Warrior Hybrid Weapons

[Zuko.7132]

With the buffs to sword and the change to blood reaction to increase both condition damage and ferocity, it seems that anet is aiming to make hybrid war or at least hybrid zerker a thing. However, there's a big problem. The weapons just aren't good enough. Here are the weapons I consider to be hybrid: sword mainhand and offhand, mace main hand (for zerker), and longbow. I would like to suggest some changes for these weapons as well as for mace offhand to become hybrid. This is coming from a pvp perspective.

Sword

1. The auto chain: Keep 1 the same and 2 the same. Change the final to apply 2 stacks of bleed and increase cripple to 2 seconds. 6 seconds for all damaging condis.
2. Savage Leap: Add two stacks of bleeding and two stacks of torment for 8 seconds. Make it an evade. Increase cd to 10 seconds.
3. Final Thrust: Rename Flaming Thrust. Make it do full damage and three stacks of burn for 4 seconds regardless of health. Have it inflict a 1 second daze below 50% health. Increase the range to 240, it's a thrust duh.
4. Impale: Have it immobilize for 4 seconds. Not a pulsing immob. Just one stack at the start to set up rip.
5. Riposte: Make it a channeled block for 2 seconds that gives you a flip over skill for 4 seconds if you block.

Mace

1. The auto chain: Have the first two strikes inflict torment. Reduce the final strike cast to half a second, reduce the weakness to three seconds and add two stacks of torment. 6 second for the torment.
2. Counterblow: Make it a channeled block for 1 second that gives you a flipover skill for 4 seconds. Change the flip over skill to Ground Pound using the Tremor animation. Ground pound should use a 1.5 coefficient have a 240 radius and inflict 3 seconds of weakness and 4 stacks of torment for 6 seconds.
3. Pommel Bash: Add a little leap to it, otherwise fine.
4. Crushing Blow: Add 3 stacks of bleeding. Double to 6 if the foe is disabled.
5. Tremor: Steal the Earthshaker animation. 600 range leap with a 240 radius. Add a blast finisher. Reduce knockdown duration to 2 seconds.
6. Skull Crack: Have it inflict 2, 4, 6 stacks of torment for 8 seconds.

Longbow

1. The auto: Add Burning by default. Lower cast time to 1/2 second.
2. Fan of fire: Tighten the spread.
3. Arcing arrow: Add one stack of burning and a half second daze.
4. Smoldering Arrow: Lower Count Recharge to 15 seconds.
5. Pin Down: Increase coefficient to 1.5.

 

[Yasai.3549]

You know, I wouldn't mind Dagger having Hybrid condi and see if SpB can be played Condi. 

[CalmTheStorm.2364]

18 hours ago, Zuko.7132 said:

With the buffs to sword and the change to blood reaction to increase both condition damage and ferocity, it seems that anet is aiming to make hybrid war or at least hybrid zerker a thing. However, there's a big problem. The weapons just aren't good enough. Here are the weapons I consider to be hybrid: sword mainhand and offhand, mace main hand (for zerker), and longbow. I would like to suggest some changes for these weapons as well as for mace offhand to become hybrid. This is coming from a pvp perspective.

Sword

1. The auto chain: Keep 1 the same and 2 the same. Change the final to apply 2 stacks of bleed and increase cripple to 2 seconds. 6 seconds for all damaging condis.
2. Savage Leap: Add two stacks of bleeding and two stacks of torment for 8 seconds. Make it an evade. Increase cd to 10 seconds.
3. Final Thrust: Rename Flaming Thrust. Make it do full damage and three stacks of burn for 4 seconds regardless of health. Have it inflict a 1 second daze below 50% health. Increase the range to 240, it's a thrust duh.
4. Impale: Have it immobilize for 4 seconds. Not a pulsing immob. Just one stack at the start to set up rip.
5. Riposte: Make it a channeled block for 2 seconds that gives you a flip over skill for 4 seconds if you block.

Mace

1. The auto chain: Have the first two strikes inflict torment. Reduce the final strike cast to half a second, reduce the weakness to three seconds and add two stacks of torment. 6 second for the torment.
2. Counterblow: Make it a channeled block for 1 second that gives you a flipover skill for 4 seconds. Change the flip over skill to Ground Pound using the Tremor animation. Ground pound should use a 1.5 coefficient have a 240 radius and inflict 3 seconds of weakness and 4 stacks of torment for 6 seconds.
3. Pommel Bash: Add a little leap to it, otherwise fine.
4. Crushing Blow: Add 3 stacks of bleeding. Double to 6 if the foe is disabled.
5. Tremor: Steal the Earthshaker animation. 600 range leap with a 240 radius. Add a blast finisher. Reduce knockdown duration to 2 seconds.
6. Skull Crack: Have it inflict 2, 4, 6 stacks of torment for 8 seconds.

Longbow

1. The auto: Add Burning by default. Lower cast time to 1/2 second.
2. Fan of fire: Tighten the spread.
3. Arcing arrow: Add one stack of burning and a half second daze.
4. Smoldering Arrow: Lower Count Recharge to 15 seconds.
5. Pin Down: Increase coefficient to 1.5.

 

These are excellent ideas, Zuko.

A few thoughts/alternatives:

Final Thrust:  ok as it is, but could benefit from a slightly longer range (240). Would be neat to have it refreshed if you immob someone with Flurry. This would make it work more similarly to Ranger's Maul/Hilt bash interaction.

 

Mace:

combine counterblow and pommel bash. Block for 1.5s; if you block, gain access to pommel bash. Give PB a short dash (like rangers hilt bash) and stun for 1s.

I like ground pound and the leap on tremor. Excellent ideas.

Crushing blow might be redundant with ground pound. Could swap this for a "throw mace" that dazes and applies confusion. That would allow OH mace to provide both mobility as well as a ranged attack, which is unique among our OH weapons.

 

LB:

Arcing arrow needs to be sped up significantly. I'd love for it to apply some cover condis like weakness, vuln, and cripple.

[Zuko.7132]

52 minutes ago, CalmTheStorm.2364 said:

These are excellent ideas, Zuko.

A few thoughts/alternatives:

Final Thrust:  ok as it is, but could benefit from a slightly longer range (240). Would be neat to have it refreshed if you immob someone with Flurry. This would make it work more similarly to Ranger's Maul/Hilt bash interaction.

 

Mace:

combine counterblow and pommel bash. Block for 1.5s; if you block, gain access to pommel bash. Give PB a short dash (like rangers hilt bash) and stun for 1s.

I like ground pound and the leap on tremor. Excellent ideas.

Crushing blow might be redundant with ground pound. Could swap this for a "throw mace" that dazes and applies confusion. That would allow OH mace to provide both mobility as well as a ranged attack, which is unique among our OH weapons.

 

LB:

Arcing arrow needs to be sped up significantly. I'd love for it to apply some cover condis like weakness, vuln, and cripple.

 

I completely agree with swapping crushing blow for throw mace.

Arcing Arrow definitely needs something. I said daze, because you’re not hitting anything from range with the current speed so I was thinking cast on yourself to get someone off you. In which case, I like cripple, weakness, and a half sec daze. I wouldn’t say no to a faster animation though.

Also I love the refresh on final thrust. That would make it a much better execute, since you could get it on demand.

Edited June 14, 2023 by Zuko.7132

[CalmTheStorm.2364]

1 hour ago, Zuko.7132 said:

I completely agree with swapping crushing blow for throw mace.

Arcing Arrow definitely needs something. I said daze, because you’re not hitting anything from range with the current speed so I was thinking cast on yourself to get someone off you. In which case, I like cripple, weakness, and a half sec daze. I wouldn’t say no to a faster animation though.

Also I love the refresh on final thrust. That would make it a much better execute, since you could get it on demand.

I'd love a daze on arcing arrow, too, although I doubt they would got that route since they already added a daze to smoldering arrow in PvE. Maybe they'd make it a competitive -only thing.

But mostly it just needs to not take a day and a half to reach the target...after a 3/4s cast time.

[Zuko.7132]

8 minutes ago, CalmTheStorm.2364 said:

I'd love a daze on arcing arrow, too, although I doubt they would got that route since they already added a daze to smoldering arrow in PvE. Maybe they'd make it a competitive -only thing.

But mostly it just needs to not take a day and a half to reach the target...after a 3/4s cast time.

I mean they could just give us the smoldering arrow daze. that would be fine.

[Katary.7096]

On 6/14/2023 at 1:27 AM, Zuko.7132 said:

With the buffs to sword and the change to blood reaction to increase both condition damage and ferocity, it seems that anet is aiming to make hybrid war or at least hybrid zerker a thing.

I think there is a simpler explanation: They wanted a dedicated quickness trait for the Berserker master tier and decided that throwing the previous power and condition damage traits together to save space is their best option.
You might be right about the buffs to sword, but then again Flurry and Flaming Flurry could be getting buffs simply because those skills aren't good.