Need thoughts on this build for pvp. SB Ham Dag/Sh.

[Zuko.7132]

Build

 

Optional slot is up to preference. I've been alternating between bulls charge, featherfoot, and even break enchantments to get rid of aoe stab.

[Shinichi Megure.8061]

If you go head to head against another spellbreaker you want to have magebane tether. Also depends on the matchup, did you design it against a specific condi build?

[Zuko.7132]

37 minutes ago, Shinichi Megure.8061 said:

If you go head to head against another spellbreaker you want to have magebane tether. Also depends on the matchup, did you design it against a specific condi build?

Ya tether would be better for a mirror match up, but I designed this more with team fighting in mind. I feel like the condition copy and ignoring all the blind and weakness is more valuable there. Lots of cc to lock down a target, and dagger lets you strip stab and chase.

[CalmTheStorm.2364]

6 hours ago, Zuko.7132 said:

Build

 

Optional slot is up to preference. I've been alternating between bulls charge, featherfoot, and even break enchantments to get rid of aoe stab.

Hey @Zuko.7132!

Thanks for posting this.

 

I've been trying similar things with varying degrees of success. I find that dagger/shield (or warhorn) is a little lacking in mobility, but it does ok, especially if it can stick to teamfighting. GS/Hammer provides better mobility and offense overall, but you have no defense against ranged pressure. I've even tried sword shield and hammer, which is actually not terrible--youve got very good mobility and blocks and pretty high spike damage--but you have to rely on hammer for most of your dmg, which isn't ideal since it gets hard shut down by stab.

 

I find that resilient roll is the better pick over merciless hammer. I'd also take loss aversion to help with adrenaline gain.

 

I've also experimented with utility skills. Break enchantments is great in some matchups (eg vs guard and ele) but less so in others.

 

What I find *feels* the best to play is actually signet of stamina. That skill is terribly underrated, and the passive permanent equivalent of vigor supplies plenty of dodges (and thus plenty of resistance via resilient roll). And, of course, it's a massive condi cleanse. If you take SoS, you can even consider dropping Shake it off for Stomp or Featherfoot grace (although I often stick with SIO if I'm expecting a lot of condi).

 

You might also consider putting sigil of savagery on your hammer. That extra stun duration will help you chain earthshaker into Backbreaker (or other combos).

 

hope that helps! Good luck! 

[Zuko.7132]

@CalmTheStorm.2364 Thanks for the reply. That's exactly why I'm running D/Sh. It has more defense than gs/hammer and is still pretty good at team fighting. Also, the mobility problem goes away in a fight once you have adrenaline, it's just bad out of combat.

 

See I thought about resilient roll, but didn't think I needed it due to lack of extra endurance from strength for dodges and having resistance from revenge counter. Plus with merciless hammer, I have both a damage increase and adrenaline gain, so I don't need loss aversion.

However, I think resilient roll in combination with signet of stamina might be a good choice for heavy condition matchups.

 

Doesn't earthshaker already combo into everything? Or is this a precast and aftercast thing that makes it not actually land in 1 second for backbreaker?

[Verdict is Vengence.6912]

28 minutes ago, Zuko.7132 said:

See I thought about resilient roll, but didn't think I needed it due to lack of extra endurance from strength for dodges and having resistance from revenge counter. Plus with merciless hammer, I have both a damage increase and adrenaline gain, so I don't need loss aversion.

 

Resilient roll has not found its way into any of my builds so far

[CalmTheStorm.2364]

23 hours ago, Zuko.7132 said:

@CalmTheStorm.2364 Thanks for the reply. That's exactly why I'm running D/Sh. It has more defense than gs/hammer and is still pretty good at team fighting. Also, the mobility problem goes away in a fight once you have adrenaline, it's just bad out of combat.

 

See I thought about resilient roll, but didn't think I needed it due to lack of extra endurance from strength for dodges and having resistance from revenge counter. Plus with merciless hammer, I have both a damage increase and adrenaline gain, so I don't need loss aversion.

However, I think resilient roll in combination with signet of stamina might be a good choice for heavy condition matchups.

 

Doesn't earthshaker already combo into everything? Or is this a precast and aftercast thing that makes it not actually land in 1 second for backbreaker?

I tried out dagger/shield yesterday, and I had a lot of trouble disengaging from losing fights. I've personally found GS to be a better mix of offense and defense and mobility than dagger shield. But to each their own; if D/Sh is working for you, don't stop!

 

You're right, earthshaker does combo into Backbreaker without sigil of savagery, bit you have absolutely no room for error (esp since your ES is max T1 since you're on Spellbreaker). I just find that extra bit of stun seems to help lock the target down a bit more. Not truly necessary, tho. 

[CalmTheStorm.2364]

20 hours ago, Verdict is Vengence.6912 said:

Resilient roll has not found its way into any of my builds so far

Really?? You should try it.. It's pretty good

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

1 hour ago, CalmTheStorm.2364 said:

Really?? You should try it.. It's pretty good

Perma Resistance in WvW with boon duration/appropriate amount of Endurance generation. All you have to do is dodge, you don't even have to dodge anything, just push your dodge key.

[JTGuevara.9018]

A good build, but you lose out on not taking Strength. You lose out on Aggressive Onslaught, Body Blow and might gains.  Both the Strength and Defense lines complement each other nicely thanks to the trait changes for hammer.

Of course, you took Discipline. (Pretty much almost always needed!) See, in my ideal world, Fast Hands would either be made baseline or better yet: no weapon-swapping cooldowns at all! In this way, you can ditch Discipline and take Defense instead so you can do more damage with that hammer and have more survivability. (A person can dream right?...)

To me, hammer warrior is pretty much tailor-made for core warrior.

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

1 hour ago, JTGuevara.9018 said:

A good build, but you lose out on not taking Strength. You lose out on Aggressive Onslaught, Body Blow and might gains.  Both the Strength and Defense lines complement each other nicely thanks to the trait changes for hammer.

Of course, you took Discipline. (Pretty much almost always needed!) See, in my ideal world, Fast Hands would either be made baseline or better yet: no weapon-swapping cooldowns at all! In this way, you can ditch Discipline and take Defense instead so you can do more damage with that hammer and have more survivability. (A person can dream right?...)

To me, hammer warrior is pretty much tailor-made for core warrior.

Weapon swap CD aside, the changes to Strength and Defense almost make Discipline not needed.

[Verdict is Vengence.6912]

5 hours ago, CalmTheStorm.2364 said:

Really?? You should try it.. It's pretty good

I haven't gotten around to it. I've been using the adrenaline gain from hammer trait. The few builds I've been running are without discipline and the recycled adrenaline it gives.