PvP Spellbreaker

[CalmTheStorm.2364]

This is the most fun I've had with Warrior in a very long time, so I wanted to share my findings in hopes that others might share my joy.

 

Defense Spellbreaker

 

Pros:

Brings tremendous damage and CC

Excellent value in teamfights

high output of weakness, slow, and cripple

Fairly good duelist (very good duelist if you take dagger/shield instead of GS)

Good mix of damage denial, resistance up-time, and on-demand stability

lots of stunbreaks

Excellent adrenaline gain

Good condi clear

 

Cons:

mobility is lack luster, especially if using Dagger/shield over GS

can be kited easily and is susceptible to ranged pressure

Effectiveness is greatly reduced if the enemy has high stability uptime (although you can rip it with dagger if that is the case).

 

Overall:

An excellent teamfighter with some ability to rotate and hold its own in 1v1s.  Fairly survivable thanks to Endure pain and Defiant stance and can even do alright for a short time in outnumbered situations.  Should avoid duels with ranged classes unless you have favorable terrain and/or the element of surprise.  Probably A-tier (not S) and not quite good enough for high-level/tournament play, but definitely viable for ranked.

 

Commentary:

There are lots of different variations that one could go with the traits and utilities, but this has been what's worked best in my personal experience.  Obviously, since I'm running 3 stances, Last Stand would seem to make a lot of sense.  In my experience, however, the few extra seconds of stance duration and chunks of barrier have proved less useful than frequently being able to cleanse condis.  And while I love the extra stability and damage offered by Stalwart Strength, I again find it hard to pass on condi clear unless you're confident that there aren't any condi builds on the other team.  Nonetheless, I've found this build to be pretty viable, too.  It lacks the on-demand stability of the original build but has a lower CD stunbreak, on-demand resistance, and the superspeed helps make up for the deficits in mobility.  

 

I've found the build to play a lot better with higher precision.  Nothing sucks more to land your CC and have your target dead-to-rights....only for your Fierce Blow to not crit.  This is especially true if you're running Dagger/shield instead of GS and therefore don't have access to Fury.  Berserker Ammy + Thief rune gives some outstanding damage along with high crit chance.  I've also found Assassin + Rune of Vampirism to give very good results if you want a more balanced/less-glassy build.  Runes of the Fighter, Hoelbrak, Divinity, or Dolyak would also be solid choices.

 

I hope some folks find this helpful and have as much fun as I've had with it!

 

Also, please feel free to share any builds you've been having success with and/or pearls of wisdom.

 

Good hunting.

[Shadowpeixera.2918]

I like the build, it's been a fun staple for a bit now for Warrior PvP. My biggest issue with Warrior builds right now is how much stunbreaks you need to run ( you run 3 on your variant ). I really like the fact that you don't go Agressive Onslaught, it's too much of an investiment, and something i should consider for my own buildcraft ( altho i build for concept and open world, not for pvp usability ).

I was going to say, again, that Dolyak's Signet being 10 stability stacks would make a good utility to put in the build, but i had forgotten that it's a 1min cd, not 40s, so that kinda throws sand on it. It's a decent utility but being corrupted on your 60s CD doesn't feel great at all.

Both are good builds, and probably what i'll play if i go back to PvP'ing.

[CalmTheStorm.2364]

13 minutes ago, Shadowpeixera.2918 said:

I like the build, it's been a fun staple for a bit now for Warrior PvP. My biggest issue with Warrior builds right now is how much stunbreaks you need to run ( you run 3 on your variant ). I really like the fact that you don't go Agressive Onslaught, it's too much of an investiment, and something i should consider for my own buildcraft ( altho i build for concept and open world, not for pvp usability ).

I was going to say, again, that Dolyak's Signet being 10 stability stacks would make a good utility to put in the build, but i had forgotten that it's a 1min cd, not 40s, so that kinda throws sand on it. It's a decent utility but being corrupted on your 60s CD doesn't feel great at all.

Both are good builds, and probably what i'll play if i go back to PvP'ing.

Dolyak Signet could be good, too.  I haven't tried it recently, but perhaps I should give it another go.  Both DS and Balanced Stance have 60s CDs in PvP, so it's a wash there.  I was worried that the high CD would make it prohibitive, but since it's your 3rd stunbreak, it doesn't seem to be too bad.  I like the immunity to critical hits that Balanced Stance offers, as that is probably more effective dmg reduction than the passive +180 toughness offered by DS.

 

I forgot to mention it in the OP, but Signet of Stamina is also very useful on this build.  You can use it instead of either Balanced Stance or even Shake it off.  The permanent vigor from the signet passive is really helpful, especially if you run Resilient Roll.  SoS + Shake It Off makes for some exceptional condi cleanse, too, especially when paired with Brawlers recovery and Cleansing Ire.

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

If you do Signet of Stamina + Dolyak Signet then you could roll Stalwart Strength. Use Dolyak proactively for the stab stacks, then use Hammer+ SS to keep the stab stacks high. Use Brawler's Recovery + cleansing sigils to clear any fear that happens due to the stab stacks getting corrupted.  SoS and Resilient Roll will keep resistance up fairly often as well.

You could swap Spellbreaker out for Strength for a core build for more dodge access.

[Hotride.2187]

There was some hammer/gs spb in wvw last week, using tactics banner. Seemed pretty strong, but the player was really good.

But yeah probably high stability uptime shuts it down.

[CalmTheStorm.2364]

19 minutes ago, Hotride.2187 said:

There was some hammer/gs spb in wvw last week, using tactics banner. Seemed pretty strong, but the player was really good.

But yeah probably high stability uptime shuts it down.

Yeah, I've been running dagger shield over GS lately. Works pretty well into ele and guard. Also, the extra CC on dagger and shield can absolutely shut people down when paired with hammer.

[Shadowpeixera.2918]

Vallun is rolling D/S - Hammer Spb. The boon removal is almost mandatory if you want to contest points and duel.

[CalmTheStorm.2364]

On 11/22/2022 at 8:14 PM, Shadowpeixera.2918 said:

Vallun is rolling D/S - Hammer Spb. The boon removal is almost mandatory if you want to contest points and duel.

Yeah, that's a good video. He definitely is trying to fill the duelist role there, and he does it well. If you're looking to teamfight, GS is probably better, although I've had some success with D/Sh in those instances, too, especially if you need to contest a guard or ele support.

Edited November 26, 2022 by CalmTheStorm.2364

[Shadowpeixera.2918]

12 hours ago, CalmTheStorm.2364 said:

Yeah, that's a good video. He definitely is trying to fill the duelist roll there, and he does it well. If you're looking to teamfight, GS is probably better, although I've had some success with D/Sh in those instances, too, especially if you need to contest a guard or else support.

I think it's kinda mandatory if you wanna apply any sort of pressure, with how prevalent guardians and boon application are. GS is good if you have someone else to remove the boons.