it's big cc. Mace + Axe only push this further. Needless to say your cc game is strong with this one. So you can add that to support as well - it'll be easy for you to break enemy bars and give your team opportunities to hit their hardest. Also once again that Dead or Alive choice comes into play. When in organized group with a healer you can swap it not only for Heat the Soul, but also for Blood Reaction if you want maximum damage. Pair that with Bloody Roar and you can use this build in raids/strikes/fractals etc. The big play in this build is abusing your Sigil of Severence for some big precision and ferocity boosts. Imagine you land an interrupt with mace (quite doable) or dagger (real easy). Next 4 seconds you get 11.9% extra crit chance and 16.6% more critical damage. Now pop that healing skill for 10% more damage from peak performance, and signet of Fury for 24% more crit damage (and around 8.5% more crit chance compared to passive mode). Then you press axe 5 and enjoy the carnage... All this is quite doable if you're under effect of quickness which you can get from axe 4, and entering/leaving berserk mode if using Eternal Champion grandmaster. While this does carry periods of imperfect critical chance and dps loss that follows, it's not a big issue as this is burst-based build. There are hard hitting skills and combos (Axe 5, hammer 2 -> 5 -> 2) and the rest is mediocre so it's ok the boost the big ones at expense of the rest. Will it do absolutely best damage? No. But given how much it brings to the table it won't be an issue. For example if they're really picky about not running a meta build, you can equip a dagger instead of mace and go support mode with heat the soul. DPS that can strip boons, cap his group on might, fury quickness and still bail them with aoe stunbreak should be welcomed by any sane group leader.

I main warr support, despite most forum members meme'ing on it. It has the sustain you need to survive a big mid fight, and also very comfortable support kit (0 cast time shouts healing allies). I use two variants: core supp that has all you need but no dmg and is susceptible to cc. And Berserker variant that has better stab access and damage, but can't ress well since your elite is Headbutt not Battle Standard. Here's the core variant: core warr supp with staff If staff is a no go, use sword + shield instead. And here's the berserker variant: Berserker condi variant - no staff As mentioned before - this one has more self agency, but less ress power. This build is quite different from core variant so if you pick it be sure to read it proper, and use it's unique advantages well. For example headbutting can trigger relic of zephyrite for aoe prot and resolution. Keep that in mind as part of defensive and supportive kit. Also with headbutt's low cd going defy pain over resilient roll is a valid option (provided enemies don't spam blinds). And who could forget the glory that is skullgrinder :3 Or the vastly improved ability to stomp with Berserk mode stunbreaking and giving stab on both entry and exit thanks to Eternal Champion and Savage Instinct. Still in terms of raw support, core variant is better.

Yes a big win for OW necros while a big slap for spvp terrormancers (can't have terror and lingering curses anymore). But back to topic at hand... Hammer + mace/axe core warrior works really well for me. Easy quickness, great cc and damage, good enough sustain. And that's just a stepping stone to Berserker which will be a massive improvement once complete (need to get gear for that build). More sustain, support for allies, and strong damage. Can't wait!

My proposition of tactics changes: Mending Might - reworked. Might grants you healing power (10 per stack). Heal yourself when you apply might to self or allies. Martial Cadence - old version removed. New: Effectiveness of Marching Orders is increased by 50%. Marching orders now apply swiftness (6s) and resolution(4s) 50% increase means 50% longer protection and stronger healing from Soldier's Comfort + 50% more might stacks (at same duration) from other traits. Vigorous Shouts - reworked. Your shouts are improved and heal in area around you. FGJ - grants 3s quickness on top of previous effects. Shake it Off! - grants 2stab stacks (2s) to affected allies. Fear Me! - cooldown reduced to 30s. On my Mark! - chills and slows target (3s). Phalanx Strength - Mending Might effects are improved. Granting allies might now heals them as well. Healing power per stack improved (12). Might now grants you concentration as well (12) As you can see some changes take place here. For one the scaling healing power is removed from Vigorous shouts and added into Mending Might in a form that doesn't favor any particular build type (attribute independent). We can all agree all warriors want might, while not every warrior will be building power. So now no matter the grandmaster choice you will have some extra healing power to boost your self and ally healing. Martial Cadence is much more impactful now, giving proper boost to it's dedicated mechanic (marching orders). Shouts gain extra effects, now that every other grandmaster can heal as well. Phalanx Strength no longer boosts might generation to near infinity, but instead provides healing to allies via might and more healing power + concentration to yourself when stacking your number one boon.

Well yesterday it fed me 3 wins outta 3 games, so am a happy camper.

I don't have SotO sadly so have to go with this: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?PKAFw0VaYZDMM2H7iZin0ka7G-D6YXIJUAVnC1HB+eaAAA On the plus side sword and mace pair well on condi zerker. If going staff avatar amulet seems to make more sense over sage one, but there will be issue of mace not using it's condi fully. Maybe a swap to axe will be in order, but i can't really say since i have no room to experiment with that build.

Sorry to dissapoint, but not really. My sustain is through the roof and i keep pumping crucial boons and making big plays, cause my kit allows it. When i lose it's either because rest of team is far too squishy and no healing can save them, or they make huge misplays (like completely ignoring the fact side nodes got capped by enemies).

If there's one lesson to be learned with GW2 is that strong foundation is strong. 10 years+ and ticking - still keeps an extremely steady pace, with small ups and downs related to content drops and draughts. These relatively small fluctuations are proof that the game at it's core is fun and has plenty of good systems that keep players coming back and engaged, even if there's no new content at particular moment. This is where horizontal progression and other good design choices really pay off. Tons of individual objectives a player can choose instead of mandatory hunt for bigger stick. Shared resource nodes and ressing other players. Profession buildcraft and fashion wars. Megaservers. Exploration and Scavenger hunts. Gold to Gem exchange. These are but few but most notable things that make this game stand the test of time and player engagement. It may not be perfect, but kitten is this game solid.

In spvp i run a Berserker build using both Savage Instinct and Eternal Champion traits. Yet I've had countless encounters with Reapers where upon being stunned with Executioner's Scythe, exiting Berserk mode for the stunbreak did nothing and I was still stunned 😕

I don't own SotO (bit on a financial downturn atm) but yes, it features did impact my gameplay experience, specifically in spvp. Suffice it to say that each time I see a staff spellbreaker I want to ensure his firmer grip on it by lodging it in their backside with a decisive upward movement. I'm glad to see A-net somewhat understands my concerns and has given sb staff some due nerfs. Similar approach could be taken with ranger maces, albeit due to their .. shape and number said task may prove much more.. challenging.

Time will tell. So far in my high silver/low gold endevours i have found the build to perform great. Whenever I lose it's me misplaying, doing a stupid macro decision or team throwing hard. But I've yet to feel that the build itself failed to deliver and was the main reason for my defeat.

Challenge accepted. Behold my support zerker: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PKAFw0VaYZDMM2H7iZin0ka7G-D6YXIJUAVnC1HB+eaAAA You got healing with shouts, bursts (soldier's comfort), or when removing condies. Plus warhorn's barrier. Tons of boons - aegis, alacrity and regen are the three you won't do. Everything else in on board. Good mobility + great sustain even in a major brawl. Resonable anti-cc and andi-condi. 5 stunbreaks, 3 stab sources, 2 anti condi skills + condi cleansing when you burst. There are 3 cons to be fair: Your sustain depends on your timing your big defenses correctly (Defiant Stance, Shield Stance, Headbutt - for Relic of Zephyrite proc) Damage of this "support" is condi centric. If enemy has great cleansing you'll be doing very little damage wise. Headbutt means no Battle Standard - ressing downed people is not your thing. You can opt to forgo Headbutt for Standard, but you'll have to swap the relic from Zephyrite to Trooper (since the former is useless on a 2 min cooldown). And be ready to deal with much harder adrenaline generation and one stunbreak/lockdown tool less.

My own berserker support.

Just your average 500 - 150 or less stomps.

Juuuust asking..

Cause you know someone will equip Menzies Agony skin and then process to chase ppl with hundred blades yelling "FEAR MAH D------ !" waving that thing left and right..

All I will say here is that the difference between a petite woman in love and an angry wolverine is that the latter is slightly less savage..

Honestly I don't understand why this is in warrior forums and not rev ones. Renegades and core revs are dictionary definitions of masochism in spvp because they can't survive/kite jack. Warriors on the other hand have at least some tools to sustain despite going full glass like Defiant Stance, Blood Reckoning, Full Counter or Shield/Staff blocks.

Nvm, thouht this was a warrior forum post.

Ma'am I regret to inform you that due to unforeseen circumstances I must rescind my previous offer. Those being a real life girlfriend. While she's only a 23 years old petite yoga instructor with no social media presence, I'm not above forgiving these shortcoming in the name of true, passionate love (which I'll very likely be making this weekend). Wish you all the best (save myself cause I'm already taken), and to your 20 million followers as well 🙂

ooops, I did miss it. I'll get to fixing that, and thanks for feedback!

It did come from him, but because of the actual meaning of the word - a bigger hedgehog. Spikes describe hybrid damage very well (they do piercing damage while can also cause bleeds, be poisoned etc), while being a bigger hedgehog = more vitality.

No I don't. That would be massive powercreep. I want grieving with vitality instead of precision for some strong, but also less glassy builds. I know what grieving is about - a power dps build with one strong damaging condition on the side. I also know there are specs who can reach 100% crit chance (or very near) without any precision. Echidna stat set would cater to these. Some of us want to go hybrid without celestial yet have a bit of a health pool.